ecame considerable.
Generally nomadic in their habits, they dwelt in circular felt tents,
and were impatient of government, but about the middle of the eighteenth
century they came into voluntary subjection to Russia. Their splendid
horsemanship and hardy character made the Kalmucks a most valuable
auxiliary force to the Russian army. But Catharine's measures proved
irksome to the independent spirit of some of the tribes, and an immense
number escaped from Russian despotism and resumed subjection to the less
active tyranny of the Chinese ruler.

After Catharine's death, the Empress Maria Teodorovna, wife of Paul I.
(1796-1801), continued her educational work, though abandoning the "new
race" idea, confining herself to more practical problems, and
recognizing the different needs of different classes of children. A
large number of schools was founded by the empress, the management of
which was after her time given in charge to a special department of
government bearing her name. The schools rapidly increased in number,
variety, and character, and gradually the ground was prepared for the
present system of public and high schools for girls, which, under the
auspices of the Department of Education and of the ecclesiastical
educational establishments, are to be found throughout the vast Russian
empire.

Long before public schools existed, and long after they were in
operation, there was another educational agent to which Russian woman
owed most of her accomplishments and to which Russia is indebted for
many of her most accomplished women. This is the private instruction in
the home, which was conducted by French, German, and English governesses
and tutors, when a family could afford them. This method has brought and
is still bringing the culture and the polish of western Europe to
Russia. It has made accomplished linguists of so many Russians, and has
opened to them the treasures of the world's literature.

The field of letters was the first in which Russian women distinguished
themselves. One of the brilliant women of the first half of the
nineteenth century was Princess Zenaide Alexandrovna Volkonskaya, who
devoted herself to literature. Having received a fine education at home,
she spent many years abroad, in Paris, Vienna, and Verona, during the
time of the famous congresses which met there to settle the fate of
kingdoms and empires. Returning home, the princess devoted herself to
the study of Russian antiquities. At