The author of the Dvoryanskoe Gnyezdo, or Nest of Nobles, of which a translation is now offered to the English reader under the title of Liza, is a writer of whom Russia may well be proud.[A] And that, not only because he is a consummate artist, - entitled as he is to take high rank among those of European fame, so accurate is he in his portrayal of character, and so quick to seize and to fix even its most fleeting expression; so vividly does he depict by a few rapid touches the appearance of the figures whom he introduces upon his canvas, the nature of the scenes among which they move, - he has other and even higher claims than these to the respect and admiration of Russian readers