RUSSIA (LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE). 



61 



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 poeti- 

 i al and prose Writers (St Petersburgh, 1821, in 4 

 vols.), and Borg's Poetical Productions of the Rus- 

 sians (Rigna, 1823, in 2 vols.), both in German; 

 also Bowring's Specimens of the Russian Poets (2d 

 edition, London, 1821), and Dupre 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 collec- 

 tions 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 infe- 

 rior 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 ac- 

 companied 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 homi- 

 lies into political writings. The secular discourses, 

 to which, for example, LomonosofF owes his cele- 

 brity, are partly composed in a panegyrical style, 

 which leads us to doubt the genuineness of the 

 feeling which is displayed. LomonosoiFs discourse, 

 however, on the character of Peter the Great, de- 

 livered April 26, 1755, is often mentioned as a mas- 

 terpiece 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 men- 

 tioned with distinction in almost every department 

 of description. He has given a Russian work which 

 may be honourably 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 lan- 

 guages rather than their own. Russia has not yet 

 produced romances, combining originality withbeauty 

 of description, which may be worthy of being trans- 

 lated into foreign languages. Karamsin, ShukofF- 

 skij, and Benizkij, are the best models for the nove- 

 list. 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 command of 

 captain Krusenstern, the American company or in- 

 dividuals have annually sent ships to the north-west 

 coast of America; and Golownin's Voyages (1807 

 1814): those of lieutenant von Kotzebue, at the ex- 

 pense of the count Romanzoff; those of lieutenant 

 Lasareff; those of Bellingshausen and Wassiljelf; 

 those of lieutenant Wrangel; MurawiefTs travels; 

 Broneffski's researches in Tauria, &c have pro- 

 duced very important results in a scientific point of 

 view. Many of them exhibit traces of the improv- 

 ing state of the language, in passages containing 

 much beauty of description. The Russian acade- 



micians and literati (Frahn, Krug, Schmidt, &c.) 

 have distinguished themselves in Oriental literature. 

 Frahn, at the expense of count Romanzoff, superin- 

 tended the collection of extracts for Hammer's 

 work. Sur les Orir/ines Russes, extraits de Manu- 

 scritx Orientaux, and likewise the printing of Abul- 

 ghasi's Historia Monyolorum et Tatarorum (Kasan, 

 1825). Wolkoff has been labouring upon a diction- 

 ary of the Tartar language. Senkoffski has pub- 

 lished the text and translation of the Derbent- 

 Narneh, and the French-Arabic lexicon of Berg- 

 gren. He likewise published, in the Polish lan- 

 guage, 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 Lan- 

 guage, (1824), and a Persian Chrestomathy (in 2 

 vols., 1826.) In 1825, eighteen journals were pub- 

 lished 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 ap- 

 probation. In 1826, there appeared at St Peters- 

 burg only six gazettes and fifteen periodicals. To 

 promote the knowledge of Russian literature, Von 

 Koppen published in 1825, and 1826, at St Peters- 

 burg, a bibliographical paper. The society of the 

 friends of Russian literature, established in St Pe- 

 tersburg in 1816, the founders of which are N. 

 Glinka and N. J. Gretsch, have conducted the pub- 

 lication 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 (Jahrbucher der Liter atur}, published 

 at Vienna, 



Russia, Black ; formerly a subdivision of Lithu- 

 ania, now forming the Russian governments of 

 Minsk and Grodno. 



Russia, Great; former name of a province com- 

 prising 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 govern- 

 ments of Tchernigov, Cherson, Kiev, Ekaterino- 

 slav, and Poltava. 



Russia, Red; formerly an independent duchv, 

 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 distin- 

 guished by its peculiar odour. The best is made 

 in Astrachan, and it now 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 



