S9T3 
 
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RUSSIAN LITERATURE 
 
 HORACE P.^BIDDLE. 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 Robert Clarke & Co., Printers, 
 
 1877. 
 
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 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 SINCE the Crimean war, in 1855, the power of 
 Russia, although it suffered in that contest, has been 
 much more noticed by other nations than it had been 
 before ; and since the abolition of serfdom in her 
 dominion, in 1861, her government has become a 
 study for other statesmen besides her own : but no 
 nation yet has given her literature more than a pass- 
 ing notice. The reason may be plain. Her great 
 military power is felt by the world, and her policy, 
 in reference to the law of nations, has its influence, 
 but her literature, which will ultimately represent the 
 best results of all her powers, is not yet established. 
 Perhaps her banner may yet wave, her policy rule, 
 and her language be heard, from the chilling snows 
 of Siberia to the burning rays of Good Hope for 
 she is rapidly availing herself of the science, art, and 
 skill of other nations if so, then her literature will 
 be known to the world ; for the school and college, 
 in the range of time, are more powerful than the 
 cabinet and the field. 
 
 Literature is as enduring as human nature, and 
 had its beginning almost coeval with the origin of 
 mankind. The traditions, observations, and tales 
 of love and battle, form the bases of the first rude 
 essays of the historian, the philosopher, and the poet. 
 Poetry precedes civilization not, indeed, in the shape 
 
 173419 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 of regular poems, but in bold expression and striking 
 metaphor; tradition is ever the precursor of authen- 
 tic history, and observation is the only true basis of 
 philosophy. The arts began early in the history of 
 man. Necessity invents the useful arts, and the love 
 of the beautiful, implanted in our nature, suggests 
 the fine arts. After myths have passed away like the 
 clouds of the sky, or the fogs of the sea ; after tra- 
 ditions have been winnowed of their fictions, and 
 furnished their grains of truth; after philosophy has 
 studied the universe and its laws, then comes science, 
 which is what we know ; and all of these together 
 constitute a nation's literature. Whenever a nation 
 begins, it begins a history, a philosophy, the arts 
 and sciences, and a literature. But amongst a peo- 
 ple, where man has to struggle with the elements and 
 his enemies for mere animal existence, although he 
 necessarily acquires knowledge, there are but few joys 
 for the mind and heart; yet in more polished nations 
 literature gradually becomes a want of the soul, al- 
 most as much as bread is a want of the body. Lit- 
 erature, indeed, may be defined to be the recorded 
 culture of the mind and the soul; and the best lit- 
 erature is the best thoughts, upon the best subjects, 
 expressed in the best words. The orator and the 
 poet precede the scholar and the author. The scholar 
 learns from the poet, the author reads, invents, and 
 imagines; the critic comes last. He draws his rules 
 from those who spoke, wrote, and sung, without 
 rules, save the great rule of nature; and the bold 
 oratory and artless song of the savage sometimes 
 have a beauty which no learning or criticism can im- 
 prove. Kings, princes, heroes, warriors, statesmen, 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 and rulers, however useful to their times, however 
 wise, brilHant, or accomplished, pass away with their 
 periods; while the man of letters represents pure 
 thought, which remains like the fixed stars ; and he 
 is often remembered for a single sentence, a line, a 
 verse, a principle, a sentiment, simply expressed in 
 words, long after kings, princes, heroes, warriors, 
 statesmen, and rulers are buried beneath the dust of 
 ages, and forgotten forever. 
 
 The earliest authentic history of the Slavonic na- 
 tions, of which Russia is the great modern exponent, 
 fades away amidst the traditions, legends, and tales 
 which have just been noticed. Herodotus mentions 
 a people which are supposed to have been a tribe of 
 the Slavi ; and some allusions to their country and 
 race are made by Strabo, Pliny, and Tacitus. From 
 the resemblance of the Slavonic language to the 
 Sanscrit it has been supposed that these people came 
 from India, but when they passed over into the re- 
 gions they now occupy, can not be ascertained ; 
 probably it was before the Christian era, but the first 
 authentic intelligence with regard to them does not 
 reach back farther than the sixth century. Doubtless 
 the whole Slavonic race originally spoke the same 
 language, but it was soon broken up into dialects, 
 as a language spread over a vast region of country 
 will be especially while it remains unwritten. The 
 Slavonic language has become varied and enriched by 
 the Greek, Latin, German, French, and even Eng- 
 lish, and has now ripened into the modern Russian ; 
 but the earliest manuscripts in the Slavonic language 
 are not older than the time of the eleventh century. 
 There are some inscriptions and devices upon the 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 crosses and monuments perhaps older than that date. 
 The earliest records by native writers were written 
 about the middle of the eleventh century. A code 
 of laws was enacted as early as 1280, and recorded in 
 the native language. And Russia, like Greece, and 
 indeed like most other nations, has its epic poem. It 
 is called " Igor's Expedition," and is supposed to 
 have been written in the twelfth century. It is said 
 to possess a refinement and delicacy remarkable for 
 so rude a people as they were at that time, and also 
 has much power and gracefulness; but the critics do 
 not place it very high as a literary production. In 
 the fifteenth century Russian literature received an 
 important influence from the liberality of some of 
 the native princes, who invited the learned from Ger- 
 many, Italy, and France into their dominions. About 
 the same time public schools were founded; and the 
 Russian youth were sometimes sent to foreign uni- 
 versities to be educated. The language and literature 
 of Poland, also, about this period commenced hav- 
 ing an important effect upon the minds of the Rus- 
 sian people; and subsequently Russia obtained the 
 greater part of her public libraries from the spolia- 
 tion of Poland, and very much enriched her litera- 
 ture from the language and works of that intelligent 
 and brave, but unfortunate people. History began 
 to be regularly recorded, and thus assume an authen- 
 tic and permanent shape; but Russian literature can 
 not be said to have had a beginning before the reign 
 of Peter the Great, at the close of the seventeenth 
 century. He adopted the Russian language in his 
 courts of justice, and in diplomacy, and made it the 
 polite language of the nation. He had type cast, 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 and established presses, and caused many books to be 
 translated into the Russian from other languages 
 particularly from the German and French ; indeed, 
 Peter the Great was to Russia very much what Alfred 
 the Great was to England; still, up to this time 
 even, the Russian language had no systematic gram- 
 mar, and of course but little attention had been paid 
 to style. But if Peter the Great laid the foundation 
 of Russian literature, Lomonosof must be regarded 
 as its architect. As most great benefactors are, he 
 was humbly born ; his father was a fisherman. He 
 first learned to read from the servants of the church, 
 and so ardent was his desire for knowledge, that he 
 left the shelter of his father's roof clandestinely, and 
 went to Moscow, where, he had been told, they taught 
 the languages ; thence to St. Petersburg, where he ob- 
 tained a liberal education. Afterwards he traveled 
 through Germany and Holland, where he studied 
 philosophy and the sciences. His Russian grammar 
 brought his native language from chaos into order, 
 and he was the first one who cultivated style. He 
 sketched the history of his country, and wrote sev- 
 eral works on chemistry and mineralogy. He also 
 composed a long epic poem, as well as several odes 
 and tragedies, but they do not rank high ; he was 
 rather a philosopher than a poet. His works are 
 blemished, however, by the too common fault of all 
 who write under tyranny, namely, an undue tendency 
 to panegyric, and a stooping to despotic power. 
 These are weaknesses in a great mind, but the age 
 and country in which he lived must be the excuse 
 of Lomonosof. Contemporaneous with Lomonosof 
 were Kheraskof and Sumarakof, who were very pro- 
 
8 RUSSIAN LITERATURE, 
 
 
 
 lific writers, but not of remarkable genius; although 
 Kheraskof, having written an immense and cumbrous 
 epic poem, was called the Russian Homer. About 
 the same time also lived and flourished Dershavin, a 
 poet of true genius. Although his works were be- 
 dazzled with the glory of Catharine, yet the true 
 metal could be discovered beneath the tinsel. He 
 wrote an "Ode to God" of uncommon beauty; it 
 was translated into most of the European languages, 
 and attained the distinguished honor of being printed 
 in letters of gold and hung in the palace of the Chi- 
 nese Emperor and the Temple of Jeddo. But devo- 
 tion to power, from which not even Dershavin was 
 exempt, is the weakness of all the literati of Russia. 
 Patriotism is a becoming sentiment, but a literature 
 expressive of that which is not just to all men, can 
 have no abiding place in the Republic of Letters. 
 Catharine was a great patron of learning, but a litera- 
 ture indebted to any other influence than that of 
 truth and nature, can never be pure or permanent. 
 
 During the reign of Alexander, who succeeded 
 Catharine, many new schools and several universities 
 were founded, also a number of museums. This 
 prince affected to be a great patron of letters, but 
 his influence rather made learning fashionable than 
 afforded it any substantial advantage. Writers be- 
 came extremely numerous; authorship seemed to be 
 a rage with the nobility. Russia, at this time, pos- 
 sessed about fourteen thousand volumes in the Sla- 
 vonic language, more than seven thousand of which 
 were said to be the product of a single year. We 
 shall be able to mention but few authors of this 
 period they are very numerous among whom 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 Karamzin must stand at the head, for, unquestion- 
 ably, next to Lomonosof, he was the great benefactor 
 of Russian literature. After righting awhile in the 
 army with credit, he turned his attention to letters, 
 and established the Moscow Journal, a periodical 
 through which he first became known to the world in 
 his new character. He won nobler laurels with his 
 pen than he had done with his sword. At length he 
 enlarged his field by founding another periodical 
 called the European Messenger, in which he took a 
 larger and higher range of s-ubjects ; but his more 
 permanent fame rests on his history of the Russian 
 Empire. This great work, however, having been 
 written under the patronage of the government, is not 
 free from the blemishes we have before mentioned. 
 If not false in fact, yet the romantic coloring is too 
 apt to gild the deed which truth and justice must 
 condemn. The great advantage which Russian lit- 
 erature gained from Karamzin, was the improvement 
 of its language and the cultivation of a vigorous and 
 idiomatic style. 
 
 A remarkable poet of this period, both for genius 
 and misfortune, was Ivan Koslof. Early in life he 
 had been a gay and fashionable man, and pursued his 
 career of dissipation until sickness deprived him of 
 the use of his limbs, soon after which misfortune he 
 lost his sight. Adversity seemed to touch and 
 awaken his true genius. He found a balm for his 
 afflictions in literature. Heine, of Germany, affords 
 a similar and more recent example of the soothing 
 effect of culture under misfortune. Being a lover 
 of the intense and passionate, Koslof imitated and 
 translated Byron, and like that great poet, and like 
 
IO RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 Heine also, <c he learned in suffering what he taught 
 in song." Another poet, of a similar name Ivan 
 Krylof was celebrated for the composition of many 
 stories and fables, and his sweet appeals to child- 
 like nature. Count Orloff, as well as several of the 
 literati of Paris, did him the honor to translate his 
 works into the French language. He was a pure, 
 harmless, kind-hearted man, and, notwithstanding 
 the ruggedness of the Russian character, became a 
 great favorite of the nation. Whoever, indeed, ob- 
 tains a hearing from the youth of a nation secures 
 perpetual fame. At this period Russia had produced 
 but little in the drama; nothing, indeed, in the de- 
 partment of tragedy of any greatness or power. 
 Ozerof is the leading dramatic poet, and his most 
 popular, and perhaps his best play, is entitled the 
 " Miseries of Intellect" surely a most admirable 
 theme. The novel has been cultivated in Russia, 
 both in prose and rhyme, to a considerable extent. 
 The one best known among the older ones, as far as 
 I am informed, is entitled " Bursak" and is said to 
 abound in that pleasing, quiet humor, so character- 
 istic of Don Quixote, but it narrates the adventures 
 of a scholar with his pen, instead of a knight-errant 
 with his sword. Recently Russia has produced a 
 novelist of great power Ivan S. Turgenef still 
 living. His first venture " Notes of a Sports- 
 man" a series of sketches of country life, contains 
 vigorous attacks upon the villeinage of the serfs, 
 and had much to do, it is thought, in abolishing that 
 odious system of slavery. These sketches were 
 followed by more elaborate works (t Fathers and 
 Children," " Smoke," "A Nest of Nobles," " The 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. II 
 
 Unfortunate One," etc. all upon Russian subjects, 
 and written with great vigor. 
 
 Translations have even abounded in Russia. Ho- 
 mer, Ossian, Ariosto, Tasso, Pope, Byron., in po- 
 etry ; Newton, Locke, and Bacon, in philosophy ; 
 and a great number of ecclesiastical and educational 
 works have received the Slavonic dress. 
 
 The reign of the late Emperor Nicholas com- 
 menced in a storm indeed in blood, and ended in 
 storm and blood. The most of his rule, however, 
 was calm, but it was the calm of force, not of con- 
 sent. Many of the young literati were concerned in 
 the bloody tragedy which ushered the emperor into 
 power, and lost their lives in the contest. His 
 death, during the terrible war in the Crimea, will be 
 long remembered. The conflict was really between 
 free thought and despotic power. The Russian Pe- 
 gasus had become restive under the curb and rein of 
 tyranny. He longed to range at liberty in fresh pas- 
 tures, and drink from a pure Hippocrene, or dash his 
 daring hoof on Parnassus Mount ; but, alas ! he 
 was subjugated to the Emperor's will, and compelled 
 to drudge in his iron service, just as Napoleon III 
 geared him to the car of tyranny in France. 
 
 Research and criticism began to assume a more 
 prominent part in literature during the late reign 
 than it had previously done. A periodical work, 
 entitled " The Telegraph,." was established by Pole- 
 voi, who was a self-made man not having been bred 
 to letters, nor was he a man of much genius but he 
 possessed a clear judgment and great energy of 
 thought, the very qualities which constitute the 
 critic. History and biography assumed more im- 
 
12 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 portance, but no work of philosophy or science, or 
 at least none of a high order, had yet appeared writ- 
 ten by a Russian, or in the Slavonic language. Re- 
 ligious controversies arose, and skepticism and infi- 
 delity made their appearance during this reign, 
 probably transplanted from Germany and France. 
 Panslavism a political doctrine, according to which 
 Russia, being at the head, claimed the right to ab- 
 sorb all the Slavonic nations into her own empire 
 was much discussed at this period, and was indeed 
 the principle which gave the final blow to the liberty 
 of Poland. Books of travel and studies of antiqui- 
 ties now appeared, but they formed no very consid- 
 erable branch of Russian literature. Novels were 
 very numerous and began to portray Russian home- 
 life, but no remarkable author appeared in this line. 
 Their works were all ephemeral, corresponding to 
 the multitude of tales which we now find in our own 
 nation. Pushkin, the greatest poet that Russia has 
 yet produced, flourished during this time. He had 
 been banished by Alexander for his too daring senti- 
 ments of liberty, but on account of his great genius 
 was recalled by Nicholas. During his exile he wrote 
 much and well, but on his return he seemed to have 
 lost the spirit of his genius, so baleful is the influ- 
 ence of a despotic court upon this noble principle. 
 His writings possess the true Byronic fire, and, 
 like those of Koslof, evidently share the influence of 
 the great English bard. Pushkin, indeed, may be 
 called the Russian Byron. He had the daring of an 
 eagle, and behind the bars of despotism, like the 
 caged eagle, could only gaze upon the sky of liberty. 
 The court of Nicholas was also adorned by a num- 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 her of minor poets, amongst whom two ladies of some 
 genius appeared, the Princess Volkanski, and Miss 
 Teplef. Mrs. Helena Han was also an author of 
 celebrity, whose writings resemble those of the late 
 Madame George Sand. A collection of the popular 
 poetry of the Slavonic tribes has been made by Bie- 
 lowski, a Polander, by which it appears that Russia, 
 though the largest, is not the oldest nor the most 
 poetical branch of this extensive family. But Rus- 
 sian poetry, comparing it in quality to that of this. 
 prolific age in our own country, is very limited in 
 its production. The Russians can not be said to be 
 a poetical people. Pushkin is their only great poet 
 when compared with the poets of other nations. 
 The drama, during the reign of Nicholas, lay at the 
 feet of the Emperor. The very titles of the plays 
 are abject, and sometimes even sacrilegious; for in- 
 stance, one is called, "Our Lives Belong to the 
 Czar," another, u The Hand of God Defends the 
 Czar." 
 
 Polish literature, although now embraced in the 
 general name of Russian, af which, however, it is 
 the .greater and better part, still deserves a separate 
 notice. The language of Poland, like that of Russia, 
 arose out of the Slavonic dialects, but has been modi- 
 fied, of course, by the surrounding languages. No 
 living language can remain permanent; even the 
 written language of the Chinese, the most peculiar 
 of all languages, is now changing under the pressure 
 of surrounding influences. Like the Egyptian hier- 
 oglyphics, the key to its meaning has been discovered, 
 and it no longer remains a mystery. The Polish 
 tongue is still spoken by ten millions of people. 
 
14 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 The earliest production in this language is a war 
 song which is still sung, or at least was before the 
 Partition of Poland amongst the conquering powers 
 supposed to have been written about the close of the 
 tenth century. It should be remembered that Poland 
 had no existence as a nation, separate from the Sla- 
 vonic tribes, earlier than the tenth century, nor, indeed, 
 had Russia earlier than the ninth. This song, which 
 rather resembles a prayer, has no poetical value, and 
 notwithstanding so early a specimen, the beginning 
 of Polish literature does not date before the fifteenth 
 century. There are a few slight traces of recorded 
 thought throughout this dreary period, but nothing 
 that remains permanent. Indeed, all the nations of 
 the earth, except some in the East, during these five 
 centuries, and the five immediately preceding them, 
 were robbed of their rights, ensnared in ecclesiastical 
 meshes, enchained by political tyranny, and trodden 
 down to the deepest degradation. The sun of litera- 
 ture, during one thousand years, was obscured by the 
 clouds of superstition ; philosophy was denied, 
 science condemned, the arts except where they sub- 
 served the interests of the church were ignored, and 
 liberty destroyed. From the tenth to the fifteenth 
 century, Polish thought and Polish letters were wholly 
 governed by church dignitaries, who were all foreign- 
 ers, the nation not being allowed to exercise even 
 the humblest clerical privileges. While a nation is 
 thus robbed and ridden, it is very easy to see why it 
 produces no literature. The mind must be free, or 
 its thoughts are worthless. 
 
 Casimir was the first wise Polish prince; he im- 
 proved the laws, established courts of justice, and 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 laid the foundation of a national education. He was 
 the Petes the Great of Poland. The first printing 
 press was erected at Cracow, in .1488, from which 
 period the Polish language may be said to date. 
 There has been found, however, a work called " The 
 Memoirs of a Janissary," written at an earlier period, 
 but its language is so imperfect that a modern Pole 
 can not read it without explanation. It is the journal 
 of a Polish nobleman, who joined the Turkish army, 
 and fought at the siege of Constantinople, in 1453 ; 
 and of course, the true date of the work could not 
 have been long after that event. Some religious 
 works, that bear date about the same time, are still 
 extant, but their language is also so imperfect that 
 they afford conclusive proof of the true commence- 
 ment of Polish letters. The annals of Poland, how- 
 ever, seem to be correctly written at this time, and 
 for a long period before, but they are found in the 
 Latin language, and written by foreign scholars. 
 
 Kochanowski was the founder of Polish literature. 
 He was a man of genius, a scholar, and a poet. His 
 translations of Homer, Anacreon, and Horace, are 
 distinguished for force of language and purity of 
 style; and his original pieces possess uncommon 
 vigor and beauty. He was a dramatic as well as a 
 lyrical poet. Rybinski and Klonowitz were also 
 distinguished as poets ; the former wrote in the Latin 
 as well as in the Polish language, and was created a 
 poet-laureate. Karpinski was the poet of the people, 
 and may justly be called the Burns of Poland'. From 
 this period, Poland has had a continued succession 
 of poets too numerous to name even of a high 
 order in all the departments of the art, down to the 
 
l6 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 
 
 time she lost her nationality ; and there is one noble 
 trait of character, which, during all of this time, 
 must forever distinguish them from the Russian 
 poets of the same period their muse was devoted 
 to freedom ; but, alas, for the sad effect of despotic 
 power in chaining genius a recent volume of 
 poetry, published at Warsaw, celebrates the praises 
 of all the tyrants of Russia, from Rurik to Alexander. 
 And eloquence, before the downfall of Poland, was 
 also highly cultivated, and very much esteemed, as it 
 always is in a free nation, and as it never can be under 
 a despotism. Russia has never produced a single 
 orator of eminence, whilst Poland has had her hun- 
 dreds ; but, alas, for Polish eloquence, that, too, has 
 been hushed forever. 
 
 The novel has been cultivated, perhaps, in Poland, 
 less than any other department of literature, yet 
 Scott has been happily imitated. Sharbeck is the 
 principal, or, at least, one of the leading Polish nov- 
 elists ; but the novel which is said to be most read, 
 was written by a woman, the Princess of Wirtemberg, 
 and is called, "The Intimations of the Heart" a 
 very pleasing title, and a subject which a woman could 
 most happily treat. Historians and annalists have 
 abounded in Poland none of the highest order, 
 however; but the true history of Poland can never 
 be written. Her nationality is lost, her libraries are 
 plundered, and her archives destroyed. Russia seems 
 determined, under the fatal doctrine of Panslavism, 
 not only to destroy her from amongst the nations of 
 the earth, but also to efface every mark that might 
 seem to indicate her former existence. She was too 
 learned, too eloquent, too brave, and too free, to suit 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. l7 
 
 the designs of Russia ; and the remains of her noble 
 qualities but ill comport with despotic power. 
 
 In philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and the 
 practical sciences, Poland, for three hundred years 
 before her downfall, stood equal to any of the con- 
 temporaneous nations ; while Russia, proper, in 
 these departments, fell below mediocrity. The uni- 
 versities, seats of learning, down to the common 
 schools of Poland, were broken up, their funds taken 
 from them, and every vestige worth removing, trans- 
 ferred to the halls of the Czar". Since the downfall 
 of Poland, the more spirited of her people have, been 
 wanderers, too proud to wear the chains of slavery on 
 their native soil. A great many of her literati fled 
 to Paris, where they or their descendants still live. 
 From that city, during the last forty years, they have 
 published to the world many interesting productions 
 concerning Poland. " Evening Hours of a Pilgrim," 
 the very title of which touches the heart, is a work 
 of peculiar interest. It gives much information con- 
 cerning the former condition of Poland, especially 
 in the time of Poniatowski. I do not know the au- 
 thor of this work ; it was published without his 
 name. The lectures of Mickiewiczs on Slavonic 
 literature, delivered at Paris, in the French language, 
 and afterward published in German, at Leipsic, are 
 full of thought, and glow with enthusiasm. Their 
 author was a bold orator and a true poet. He fondly 
 believed in the revolution of the world, which would 
 restore his wronged country to her legitimate rights, 
 and unite all the Slavonic nations under a free gov- 
 ernment. He made use of this beautiful metaphor ; 
 " There will yet be a torch that shall illumine the 
 
l8 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 world, of which I am but a spark now falling to the 
 ground." But it is in purely poetical creation that 
 Mickiewiczs shrouds his full power. His C Sir 
 Thadeus " is a work of great beauty ; and he is also 
 the author of some smaller poems of a very high 
 order. But in poetry he is not a prolific writer; in- 
 deed, it might almost be stated as a rule, that the 
 best poets produce the least poetry ; at least, good 
 poetry, compared with such as is " hated by gods 
 and men," bears but a small proportion to it. Peb- 
 bles are plenty, diamonds are rare. Count Krazinski, 
 however, is considered by many their greatest poet. 
 He has the ethereal mystical power of Shelley, com- 
 bined with the passionate fire of Byron; indeed, by 
 some he is considered not inferior to these master 
 spirits. There are a number of other poets still liv- 
 ing, too many, indeed, to notice separately, some of 
 whom have a highly-cultivated genius. Their songs 
 are wild and daring, or sweet and subdued, as alter- 
 nately they sing of their once happy, but now unfor- 
 tunate country. But the echo- of their strains will 
 soon die away, and Polish poetry cease to have a 
 living voice. 
 
 Finland, as being a considerable portion of the 
 Russian Empire, may claim our attention a moment. 
 The Finns are not of Slavonic blood ; they are sup- 
 posed, by many, to be the same as the Phinni men- 
 tioned by Ptolemy, or the Fenni noticed by Tacitus. 
 They are a brave and hospitable people, but grave 
 and unsocial. Their popular education is in a low 
 state, y^t almost every one studies music arid poetry. 
 Their poets wear the mythic robes of Ossian, and 
 their music resembles the ancient Gaelic, or that of 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 the early Welsh ; but they can scarcely be said to 
 have a recorded literature. Their greatest poem, or 
 collection of poems it is difficult to say which is 
 an epic, entitled Kallawalla. It has been translated 
 into English, French, and German, and I believe 
 into the Swedish language. It is from this poem, 
 as some have thought, that Longfellow caught the 
 idea of his Hiawatha. Kallawalla sings the legends 
 of the Finnish race, and Hiawatha the traditions of 
 the North American Indians. That the legends and 
 traditions of a rude people, though inhabiting differ- 
 ent countries, when their circumstances are alike, 
 might resemble, is highly probable; yet there are but 
 few coincidences between the Finns and our Indians. 
 From the strong resemblance between the two poems, 
 not only in form and spirit, but in many of the inci- 
 dents, and the frequent similarity of thought and 
 sentiment, it seems highly probable that Professor 
 Longfellow took a lively hint from the Finnish epic. 
 Though Longfellow worthily wears the poetic wreath, 
 yet he is too much of a scholar and too devoted to 
 books to be a thoroughly original poet. Not that 
 a man can be too learned to be a poet, yet his genius 
 must bear a due proportion to his learning, else he 
 will take thought at second hand and unconsciously 
 become a copyist. This is precisely the case with the 
 author of Hiawatha; his genius is covered up in his 
 learning; he has not sufficient force to assimilate it, 
 and thus make it his own, or to shake its influence 
 from his mind. The author of Kallawalla is un- 
 known. It has been sung during many generations 
 at the fireside of the Finn, and chanted in the field 
 to lighten his labor. Indeed it has floated in tradi- 
 
2O RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 tion for ages, until it was gathered up by European 
 scholars, or some modern Pisistratus perhaps, and 
 put in its present shape. This renders its authen- 
 ticity certain, but leaves the name of its author a 
 mystery forever. 
 
 We will now notice some of the characteristics of 
 Slavonic popular poetry, and also give a few speci- 
 mens. The monuments of a nation's muse generally 
 exist in their epics, dramas, histories ; these are read 
 by students, scholars, and critics ; but the living and 
 flowing poetry of a nation is found in its songs and 
 ballads; these are read, repeated, recited, and sung 
 by the people. The Slavi are a singing race. The 
 faculty called a musical ear is almost universal with 
 them, and their cultivation of 'a musical taste is re- 
 markable; and, when not at war, singing and playing 
 on an instrument of the lyre kind, similar to a 
 Spanish guitar in Latin called a cithara, in old 
 English a citttra> and in Spanish guitarra, whence 
 comes the modern name, guitar -constitutes quite an 
 occupation, and consumes much of their time. In 
 their poetry they make frequent use of epithets, and 
 the application of some of them, though somewhat 
 monotonous, is indeed beautiful. To give an ex- 
 ample the word white is not only applicable to 
 things, but to actions also. Not only is it used to 
 express the color, but also every quality that is pure, 
 or beautiful, or good. They would say of a noble 
 action, "it is a white deed ;" or if they speak of the 
 Czar, they call him the white Czar; and indeed they 
 extend the application of the epithet to the Almighty, 
 calling Him the white God, as we would say the Im- 
 maculate. Slavonic poetry is extremely ancient. 
 
f UNIVERSITY ) 
 
 \ y 
 
 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 21 
 
 We are indebted to German scholars for bringing it 
 to light,, as we are indebted to them for light upon 
 many other subjects. Its morality, for a rude peo- 
 ple, is extremely high and just, and its tone remark- 
 ably pure and chaste, as is more likely to be the case 
 in northern than in southern races. In these respects 
 politer nations might have learned justice and purity 
 from the ancient Slavi. It is also comparatively free 
 from superstition and those monstrous conceptions 
 which are so apt to disfigure the poetry of rude 
 nations. Such supernatural expressions as we find in 
 it generally relate to the attributes of the Supreme 
 Being, or to the missions of angels, which are pleas- 
 ing to the most enlightened minds. The belief, 
 however, in the foreboding of dreams prevails to 
 some extent. Indeed, but few persons rise entirely 
 above such influences ; the reason condemns thern^ 
 but a doubt will still linger in the sentiments. There 
 is a prevailing cast of melancholy in the Russian 
 songs, and in the tone of their national music. The 
 origin of their popular tunes is as deeply hidden in 
 the past as the sources of their poetry. They are 
 rich and varied, and are much admired by cultivated 
 musicians. The pensiveness which pervades his 
 songs appears in singular contrast with the generally 
 cheerful disposition and rugged character of the 
 hardy Russ. And as warlike as the Russians are, 
 we yet find but few war songs in their poetry ; nor 
 are they remarkable for their fire or force when they 
 do occur. The following " Song of the Haidam- 
 ack " is a fair specimen. It is expressive of the 
 Russian's hatred of the Pole. Haidamack is a name 
 given to the Russian peasant : 
 
22 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 SONG OF THE HAIDAMACK. 
 
 Gladly would I to the war 
 
 To the war so full of prey ; 
 Pleasure of the Haidamack, 
 
 But the steward bids me stay ! 
 
 Gladly to the merry dance, 
 
 Would I to the gusli play, 
 Pleasure of the rosy maid ; 
 
 But the steward bids me stay ! 
 
 Gladly would I hunting go 
 
 With my hounding dog away % , 
 Pleasure of the noble youth, 
 
 But the steward bids me stay ! 
 
 But farewell, thou rosy maid, 
 
 Quickly, sabre, to thy goal, 
 Mount thy charger, Haidamack, 
 
 Perish may the haughty Pole ! 
 
 Neither are elegiac pieces common in Slavonic 
 poetry. The following elegy, however, on a mur- 
 dered youth, is supposed to date as early as the six- 
 teenth century : 
 
 ELEGY ON A MURDERED YOUTH. 
 
 Oh, thou field, thou green and level field, 
 Oh, thou plain, so far and wide around, 
 Pleasing field, dressed up with everything 
 Everything with sky-blue flowers so small ; 
 Fresh thy verdure, and thy bushes fledged, 
 But defaced by one thing only one ! 
 
 In thy very middle stands a tree ; 
 
 On that tree a young grey eagle sits ; 
 
 He sucks the raven's heart-blood glowing hot, 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 Drenches with it, too, the moistened earth. 
 Ah, black raven, youth so good and brave, 
 Thy destroyer is the eagle grey ! 
 
 Not a swallow can more fondly cling 
 Hovering cling, unto her soft, warm nest, 
 Than the mother to her murdered son. 
 And her tears flow like the rushing stream, 
 And his sister's like the murmuring rill ; 
 Thus, in showers, the tears of love fall down ! 
 
 The following touching little piece, entitled "The 
 Dove," may also rank under the present division : 
 
 THE DOVE. 
 
 On an oak tree sat, 
 Sat a pair of doves ; 
 And they heart to heart 
 Tenderly embraced. 
 
 On them suddenly 
 Darted down a hawk ; 
 One he seized and tore, 
 Tore the little dove ; 
 With his feathered feet, 
 Soft blue little dove ; 
 And he poured his blood 
 Streaming down the tree ; 
 Feathers too he strewed 
 Wide around the lea ; 
 High away the down 
 Floated on the air. 
 
 Ah, how wept and wept, 
 Ah, how sobbed and sobbed, 
 The tender doveling then 
 For her little dove ! 
 
24 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 Spake the light young hawk 
 To the little dove ; 
 " Weep not, weep not so, 
 Tender little bird ! 
 O'er the sea away 
 O'er the far blue sea, 
 Flocks of other doves 
 I will drive to thee ; 
 From them choose thee one, 
 Choose one soft and blue, 
 With his feathered feet, 
 Little dove for you ! " 
 
 Said the doveling then, 
 To the light young hawk : 
 " Villain, fly thou not 
 O'er the far blue sea, 
 Flocks of other doves 
 Drive not here to me ; 
 Of all the flocks of doves, 
 Of all beyond the sea, 
 The father of my little ones 
 Alone can comfort me !" 
 
 The song of the Post Boy is highly characteristic 
 of the rugged Russian and the cheerless climate. 
 Imagine him in the depths of a Russian winter, 
 scaling the snow-clad mountain; in the wild forest; 
 through the keen air; while a few stray sunbeams 
 glitter on the snow they can not melt, chanting the 
 following strain : 
 
 SONG OF THE POST BOY. 
 
 Ah, thou bright sunlight 
 Bright and red sunlight, 
 O'er the mountain high, 
 Shining through the oak, 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 25 
 
 Warm the post-boy's heart, 
 Warm, oh, warm me, sun, 
 And not me alone, 
 But my maiden, too ! 
 
 Ah ! thou maiden dear, 
 Fairest, dearest child ; 
 Thou my lovely maid, 
 Mild and sweet to me ! 
 
 4 
 
 Black those brows of thine, 
 Black thy winning eyes, 
 And thy lovely fa&e, 
 All so round and bright, 
 Without painting red, 
 Without painting white ! 
 
 To thy girdle rolls 
 Many a flowing lock ; 
 And thy voice is sweet, 
 Full of gentle talk ! 
 
 In the collections of Slavonic poetry to which I 
 have had access I do not find a single drinking song. 
 
 Some of them, however, allude to the vine in 
 rather merry terms. The Russians are known to be 
 a sober, hardy people ; yet, as every poetic literature 
 of which I have any knowledge, has something in- 
 spired by the wine-cup, it would seem highly proba- 
 ble that the Russian did not stand as an exception 
 so remarkable. Bacchanalian songs really disfigure 
 Greek and Roman poetry ; and the German, French, 
 and English are not without serious faults in this 
 respect. It is a subject well enough when delicately 
 managed, but in the poet's hands very liable to be 
 abused. 
 
26 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 The love of the dead appears to be a strong trait 
 in the Slavonic character. The following piece, al- 
 though it sounds very Germanlike, is characteristic 
 of the melancholy Slavi. It is difficult, in these 
 specimens, to always employ rhyme and exactly pre- 
 serve the sense, yet it will be attempted in some of 
 the following pieces : 
 
 THE DEAD LOVE. 
 
 I sought the dark wood where the oat-grass was growing ; 
 The maidens were there and the oat-grass were mowing ; 
 And I called to those maidens : "Now, say, if there be 
 The maiden I love 'midst the maidens I see !" 
 
 And they sighed as they answered : " No, no ; alas, no ; 
 
 She was laid in the tomb just one week ago.'* 
 
 " Then show me the way my footsteps must tread 
 
 To reach the dark chamber where slumbers the dead I" 
 
 II The path is before thee, her grave will be known 
 
 By the rosemary wreathes her companions have thrown." 
 " And where is the church-yard, whose newly-made heaps 
 Will point out the bed where the blessecl one sleeps ! " 
 
 I turned, and with heart-chilling terror I froze, 
 As a newly-made grave in my pathway arose ; 
 And I heard a low voice, but it audibly said : 
 " Disturb not, disturb not, the peace of the dead ! " 
 
 u Who treads on my grave? what footsteps have swept 
 The dew from the bed where the weary one slept?" 
 " Oh maiden, my maiden, speak not thus to me, 
 My presents were once not unwelcome to thee ! " 
 
 " Thy presents were welcome, but none could I save, 
 Not one could I bring with me into the grave ; 
 Go, then, to my mother, and bid her restore 
 To thy hands every gift which I valued before ! " 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 " Then cast the gold ring in the depths of the sea, 
 That eternity's peace may be given to me ; 
 And sink the white 'kerchief deep, deep in the wave, 
 That my head may repose undisturbed in the grave !" 
 
 The next is a little piece bearing the same title, 
 which, I think, must be regarded as beautiful. The 
 reader should remember what was said about the 
 word white that it meant not only the color, but 
 also everything that is good, pure, or beautiful : 
 
 THE DEAD LOVE. 
 
 White art thou my maiden, 
 
 Naught so white as thee ; 
 Warm my love is, maiden, 
 
 Can not warmer be ! 
 
 But when dead, my maiden, 
 
 Whiter than before ; 
 Maiden, now I love thee 
 
 Warmer than before ! 
 
 The accumulated superlatives in this piece are 
 faults in a strictly critical view. Of course nothing 
 can be whiter than the whitest, nor warmer than the 
 warmest. But the same extravagances have been al- 
 leged against Sappho and Shakespeare, and indeed can 
 be pointed out in most of our standard poets. The 
 head may detect such errors but the heart forgives 
 them. 
 
 Love is the great element in Slavonic poetry, as 
 it is, indeed, in the poetry of all the nations of the 
 earth. Love nothing so laughed at, yet nothing so 
 wept over; nothing so ridiculed, yet nothing so 
 obeyed; nothing so gentle, yet nothing so terrible; 
 
28 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 why wonder, then, since it can move every other pas- 
 sion, that love is the master key to poetry. Strong 
 men and proud women may say what they will he 
 conquers them, and they obey him. The Russian, 
 with all his ruggedness, is delicate in love. In lit- 
 erature their love songs are less offensive with gross- 
 ness of passion than perhaps those of almost any 
 other nation. Greece, the politest of ancient nations, 
 and France of modern, fall far below Russia in this 
 respect. There is less ideality in the Russian's love 
 than in the Grecian or German, but his affection is 
 more self-sacrificing to the object beloved. The fol- 
 lowing verse expresses a pure and noble sentiment. 
 It should be mentioned first, however, that the 
 Asiatic custom, by which the parents dispose abso- 
 lutely of their children in marriage, prevails through- 
 out the Slavonic nations. A Russian daughter, 
 wherever her love might be placed, would not pre- 
 sume to marry against her parents' discretion. This 
 verse expresses the lover's advice to his beloved after 
 she is betrothed to another, in accordance with pa- 
 rental authority : 
 
 Weep not, weep not, oh, sweet maid ; 
 Choose, oh, choose another love. 
 Is he better ? Thou Ft forget me ; 
 Is he worse? Then think of me 
 Think of me, sweet one, and weep ! 
 
 The following, which describes a parting under 
 similar circumstances, it appears to me, must be re- 
 garded as a beautiful poem. It is impossible to 
 adopt rhyme, in this piece, without too great a sacri- 
 fice of the thought. 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 THE FAREWELL. 
 
 Brightly shining sank the waning moon, 
 And the sun all beautiful arose, 
 Not a falcon floated through the air 
 Strayed a youth along the river's brim ; 
 Slowly strayed he on, and dreamingly, 
 Sighing, walked he to the garden green, 
 Heart all filled with sorrow, thus he mused : 
 U A11 the little birds are now awake, 
 Greeting, all have sung their morning songs. 
 But, alas! that sweetest doveling, mine, 
 She was my youth's first dawning love, 
 In her chamber slumbers fast and deep. 
 Ah, not even her friend is in her dreams, , 
 Ah, no thought of me bedims her soul, 
 While my heart is torn with wildest grief 
 That she comes to meet me here no more !" 
 
 Stepped the maiden from the chamber then, 
 Wet, oh, wet with tears her lovely face ; 
 All with sadness dimmed her eyes so clear, 
 Feebly drooping hung her snowy arms. 
 'T was no arrow that had pierced her heart, 
 ' T was no adder that had stung her breast ; 
 Weeping, thus the lovely maid began : 
 " Fare thee well, beloved, fare thee well, 
 Dearest soul, thy father's noblest son ; 
 I have been betrothed since yesterday, 
 Come, to-morrow, troops of wedding guests ; 
 To the altar I am forced to go ; 
 I shall be another's then, yet thine, 
 Forever thine, thine only until death ! 
 
 Having thus shown the complaint of a despairing 
 lover for the loss of his mistress, we will present the 
 following little piece, which expresses- the grief of the 
 maiden for the loss of her lover. The sentiment is 
 lighter than that of the preceding pieces,. Perchance 
 
JO RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 some inveterate bachelor unwillingly so, no doubt 
 will exclaim : u and well it may be, for the maiden's 
 love is lighter than the man's." But be that as it 
 may, here is the piece: 
 
 THE FORSAKEN MAIDEN. 
 
 Little star, with gloomy ray, 
 
 If thou coulds't but cry, 
 
 If thou hads't a heart, my star, 
 
 Sparks, I'm sure, would from thee fly, 
 
 Just as tears fall from mine eye. 
 
 All the night with golden sparks 
 Thou for me woulds't cry, 
 Since my love intends to wed, 
 Only cause another maid 
 Richer is than I ! 
 
 Nor can this piece rank very high as a composi- 
 tion. It is too much elaborated. The heart utters 
 its grief in the most simple and direct language. It 
 never runs after comparisons. The tone of the piece 
 sounds far more 'like the song of a lover in his 
 closet than the deep murmur of an injured maiden's 
 heart. 
 
 The following poem is very plaintive, and fondly 
 expresses the uneasy longing of the love-stricken one: 
 
 ABSENT LOVE. 
 
 Winds are blowing, howling, 
 Trees are bending low ; 
 Oh, my heart is aching, 
 Tears in streamlets flow ! 
 
 Days I count with sorrow, 
 And no ends appears, 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 But my heart is lightened 
 When I'm sheddin tears ! 
 
 
 Tears the heart can lighten, 
 
 Happy make it riot, 
 But one blissful moment 
 
 Ne'er can be forgot ! 
 
 On the lea so sandy 
 
 Dry, dew-thirsty lea, 
 Oh, without my lover 
 
 Life is dark to me ! 
 
 Where, dark -browed, beloved one, 
 
 Where, oh, mays't thou be ! 
 Come, oh, see, and wonder 
 
 How I weep for thee ! 
 
 I would fly to thee, love, 
 
 But no wings have I ; 
 Withered, parched, without thee 
 
 Every hour I die ! 
 
 But I find that I am quoting quite too freely 
 from this branch of my subject; I can not leave it, 
 however, without showing the humorous side of the 
 universal passion. The following playful banter is 
 quite pleasing : 
 
 THE LIBERAL OFFER. 
 
 Flowing waters meet each other, 
 And the winds they blow and blow ; 
 
 Sweetheart, with the bright blue eyes, 
 Looking from the window now ; 
 
 Do not stand so at the window, 
 
 Rather come before the door ; 
 If thou givest me two kisses, 
 
 I will give thee ten or more ! 
 
32 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 This piece is from Bohemia, and the succeeding 
 one from the Vendee, neither of which provinces be- 
 long to Russia, but both are of Slavonic origin. 
 The following verses will show lovers 
 
 HOW TO CHOOSE A WIFE. 
 
 Let him who would married be, 
 Look about him and take care 
 How he choose to take a wife 
 
 Take a wife, 
 Lest he rue it all his life ! 
 
 If thou shoulds't make up thy mind, 
 And should take too young a wife, 
 Youthful wife has boiling blood 
 
 Boiling blood ; 
 No one thinks she is too good ! 
 
 If thou shoulds't make up thy mind, 
 And shoulds't take too old a wife, 
 In the house she'll creep about 
 
 Creep about, 
 And will frighten people out ! 
 
 If thou shoulds't make up thy mind, 
 And shoulds't take a handsome wife, 
 She will nought but trouble give 
 
 Trouble give ; 
 Others' visits she'll receive ! 
 
 As for poor ones, let them be, 
 Nothing they will bring to thee, 
 Every thing will wanting be 
 
 Wanting be ; 
 Not a soul will come to thee ! 
 
 If thou shoulds't make up thy mind, 
 And shoulds't take a wealthy wife, 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 Then with patience them must bear 
 
 Thou must bear, 
 For the breeches she will wear ! 
 
 Pretty, modest, smart, and neat, 
 Good and pious she must be ; 
 If thou weddest such a wife 
 
 Such a wife, 
 Thou'lt not rue it all thy life ! 
 
 But with all the devotion of the Slavonic races to 
 the grand passion, it does not seem that the "course 
 of true love" runs any smoother with them than it 
 does with other people, as the following Servian song 
 will show. It should be introduced, however, with 
 the explanation already made that in all the Slavonic 
 nations the authority of the parents over their children 
 in the affair of marriage is absolute; and the addi- 
 tional remark that their authority does not cease with 
 marriage. It seems, indeed, that the parents, during 
 their lives, exercise an important influence over the 
 families of their children. 'The knowledge of this 
 custom is necessary to the full understanding of the 
 following little piece, entitled 
 
 THE QUARREL. 
 
 Come, my neighbors, let us hurry, 
 
 That we may not stay out late ; 
 My mother-in-law is in a fury 
 
 She says I broke my husband's pate. 
 
 Well, he would n't mind my wishes, 
 
 Heeding not a word I said ; 
 He refused to wash the dishes 
 
 I threw a pitcher at his head ! 
 
34 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 Both were broken head severely, 
 
 For the head I could but laugh ; 
 But I loved my pitcher dearly 
 
 It cost an apple and a half! 
 
 Those who are familiar with old English poetry 
 written before the age of Spenser, will notice many 
 resemblances between that and the poetry of the 
 Russians. Indeed human nature being ever the 
 same wherever nations have attained to a similar 
 degree of civilization and intelligence, they will be 
 found to resemble one another in their literature and 
 manners. And persons of the same degree of cul- 
 ture generally have similar opinions and tastes. The 
 upper castes of India, although we are in the habit of 
 thinking of that nation as sunk in idolatry, which 
 indeed is quite true as to the general masses, enter- 
 tain opinions on most matters of thought and taste 
 corresponding wth the educated classes of Germany, 
 France, or England, or indeed any other cultivated 
 nation. External manners may vary according to 
 local customs, and fashions may change, chameleon- 
 like, but modes of thought and matters of feeling 
 and taste, amongst the cultivated, have an affinity 
 throughout the world. 
 
 It is quite unsatisfactory to give extracts from prose 
 works without extending them impracticably. From 
 works of philosophy they would be unmeaning with- 
 out the argument ; from essays unfair, unless the 
 premises were stated ; and from stories scarcely intel- 
 ligible, unconnected with the plot ; indeed, anything 
 torn from its context must necessarily surfer much 
 injury thereby. We must therefore be contented 
 with the following passages, taken from TurgeniePs 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 35 
 
 cc Nest of Nobles" which give certain marked charac- 
 teristics of each sex : 
 
 c In her youth, Maria Demitrievna had enjoyed 
 the reputation of being a pretty blonde, and even in 
 her fiftieth year her features were not unattractive, 
 though they had lost somewhat of their fineness 
 and delicacy. She was naturally sensitive and im- 
 pressionable, rather than actually good-hearted, and 
 even in her years of maturity she continued to be- 
 have in the manner peculiar to c institute girls.' She 
 denied herself no indulgence, she was easily put out 
 of temper, and she would even burst into tears if her 
 habits were interfered with. On the other hand, she 
 was gracious and affable when all her wishes were ful- 
 filled, and when nobody opposed her in anything. 
 Her house was the pleasantest in the town, and she 
 had a handsome income, the greater part of which was 
 derived from her late husband's earnings, and the 
 rest from her own property. Her two daughters 
 lived with her; her son was being educated in one of 
 the best crown establishments at St. Pe'tersburgh. 
 
 <c The old lady, who was sitting at the window with 
 Maria Demitrievna, was her father's sister, the aunt 
 with whom she had formerly spent so many lonely 
 years at Poknovskoe. Her name was Marfa Timo- 
 feevna Pestof. She was looked upon as an original, 
 being a woman of an independent character, who 
 bluntly told the truth to every one, and who, al- 
 though her means were very small, behaved in soci- 
 ety just as she would have done had she been rolling 
 in wealth. She never could abide the late Kalitine, 
 and as soon as her niece married him, she retired to 
 her own modest little property, where she spent ten 
 
36 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 whole years in a peasant's smoky hut. Maria De- 
 mitrievna was rather afraid of her. Small in stature, 
 with black hair, a sharp nose, and eyes which even 
 in old age were still keen, Marfa Timofeevna walked 
 briskly, held herself bolt upright, and spoke quickly 
 but distinctly, and with a loud, high-pitched voice. 
 She always wore a white cap, and a white busk al- 
 ways formed a part of her dress." .... 
 
 " Panshine really was very adroit not less so than 
 his father had been. And, besides this, he was en- 
 dowed with no small talent; nothing was too difficult 
 for him. He sang pleasantly, could draw confidently, 
 and write poetry, and acted remarkably well. 
 
 tf He was now only in his twenty-eighth year, but 
 he was already a chamberlain, and he had arrived at a 
 highly respectable rank in the service. He had thor- 
 ough confidence in himself, in his intellect, and in his 
 sagacity. He went onward under full sail, boldly 
 and cheerfully ; the stream of his life flowed smoothly 
 along. He was accustomed to please every one, old 
 and young alike; and he imagined that he thor- 
 oughly understood his fellow creatures, especially 
 women that he was intimately acquainted with all 
 their ordinary weaknesses. 
 
 " As one who was no stranger to art, he felt within 
 himself a certain enthusiasm, a glow, a rapture, in 
 consequence of which he claimed for himself various 
 exceptions from ordinary rules. He led a somewhat 
 irregular life; he made acquaintances with people 
 who were not received into society, and in general he 
 behaved in an unconventional and unceremonious 
 manner. But in his heart of hearts he was cold and 
 astute: and even in the midst of his most extrava- 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 gant rioting, his keen hazel eye watched and took 
 note of everything. It was impossible for this dar- 
 ing and unconventional youth ever quite to forget 
 himself, or to be thoroughly carried away. It should 
 be mentioned to his credit, by the way, that he never 
 boasted of his victories. To Maria Demitrievna's 
 house he had obtained access, as soon as he arrived 
 in O., and he soon made himself thoroughly at home 
 in it. As to Maria Demitrievna herself, she thought 
 there was nobody in the world to be compared with 
 him." ..." 
 
 The current literature of Russia was checked and 
 changed by the Crimean war; indeed, during that 
 period, not a single book of the first class appeared, 
 either in Germany, France, England or Russia. 
 There were many books written at that time, but 
 they nearly all relate in some way to the war, and of 
 course are of an ephemeral character. The same may 
 be said of that spawn of books produced by our late 
 civil war. They are but little better than daily news- 
 paper matter, and, having served their temporary pur- 
 pose, are now quite worthless except as material for 
 the future historian. It is impossible to write of 
 current events with full information, if it, indeed, 
 could be done with entire fairness. Even Thucy- 
 dides did but little more than collect material for the 
 Peloponnesian war, as much as his works are admired. 
 Man is unable to rise above the events which press 
 upon him, and view them entirely free from interest, 
 prejudice, or passion, as he may look upon those 
 which affected a preceding century or generation. 
 The history of the present must be written in the 
 future. Literature never flourishes when the world 
 
38 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 is disturbed by wars; this fact is fully established by 
 the history of the past, but it generally receives an 
 impetus soon after war, or any great national disturb- 
 ance. Ideas become shaken up during war, danger, 
 or any intense excitement, and, after the events are 
 past, fall into order again, and seek expression in 
 literature. Nothing could have been more favorable 
 to awaken the genius of a people than the alternate 
 storm and calm of the Grecian States. After the 
 Crimean war, which shook the entire Eastern hemis- 
 phere, and indeed disturbed the relations of the 
 whole world, a new vigor was infused into the litera- 
 ture of the nations, more especially of those so 
 deeply affected by that terrible conflict, so singularly 
 are the events of the world connected together in af- 
 fecting the destiny of man. Within six years after 
 the peace of Paris, which settled the Crimean war, 
 schools were established in Russia which taught the 
 liberal and advanced philosophy of the time, and did 
 much to spread knowledge throughout the empire. 
 The works of Tyndall, Huxley, Darwin, Buckle, 
 Faraday, Mill, Helmholtz, Virchow, and of other lib- 
 eral writers, were translated into the Russian language, 
 passed through several editions, and were circulated 
 widely. Among the present novelists of Russia 
 besides Turgenef, already noticed may be mentioned 
 Avdeyef, Gontchasof, Krestovski, and Panayef; 
 among the present poets, Palouski and Nekrasof; 
 and dramatists, Ostrovski and Count Tolstoi. Their 
 present great philosopher, and indeed it might be 
 said their first, is Lavrof; and their historians, Pypin, 
 Kovalevski, and Solovief. Their great statesman, 
 during the Crimean and Austro-French wars was 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 39 
 
 Prince Gortschakof the rival if not the equal of 
 Bismarck. , Daily and weekly newspapers, monthly 
 and qarterly periodicals, have been established in sev- 
 eral places in Russia, especially in St. Petersburgh 
 and Moscow. Amongst their distinguished editors 
 may be named Korsh, Krayefski, Katkof, and Aksa- 
 kof. Besides these, there are many young authors 
 rising in Russia in the various departments of litera- 
 ture, which, at this distance from them, seem rather 
 as nebulae than as fixed stars. It is not likely that 
 this advancement of learning invRussia at least not 
 for a long time would have occurred, but for the 
 stirring events connected with the Crimean war. 
 Events affect men more than men affect events. Had 
 there been no Trojan war, there never had been a Ho- 
 mer; had there been no civil* war in Rome, there never 
 had been a Caesar; had France, Spain, Italy, and 
 Germany been at peace, there never had been a 
 Charlemagne; had Russia, Poland, and Denmark 
 treated Sweden fairly, there never had been a Charles 
 the Twelfth ; if the nations of Europe had remained 
 at peace, no Napoleon could have risen ; and but for 
 our revolution Washington would probably have re- 
 mained a private citizen. Indeed, it is impossible to 
 be great in anything unless the circumstances neces- 
 sary to greatness exist. When there is nothing to 
 do, nothing can be done. The architect can not 
 erect his edifice without material, nor can the sculptor 
 produce his work without his marble. Men of 
 genius affect one another; and they seem to grow in 
 clusters. Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato flourished 
 together; Cicero, Caesar, and Sallust; Corneille, Mo- 
 liere, and Racine; Goethe, Schiller, and Herder; Ad- 
 
40 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 dison, Pope, and Johnson ; the world has yet produced 
 but one Shakespeare. Russia has not yet offered her 
 cluster of geniuses, but if she continues to progress 
 in enlightenment as she has recently progressed, the 
 world may expect from her something far better than 
 anything she has yet produced. But she has already 
 afforded much that is good, some that is excellent, 
 though with some defects ; yet it must be remem- 
 bered that her literature is in a transition state. It 
 has not yet passed the first poetic condition ; its 
 mass of polite prose literature is yet to be written, 
 after which a more profound, philosophic period may 
 be expected. It is a curious facjt in the history of 
 literature that poetry precedes prose, and prose phi- 
 losophy ; but poetry also seems to be the last gift of 
 a nation to the world, as'well as the first, and many 
 believe the best. We have already remarked that 
 poetical expression precedes even civilization. The 
 poetical period begins before the language is per- 
 fected; as it becomes polished and full it passes into 
 prose; at length, after it has become settled, clear, 
 and certain, it is then suitable to express the various 
 philosophical formulae and the exact sciences. We 
 do not mean to say that poetry and prose may not 
 exist together, and with philosophy and science; they 
 undoubtedly may, and do, after the philosophic pe- 
 _riod has arrived, and that of poetry, which is first 
 and last of all. In English literature, Addison, 
 Goldsmith, and Byron lived after Bacon, Locke, and 
 Newton ; yet Gower, Chaucer, and Spenser preceded 
 all. Examples of this order of succession may be 
 cited from almost any nation. Not only Homer, 
 but also Sophocles and ^Eschylus preceded Herodo- 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 4! 
 
 tus in Greece, and all of them lived before Socrates, 
 Plato, and Aristotle. Ennius, Plautus, and Ter- 
 ence preceded Cicero, Pliny, and Sallust, and flour- 
 ished before the philosophic period of Rome. Dante 
 preceded Petrarch, and Petrarch ushered in Boccacio 
 and other accomplished prose writers of Italy. Cor- 
 neille, Moliere, and Racine introduced the period of 
 prose composition in France; and Gower and Spenser 
 flourished in England before any established prose 
 writers, and prior to Bacon, Locke, and Newton. 
 America is yet too young to afford an example of so 
 grand a law ; besides, when she became a distinct 
 nation there was a literature in her language already 
 formed. Indeed, America never can have an entirely 
 new literature; her literature was begun for her before 
 she had a beginning as a nation before she was sepa- 
 rated from the mother country. Yet there is enough 
 room for originality in America, with her vast conti- 
 nent, free institutions, and new conditions ; but 
 whatever she may produce, English and American 
 literature, being created by the same race, and ex- 
 pressed in the same language, must forever remain 
 but separate parts of a grand whole. Russia, as we 
 have seen, has produced her poets some of dis- 
 tinction and prose writers, not without merit. She 
 has her philosophers, and may be said to be entering 
 upon her scientific period. Her language is becom- 
 ing more and more perfect as she progresses, and 
 when war ceases to be her ruling passion she will 
 take full rank in the peaceful pursuit of letters. 
 What is to be the ultimate destiny of the Russian 
 government, or of Russian literature, it is impossible 
 to know, and, of course, idle to conjecture, but I 
 
42 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 can not help but think that she will carry her ban- 
 ner in the course of time to the Cape of Good 
 Hope. The Slavi bear a relation to the nations 
 south of their territory similar to that which the 
 hardy North Men, in the earlier centuries of the 
 Christian era, bore to the Roman Empire. They 
 overran Rome and spread into the forests of Ger- 
 many and Gaul, passed into France and England, 
 and across to America. We derive our blood from 
 their veins. They were a rude people, ns rude as the 
 Slavi ever were; yet out of this blood have sprung 
 the best governments, the purest literature, and the 
 politest nations of the earth. If the Slavonic race 
 should run the same course they will but do what 
 the Teutonic and Gallic have done. Russia must 
 ultimately and inevitably be the great power of that 
 hemisphere, as the United States must be of this. 
 In her present position Russia has the finest oppor- 
 tunity to present a new literature to the world of any 
 nation on earth. There never really has been a 
 wholly new literature since the days of Greece; per- 
 haps there never can be; but Russia is influenced less 
 by the past than any other nation. Literature origi- 
 nally sprang up in the East, no one can tell exactly 
 where or when. It ran through Assyria, Persia, 
 Arabia, and all the eastern nations, into Egypt. 
 Greece copied Egypt, Rome copied Greece, and the 
 world has copied all. These two last mentioned and 
 most celebrated nations have shot their influence in 
 letters through Germany, France, Spain (less in 
 Spain), England, and America, down to the present 
 time. They must inevitably affect every portion of 
 the world that comes in contact with their literature ; 
 
RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 43 
 
 indeed, there remained a slavish obedience to classic 
 models till Shakespeare, Cervantes, and a few other 
 geniuses taught the world that it might be pleased 
 without obeying the arbitrary rules of Greece and 
 R om e that we still have the common fountains of 
 nature to draw from, and that, as these fountains are 
 inexhaustible, we might still hope to taste of some- 
 thing;; fresh from their sources. 
 
 o 
 
 But whatever may be the fate of the Russian gov- 
 ernment, her learned belong to the Great Republic 
 of Letters ; and whatever may be the fate of all the 
 political governments of the earth, the Republic of 
 Letters will endure with the existence of the human 
 mind. It has no limit in boundary save the earth 
 itself It began with the earliest history of man, and 
 can end only with humanity. In commenced in the 
 far East, and in the deep past, spread into Egypt, 
 and continued on through Greece, Rome, Germany, 
 France, Italy, Spain, England, Russia, to America; 
 and although wars have continued, and still continue 
 between the nations of the earth, and revolution has 
 succeeded revolution within the separate govern- 
 ments, yet the Republic of Letters has marched on- 
 ward in its peaceful career, binding together all the 
 races of the world in one harmonious and indissolu- 
 ble union. How temporary, and even trifling, ap- 
 pear the political revolutions of nations, when com- 
 pared with the illustrious progress of letters. And 
 it can have no retrograde movement; its march must 
 ever be onward. The learned of all periods, and of 
 all nations, and of all time, are members of this re- 
 nowned Republic. Still may we go to the temple 
 and sit at the banquet with Manu, Confucius, 
 
44 RUSSIAN LITERATURE. 
 
 Hafiz and Zoroaster of the East; with Soter and 
 Philadelphia, of Egypt; with Homer, Socrates, 
 Xenophon, Pindar, Plato, Aristotle, and Demos- 
 thenes, of Greece; with Virgil, Horace, Tacitus, 
 Seneca, Sallust, and Cicero, of Rome; with Goethe, 
 Schiller, Klopstock, Lessing, Herder, and Richter, of 
 Germany: with Corneille, Moliere, Racine, Voltaire, 
 Beranger, Lamartine, and Guizot, of France; with 
 Garcillasso, Herera, and Cervantes, of Spain ; with 
 Dante, Petrarch, Boccacio, and Tasso, of Italy ; 
 with Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Locke, 
 Newton, Addison, Johnson, Goldsmith, .and Buckle, 
 of England ; with Burns and Scott, of Scotland ; with 
 Lomanosof, Karamzin, Pushkin, Dershavin, and 
 Zagorkin, of Russia; and with our own Franklin, 
 Bancroft, Bryant, Webster, and Irving, of America; 
 nor can we name a thousandth part of the worthy 
 guests, nor have we mentioned even all the nations ; 
 while the feast is made richer and richer by the fruits 
 of mind through all the ages ; more beautiful and 
 more beautiful with the sweetest blossoms of the 
 heart from every clime; and purer and purer by the 
 aspirations of the soul of all mankind. A seat at 
 this board offers a nobler ambition, and affords a 
 more rational honor than all the venal thrones and 
 high places of the earth; yea, to be the humblest 
 citizen in this world-wide and time-enduring Repub- 
 lic, is a prouder title than all that kings, and crowns, 
 and the powers of the earth can bestow. 
 
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