ecclesiastical dramas; and travelled about during the holidays, to exhibit their skill in other cities. The scenes which they had to repeat most frequently, were the three children in the fiery furnace, and Haman's execution. The tragedies of Simeon of Polotzk, in the Old Slavic language, had great success in the middle of the seventeenth century. Their renown penetrated from the convents to the court; where they were performed before Tzar Fedor, the predecessor of Peter.46 His minister,

Matveyef, the Slavic Mecenas of his time, and himself a writer, invited the first stage-players to Russia; and at his instigation, the first secular drama, a translation of Molière's "Médecin malgré lui," was played before the gratified princesses and their enraptured maids of honour.

This latter portion of the first period, poor as it is, has nevertheless several books of travels to exhibit. A merchant of Tver, Athanasius Nikitin, travelled in the year 1470 to India, visited the Dekkan and Golconda, and gave on his return a description of those countries. Two other merchants of Moscow, Korobeïnikof and Grekof, described a century later their travels through Syria, Palestine and Egypt. Fedor Baïkof, Russian envoy to China, published likewise a book of travels in this remarkable country.

In the department of history, this portion of the first period was surprisingly productive. Not only were the Annals of the venerable Nestor, the basis of all Slavic history, continued by the monks with fidelity and zeal; but a whole series of other annals, biographies of single princes, and chronographies, were produced; and even some foreign nations received their share. of attention.4 47 The reader however must not expect to find a vestige of philosophical genius, nor a philosophical representation of the events. Entirely unacquainted with classical literature, the Greek writers of the Byzantine age were their only models.

46 Most of these dramas are extant in manuscript in the synodal library at Moscow. A selection has been printed in the Drewn. Rossisk. Bibliotheka, i. e. Old Russian Library, Moscow 1818.

47 The above mentioned chronicles, and another series of annals of a genealogical character, known under the title Stepennaja Knigi, mutually supply each other. Simon of Suzdal, the metropolitan Cyprian, a Servian by birth, and Macarius, metropolitan of Moscow, a clergyman of great merits, are to be named here. Another old chronicle called Sofüiskii Wremenik was first published in 1820 by Stroyef.

The best that can be expected is a dry and faithful narrative of facts. 48

The weakest part of the literature of this later period, a sketch of which however seems more appropriate here than any other, is the theological branch. It is true that the Improvement of the old church books, was executed with much zeal; but in what spirit this was done, in a philological respect, we have mentioned above in the history of the Old Slavonic literature, to which the labours of the translators properly belong. Nikon, patriarch of Russia, d. 1681, carried on this work with the greatest activity; and besides this set on foot a collection of historical annals.49 The light of the Reformation, which at that time spread its beneficent beams over all Europe, and had particularly such a strong influence on Poland, did not penetrate into the night of the Russian church; the gloom of which, however, had always been mitigated by a spirit of meekness and christian love. Still, we notice among the pulpit productions of this time somewhat of the polemic genius of the age. It was not, however, against the bold innovations of Lutherans or Calvinists, that the clergy found occasion to turn their weapons, but against the Jewish heresy! 50 A translation of the Psalms of David, Moscow 1680, deserves to be distinguished among similar productions. The writer was the monk Simeon of Polotzk, author of the above-mentioned spiritual dramas, and instructor of the Tzar Fedor. Still more remarkable is the first attempt to translate the Bible into the Russian dialect. Francis Skorina, the translator, likewise a native

48 There is, however, in the style of Nestor and his immediate successors, a certain endeavour after animation. Speeches and dialogues are introduced, and pious reflections and biblical sentences are scattered through the whole.

49 Known under the title: Nikonov spisok, published St. Petersburg 1767-92, 8 vols. For the Improvement of the Slavonic Bible, Nikon alone, by applying to the Patriarch of Constantinople and other Greek dignitaries, obtained 500 Greek MSS. of the whole or portions of the N. Test. Some of them contained also the Septuagint. These were mostly from Mount Athos, and are now the celebrated Moscow MSS. collated by Matthaei. See Henderson, p. 52, 53.

50 Joseph Sanin, a monk, wrote a history of the Jewish heresy in the fifteenth century, and a series of sermons against it. This last was also done by the bishop of Novogorod, Gennadius. The Russian church had a zealous advocate in the archbishop Lazar Baranovitch, d. 1693.

of Polotzk, where the Polish influence was stronger than in any other quarter, was a doctor of medicine; but the time had now come when it began to be felt over all Europe, that the holy volume did not belong exclusively to the clergy. Some parts only of his translation have been printed.51

In the course of the sixteenth century, several printing offices had been established in Russia, almost exclusively for the benefit of theological works; since nearly all historical writings were preserved in manuscript, and have been first printed in modern times. The awkward appearance of Cyril's alphabet, seemed to add an unnecessary difficulty to the diffusion of the knowledge of reading. Towards the end of the seventeenth century Elias Kopiovitch made some improvement in the appearance of the Slavic letters; it was however reserved to Peter's reforming hand, to give to them a fixed and permanent shape.

SECOND PERIOD.

From the majority of Peter the Great, A. D. 1689, to Lomonosof, A. D. 1741.

The history of the genuine Russian literature begins only with the adoption of the language of the people for all civil writings. It was Peter the Great, who raised this language to be the language of public business, in which all transactions of the courts of justice henceforth were to be held, and all ordinances to be issued. Ere this great man was able to establish a Russian printing office in his own empire, in order not to lose time, he gave a privilege for fifteen years to the Dutch printer Tessing for Russian works. It was in Amsterdam, in 1699, that the first Russian book was printed. About the year 1704, Peter himself invented some alterations in the Slavic letters, principally so as to make them more similar to the Latin. He caused a fount of these new types to be cast by Dutch artists; and the first Russian newspaper was printed with them at St. Petersburg in 1705. These letters, with some additional alterations during the course of the following ten years, were generally adopted for the Rus

51 A part of the O.T. Prague 1517-19; the Acts and Epistles, Vilna 1525. Skorina, in one of his prefaces, found it necessary to excuse his meddling with holy things by the example of St. Luke, who, he says, was of the same profession. The dialect of this translation is the White Russian; and the book of Jab contains the first specimen of Russian rhymed poetry.

sian language, and are in use at the present time. The same letters, with a few slight variations, are also used by that portion of the Servians who belong to the eastern church; the other portion making use of the Latin alphabet. In all theological writings, however, the ancient forms of the letters are preserved, This is the difference between the grashdankii and tzerkvenni, or the civil and church alphabet.52

The energy with which this emperor, a real autocrat, proceeded, caused his people to overleap a whole century. If there is something revolting to a liberal mind in the despotic haste with which he deprived a great nation at once of a part of their nationality, through his arbitrary decision in all that he deemed best for them, still it serves greatly to allay this feeling, to observe that the resistance which he experienced, did not proceed from the people, but almost exclusively from the obstinate pride of a spoiled nobility, and the narrow-minded policy of an ignorant and jealous priesthood. The Russian nation itself is indeed, more than any other people, susceptible of deep impressions. Hence they are in general not averse to innovations; and were in Peter's time, as now, willing to be conducted by a hand, acknowledged as that of a superior. In consequence of these very national qualities, good or bad, they are capable of being readily moulded into any new form.

Whether the rapidity, nay, vehemence of the Tzar's improvements were a real benefit to the nation, this is not the place to examine; but for the free developement of the language and literature, it is evident that his proceedings were injurious, notwithstanding their apparently wonderful effect. Although the language possesses all the elements of perfection, and notwithstanding the not inconsiderable mass of talent which has developed itself in the course of time, the Russian literature has not yet produced a single work of great and decided original value. The best works which they have, are imitations, and he is the most distinguished writer whose discernment leads him to choose the best model. There is no doubt, the present standing of the Russian literature in general would have been much lower, and its extent especially would have been much smaller, than it now

52 The Russians, however, out of the forty-six characters of the Slavonic alphabet, could make use only of thirty-five; the Servians, according to Vuk Stephanovitch, only of twenty-eight.

is, had the Russian genius been permitted to break its own way through the darkness; but there is still less doubt, that in this case it would have preserved its original peculiarity, that wonderful blending of the East and the West, of Asiatic suppleness and European energy, of which their popular songs give such affecting, and in some cases, powerful specimens.53

Peter, without delay, caused many books to be translated into Russian, from the German, French, English, and Dutch languages. The haste however with which this was performed, and the greater attention of the Tzar to the matter than to the form, had the natural consequence, that most of these translations were miserable productions, executed without the least regard for the language itself. Peter's only object was to enable his subjects to become a reading people, and to communicate to them useful knowledge through the medium of books. Beauties of style, and even mere purity of language, belong in a certain measure to the luxuries of literature; the Tzar thought only of utility.

These innovations in literature found of course a great many opponents among the clergy; but there were some enlightened priests among those who held the highest standing in the church, who favoured in general the Tzar's plan. The field of theology became somewhat more cultivated during this period. Theophan Prokovitch, archbishop of Novogorod, d. 1736, alone wrote sixty works, of which however only about half were printed. He was Peter's faithful assistant; and not only his

53 The Russians are particularly rich in nursery tales, preserved only by tradition, and written down in modern times. The attention of the Russian literati has been but recently directed to this subject. The reader who wishes for information on this part of Slavic literature, will find a survey of it in Schaffarik's History of the Slavic Literature, p. 140. n. 1.-There have however appeared several valuable collections in this department, since the publication of that work. An English collection of translations of Russian popular poetry is not known to us, with the exception of the pieces contained in Bowring's Russian Anthology, which may give to the reader a taste of their prevailing beauty. Whoever understands German, will be gratified with the works: Fürst Vladimir und seine Tafelrunde, Lpzg. 1819. Stimmen des Russischen Volks, by Goetze, Stuttgard 1825. Prinz Tzertelef's Geist der Russ. Poesie, etc. Leipz. 1822. Dietrich's Russische Volksmärchen gesammelt, etc. Leipz. 1831.