Page:Russian Realities and Problems - ed. James Duff (1917).djvu/177



The gradual rise of secular thought in Russia was due to many causes. If we consider these in order of their importance, which, however, does not always correspond to historical sequence, we must notice especially the consciousness of the meaning of truth: in its crudest form it manifests itself in that curiosity which men have about wonderful things; and this feeling was alive in Russians, in the time of the first monarchs of the Romanov dynasty; they interested themselves in "curiosities" that fell within their reach, together with some inventions and novelties which came from foreign lands. But this curiosity could only grow into love of knowledge by reason of its practical value: secular thought was particularly appreciated in its technical applications, and this conception was, for instance, duly expounded in a book on the military art printed by order of the Tsar Alexei Michailovich.

The practical usefulness of science and learning was really one of the essential causes of their development, and the consciousness of this is conspicuous in the popular encyclopedias of the 17th century, known as azbukovniki. Every man of course needed some knowledge of grammar for correct reading and writing, of arithmetic for reckoning, of geometry for measuring, of geography for travel and foreign relations, of history for politics, and so on. In view of these practical needs elementary manuals were composed particularly in the 17th century: thus Meletius Smotitsky wrote the first detailed "Slavonic" grammar in 1619 ; Basile Burzev