called "La Petriade," for which his name is revered by his countrymen.
The glorious reign of Catherine II. should have added something to the literary world. She was a most extraordinary woman. She wrote com- edies for her own theatre at the Hermitage, as well as treatises on education for the benefit of her grandchildren, and would gladly have been able to furnish native philosophers worthy to vie with her foreign courtiers ; but they proved mere feeble imitators of Voltaire. Kheraskof wrote the " Rossiade " and Sumarokof, called by his contem- poraries the Russian Racine, furnished the court with tragedies. But two comedies, " Le Briga- dier," and "Le Mineur," by Von Vizin, have more merit, and are still much read and highly appreciated. These form a curious satire on the customs of the time. But the name of Derzhavin eclipses all others of this epoch. His works were modelled somewhat after Rousseau and Lefranc de Pompignan, and are fully equal to them.
Derzhavin had the good-fortune to live to a ripe old age, and in court life through several reigns; thus having the best of opportunities to utilize all striking events. Each new accession to the throne, victories, anniversaries, all contributed to inflate his national pride and inspire his muse.
But his high-flown rhetoric is open to severe criticism, and his works will be chiefly valued as illustrative of a glorious period of Russian
