graceful waterfall, fed by the Arklet from the loch of that name, 2½ m.
to the east, commemorated in Wordsworth's poem of the "Highland Girl."
Inversnaid was in the heart of the Macgregor country, and the name of
Rob Roy is still given to his cave on the loch side a mile to the north
and to his prison 3 m. to the south. Inversnaid was the site of a fort
built in 1713 to reduce the clan to subjection. Craig Royston, a tract
lying between Inversnaid and Ben Lomond, was also associated with Rob
Roy.
LOMONÓSOV, MIKHAIL VASILIEVICH (1711-1765), Russian poet and man of
science, was born in the year 1711, in the village of Denisovka (the
name of which was afterwards changed in honour of the poet), situated on
an island not far from Kholmogorî, in the government of Archangel. His
father, a fisherman, took the boy when he was ten years of age to assist
him in his calling; but the lad's eagerness for knowledge was unbounded.
The few books accessible to him he almost learned by heart; and, seeing
that there was no chance of increasing his stock of knowledge in his
native place, he resolved to betake himself to Moscow. An opportunity
occurred when he was seventeen, and by the intervention of friends he
obtained admission into the Zaikonospasski school. There his progress
was very rapid, especially in Latin, and in 1734 he was sent from Moscow
to St Petersburg. There again his proficiency, especially in physical
science, was marked, and he was one of the young Russians chosen to
complete their education in foreign countries. He accordingly commenced
the study of metallurgy at Marburg; he also began to write poetry,
imitating German authors, among whom he is said to have especially
admired Günther. His _Ode on the Taking of Khotin from the Turks_ was
composed in 1739, and attracted a great deal of attention at St
Petersburg. During his residence in Germany Lomonósov married a native
of the country, and found it difficult to maintain his increasing family
on the scanty allowance granted to him by the St Petersburg Academy,
which, moreover, was irregularly sent. His circumstances became
embarrassed, and he resolved to leave the country secretly and to return
home. On his arrival in Russia he rapidly rose to distinction, and was
made professor of chemistry in the university of St Petersburg; he
ultimately became rector, and in 1764 secretary of state. He died in
1765.
The most valuable of the works of Lomonósov are those relating to
physical science, and he wrote upon many branches of it. He everywhere
shows himself a man of the most varied learning. He compiled a Russian
grammar, which long enjoyed popularity, and did much to improve the
rhythm of Russian verse.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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