boldness. Dmitrieff has given the language of Russian poetry its permanent form. Neledinsky-Meletzsky is less pure and correct than Dmitrieff, but many of his songs are in the mouths of the common people. The true fire of passion animates his poetry. Chemnitzer is esteemed as a fabulist; his expression is natural, but very prosaic. Kriloff, a poet in the full sense of the word, is, in his department, like Derschawin, the representative of the national poetry, for his fables are almost all original. Derschawin, in his odes, described the bright side of his age; but Kriloff, in his fables, painted the absurdities and prosaic thought of his time. In expression less pure and perfect than his predecessor Dmitrieff, he, however, excels him in descriptive powers. Kriloff has much observation; his fables, which, in this respect, will bear comparison with the best in any literature, are rich in ideas and instruction; many of his verses, therefore, are now current as proverbs. Shukoffskij has enriched the poetical language of the Russians, by describing ideas and feelings which had not been treated in their literature. His poems are a true picture of his individual character at the time in which he wrote them. They therefore possess uncommon attraction for the reader. His predilection for German poetry, which was before his time but little known to his countrymen, induced him to incorporate it with the Russian in his imitations; his poems, on this account, have a peculiar stamp, which has given a singular charm to their deep melancholy feeling and natural tone.Batjuschkoff pleases by the charms of his diction. With a brilliant imagination he united the finest taste, and he is inimitable in the choice and harmony of his expression. We possess of his writings some amorous elegies, ingenious epistles, and attempts at lyric poetry-all excellent. Prince Wiasemskij expresses much in few words: this sometimes gives his language an air of stiffness and dryness; but his satires and epigrams are particularly happy. His prose suffers still more than his poetry from this brevity.-Wostokoff has richness of thought, power of imagination, and warmth of expression; but his style is but little refined.-Gneditsch deserves much credit for his translation of the Iliad into Russian hexameters. The general characteristic of this period is an elegance and correctness previously foreign to Russian literature. The language has acquired a more settled character; but Russian prose still wants the

labor of thinking minds to perfect it. The poetical language of the Russians alone can be called rich. The latest period of Russian literature is yet in its bloom. Already it numbers one very promising poet, Alexander Puschkin, who is distinguished for his imagination and originality, and whose style is in the highest degree refined. Karamsin's historical work now opens a new field for national poetry. Russian history was previously enveloped in the obscurity of chronicles and traditions. Karamsin dissipated this obscurity, and threw light upon the darkness of the past. Poetry, by his torch, may now light her own. Among other living poets, may be mentioned Kosloff (q. v.); Gribojedoff, the author of a very amusing comedy; Glinka, a lyric poet, full of fire; baron Delwig (the editor of the Russian Almanac of the Muses, called the Flowers of the North, in 1825 and 1826); Schazykoff, Baratinskij, &c. Among the translators we may mention professor Mersläkoff of Moscow, who has translated Tasso's poem of Jerusalem Delivered. Russian prose enumerates, at the present time, but few original productions. There are many journals, but they are for the most part filled with extracts from foreign periodicals. The critical department of them cannot be important, because the national literature is poor; nevertheless, among a great number of tolerable prose writers, Gretsch has distinguished himself; his style is easy, although he sometimes offends against good taste. For many years he edited the best Russian journal. He has likewise been engaged in the composition of a Russian grammar. In connexion with this, besides the old Russian grammars of Ludolph (Grammatica Russica et Manuductio ad Linguam Sclavonicam, Oxford, 1696, quarto), of Gröning (Stockholm, 1750), of Lomonosoff, Rodde, Heym (Riga, 1821), that of the Russian academy (St. Petersburg, 1802), particularly that of Vater (Leipsic, 1808), and that of Tappe, on account of the happily chosen examples and practical exercises (St. Petersburg and Riga, 1810; 5th edition, 1820), deserve to be recommended, as well as Puchmayer's System of the Russian Language, in German (1820). They all, at least the modern, embrace only the common Russian. For the Sclavonian or ecclesiastical language grammatical aids are greatly needed. The grammar of the ecclesiastical Sclavian, written in the Russian language, which Peter Winogradoff published in 1811, is far surpassed in value by Dobrowsky's

Institutiones Lingua Slawica Dialecti veteris (Vienna, 1822). The government itself has taken charge of grammatical education, and prohibited the sale of Lewitzkij's small Russian grammar (St. Petersburg, 1814), which was put under the interdict of the minister of instruction, in 1814, "on account of its many defects and false definitions." Concerning the dictionaries of the Russian language, by Rodde, and Heym, a German, Russian, and French pocket dictionary (Riga, 1805), and many others, see the review, by Schlözer, in the Göttingen Gelehrten Anzeigen, 1810, number 47. Since that, A. Oldekop has published a Russian-German and a German-Russian dictionary, in 5 vols. The present president of the Russian academy, admiral and minister Alexander Schischkoff, caused a second edition of the academy's dictionary to be published in 6 vols. quarto, in the year 1826. After having thus characterized the poets and prose writers who have had an influence upon the formation of the Russian language, we will touch more particularly on certain portions of the Russian literature, as follows: I. The old popular songs and traditions, which were formerly neglected by the Russians, have now excited their attention, on account of their similarity to the English, Spanish, and Scandinavian ballads. Like these ballads, they appear to refer to a connected series of popular traditions. In that period, however, to which these old songs belong (1015 1224), the national poetry had not freed itself from the old Sclavian mythology; and the Russian tales and popular traditions have thereby acquired a peculiar charm of a fantastical description, which is particularly remarkable in the story of Filipat and Maxim, and their valorous deeds; the marriage of Devgieiewas, and the carrying off of Stratigovnas, in the tale of Shinagrip, the ozar of the Adorians. Prince Wladimir I, with his knights, is the central point of this whole series of tales, which may be compared with the stories of Charlemagne and his peers, and those of king Arthur and the Round Table. The heroes, Dobrenja Nikititsch, and Tschurilo Plenkowitsch, and others, here take the place of the well known and barmonious names of Roland, Rinaldo, and Amadis. J. Müller published the Expedition of Igor against the Polowzians (from the old Russian; Prague, 1811 and 1812), and this poem has since passed through several editions in the Russian original. Prince Wladimir and his Round Table (Leipsic, 1819) is a German imitation,

drawn from a collection of old Russian songs, which were printed at the sugges tion of Romanzoff. Prince Zerteloff's Spirit of Russian Poetry, or collection of old Russian songs (St. Petersburg, 1822, in 2 vols.), has excited the attention of the Russians to this portion of their literature. The ecclesiastics of that period displayed a peculiar degree of intellectual activity; and there were also laymen of considerable merit. Nestor (q. v.) has mentioned many men of rank who shared in this intellectual labor. These beginnings could not, however, be of permanent consequence, because literary institutions of high character were wanting. The Greek teachers of the public schools at Wladimir, Smolensk, and Halitsch, did not diffuse a taste for Grecian antiquities, which might have been a permanent barrier against barbarism. The Mongolian period had a withering influence on literature. In the rich convents only, which the Mongols respected, were preserved some remains of intellectual cultivation. Thence are derived the materials for the history of that period, which alone give us some insight into it, particularly the annals in the old ecclesiastical language, composed by St. Simon, bishop of Susdal (who died in the year 1226), the Stufenbuch of Cyprian the metropolitan (who died in 1406), and the Chronicles of Sophia, or the Russian annals from 862 to 1534 (edited by Strojeff, Moscow, 1820-1822, quarto). These, and the lives of Alexander the Great, of the Roman emperors, of Mark Antony, and of Cleopatra, related after the manner of stories, were the only books. As the authors despised the language in common use, which, by its additions from the Tartar tongue, had acquired a foreign character, displeasing, even to the people themselves, and made use only of the old Sclavonian dialect, the taste for reading, even if we do not take into consideration the other inconveniences attending it, must necessarily have been confined to a few. As the Russians did not travel, for learn any foreign languages, they were not connected, by intellectual bonds, with the rest of Europe. There were no schools in Great Russia. The press exercised but little influence, as it was exclusively devoted to the interest of the church, and the amusements of the people were rude. In the dramatic exhibitions which were founded on religious stories, and performed by the students of Kiev, in the principal cities, during their holydays, Judith striking off the head of Holofernes, Ahasuerus ordering Haman to be hanged, and the spectacle of

the three men in the fiery furnace, excited the highest applause. The SclavonianRussian dramas of the monk Simeon of Polotsk (1628-1680) may be considered as an improvement on the others. These were acted in the time of Feodor III, first in the convent, and afterwards at court. Amateurs may find his Nebuchadnezzar, and his Lost Son, printed in the eighth volume of the old Russian library, and most of his other productions in manuscript, in the library of the Synod, at Moscow. The first foreign comedy translated into Russian was Molière's Médecin malgré lui (Physician in spite of Himself), which was performed by the czarina Sophia Alexlowna, and the ladies of her court. The Poles served as models, particularly in poetry; and the translation of the Psalms of David (Moscow, 1680), by the above-named Simeon of Polotsk, deserves to be mentioned. As early as the seventeenth century, instances of versification can be produced, which endeavored to imitate the Greek peculiarity of long and short syllables; but they had no permanent effect. Even the restriction of verses to a particular number of syllables, was considered too stiff and unnatural; and, to the present day, there remains in their poetry (which exhibits, for the most part, the national peculiarities) a free and unrestrained style, which neither requires lines equal in their number of syllables, nor assonance, nor rhyme, but rests upon certain laws of accentuation. II. Peter the Great endeavored to advance literature by technical aids. For this purpose he patronised the press, and, in 1704, himself invented a set of written characters for the Russian language, which, being similar to the Roman characters, might make the communication and interchange of thoughts with the rest of Europe more easy. With this character the first Russian newspaper was printed, in 1705, in the ecclesiastical press at Moscow. The ukase press was established in 1711, and from it, in 1714, proceeded the first St. Petersburg gazette. Translations of foreign works, for the most part German, were intended to excite a love of reading; and he hoped, by means of the young Russians, whom he sent abroad to travel, to convince his people of the advantages of education. At his death, he left fifty-one schools for the people, fifty-six schools for the garrisons, and twenty-six other institutions for the children of the clergy, which, however, had little perceptible influence upon the great work of civilization. It was, however, less attachment to ancient usage, that opposed

the effect of his labors on a people very susceptible of impressions, than the artifices of the state officers, to whom the public improvement was, frequently at least, an object of little importance. (See Academies.) The academy of sciences, from 1725, promoted the scientific direction which intellectual cultivation had taken, because the want of a national literature had not yet been felt. Establishments for the promotion of knowledge and education increased daily by imperial liberality, and Catharine II, by the patronage which she bestowed upon the arts and sciences, greatly contributed to the advancement of her nation. The endeavor to rival foreign countries became general, and those of the nobility and public officers who were capable of intellectual enjoyment, gave themselves up to it with such zeal that Paul I became alarmed, and ordered the communication with foreign countries to be stopped. Alexander I, in the first years of his reign, established literary institutions and popular schools, took care that the clergy should be more thoroughly educated, and patronised talent with imperial liberality. Sopikoff, in his Essai de Bibliographie Russe (St. Petersburg, 1813-1823, in 6 vols.), has enumerated, alphabetically, 13,249 original works and translations published in Russia, in the Sclavonian and Russian languages, from the establishment of the press (in 1553) to 1823. Since the year 1820, in which alone 3400 works appeared, among which nearly half were translations (more than 800 from the French, and 483 from the German), the annual number has very much decreased. In 1824, only 264 works were published, most of which were translations, particularly historical and geographical works, poems and romances.III. Poetry. With all the imitation of the poetical forms of foreign countries, the national song has always maintained an honorable rank, and celebrates love and war, games, church festivals, and banquets. Among the older ones, those of the Cossack Semen Klimoffskij (who died in 1725) are much esteemed: a collection of such as yet enjoy a high reputation, is to be met with in Ostolopoff's Dictionary of ancient and modern Poetry (St. Petersburg, 1821), in which the names of Dmitrieff, Neledinskij-Melczkij, Karamsin, and Shukoffskij, are distinguished above all others. Since the Russian prosody became more settled by means of Knäs Constantine Demetrius Kantemir (q. v., who died in 1744), every kind of poetry has been attempted, from the dithyrambic to

the madrigal. The popular songs of the Russians, which are preserved among the common people, belong to the time of Peter the Great and the empress Elizabeth, who herself wrote verse. The lyric department has been particularly successful. We must likewise mention the philosophic odes and epistles of the prince Ivan Michailowitsch Dolgorucki (who died in the year 1823), under the title of the Existence of my Heart. Poetical tales, for which the old traditions furnish many materials, have been written by Sumarokoff, Kriloff, Batjuschkoff, Dmitrieff, and Shukoffskij. The Russian theatre was first established in 1758. In this year, there was a private theatre erected at Yaroslav, which was soon transferred to the royal residence, and, in consequence of the predilection of Catharine II for the draina, soon won the favor of the people. Sumarokoff wrote the first regular tragedy, and was succeeded by Kniäshjnin. The most distinguished dramatic writer, Wladimir Oseroff, has had the honor of having his works often translated. His Edipus (Petersburg, 1805), his Dmitrij the Donian, his Fingal, and the Rosloff of Kniäshjnin, are considered the most important specimens of tragic literature. Kniäshjnin has also accomplished much in comedy. The genius of the Russians, so sensible to the ridiculous, and so capable of imitation, would lead us to expect a rich harvest in comedy, if the readiness with which they adopt every thing foreign did not check the productiveness of native talent. The opera in a court, which, like the Russian, delights in splendor, must naturally excite a lively interest. The first, written by Sumarokoff, was performed at St. Petersburg in 1764; and, since that time, there have continually been authors in this department of the drama. In didactic poetry, Keraskoff's Fruits of the Sciences formerly were in much repute. At the present time, the fables of Dmitrieff, Chemnitzer, and Kriloff, have gained many admirers. Of Kriloff's Russian Fables (St. Petersburg, 1826), a part has been published in the Russian language at Paris, with a French translation, by count Orloff. The minor species of poetry find a ready admission into the twenty-one Russian literary journals (which were in circulation in 1824, throughout the capital), and are very acceptable to the literary public, which is yet small. See N. von Gretsch's Manual of the Russian Literature, or a Collection of Specimens from poetical and prose Writers (St. Petersburg, 1821, in 4 vols.), and Borg's Poetical Productions of the Russians (Ri

ga, 1823, in 2 vols.), both in German; also Bowring's Specimens of the Russian Poets (2d edition, London, 1821), and Duprè de St. Maure's Anthologie Russe (Paris, 1823). A. Oldekop's St. Petersburg Journal is likewise to be recommended to all friends of literature, on account of the collections therein published. Among the periodicals, those which make us acquainted with the internal condition of the empire-as Bulgarin's Northern Archives; the Siberian Herald of Sspaszkij; the Son of the Country, by Gretsch; and the Promoter of Knowledge-are worthy of notice.IV. Prose. Russian prose is undoubtedly inferior to the poetry of the same language. In pulpit oratory, in which its first progress was made, a bombastic rhetoric has prevailed, which is often accompanied with little intrinsic merit, as the homilies of Feofan Prokopowitsch (who died in 1736), of Gedeon, Platon, Anastasij, Georgij, Protoiereni Lewanda, Michajl the metropolitan, Filaret, and others, abundantly prove. Lately, a hypocritical rather than pious tone has passed from these homilies into political writings. The secular discourses, to which, for example, Lomonosoff owes his celebrity, are partly composed in a panegyrical style, which leads us to doubt the genuineness of the feeling which is displayed. Lomonosoff's discourse, however, on the character of Peter the Great, delivered April 26, 1755, is often mentioned as a masterpiece of eulogy. Karamsin's oration, delivered at the assembly of the Russian academy, December 5, 1818, corresponds more to the present taste. Nicholas Karamsin's name must likewise be mentioned with distinction in almost every department of description. He has given to Russia a work which may be honorably compared with the historical writings of any nation. A great number of the most distinguished literati and statesmen of Russia, have preferred, in their works, to use foreign languages rather than their own. Russia has not yet produced romances, combining originality with beauty of description, which may be worthy of being translated into foreign languages. Karamsin, Shukoffskij, and Benizkij, are the best models for the novelist. The Russian accounts of voyages and travels deserve the attention of foreigners. Since the first voyages of the Russians round the world, in the ships Nadeschda and Neva, under the cominand of captain Krusenstern, the American company or individuals have annually sent ships to the north-west coast of America; and Golownin's Voyages (1807-1814);

those of lieutenant von Kotzebue, at the expense of the count Romanzoff; those of lieutenant Lasareff; those of Bellingshausen and Wassiljeff; those of lieutenant Wrangel; Murawieff's travels; Broneffski's researches in Tauria, &c.--have produced very important results in a scientific point of view. Many of them exhibit traces of the improving state of the language, in passages containing much beauty of description. The Russian academicians and literati (Frähn, Krug, Schmidt, &c.) have distinguished themselves in Oriental literature. Frähn, at the expense of count Romanzoff, superintended the collection of extracts for Hammer's work, Sur les Origines Russes, extraits de Manuscrits Orientaux, and likewise the printing of Abulghasi's Historia Mongolorum et Tatarorum (Kasan, 1825). Wolkoff has been laboring upon a dictionary of the Tartar language. Senkoffski has published the text and translation of the DerbentNameh, and the French-Arabic lexicon of Berggren. He likewise published, in the Polish language, a Collection of ancient Accounts, in the Turkish Histories, relative to the History of Poland (Warsaw, 1824). Professor Boldyreff has likewise published, at Moscow, a Manual of the Arabic Language (1824), and a Persian Chrestomathy (in 2 vols., 1826). In 1825, eighteen journals were published in St. Petersburg, and seven in Moscow, and six almanacs. Bestucheff's and Rylejeff's Polestar, a souvenir for 1824, and the Flowers of the North, for the following years, have met with decided approbation. In 1826, there appeared at St. Petersburg only six gazettes and fifteen periodicals. To promote the knowledge of Russian literature, Von Köppen published, in 1825 and 1826, at St. Petersburg, a bibliographical paper. The society of the friends of Russian literature, established in St. Petersburg in 1816, the founders of which are N. Glinka and N. J. Gretsch, have conducted the publication of a collection of the most distinguished native productions and translations (now consisting of 16 vols.). See the Survey of the most modern Russian Literature, in the 7th volume of the Annals of Literature (Jahrbücher der Literatur), published at Vienna.

Russia, Black; formerly a subdivision of Lithuania, now forming the Russian governments of Minsk and Grodno.

Russia, Great; former name of a province comprising a large part of European Russia, extending from the Frozen ocean to about the middle of the course of the Don; now divided into nineteen governments.

Russia, Little; name of that part of Russia lying south of Great Russia; now forming the governments of Tchernigov, Cherson, Kiev, Ekaterinoslav,and Poltava.

Russia, Red; formerly an independent duchy, which belonged to Poland after 1396, and formed the palatinates of Chelm, Belcz and Lemberg. It now belongs chiefly to Austria, but partly to Russia.

Russia, White, was a part of Lithuania, which now forms the Russian governments of Smolensk, Mohilev, Vitepsk, and a small part of Minsk.

RUSSIA LEATHER is prepared in Russia, chiefly from cow-hides, and is highly esteemed for its flexibility, durability, and impenetrability by water. The red leather is much used in foreign countries for book-binding, and, although it is imitated in some places, the Russian is distinguished by its peculiar odor. The best is made in Astrachan, and it forms an important article of export.

RUSSIAN HUNTING MUSIC, or HORN MUSIC. This consists of horns, of which each produces but one tone. Twenty, thirty, or even forty performers, have each a horn. These horns vary like the pipes of an organ. One of them sounds only every C, another every D, &c., throughout the tune. The performers are, for the most part, serfs, and so well skilled, that every one sounds his note with the greatest accuracy, whenever it is necessary; and the tones of the different instruments sound as if they proceeded from a single instrument. The Russians have carried this music to such a pitch of excellence as to execute pieces of Pleyel, Haydn and Mozart, and likewise to mark the distinctions between piano and crescendo, with the greatest effect. This music is heard at a great distance, and sounds, when far off, like a harmonicon. It was invented by Narischkin. In 1763, these instruments were used, with great success, at a festival in Moscow; and they afterwards received great improvements.

RUST is the oxide of a metal, and is composed of oxygen combined with a metal. (See Oxygen.)

RUSTY GRACKLE. (See Blackbird.) RUTA BAGA, or SWEDISH TURNIP. (See Turnip.)

RUTLEDGE, John, an eminent revolutionary patriot of South Carolina, early manifested his zeal in the cause of American liberty. He was a member of the first congress of 1774, where he was distinguished for his Demosthenian eloquence. When the temporary constitu