!96 T R A V E L S I N T O R U S S I A .
From thefe circumftances we may fairly aflent to the
, truth o f the cenfure paffed by the lively writer upon his
own performancé when he faid, “ Je fera i graver fu r ma
“ tombe, cy g it qui a voulu écrire Thifloire de Pierre le Grand*.”
I I . P o e t r y .
With refpeft to the Ruffian poetry previous to this century,
the Only fpecimens were a few ancient fongs, fome occafional
copies o f verfes, and a pfalter, compofed by the monk Simeon
Polotiki, and printed at Mofcow in 16'8 o . To ufe the
expreifions o f the epick writer Kherafkof, “ the Mufes waited
“ till the reign of Peter the Great, in order to make their
§ appearance in Rulfia : before his time there were indeed
“ a few poets, but their compofitions were more rhymes than
“ verfes ; and even during his reign the art was ftill in its
“ infancy. At length came Lomonozof +,” See. Theopha-
nes had indeed read leitures upon the rules for Sclavonian
or Ruffian verfes ; prince Kantemir, Ilinfki, Trediatofiki,
and a few others, had compofed, but there were certainly no
poets of eminence before Lomonozof and Sumorokof. A
“ moire abrégé fu r la v ie du T fa re v itch “ tan t fe h a t^ - t- il à faire imp rimer le I .
“ A le x è i P e t ro v itch .” T h is mem oir, fays “ T om e . A p rè s la p u b lication je continuai,
th e ed ito r , was fen t to V o lta ire b efo re h e “ mes rema rque s . T o u t ce la fu t envoyé
begjm to w r ite his H ifto fy o f Ruffia : it w ill “ à l’au teu r . C ’eft § l ’ aide de ces remar-
ferve as a p ro o f, how lit t le that w r ite r em - “ ques qu e M . V o lta ire dans "la Pre fa c e du
ployed th e au th entick papers tranfmitted to “ I I . T om e vient de c o r r ig e r quelques le -
him. V o l. I I I . p . 19 4 . M r . M u lle r alfo “ gères fautes q u ’ il avoit commifes dans le
ch arges V o lta ir e w ith n o t p a y in g fufficient “ p rem ier. I l en a e x eu fè cL’au tre s . II a
a tten tion to .the papers wh ich h e commu ai- “ p a y e r de du retés . I l a eu gard e fu r tout
eatcd from the moft undoubted au th orities; “ de ne po in t tou ch er à des faits q ui le £e-
** T o u t le monde’ eft d’a c co rd , & c . B u f. “ roient rou g ir . V o ila ce que c ’é il qu’ un
“ X V I . p . 352. que l ’Hiftoire de Pierre le “ au teur qui ne v eu t avoir to r t .” See B . I L
Si G ran d de V o lta ir e n’a poin t remp li l ’a t - M . X V I . p . 352.
“ teinte qu’on en avait avant qu’elle p a ru t * C i te d b y L ’E v e fq u e , v o l. I . p . x x x .
“ au jo u r . O n s ’en ap perçu t même avant “ H e re lies th e perfon w h o ’ w ould have
“ la p u blica tion p a r les échantillons , que “ w r it ten th e Hifto ry o f P eter the G r e a t .”
“ 1’ au teu r envoyoit a S t. Pete r ib ou rg en f Pre fa c e to K h e ra ik o f ’s Poem on the •
“ M ifc r ip t . Je fus prié de faire là deifus B a tt le o f T ch e fm e , quo ted in B a ch .R u fiV
“ des remarques. J e le fis : mais M . V o l - B ib . fo r 1 7 74 , p . 201,
ta ire n’eu t pa s la pa tience d ’en p ro f ite r ! ikctch
P O E T S .
fketch therefore o f the lives and writings o f thefe two ‘au- c^j'p‘
thors, a fhort account o f the Ruffian ftage, and a. few remarks
on the compofitions o f Kherafkof, w’ill convey to the reader
fome idea o f the rife, progrefs, and prefent ftate, o f poetry
in this empire.
Lomonozof *, the great refiner of his native tongue, was
the fon o f a perfon who trafficked in fiffi at Kolmogori: he
was born in 1 7 1 1 , and was fortunately taught to read; a
rare inftance for a perfon o f fo low a Ration in Ruffia. His
natural genius for poetry was firft kindled by the perufal of
the Song o f Solomon, done into verfe by Polotiki, whofe rude
compofitions, perhaps fcarcely fuperior to our verfion o f the
Pfalms by Sternhold and Hopkins, infpired him with fuch an
irrefiftible paffion for the mufes,that he fled from his father,
who was defirous o f compelling him to marry, and took refuge
in the Kaikonofpaiki monaftery at Mofcow; there he
had an opportunity o f indulging his tafte for letters, and of
ftudying the Greek and Latin languages. In this feminary
he made fo confiderable a progrefs in polite literature, as to
be noticed and employed by the Imperial Academy; of Sciences.
In 1736 he was fent, at the expence o f that fociety,
to the univerfity o f Marburgh t in Hefle Caflel, where he became
a fcholar o f the celebrated Chriftian Wolf, under whom
he ftudied univerfal grammar, rhetoric, and philofophy.’
He continued at Marburgh four years, during which time
he applied himfelf with indefatigable diligence to chymiftrv,
Which he afterwards purfued with ifill-greater fuccefs, under
the famous Henckel, at Frey berg in Saxony. In 1741 he
* S i erC S f ; ' P: 7° ’ fo r M a rb u rgh ,. w here W o l f was profeflbr o f
+ L e C le r c fays M a gd e b o u rg , w h ich is mathematick s and p h ilo fop h v , from the y e ar
s o muverfity : I prefume it is a falfc p r in t , 1733 to 1 7 4 1 , ,
returned