Mentioning Peroffsky, whose “Monastirka” gives a picture of Russian interior life, we pass to Gretch, an author of some European reputation.  His “Trip to Germany” describes, with singular piquancy, the manners of a very curious race—­the Germans of St Petersburg; and “Tchernaia Jenstchina,” “the Black Woman,” presents a picture of Russian society, which was welcomed with great eagerness by the public.

The object of these pages being to invite the attention of British readers to a very rich field, in a literature hitherto most unaccountably neglected by the English public, the present would not be a fit occasion to enter with any minuteness into the history of Russian letters, or to give, in fact, more than a passing allusion to its chief features; the translator hopes that he will be excused for the meagreness of the present notice.

He will be abundantly repaid for his exertions, by the discovery of any increasing desire on the part of his countrymen to become more accurately acquainted with the character of a nation, worthy, he is convinced, of a very high degree of respect and admiration.  How could that acquaintance be so delightfully, or so effectually made, as by the interchange of literature?  The great works of English genius are read, studied, and admired, throughout the vast empire of Russia; the language of England is rapidly and steadily extending, and justice, no less than policy, demands, that many absurd misapprehensions respecting the social and domestic character, no less than the history, of Russia, should be dispelled by truth.

The translator, in conclusion, trusts that it will not be superfluous to specify one or two of the reasons which induced him to select the present romance, as the first-fruit of his attempt to naturalize in England the literature of Russia.

It is considered as a very good specimen of the author’s style; the facts and characters are all strictly true;[10] besides this, the author passed many years in the Caucasus, and made full use of the opportunities he thus enjoyed of becoming familiar with the language, manners, and scenery of a region on which the attention of the English public has long been turned with peculiar interest.

[10] The translator recently met in society a Russian officer, who had served with distinction in the country which forms the scene of “Ammalat Bek.”  This gentleman had intimately known Marlinski, and bore witness to the perfect accuracy of his delineations, as well of the external features of nature as of the characters of his dramatis personae.  The officer alluded to had served some time in the very regiment commanded by the unfortunate Verkhoffsky.  Our fair readers may be interested to learn, that Seltanetta still lives, and yet bears traces of her former beauty.  She married the Shamkhal, and now resides in feudal magnificence at Tarki, where she exercises great sway, which she employs in favour of the Russian interest, to which she