308 Nations lately become Literary. 



of honour and profit at her court j caused the geo- 

 graphy and natural history of her empire to be 

 carefully explored ; and gave a new spring to the 

 growth of literature and science in every part of 

 her dominions in which they had been planted. 

 But there were two events in the reign of Catha- 

 rine, which deserve to be particularly recorded, 

 and which must be supposed to have had a consi- 

 derable influence in promoting the diffusion of 

 knowledge among her subjects. 



The first is, the order issued, in the year 1768, 

 by the Empress, for translating a number of stand- 

 ard zvorks, in various languages, into the Russian 

 language, thereby, at once, improving the national 

 tongue, and extending a knowledge of some of 

 the best publications of taste and science through- 

 out her empire. For defraying the expense of this 

 undertaking she granted an annual sum, and en- 

 gaged in the work some of her most learned sub- 

 jects, by whose labours many of the Greek and 

 Latin classics have been presented in a respectable 

 Russian dress ; q and a number of the most valua- 

 ble works in the English, French, and German 

 languages, given to the inhabitants of that coun- 

 try in their own dialect. A considerable portion 

 of these translators were natives of Russia, but 

 the greater number were learned foreigners. 



The other event referred to is the establishment 

 of normal Schools, by Catharine, in every pro- 

 vince in her empire. This establishment com- 

 menced about the year 1780, when places of in- 



q Among the numerous versions made in consequence of this imperial 

 order, the following are worthy of particular notice. The works of Plato 

 have been translated by Sid er of sky and Pakhomof ; the works of He- 

 siod, by Fryanfynofsky ; Homer's Iliad, by Yekimof ; the JEneis and 

 Georgics of Virgil, by YEKIMOF, and also byPETROF; the Metamorphoses 

 of Ovid, by Kofitzky ; and the Odes of Horace, by Popofsky. To at- 

 tempt an enumeration of the English, French, and German classical works 

 which have been naturalized in Russia, would exceed the reasonable limits 

 of a note. 



