ere for most of them native teachers may be readily
obtained. On the other hand, the Asiatic Museum, attached to the
school at St. Petersburg, contains all the means and aids for those
studies to be met with at a more remote place. Richly endowed by the
munificence of the emperor Alexander, who caused scientific treasures
of every kind to be liberally purchased, it was also greatly augmented
during the late war with Persia; where by order of the emperor all
conquered cities were deprived of their libraries, whether public or
private; while, by a stipulation in the treaty of peace, the Persian
government was compelled to deliver to Russia towards four hundred
manuscripts, a list of which was drawn up by the orientalists Fraehn
and Senkofsky. Among these were the geography of Ptolemy, and several
Arabic translations of Greek and Latin works, lost in the original
languages. Although the object of the oriental schools in Russia was
originally to educate translators for diplomatic missions, they have
proved themselves very useful to oriental philology in general;
especially through the many gifted Germans in the Russian service, who
avail themselves gladly of opportunities for those studies which their
own country cannot give. It will however be seen in the sequel, that
several learned Russians also have paid an honourable attention to
this branch, especially within the last twenty years.

The Russian Bible Society, founded A.D. 1813. was at first patronized
by the emperor. Under its auspices, and at the instigation of the
emperor himself, there was prepared a version of the Scriptures in the
Russian dialect. In the year 1820, not less than 50,000 copies of the
Gospels and the Acts were issued from the press; in 1823 the whole New
Testament was finished, and in the course of eight months 20,000
copies were distributed. For this translation the peasantry, to whom
the Old Slavic church Bible was only half intelligible, showed such an
eagerness, as soon to excite trouble among the clergy. In some of the
governments, remote from the capital, the readers of this version of
the Bible had to encounter serious persecution. In respect to
translations into foreign languages, a kind of rivalship arose between
the parent society in England and the daughter in St. Petersburg.
Besides the preparation by the latter of translations into
_thirty-one_ different languages and dialects within the limits of the
Russian empire, she likewise took