R U S 
R U S 
, RUSSELS HEIM, a petty town of the west of Germany, 
in Hesse-Darmstadt, on the Maine. Population 1100; 6 
miles east of Mentz. 
RU'SSET, adj. [russus, Lat.] Reddishly brown. 
Such is the colour of apples called russetings. 
The morn, in russet mantle clad, 
Walks o’er the dew of yon high eastward hill. Shahspeare. 
Newton seems to use it for grey; but, if the etymology be 
regarded, improperly.-—-This white spot was immediately 
encompassed with a dark grey or russet, and that dark grey 
with the colours of the first iris. Newton .—Coarse; home- 
spun : rustic. It is much used in descriptions of the manners 
and dresses of the country, I suppose, because it was formerly 
the colour of rustic dress; in some places, the rustics still 
dye cloth spun at home with bark, which must make them 
russet. 
Taffeta phrases, silken terms precise, 
Figures pedantical: these summer flies 
Have blown me full of maggot ostentation: 
Henceforth my wooing mind shall be express’d 
In russet yeas, and honest kersey noes. Shakspeare. 
R U S 
RUSSIA [so named from the Rossi, an ancient tribe], the 
largest Empire in the world, is bounded by the Frozen Ocean 
on the north; by Sweden, the gulf of Bothnia, the Baltic, 
Prussia, Austria, and the Turkish provinces on the west; by 
a continuation of the same provinces, the Black Sea, Asiatic 
Turkey, Persia, the Caspian Sea, from the mouth of the Ural 
to the mouth of a rivulet which falls into the Irtish, and from 
thence over land by Zungoria, Mongolia, &c. to the sea of 
Ochotsk, on the south; and by the Eastern Ocean on the 
east. The Kurillian and Aleutian islands in the Eastern 
Ocean, and part of the north-west coast of America, together 
with the islands to lat. 55° north belong also to the Russian 
Empire. 
History of Russia. 
Russia was scarcely known as an independent state before 
the latter end of the 9th century. We know, indeed, that 
long before that period, namely, about the 5th century, a 
horde of those nations that roved at large on the banks of the 
Dnieper and the Volkhof, established themselves in that part 
of the region bordering on the Dnieper, where is now situated 
the government of Kief or Kiow. These people were called 
Sclavi, or Sclavonians, and had advanced eastward from the 
shores of the Danube. They appear to have laid the first 
foundation of the Russian monarchy, and to have built Kief, 
where they fixed their capital. It is probable that about the 
same time another tribe of Slavi had settled still farther to the 
east, in the province of Novgorod, where they built the city 
still known by that name, as their metropolis. Of the go¬ 
vernment and transactions of these people we have no regular 
accounts till the conclusion of the 9th century. It appears, 
however, from a work of the emperor Constantine Porphyro- 
genitus, on the administration of the empire, that in his time 
the city of Novgorod was a place of great importance, and 
carried on an extensive commerce, both with Constantinople 
and the countries bordering on the Baltic. The government 
of the Novgorodians appears to have been republican, but 
the people were probably rather merchants than warriors. 
We find them involved in frequent disputes with the neigh¬ 
bouring nations, from whose ravages they suffered considera¬ 
ble losses. 
If we may credit the Russian historians, the Slavi that had 
settled about Kief and Novgorod, must have extended the 
boundaries of their territory northwards, as far as the shores 
of the Baltic. We find that they were much harassed by a 
piratical nation who dwelt on the coasts of that sea, and were 
455 
RU'SSET, -s. Country dress.—The Dorick dialect has 5 . 
sweetness in its clownishness, like a fair shepherdess in her 
country russet. Drydert. 
To RU'SSET, v. a. To give to any thing a reddishly 
brown colour. 
The blossom blows, the summer ray, 
Russets the plain. Thomson. 
RU'SSET, or Ru'sseting, s. A name given to several 
sorts of pears or apples from their colour.—The russet pear- 
main is a very pleasant fruit, continuing long on the tree, 
and in the conservatory partakes both of the russeting and 
pearmain in colour and taste; the one side being generally 
russet and the other streaked like a pearmain. Mortimer 
RU'SSETY, adj. Of a russet colour. 
RUSSEY, a petty town in the east of France, department 
of the Doubs, situated on the river Doubs. Population 900 
34 miles east-south-east of Besangon. 
RUSSGANGENUM. The East Indian name for a brass¬ 
like fossil, resembling the marcasites, but containing little 
sulphur: it is conjectured to be an ore of zinc. 
RUSSI, a small town of Italy, in the States of the Church, 
province of Romagna; 8 miles north-east of Frenza. 
S I A. 
denominated Varages or Varagians, and wh o made frequent 
descents on the Russian coasts, and ravaged the country. 
It is not improbable that these Varagians formed a part of the 
Scandinavian nations, who, under the names of Danes and 
Saxons, successively made themselves masters of England. 
They were occasionally employed by the weaker neighbouring 
states as mercenary auxiliaries, and in this capacity they were 
once called to the assistance of the Novgorodians. As is 
usual, where a weak people requires the assistance of a war¬ 
like and powerful nation, the auxiliaries, after having over¬ 
come the enemies whom they were invited to combat, began 
to think of availing themselves of the advantages which then- 
bravery had given them over their employers. From allies 
and servants they soon became the masters of the Slavi; and 
finding the country about Novgorod superior to that which 
they had left, they began to think of taking up their residence 
in their new quarters. 
Their leader Ruric built a town near the Volkhof, and sur¬ 
rounded it with a rampart of earth. This town is now called 
Old Ladoga. Here Ruric established the seat of his govern¬ 
ment. This event appears to have taken place about the 
year 860; and from this period we may date the commence¬ 
ment of the Russian monarchy. Ruric was assisted by two 
other chiefs of the Varages, Sinaus and Truvor, who are sup¬ 
posed to have been his brothers, and with whom he divided 
the territory of which he had possessed himself. Of 
these, Sinaus took up his residence at Bielo Osero, or, the 
white lake, while Truvor kept his court at Isborsk, or accord¬ 
ing to some, at Twertzog, in the district of Pleskow. The 
three chiefs having thus divided among them the territories 
of the Novgorodians, continued to reign in amity with each 
other for several years. 
The Sclavi, however, did not submit to the dominion of 
their new masters, without an effort to regain their indepen¬ 
dence. At first, astonishment at the unexpected proceedings 
of their auxiliaries overcame the spirit of liberty which had 
hitherto actuated their minds; but they soon awakened from 
their lethargy, and determined to repel by force those whom 
they now considered as the invaders of their country. They 
flew to arms, and chose for their-leader, Vadim, who by his 
feats in war had acquired the honourable appellation of the 
valiant. A fierce engagement took place between the Novgo¬ 
rodians under Vadim, and the Varages headed by Ruric and 
his brothers. The contest ended in favour of the latter, and 
the brave Vadim, with several other chiefs of the Novgoro¬ 
dians, lost their lives in the attempt to free their country from 
