524 RUSSIA, BLACK,
she bestowed upon the arts and sciences, greatlycontributed to the advancement of her nation. Theendeavour to rival foreign countries became general,and those of the nobility and public officers who werecapable of intellectual enjoyment, gave themselvesUp to it with such zeal that Paul I. became alarmed,and ordered the communication with foreign countriesto be stopped. Alexander I., in the first years of hisreign, established literary institutions and popularschools, took care that the clergy should be morethoroughly educated, and patronised talent with impe-rial liberality. Sopikoff, in his Essai de BibliographicRusse, has enumerated, alphabetically, .18,249 ori-ginal works and translations published in Russia, inthe Sclavonian and Russian languages, from the esta-blishment of the press (in 1558) to 1828. Since theyear 1820, in which alone 3400 works appeared,among which nearly half were translations, the annualnumber has very much decreased.
With all the imitation of the poetical forms offoreign countries, the national song has always main-tained an honourable rank, and celebrates love andwar, games, church festivals, and banquets. Amongthe older ones, those of the Cossack Semen Kli-moffskij (who died in 1725) are much esteemed : acollection of such as yet enjoy a high reputation is tobe met with in Ostolopoff’s Dictionary of ancientand modern Poetry, in which the names of Dmitrieff,Neledinskij-Melezkij, Karamsin, and Shukoffskij, aredistinguished above all others. Since the Russianprosody became more settled by means of KnitsConstantine Demetrius Kantemir, every kind ofpoetry has been attempted from the dithyrambic tothe madrigal. The popular songs of the Russians,which are preserved among the common people,belong to the time of Peter the Great and the empressElizabeth, who herself wrote verse. The lyric de-partment has been particularly successful. We mustlikewise mention tho philosophic odes and epistles ofthe prince Ivan Michailowitsch Dolgorucki (whodied in the year 1828), under the title of the Exis-tence of my Heart. Poetical Tales, for which theold traditions furnish many materials, have beenwritten by Sumarokoff. KrilofF, BatjuschkofF, Dmi-trieff, and Shukoffskij.
The Russian theatre was first established in 1758.In this year, there was a private theatre erected atYaroslav, which was soon transferred to the royalresidence, and, in consequence of the predilection ofCatharine II. for the drama, soon won the favour ofthe people. Sumarokoff wrote the first regular tra-gedy, and was succeeded by Kniiishjnin. The mostdistinguished dramatic writer, Wladimir Oseroff, hashad the honour of having his works ofton translated.His CEdipus, his Dmitrij the Donian, his Fingal, andthe Kosloff of Kniiishjnin, are considered the mostimportant specimens of tragic literature. Kniiishjninhas also accomplished much in comedy. The geniusof the Russians, so sensible to the ridiculous, and socapable of imitation, would lead us to expect a richharvest .in comedy, if the readiness with which theyadopt every thing foreign did not check the produc-tiveness of native talent. The opera in a court,which, like the Russian, delights in splendour, mustnaturally excite a lively interest. The first, writtenby Sumarokoff, was performed at St. Petersburg, in1764 ; and, since that time, there have continuallybeen authors in this department of the drama. Indidactic poetry, KeraskofPs Fruits of the Sciences
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formerly were in much repute. At the present timethe fables of Dmitrieff, Chemnitzer,and Fvr'rioff(havegained many admirers. Of Krilorff’s Russian FaMesa part has been published in the Russian language arParisj with a French, translation, by count (MetThe minor species of poetry find a.ready admissioninto the twenty-one Russian literary journals (ivkicliwere in circulation, in 1824, throughout the capital),and are very acceptable to the literary public, wtuehis yet small. ■ Oldekop’s St. Petersburgn Journal ^likewise to be recommended to all friendsof.litera-ture, on account of the collections therein pidiSsheiAmong the periodicals, those which make us' ac-quainted with the internal condition of the. empire,-;as Bulgarin’s Northern Archives, the Siberian Heraldof Sspaszkij, the Son of the Country, by Gretsel,and the Promoter of Knowledge—are worthy ofnotice. ’
Russian prose is undoubtedly inferior to the poetryof the same language. In pulpit oratory, in winchits first progress was made, a bombastic rhetoric hasprevailed, which is often accompanied with li’t^intrinsic merit, as the homilies of Feofan Prokijpo-witsch (who died in 1736), of Gedeon, Platon, Anas-tasij, Georgij, Protoiereni Lewanda, MichajI, themetropolitan, Filaret, and others, abundantly prove.The secular discourses, to which, for example, Lormi-zoff owes his celebrity, are partly composed in a pane-gyrical style, which leads us to doubt the genuinenessof the feeling which is displayed. LotnonozofF's dis-course, however, on the character of Peter the Great,is often mentioned as a masterpiece of eulogy.Karamsin’s oration, delivered at the assembly of theRussian academy', in December, 1818, correspondsmore to the present taste. Nicholas Karamsin’s nursemust likewise be mentioned with distinction in almostevery department of description. He has given toRussia a work which may be honourably comparedwith the historical writings of any nation. A greatnumber of the most distinguished literati and states-men of Russia have preferred, in their w orks, to useforeign languages rather than their own. Russia hasnot yet produced romances, combining originalitywith beauty of description, which may be worthy ofbeing translated into foreign languages, Ivaramslii,Shukoffskij, and Benizkij, are the best models for thenovelist. The Russian accounts of voyages and.tra-vels deserve the attention of foreigners. Since thefirst voyages of the Russians round the world, in theships Nadeschda and Neva, under the command -ofcaptain Krusenstern, the American company or indi-viduals have annually sent ships to the north-westcoast of America; and Golownin’s Voyages; those oflieutenant von Kotzebue, at the expense of the countRomanzoff, those of lieutenant Lasareff, those ,ofBellingshausen and Wassijjeff, thpse of lieutenantWrangel, Murawieff’s travels, Broneffski’s researchesin Tauria, &c.— have produced very important resultsin a scientific point of view.
Russia, Black. The original name of a subdi-vision of Lithuania, which now forms the Russiangovernments of Minsk and Grodno.
Russia, Great. The original name of a proving,comprising a large part of European Russia, extend'ing from the Frozen Ocean to about the middle of ihccourse of the Don ; now divided into nineteengovernments.
Russia, Little. The former name of thatpsrtof Russia lying south of Great Russia; now forming