s upon this species of literature and
its Russian votaries until I come to Krilov, who may be said to
be one of the few Sclavonic authors who have gained a reputation
beyond the limits of their own country. In Denis Von Vizin, born
at Moscow, but as his name shows, of German extraction, Russia saw
a writer of genuine national comedy. Hitherto she had to content
herself with poor imitations of Moliere. His two plays, the _Brigadier_
and the _Minor_ (_Nederosl_), have much original talent. No such
vigorous representations of character appeared again on the stage
till _The Misfortune of being too Clever_ (_Gore et Ouma_) of
Griboiedov, and the _Revisor_ of Gogol. Dmitriev deserves perhaps
no more than a passing mention.

The name of Derzhavin is spoken of with reverence among his countrymen:
he was the laureate of the epoch of Catherine, and had a fresh ode
for every new military glory. There is much fire and vigour in
his productions and he could develop the strength and flexibility
of his native language which can be made as expressive and concise
as Greek. Perhaps, however, we get a little tired of his endless
perfections of Felitza, the name under which he celebrates the
Empress Catherine, a woman who--whatever her private faults may
have been,--did a great deal for Russia.

In Nicholas Karamzin appeared the first Russian historian who can
properly claim the title. His poems are almost forgotten: here and
there we come upon a solitary lyric in a book of extracts. His
_History of the Russian Empire_, however, is a work of extensive
research, and must always be quoted with respect by Sclavonic scholars.
Unfortunately, it only extends to the election of Michael Romanov.
Karamzin was followed by Nicholas Polevoi, son of a Siberian merchant,
who hardly left any species of literature untouched. His _History
of the Russian People_, however, did not add to his reputation,
and is now almost forgotten. In later times both these authors
have been eclipsed by such writers as Soloviev and Kostomarov.
A new and more critical school of Russian historians has sprung
up; but for the early history of the Sclavonic peoples, the great
work is still Schafarik's _Sclavonic Antiquities_, first published
in the Bohemian language, and more familiar to scholars in the
West of Europe in its German version.

With the breaking up of old forms of government caused by the French
Revolution, came the dislocation of the old conventional modes of