them from so bold a measure. Often they bribe the commander to pass on to some other village, so that, between the proceeds of his plundering and these compositions for not plundering, he makes a profitable business of his march.".

More significant symptoms of the decline and misgovernment of a country cannot well be conceived than the facts mentioned in the preceding extract. One would naturally suppose that if numbers of the people did not withdraw to other countries, that at least such oppression and violence would thin the population. Yet doubts are expressed upon the subject of decrease; for, besides the fact of new localities being chosen by those who have, as above described, been obliged to abandon their native abodes, tracts and villages become desolate through other occasions, the view of the remnants of which to a mere stranger will readily mislead. The destruction of a single aqueduct, it is said, may oblige the inhabitants of a whole district to emigrate, while the opening of a new stream of the kind gives instant birth to other thriving villages. So great and almost magical is the effect of irrigation in Persia, that immediately adjoining the most barren tract may be seen rich vineyards and cornfields interspersed with orchards and walnut trees of noble growth, which spring up wherever there is moisture with incredible rapidity beneath the vivifying rays of an Eastern Sun. But, on the other hand, still more rapid is the progress of decay when the stream is diverted from its channel, one summer's drought sufficing to efface the labour of years.

According to the Captain's estimate, the population of the Persian empire at present amounts to seven millions, the multitude being represented as most morally corrupt, this internal canker and virus, no doubt, being the real source of the most formidable and imminent dangers which the nation has to fear. Persian duplicity, falsehood, and roguery have become proverbial both in political and mercantile transactions. How deeply rooted must the moral bane be when the most solemn contracts are violated without a scruple! An anecdote may be quoted to illustrate the national systematic countenance of deceit. "We once inquired," says the author, "of one of the Gholans (couriers) of the embassy, whether an account which one of the King's couriers had just given was likely to be true. Oh, no,' answered the man, you must not believe a word of it. A courier must have something to tell by the way. You should hear what lies I tell when I am travelling."

What hope is there of the moral regeneration of such a people? The field has not been entirely neglected by the missionaries of Christianity. What is their success,-what are their prospects? Hear Captain Wilbraham :

"It does not appear to me that anything can be done, at the present time, towards the diffusion of Christianity among the Persians, although it is evident that many of their religious prejudices are giving way, and that the doctrines of the Prophet have loosened their hold upon the minds of all classes. In my opinion, it is not the bigotry of the Mahommedans which raises the chief obstacle to the introduction of Christianity among them, but the deep and universal corruption of morals which must be overcome before they can receive a religion which enjoins so much purity and self-denial. The Persians are very fond of entering into religious discussions with Europeans, and conduct them not only with great quickness of argument, but, not unfrequently, with much apparent candour. A missionary should be thorough master of their language, and of his own subject, before he ventures to engage in a controversy in which, if foiled, his want of success will be attributed to the weakness of his cause, and not to his deficiency in advocating that cause. I have frequently heard Persians boast of having worsted in argument the well-known missionary Wolff.".

The loosening of the hold which the doctrines of the Prophet have upon the mind, is so far hopeful: we fear the method indicated by our author as the only feasible one, viz. the first overcoming the deep and universal corruption of morals preparatory to the introduction or the teaching of the doctrines of Christianity, is not so promising. It seems to us that he requires the effect to be put before the proper cause and means. What other weapon can be compared to Divine truth, accompanied as we have reason to believe, as it always is, with a divine blessing more or less immediate, for subduing and eradicating human depravity, its prejudices, obstinacies, and dislikes? The necessity of a missionary being master of the language and of his subject, among such a duplicit and subtle people, none can deny or cavil about.

Before leaving the subject of missionary enterprize, it will be gratifying to our readers to learn, that the author gives some account of four American labourers and philanthropists, who, near to the salt lake of Urumiah, are devoting themselves not unsuccessfully in teaching the Nestorians the true religion and worship. Their efforts, says he, " are exclusively confined to the Nestorians, of whom there are many villages in the vicinity of the lake, although, as I have before mentioned, their principal seat is among the almost inaccessible mountains of Koordistan, into which none of the missionaries have as yet succeeded in penetrating. Hitherto they have devoted the principal share of their time to the task of mastering the languages of the Nestorians. I say languages, because the written and the spoken Syriac are almost distinct tongues. They have made great proficiency, and are now able to instruct the children who attend their school in great numbers..

We must now accompany the Captain to Georgia, to have some glimpses of the Russians and others, and also of regions that, like Persia, at the present moment occupy to an unprecedented degree the British mind.

Having reached Tiflis, the capital of Georgia, and of the Russian provinces of Caucasia, Captain Wilbraham finding himself the object of jealousy as a British officer, particularly as the Emperor Nicholas was about to visit that part of his dominions, removed for a short time to certain watering places, on the very borders of Circassia, which at certain seasons are much resorted to by the Russians. He, however, found these places deserted by fashionables and dull. He therefore retraced his steps to Tiflis after the arrival of the Autocrat, and joined in the gaities' and entertainments which attended the visit of his Imperial Highness,-a Russian noble, an old school-mate of the English traveller, being a serviceable companion. He says:

"Now that I was fairly established in Tiflis, I began to enter into the society of the place, and there were several houses where I could always reckon on a good dinner and a cordial welcome. In the evening, too, many were glad to see their friends; and, as the dinner-hour was early, and there were no public amusements in Tiflis, I often availed myself of this custom. Many of those whose houses I frequented were foreigners, who form a very large portion of the class of Russian employées. An adventurer, who styled himself the Baron Dieskau, who had the impudence to pass himself off for an English Elchee among the Affghans, and the knavery to procure money in that character, expressed himself desirous of making my acquaintance-an honour which I declined, knowing rather more about him than he reckoned upon. He is an officer in the Russian service, into which he has been admitted since his doings in Affghanistan. Any one, indeed, who has been in India, whatever may have been the cause of his quitting the country, is received by Baron Rosen into the Russian service."

No wonder that the people of Tiflis cordially welcome the society of strangers, seeing that while there are no public amusements, the entertainment and occupation of reading is denied them. We are told,

"The French Consul is only allowed to receive the Journal des Débats on the condition of not showing it to any Russian subject. Whenever any article appears which is condemned in Petersburg, the guilty num. ber is enclosed in cartridge-paper, and sealed with the seal of the censorship, a sort of political quarantine. The Petersburg Gazette, a scanty little sheet, containing no information, is the only paper seen in Georgia, Although Tiflis contains so large an European population, it possesses no public library, nor indeed even a bookseller's shop. The only publication that I saw exposed for sale were Russian dictionaries, and a history of the campaign in Turkey, published by authority. In only one of the

many houses that I was in did I see any symptoms of a bookcase. Thus debarred from the only rational mode of employing their time, it is no wonder that the Russian officers should fall into those habits of gambling and dissipation so prevalent among them."

In fact the Georgians are said to be the greatest drinkers in the world: the daily allowance, without which the labourer will not work, is four bottles; and the higher classes generally exceed this quantity. The Captain declares that on grand occasions the consumption is incredible.

A good deal is said of Nicholas in the present volume, and of his movements and measures while in Georgia. His tall, handsome, and commanding appearance,-the fascination and sternness by turns of his manner,-his soldier-like bearing, &c., are mentioned, and described as being such, that the Russian boast is scarcely exaggerated, when it is said of him, " among a thousand men you would not fail to recognize the Emperor." Captain Wilbraham had various opportunities of scanning his looks and demeanour. At a levée,

"We were not long waiting: an inner door was thrown open and the Emperor entered, attended by the Governor General Count Orloff, General Alderberg, and half-a-dozen aides-de-camp. * * * * His Majesty wore the full dress of a general officer, distinguished only by his decoration. Passing round the circle, he addressed a few words to each individual as Baron Rosen presented him; and his manner towards the Asiatics was peculiarly gracious. An Armenian officer served as interpreter. It soon came to my turn to be presented. After remarking that I ought to have been at the cavalry review at Vosnesensk; the Emperor asked me several questions concering the state of Persia, and mentioned his having seen the heir-apparent at Erivan. He then made some observations on the recent accession of Queen Victoria; on which subject he referred me to Count Orloff, and passed on to my neighbour Souvoroff. On his name being announced by the Governor General, the Emperor immediately exclaimed that it did not please him to see the grandson of the Prince Souvoroff Italisky in other than a military uniform, whereupon my friend had to kiss hands and to become a soldier nolens volens. This struck me as rather an arbitrary mode of changing a man's profession, especially when he has for many years been following some other line, and has, perhaps, no inclination for a military life."

At dinner,

"I found a large party assembled in the saloon, about forty or five-andforty in all-consisting of the principal Asiatic chiefs, the general officers and colonels of regiments, and some officers of the civil service. The Emperor soon entered, wearing the undress of a general officer. The new knight of St. Anne was introduced, and, according to form, the Emperor embraced him; but as the General was a little round man, the

scene was somewhat ludicrous. His Majesty asked me why I had not been at the review that morning, and on my answering that I had been present, he expressed his regret that I had not joined him. I wonder,' he said, that I did not distinguish your handsome uniform; but, indeed,' he added, laughing, 'place me before troops, and I have no longer eyes for anything else."".

Having heard so much of the Emperor's military mania, and seen how potent is the hint or word of the despot, an instance of prompt and unswerving justice may be added; one of the acts by which Nicholas, in some measure, controuls his gigantic army and most powerful subjects, who may be far removed for a length of time from the seat of imperial rule. It is true that bribery and peculation are practised to a wide extent, and to a most grinding degree by his officers, civil and military. But were the supreme authority to relax its energies and impartialities, we may be sure that disorganization, conspiracy, and tumult, which have sometimes been so threatening in some parts of the unwieldly empire, would be more frequent and alarming:

"After the parade had been dismissed, a terrible act of justice was performed; the officers were called to the front, and Prince Dadian, the colonel of the grenadiers of Georgia, the son-in-law of the governorgeneral, and an aide-de-camp of the emperor, was conducted into his majesty's presence. I saw that all was not right, and walked towards the other end of the parade with Colonel Rauch. I did not hear what was said, but saw the military governor step forward, unbutton the prince's coat, and tear off his aigulettes. His sword was taken from him, and, within a few hours, he was on his way to a distant fortress to await his trial by court-martial. It was so unexpected, that I am told several of his nearest relations were looking on from the balcony of his own house, without a suspicion of what was about to take place. I could scarcely believe my eyes, for I had seen him the preceding day at the emperor's table. A charge had been brought against him for employing large numbers of the men of his regiment in his own private concerns; and an aide-de-camp of the emperor had been sent to the station of his corps to inquire into the truth of the statement: he had only returned the preceding night. I was very sorry for the princess, who had only been married to him a twelvemonth. I have since heard that the military tribunal sentenced him to serve in the ranks, and that in despair he committed suicide.. This example, which proves that no amount of interest is able to screen the offender, has naturally alarmed the officers commanding the different regiments: for peculation is so general an offence, that there are few, if any, whose conduct would stand a close investigation. The emperor spoke most kindly to the poor old baron; and, by way of affording him some consolation, named his eldest son one of his aides-de-camp. Since the emperor's arrival in Tiflis, the number of petitions that have been presented amounts to upwards of two thousand; and if they should be read, they will probably unfold an extent of corruption and injustice for which his majesty