Sect. I.] Russia. IG5 



for learning a large portion of the modern Euro- 

 pean languages. 



Literarij Journals have never had much encou- 

 ragement or circulation in Russia. Several at- 

 tempts have been made to establish them, and 

 they have obtained a slender support for a time ; 

 but the state of literature in that country is not 

 sufficiently popular to render works of this kind 

 generally sought after and read. Newspapers are 

 also few in number, and comparatively confined 

 in their dissemination. The nature of the go- 

 vernment conspires with various other disadvan- 

 tageous circumstances, to impose restraints on 

 their circulation. 



Petersburg possesses onXy one public library; 

 but has several large private collections of books, 

 and cabinets of natural history, &c. : the booksell- 

 ing trade, however, has experienced an auspi- 

 cious increase. The metropolis could boast in 

 1793 of about thirt}^ booksellers ; and towards the 

 close of the last empress's reign, book-shops were 

 first seen in the markets and fairs of provincial 

 towns *. 



During the last four years of the century under 

 review, literature, it is believed, has received much 

 less encouragement from the governing powers 

 in Russia than for a considerable period before. 

 And indeed, after all, it must be acknowledged, 

 that the advantages of education have by no means 

 had that general and equal diffusion in the em- 

 pire which is to be wished, and might have been 

 expected ; and that a large portion of the inha- 



* Sec Store h's Picture of Petersburg. 



