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RUSSIA (LANGUAGE, &o.) KUSTIGE 499 from strengthening his empire, paralyzed its natural resources, and rendered worthless even the army, for which he had sacrificed every- thing else. When peace was concluded, and Alexander, who always had the reputation of a liberal and good-natured prince, ascended the throne, the progressive elements of the coun- try naturally came to the front. Within less than five years after the conclusion of the peace of Paris, the party which consisted formerly of very moderate liberals, and never asked for anything beyond a reasonable amount of free- dom of the press and public life, was trans- formed into ultra radicals. The teachings of modern materialistic philosophy, which had been rapidly gaining ground in western Europe, were eagerly adopted by the young generation of litterateurs and students, and within two or three years a school was formed, the rad- icalism of which outstripped anything that could be well imagined. Vogt, Moleschott, and Buchner became the theological and phil- osophical idols of the Kussian youth ; Fourier, Saint-Simon, Robert Owen, and Proudhon became their social teachers; and a system of cosmical, political, and moral conceptions was formed, which would have frightened the very writers whose authority it invoked. The disciples of this school were known as Nihil- ists, or believers in nothing. Its leaders were Tchernyshevski and Dobroluboff, and their or- gan was the Sovremennik (" The Contempo- rary "), a monthly magazine owned and ably edited by the poet Nekrasoff. It had speedily created a large party among the young men in the universities and public schools, and the spreading movement frightened the govern- ment, which prosecuted everybody who showed the slightest sympathy with it. All the con- spiracies and political prosecutions which have taken place in Russia since 1862 have been con- nected with Nihilism. Among the prominent men of the party, besides Tchernyshevski, who was exiled to Siberia, and Dobroluboff, who died at the age of 26, were Pisareff (drowned by accident), Shelgunoff (exiled to Siberia), Mikhailoff (died in Siberia), Serno-Solovievitch (died in Siberia), and Pomialovski (died from overwork and excessive drinking at 23). The party is now considerably reduced. Whatever remains of it is under the leadership of Antono- vitch and Zhukovski, two journalists of indif- ferent talent, but of more knowledge than their predecessors possessed. Foolish and extreme as are the views of that party, it has immensely contributed to the spread of knowledge through- out Russia. The works of Buckle, Huxley, Darwin, Tyndall, John Stuart Mill, Helmholtz, Virchow, and many others have been translated and passed through several editions. Some of the medical students (who joined the move- ment en masse} have made themselves favor- ably known all over Europe through their researches in physiology and biology. The movement did not exclude women, many of whom began to study medicine and natural sciences, and took their degrees, mostly at the university of Zurich, as the doors of the Rus- sian universities are still closed against them. Among the most celebrated of contemporary Russian authors are the romancists Ivan Tur- geneff, Gontcharoff, Dostoyevsky, Avdeyeff, Count Tolstoi, jr., Krestovski, Khvostchinski, and Panayeff ; the poets Nekrasoff and Polon- ski; and the dramatists Ostrovski and Count Tolstoi, sr. Prominent among editors of news- papers and periodicals are Aksakoff, Krayefski, Stasulevitch, Korsh, and Katkoff. The histor- ical writers occupying the highest position are Solovieff, Pypin, and Kovalevsky. For statis- tical work the highest reputation has been achieved by Semenoff and Korsak. The great philosophical writer is Lavroff. As a matter of course, the chief literary centres are the two capitals, St. Petersburg and Moscow. The post office of St. Petersburg sends out to the prov- inces more than 80,000 copies of daily and 40,- 000 of weekly papers, and about 50,000 of monthly periodicals. The highest circulation of any one newspaper has not yet exceeded 25,- 000, but the number of publications is constant- ly increasing. The growth of Russian literature with such marvellous speed has prevented its being thoroughly studied abroad, and there are very few works on the subject which bring it down to the present day. See Gretch, Essai d'une Mstoire de la litterature russe (4 vols., St. Petersburg, 1819-'22); Bowring, "Specimens of Russian Poets" (London, 1821); Otto, LeJir- luch der russischen Literatur (Leipsic, 1887; translated by Cox, Oxford, 1839); Jordan, OescJiicMe der russischen Literatur (Leipsic, 1846); Talvi (Mrs. Robinson), "Historical View of the Languages and Literature of the Slavic Nations" (New York, 1850); Khanikoff, jfitudes sur V instruction piiblique en Russie (Paris, 1865); and Petroff, "Sketch of Rus- sian Literature" (French translation by Ro- mald, Paris, 1872). Of late years many ar- ticles on Russian literature have appeared in German, English, and American magazines, and especially in the Paris Revue des Deux Mondes. RUSSIAN AMERICA. See ALASKA. RUSTCHCK, a fortified town of Bulgaria, Eu- ropean Turkey, capital of the vilayet of Tuna ("province of the Danube")) pn the right bank of the Danube, nearly opposite Giurgevo, 250 m. N. W. of Constantinople ; pop. about 30,- 000. It is the seat of a Greek archbishop, and contains nine mosques, Greek and Armenian churches, and several synagogues. Silk, wool, cotton, leather, and other goods are made, and the trade has lately increased. Many engage- ments have taken place here during the past century between the Turks and the Russians. In 1810 it surrendered to the latter after a long siege. After evacuating the place in 1812 the Russians burned it, but it was soon rebuilt. The fortifications, razed after the treaty of Adrianople (1829), were rebuilt after 1853. UISTKiK, Heinrieh von, a German painter, born at Werl, Westphalia, April 12, 1810. He