Knyazhnín was born in Pskov, where he received his early education; in St. Petersburg he acquired German, French and Italian, and began to write verses. He served in civil and military government offices. In 1769 he wrote his first tragedy, _Dido_, which attracted Catherine’s attention to him. He then married Sumarókov’s daughter and devoted himself more especially to literature. Knyazhnín wrote a number of tragedies and comedies: the subject of all of these is taken from Italian and French, thus his _Vadím of Nóvgorod_ is based on Metastasio’s _Clemenza di Tito_, and the original of _Odd People_ is Destouches’s _L’homme singulier_. The _Vadím of Nóvgorod_ had a peculiar history. Knyazhnín had great admiration for Catherine and her autocratic rule. In his _Vadím_ he tried to depict the struggle between republican Nóvgorod and the monarchic Rúrik, in which the latter comes out victorious, to the advantage of unruly Nóvgorod. He had written it in 1789, but did not stage it on account of the disturbed condition of Europe under the incipient French Revolution. Two years after his death, in 1793, Princess Dáshkov, the President of the Academy, inadvertently ordered it to be published. The book appeared most inopportunely, at the very time the Revolution had broken forth. The tendency of the tragedy was overlooked, and only the republican utterances of Vadím were taken notice of. The book was ordered to be burnt by the executioner, but as only a few copies could be found in the storeroom of the Academy, the rest having been sold in the meanwhile, they were privately destroyed. VADÍM OF NÓVGOROD ACT I., SCENE 2. VADÍM, PRENÉST AND VÍGOR _Vadím._ Could Rúrik so transform your spirit that you only weep where your duty is to strike? _Prenést._ We burn to follow you, to be glorified for ever, to crush the haughty throne, to resuscitate our land; but though the zeal already burns within our hearts, it sees as yet no means of its fulfilment. Disdaining harsh and laborious days, if needs we must die, we are ready; but that our death be not in vain and could save our beloved land from evil, and that, intent to break the fetters, we tighten them not more in servitude,--we must expect the aid of the immortals, for the gods can give us a favourable opportunity.