and the different branches of natural science, have, till recently, been much neglected. Classical learning, moreover, finds favour only with a few; but poetry, fable, and works of fiction have been much cultivated, and the Russian is rich in elegant translations from the classical and modern languages. The following are a few of the most distinguished names in Russian literature: HISTORY: The venerable Nestor, born 1056, laid, by his 'Annals,' the basis of all Sclavic history. Michael Lomonosof, born 1711, is regarded as the father of Russian literature. Nicholaï Karamsin, author of the "History of the Russian Empire,' extending to the reign of the House of Romanoff, died in 1826; and Ustrailov, author of a Life of Peter the Great.' POETRY: Gabriel Dershayin, born 1743, celebrated for his inimitable 'Ode to Deity,' which has been translated into many European and Asiatic tongues. The Chinese Emperor has it printed in letters of gold, on white satin, and hung up in his palace. Alexander Pushkin, usually considered the greatest poet Russia has produced (born 1799). PHILOLOGY: Alexander Vostakoff, the first Sclavic scholar in Europe; Kowalovski, distinguished for his knowledge of the Mongolian languages Bichoorin, the best Chinese scholar in Russia; Senkowski, the celebrated Orientalist; Schaffarik, author of the famous History of the Sclavic Language and Literature;' Merslakoff, the first literary critic in Russia; Dobrovsky, a Hungarian, author of Grammar of the Sclavonic Languages;' and the celebrated Pallas, a German by birth, who was not only a distinguished naturalist, and historian of the Mongolian nations, but also a laborious and indefatigable philologist. By command of the Empress Catharine, he undertook a comparative vocabulary of all the languages of the world, two volumes of which were published at St Petersburg, in 1789. They contain 286 words, in 200 languages of Asia and Europe. A third volume, which never appeared, was intended to embrace the languages of Africa and America. THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE: Theophon Prokovitch, usually styled the Russian Chrysostom, died 1756; Platon Levshin, the most productive of the ecclesiastical writers; Anastasius Bratonofski who takes the first place among Russian pulpit orators. PROSE WRITERS AND NOVELISTS: Zagoskin, Gretsch, Bestucheff, Muranieff, Batuschkoff, Sagoschkin, Odojewsky, Bulgarin. POLITICS AND STATISTICS: M. L. de Tegoborski, author of 'Commentaries on the Productive Forces of Russia,' 1856. PHYSICAL SCIENCE: Tenner, Struve, and many others. Government, Army and Navy, &c.-The government is an absolute hereditary monarchy; all power, both in Church and State, emanates from the emperor, and to his decision all matters of importance must be submitted. He cannot, however, safely disregard the laws, nor the opinions and wishes of the nobility, who have greater political influence in Russia than in any other European country. One half of all the land of the country is in their possession, but they have suffered a heavy loss by the recent emancipation of the serfs on their estates. The emperor is aided in all matters that come under his immediate cognisance by a Privy Council. Subordinate to this there are four great boards of administration-viz., the Imperial Council, the Directing Senate, the Holy Synod, and the Council of Ministers. Army and Navy.-The military force is very great-probably the greatest in the world. In 1866, the regular army amounted to 697,137 men and officers, besides an irregular force of 177,000 light cavalry, consisting for the most part of Calmucks and Cossacks. The regular army consists of eight grand divisions-viz., the Guards, the Army of the South, the Army of the West, the Army of Lithuania and Poland, the Corps of the Caucasus, the Finland Corps, the regiments of the military colonies, and the army of reserve. The Navy, in 1868, consisted of 267 steamers and 29 sailing vessels. These were manned by 60,230 men, and carried 3600 guns. This force was divided into two principal fleets-the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet. Besides these there were 24 ironclads and a fleet of steam-rams, carrying 149 guns, building at St Petersburg and Nicolaïev. A great number of the ships composing the Black Sea fleet were sunk by the Russians in the harbour of Sebastopol, in 1854, to prevent the Anglo-French fleet from entering. The Baltic fleet, in like manner, protected itself behind the fortifications of Kronstadt. The army is maintained at a comparatively small expense, and both army and navy do not cost more than £15,000,000 annually. The Public Debt, which in 1853 amounted to £63,537,000, had in 1869 increased to £203,000,000. In the same year the Revenue of the empire amounted to £80,346,000, and the Expenditure to £72,606,000. Commerce and Manufactures.-The commerce of Russia is chiefly internal. No country in the world can so well dispense with a foreign commerce. The empire is a world to itself, and wants almost nothing with which the wider world can supply it. It is the only country that produces train-oil in abundance on one of its coasts, and olive-oil, in scarce less abundance, on another, -that can exchange its native seal-skins and ermine furs for its native silk and cotton, that makes gin from its barley and rye, brandy from its wine-lees, and rum from its sugar, that barters its cranberries, gathered on the wastes of Siberia, for its pomegranates reared in the Transcaucasian provinces, -and that, while it mixes up its barleybread, in one of its districts, with the inuer bark of the fir, makes its cakes of unimported rice in another. Its commerce is greatly facilitated by its innumerable navigable rivers, and its vast and excellent system of canals, by means of which its four seas are connected together in many directions, and a complete system of inland navigation established, the centre of which is Moscow. A great portion of the internal trade is transacted at annual fairs, the most remarkable of which are those of Nijni-Novgorod, Berditchev, Kursk, and Lublin in Poland. The foreign trade is conducted by means of caravans, which periodically leave Orenburg for Asia, and Perm for Siberia. The chief seaports are-St Petersburg and Riga on the Baltic, Odessa on the Black Sea, Astrakhan on the Caspian, and Arkhangel on the White Sea. Manufactures. Owing to the sparseness of the population, the general deficiency of coal, and other causes, Russia can never become a great manufacturing country; but, since the time of Peter the Great, manufactures have made very considerable progress. Most of the articles used by the peasantry are made in the villages, each of which is usually devoted to a single branch of industry. The principal articles manufactured on a large scale are linen, sail-cloth, cordage (the chief factories for which are Moscow and its vicinity), cotton, woollen, and worsted staffs in most of the large towns, and silk-spinning at Moscow, which is renowned for its brocades, and gold and silver embroideries. Hardware, cutlery, and firearms, are extensively manufactured at Nijni-Novgorod, Tula, and other places. But Russia is particularly celebrated for its unrivalled russia and morocco leather, largely used in bookbinding, &c. Russia also holds a distinguished place in the manufacture of articles from malachite (green copper ore) and of ornamental glass; while Astrakhan is famous for its isinglass, shagreen, and caviare. The Exports, in 1866, were valued at £35,000,000 sterling, and the Imports at £32,500,000. The chief exports are corn, tallow, hides, hemp, flax, linseed, timber, tar, pitch, potash, russia leather, furs, wool, oil, wax, honey, copper, iron, platina, cordage, and sail-cloth. Great Britain is Russia's best customer, taking three-fourths of her flax and hemp, three-fourths of her tallow, three-fifths of her oleaginous grains, two-fifths of her exported corn, &c. The total value of her exports to the United Kingdom, in 1868, amounted to £20,000,000 (or more than half of the entire amount); while she received from us, in return, goods to the value of £7,206,000, consisting chiefly of cotton stuffs and yarn, machinery and mill-work, hardware, iron, woollens, tea, lead, tin, together with large quantities of coal and salt. The mercantile marine is small, and the foreign trade is principally conducted by other nations. In 1865, there arrived in Russian ports 11,648 vessels; cleared, 11,839, carrying 2,390,000 tons. The principal imports are articles of colonial produce, together with raw silk and cotton, manufactured goods, wine, indigo, cochineal, and madder. Tea is imported by the overland caravan-route from China, and many other articles come in the same way. Inland Communication.-The Roads are in general wretched, with the exception of that from the capital to Moscow, which is said to be the finest in the world. The condition of the roads, however, is of less importance, as they are covered with ice and snow for many months in the year, when sledge-travelling is universal. The Canals are very numerous, and of the highest importance. Among the principal may be mentioned:-1. The Canal of Vishneï Volotchok, connecting the Twertza with the Msta, thus uniting the Baltic with the Caspian, which, by this route, is 3200 miles distant, and yet the canal is only 3 miles long. It is free from ice from the middle of April to the end of October, and is frequented by about 2000 vessels annually. Another canal, joining the Neva with the Volga, is the Canal of Tikhvin. 2. The Canal of Kubinsk, uniting the Caspian with the White Sea. 3. The Maria Canal, uniting a small river flowing into Lake Bielo with another flowing into Lake Onega-thus connecting (by the aid of No. 2) the Baltic, Caspian, and White Seas. 4. The Ladoga Canal, and the Sias and Svir Canals, form a navigable chain around the south and south-east sides of Lake Ladoga. This is the most frequented of all the Russian canals: it is said that 25,000 vessels pass through its principal sluice annually. Railway communication is very limited, considering the extent of the empire. In 1858, only 715 miles were completed; but in 1869 there were 4400 miles open for traffic. The principal railways already executed are:-The great line from St Petersburg to Moscow, 400 miles, with branches to Nijni-Novgorod, Kozlov, and Orel; and the line from St Petersburg to Warsaw and Cracow, with branches to Riga, Vitebsk, Kovno, and Königsberg; and a line from Odessa to Balta, in Podolia. In 1868 there were 24,840 miles of telegraphic communication. SWEDEN AND NORWAY (SCANDINAVIA). Boundaries.-The kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, now united under one sovereign, embrace between them the entire north-western peninsula of Europe, usually called Scandinavia. N., the Arctic Ocean; W., the Atlantic, North Sea, and Kattegat; S., the Skager Rack and the Baltic; E., the Baltic and Finland. Lat. 55° 20′-71° 6′ N.; lon. 4° 50′-31° 5′ E. Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, on the east coast of the peninsula (lat. 59° 17′, lon. 18° 3'), is nearly on the same parallel of latitude as Lerwick, Christiania, St Petersburg, Tobolsk, Mount St Elias (in N.-west America), and Cape Farewell (in Greenland); and nearly on the same meridian as Spitzbergen, Danzig, Buda, Mostar, Otranto, Gulf of Sidra, and Cape Town. Scandinavia is the largest peninsula in Europe, and, in common with nearly all the others, stretches out in a general southerly direction: extreme length, 1190 miles; greatest breadth, 490 miles. The peninsula is traversed, in the direction of its greatest length, by an immense mountain-range, which, being confined to the side next the ocean, gives Norway a highly Alpine character; while Sweden, or the eastern half, is in general low and level; but, towards the mountains, it rises in a succession of terraces, marked by cataracts in the numerous streams, which generally follow a straight course towards the Baltic, and frequently expand into long narrow lakes. Coasts low and sandy on the eastern side, but deeply indented on the western by rock-bound inlets, called fiords, and lined by an innumerable multitude of small islands, Coast-line, without including the inlets, about 3000 miles, or one mile of seaboard to every 98 square miles. Area and Population. The area of the entire peninsula is 293, 920 sq. m., of which 123,291 belong to Norway, which is very little larger than the British Isles; and 170,629 to Sweden, which is nearly half as large again as Norway. In 1868 the united population amounted to 5,874,836; that of Norway being 1,701,756, or about half the population of Scotland; and that of Sweden 4,173,080, or one-fourth larger than the population of the latter country. Scandinavia is thus the most thinly peopled country in Europe, having only 20 persons to each sq. mile. Political Divisions.-Sweden is divided into three large provinces, or for administrative purposes, into twenty-four läns, and Norway into six stifts or counties. SWEDEN, THREE PROVINCES. Gothland.*- Gothenburg 43 (Götha), Malmöe 22, Helsingborg 6, *In Swedish, the vowels a, e, i, ä, and ö have the same sounds as in German; as in Karlstad, Wener, Indals, Mälar, Jönköping. ao in stone, as Abo, Lulea (O'boo, Lu'le-o). o at the end of a syllable: =00 in food, as Orebro (Or'e-broo); in other cases, like o in not. u = oo in food, as Umea (Oo'me-o). y= German ü, as Nyköping (Nü'chöping). g and j before a vowely in you, as Getle, Jönköping (Yev'leh, Yön'chö-ping). ki or kjch in church, as Linkiöping, Linkjöping, or Linköping (Lin'chöping). z=ts, as in German. All other consonants are sounded as in English. (the Landskrona 7, Lund 9 n. (the Sound), Carlscrona 16, Kalmar Baltic), Norrköping 22 (Motala), Jönköping 9 (Lake Wetter), Christianstad 6 (Helge). Svealand.-STOCKHOLM 129, Westeräs 5 (L. Mælar), Orebro 9 (L. Hielmar), Upsala 9, Dannemora (Sala), Fahlun 5 n. (Dal), Nyköping 5 (E. co.) Norrland.-Hernösand 2 (Angermann), Gefle 12 n. (Dal), Sundsvall 5 (Indals). NORWAY, SIX STIFTS. Agershuus.*-CHRISTIANIA 66, Frederickshald 7 (G. of Christiania), Drammen 14 (Drammen), Frederickstadt 3 (Glommen). Christiansand.-Christiansand 11 (Torrisdals), Stavanger 17 (Bukke Fiord), Mandal 3 (Skager Rack). Bergen.-Bergen 30 (Kors Fiord). Trondhjem.-Trondhjem or Drontheim 19 (Trondhjem Fiord), Roraas 4 (Glommen). Nordland.-Tromsöe 3 (W. coast), Alstahoug 1 (Wessen). Finmarken.-Hammerfest 1 (Whale Island), Altengaard 2 (Alten). Descriptive Notes.-There are only fifteen towns in the whole peninsula with more than 10,000 inhabitants, of which only six exceed 20,000-viz., Stockholm, Christiania, Gothenburg, Bergen, Malmöe, and Norrköping; while Stockholm alone exceeds 100,000. SWEDEN.-Gothenburg, the second city in Sweden both as regards population and commerce, has shipbuilding docks, numerous manufactures, and a large export trade in herrings, iron, steel, copper, and timber. Malmoë, a strongly-fortified manufacturing town on the Sound. Lund, a very ancient town, where the kings of Scania were elected in the middle ages, is the seat of a university. Carlscrona, by far the best naval station in Scandinavia, has a large export trade in metals, potash, and other Baltic produce. Kalmar, famous for the treaty of 1397, which united the kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Norrköping, a thriving manufacturing town, noted for its broadcloth. Linköping, an ancient town, near which was fought, in 1596, the battle of Stangebro, in which Sigismund was defeated by his uncle Charles IX. Stockholm, the capital of Sweden since the seventeenth century, and the chief commercial emporium of Scandinavia, is built partly on the mainland, and partly on a number of islands on the strait connecting Lake Mælar with the Baltic : the houses are chiefly of brick or painted wood, the streets unpaved, narrow, crooked, and dirty, but the palace and some of the public buildings are very fine. It has numerous learned societies, the most celebrated of which is the Academy of Sciences. Upsala, the former capital of Sweden, with a far-famed university, in which Linnæus, Celsius, Bergmann, Scheele, * The pronunciation of Norwegian names differs considerably from that of the Danish, though in all other respects the two languages are nearly identical. The following are the chief peculiarities of the Norwegian : e final has a distinct sound, as in Molde (Mol'deh). o at the end of a syllable = oo in food, as Odense (Oo'den-seh). öe make two syllables, as in Tromsöe (Trom'sō-e). uuoo in food, as Agershuus (Ag'ers-hoos). d English d, and not like th, as in Danish. = g is always hard, as in Stavanger (Sta-vang'ger). Y |