e spread throughout the length and breadth
of the Empire, and many of his characters became as familiar to
his countrymen as Sam Weller and Mrs. Gamp were to Englishmen. His
descriptions were so graphic--so like the world which everybody knew!
The characters seemed to be old acquaintances hit off to the life; and
readers revelled in that peculiar pleasure which most of us derive from
seeing our friends successfully mimicked. Even the Iron Tsar could not
resist the fun and humour of "The Inspector" (Revizor), and not only
laughed heartily, but also protected the author against the tyranny of
the literary censors, who considered that the piece was not written in
a sufficiently "well-intentioned" tone. In a word, the reading public
laughed as it had never laughed before, and this wholesome genuine
merriment did much to destroy the morbid appetite for Byronic heroes and
Romantic affectation.

The Romantic Muse did not at once abdicate, but with the spread of
Gogol's popularity her reign was practically at an end. In vain some
of the conservative critics decried the new favourite as talentless,
prosaic, and vulgar. The public were not to be robbed of their amusement
for the sake of any abstract aesthetic considerations; and young
authors, taking Gogol for their model, chose their subjects from real
life, and endeavoured to delineate with minute truthfulness.

This new intellectual movement was at first purely literary, and
affected merely the manner of writing novels, tales, and poems. The
critics who had previously demanded beauty of form and elegance
of expression now demanded accuracy of description, condemned the
aspirations towards so-called high art, and praised loudly those who
produced the best literary photographs. But authors and critics did
not long remain on this purely aesthetic standpoint. The authors, in
describing reality, began to indicate moral approval and condemnation,
and the critics began to pass from the criticism of the representations
to the criticism of the realities represented. A poem or a tale was
often used as a peg on which to hang a moral lecture, and the fictitious
characters were soundly rated for their sins of omission and commission.
Much was said about the defence of the oppressed, female emancipation,
honour, and humanitarianism; and ridicule was unsparingly launched
against all forms of ignorance, apathy, and the spirit of routine.
The ordinary refrain was that the public ought now to