Of Boulgarin, we may mention, besides his “Ivan Vuijgin,” a romance in the manner of “Gil Blas,” the scenery and characters of which are entirely Russian, two historical novels of considerable importance.  “The False Dimitri,” and “Mazeppa,”—­the hero of the latter being a real person, and not, as most readers are aware, a fictitious character invented by Byron.

Next comes the name of Lajetchnikoff, whose “Last Page” possesses a reputation, we believe, tolerably extensive throughout Europe.  The action passes during the war between Charles XII. and Peter the Great, and Catharine plays a chief part in it, as servant of the pastor Glueck, becoming empress at the conclusion.  The “House of Ice,” by the same writer, is perhaps more generally known than the preceding work.  The last-named romance depicts with great spirit the struggle between the Russian and foreign parties in the reign of Anna Ivanovna.  But perhaps the most remarkable work of Lajetchnikoff is the romance entitled “Bassourman,” the scene of which is laid under Ivan III., surnamed the Great.[9] Another Polevoi (Nikolai) produced a work of great merit:—­“The Oath at the Tomb of Our Lord,” a very faithful picture of the first half of the fifteenth century, and singular from the circumstance that love plays no part in the drama.  Besides this, we owe to Polevoi a wild story entitled “Abbaddon.”  Veltman produced, under the title of “Kostshei the Deathless,” a historical study of the manners of the twelfth century, possessing considerable merit.  It would be unjust to omit the name of a lady, the Countess Shishkin, who produced the historical novel “Mikhail Vassilievitch Skopin-Shuisky,” which obtained great popularity.

[9] The non-Russian reader must be cautioned not to confuse Ivan III. (surnamed Velikiy, or the Great) with Ivan IV., the Cruel, the latter of whom is to foreigners the most prominent figure in the Russian history.  Ivan III. mounted the throne in 1462, and his terrible namesake in 1534; the reign of Vassiliy Ivanovitch intervening between these two memorable epochs.

The picturesque career of Lomonosoff gave materials for a romantic biography of that poet, the work of Xenophont Polevoi, resembling, in its mixture of truth and fiction, the “Wahrheit und Dichtung” of Goethe.

Among the considerable number of romances already mentioned, those exhibiting scenes of private life and domestic interest have not been neglected.  Kalashnikoff wrote “The Merchant Jaloboff’s Daughter,” and the “Kamtchadalka,” both describing the scenery and manners of Siberia; the former painting various parts of that wild and interesting country, the latter confined more particularly to the Peninsula of Kamtchatka.  Besides Gogol, whose easy and prolific pen has presented us with so many humorous sketches of provincial life, we cannot pass over Begitcheff, whose “Kholmsky Family” possesses much interest; but the delineations of Gogol depend so much for their effect upon delicate shades of manner, &c., that it is not probable they can ever be effectively reproduced in another language.