The
writer was the monk Simeon of Polotzk, author of the above-mentioned
spiritual dramas, and instructor of the Tzar Fedor. Still more
remarkable is the first attempt to translate the Bible into the
Russian language. Francis Skorina, the translator, likewise a native
of Polotzk, where the Polish influence was stronger than in any
other quarter, was a doctor of medicine; but the time had now come
when it began to be felt over all Europe, that the holy volume did not
belong exclusively to the clergy. Some parts only of his translation
have been printed.[17]
In the course of the sixteenth century, several printing offices had
been established in Russia, almost exclusively for the benefit of
theological works. Nearly all the historical writings were preserved
in manuscript; and have been first printed in modern times. The
awkward appearance of Cyril's alphabet seemed to add an unnecessary
difficulty to the diffusion of the knowledge of reading. Towards the
end of the seventeenth century Elias Kopiovitch made some improvement
in the appearance of the Slavic letters; it was however reserved to
Peter's reforming hand, to give to them a fixed and permanent shape.
SECOND PERIOD.
_From the majority of Peter the Great, A.
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