UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA SAN D EbU I iiiiii iii UBRARY ONIVCRSITY OF CAUF®RNIA SAN DIEGO |]7lllim^mTli?Ii,.9^y''°"NIA, SAN DIEGO 3 1822 02508 7867 Social Sciences & Humanities Library University of California, San Diego Please Note: This item is subject to recall. Date Due 4iCS-D^ MAV iii v m ^ ^' ^ :eiiE^g£DiLL. %^W^ tmt CI 39 (5/97) UCSD Lib. In Parts at One Shilling, and in Divisions at 6s., Cloth Gilt. NOLAN'S HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. ILLUSTRATED BY STEEL ENGRAVINGS. A FAITHFUL and graphic History of the War must prove to be one of the most desirable books in the English language. The magnitude of the interests at stake — the political consequences of either the success or the defeat of the allies — the wide sphere of action upon which the belligerent forces are contending, and are likely to carry on the contest — and the part already played by our fleets and armies — command an interest which has penetrated to the core of the national heart. A record of these events, at once popular and complete, has scarcely yet been attempted : we purpose to offer such to the public. We have the means of elucidating much which at present is covered with diplomatic obscurity, and we possess opportunities for depicting the strategy and execution of the great military movements which have taken place. The Illustrations will be all engraved on Steel, and executed by skilful Artists, from Original Drawings. They will embrace Three Classes : — I. PORTRAITS OF THE PRINCIPAL COMMANDERS. II. EVENTS OF THE WAR. III. MAPS PLANS, BATTLE-FIELDS, &c. The annexed List comprises the Titles of a few of each Class, and is submitted as the best means of acquainting the Public with the nature of the Plates which form so im- portant a feature in this Work. PORTRAITS. Lord Raglan. Omar Pasua. General Canrobert. Admiral Napier, Marshal St. Arnaud. The Duke of Cambridge. Sir John Burgoyne. Sir De Lacy Evans. Several of the above have been engraved from Daguerreotypes lent by the Noble Owners especially for this Work. EVENTS OF TH E WAR. Charge of the Heavy Cavalry at Balaklava. Miss Nightingale and the Nurses at Scutari. Night attack in the Trenches before Skbastopol. Zouaves Scaling the Heights of Alma. Battle of Inkermann. The Battle of the Alma. [ Tm-n over. SUBSCRIBERS TO NOLAN'S HISTORY OP THE WAR. HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY NAPOLEON III., EMPEEOE OF THE FEENCH. H.R.H. The Duke ok Cambeidge, K.G. Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimae. His Grace The Diike of Wellington. His Excellency The Turkish Ambas- sador, M. MusuRus. His Excellency Cardinal "Wiseman. The Most Noble The Marquis of Here- ford. The Most Noble The Marquis of DoNEGALL. The Eight Hon. The Earl of Arundel AND Surrey (now Duke of Norfolk). The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Granville. The Right Hon. The Earl of Cardigan. The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Clarendon. The Rt, Hon. The Earl Eitzhardinge, The Right Hon. The Earl of Lucan. The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Effingham. His Excellency Count Bernstoeff. Count A. Tonidez. The Rt. Hon. Viscount Gough, X.C.B. The Right Hon. The Viscount Boyne. The Right Hon. Lord Seaton, G.C.B. The Right Hon. Lord Panmure. The Right Hon. Lord Hastings. The Right Hon. Lord John Manners. The Right Hon. Lord John Browne. The Right Hon. Lord Caedross. The Right Hon. Lord Calthorp. The Right Hon. Lord John Scott. Baron Kneesebeck. Lady Eorbes. The Right Hon. "W. E. Arundel. The Hon. J. Massey. Hon. Miss Constance Einch Hatton. Right Hon. Sir Charles Wood, Baet. SiE Hew Dalrymple, Bart. Lieut.-Gen. Sir de Lacy Evans, Bart., K.C.B. Sir George Wombwell, Bart. Sir E. H. K. Lacon, Bart., M.P. Sir Thomas Troubridge, Bart. Sir Matthew Barrington, Bart. Sir Edward Borough, Bart., D.C.L. Sir Anthony Weldon, Bart. Admiral Sir Ed. Lyons, Bart., G.C.B. Admiral Sir J. Dcindas, Baet. Gen. Sie Rd. England, Baet., K.C.B. Geneeal Sie James Simpson, Bart. Lieut.-Col. Sir A. G. Maitland, Baet. Lieut.-Gen. Sie Harry Jones, K.C.B. Rear-Admiral Sir Andrew Green. Lieut.-Gen. Sir J. Burgoyne, G.C.B. Sir Eortunatus Dwareis. Sir William Cubitt. J. H. PoRTEus Oakes, Esq., M.P. Apsley Pellatt, Esq., M.P. J. H. Manners Sutton, Esq., M.P. (xENERAL J. H. RiCHAEDSON. General Twedie. General Morgan. Adjutant-general Sayer. Major-General Wallington. Major-General Richardson. Colonel F. H. Astley. Colonel Deare. Colonel Smith. Colonel Myllius. Colonel Brown. Colonel E. Hallewell. Mrs. Colonel Hall. Lieut. -Colonel Stevenson. Lieut. -Colonel J. D. Johnstox. Major Russell. Major Alfeed Cavanagh. Majoe Waedlaw. Major J. Durvoy. Major Ord. Major Cochrane. Major Blundell. Captain Graig. Captain Robinson. Captain Agnew. Captain John J. Rorie. Captain John Parsons. Captain Charles Richards, R.N. Captain W. Banks, R.N. Captain Thomas Ley, R.N. Captain W. F. Tiegidgu. Captain R. S. Teesscott, R.N. Captain W. Page. Captain Tonkin. C.iPTAIN GeOEGE HaWKES. Captain Hensley, R.N. Captain William Jolly. Captain E. Glovee. Captain Barbour. Captain Geisam. Captain Sayee. Captain Hussein. Captain Simpson. &c. &c. &c. J. S. VIRTUE, CITY ROAD, AND IVY LANE, LONDON. 'A ■ m JEoIEoJMo TIHC3S JDUKE ©F GAMBJSEBGE, K o ©. &©c .Zf<^z/^ y^i/'^ ^y/^ lOllDON, VIRTOE »• C" TEE HI if ©MY ®f ^ ^^f. MlIMiT ^,|^ it 1/5^ "^llUM^kJEB 6' «^ (i'/^/Ci/£bj^'i^^^jy^ ^3 ^y ^ OMAR PASHA, ^ © E I? ]s m..?.x. r, \ -=5? 1^ ' . n ^ T?s -^3^" a -f SEIR (DMAIRJLJEg HAFIEm. fwr*^- «:5 PHEEACE. The celebrated apliorism of D'Israeli, that " War is tlie natural condition of man/' however it may shock our moral sensibility, has a certain truth in it which forces itself upon our convictions. We know that man was originally endowed w ith a nature in harmony with all the conditions of his existence; his abode was Paradise, and peace reigned within and around him : as the unruffled waters reflect unbrolcen the heaven which smiles upon them^ so man, in his primaeval state, reflected the sublime tranquillity of God. But that which estranged him from his ]\Ialcer confused his social relations : selfishness became his master-passion, and brought into play envy, hatred, and revenge. In the first family blood was shed; and never, during the long line of centuries in whicli the race, has trodden its way through time, has its footsteps been free from the stain. A history of Avar would be a history of the species. There is not a coral rock on the Pacific, above which man has formed a dwelling, where the club has not been brandished; there is not a prairie in the Western world, or a dark forest within its recesses, where the war-cxy has not been raised, and where the wild strife of men has not left its impress. On the trackless deserts, where the Arab only is a wanderer, he is also a combatant; the Boschman lifts his puny arm in conflict; and the lowest tribes of mankind, the aborigines of Australia — inventive in nothing besides — can cast, with murderous skill, the adroit boomerang. Civilization does not destroy this tendency of the race, but trains it, and invests it with more perfect aptitudes. E-ome, in the greatness of her government, was greatest in arms ; as Greece, before her in renown, united to the matchless delicacy of her taste and subtlety of her intellect a genius for battle, and an ambition for military fame. The most civilized countries of modern Europe have, unhappily, illustrated this truth : — France, the exemplar of modern refinement, worships military glory ; and even our England, amidst the progress of her material greatness, social melioration, and religious zeal, sings triumphantly of "The flag; that's braved a thousand years The battle and the breeze !" Yet are we bold to say, that the tendency of civilization is to make vrar both undesirable and impossible. There may exist an advanced civilization of circum- stance, in the enjoyment of whicli commerce flourishes and wealth abounds, and there may exist also a civilization of mind conducing to much refinement of manners and cvdtivation of the arts, — and yet the nations so distinguished may be ambitious of military ascendancy, and wish to mingle the laurel with every wreath of beauty which they cull. B 2 PEEFACE. Commercial and cultivated nations have been aggressively >yarlike. But the civilization wliioli is based npon high moral principle must curb national ambitions by its restraints, assuage national animosities by its charity, and dissipate the preju- dices of castC; and race, and nation, i)y its intelligence. We are conscious of no invidious nationality, when we say that Great Britain has attained to this civilization more than has any other country, — not even excepting the United States; and there- fore the reluctance to engage in the war which is now raging. That reluctance has been the theme of conversation in all intelligent circles on the continent of Jilurope and in America; and eloquent sarcasms npon our country, in the newspaper-press of Berlin, Brussels, and New York, have received their poignancy from the fact that England openly deprecated war. It is not only because our vast commerce makes peace oiu' interest that we have been unwilling to mingle in the conflict, but because tlicre is principle enough in England to cause war to be regarded as in itself an evil of incalculable magnitude. The military virtues of the British people, which they have retained through a long lineage of heroes, were never more potent. If the passion for war slumber in the nation^s heart, the honour of the warrior is wakeful and sensitive there. The very errors of diplomacy and administration have evoked such a protest from the public voice, as shows the intelligence, generosity, practical talent, and vigour of the people at large. It is no nev/ thing for war to call up the greatest qualities of individuals or nations. Although in itself so great an evil. Providence overrules it for good in this and in many other v/ays. The old Hebrew philosophy is still true, although bearing upon it the age of so many centuries : "Our God will turn the curse into a blessing.'^ Tiie career of conquest has often been the career of civilization; and the sword vihich scattered nations also quelled barbarous feuds, and cut in sunder the bonds of many servitudes. The breath of the trumpets which shook down the walls of Jericho preluded many a similar catastrophe, v.hen tyranny found no security within its ramparts from the challenge of the brave and free. We have the changes rung every day upon the hackneyed words, " Peace hath its victorics,^^ so that men begin to forget, amidst the clangour of their peals, that war also has its 7»orGZ victories; and that the march, the bivouac, the camp, the citadel, the battle, and the hospital, call for qualities rich in the noblest traits of human character. The heroism of Hampden in the field, is not less resplendent than the policy of Hamp- den in the senate — both sprung from the same patriotism; and that was animated in all its deeds by the same principles of truth and duty. It is not always true that war, by throwing around the victor the halo of a false glory, creates fictitious honour, and cheats us of our admiration ; for often the Avarrior seems noblest in defeat, and he is a sublime spectacle in the very hour of his ruin. " The solJiei's hope, the patriot's zeal, For ever dmim'd, for ever crost : Oh ! who shall say what heroes feel, When all but life and honour's lost !" War has its literature : it is rich in the descriptive, rich in anecdote, and in biography. Never was war so prolific of literature as this. Our soldiers are authors; tae:"r PREFACE. 8 touching stories of personal endurance, — their exciting narratives of daring, — their varied relations of adventure, not only prove the loyalty and patriotism of the people from whom they went forth, but show, in a manner Lord Brougham never contemplated when he uttered the memorable expression, that "the schoolmaster is abroad." AYe shall place before our readers original letters creditable alike to the head and lieart of the humble heroes by whom they were written. The military history of the private soldier, as well as of his chief, is frequently full of eventful life ; we shall clierish the laurels of our humblest brave, whether overshadov.-ing their graves, or blooming for the acknowledgment of their victories. England is still proud of her navy. In this war she has to witness the gallantry of her Jack-tars on shore, or in liazarding ship and life against stone-built batteries, behind which the coward navy of the foe has sheltered. But our sailors never showed more constancy, skill, and devotion, than they have in this war, especially in treading the intricate and sinuous channels of the Sea of Azofi, and of the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland. We shall detail the heroism of every arm of the service, and endeavour to show our readers what our enemies already feel — that whatever our mismanage- ment or mistakes, it is as Lord Hardinge testified before the Sebastopol Committee, that England never was better prepared for war, by sea or land, than she is now. In depicting the scenes and recording the incidents in wliich our forces have ])een engaged, we shall not omit the part taken by our Allies. The bravery of the Turks and the wisdom of Omar Paslia are eminently worthy of a place in history. The defence of the Danul)e and of Silistria, Avhich, by the skilful tactics of the Turkisli commander-in-chief and the intrepidity of his troops, inflicted such disaster upon the Russian armies, and offered so effectual an obstruction to Russian designs, will long occupy an honourable prominence in military annals. We shall lay before our readers the successive plans of the Russian strategists, from the opening of the campaign until the raising of the siege of Silistria ; and we shall describe the comprehensive arrange- ments by which all these plans were baulked, and the prestige of the Russian army damaged, if not desti'oyed. The heroic courage of the French on the Alma and before Sebastopol furnishes numerous deeds of exciting interest to all who can admire gallantry; while the cordiality of the co-operation between the two armies, as well as of the alliance between the two nations, gave rise to incidents sometimes deeply pathetic, and at other times amusing and grotesque. Anecdotes and letters illus- trating the spirit and character of the French, Turkish, and Egyptian armies, will give zest to our narrative. Our sketches of Russian and Turkish history are drawn from the very best sources ; and if we make them short, it is because of our desire to bring our readers — as soon as is compatible with the dignity and efficiency of a history — to the moment when the Turkish flag was flaunted in the face of the enemy, and the first shock of Avar was heard through Europe. We shall, however, not fail to weave into our story, as Ave proceed, such accounts of the Avild Circassian and Georgian, Greek and Albanian, as will place these nations to the life before our readers; and avc shall especially intro- duce to them the intrepid Schamyl, the prophet-Avarrior of the Caucasus^ Avhose 4 TREFACE. struf«les, so full of romance and vicissitude, are but little known to tlie English public. Our great aim will be to avoid such dry detail as can give no instruction or entertainment to the great body of the people, and yet to afford such an insight to the intrigues of Russia, the cabals of the Divan, the policy of the Western Cabinets, the counsels of the military chiefs, and the operations of armies, as Avill increase the solid information of those who peruse our book, and at the same time furnish them with reading more pleasurable than can be supplied by the unreal stories of the novel or romance. Truth is not only stranger than fiction, it is also more interesting, in proportion as the minds are earnest and intelligent before whom it is placed. Truth is, however, only partly told when in any narrative of facts it is divested of the lights and colours which ^vcre originally blended with them, and only presented to the reader with bare and uusoftened outline : it will be our task to portray the events of this war as they were, in all their many-coloured habiliments, and strange and peculiar associations. We shall be better enabled to accomplish our purpose in this respect by pictorial aid. This age has been termed " the age of the pen,'' and the expression has received an almost universal acceptance : we might with almost equal appropriateness call it "the age of the pencil;" for whatever may be the influence of great painters in this, as compared with any past period, never before was the taste and talent of the artist brought into requisition so extensively for the instruction and pleasure of t\\ei general public, and never did the mass of readers patronize illustration as they do now. We shall do homage to this excellent fashion of the times, and depict the scenes which were formed by the events which we relate : — the tented field, the bivouac-fire, the vigilant and lonely sentinel, — the skirmish, as the wild Tartar and Cossack, the E,ifle and Zouave, advance or recede in the flow and ebb of combat, — the review, the march, the charge, when — • " With fetlock deep in blood The fierce dragoon, through battle's flood, Dash'd the hot war-horse on, — " the contested trench, — the height crowned with battery and redoubt, dealing mur- derous cannonade upon the ascending and assailing line — all these will be illustrated. The sea will afford many scenes : — the sun-lit Bosphorus, the tideless Euxine, the ice-bound Baltic, — the calm, the tempest, the wreck, the chase, the capture, the bombarding fleet. Representations of such will enable us to impress upon onr readers the beautiful or terrible realities our pen will describe. Engravings of the men who have been the chief actors in the great drama will constitute not the least valuable contributions of art to our history. A laudable curiosity exists in most minds to behold the men by whom great actions have been performed, and where that cannot be gratified their likenesses afford especial interest. We have original and peculiar means of satisfying this feeling. Ours shall really be an Illustrated History of the Wp^. THE ILLUSTMTED HISTORY OF THE rHESENT WAR AailNST RUSSIA. CHAPTER I. RUSSIA. " His Liberty is full of threats to all." — Shakspere. A nisTOEY, or even a good description of the E,ussiau Empire, is still a desideratum. Tra- yellers from Bell to De Custine have conveyed only partial glimpses of Russian life and man- ners. Ear more is known historically and socially of Russia's once great rival, whom she now seeks to make her vassal. Russia is better understood in the capitals of the North and in Yienna than in London. In Paris, of late years, much pains have been taken to acquire a more complete knowledge of her social condition, her policy, and her resources. Her empire is the largest in the world, and, next to that of China and of England, is also the most populous. Within the bounds of her far-spread domi- nions vast resources are undeveloped; and it only requires a glance at the writings of such men as Humboldt and Lyell to perceive that, stored up for future genei'ations, untold riches await the industrj'- and enterprise of the future Russia. Her history, too, is fertile in events : it is intimately associated vnth the most promi- nent annals of the Eastern Empire, and of that strange dominion which, erected upon its ruins, is itself in turn now sinking in decaj'. No nation has had more frequent vicissitudes ; and its forms of government, from the ancient re- public of Novgorod to the unmitigated despotism founded bj' Peter, have passed through strange and varied revolutions. The fortune of war ■was not always on her side ; but whether Ein, Northman, Tartar, or Cossack, triumphed, the Sclavonic element has continually formed the substratum of the population ; and it never ceased to encroach upon bordering races and territories, until, as a tide spreading onward as it rises, the Sclavonic Russ has extended his influence over an eighth portion of the globe : from the Baltic to the Black Sea, from the icy circle to the sunny shores of the Caspian, the chief of this peculiar race now has his au' thority acknowledged and his ukase obeyed. GEOGEAPHICAL POSITION. — EXTENT. — CLI- MATES AND GENEEAL SUPERFICIAL CHA- RACTER. Russia includes a great portion of the Eastci'n hemisphere, extending from 18° to 180° of east longitude, and upon the 60th degree of latitude embracing about 6000 miles of territorj-. Ercm north to south it stretches from the 38th degree to the 78th north. Its area can nov>' scarcely be less than 8,500,000 square miles. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean for 1000 miles of coast. Its southern limits are the Black Sea, the Danube, the Pruth, the Austrian Empire, Turkey in Asia, the Caspian Sea, Tartary, and the Chinese Empire. On the east its bounds are the Pacific Ocean and Behring Straits. On the west Sweden, Den- mark, and Prussia, limit its territoiy. It is computed that the Russian dominions include an extent of land equal to the moon. Of this great territory the greater part is in Northern Asia, comprising some 6,000,000 square miles. Asiatic Russia is divided into several governments, each large enoiigh to con- stitute an empire. European Russia comprises 2,000,000 square miles, including Great, Little, and New Russia, and ranging from the Caucasus westward to the Gulf of Finland ; covering the regions which were once known as the abodes of independent nations, under the names of Tartars, Cossacks, Poles, Volkinians, Lithua- nians, Esthonians, Fins, &c. American Russia is a tract of 500,000 square miles upon the extreme north-west of the American continent, which brings Russia into juxtaposition with the territory of the Hudson's Bay Company and Northern Oregon. According to M'Cul- loch, the latest estimate in geographical miles 6 HISTORY OF THE WAll AGAIXST RUSSIA. [Ci of this vast empire is that of M. Kocppcn, of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and he states it thus : — Eussia in Europe, including the portions of the 'i mh-e^. governments of Perm, Orenburg, and Viatka, | 90,117 tliat extend into Asia ) Northern Asiatic Russia, or Siberia. 223,780 Southern Asiatic llussia, or Transcaucasian Pro- vinces 3,123 Grand Duchy of Finland 0,400 Kingdom of Poland 2,320 American colonies 1 7,500 Grand Total 343,240 Of course the climates over such an expanse of country are many, but that which prevails raay be easily imagined from such high latitudes. Even in Southern llussia, upon the shores of the Caspian and the Euxine, the otherwise genial year suffers through a consi- derable portion of its progress from the cold ■winds which sweep from the pole, and which are felt far beyond the southern bounds of the empire, even to the sunny slopes of the Bos- phorus. The characteristic features of the greater part of this country possess, notwith- standing its extent, much similarity. Thus, both in Asiatic and European Russia there is, iiowever diverse the productions, the same pre- vailing aspect of forest scenery. Between Peters- burg and Moscow, and upon either range of the acclivities of the Ural Mountains, all appears to be one vast sea of foliage. The steppes are as characteristic as the forests. In the govern- ments of Astracan and Omsk, wide sandy deserts stretch away in apparently interminable desolation. The Crimea realises both these features of Russian scenery. The southern part blooms with flowers and foliage as richlj- as any spot of equal area in the world ; while its northern portion is one wide steppe, nourishing upon its bleak bosom neither fruit nor flower. In the extreme north of the empire the climate and aspects of the country are of course peculiar, except so far as Scandi- navia is a participator. Mr. Laing, in his Nor- wegian tour, catches something of the spirit of this scenery; but by no author have we met with a description which realises it so well as that of De Custine. "In approaching these northern regions you seem to be climbing the platform of a chain of glaciers ; the nearer you advance the more perfect is the illusion rea- lised. The globe itself seems to be the moun- tain you are ascending. The moment you ascend this large alp you experience Avhat is felt less vividly in ascending other alps : the rocks sink, the precipices crumble away, popu- lation recedes, the earth is beneath your feet, you touch the pole. Viewed from such eleva- tion the earth appears diminished, but the sea rises around you, and forms a vaguely defined circle; you continue as though mounting to the summit of a dome — a dome which is the world, and whose architect is God. From thence the eye extends over frozen seas and crj'stal fields. On entering these whitened deserts, a poetic terror takes possession of the soul. You pause affrighted on the threshold of the palace of winter. As you advance amid abodes of cold illusion, of visions brilliant, though with a silver rather than with a golden light, an undefinable species of sadness takes possession of the heart ; the failing imagination ceases to create, or its feeble conceptions re- semble only the undefined forms of the wanly glittering clouds that meet the ej-e." Perhaps the lakes of Russia should be classed among the characteristics of its scenery. In the conquered province of Finland lakes are all but innumerable : they are of all dimensions, and stud the entire country. In various othef portions of the empire this peculiarity also exists, and on a scale of such magnitude as to defy all EurojDcan comparison. Still they add little to the beauty of the regions where they are found ; and, sometimes, by the flatness of their shores and the murky hue of their waters, they spread an air of desolation around them. "While the Russian Empire presents to the traveller so many wide unbroken plains, there are some mountains of considerable elevation. The Ural Mountains, stretching from the Caspian Sea N.N.E. to the Arctic Ocean, rise in some points to 6500 feet above the level of that sea ; and the Caucasian range, between the Caspian and Euxine, forms many bold, nigged, and ele- vated mountain scenes. Within this range there are deep ravines, covered with primeval forests; and bold masses of rock, towering up into the heaven, exhibiting a lonely grandeur, such as may well impress with brave and loftj'' sentiment the tribes who make their homes in these fastnesses. The rivers of Russia are classed according to their embouchures. Some of them find their exit in the Arctic Ocean, and are frozen along a greater part of their course nearly the year through. A few fall into the Baltic ; the chief of which is the Neva, ennobled by flowing through the capital. Tiie chief river of Russia — the Volga — is not so honoured; its disem- boguement is in the Caspian ; it is twice the length of the tortuous Danube, so generally esteemed the greatest river in Europe. Several empty themselves into the Black Sea; and as long as Russia holds any authority upon its waters they must prove to her sources of wetdth and power. The productions of the empire are of course as varied as its surface, geological structure, and climate. Many regions teem with fer- tility, especially in Southern Russia ; but these form but a small proportion of the whole. Most extensive countries to the north of the Chap. I.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. empire are utterly unproductive, the rigour of the climate and the character of the soil allow- ing of neither pastoral nor agricultural industry. But even hero there are mineral treasures. Some progress has been made in mining er.ter- prise, both by the government and private per- sons; and the gold mines of the Ural Mountains and the washings of Siberian rivers have lately yielded nearly three and a half millions ster- ling annually. The principal productions of Russia and the main articles of her commerce arc corn, tallow, timber, hemp, flax, and hides. She imports British manufactures principally through Germany ; and the furs of the Hud- son's J3ay Companj' are in great request. Her orders in England for cotton, twist, and ma- chinery, are considerable ; and the import of salt, from various (quarters, is very extensive. England is her best customer ; and chiefly for those articles which she has most abundantly at her disposal : corn from the Black Sea and from the 13altic, tallow, hemp, flax, hides, and timber. The protective commercial system which she so inveterately maintains, and the continual drain upon all the countries within the imperial circle of government, caused by a huge standing army and an aggressive policy, greatlj^ repress industrial enterprise and retard material prosperity. roruLAiiox and goveenment. The population of the empii-e is about 65,000,000. Of these more than 40,000,000 are of the Sclavonic race; the remaining 25,000,000 comprise Fins, Germans, Cossacks, Tartars, Jews, Gipsies, Greeks, Circassians, Georgians, and even Turks. The government is despotic, resting entirely upon the will of the czar, which is promulgated by ukases, and is feared and obeyed to the re- motest limits of his empire. The origin of the terra czar has been much discussed, some deriving it from the title of the Roman empe- rors ; but we concur with those who assign to it an older derivation. The words ccesar, iMsir (the title of the Austrian emperor), and czar, having a common origin, as old as the language and Empire of Babylon. The word is of Chaldee origin, and signifies a ruler; we see it as an element in the formation of such names as Nebuchadnezzar, Beltashazzar, and others of the rulers of " the Golden Empire." The late czar was very desirous to exchange this title for that of emperor, although the first possessor of it was the head of the house of Romanoff, elected by the voice of the libei-ated Russians, when, with the Duke of Moscow at their head, they had finally defeated the Tartars, and delivered their country from the Mohammedan yoke. The czardom never assimied so absolute a form as xmder the sceptre of its late possessor. Even Peter the Great recognised the influence of "the Colleges;" and the Emperor Alexander I. invited their remonstrance against his own ukases when they disapproved of them; but Nicholas grasped the sceptre with the liand of an autocrat, and lifted czardom to the acme of its tja-annj^, pretension, and blasphemy. The Count de Garowski said of Nicholas: "Once the czar recognised the idea of the supremacy of the law. This was something — it was the recog- nition of i\\e persona juris in his subjects; but now the law is himself. Thus he is the only person in the empire ; others are in reality merelj' things, and persons so long as his Avill allows them to be such — so long as they submit to move within the iron limits of his Avhims. Intellectual life — even physical life — can be allowed to exist only so far as they assimilate themselves to, and support the control exercised by, czarism." The forms of certain media of legislation, however, still exist. There is the Imperial Council, consisting of a president and an indefinite number of members, of which the ministers are a part ex officio. It is divided into several departments ; such as the affairs of Poland, the finance, legislation, war, and religion. The internal affairs of the empire are ostensibly committed to it. The Senate is a distinct body from this, and is so far flattered that the emperor allows it to be thought the most important department of the state ; like our House of Lords, the highest court of judicature. Its members are nominated by the emperor, and are not hereditary. There is, too, a certain publicity connected with this body, for every month it publishes a report, or quasi report, of its doings in the Gazette. The College of the Holy Synod is a third body in the state ; but although its province is exclusively religious it is more watched by the emperor than any other, and can neither originate nor effect anything with- out his direct sanction. There is a fourth college, called the Ministerial Committee, cor- responding to our cabinet, but responsible only to the emperor. The real business of the em- pire rests with the chancellerie 2}c>'iioiilicre, which immediately communicates with the em- peror. The operation of this government is disastrous to liberty, justice, and material ad- vancement. The spirit with wliich M'CulIooh, in his Dictionary, glosses over the blighting influences of this despotism upon the people of all the Russias, but too well harmonises with the indulgence with which the czar and his government have been regarded by the courts and cabinets of Europe, our own in- cluded. We hesitate not to say that all human interests, whether for time or eternity, perish in the grasp of this tyrannj-; and tliat its whole system of government is based upon fraud, falsehood, and hypocrisy. HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [CuAP. r. SOCIAL AND EELIGIOUS CONDITION OF THE PEOrLE, Of the 65,000,600 of Russians scarcely one fifth, exclusive of the army, can be said to be free; the rest are serfs bought and sold witli the soil, and subject, under certain partial restraints, to the caprices of their lords, as the nobles are to the czar. Their material cojnforts are necessarily very contracted ; and although there is a minister of education and a public- school system, they are sunk in the most barbarous ignorance, from which it is not the policy of emperor or priest to redeem them. Accordingly they are coarse, sensual, servile, deceitful, and revengeful. They will spend their last rouble in intoxication ; and all, from the serf to the noble, glory in that vice. They will betray the man who serves them even into the hands from which his generosity deli- vered them. They will rob their benefactors. They hug their chains. They will lie and over- reach where truth and plain dealing would as well serve them, for these vices have sunk into the heart and soul of the whole people. Intel- lectually they are without vigour or originality, yet no nation so " dextrous offence" in matters of low cunning; and they are capable of con- ducting an intrigue with any other race — Peter the Great made it his boast that one Russian was a match for three Jews. Yet degraded as this picture is — and it is, alas ! in this respect but too faithful — there are redeem- ing qualities in the Russian character. They are capable of much kindness, are hospitable, and naturally polite. The imitative arts they acquire with a readiness not surpassed by any other people. They have a national love of music, and like all men so characterised they are patriotic and brave. Thompson says — "Nature hesitated whether to make them a nation of warriors or musicians, and in her hesi- tation made them both." In religion they are besotted and furious fanatics, hating all other forms of Christianity, and all other religions than their own, and transferring that hatred to their professors. Their most active resent- ments are directed to Mohammedans and Roman Catholics. Their religion is the Russo- Greek Church, which differs little from the Latin, but enough to exasperate the schism into one of furious animosity. On the doc- trines of pui'gatory, and the union of the divine and human natures in Christ, the keep- ing of Easter, the celibacy of the clergy, and Eome minor points, the difference is maintained with the keenest controversy. The Greek Church is also iconoclastic, but pictures are reverenced. The czar is the head of the church, and claims the vicarage and vicegerency of God as boldly and sternly as the Roman pontiff. AU evangelical religion is dreaded and detested by the czar, the nobility, and the officials. Ser- mons are seldom heard in the Russian churches, and in some of the forms of worship there is less of God than of the emperor. Yet the tyranny of czarism over religion is a matter of faith with the whole people ; they regard him as God's representative, and would die in attes- tation of the sincerity of this belief. The con- sequence of all this is that in the communion of the Greek Church there is much superstition and very little religion. But in the Russian Empire all religions are to a certain extent tolerated. In Finland and along the shores of the Baltic, the Lutheran Church is protected and endowed ; but while the Greek priests are busy throughout Esthonia, Livonia, and Courland, in proselyting the Lutherans, their ministers are forbidden all discussion of the peculiai-ities of the imperial faith, and to proselyte one of its disciples is an offence against the laws. In Poland, Roman Catholicism is suffered to exist, but not to spread ; and even the Polish disciples of Mohammed, — a class concerning whom the friends of Poland in this country do not seem to be informed, — are allowed without any active persecution to retain the profession of Islamism. The Jews of Russia are numerous, and less tolerated than any other sect. Thus Greek and Latin, Jew and Ghebar, Lutheran and Re- formed, Mussulman and even Budhist, populate this strange empire ; and, paradoxical although it may sound, it can in strict correctness be said that all are tolerated and all persecuted. SKETCn OF EUSSIAN HISTORY. We have no way of tracing this people beyond the eighth century, when from all we can gather they were more civilized than they are now. To the republic of Novgorod may be referred the origin of the nation. Eor ages it would appear that that republic enjoyed a large measure of freedom and happiness ; but, inviting the aid and protection of certain Scandinavian chiefs, these rude Northmen there, as everywhere, — except in the land of their origin, — superinduced feudalism, before which the liberties of the primitive and simple people gradually disappeared. It is with the Russia of to-day rather than of past ages with which, in this book, the reader has to do; and therefore he will not be conducted thi-ough the struggles of princely feuds and tribal contests and civil embroilments, from the days of Ruric, the primitive chief of the nation, to his recent and really more barbarous successors. Russia passed through the usual changes of nations : she suffered slavery and inflicted it, she was the invaded and the invader. Her forms of government were modified by the changes through which she passed, or by her voluntary choice of bad government, for which her people seem to have had a fatal taste in all Chap. I. ] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAI^n'ST RUSSIA. ages. Gradually, from being a small state in a remote region of Northern Europe, she has extended herself to contiguity with the fairest realms and oldest governments. Christianity was introduced at the close of the tenth cen- tury. There is reason to believe that it had made some secret way before tliat time, but it was then publicly professed and enforced by a remorseless tyrant called Vladimir, who married a sister of the Greek emperor, and from motives of policy and pride and caprice strangely mingled, established the religion she professed within the barbarous circles of his dominions. Until the time of Peter the Great, the Patriarch of Moscow. presided over the church ; but that great barbarian wrested from him this dignity, which has since become one of the most valued privileges and instruments of the czars. The constitution of the empire as it is was framed by Peter, and the policy which has now armed the world for war has been too faithfully observed by his successors. It is in brief — by fraud or force to lay hold upon all surrounding territory, advancing on all hands, but espe- cially east and south, to the possession of Constantinople, and thence to the easy conquest of the world. Treaties are made without any intention to keep them, and alliances are formed to be broken when convenient. Gold is unsparingly used to foment disputes in other countries, and arms intervene to assist the section of the distracted country most likely to subserve the interests of its faitldess pro- tector. Transparent as this policy is, such is the national faculty for intricate negotiation and unprincipled intrigue, that, however in want of generals, Russia can always be well served by her diplomatists ; and even when beaten in war, can by this means reap the fruits of victory upon the fields of disaster and disgrace. Russia never had an enemy from whom she did not suffer defeat, and from whom she did not ultimately wrest all the rewards of conquest. It is the peculiarity of Russian history that it repeats itself in cycles. Only a few years since, and she made a show of magnanimity in accepting the treaty of Adrianople, and refusing to march upon the Turkish capital. Many centuries ago a Russian chief hung up his shield over the gates of Constantinople, as a memento of his magnanimity in sparing it. It was not in 1854 that Russia first lost a cam- paign at Silistria : the Czar Sviatoslof, just nine hundred 3-ears ago, Avas beaten by the then ruler of Constantinople at that city. Nor was it in 1829 that Russia first captured that stronghold : she had there previously known victory as well as defeat. The insolence of Prince Menschikoff at Constantinople was both in its utterance and in its effects very similar to tliat which was resented and punished by the Greek emperor, John Zimisccs, long before ' England yielded to the arms of "William of Normandy. The insurrection now raging in tbe Ukraine is only a repetition of what occurred there 150 years ago. It would be foreign to the purpose of this book to give even a sketch of the aggressions, reigns, and projects of the Russian rulers since the death of Peter. The decease of the late emperor and author of the present war, renders any notice of his history or character in this place unnecessary. He who now holds the sceptre is not reputed to be his equal in cither counsel or force of character, and is supposed to be free from the national and sectarian fanaticism and personal ambition, by which his unhappy sire was deprived of life in the glory of his strength and the crisis of his character and his empire. MILITAEY STRENGTH, FINANCE, &c. It is the almost universal opinion of military men, that while Russia is aU-powerful for de- fence she is not a fii-st-rate power for ofiensive warfare. Yet she has carried armies over vast and all but impracticable marches, and often have her ancient chiefs showed their less ad- venturous sons the way to the beautiful By- zantium. On the other hand, in every stage of her progress she has been successfully in- vaded. The Tartar held her for ages under tribute, and she trembled at the shaking of the Mongol lance. Sweden once seriously thought of annexing Russia — a project justified by the success of her arms. Moscow was burned in the presence of invaders before the great Napo- leon looked from the Kremlin upon its confla- gration. In the opinion of competent Russian military authorities Russia must have fallen before Napoleon, but for adventitious circum- stances. The battles fought in apparent resist- ance of his advance were only risked to afi'ord opportunity for the union of both the armies which defended her, lest they should be beaten in detail. To the elements, not to arms, Alex- ander I. owed his throne ; and, even indepen- dent of such succour, he must have lost it had Napoleon tampered with the serfs, or pro- claimed the nationality of Poland. Vain of being a king, and despising the people, in the vain-gloriousness of his imperial and royal con- nexions and friendships. Napoleon desired only to conquer the alliance of Alexander — he never contemplated the conquest of Russia and the liberation of her oppressed serfs. We do not believe that Russia was then unconquerable, neither do we believe her to be now invincible, in defence any more than in attack. Still, for either aggressive or defensive war, Russia is powerful. Ever since the days of Peter the Great, the whole strength of the empire has been devoted to the maintenance of armaments ; large standing armies have been maintained, fortresses erected on all salient positions, and naval cquip- G 10 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [CuAr. 11. mcnts indcfatigably increased. The ambitious di'eams of the emperors, the church, the nobles, and the people, were the same — the conquest of the Eastern Empire and the universal domi- nancy of the Greek Church ; and to effect this purpose all were willing to submit to the greatest sacrifices. The naval strength of Russia at the break- ing out of the present war comprised about forty sail of the line, twelve frigates, as many brigs, and about twenty war-steamers. This naval force was about equally divided between the Baltic and the Black Sea. Be- sides, there were the Caspian flotilla, consist- ing of ten small steamers and a few schooners, — the former at Astracan, the latter at Ashoor- hada ; also the Kamschatka flotilla, consisting of a few steamers and schooners, and a con- siderable number of gun-boats. Just before the breaking out of the war, a lai'ge fleet of gun-boats were armed at Ci-onstadt, Helsingfors, and Revel. On the shores of those seas vast arsenals, impregnable to attacks from sea, and all but impregnable from the land side, had been prepared as harbours of refuge for those fleets, and bases of operation in any aggressive wars in which Russia might engage. Sebas- topol, upon the Black Sea, and the three great Baltic arsenals above-named, have become no- torious in this struggle ; and accurate descrip- tions of them will be given in the proper place during the progress of this history. The army was brought to a higher state of perfection by the late emperor than ever it had attained before, even under the aus- pices of his predecessor, so anxious for its efiicient organisation. In the course of the narrative occasion Avill be taken to describe the peculiar organisation of the Russian army, which probably exceeds a million of men. This statement will by many be supposed to be an exaggeration, because the list of a Russian army upon paper differs so largely from the actual muster; but there is good reason for the estimate. The army is recruited partly by voluntary enlistment, partly by adopting the sons of soldiers and illegitimate children, but mainly by conscription. The Russian soldiery are brave, and submissive to discipline ; but physically, mentally, and morally, greatly infe- rior to the British and French. They are in general badly ofticcred, although of late years prodigious efforts have been made to secure cfhciency in this respect. The artillery and engineer departments are the best, as upon them especially the Empci-or jSTicholas lavished his care. The cavahy stands next in reputa- tion ; but we are of opinion that it is inferior to the infantry, although, for outpost dutj', or harassing the rear of a retiring enemy, it is more expert and vigilant than any cavalry in the world. The Cossacks and Baschkirs are good for nothing else ; but for such services they are unrivalled. The Russian army is the worst paid in the world; and notwith- standing the national ambition for conquest, the service is unpopular even among the serfs, although every serf becoming a soldier is thereby made free for life. In consequence of her extended frontier, and the disaffection of many of the provinces, — such as Poland, Fin- land, the Crimea, and the Ukraine, — Russia can seldom transport beyond her frontier verj- large armies, except they are made to subsist by the plunder of the people, foes or allies, in the provinces they occupy. Such large garrisons must be retained at home, the financial re- sources of the empire are so inadequate, and the revenue collected upon such erroneous principles, that, unless in alliance with some richer nation, she can never, even for the sub- jugation of Turkey, send forth an army of 300,000 men. She is, however, always danger- ous to contiguous nations, from her treacherous and furtive policy, and the facility she possesses of suddenly occupying important positions be- yond her own frontiers, and within those of her neighbours. The revenue is aboat 20,000,000 sterling a-year, and the debt about 80,000,000 sterling. Such is the empire with which we are now at war ; and having thus presented its main characteristics before our readers, they will be enabled to comprehend more easily the different stages of the struggle as v^o proceed in the narrative. CHAPTER 11. TURKEY. " Inter arma silent leffes. OxLT a century ago, and Turkey was deemed the greatest empire in the world ; three centu- ries past, in the days of Solyman the Magni- ficent, it was the most powerful and gorgeous which had ever dazzled the imagination, scarcely excepting that of Rome. She is now the ally of England in a war which, end as it i may, must enfeeble her. It is necessary that those who do battle for her integrity should study her position, character, and resources. GEOGRAPHICAL AND PHYSICAL ASPECT. It is difficult to define the limits of the Turkish Empire, because of its disjointed state. Chap. II.J HISTOEY OF THE WAE AGAMST EUSSIA. 11 It is partly in South-Eastern Europe, partly in Western Asia, and ranges along the African shores of the Mediterranean. Turkey in Europe is bounded on the west by Hungary and the Gulf of Venice ; on the east by the Black Sea ; on the north by Hungary, Transylvania, and the Eussian frontier; and on the south by Greece, the Archipelago, and the Sea of Mar- mora. Turkey in Asia includes vast regions — Asia Minor, Syria, Armenia, and Kurdistan. It is bounded on the east by Persia and Georgia; on the west by the Archipelago and the Medi- terranean; on the north by the Black Sea; and on the south by Arabia. The African portion of the empire consists exclusivelj- of tributary states — such as Tunis, Tripoli, Egj'pt, and Arabia. The former boundaries of the empire were far beyond the limits thus defined. What may now be termed European Turkey extends from 39° to 48i° N. lat., and from 15i° to 29^° E. long., and comprises probablj', at the lowest computation, 200,000 square miles. Turkey in Asia is situated between 26'' and 45° E. long., and 29° and 45° N. lat. It contains at the most recent computation 450,000 square miles. The capital of the empire is the ancient Byzantium, so long the metropolis of the eastern Eoman dominion, the harbour of which is the finest in the world ; and the city, built upon seven hills, like its once great rival Eome, is more picturesque as to site and exterior appear- ance than an}' city now existing, and probably than any which has ever existed. In noticing the occupation of it by the allies, a more suit- able occasion will arise for its description, and at the same time avert the necessity of detain- ing the reader from the great object of the history by topographical accounts, however interesting in themselves or pertinent to the subject. Tlie physical aspect of an empire so extensive must in the nature of things be very diverse. The Trans-Danubian provinces can be supposed to bear little resemblance to the shores of the Mediterranean or the confines of Arabia. As a large portion of the classic regions of the old eastern empire are comprehended under its government, we cannot be ignorant of their conformation. The promontories which stretch, into the -^gean and Mediterranean are as rugged and bold as in the days when Greece and Eome, proud of their incipient navies, na- vigated with difficulty those seas. The classic mountains, so often the theme of Grecian song, still lift their monumental heads into the azure of a clear and brilliant atmosphere. Those wide and fertile plains, celebrated in classic story, and the scenes where men and gods were said to war and love, are still rich in soil, and teeming with the products of such genial realms. In the Lacha, Platamona, and Liakoura of the Turk, we trace the Olympus Thermopyla3, and Parnassus, around Avhich our schoolboy fancies conjured so man}' visions of beauty and of glory ; and which history and poetry have alike consecrated for the reverence of taste and ge- nius to the remotest time. Not a rock, or fountain, or vale, or wood, or softly undulating landscape, that luis not been visited by our educated youth in the day-dreams of their early aspirations ; and in manhood, the scholar, in his hours of meditation, wanders away to the classic shore, the sunlit fountain, the stream still vocal with its ancient harmonies, the I'ock on which Fame has inscribed so many deathless stories, and the spots, dearer than all, where patriotism struggled in vain, or tri,um.phed as it bled. The remark of the Eev. James Godkin, in his History of Greece, applies to the ancient Greek provinces, now forming part of Turkc}-, as well as to those of the present little kingdom misruled by Otho : — "jS'owhere does territory count for so much, morally and historically, as in Greece. In other parts of the world, im- mense regions, thickly peopled for centuries, and covered with cities, are memorable for nothing. But here there is scarcely a spot of ground that is not sacred to heroism, to poetry, to philosophy, to the arts, or to patriotism." The Turk has no sympathy with those local associations; they belong to a civilisation which he cannot understand, and to a religion which it was his mission to destroy ; but he has ne- vertheless a keen eye for the beauties of nature, and there is no spot of loveliness, from the soft shores of the Gulf of Venice or the sea of Marmora, to the lofty grandeur of tlie Balkan or the Caucasus, to the beauty or sublimit}' of which he is indifterent ; and there are few de- scriptions of landscape to be found in any region which his own beautiful lands do not possess. Turkey is marked by several mountain ranges, the most noted of which from the events of modern history are those of the Bal- kan, which separate Eoumelia from Bulgaria and Servia. Taken as a whole, Turkey is a mountainous region, rendering access from one part of the empire to another very difficult, and offering points of defence against invading armies in almost every direction. The greatest altitude reached by any elevation in these ranges is that of Mount Scardus, 10,000 feet; and Sco- mius and Pindus are each about 9000 feet. None of the other elevations quite reach 8000 feet, and few ascend to above half that measure- ment. From the mountainous configuration of these countries they are all well watered, and many rivers irrigate it and subserve its com- merce : as the Danube, the Save, the Unna, Verba, Bosna, Drin, Morava, Timok, Schyl, Isker, Aluta, Jalomnitza, Sereth, Pruth, Maritza, Tondja ; the Kara-su, Struma, Var- dar, Selembria, Narenta, Vojutza. The students 12 HISTOllY OF THE WAR AGAINST lilJSSIA. [Chap. II. of classic geography will identify many of tlicse by their ancient names : such as the Hebrus, Tonzus, Cypsela, Nestus, Strymon, Axius, Pe- ncils, Aous. CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. So various are its geological and geographical features, that it must of necessity have many climates. Turkey in Europe has generally long and severe winters, excepting only in its least exposed situations and lowest latitudes. The Russians in their campaigns across the Danube have declared that they felt the cold as severely as in Southern and even Central Russia. The great elevation of so large a por- tion of European Turkey, and the relentlessly bitter blasts from Russia sweeping across the Pruth, the Sereth, the Danube, and the plains of the provinces, as well as over the Black Sea, direct upon the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmora, cause the countiy to be colder than other European countries on the same line of latitude. In Asiatic Turkey the cold is often excessive from the same causes. The high table-lands of Armenia are often covered with snow until the end of April, while the severe weather sets in as early as September. The peneti'ating blasts from the snow-clad Caucasus and from the Russian steppes across the Crimea and the Black Sea, reach to the very centre of Asiatic Turkey; while from the Armenian highlands the cold winds fall as if in showers upon Kurdistan. In summer these countries are all subject to searching heats, which are not of long continuance in Turkey in Europe, but in Syria they are frequently both long and excessive ; and there, and over all Caramania, arid winds are as blighting in sum- mer as the northern blasts are in winter. Still the general climate of both European and Asiatic Turkey is healthy; and on the shores and in the islands of the iEgean and Mediter- ranean, the most balmy and luxurious climates of either hemisphere are to be enjoyed. The productions of these countries are di- versified with the climate. Thessaly blooms with the flora of Italy, and all the delicious fruits of Southern Spain and the Italian pe- ninsula are produced there in the richest abun- dance : the olive only seems forbidden to this delightful province, as if significant of the ab- sence of that peace which can make happy the possessors of ungrateful soils, and Avithout which the Thessaleans in vain gather the clusters of the vine, or pluck the mellow fruit- bearing tree. In this fertile province the most valued agricultural materials of commerce are munificently bestowed by Providence : wine and oil, tobacco and cotton, figs, oranges, pomegranates, and citrons, are only limited in their abundance by the carelessness or contests of the people. South of the Balkan r.ange the whole countiy is fragrant with roses, lilac, jessamine, and innumerable flowering and odo- riferous shrubs; the vineyard and the orchard are by every man's door; and fine forests of stately and magnificent trees adorn with their dignified forms and many-tinted foliage the prospect wherever the traveller turns. Along the shores of Albania the atmosphere has the same light and joyous influence upon the spirits, and brings the same sense of ex- quisite enjoyment which one feels upon the opposite Italian shores. Here too you may gather the same flowers as in Italy, and taste the same fruits, — however the traveller may miss the superior associations he has left, or feel a new charm in the more picturesque ap- pearance of the Albanian people. In Asiatic Turkey, south of the Taurus, all the produc- tions of tropical and temperate climates flourish together. There the traveller meets with the date, the banana, and the sugar-cane ; and indigo of as excellent a commercial quality as is cultivated in India. The animal productions are as various as the vegetable. Thessaly is as famed for horses now as in the days when Greece and Rome drew upon its resources for their cavalry. The camel is the beast of burden in the Asiatic provinces, and there the beautiful gazelle may be seen in its graceful progress, or the huge ostritch striding awkwardly over its native wastes. POPULATION AND GOVERNMENT. It is impossible to state with any approach to accuracy the number of inhabitants. There was a rough census in 1844, which returned the population at 31,000,000; 15,000,000 of which are in Europe, and 16,000,000 in Asia. The most reliable statistics to which we have access are those of M. Ubicini, to whom Pro- fessor Creasy refers in terms of eulogy for his general correctness. In his Lettrcs sur la Turquie, t. i. p. 21, he gives tables from which, we deduce that Tarkej^ in Europe contains 14,000,000, and Turkey in Asia 15,500,000. In Europe only 2,100,000 are Ottomans; the rest are Greeks, Armenians, Sclaves, Jews, and Gipsies. In Asia nearly 11,000,000 are Otto- mans, 1,000,000 Kurds, 1,000,000 Arabs, 2,000,000 Armenians ; the remaining popula- tion is made up of Tartars, Turkomans, Druses, Greeks, and Jews. The form of government has been often de- scribed very improperly as " a despotism tempered by rebellions." It is a tempered despotism, but the tempering element has rarely been rebellions. On the contrary, insurrections have been generally on the side of oppression. Several of the sultans lost their lives in the attempt to mollify their own despotism. The murderous Janissaries, and the not less mur- CUAP. II.] HISTOEY OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. 13 derous ecclesiastics, were ever ready to depose the sultan if he attempted to meliorate the condition of his people by liberal measures, or a liberal interpretation of the institutions of the empire. The sultan is, however, an abso- lute monarch — he rules by the Jus clivinum, but that is according to the Koran, or book of the prophet, and there he reads the limitations of his rights. His chief minister is the vizier, a name corresponding to that of vicar — he acts as it were in the sultan's stead. The sultan and his vizier are assisted by a counsel of ministers called the Divan. The government is desig- nated " the Porte ; " the meaning of which word is gate — the gate in oriental countries from time immemorial being the place of judgment where magistrates and princes sat to administer justice. Thus in scripture history the term is frequently found in connexion with that usage ; and the Jewish Temple itself, — as containing the sanc- tum sanctorum, where the mercj'-seat or throne of God was erected, — is called " the gate of the Lord." The absolute power of the emperor is not only tempered by the constitution of the monarchy, so to speak, as laid down in the Koran, but by various other circumstances. The Turks retain throughout the empire municipal institutions, the privileges of which the sultan or his go- vernment seldom invade. Mr. Urquhart has given the most detailed account extant of these municipal quasi republics; and it is evident from even the most suspicious perusal of his account, that they exert a powerful influ- ence in curbing the exorbitant power of the throne. The immunities of the Christian sects are also a restriction, although the supreme au- thority is seldom stretched except in their behalf. The Greek and Armenian patriarchs are in fact delegated sovereigns, and rule the members of either "rite" pretty much as they please, within certain limitations. This power is often dangerous to the government — it is an imperium in imperio ; which however would hardly ever cause the Porte anxiety but for the designs of foreign governments, — as the post of primate or the permission to hold it, is pur- chasable, and the price paid for it is therefore a pledge for the good behaviour of the prelate who assumes the dignity of the patriarchate. Practically the decree or firman of the sidtan is law, and he deposes all officers at his will. It is not in theory allowable for him to do so by the chief dignitary of the Mohammedan Church, but late sultans have not scrupled to extend the sceptre thus far; and the people, astonished and scandalised for the hour, have quietly submitted. A more comprehensive account of the origin, the offices, or the forms of government is not here necessary ; suffice it to say it is based upon the religion of the empire, and must stand or fall Avith it. RELIGION 4ND SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. The religion of Turkey is Mohammedanism ; it is summed up in this sentence: "There is one God, and Mohammed is his prophet." Early in the seventh century an Arabum en- thusiast conceived the idea of a reformation among his pagan countrymen. It appears that he was moved by patriotic and conscientious motives. In his inquiries and reflections ho became tolerably acquainted with the Christian and Jewish scriptures, the inspiration of which he did not fully recognise, or formed only vague notions of its nature and character. To the Jews he took an aversion on account of their venality, intolerance, and pride of race. The Christians did not exemplify their religion any better than the Jews did theirs ; and as he be- came estranged from the idolatry of his fathers, he was increasingly shocked by the idolatry of the Christians, and concluded that theirs could not be the ultimate faith of the servants of God in this world. Thus reasoning, he became as zealous to overthrow the idolatry of the Christian altars as that of the pagan, which once he served ; and finding some to sympa- thise with him in his views of the simplicity of worship and the unity of God, he conceived the idea of a great reformation. So plain did the amount of truth he had gathered appear to him, that he could not believe in any sincere resistance to it ; and reasoning like other bigots before and since, that he who opposed truth opposed God, and ought to be punished, the doctrine of force became an essential part of his system. He soon found obstacles from pagans, Jews, and Christians, not to be sur- mounted without address ; and he resorted to policy and pious frauds akin to such as he per- ceived to be so successful in the hands of pagan and Christian priests, and Jewish rabbis- Here the faithful historian becomes baffled in his attempts to discover where sincerity ends and imposture begins, and where the strong man's mental vision becomes itself deranged in the tumults of his imaginations, his projects, and his sufterings. And as success crowned his deeds and misdeeds, his sincere iconoclasm, love of justice, and earnest promulgation of fundamental religious truth, become more in- extricably mingled with signs of mental aber- ration, all-devouring ambition, and cunning imposture. It is the habit of writers to treat of the life of Mohammed with as much of the odium theo- logicum as would season the keenest ecclesias- tical controversy; and he is praised, and the Koran which he profes&ed to give by inspi- ration is lauded as a literary and ethical 14 HISTOllY OF THE WAR AGAINST KUSSIA. [CnAP. II. miracle, or he is denounced as an unmitigated impostor, and his book as a faraj;o of nonsense and fraud. Sometimes, as in tlic instance of Dr. Cooke Taylor, we find the man defended, or at all events his en-ors extenuated, while the absurdities of the book are unsparingly exposed. The book, however, was very much in cha- racter with tlie man — with a man of strong mind, of ambitious enterprise, — a religious re- former in a dark age, ignorant of the Gospel, willing to do a supposed good by deceptive means, feigning an inspiration he did not feel, and fancying an inspiration that was not real. Thus constituted and actuated he propounded, as the book of a prophet, that which was only the dream or the device of a fanatic. It is likely that Jewish and Christian aid were afforded him in its composition, and that aid none of the best. He succeeded among an imaginative people by the overwhelming force of his ima- gination, among a simple people by the amaz- ing directness of his object, among a brave people by his unexampled intrepidity, amongst a roving people by his passion for adventure, and in a superstitious and ignorant age by the display of superior knowledge and more sacred pretensions than other men, and withal by a deep sympathy with the current prejudices of his race and of humanity. He taught that Moses was a prophet, the forei-unner of Christ, and Christ a prophet, the forerunner of him- self; he supposed, or affected to believe, that he was the promised Comforter — the Para- clete foretold by Christ as the teacher of all things, and the consummator of divine reve- lation. A detail of his doctrines is not suitable to this history; but as his religion and faith in his mission have so much to do with the ante- cedents of the war, the mode in wliich our oriental allies may wage it, the policy essential to our efficient co-operation with them, and the temis on which peace can be established, this notice of Islamism and its founder is desirable to a complete introduction of the events so soon to be recorded. The ecclesiastical system of Turkey is simple. Other religions are tolerated, this is established. It is a religion without a priesthood ; no sacri- fices bleed within its temples, and no altars are reared. Its ministers are rulers and doctors; they govern the faithful according to the Koran, and offer prayer and instruct. Within the mosque all believers may offer prayers, even aloud, but only believers must enter. To proselyte to the true faith is a virtue, if disdain for the infidel does not operate as a bar to tlie effort. To abandon the true faith is sacrilege, and its penalty death. Even the proselyte who apostatizes, dies. The social condition of the people is formed bj theu- religion and their political institutions. Indeed this is the case ■u ith all nations ; and the religious belief creates the political insti- tutions, or, finding such in operation, modifies them more or less rapidly into harmony with itself. The laws of ijropertj^, and of the occu- pancy of land, are much inveighed against by Mr. M'CuUoch, because there is not an here- ditary aristocracy to give the landlord a per- manent interest in the estate ; but on the whole property is well secured in Turkey, partly by the intervention of the cliurch, and partly by prescriptive rights which checli; the power of the government. The character of tlie people is not indus- trious ; the love of ease has acted as an opiate upon the national heart ; there is no vigorous life in Turkey, unless it be among the street porters and boatmen of Stamboul and Smyrna. The true Turk will smoke his pipe and sip his coffee, whether allies swarm in numberless ships to the Golden Horn, or barbarous enemies feel their way through the gloomy passes of the Balkan. The redeeming features of their character are truth, honesty, and abstinence from intoxication by alcohol — we wish we could add, or by opium. The eating and smok- ing of opium, however, is extreme. Their worst social evils are slavery and poly- gamy. Constantinople has its slave-market, where none but the faithful are admitted; although, of course, the ubiquitous English, and Americans have obtruded even there. Girls from swarthy Abyssinia, and beautiful virgins from far-famed and fair Circassia and Georgia, crowd this bazaar of dishonour and oppression. The late Emperor of Eussia, for political reasons, prohibited this export from all the regions of the Caucasus. Poh'gamy is the curse of Turkey. By it woman is de- graded, population lessened, and the endearing and tender friendship of the original institu- tion of marriage made impossible. In sobriety and integrity, in faithfulness to his word, and personal generosity, the Turk is superior to tlie Jew and the Christian settled beside him. He is, in fact, a contrast to the Greeks, so guileful and dishones-fc, and who are only somewhat worse than the other Christians. Amongst the Armenians, notwithstanding their general venality and eerviiity, there is often a high morality, and a growing disposition to receive religious truth. This favourable change is owing to the devoted and intelligent la- bours of American missionaries, which always excited the utmost jealousy of the Emperor Nicholas, who instigated Greek opposition, and supported the hostile measures of the chiefs of the Armenian Church; but the vigilance and firmness of the representatives of the American government thwarted these cabals, and secured the continued existence of the auspicious move- ment. Ceap. II.] HISTOEY OF THE WAR AGAIInST EUSSIA. I a MILITARY AND FINANCIAL STllENGTH. Until within a few months the Christian and Jewish subjects of the Porte were not liable to serve in the army — that honour was reserved for the faithful. Policy also dictated such a course — it was not deemed safe, so large a proportion of the population being Christian. What effect the recent change v/ill have upon the fortunes of Turkey remains to be seen; it is probably the real "beginning of the end," the removal of the key-stone ; time will do the i-est; and the structure of the Osman ascendancy rapidly fall into irretrievable ruin. Turkey can be great when the Osmans cease to be, or the people cease to be Mohammedans ; but an ami)' of Greeks and Franks to defend Islamism is an impossibility. The Greek is as ambitious to oppress the Mohammedan, as the latter is bent upon proudly maintaining his as- cendancy. It is not in human wisdom to recon- cile these aims, or amalgamate these elements. The oldest standing army in Europe is that of Turkey, contrary to the general opinion which attributes it to France. The soldier of the sultan's army was called Yani-tscheri, corrupted in Western Europe into JanissarJ^ That formidable soldiery was the terror of this hemisphej-c. Its existence gave rise to the other standing armies of the European nations. Even our military music has such an origin. The fife and drum, discordant like oriental music generally, are Turkish. Their sound often struck terror in the camps of the Hun- garians, and Austrians, and Italians, before Christian Europe beat a drum or blew a life to gather or inspirit her battalions. These Janissaries were as dangerous to the sultan as to his enemies. They deposed and exalted successive occupants of the throne, and ulti- mately becoming incompetent, with their old tactics and inferior arms, to cope with the advancing military science of the surrounding nations, they were uniformly beaten, and con- tributed to the decay of the empire. In 1826, the father of the present sultan, by as bold and bloody an exploit as that of Peter the Great, of llussia, when he destroyed the stre- litz, or imperial guard, put an end for ever to this military corporation. Gradually since then the sultans have proceeded, upon the principles of European organisation, to create and discipline an army ; and, before the break- ing out of this Avar, an army consisting of the nizam, or regular force, to the amount of 150,000 men, and the redif, or reserve, of equal number, and of contingents and volunteers to about the same number as each of the former classes, constituting altogether a force of 450,000 men, were nominally at the command of the sultan. The state of the exchequer, the extent of the empire, the disaffection of provinces, all limit the proportion of this force available for foreign assault, or for concentrated domestic defence. The system is French. The provision and care of the soldier, when within reach of the imperial resources, is good. The army is in a much better condition than the navj-. Once that navy was the terror of the Mediterranean, and Venice vras mainly crushed by her pro- digious efforts against it; but it never reco- vered the disaster of IS'avarino, when the fleets of England, France, and Eussia, all but destroyed it. At the beginning of this war, a sliow of naval resistance was made by Turkey, but the surprise and attack at Sinope extinguished for the present the maritime strength of the Porte. The revenue of the country docs not exceed seven millions sterling, a tenth perhaps of which is tribute from Egypt and the princi- palities of the Danube. It is a revenue totally inadequate to tlie maintenance of the state, in face of so many dangers as now coni'ront it. About a tenth part also is derivable from the customs, which are laid, not for the piu-pose of " protection," but simply for revenue. The commercial principle adopted is free-trade, in which Turkey, not England, set the nations of Europe the example. The maritime commerce of the country is maiulj- in the hands of the Greeks ; the banking and monetary transac- tions in those of the Armenians ; and the in- ternal commerce conducted by Armenians and Jews. There is no public debt in Turker. The imports are to a great extent, according to Mr. Cobden and other authorities, sent across the empire to Persia, Armenia, and Kurdistan. SIOiTCn OF TUilKISH HISTOEY. The Turks arc an ancient race, who claim direct lineage from a distinguished contem- porary of Abraham; but only a particular tribe of that race places itself before us as the supplanters of the Eastern Empire. The proper designation of this tribe is Osmanlis. The name is derived from Osman, who first led them into extensive conquest. The founder of their influence was Ertoghrul, who, under the Sultan of Iconium, ruled over a princi- pality upon the frontiers of Eithynia. Orchan, the successor of Osman, first led them into Europe; and in the year 1453 Mahomet II. conquered Constantinople. Thence, to the time of Solyman the Magnificent, the Turkish arms seemed miraculously to conquer; and the vulture, the proper emblem liistorically and locally of the race, fattened upon the slain of all Christian nations : so that Persia to the east, and Austria and Hungary to the north, became tributary to the Porte, and the world was awed by its power. The decline of the empire is generally dated from this season of its exceeding greatness; but there does not appear any other ground for this 16 HISTORY OF THE WAE AGAIXST RUSSIA. [Chap. III. than that the luxury and caso thence indulged by the court may be said to have undermined its ambition, and that certain la\vs promulgated by Solyman tended in the same direction. Selim II., who succeeded Solyman, was suf- ficiently degenerate for his reign to form the epoch for the recession of Turkish power ; but in the reign of his successor, Amurath III., the decline was rapid. Corruption and mili- tary insubordination loosened the hand of authority at the seat of government, and the sceptre rested unequally upon the various out- lying provinces. Thence, to the accession of Amurath IV., murder, insurrection, official bribery, and perverted law, did their work around the throne of the sultans; and when Amurath ascended it he found the empu-e truly wretched. He restored order, but severity and cruelty were his instruments; he ruled with a stronger hand than his immediate pre- decessors, but was himself no better than they were. The empire has continued its down- ward course to the present ; for although the reign of the father of the present sultan began an era of improvement, which his successor has nobly pursued, yet political events have coun- teracted these auspicious symptoms, and now the empire is engaged in the greatest, although so far not the most dangerous, war of its whole history. Mahmoud, as akeady related, re- formed the military system by the destruction of the Janissaries ; and showed such toleration to the Christians as had not previously been experienced. The revolt of the Greeks, whose independence was secured by the treaty of London, in 1829, and the revolt of his powerful vassal, Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt, together with a Russian invasion, and various insurrec- tions in his provinces, occupied the strong head and valiant hand of Mahmoud in a waj^ alien to his desires, and aU but fatal to his plans of reform. The present sultan ascended the throne on the 1st July, 1839, when onlj- sixteen years of age. His title is Abdul-Medjid, He has now reigned sixteen years. His ap- pearance is gentle and unassuming, charac- terised also by a strangely blended expression of coldness and tenderness. His ej'es are large and beautiful, possessing nothing of the repul- sive fire so often characteristic of the large dark eye of the East ; there is a soft and quiet voluptuousness in its light, which even when, most animated or angry always tempers it. He does not inspire enthusiasm, but the gentle love him. He is eminently a man of peace; and so far as his disposition is concerned is in no way responsible for this war. The law of Turkish polygamy allows four wives to each believer; but the sultan is an exception from the operation of this law : he is allowed no wives, and the harem is therefore supplied vrith slaves; these are Circassians and Georgians principally, but Abyssinians and women of various other nations are to be found among them. The sultana maj- therefore have been a dancing-girl or a waiting-woman, and is always a slave. The sultan himself is always the son of a slave. A recent writer says that "the seraglio is always recruited from Georgians, Malays, and Abyssinians ; " but other Cauca- sians besides those of Georgia are more fre- quently inmates of the harem. The word se- raglio, in the above sentence, expresses an error into which writers commonly fall ; it is not to be confounded with harem. The former is properly the palace of the sultan ; the latter the abode of his women. Every Turkish house has its harem, the seraglio is one only, the castle of the sultan. The present sultan has already four sons and five daughters ; and the sultana is a beautiful Circassian. He has one brotlier, and one sister who is married to a principal officer and minister. CHAPTER III. RUSSIAN AGGRESSIONS UPON TURKEY. " The Muscovite is the liereditaiy enemy of all free people."— Sigismund, King of Polakd. Amoxg the causes of the decline of the Turkish power was the imperfect subjugation of the conquered countries. As Israel in the land of Canaan found the tributary Cauaanites causes of continued weakness, so the Turks in the European moiety of their territory have experienced the injurious policy of leaving the Tanquished too strong for the permanent se- curity of the conqueror. Mr. M'Culloch dwells much ixpon this in reference to the whole of the empire; but it has only been the case in Turkey m Europe, for in Asia, as Professor Creasy describes, " They paused over each sub- dued province, till by assimilation of civil and military institutions it was fully blended into the general nationality. They thus gradually moulded in Asia Minor an homogeneous and stable power, instead of precipitately heaping together a motley mass of ill-arranged pro- vinces and discordant populations. To this policy the long endurance of the Ottoman Em- pire, compared with other oriental empires of both ancient and modern times, is greatly to be ascribed." Ciixv. III.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. In the foregoing sketches of Russian and Turkish history but little notice was taken of tlic past relations of the two powers; this was reserved in order that a separate and more distinct view might be laid before tlie reader than could have been given if mixed up with the general history of either country. It was not likely that Russia, having adopted a policy of aggression toward all her other neighbours, should regard uncoveted the pro- vinces of Turkey. It would have been the more strange, when it is remembered how often Russia brought fire and sword to the gates of Byzantivam when the Greek emperors reigned there in their imperial splendour. Ac- cordingly, no sooner had tlie Tartar yoke been shaken off than Russia came into collision with Turkey. Sokolli, the great minister of the feeble and corrupt Sultan Selim, conceived the idea of connecting the Don and the Yolga, and thereby the Sea of Azoff with the Caspian. The object of the vizier was to facilitate the conquest of Persia, for he still regarded the Russians as tributary to the Tartars, themselves tributary to his master. In furtherance of this plan a small army was dispatched to As- tracan, and another to Azoff, and the Crim- Tartars were ordered to support the operations thus intended to take place. Tlie lieutenants of the Russian czar (Ivan) attacked both armies with success, and succeeded also in disj^ersiug the supporting Tartars. The Russians fought in those battles precisely as they did at Inkerman, coming on in close and crowded columns, pressing one another forward as cloud piles itself upon cloud in the stormy sky. The Turks did not withstand the shock ; and although the Russian loss must have been less heavy than if exposed in such masses to modern resistance, they suf- fered much even as conquerors. The Russians, however, seem to have been alarmed by their own progress, and sent an embassage to the Porte, entreating peace and amitj*. This was con- ceded in 1570, just a year after their victories ; and so distant then was any likelihood of Rus- sian dorainancy, that they aeccjited peace from Selim in terms the most contemptuous, and resorted to means of obtaining it the most mean and deceitful. And within a single year of that peace a Tartar incursion was attended with disastrous results, for Moscow itself was laid in ashes. For more than one hundred years Russia was checked by this catastrophe ; but her strength was inherent, and, as the blossom ripening to the fruit, so her inci])ient life must needs develop and mature itself in agreement with its own nature. Accordingly, as soon as Peter the Great began to feel con- scious of his true position and power, he sent an embassy to the Porte, and negotiated the treaty of Azoff. The Porte was not in a con- dition to resist demands, while the treaty of Carlowicz, wrung from it by Austria, Poland, and Venice, Avas still fresh in its effects. The treaty of Azoff was conceded to Peter, by which the hordes of Crim-Tartary were for- bidden to molest Russia; and the Russian boundary was drawn from Azoff to Or. In 1711, Peter considered himself powerful enough to defy the Porte, elated by his victor}- over Charles XII. rather less than two years pre- viously at Pultowa. By the victory of Pultowa Peter was placed in a position to Sweden, the Raltic nations, and all western Europe, which was calculated to lift him above any fear of defeat from any quarter. Sir De Lacey Evans, in a pamphlet published some years ago, called attention to the designs of Russia as marked from that moment too plainly for any statesman not corrupt or blind to be ignorant of them ; and he justly says that "the effects of the Russian victory of Pultowa is felt in Europe to this day." The treachery of Peter was, however, rewarded by signal defeat. There was a poetical justice in the miseries and suf- ferings of himself and his armies in this cam- paign ; and he was finally surrounded by the victorious Turks, and nothing remained for him and his armj'' but annihilation or captivity. Catherine, to whom he was privately married, exhibited at this juncture a masculine vigour of understanding and an address which proved her equal to any emergency. She succeeded in bribing the Turkish minister and com- mander, and securing the freedom of her husband and tlie safety of his army. The Turks, with that lofty generosity which has always attended them in conquest, forgave his treachery, spared his army, and did not retain him as a captive, but entered into a new treaty with him, known since as the treat)/ of the Pruth. This treaty was of course less favour- able to Peter than that which he had violated ; and it guaranteed the throne of Sweden to the vanquished Charles. Azoff" and the adjoining territory were to be restored to the Porte, several forts were to be razed, and the Russian artillery surrendered, more as a sign and tropli)'' of victorj' than from any desire to enfeeble the czar. The treaty put a stop to the encroach- ments of Russia upon the Cossacks; and no Ptussian, except for purposes of commerce, should be permitted to reside in Constantinople. All these pledges of faith were broken by Russia. It is hard to say whether Peter ever intended to observe them. He was so stupified by his defeat at the Pruth, that he had no faculty to speculate as 'to his future policy when signing the treaty which secured his present deliverance. When Catherine ascended the throne, she began to intrigue against the Porte. She soon attacked Poland, which had been guaranteed by treaty ; and sent monks into Georgia and 18 HISTOllY OF THE ^YAn AGAIXST RUSSIA. [Ci III. Montenegro, to foment disturbances among tlie Christian populations, and shake their loA'alty to the Turkish government. The immediate object of Catherine was, however, not Turkey but Pohand, a country upon which the Turkish government had also ambitious designs. It was felt at Constantinople as well as at St. Peters- burg that a powerful and independent Poland stood in the way of encroachment upon Europe. So strongly was this felt at the Porte that secret negotiations had been previously opened with Vienna, and a partition of Poland between the two powers proposed. Whether from policy or virtue, Austria on the occasion refused to be a sharer with the Porte in the dismem- berment of Poland ; and it is likely that by way of Vienna Eussia was made acquainted with these overtures, and that Catherine, how- ever willing to plunder auj' neighbour for the plunder's sake, was quickened to assail Poland in this instance by so well authenticated an assurance of the sultan's designs. These views of the origin of a war so disastrous to Turkey as that was, are contrary to those generally entertained; and yet Hammer and other German writers give the secret corre- spondence, so as to leave no doubt of the am- bition of the Turk and the jealousy of Austria in favour of Poland. Under such circumstances the probability almost amounts to certainty that Catherine, indignant with those projects, resolved to be beforehand with the Grand Seigneur, and to wipe out the disgrace of the treaty of the Pruth by destroying the treaty itself. The conduct of Austria was uncertain in all these negotiations, for while feeling or affecting a jealous)^ for Polish independence in her diplomacy with Turkey, she united with Hussia in a war which could not end otherwise than disastrously to Poland. So earlj' as 1737, she allied herself with Russia in an invasion of the Turkish provinces, in which her arms were humiliated by Turkish bravery, and she was forced out of the alliance, forsaking Ilussia in the hour of her need with a treacliery and selfishness in keeping with her bearing through- out all the previous transactions. Instead of gaining anything she lost to Turke)- the pro- vinces she had wrested from her, in conjunction with Venice, in the earlier part of the century : Servia, Belgrade, and Little Wallachia, were again consigned to the sovereignty of their previoiTs master. Ilussia held on the war with obstinacy, and by sheer endurance and perse- verance so harassed her enemy as, without anj" brilliant deed of arms, to reap advantage. Later in the century, Turkcj" was again anxious to unite with Austria in a selfish policy towards Poland, and again unsuccessful ; and war between Osman and Catherine raged with redoubled fury. The Russians were every- where successful. From the Dneiper to the Danube the double-headed eagle looked eveiy way, as if sure of a prey to whichever quarter his ilight might be directed. The Crimea was overrun. The English sympathized with Russia, and aftbrded ofiicers of distinction to both the fleets and armies of Catherine. Greece rose in arms, and Servia was in successful revolt. The English admirals led the Russian fleet into the Mediterranean, and the Turkish navy was annihilated.- During the last cam- paign of that v/ar the Balkan was passed, and the road to the capital occupied by the invaders. The Porte sued for peace. The result was the treaty of Kuchuek Kainardgi, signed 1774. The stipulations wore : That Russia should have the free navigation of the Ottoman seas. Her ships of commerce might pass through the straits of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, but onlj^ one ship of war should remain at any time within the waters closed by these straits. Azoff, so long coveted, was conceded to Russia, with Taganrog and Kertch. The Crimea was declared independent — the first step to a protectorate occupation by Russia. The two ka-kardas in the Caucasus, the independence of which had been secured by agreement in 1739, were now surrendered. Certain guarantees were given as to the administration of Walla- chia and Moldavia. The right of the Russian sovereign to protect the Greek rite in certain particulars was also with great simplicity conceded. Bessarabia as well as the Crimea was declared independent. The effect of this treaty upon Tui-key was permanent and ruinous. It enabled Russia, by interference with the Greek patriarchs and by the media of Greek priests, to stir up discontent amongst the majority of the subjects of the Porte, — a restless, bigotted, and perfidious race, ever ready to engage in plots, and hating the government of the Turk with quenchless ani- mosity : a race too upon whom many provo- cations had been unwisely heaped, and who were still likely to be subjected to persecution. It enabled Russia to swoop down with her ships from the Sea of Azotf upon the Black Sea, and carry destruction along its shores before Turkey could do anything for their defence. It enabled Russia, from her new frontier of Kertch, to ibrm a point of support from which armies might be hurled upon the Turkish empire so suddenly as to wrest from her new and severer terms, more valuable cessions of territory, or even independence itself. By the joint protectorate of the Walla- chian provinces, Jiussia had always a ground of interference, and might at any time, tcitltout a declaration of tear, seize upon a "material gua- rantee" for the concession of any other demand. Yet all this did not satisfy Russia. Czar and czarina were alike faithless and aggran- dizing. The moderation of others only whetted CiiAP. IIT.] EISTOllY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 19 the appetite of their ambition. Ahnost inimo- diately Russian intrigue played its congenial part upon the lately constituted independent territory. The khans were deposed or set up as they Vv'ere favourable or otherwise to Russia ; and it was soon determined that the illusti-ious house of the Gheris should, without provocation on their part, be humbled and plundered. Partly by force and partly by policy the khan of Crim-Tartary v,-as induced to cede to Russia a reversionarjr interest in the sovereignty (a scheme resembling that by which the emperor has lately become heir of the throne of Den- mark). Stung to the heart, the sultan re- solved upon the hopeless task of stopping the further progress of Russia. It was as if the old shattered tree had shaken its branches in menace of the rising storm. But the tempest may strengthen the tree while it strips it of its weaker branches : Russian war strikes at the vitality of rival forces with a keen energy of discriminating hatred. On this occasion Austria was the selfish ally of Russia ; her real object being to participate in the dismember- ment of the Osman dominions. They were desirous to secure France in this arrangement by giving her Egypt for her spoil. Sweden boldly resisted these projects, but was com- pelled to make a separate treaty with Russia. Prussia marched an army into her own depart- ment of Poland, and menaced the Russian and Austrian frontiers ; this she did being secure of a diversion on the side of Sweden, and the support of Holland and the northern German states — not then connected with Russia by marriage-bonds or political symj^athies, as after- wards became the case ; but still Prussia only negotiated when she should have struck. Her decided attitude, however, assumed consistency from the support of England, and ultimately the treaty of Jassy was signed, in 1792; as Russia became much exhausted by the war, and dreaded a confederation of England, Prussia, Sweden, Holland, and Turkey against her. She had besides further designs upon Poland and Persia of more easy execution, and which peace with Turkey would leave her at leisure to prosecute. By this treaty the Crimea and part of Bessarabia became Russian soil. During the complications of the first Napo- leon's reign, Turkey was involved in the uni- versal embroilment, and had her full share of the universal suffering. Turkey ehowiug some disposition to an alliance with France, with which England was at war, and Russia being then an ally of the latter, both made demon- strations against her. England pursued the policy which she adopted towards Denmark, and which was carried out towards the latter country at the battle of Copenhagen. She demanded the direction of the Ottoman fleets and the command of the Dardanelles. Russia, having tbe moral support of England, occupied the provinces. These Napoleon compelled her to surrender, but again allowed her to occupy them, which she did until the peace of 1812; when, by the treaty of Bucharest, she acquired the remaining portion of Bessarabia, part of Moldavia, and the mouths of the Danube. Thus the present positions of Russia on the Pruth and the Danube Avere gained by the moral support of England, and by an English fleet storming the castles of the Dardanelles, and menacing the sultan in his seraglio. Some years later the Greek insurrection brought Russia again into the field. England and France, without seconding her policy, but really with the intention of thwarting it, played into her hands. In order to prevent Russia alone effecting the liberation of the Greek race, and the consequent destruction of the Porte, the Western powers pretended to aid her in gaining independence for ancient Greece. Russia saw through this, but also saw that she must either have the Western powers for allies in accomplishing something of her own objects, or as enemies altogether against her projects. She of course chose the former alternative, and a petty kingdom was carved out of the Greek territory, over which King Otho now unwor- thily reigus — a kingdom too small to be powerful for itself, and just large enough to be a thorn in the side of Turkey, and the centre of Russian cabal among the Greek race. The weakest portion of the allied policy was the destruction of the Turco-Egyptian fleet at Na varino. That "untoward event," as the Brl tish ministry afterwards called it, left Russia nothing to fear upon the Black Sea if a future invasion by Russia should become opportune. It soon did so. Upon the pretext — a most transparent pretext at the time — of Turkish oppression in the principalities, Russia declared war against Turkey, crossed the Danube, occu- pied the Dobrudscha, captured Silistria, and not for the first time in her history crossed the Balkan, and arrived at Adrianople, having struck terror to the heart of all, except the intrepid sultan. The Russian army owed these great successes to several concurrent causes. The sultan had only two years before destroyed his Janissaries, and his new army, organised on European priiicijdes, had not time to become cfHcient. Russia, influenced by that circumstance, chose her moment. She was, no doubt, also influenced by a consideration of the amity of the British government. The Earl of Aberdeen, unfortunately for this country, then held the seals of the Foreign- ofB.ce. He was the friend of the Emperor Nicholas. The Duke of Wellington was head of affairs, and regarded Nicholas as the bulwark of European conser- vativism. The duke was friendly to the Holy 20 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAI:N'ST RUSSIA. [Chap. III. Alliance, and Nicholas was its incarnate genius. Tlie duke was a man of stern truth and honour; he could not believe that the great ruler of a great people would deign to be otherwise, and ho trusted in the word of Nicholas that the war should not be one of aggrandizement, and that he merely sought for a confirmation of the rights of the provinces. The events undeceived the duke, whose laconic apology for his diplomatic simplicity is said to have been — " I could never have supposed the fellow (Nicholas) had been such a liar." Secure of a friend at the Foreign- office, and a confiding, honourable man — the last to doubt the word of any other "gentleman" — at the head of the English administration, Nicholas launched his armies beyond the Da- nube; and by the genius of his lieutenant, Diebitch, the disorganisation of the Turkish hosts, the cowardice of their leaders, and the prestige of his own name and army, he burst his way through the Balkan, and the fate of Turkey seemed to depend upon his ukase. The result was the treaty of Adrianople, in 1829. This treaty secured the sultan's recognition of the independence of Greece, an object with which the Western powers sympathised. Servia ceased to be in any sense an integral part of Turkey, and became simply tributarj\ Mol- davia and Wallachia obtained independent ad- ministrations. Turkey was to pay the expenses of the two campaigns. Some of the most im- 3)ortant territorial concessions were also made to Russia; thus falsifying all the professions which the emperor had made to the British government. This was the more nefiirious, as but for the influence of Lord Aberdeen the sultan would have defended the capital, and with every chance of driving the Russians back through the Balkan, if indeed their army should escape at all. Hosts were rushing down from Asia to the sultan's aid, and the Russian army was utterly unable to maintain itself; wasted in numerical and physical strength by battle, marches, and disease, they must have perished, had not Lord Aberdeen and the British ambas- sador saved them, by persuading the sultan to throw himself upon the generosity of a con- queror whose conquests had conducted him, broken in strength, to the strongest resources of his enemy. When the terms of the treaty became known in Western Europe, there was one loud burst of indignation at the treachery of the czar, who professed to have waged the war for the liberties of the Christian nationali- ties, but who ended it by a treaty securing new accessions of power to himself. Lord Aberdeen was compelled by public opinion, and perhaps a sense of shame for the way in which he had been himself befooled, to write a despatch which amounted to a protest, but which is expressed in terms nevertheless of " whispering humbleness." The greatness and sacredness of the czar seem far more to pervade the mind of the writer, than the dissimulation and avarice of power which that potentate had so cleverly [)ractised. Much has been written in praise of this despatch, and Lord Aberdeen repeatedly re- ferred to it during his late administration as a vindication of his anti-Russian principles ; but the despatch itself is only a respectful and feeble, although well composed, remon- strance, after the incapacity and Russian lean- ings of the writer had left it in his own power lo do no more than remonstrate. What the professions of the emperor had been we may judge from this extract: — "He (/. e. the em- peror) renounced all projects of conquest and ambition, and frequently repeated that, so far from desiring the destruction of the Turkish Empire, he was most anxious for its preserva- tion ; and that in his own solemn projnises should be found the best pledges of his mode- ration." The noble secretary afterwards asks, ' ' Does the treaty of Adrianople place the Porte in a situation corresponding with the expecta- tions raised by such assurances ?" Again, he eays, " The cession of the Asiatic fortresses, with their neighbouring districts, not only secures to Russia the uninterrupted occupation of the eastern coasts of the Black Sea, but places her in a situation so commanding as to enable her to control at her pleasure the desti- nies of Asia Minor. Prominently advanced into the centre of Armenia, in the midst of a Christian population, Russia holds the keys both of the Turkish and the Persian provinces." Lord Aberdeen exposes eloquently the mis- chievous tendency of every stipulation in the treaty, but expresses great confidence in the jus- tice and generosity of his imperial majesty I How a man so imposed uj)on could express such confidence passes most other men's ac- quaintance with the philosophy of credulity, and how the same man could, in 1853 and 1854, run in the same track of credulous imbe- cility, when the very same " imperial majesty" was renewing the game, is inconceivable upon the principles of any philosophy. Ever since this unfortunate treaty Prussia consid-ered Tur- key her own, and acted accordingly. AVhen Mehemet Ali revolted, Russia and the Western powers came to the aid of the Porte, but Russia alone profited by the aid rendered. A new treaty bound down the Porte still more to the footstool of the czar — the treaty of TJnkier Skelessi. This was concluded in secrecy, and was another act of treachery to the West. It was signed in 1840, and by it Turkey was engaged to close the Dardanelles against aU. vessels of war belonging to nations at war with Russia. This virtually made Russia the pro- tector of Turkey. "When, in 1841), the whole of Europe was Chap. IY. HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 21 convulsed, Russia fomented as usual disputes in the northern provinces of Turkey, which enabled her to interfere, and exact from Turkey the recognition of a new mode of electing the hospodars, and the joint right of occupying the provinces. This is called the convention of Balta Lima ; and there remained nothing as a preparative for the final conquest of Turkey except the pseudo protection of the Greek Christians, by which the czar could at any time throw the whole Greek population into revolt, and make an easy prey of the distracted realms. CHAPTER IV. CAUSES OF THE WAR.— OCCUPATIOX OF THE PROVINCES. " Call me what instrument )-ou will, though you can fret me, j-ou cannot pla}- upon me." — Shakspere. Feom: the facts given in the previous chapter, it is evident that Russia was bent upon the destruction of the Ottoman Empire. The modus operandi would depend upon events. France gave her the occasion she required. The Pre- sident of the French Republic, now Emperor of the French, adopted the policy which proved so fatal in the long run to his predecessors — his great uncle, the elder Bourbons, and the Orleanists alike — that of upholding abroad, by diplomacy and force, the ascendancy of the Roman Catholic religion. To this policy the liberties of Rome had been just sacrificed ; and the idea of ascendancy for the Latin Church in the East having become revived in all the European Roman Catholic nations, Louis JS^apo- Icon wished to strengthen himself for his con- templated cojqj-d'etai by flattering this feeling. ]M. Lavallette was sent to Constantinople to demand the restitution, or original possession, it is difficult to say which, of the key of the grand porch of the liolj Sepulchre, into the possession of which the Greeks had been some- how inducted : also to demand the restoration to its place of some star-cross, in the Church of the Holy Virgin, which, because of its bearing a Latin inscription, the Greeks had removed. The newspapers of London made very merry about this diplomacy of holy keys and sacred stars, and the more so as the opposition of the Greeks became earnest. The spirit of either the Latin or Greek Church was so little under- stood at home, that no danger was apprehended from these wars of the pilgrims. The Porte was unwilling to ofi'end the Greeks, and refused the demands of the French ambassador. The latter, in a tone as arrogant and insolent as ever was adopted to the government of an in- dependent nation, threatened to order the French fleet from the Mediterranean to enter the Dardanelles; and showed such tokens of meaning what he said, tliat the aLarmed sultan gave way, and the French demands were satis- fied. The indignation of the whole Greek world was soon at its height. The Emperor of Russia could not entertain a more indignant anger than that which animated his subjects ; and not only them, but the 12,000,000 of Greek subjects of the Porte, the inhabitants of independent Greece, and the Greek traders and residents of every country. No person could have access to the society of respectable Greek merchants in England or France at that time without perceiving that they laboured under a sense of wrong ; and unhappily also entertained a bigotted rivalry to the Latins, which nothing but ascendancy could assuage. The Emperor Nicholas took advantage of a feeling thus made ready for his projects, and sent Prince Menschikoff to demand the restitution of the disputed key, and a renewed declaration on the part of the Porte in favour of the privi- leges of Greek Christianity. After much nego- tiation, the first part of the demand was settled by concessions on the part of the French go- vernment, and by the good offices of the British ambassador. The second part of the demand was such, and made in such terms, as it was impossible for the Porte to comply with. It is here desirable to say that while the arrogance of France furnished the Russian emperor with the occasion for his demands, ho had been contemplating some such method of pushing his influence and authority over the subjects of the Porte for some time before. Disturbances had been got up in Montenegro by the influence of Austria, and at the insti- gation of Russia. The Montenegrians threv/ forth predatory bands over the Turkish borders, and surprised and murdered great numbers of the inhabitants. Turkey resented these out- breaks, and Omar Pasha was ordered to con- duct an army upon Montenegro. Austria interfered under threat of a declaration of war, and the march of Omar Pasha was counter- manded. She took, however, the opportunity to ask for a protectorate of her own, which sur- prised all the ambassadors, and none more than the representative of Russia, who. after denounc- ing the injustice and arrogaE«;e of the Austrian minister, suddenly, by command from St. Petersburg, gave him his support. The un- happy sultan was of course forced to yield. Had nothing occurred on the part of France, this conduct of Austria would have sufficed for 22 HISTOllY OF THE WAIl AGAIXST EUSSIA. [Chap. IV. a precedent for Russia; but Austria had not yet fully performed the part assigned to her, Yv'hen France, opportunely for Russia, did all that she could have desired. That Austria was the instrument of Russia in the Montenegrian affair may be new to the public generally, but the facts are capable of proof. Austrian officers assisted in disciplining the bands of the insur- gents, and afterwards received decorations from theu" own government for the services thus rendered. That Russia had all this time been preparing for an invasion of Turkey, in conjunction tvith Austria, was subsequently made plain by the diplomatic correspondence of Sir Hamilton Sey- mour, the British minister at St. Petersburg. On February 21st, 1853, he thus wrote : " The sovereign who thus insists upon the impending fall of a neighbouring state must have settled in his own miud that the hour, if not of its dissolution, yet for its dissolution, is at hand. This assumption would hardly be ventured unless some intimate understandinfj existed be- tween Russia and Austria.^' March 9th, Sir Hamilton again writes: "These points appear to me to be fully established by the imperial memorandum — the existence of some distinct understanding between the two courts upon the subject of Turkey Assuming as a certain and 7iow acknowledged fact, the existence of an understanding or compact between the two emperors as to Turkish affairs, it becomes of the deepest importance to know the extent of the engagements entered into between them. .... Its basis was no doubt laid at some of the meetings which took place between the sovereigns in the autumn ; and the scheme has probably been worked out since, under the man:igement of Baron Mayendorf, the R,ussian envoy at the Austrian court, who has been passing the winter at St. Petersburg, and is still here." From these quotations it is beyond doubt, when we recollect the sources of Sir H. Seymour's information, that Austria ■was implicated with Russia in the way above described, and that Russia would have made demands about the protection of the Greek Church, grounded upon the concessions made to Austria in the case of Montenegro, had not France furnished her with a better pretext. In violation of the conventions of July, 1840, and July, 1841, the Russian ambassador extra- ordinary at Constantinople demanded a secret treaty Avith the Porte, the main item of which fihould be the protection of the orthodox Greek Church, and thus virtually the sovereignty of a moiety of the Porte's subjects. The Bultan, alarmed at this demand and the me- naces by which it was accompanied, sought the advice of the ministers of the other powers. Advice was at first promptly given by the ^French and British ministers to refuse any secret treaty and to resist such demands. The British minister, Lord Stratford, was absent during a portion of these discussions, when Colonel Rose displayed both intelligence and promptitude, which had they been followed up might have averted war ; but the governments of France and England vacillated, the French minister for foreign affairs and the English premier were both much under the influence of Austria — the accomplice of Russia in the whole affair; and the English premier was besides the personal friend of the Emperor Nicholas, and the open abettor of that system of policy which regarded the preponderating power of Russia as a necessary element in the ' European balance, and the surest support of anti-revolutionary and of conservative politics. For although England had refused to enter the Holy Alliance after the peace of 1815, there was always a pov/erful English party favour- able to that confederacy, which rested mainly upon Russia, and Lord Aberdeen made no secret of his sympathy in that direction. In no other way can we account for the utter neglect of all Sir H. Sej'mour's warnings, and of the warnings previously afforded by the base betra^'al of Lord Aberdeen himself by the Emperor I^icholas, in the matter ci the treaty of Adrianople. Perhaps all the members of Lord Aberdeen's cabinet shared in tome mea- sure this pro-Russian feeling; but so much more did the Aberdeen section maintain it, that jealousy of the Russell section pervaded all their councils. This state of feeling in the British cabinet, and the pro- Austrian feeling of the French Minister of foreign affairs, were the main causes of so much fruitless diplomacy, and siich submission to the guidance of Austria, not only at the outset of the quarrel, but through every successive step of negotiation. The conduct of Russia in its demauds, and of Tui'kcy in its refusal of those demauds, may be best represented by a perusal of the "finar' ultimatum of Prince Menschikoff, a draft of which the minister of the sultan was of course to sign, or the plenipotentiary would leave Constantinople in eight days. This was on the 21st of May, 1853. "The Sublime Porte, after a most attentive and earnest examination of the demands Avhich form the object of the extraordinary mission confided to the Ambassador of Russia, the Prince Menschikoff, and after submitting the result of that examination to his Mojesty the Sultan, makes it its duty to notif}', by these presents to his highness the Ambassador, the following imperial decision : — "His Majesty the Sultan, desirous of giving his august ally and friend, the Emperor of Russia, a fresh proof of his most sincere friend- ship and desii-e to consolidate the ancient Chap. IV.] HISTORY OF THE WAE AGAI:N^ST EIJSSIA. 23 relations of good neighbourhood and cordial understanding -which exist between the two countries, and, at the same time, placing an implicit confidence in the constantly benevolent intentions of his Imperial Majesty towards the maintenance of the integrity and independence of tlie Ottoman empii'e, has deigned to appre- ciate and take into liis serious consideration the candid and cordial representations of which the ambassador of Russia has been the organ, in favour of the orthodox religion of the East, which is professed by his august ally, and by the majority of both their subjects. " The undersigned has consequently received the order to give the imperial government of Russia, represented by his highness the Prince MensehikofF, by this present note, the solemn assurance of the unchanging solicitude, and the srenerous and tolerant sentiments which ani- mate his Majesty the Sultan, for the prosperity and security of the clergj-, the churches, and religious establishments of the Christian reli- gion in the East. " To render these assurances still more explicit, to define in a formal manner the prin- cipal objects of this high solicitude, and to corroborate by supplementary explanations, necessitated by the progress of time, the sense of certain articles which, in former treaties concluded between the two powers, have re- ferred to religious questions, and to prevent, for all time to come, even the shadow of a misunderstanding on this subject, the under- signed is authorised by his Majesty the Sultan to make the following declarations : — " 1. The orthodox religion of the East, its clerg)', churches, possessions, and religious establishments, shall for the future enjoy, under the cegis of his Majesty the Sultan, the privi- leges and immunities Avhich were assured to them from of old, or which have been granted to them from time to time by the imperial favour, and from a high principle of equity ; they shall participate in the advantages awarded to the other Christian sects, as well as to the, lega- tions accredited to the Sublime Porte, by con- vention or special disposition. " 2. His Majesty the Sultan, having thought it necessary and equitable to corroborate and explain his sovereign firman of the 15th day of the month of Rehbi-Ulakir, 1268 (16 th Ee- bruarj', 1852), by his firman of this date, and to ordain, moreover, by another firman of this date, the reparation of the cupola of the Holy Sepulchre, these two firmans shall be tcxtually executed and faithfully observed, to the main- tenance, for all time to come, of the existing conditions of the sanctuaries possessed by the Greeks exclusively, or in common with the members of other sects. "It is understood that this promise extends equally to the maintenaacc of all these rights and immunities which have been enjoyed from the beginning by the orthodox church and its clergy, within the walls of Jerusalem and without, without any prejudice to the other Christian communities. "3. In case the imperial court of Russia should demand it, a convenient locality shall be assigned, in the city of Jerusalem or its vicinity, for the construction of a church devoted to the celebration of divine service by Russian ecclesiastics, and of an hospital for poor and distressed pilgrims : and such founda- tions shall be under the special surveillance of the Consul-general of Russia in Syria and Palestine. " 4. The necessary firmans and orders shall be given to those who have a right to ask for them, and to the Greek patriarchs for the execution of those sovereign decisions ; and a further understanding will be come to in the regulation of other details, which have neither found a place in the firmans respecting the Holy Places, nor in the present notification." This ultimatum was declined by the Porte, and Prince Menschikoif vvithdrew from Con- stantinople. During these negotiations the Russian armies were concentrated upon the Sessarabian frontier, and made ready to cross the Pruth in vast force ; and at the same time the Emperor Nicholas was sounding Sir H. Seymour at St. Petersburg, and virtually proposing that Russia, Austria, and Prussia, siiould share with England in event of the breaking up of the Turkish empire. In these celebrated conversations Sir Hamilton repre- sents the emperor as saying, " That in case of the dissolution of the Turkish empire, he thought it might be less diificult to arrive at a satisfac- toiy territorial arrangement than many ima- gined. The principalities are an independent state under my protection, this might so con- tinue ; Servia might receive the same form of government. So again with Bulgaria. There seems to be no reason why this province should not form aw independent state. As to Egypt, I quite understand the importance to England of that territory. If j'ou should take possession of Egypt, I should have no objection to offer. I would say the same thing of Candia; that island might suit you, and I do not know why it should not become an English possession." His gejieral views as to what he would not permit in case of a dissolution of the Ottoman states were thus expressed : — " I will not tolerate the permanent occupation of Constan- tinople by the Russians ; having said this I will say that it never shall be held by the Erench, English, or any other great nation. Again, I never will permit an attempt at the reconstruction of a Byzantine empire ; or such an extension of Greece as would render her 3 24 HISTORY OE THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Cnxp. IV. powerful state ; still less will I permit the breaking up of Turkey into little republics — asylums for the Ivossuths and Mazzinis, and other revolutionists of Europe : rather than submit to any of these arrangements I would go to Avar, and so long as I have a man or a musket left would carry it on." These conver- sations w'ere accompanied by despatches and protestations that the emperor would not, in the quarrel then pending, attempt any terri- torial occupation. But Odessa and Sevastopol were iiUed with naval and military preparation, and the Russian army was massing upon the Pruth, ready at a moment's notice to invade the principalities. The moment at last came. Prince Mettcrnich and Count Nesselrode, the Russian minister for foreign affairs, baffled in their intrigues by the resolution of the sultan, gave place to other and more decisive per- formers. Prince Gortschakoff crossed the Pruth on the 25th of June, at the head of a numerous army, organized to the highest efficiency on the Russian principle, and at- tended by a most powerful artillery and mate- riel of war. Contemporaneous with the advance of his armies, the autocrat published a manifesto which left his motives and objects no longer in disguise, and whicli no persons could misappre- hend, except those whom the disclosures of Sir H. Seymour had failed to enlighten : — " By the grace of God we, Nicholas L, Em- peror and Autocrat of all the Russias, &g. Making known to our faithful and well-beloved subjects, that from time immemorial our glo- rious predecessors took the vow to defend the orthodox faith. "From the moment that it pleased divine Providence to transmit to us the hereditary throne, the observation of those sacred duties which are inseparable from it has constantly been the subject of our cares and solicitude. Based on the glorious treaty of Kainardgi, confirmed by the solemn transactions concluded afterwards by the Ottoman Porte, those cares and solicitudes have always had for their object to guarantee the rights of the orthodox church. But to our profound affliction, notwithstanding all our efforts to defend the integrity and the rights of our orthodox church, latterly nu- merous arbitrary acts of the Ottoman Porte attacked those rights, and threatened finally to destroy the whole order of things sanctioned by centuries, and so dear to the orthodox faith. " Our efforts to dissuade the Porte from such acts nave oeen fnntless, ana even tne soicmn word which the Sultan had given to us on the occasion has been violated. "Having exhausted all the means of per- suasion, and all the means of obtaining in a friendly manner the satisfaction due to our just reclamation, we have deemed it indis- pensable to order our troops to enter the principalities, to show the Porte to how far its obstinacy may lead it. Nevertheless, even now it is not our intention to commence war. By the occupation of the principalities we wish to have in our hand a pledge whicli will gua- rantee to us in every respect the re-cstablish- ment of our rights. "We do not seek conquests. Russia does not need them. We demand satisfaction for a legitimate right openly infringed. We are ready even now to stop the movement of our troops, if the Ottoman Porte engages to observe religiously the integrity of the privi- leges of the orthodox church. But if ob- struction and blindness obstinately desire the contrary, then, invoking God to our aid, we will leave to his care to decide our difference ; and placing our full hope in his all-powerful hand, we will march to the defence of the orthodox faith. Given at Peterhoff", the 14th (26th) of the month of June, 1853, in the twenty-eighth year of our reign. (^Signed) "Nicholas." The foregoing tissue of falsehood and hypo- crisy was intended to act upon the fanaticism of his own people and of his soldiers, who were taught to regard their invasion of the provinces as a crusade. Other means were taken to re- assure the Western governments that no con- quest was intended. Count Nesselrode wrote diplomatic circulars to the Russian ambassadors and consuls at the various courts and capitals ; M. Druhyn de L'Huys, the French minister of foreign aftairs, and our own foreign minister, wrote counter-circulars ; and time was boot- Icssly expended by the Western governments that ought to have been given to the prepara- tion of armaments. The Russians lost no time. Having advanced upon Wallachia by way of Leova, and upon Moldavia by way of Skou- liany, they rapidly penetrated to the capitals of the provinces, where the clergy of the Greek Church, and the leading officials also of that communion, gave them public welcome. Te Deum was sung in the churches, and the Rus- sian armies acted as if on conquered territory. It was on the 3rd of July that the Pruth was crossed; on the 8th Prince Gortschakoff assisted in the ceremonies of the Church of St. Spiri- dion, at Jassy ; on the 29th he received the compliments of the assembled bishops of the Greek Church of the provinces at Bucharest, 150 miles nearer to the Danube. By this date the Russian armv had greatly increased* Gortscnalvoff, Dannenberg, ana Luders, had at their disposal nearly 20,000 cavalry, 144 pieces of cannon, of a larger calibre than had ever before been brought into the field by any arm)-, and a force of infantry not so large in proportion to these arms of the ser- vice, but the precise number of which it is Chap. IV.] HISTOIIY OF THE WAli AGAIXST RUSSIA. 25 impossible, amidst so many conflicting state- ments, to verify. General Osten-Sacken re- mained within tlie llussian frontier -with powerful J'eserves, and reinforcements were pouring along in unbroken streams from the great centres of llussian military power. The tierce Cossack from the Don and the Dneister, the Tartar from the Ukraine, the beetle- browed and predatory Baschkir, with all their variety of wild uniform, and "helm and blade" glancing in the summer's sun, crowded on the great military thorough- fares, while fresh supplies of well-appointed and formidable artillery were carefully trans- mitted. The foundries of Russia were blazing in the manufacture of warlike weapons ; and the workshops of Belgium were ransacked for the musket and riile. The shores of the Sea of Azoff and of the Black Sea were alive with craft of every size, be^iring military resources to the points destined to receive them. By shore and river in the occupied cities of the provinces, and far off in the cities of impe- rial Russia, the din of ceaseless preparation was heard ; and it was evident to all men — still only excepting our government and the diplomatists — that Russia was preparing for a struggle against whatever forces might be brought against her, and was resolved to peril her empire upon one desperate effort to humble Europe, and grasp from Turkey some of her richest provinces or compel the formal admis- sion of her vassalage. The Russian armies crowded down to the sweeps of the Danube, occupying every strate- gical position, and fortifying themselves by entrenchments and other defences as occasion seemed to require ; the Russian leaders the while consolidating their bold upon the pro- vinces thus occupied by deposing the hos- podars, levying taxes and rations for the troops, taking the direction of the militia and municipalities, and when payments were made for anything giving only Russian paper, which it was never intended to redeem. Vast quan- tities of corn were accumulating upon the Danube and at Odessa, which could not be exported. The Russian armies must be fed ; and it was a part of the policy of the occupa- tion to detain these stores for any emergency that might arise. With all these evils press- ing down the unfortunate Wallachians and Moldavians, forced enlistment was resorted to ; and the boyards who refused complicity with the treasonable hospodars were placed in the Russian ranks-. To ci'own aii the horrors which filled with fear these wasted and tor- tured ^ands, cholera, which broke out in the corps of General Luders, communicated itself to the people of the countrj-, and every town and many districts, from the windings of the Dauiibe to the confines of Podolia, were swept by the cold hand of the unseen messenger of woe. As statements of all these calamities reached Western Europe, the people of England were indignant; and although the desire for peace was intense, the increasing indignation of the British people was loudly expressed. None of these things moved their government — their faith was in protocols and protests, both veiy gentle and harmless ; and the Western powers literally did nothing effective during the sum- mer and autumn until the 10th September, when the French ambassador, as if in sudden alarm, and without any orders from his govern- ment or concert with his colleague of the British embassy, ordered three frigates to as- cend the Sea of Marmora and anchor in the Bosphorus. The English minister, after much importunity, adopted a similar measure; but pains were taken to make Russia and the world believe that this measure was intended to protect the Porte from its own subjects, and not from Russia. Indeed, the allies seemed to name Russia with " 'bated breath ; " while Rus- sia was filling the world with boasting, fabri- cating reports of successes over the tribes of Central Asia, pushing a force even to Bokhara, and menacing and wheedling Persia by turns. The Petershurg Gazette threatened that if Eng- land went to war, peace should be dictated to her from Calcutta; she was treated by the emperor and his subjects with utter disdain. The Turkish government took example from Russia rather than from the allies ; she made prodigious efforts to meet the exigency. Her first care was wisely not in the dii'ection of the Danube. She knew that, numerous as were the Russian legions, they could not force the passage of the Balkan, and meet her in defence of her capital upon the plains of Rou- melia, before the allied fleets and allied troops would secure it. She had another and more urgent danger: that pointed out by Lord Aberdeen in his despatch upon the treaty of Adrianople, referred to in a foregoing page. Russia might penetrate through Armenia into Asia Minor; she might, from the southern shores of the Black Sea, pour down new hosts, overrun provinces comparatively unprotected, and by another route roach tlie Dardanelles, and menace not onlj' Constantinople, but the allied fleets within its waters. The divan ac- cordingly organised an army of Asia, and with it occupied Anatolia. Selim Pasha was ap- pointed as commander-in chief and scraskier of the province. Had he possessed the genius of Omar Pasha, to whom the army of the Danube was committed, he might, as events have since jiroved, have driven the Russians from Georgia and Circassia, and freed the Caucasus from tlieir presence. He was wholly unfit to com- mand a division, much less an army. The Asiatic danger provided against, Omar was 26 HISTORY OE THE WAIl AGAINST KUSSIA. rcuAP. ly. sent to collect and organise an array in Bul- garia, and strong reinforcements were promised and partly provided at Adrianoplo. Two con- scriptions of 89,000 men each were made before the end of September; and llussia replied to these demonstrations by two enormous levies. Thus the note of preparation sounded through all the vast empire of the sultan — from Kur- distan to the Bosphorus, and thence to the Danube ; and the turban and fez, with all the picturesque and varied costume of the wild war- riors from the remotest provinces, gave a strange animation to the various cities in which a ren- dezvous was appointed for each mustering host. Such was the state of things in the sultan's dominions just before his proclamation of war. Let us now trace the allies in their tem- porising course during the same interval. At the juncture when the Russian armies entered the provinces, the allied fleets had made no demonstration; and they continued their "reserve" until, as recorded above, a few frigates of each fleet, with dubious object, moored in the Bosphorus. The allies occupied the whole summer and early autumn Avith "notes." A conference was opened at Vienna, and a "note" was drawn up under the inspi- ration of Austria, which received the sanction of all the representatives, and was transmitted to St. Petersburg for the emperor's approval, who signified his acceptance of it. This he might well do, for it conceded everything which Menschikoff had demanded. It may probably be for ever impossible to learn whether it was composed with a sincere desire to secure peace by causing the Porte to make concessions which the framers of the note thought of no ultimate consequence, and which would flatter and appease the Emperor Nicholas, or whether it was a trick of Austi'ia, with the connivance of the British minister more especially, to sacrifice the Porte to a future danger and secure a present peace. At all events the Russian cabinet, after scanning closely its con- tents, and weighing every word of doubtful or double import, saw in it a concession of all that was required. The Porte, however, re- fused to sign the note. The divan, as well as the Russian cabinet, saw through it. If there were a combined attempt to impose upon the Turkish government, it failed. If the French and British ministers and cabinets were imposed upon, the divan comprised some more sagacious statesmen. The whole diplomatic world was thrown into confusion, indignation, and aston- ishment by this act of vigilance and force ; but as they could not see, or affected an inability to see aii)^ great importance in the alterations suggested bj- the Porte, they adopted them, and the altered note was sent to St. Petersburg. It was refused : Count Nesselrode reminding the Austrian minister that the note originally sent was accepted on condition that it should un- deigo no modification, and that as it was their ov/n, the coni'erence should abide by it and compel Turkey to do so. Count Nesselrode's remonstrances and despatches proved that the divan w^as right, that the construction it per- ceived as possible, as probable, on the part of the Russian chancellery, was really put upon it ; and of course the diplomatists had to retrace their steps, to approve of the prescience and decision of the Turk, to wonder at their own dulness, and cast about them as to what to do next. The question arose, which ought to have arisen at the beginning, ichj sliould Turkey se:\(l any note? The diplomatists found that they had been wrong in principle, when they also discovered that they had blundered in detail. It is unnecessary to publish the Vienna note to show the merits of the quarrel. In it the sultan was made to recognise that in previous treaties the czar had received a title to a certain amount of protection over the Greek Church : in the correction the sultan throws himself upon the actual stipulations of former treaties — that Jie, not the czar, was bound to protect the "Christian wor- ship." Here arc two ideas insinuated by the czar — the Greek Church to be protected, and he to be the protector; the sultan corrects these ideas by referring to the true terms of these treaties — that the Christian loorMp was to be protected, and that it had been stipulated t?tat he, tlie sidtan, was to protect it. Can it be possible that the diplomatists were them- selves ignorant of these treaties ? The treaty of Kainardgi — that which was made to originate the czar's claim — refers to religion in its 7th. 8th, and 14th articles, and in no other; and none of these articles furnish a shadow of such claims as the czar thus fraudulently put forth. The other passage of the Vienna note was still more objectionable : it made the sultan to concede to the members of the orthodox Greek Church all privileges possessed, by especial convention or otherwise, by all other Christians in his dominions. To this the Porte ofteied the alteration of "Ottoman subjects." Tlie demand desired that the Greek subjects of the Porte should have the same rights as Latins or Protestants, who were foreigners, and under the protection of their respective governments ; the result of which concession would be, that the whole Greek population would be placed under the protection of the Emperor of Russia, he would in fact (taking the concession in con- nexion with previous treaties, which, it must be allowed, gave him virtually some right to interfere) be the recognised sovereign of half the subjects of the sultan ! The sultan was willing to concede to Greek subjects anything conceded or to be conceded to Armenians, Jews, Chap. V.] HISTOliY OF THE WAR AGAI]N^ST RUSSIA. 27 Franks, or Protestants — willing to accord to the Greeks, "wlio were foreigners, all privileges " accorded or to be accorded to other religious communities," who were also foreigners. The lucid justice of this could not be made a matter of doubt or discussion. After a world of red-tapeism all negotiation failed, and the emperor made one more effort to gain his point without war, and the con- ferences of Olmutz resulted. Nicliolas was evidently uneasy lest Austria should not pre- serve her neutrality ; and he arranged a per- sonal interview with the Emperor Francis Joseph there. For some time it became the focus of intrigue, and the probability is that the subsequent course of Austria was there agreed upon by secret treaty. Many circum- stances tend to establish this opinion ; and as previous pages of this history reveal, Sir H. Seymour arrived at that conclusion, upon data unknown to the British government at the time, in the spring of 1854. At the breaking up of the conferences of Olmutz it suited llussia and Austria to make the world, believe that the interview of the emperors settled nothing, and that J(icholas departed in chagrin and defeat. This version of it was accepted generally then, it is almost as generally discredited now. Thus terminated all hope of accommodation, and there re- mained nothing for the safety of Tui-key but war. CHAPTER Y. DECLiiEATION OF WAR BY TUEKEY.-CAMPAIGN OX THE DANUBE.-MASSACllE AT ISiXOPE. ' ' The big v/ars That make ambitiou virtue."— Siiakspere. The sultan had now no alternative to war but abdication. The spirit of his people was everywhere roused, and he would have been considered a traitor to his country and his creed had he any longer hesitated. The Ule- mahs — ecclesiastical officers sacred in the eyes of all true Mussulmen — made known to the sultan their ofhcial judgment that war with Russia became his immediate dut}'' as their sultan and padishaw. On the 26th of Sep- tember the council pronounced for war, and the sultan, delaying a few days (perhaps to save the appearance of unfettered sovereignty, and probably also to make available the isew- ycar's-day of the Turks, which is the 4th of October), put forth a declaration of war against Russia, setting forth all the grievances al- ready related as constituting a casus belli. It opens with this sentence, which justifies the omission of so lengthy a document from these j^ages : — " In the present state of circum- stances it would be superfluous to take up from its very commencement the explanation of the difl'erence which has arisen between the Sublime Porte and Russia, to enter anew into the divers pliases which this difference has gone through, or to reproduce the opinions and judgments of the government of his Ma- jesty the Sultan, which have been made public by the official documents promulgated from time to time." The concluding paragraphs set forth the intentions of the sultan in reference to his manifesto : — " It notifies then officially, that the government of his Majesty the Sultan finds itself obliged to declare war, that it has given most precise instructions to his excel- lency Omar Pasha to demand from Prince Gortschakolf the evacuation of the princi- palities, and to commence hostilities if, after tifteen days from the arrival of his despatch at the Russian head-quarters, an answer in the negative should be returned. It is distinctly understood that should the reply of Prince Gortschakoff be negative, the Russians are to quit the Ottoman states, and that the com- mercial relations of the respective subjects of the two governments shall be broken off. At the same time tlie Sublime Porte will not consider it just to lay an embargo upon Russian merchant vessels, as has been the practice. Moreover, the Ottoman government, being uuAvilling to place hindrances in tlie way of commercial intercourse between the subjects of friendly powers, will, during the war, leave the straits open to their mercantile marine. " Im- mediately upon the issue of this declaration, Omar Pasha gave formal notice to the Russian commander, who replied in the following terms : — " My master is not at wai' with Turkey ; but I have orders not to leave the principalities until the Porto shall have given to the emperor the moral satisfaction he demands. When this point has been obtained, I will evacuate the principalities immediately, vv'hatever the tune or the season. If I am attacked by the Turkish army, I A\'ill confine myself to the defensive." At the same time the emperor IS'icholas put forth a manifesto about his zeal for the ortho- dox fiiith in the East, and calling upon his beloved Russia, in the usual religious cantof all the emperor's public documents, to aid him in the holy "war. Count Kessclrode as usual sent his "circular note" to the ambassadors, consuls, and agents of Russia. To the character of this document it will be necessary presently 28 HISTORY OF THE WAll AGAIXST RUSSIA. [Chap. T. to refer. Four days after the declaration of war, the sultan made a formal demand for the allied fleets to enter the Dai-danelles. The demand was complied with, and the ministers of the Western powers presented the admirals with great "pomp and circumstance" to the sultan. The further request of the sultan that the fleets or a portion of them should pass also the straits of the Bosphorus was refused by the ambas- sadors, on the ground that the Western powers were not at war with Russia. In vain the foreign minister of the sultan urged the danger to which his ships and coasts were exposed in the Black Sea. The answer was, that Prince Gortschakoff had promised to make the war on the part of Russia strictly defensive ; and that Count Kesselrode, in his circular despatch (above referred to), had repeated that promise. There •was, in the opinion of the ambassadors, no reason for doubting the good faith of the Russian go- vernment ; and they would not, by a demonstra- tion so hostile as that of sending the fleets into the Euxine, provoke Russia to change the cha- racter of the war, and make it one of oftensive operation. The reply of the Turkish minister ■was, that Russia could not make the war ofi'ensive upon the shores of the Black Sea if the fleets were to cruise there ; and that the only chance of her being able to convert the war upon the Danube into one of active oftensive operations, was her having command of the Black Sea for the easy transport of stores of all kinds to the vicinity of the armies. This rea- soning, irrefutable although it obviously was, and most important as it soon and fatally proved itself to be, was met by the reply that the ambassadors had no instructions for any demonstration more active than the assemblage of the fleets for the protection of Stamboul. Again the Turkish minister pressed upon the ambassadors and admirals the exposed situation of the coasts of the Black Sea, and the Turkish squadron within its waters ; and showed that, for the present, there was no necessity for the allied fleets in the Sea of Marmora; that the sultan, in calling them through the Dardanelles, contemplated their further progress through the other straits ; that the Russians could not endanger the capital until they had forced the Danube, captured Schumla and Sophia, forced the passes of the Balkan, and were victors at Adrianople ; or, from the eastern frontier, had pushed a victoi'ious campaign from the Caucasus through Asia Minor. It was, however, in vain that the enlightened men then in the Turkish Foreign-office demonstrated that if the fleets •were sent to aefend Turkey, the Black Sea was their appropriate sphere of action : the admirals had no orders, and the ambassadors would give them none, and pleaded the absence of any dis- cretionary power. While the fleets spread the tricolor and the union-jack upon the gentle breezes of the Bos« phorus, Omar Pasha, with frame of iron and intellect of light, seemed to do everything as well as direct everything upon the northern frontier of Bulgaria ; and only just allowed the fifteen days "notice to quit" to expire, before he showed Russia and the world that the Turks had a general, and that with a general they were still soldiers, as when the blazing scimitar of Orchan first flashed upon Europe, or Byzan- tium shook before the thunder of the artillery of Mohammed II. They were still worthy of their father Osman, the " Bone-breaker ; " and, in hand to hand combat, an ovei'match. for the boors of Russia both in courage and strength. It must be said, to their disad- vantage, that they were not very precise con- cerning the declaration of war; for on the very day it was declared, and without the knowledge of their chief, a semi-brigade hur- ried over the river, fell upon a Russian detach- ment, routed it, seized a considerable booty, and, like true Bashi-bazaks, were away again upon their own side before the foray could be chastised. With the end of October, the time granted to Prince Gortschakoff" by Omar Pasha ex- pii'ed ; by whom strong detachments were immediately expedited to the Russian side of the disputed river. Crossing at once in several places, they were soon established in some force upon the frontier of Wallachia, and pushing forward a strong advance-guard upon the Russians, the latter skirmished, refused battle, and slowly and sullenly retreated upon Slatina. To understand this movement of the Turks, or any of their subsequent operations, a clear view of Omar Pasha's position and plan of campaign must be had. The basis of his operations was Schumla, somewhat more than thirty English miles distant to the south of the river. Schumla was well fortified, and the general established facile communication be- tween it and Varna on the sea, so as to be able to derive supplies thence. The right flank of his array rested on those places, and was secure therefore from being turned by the Russian left. His left flank was thrown out dia- gonally to a great extent — an extent not in keeping with the rules of war, but which in his hands was a safe arrangement ; for, if attacked by a superior force, he could draw it gradually and diagonally back upon itself towards his centre, so that as it retired its strength would accumulate, and just in pro- portion as the attacking force would become attenuated. The Russians would hardly ven- ture to turn Omar Pasha's left, as in doing so they must from its elastic action experience considerable obstruction ; while it retiring gra- dually in the mode described above Avould escape punishment, aud, if outflanked, the Chap. Y.] HISTORY OF THE ^YAP. AGAIXST RUSSIA. 29 Russians would arrive at the Ballcan still an- noyed by this supple left wing, and having behind them the whole force of Omar Pasha and almost impregnable fortifications, while the passes of the Balkan would be alive with bristling bayonets, and every crag covered with artillery and rifles. It has sometimes been good strategy to leave a fortified place in the rear of an advancing army. Kapoleon and "Wellington practised it with success, and the Hussiaus themselves under Diebitch, in 1829, did so with some impunity, but at tremendous risk. With such an army as that of Omar Pasha, occupying such a position as Schumla, and with such a general, and the allied fleets already in the Turkish waters, the attempt to outflank Omar Pasha's left would be madness ; so that while he had secured his riglit, he used this left wing, if we may use so rude an illus- tration, pi'etty much as a skilful pugilist will "plant" his blows with rapidity, while he at the same time makes good his guard. Omar's chief difficulty was not the llussians, he had to discipline his troops while they fought ; he was often but indifterently supplied with shoes, horses, and instruments of carriage ; and he was Bometimes tortured with instructions from the cabinet at Constantinople, issued by those who knew nothing of the aftairs thej' presumed to direct. At the outset he was ordered to break down all the bridges, and to keep upon the defensive on his own side of the river. He of course paid no attention to these orders. He knew that to defend shores washed by a deep and circuitous river, it would be often advan- tageous to make the enemy's shores the barrier rather than his own, and by perpetually cross- ing and recrossing to harass tlie enem)^ by the uncertainty of his action; while at the same time he never deviated from his plan, but shortened or elongated the active wing (the left) of his ai'my as the positions of the enemy tempted, or the necessities of his own position constrained. Should the enemy cross the river in strength, which Omar Pasha could not certainly prevent, unless indeed by harassing him on his own side, then tlie line of defence taken enabled the Turkish general to give battle with effect, and if outflanked on his left, to place the enemy between two fires, that which Omar could still throw upon his rear, and that with whicli the reserves from behind the Balkan would assail him in front — a position from which the whole force which Russia had in the provinces could never return, they must cither perish in the passes, die of hunger before them, or become captives to the force hanging upon their rear. In the execution of the plan above noticed, Omar Pasha hur- ried what troops were at liis disposal for Buch a purpose with an apparentl}- desul- tory, but really circumspect and systematic rapidity across the Danube. Marches and countermarches, concentration and extension, followed on the part of the Russians, they were confused by the boldness and suddenness of the movement. At first they supposed he had crossed in strength, and there was much disorganised hurrying to and fro to ascertain the quai'ter upon which the blow was medi- tated. Finding that a large army had not anywhere gained the Wallachian side of the river, the Russians concluded that it was a mere predatory expedition, and while very desirous to punish it, treated it with charac- teristic disdain. The Russians excel most armies in their expertness in gaining infor- mation of the movements of an enemy. A Russian ofiicer is in his element in the cha- racter of a spy. Omar was too much for them in this instance — he knew the country better, and had at his disposal agents and instruments every way adapted to his purpose. He was perfectly acquainted with the disposition of the Russian forces. As he threw the first bodies of men across the Danube, he seized an island between Widdin and Kalafat, where the troops who took possession entrenched themselves. Prince GortschakofF was at Slatina, upon the Aluta, whither the Russian advanced posts had retired, conveying the intelligence of these very unexpected doings of the Turks. At the same time about 3000 Turks entrenched themselves at Giurgevo, having passed the river in perfect order by a fleet of gun-boats, and oftering a very formidable appearance. To dislodge these seemed to the Russian com- mander the first necessity, although the cost of doing so must be considerable, from their equipment and strength; while if a veiy large force were brought against thero, they could retire in the same gun-boats, and thus distract the Russian plans, weaken other portions of the already scattered and extended line, and fatigue the Russian troops by marches and countermarches, while performing their own operations so as to leave them fresh to maintain their post, or abandon it for some other similar expedition. Meanwhile a body of 3000 Turks forced their way over from Turtukai to Oltenitza, and there occurred the first battle of the war, a battle glorious for the cause of national independence and inter- national justice. THE BATTLES AT OLTEXITZA. Turtukai is about 1150 yards from the AYallachian side of the Danube, and it rises to the height of GOO feet above the river. The island which we described as taken pos- session of by the Turks in crossing is 600 yards from Turtukai, and a considerably less distance from the opposite side, the river being there narrower than in the immediate vicinity, 30 IIISTOEY OP THE WAP. AGAIXST KUSSIA. rCiiAr. V. and the island itself occupying some width. The island is higher (han the northern margin of tho river, and Turtukai commands both from its superior elevation. The moment the Turks took possession of the island, they put in position a powerful battery. This battery might possibly have fired with safety over the heads of the Turks, had they landed opposite to the island ; they however were wisely directed to land a little lower down the river, so that the battery should protect their left, and prevent them from being enfiladed by the guns of the enemy, while the enemy would be enfiladed by the guns of the battery. The right of the embarking force was similarly protected by a battery of heavy guns upon the heights of Turtukai. Nothing could be more skilful than the whole plan of disembark- ation; and whether the general was completely informed as to the peculiarities of the ground, or that chance determined it in his favour, what might in this respect have proved a difficulty became available for the more facile accomplishment of the purpose of occupation. The river Argish, if its waters may be dignified by the name, here runs parallel with the Danube, seeking lower ground for its con- fluence. This course continues but a short distance, but it was sufficiently long both to add to the danger and subserve the security of the party landing, for thej- crossed the Argish, and so deployed that their left and rear were necessarily upon it. Before their left and left centre a thick copse covered the ground, their right was unmasked by any wood or ine- qualities of ground. Here they entrenched themselves, and the whole landing and en- trenching was accomplished about two hours after daylight. This memorable day was ]S"ovember 2nd, 1853. The Cossacks appeared in crowds upon their right and right centre in the open ground about an hour after they had secured their position. The Cossacks skir- mished, advancing closely and firing, then wheeling about were succeeded by others; as this whirl of irregular cavalry maintained their desultory fire, they suffered considerably from the rifle carbine of the Turks, a weapon superior to anj' which their assailants used. The Turks had been accustomed to handle it, under the instruction of French officers, for some short time pi-eviously ; and they gave good proof of having profited by their instruc- tions. Many a bearded son of the Don was sent rolling upon the plain as he came up to fire, or wheeled round to give place to others. These skirmishers merely covered the advance of columns of infantry, supported by twenty pieces of cannon, both supported by a numerous body of cavalry, who, as the ground became better understood by the assailants, turned to their left, and formed upon the right of the Turkish position, the only portion of it where cavalry could be brouglit into action. The total force, independent of artillery, brought agaiust the 3000 Turks was 9000. The latter were repulsed with ease. Early in the action the cavalry were obliged to move out of range of the heavy guns on the heights of Turtukai. Notliing could be done on the other flank by either the infantry or artillerj^, so completely did the island battery protect it ; the copsewood along one half of the Turkish line was so thick as to prevent guns from being brought up there, nor could infantry deploy with any hope of storming the entrenchments in that quarter. The brunt of the contest was borne by the Turkish right and right centre, who sustained the cannonade with coolness, and hurled back the infantry broken and discom- fited bj' the terrible vollej-s poured from their minnie rifles. The Prussians, after coolly con- fronting this fire again and again, were at last forced to draw off, and victory crowned the skill and steadiness of the Osmanlis. Upon the retirement of the Russians, the night was wisely occupied by the Turks both in their intrenchments and upon the southern side of the river; the position was greatly strength- ened on the right of the former, and reinforce- ments crossed the river. These preparations were not unnecessary, for the llussians ap- peared next day in double strength, and again made an attack which was as nearly as possible a repetition of the former, and was precisely served the same way — the columns of assault were sent reeling back by the tremendous and certain fire of the assailed. The third day reinforcements having come up on the Russian side, so as to form an array of probably 27,000 men, it was determined by them to storm the works at whatever cost, and restore the courage of their own men and crush at once the hopes of the Turks. It was for moral as much as for physical ascendancy that the Russians fought that day. Omar Pasha had sent over during the previous night all the men he could spare, and the trenches were now guarded by 18,000 men — the odds were in their favour. Omar, seated upon the heights of Turtukai, watched with placidity and the assurance of genius the progress of his measures. The attack was again on the Turkish right, it was the only pregnable portion of the line, and here within a very small compass piles of dead soon attested the desperation of the struggle. The Russian infantrj' advanced in column, presenting a sure mark for the rifles of the Osmanlis along the line of entrenchment — their biillets coidd not miss ; while numbers of the Russians were doomed to perish before they could deploy or return a single missile for those so unspariugly cutting through their masses. This day the artillery from the south side was more eftcctive CnAr. Y.] HISTORY OF THE VAE, AGAIXST EUSSTA. 81 than on either of the preceding, and the Rus- sians had to pass under their range to receive the rifle volleys from the trenches. They did not flinch, but arrived at the breastworks scattered, and many of them vt^ounded, wlien the Osmanlis leaporl over their defences, and ■mth the bayonet and the s-word made repulse and slaughter a short work. The Russian infantry, or what was left of them, fled to the protection of their cavalry in utter disorder. The battle was over. The Turks did not lose fifty men. The Russians could not get at them, except when the former leaped the parapets of their works, and fell upon the shattered ranks that staggered thither through the appalling fire of artillery and musketry. The Russians acknowledged a loss of 1000 men, but the Turks found 600 upon the field around the entrenchments after the Russians had carried away many more. On the 11th of November other Russian troops were moved up, under General Englehardt, and a fourth attack was du'ected upon the entrenchments. On this occasion the Russians disposed themselves as if meditating an attack in flank upon the right, but the fire of the guns from Omar Pasha's side swept the approach. They en- deavoured to get possession of the island, so as to open fire upon the position thence, and leave the Turks on the north side no choice but to lay down their arms. The very first arrange- ments for this enterprise showed its hopeless- ness ; and had they succeeded in gaining the island, it was so dominuted by the batteries at Turtukai as to render its detention impossible. The fourth day's fight was, therefore, from the necessities of the relative positions of assailants and assailed a repetition of the former combats ; and the encore of the Turkish rifles and artil- lery was as soothing to Omar Pasha and his companion, the Spanish general, Prim, as it was disheartening to General Englehardt and those who so desperately but so uselessly attempted the execution of his commands. After that the Turks acted on the oftcnsive, surprising small parties of Russians, and not fearing to attack the irregular cavalry which watched them ; and growing bold from their successes, they even sallied out upon the village of Oltenitza itself, where a body of Russians were posted, drove them from their quarters, burned the village, and returned in triumph to their impregnable defences. Other events on both sides of the river, to which the movements of both armies contributed, soon after obliged Omar Pasha to withdraw tins force, in order to the concentration of his troops for a more off^ectual defence of the Bulgarian frontier against the increasing numbers of the enemy •which were advancing upon the Danube. While these events were taking place at Oltenitza, other portions of the Turkish line were not inactive. They, as already noticed, had crossed the river from Rustchuk to the island of Giurgevo ; their landing there was resisted, but they succeeded in occupying a position on the island, and immediately cannon- aded the town. Several positions of lesser im- portance were rapidly occupied on the south — such as Rahova, Nicopolis, and Listova. Rut Ismail Pasha, afterwards so distinguished by his skill and intrepidity, crossed the river by way of Widdin, and seized Kalafat, wliich he occu- pied by two divisions ; and, with amazing celerity and sound judgment, strengtliened the place and threw out a brigade upon Kalarasch. On the 26th iS^ovember, Omar Pasha con- structed a bridge of boats between the south shore and the island of Moukhan, not far from Giurgevo, and the day following assailed the Russians at that place, and for the two suc- ceeding daj-s continued their attacks. Retain- ing the islands of Moukhan and Ramhadan, they continued to strengthen themselves vigor- ously at Kalafat, while retiring generally from the northern bank of the river, and concen- trating upon the southex'n shores as they re- tired. Pursuing these taetics, they abandoned Kalarasch and Giurgevo, but, nevertheless, held the Russians everywhere well in check upon that part of the line of defence ; and, upon a distant quarter in the north of the Dobrudscha, opposite Erailau, fell upon the Russians at Matschin, and handled them with much severity. When the news of these events reached Constantinople the joy was excessive — one general outburst of enthusiasm rang through the place ; and the calm and quiet sultan him- self caught the inspiration, and made such public demonstration of it as increased the loj-idty of the old Osmanlis to his person, and silenced those who thought him to be, as they considered the allies, but half-hearted to the war. The sultan wrote a letter of congratula- tion to Omar Pasha; and sent him a present which is regarded as the highest compliment from the sultan to a successful general — his own favourite horse, splendidly caparisoned, and a magnificent sabre with jewelled handle. In Vienna the feeling upon these tidings was of undisguised alarm ; the citizens, indeed, re- joiced as far as they dare, but the court, the aristocracy, and the army, could not suppress their dissatisfaction and apprehension. Always the focus of false intelligence, Vienna kept up its evil reputation in this instance, and sent through Europe tidings the most opposite and unlikely. These, with the true accounts, reached Eng- land together; and all Western Europe re- joiced that the military prestige of Russia was dissipated, and the old chivalry of the Osmans revived in so good a cause. It was not then understood that the very worst troops in ilw Russian scr-»-ice, excepting the artillery, was 32 HISTOHY OF THE WAR AGAINST IIUSSIA. [CflAP. V. in tlio occupation of the provinces ; that, like all other oriental nations, llussia, as a system, sends forward her worst soldiers, holding the best troops in reserve until the seasons of greatest emergency. The joy was not to re- main long without being overcast; the accounts of these feats of arms were speedily followed by intelligence of a nature to excite horror against Russia, and dissatisfaction the keenest with the dilatory policy of the "Western go- vernments. This intelligence was THE MASSACRE AT SINOPE. Sinope is a little town of some 12,000 in- habitants, situated on the Asiatic shores of the Black Sea. Considered in a military point of view its position is one of great importance. Captain Spencer, author of a -work entitled Turlcey, Russia, the Blach Sea, and Circassia, visited it a few years since on behalf of the Turkish government, in order to furnish infor- mation as to its " capabilities of defence in case of a Russian attack upon that part of the Turkish Empire." He thus describes it: — " AYe were particularly struck with the position of Sinope, a town built on the isthmus of a peninsula running into the sea in the form of a promontory ; a position which it might be seen at a glance was admirably adapted for becoming, in the hands of a clever military engineer, a second Gibraltar. It was also evident that a place directly opposite, and only 150 miles distant from, Sebastopol, pro- tected bj' no better fortifications than an ill- constructed battery very much out of repair, and an old Byzantine castle in an equally ruinous state, w^ould be certain to be attacked by a Russian fleet in the event of -war ; and if by any accident it fell into the hands of a clever power like Russia, it would enable her not only to command the whole of the Black Sea, but to cut off every communication between Constantinople and the Turkish pashalies of Erzerum, Kars, Turkish Armenia, &c. Plans of additional fortifications were accordingly executed, and a memorandum was drawn up impressing upon the government the necessity of putting a place so important into an efficient state of defence. It is scarcely necessary to say that the plans and the memorandum re- mained in the cabinet of the vizier entirely disregarded; and to this want of foresight may be attributed the disaster of Sinope." From the site, as described by Captain Spencer, it may be easily conceived that the general aspect of the place is picturesque. The " old Byzantine castle" overlooks a considerable landscape, rich with the verdure of a well- watered soil, beneath a climate the most genial ; thickly-wooded dells lie beneath its broken walls, and its almost insular position ensures great equality of temperature, the refreshing sea-breezes tempering the summer heats. It suffers during a portion of the year from the biting blasts which sweep over the Russian steppes upon the Black Sea, and sometimes literally smite Sinope with a severity which penetrates everything. It is a little place of historic and classic interest, as well as of local beauty. Old Greek inscriptions and broken statues, the relics of a tasteful but departed civilisation, are everywhere to be met w'ith. Here the great Mithridates, King of Pontus, once held his court ; here Diogenes, of cynical celebrity, was born; and here the nymph Sinope rewarded, according to classic fable, the love of the unscrupulous Apollo, and gave to the place her name. A Turkish squadron cruising in the Black Sea was obliged to put in here from stress of weather, November being generally a boisterous month upon the Euxine. They had no notion of being attacked, although opposite to the great Russian naval arsenal, because both the sultan and the emperor declared that the war was defensive. The latter proclaimed by Count Nesselrode's circular note, that he would con- fine himself to the defensive upon the Danu- bian frontier, and threw the responsibility upon the allies of widening by their interference the limits of a war which his imperial majesty wished to confine within so narrow a compass. The sultan had also declared that he would confine hostilities to the one object of expelling the Russian armies from his territories, and would not assail the territories of Russia. Possibly these mutual declarations influenced the Western powers to refrain from sending their fleets through the Bosphorus, and cer- tainly caused a fiilse security in the mind of Osman Pasha, the gallant admiral of the little fleet. Redschid Pasha, the sagacious foreign minister, had not such confidence, as was proved by the terms in which he demanded of the ambassadors to order the fleets of their sove- reigns at once from the Golden Horn to the Euxine. Osman Pasha lay quietly under the dilapidated batteries of Sinope, the guns of which did not even command the range of the harbour, but were carelessly placed, as if Peace had herself made her throne in the old capital of the kings of Pontus. Admiral Nachimoft', who since fell at Sebastopol, saw his oppor- tunity, and in the face of the naval truce that existed, and in falsification of the pledge of his imperial master, he determined to take advan- tage of it. He led into the quiet harbour a fleet consisting of three first-rate men-of-war, three large two-deckers similar to our old "se- venty-fours," two frigates, and four steamers. Their approach was favoured by a fog, and they were not discovered until all hope of pre- paring for eftcctuul defence, if tliat in any case might have been possible, was in vain. The Chap. Y.] HISTORY OE THE AYAE AGAINST RUSSIA. o3 fire of the Russians opened upon them with overpo-wering weight, cnisliing the little squa- dron beneath it, and rendering fight or flight ;Jikc hopeless. The Turkish squadron con- sisted of no ships larger than a frigate, of which class there were seven yessels; there were also one steam-frigate, two schooners, and three transports. Two of the Turkish cap- tains, seeing the certainty of capture or de- struction, blew up their ships ; and the brave admii'ul was about to fire his magazine, when a shot carried away his leg. Never in naval warfare was so horrifying a slaughter before wit- nessed; five thousand sailors perished; the whole S(iuadron was blown into one mass of broken and biirni-ng timber, and bhisted and bleeding human flesh. Yet amidst the floating timbers, blackened and blood-stained, the Russian ships fired grape and canister, lest any of the wrecked should swim ashore ; and such as did make the harbour were shelled, and aim even directed upon the wounded. The town was on fire ; the batteries, like the ships and their occupants, were blown into one heap of ruins ; nor did the Russians pause in their bloody and barbarous worlc while there remained anything more to cfiect by mere murderous carnage. It was not war — it was massacre. It is a point of honour with naval men never to attack frigates with first-rates, unless first fired upon, and then only to inflict the injurj- necessary to disable sailing and effect capture. The bloody butcher JMachimoff offered no terms and gave no quarter; his end was a vast murder, and he achieved it. Oltenitza and Matschin were avenged. An English steamer bravely made its way through showers of shot, and escaped consider- ably damaged to Constantinople, and was the bearer thither to the enraged Divan, and the abashed and humiliated admirals and ministers of the allies, of the first intelligence of the atl•ocitJ^ Several steamers were sent with suc- cour to the wounded and to the inhabitants. Tlie scene their crews witnessed was heart- rending, and ])roduced a feeling of disdain and hatred towards the Russian navy and nation that will not soon be obliterated. The Russian government might have saved appeai'ances after the fashion of Austria, when its generals per- form any disgraceful work, by disavowing the deed -and rebuking the admiral. Not so witli Nicholas — Tc Deum celebrated the glory of both. It was done in the interest of " the holy em- peror and the orthodox church," and that sanc- tified it in the eyes of the Russian government and people, and we fear we must in truth add, of nearly all Greek Christendom: revenge must be very sweet to satiate the soul of a Greek. The Petersburg Gazette recorded the achievement as one to be inscribed upon the rolls of fame ; and the emperor, twelve days after its accomplish- ment, thus wrote: — " AVith hearty joy I request you to communicate to my brave seamen that I thank them for the success of the Russian flag, on behalf of tlie (ilory and honour of Russia." Upon the arrival of the news brouglit by the English steamer at the foreign embassies. Ad- miral Dundas suggested that the combined fleets go at once in pursuit of the Russian fleet, and attack and punish it before it could reach. Sebastopol. Sinope and Sebastopol are about equi-distant from Constantinople, and the sug- gestion of Admiral Dundas was practicable, and would have succeeded, as Nachimoff re- mained in Sinope several days to repair the injuries inflicted upon his ships by the desperate resistance of the Turks. Rut the Ei-ench am- bassador, who had only recently arrived, and who knew the timid and pro-Austrian policy of the French minister of foreign affairs, warmly refused his co-operation. Indeed, General Baraguay d'Hilliers is an impracticable man everywhere but at the head of his troops, where he can dogmatise with undisputed au- thority. Nachimoff entered Sebastopol in tri- umph, bearing tlic gallant Osman Pasha as his prisoner, wounded and broken-hearted. Death soon put an end to his regrets and pains ; the Russians did not, living or dead, do him the honour which the brave never fail to render the brave who have merited victory but in- curred defeat. Thus ended November upon the Danube and in the Turkish waters. There was but one month of war, and it was rich in such sacri- fices as war exacts : it was glorious also to the honour and arms of Turkey, and it covered the Russian name with an infamy still deeper than the disgrace of her arms before the undisci- plined soldiers of the Porte. 34 HISTORY OF THE WAll AGAINST IIUSSIA. [Chai-. VI. CITArTEIl VI. MILITARY TRANSACTIONS ON THE DANUBE.— ARRIVAL OF RUSSIAN REINFORCEMENTS.-STATE OF THE PROVINCES.— AGITATION OF T1[E CAPITAL.— DESPATCHES OF TUE ALLIES CONSE- QUENT UPON TUE MASSACRE AT SINOPE. " A multitude like which the populous North Pour'd never from her frozen loins, to pass Rhene or the Danau, when her barbarous eons Came like a deluge on the South." Milton. The month of December opened favourably for the defenders of Turkey. Their array on the Danube was healthy, they wore flushed with victory, and they had unlimited confidence in their chief, who, by an apparently desultory, but really well-planned and well-connected sj'stem of attacks, had better protected the frontier than if he had acted only upon the defensive, which would have left to the enemy his choice of time and place for conducting hostilities. The llussian army was surprised at the stand made by the Osmanlis, whom they had been taught to despise; and althougli aiixious to retrieve their honour by some signal victory, they had learned to respect the men over whom they sought to achieve it. The incapacity of Prince Gortschakoff had become patent to all — he had been outgeneralled by the renegade Groat, as he had termed Omar Pasha; his plan of campaign, thrice clianged within a month, had been penetrated by his rival, and met by countervailing stratagem; his posts had been surprised, and his soldiers beaten. They had suffered much fatigue ; dis- ease had broken out among them, so that thousands were in the hospitals ; food became scarce, and both civil and military functionaries robbed tlie suffering soldiery, as well as the unfortunate inhabitants of the provinces. Omar Pasha had learned in Bosnia and in Albania the necessity of restraining the troops from plunder; and although his undisciplined Asiatic volunteers continued to commit terrible depra- dations upon the people, he took measures which were of slow but sure operation in re- straining them. The people of Bulgaria re- garded him as their benefactor and saviour, and omitted no sacrifices to insure the comfort of his troops. His popularity also enabled him, even from the Greeks (who as a class hated him, but whom he conciliated person- ally), to gain timely information of the move- ments of the llussians, so thac one of Prince Gortschakoff's staff' suggested to his chief that Oraar Pasha must have some alliance with Satan, the greatest reputed foe of the orthodox church, or he never could acquire such an inti- mate knowledge of the intentions of the Rus- sian commander. When this was communicated toOmar, he made the iiaive reply, "that cer- tainly the medium suggested would be one very available for an intimate acquaintance with Russian policy." The Tui'kish forces were at the same time cheered by the accounts which reached them from a distance. In the capital the war spirit was at its highest, and rumour ascribed to the sultan himself a desire to " fiesh his maiden sword." The Turkomans and other Asiatic tribes sent offers of men ; and the Armenians, and even Jews, a class not esteemed so rich in Turkey as elsewhere, offered money. Tlie Greeks too in many cases simu- lated loyalty, and made offers of loans and armed service ; and certain of the superior Greek clergy, who regard the Russo-Greek Church as schismatical and heterodox, and who well understood that the policy of the czar was ultimately to usurp supremacy over the " or- thodox church of tlie East," presented most dutiful addresses to the sultan, and professed the most sincere and cordial loyalty to his throne. Tidings of these things were borne to the Danube with a rapidity second only to that of the electric telegraph, and which were as dishearten- ing to the Russians as they were encouraging to the Turks. The "four powers" had also just signed a collective note, in which they declared that " the existence of Turkey in the limits assigned to her by treaty is one of the necessary conditions of the balance of power in Europe, and that the existing war cannot in any case lead to modifications in the territorial boundaries of the two empires, which might be calculated to alter the state of possession in the East, which has been established for a length of time, and which is equally necessary for the tranquillity of all the other powers." This inspired the assurance at Constantinople that Turkey would, if necessary, receive active support from "the powers;" and the assured feeling at tlie scat of government dilFused itself to the limits of the empire, and increased the courage of those who were battling for its integrity and honour. The war on the Asiatic frontier had opened prosperously, altliough it had proceeded with chequered fortune ; but the Danube, if not a more important sphere of contest, yet attracted in Europe moi'e general attention. It is desir- able, in order to avoid the complications which would arise bj- attempting to record contem- poraneously the transactions on two such dis- Chap. YI. iriSTOEY OF THE WAE AGAINST IIUSSIA. 35 tant scenes, that a notice of the events upon the Bulgarian and WuUachian frontiers sliould be fii'st brought dov/n to the close of 1853. A favourable opening in the story here pre- sents itself for some account of the person and history of the Turkish general. Omar Pasha is frequently represented as an Austrian. He was indeed born an Austrian subject, in that part of Croatia which once appertained to the crown of Hungary. The litlle village of Uiaski, and the first year of this century, had the honour of being associated with the birtli of Omar, whose original name was Lattas, and who was the son of a Greek priest. Lattas was himself brought up for the military pi'o- fession, and entered the Austrian service, to which he never was cordially attached, — his heart being Hungarian, and his opinions too liberal for, either the military or civil regime of Austria. He served for some years in an Aus- trian regiment of chasseurs, and having been unjustlj' treated by his commanding ofiicer, he left the service, and entered that of Turkey. He apostatized from the Greek faith, assumed the profession of Islam, and grew in favour with the Turkish government. Khosshrew Pasha had sagacity to see the solid qualities of the young adventurer, and patronised him. He took the name of Omar, and in everything conformed himself to Turkish customs and identified himself with Turkish nationality. Khosshi-ew Pasha made him his aide-de-camp, and gave him in marriage his ward, a lady of personal attraction and of great wealth. Thus Omar became a Turk to all intents and purposes. His military reputation rose steadil)*; but it was in 1848 that he was first appointed to an important command. The army of the Danubian provinces was placed under his con- trol, andv/ith very happy results : he repressed Bedition, and caused the sultan's authority to be respected ; he gained the goodwill of the inhabitants, with whose religious prejudices his own religious history had made him fami- liar, and the soldiers under his command were subordinate. He then acquired that local knowledge which he turned to such good ac- count in the campaign, the history of which is here written ; and it is said that he then be- came acquainted with the peculiarities of the Hussian army, and studied attentively its whole B)'stera. He had not previously indicated any prejudice towards llussia, but rather respected that power ; he then became averse to Itussia, and the determined enemy of its aggrandize- ment and ambition. In _1851 the Bosnian chiefs, at the insti- gation of Austria, revolted against the " Tan- gimat," or new constitution of the empire, and Omar Pasha was commissioned by the Porte to suppress the revolt. This he did with such energy and skill as to acquire fresh military re[)utation, and yet with such justice and for- bearance to tl)e people, and such decisive discipline to his own soldiers, especially the intractable Albanians, as rendered important services to the people, the army, and the go- vernment. He has the faculty of attaching to him the brave and unfortunate ; and the Poles and Hungarians regard him, as a man, a soldier, and a politician, with much devotion. It was chiefly under his influence that the sultan took so decisive a stand, on the subject of the refu- gees, against the reclamation of Austria and llussia at the termination of the Hungarian war ; and that circumstance, and the sagacity displayed by him in suppressing the insurrec- tion in Bosnia, have made for him the deadly enmity of Austria and llussia. A writer in the United Service Magazine for June, 1855, not over anxious to commend him, never- theless admits that he is a brave and skilful ofiicer, worthy of success. " Military men of the higher class are not usually very enthusiastic admirers of Omar Pasha. The renegade general is not indeed one of those great soldier statesmen who have from time to time appeared in historj- as chiefs of the Otto- man armies of Constantinople. He is not an Achmet or an Omar, a Payazid or an Orchan ; he is not a Brandenbergh or a ileliemet Pasha. But he is nevertheless a man of wonderful phlegm and perseverance, alv/aj-s ready in time of danger, and of very respectable abilities as a commander. It is possible that under happier auspices he might have done better, but it is by no means certain." This sentence is quite in keeping with the jealous and disparaging way in which military writers, at heart un- favourable to the cause of Turkey', write of its best general : yet they cannot point out how he could, in his circumstances, have more completely answered the great ends of his com- mand. The writer above quoted gives a very exact description of the difiiculties which the general had to surmount. "He was assailed by every art which could be devised by the most ungenerous and determined enmity. He was reproached as a renegade and a Chris- tian still at heart. His careful conduct in public life, the extreme caution and prudence which pervaded the most private arrangements of his household, were dwelt upon and en- venomed by slanderous tongues as so many proofs of his hypocrisy. The powerful ulemah, or priesthood, were against him to a man ; and every venal fanatic endeavoured to push his own base fortunes at the expense of the soldier who was already fighting a desperate battle for their very existence. He was systemati- cally left without money or supplies, with a commissariat compared with the incapacity of which the inefficiency of our own was perfect excellence. It must have been something 36 HISTORY OF THE WAP. AGAI^^ST KUSSIA. [CiiAr. VI. more than good fortune which surmonnted all these ditficulties, and Omar Pasha did sur- mount them." Such was the man who won for Turkey the first month of combats on the Danube, and who was now withdrawing his troops from the advanced positions they occu- pied and concentrating them, in order to pro- vide a sure defence against the increasing hosts advancing against him. In person he is agreeable, although somewhat rough of countenance and coarsely formed; he is con- siderably below the middle stature, of dark complexion, grave expression, even to auste- rity; but his smile is sweet, and he has the address to conciliate the affections of chil- dren ; — his little daughter regards him with singular attachment. He is a man of strong domestic feelings. Intellectually he is not so much distinguished for brillianc}^ or rapidity of conception as for clearness, consecutiveness, and patience of thought. He is a shrewd poli- tician, and is governed and would govern by principle rather than by expediency. In returning to the December operations on the Danube, it is proper to notice the bravery and successful exploits of a Ilussian naval officer, the captain of the war-steamer Vladimir. On the 20th of November this ship appeared on the Bulgarian coast, along which for the remainder of the month it spread terror, not- withstanding that the weather was tempes- tuous, and Turkish cruisers were on the alert. Having fired upon some of the coast defences, and chased, captured, and destroyed several merchantmen, she attacked and took an Egyp- tian war-steamer of ten guns, and only retired from her cruise when there was no prospect of doing further mischief. Tliis exploit of the Fladimir was a pretty fair indication of the inefficiency of the Turkish nav)', and of the supineness and total want of vigilance which exposed it afterwards to the disaster at Sinope. During the whole month of December, Omar Pasha slowly and with care pursued his sys- tem of concentration. His troops fortified them- selves on their own side of the Danube in Rahova and Nicopolis, and still more especially at Widdin, one of the most important strategic positions occupied by them. After the repulse of the Russians at Matscliin, in the Dobrudscha, they retired behind Trajan's wall, a barrier memorable in classic association, from which the barbarians of past ages were hurled back upon their forests or dreary steppes. It was not the intention of Omar to occupj* the Do- brudscha, but rather by retiring upon Trajan's wall, and fixing his head-quarters at Rustchuck, to tempt the Russians to follow in that direc- tion, and thus entangle them in the great morass so often fatal to armies campaigning on the Danube. Omar did not altogether give up the system of desultory attack by his left, while his riglit wing was thus cautiously retreating upon the line of the classic barrier above described, for on the 20th of D(!ceuu)(r a detachment was dispatched from Kalarasch against Karakai upon tlie Aluta, which post they gallantly stormed, and, still acting upon the same prudent as well as spirited polic}-, abandoned the conquest so gallantly made. At Kalafat the Turks had by the end of December placed themselves in an attitude of strengtli which caused the Russians very great uneasi- ness. The works were of great extent, and, although so rapidly constructed, were durabh;. As Kalafat became the centre of important operations subsequently, it will throw light upon the importance it assumed to give a more exact description of its defences. Previous to the military occupation of it by Omar Pasha, its protection was three awkwardly con- structed redoubts, placed on as many hillock?, commanding the approaches to the place. Sami Pasha, the Governor of Widdin, on the oppo- site bank of the river, ordered it to be occupied and fortified by a circumvallation of breast- works and bastions of earth mounted with cannon of long range and large calibre. To Ismail Pasha was committed the performance of these orders, he partaking of the qualities of his chief (Omar Pasha), prudence and daring, crossed, attended onlj'- hj five men, to an island opposite the place, and there recon- noitred. He immediately sent to Widdin for several battalions of infantry and some guns, which were promptly dispatched by the go- vernor. Having entrenched upon the island, so as to make it a ^;(?('«/! d'appui, he crossed over with his brigade, and found no Russians to oppose him — the nearest Russian troops having been alarmed when he crossed to the island by the rumour of a Turkish army landing upon their side of the river, and fearing to be cut off, they retired upon Krajova. In less than a fortniglit from the landing of Ismail Pasha, the defences were in such a state as to defy 10,000 Russians. The works were continued with goodwill to the end of the month, when the place assumed an attitude of defensive power formidable even to an array. The breastwork glacis was in every part swept in traverse by the cannon of the earthwork re- doubts. A. strong and prominent fort upon tlie Danube commanded the approacli from Kra- jova; and in the breastworks to the right, openings were cut, from which cavalry could debouch upon any infantry force attempting to storm in tliat direction. Long shed barracks were constructed by digging the earth and roofing it over, and these were formed so skil- fully as to be a dry and healthful sheltei", as well as to offer considerable security. Euro- pean engineering lent its aid to Ismail Pasha in this exploit. Thus fortified, he awaited in. Chap. Yr.] HISTOUY OF THE Tv AE AGAINST ETJSSIA. 37 defiance the menaces of Russia, which -were now so pompously sounded forth through all the capitals of Europe. "While Ismail was thus busy at Kalafat, Sami Pasha took careful measures at Widdin to prevent the interrup- tion of Ismail's work. He intercepted all communication with the disaffected Servians, whose spies infested Widdin. lie detected the Austrian. Consul in efforts to send by certain Greeks and Servians messages to General Luders, informing him of what was going on. In vain the Austrian threatened the thunders of his government : he was literally shut up, and all his communications intercepted, until Ismail had done his work on the other side of the river, and Xalafat became an entrenched camp and a fortitied place of formidable dimen- sions and power. Scarcely had this been effected when the new Russian plan of procedure developed itself. The forces already in "Wallachia spread themselves in an incomprehensible manner from Orsova almost to Cronstadt, on the Trausylvauian fron- tier. If the Prince Gorted the national council. This council is composed of the ministers of state, the ulemahs, and such other persons of distinction, ecclesiastical, civil, and militur}-, as the sultan chooses, or finds it convenient to call to his presence. After two days of most anxious deliberation, they came to the following decision: — " The Porte will accept the collective note of the four powers; it will nominate a plenipotentiary to treat for peace in any town except Vienna; it will accept the declaration of the four powers, that the evacuation of the principalities shall be considered as a conclusive sine qua non of the negotiations; and that the war shall not change the territorial condition of Turkey. The Porte declares, at the same time, that it will not renew the treaties which existed before the war between it and Russia." The ambassadors were anxious to make better terms for Russia, and remonstrated against the determination of the council to break w'ith Russia in respect to the treaties of Adrianople and Kainardgi. Incredible as it may ajipcar to unsophisticated minds, the ambassador of England pleaded, on behalf of Russia, for the recognition by Turkey of that very treaty which the czar by a disgraceful rune accomplished and maintained against the [irotest of the very same minister from whom the British ambassador now received his instruc- tions ; and not only against the protest of that 40 HISTORY OF THE WAll AGAINST IIUSSIA. [Chap. YIL minister, founded upon the iiijustico of the deed, but founded also upon the vioLition of the emperor's personal assurances. The trea- ties of Adrianoplo and of Kainardi^i cannot co-exist Avith the integrity and independence of the Ottoman empire; a perusal of the third chapter of this history must make that truth clear to its readers. Yet the- men whose duty it was to insist upon terms of peace consonant with that integrity and independence, became the advocates of the czar in respect to both ! Had Turkey followed the advice of either France or England, she was lost. To the clear-sighted policy of her own divan she was indebted for guidance when the counsels of her allies were obscure, inconsistent, contra- dictor)', or ruinous. Either the representative of England was unequal to his position, or he was fettered by instructions wholly irreconcil- able with any real intention to baulk Eussia of her prey. The government of Turke)' firmly and finally proclaimed to tlie world that these two humiliating and unjust treaties, wrung from her by llussia when deserted or ill-ad- vised by the other European powers, sriould never be renewed. Eedschid Pasha, to his discredit, counselled the concession ; but the general feeling of the great counsellors of the divan was, that now war had commenced, they would rather be driven from Europe, sword in hand, as their fathers entered it, or perish in the defence of Constantinople, than ever again revive those injurious and dishonouring ac- knowledgments of past defeat. Thus ended European diplomacy for 1853. "While all these things were transacting in Europe, Asia was the scene of scarcely less exciting events ; and within that theatre a more picturesque and romantic drama occupied the stage, a descrip- tion of which we reserve for another chapter. CHAPTER YII. THE WAR IN ASIA.— RUSSIAN ENCIlOACIUrENTS UPON TURKEY, PERSIA, AND THE CAUCASIAN TRICES. —sen AM YL, THE SULTAN AND PROPHET OF THE CAUCASUS. " Sampson hath quit himself like Sampson, Ileioicallv." Miltox. To assist the reader to a just conception of the military and naval operations of the Turks upon the Asiatic frontiers of llussia, it is neces- sarjr to sketch the previous progress of llussia in that direction. For at least three-quarters of a century, arms and artifice had been accom- plishing her designs, both upon the Turkish and Persian territories. Sometimes art with- out force availed ; and sometimes, even when force failed, craft was sufficient to repair dis- aster, and of itself effect conquests. There can be no doubt of the consummate ability of the Avhole Russian people in affairs requiring nice and dextrous management ; and this, more than the education of her diplomatists, aids the success of the ministers and ambassadors of llussia. Perhaps no people in the world's history, excepting only the Greeks, were ever so much given to lying as the Sclavonic section of the Russians. In this particular, the czars and their diplomatists were always most accom- plished. Never were the arts of evasion, equi- vocation, and verbal fraud so unscrupulously resorted to, or so keenly cultivated, as by the agents of Russian political affairs. Hence we never hear of a treaty between Russia and any other power, in which the former has not con- trived to obtain a cession of territory. In 1731, the Khirgisli Tartars ceded to her terri- tory which comprised 31,000 square miles. In 1732, there was a further Tartar cession of 15,000 square miles. Catherine wrested and wheedled from Turkey about 2500 square miles, partly on the Asiatic and partly on tlio European frontier. She also obtained the protectorate of Georgia, guaranteeing to the royal family the crown — a guarantee which, of course, was never intended to be observed. Ey the treaty of Azoff, Peter gained a footing upon the sea of that name ; and ever since the ambition of Russia has been eagerly directed both to the eastern and western shores of the Black Sea, until Nicholas, by the treaty of Adrianoplo, 1829, robbed the sultan of the Delta of the Danube, and the Asiatic coast of the Black Sea, from Anapa to Poti, a distance of 200 miles, and part of the pachalic of Ahalzic. Having, in our third chapter, given a summary of the history of Russian aggres- sion , upon Turkey, it is here only necessary to say that from Persia she has taken Dhages- tan, Schinean, Ghilan, Menzenderan, Astera- bad, and other territory, containing about 18,000 square miles. Some of these acquisi- tions were made without firing a shot ; and most of them, as well as others especially in Europe, were made by the help of allies wliose blood and treasure she liberally employed, but to whom she never allowed any advantage to accrue. Mr. Man, in his Jj^ncroachments of Emsia, has given a brief and very complete summary of her successes in this way. Ho writes : — " It is by diplomacy that Russia has so egregiously overreached the governments of Europe. By an alliance with Austria and Prussia, she was enabled to tear Poland to Cu.u-. yii.] HISTORY 0]^^ THE AVAR AGAIKST RHSSIA. 41 pieces, England, Erancc, and Sweden looking quietly on. By an alliance with France and Austria, Catherine II. was enabled to seize the Crimea, and push her outposts towards Persia, India, and Constantinople. By an alliance ■with France, in Napoleon's time, she was en- abled to wrest Finland from Sweden, all the other powers being quiescent. By another alliance with Napoleon, Alexander invaded and annexed large portions of the Turkish territory, in 1806, while Napoleon himself invaded Spain. By alliances with England, by the aid of whose ships the Turkish fleet ■was blown to pieces at Navarino, Nicholas was enabled to invade Tui'key, and set up claims to the ' Protectorate ' of the Danubian pro- vinces ; and England further aided Russia by detaching Greece from Turkey, and setting up a sham Greek kingdom — in realitj' but an out- post of Russia. By England's connivance, Russia poured her armies into Hungaiy but a few years ago, and crushed the gallant Magyars in their strug.gle for freedom, — the modern role of Russia being to play the conservative in propping up the falling dynasties of Europe! Thus have all the great nations of Europe helped Russia by turns, until at length they found out — when it was all but too late — that they had been jointly contributing to establish a power in Europe, the further progress of ■«"hich must inevitably prove their own de- struction." Following her old policy, Russia sought an alliance with Persia when meditating the pre- sent war with Turkey. Offers of partition were made at Teheran ; efforts to ferment dis- pxites, on religious grounds, were made by Russian agents there and upon the frontiers of the two Mohammedan powers ; military expeditions ■^^ere pushed into Asia from the Caspian and the Sea of Arakal, and the ambas- sadors of the czar announced haughtily to the khans of Khiva and Bokhera, the approach of armies to subjugate their territories, unless they entered into alliance with him, for the purpose of any immediate demonstration against Persia, or ultimate demonstration against AfFghanistau and India, which he might project. Persia had felt the might of a czar's ai'm already too frequently not to fear it ; and she besides cherished towards Turkey a rivalry, and a schismatical hostility, •«'hich is as bitter among the followers of Mohammed as among professing Christians. But the shah had a wholesome fear of England, with whom the Affghans on his own frontier were forming alliance, and who, since the occupation of Aden, on the Per- sian Gulf, has always been a terror to the government of Teheran. Persia could not alone wage an aggressive war iipon Turkey ; her population does not exceed 8,000,000, and her regular army is not more than 35,000 men: an irregular force, principally cavalry, of twice that number, is said to be always ready for the service of the shah. The revenue is collected in a way more oppressive and less efficient than that of any other state perhaps in the world, scarcely excepting those petty Indian princi- palities which are partlj' or wholly under Bri- tish protection : the amount fluctuates from £1,500,000 to twice that sum. Thus has Persia fallen from the glory which once was hers, ■u'hen the mistress of a gorgeous empire, and armies ■n^ere sent forth by her more nu- merous than ever were marshalled in the history of war. She is still rich in fertility and resources ; but, poor in intellect, these resources are not availaVjle ; and she sits in the pride of a barbaric spU ndour, fearing and despising the other powers of the world with which commerce or contiguity brings her into connexion. During the summer and fall of 1853, she committed several aggressions upon Turkej', which issued at last in the cessation of all diplomatic connexion, and a war with that state imminently threatened to add to the diffi- culties of Turkey. Some injuries upon British subjects gave occasion for the English charge- d'affaires, Mr. Thompson, to demand satis- faction, w'hich, being contemptuously refused; at the instigation of the Russian envoy -extra- ordinary. Prince Dalgarouki, Mr. Thompson suspended his relations with the Persian court. This so terrified the shah and the chief minister, that reparation 'was made, and at the same time assurances given that Persia would maintain a strict neutrality in the war. A Persian force, commanded by Russian and mercenary officers, might operate with much eff"ect upon Erzc- rum, or along the confines of Asia Minor ; and at the least create such a diversion in favour of Russia, as would enable the latter to pene- trate into the heart of Turkey in Asia. Had Mr. Tajdeur Thompson been of the class of diplomatists ■n'ho at the same time figured in Constantinople and Vienna, the Persian diffi- culty might have created a wilderness of proto- cols; but he understood the oriental cluiracter, and took at once bold and vigorous measures. The menace of a double attack upon Persia, by way of Affghauistan and Aden, indirectly con- veyed by Mr. Thompson, was of more avail than if the way from Constantinople to Teheran had been strewn with conciliatory and per- suasive despatches from all the ministers of all the powers. At the breaking out of the war, the sultan found an ally in Schamyl, the world-celebrated Circassian chief, who had waged a long and bloody conflict with Russia, for tlie indepen- dence of his mountain land, and the religious liberty of his peo})le ; and in the desperate and unequid struggle, deeds of daring were achieved by him and his followers never excelled in the o 42 HISTORY OP THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. rcuAP. Yii wars of chivalry. By consulting a good maj), the reader will perceive that from the Cuban River, near to the Sea of Azoff, along the north- eastern shores of the Black Sea, and stretching away to the western shores of the Caspian, the mountain ranges of the Caucasus constitute a natural barrier between Russia and Asia Minor. Russia, in her aggressive progress, has out- flanked this barrier line on the sides both of the Caspian and the Sea of Azoff, and has esta- blished her dominion to the south of the Cau- casian range, along the shores of the Black Sea and of the Caspian. But from Anapa to Sou- koukale, the native tribes dispute the borders of the Black Sea, and from Kapyl to Georgie- Tosk, they dispute the northern slopes of the mountains. Also, nearer to the Caspian Sea, — a considerable district sloping from the moun- tains down to where the river Terek bends northward in its course to the Caspian, — the sovereignty of the czar is resisted. Over the people of Circassia Proper, the dominancy of Russia is more complete than over the country of Daghcstan, which is the theatre of the re- nowned exploits of the warrior-chief Schamyl. Before giving any account of Schamyl, and the wars so successfully urged by him against the Russians, some further notice of the pro- gress of Russia in the neighbourhood of the Caucasus is necessary ; and it is also desirable to give some information concerning the climate and population. By the treaty of Goolistan, Persia resigned to Russia, Georgia, Imeritia, Miugrelia, Der- bend, Badkoo, Persian Daghestan, Sheerwan, Shekkee, Ganga, Karabangh, and parts of Maghan and Tablish. The first three of these territories were inhabited by Christians of the Georgian and Armenian churches ; one other (Karabangh) was partly inhabited by Armenian and Greek Christians, and partly by Mohammedans; all the rest by Mohamme- dans only. All these countries had maintained a rude independence, but were tributary and nominally subject to the Persian shah. The nature of their relations to the shah did not allow of his ceding their territories ; and this was well known to Russia, who, seeking a pretext for invasion and robbery, with the peculiar hypocrisy of her character, induced the formal cession of the lands by a sovereign who did not own them, although he had a sort of feudal right to the services of their chiefs in war. Russia, with the pious pretence of settling disputes, preventing anarchy, or converting the people, according to the peculiar character of the district and the population, entered upon her work of subjugation, and with all tlie usual results — oppression, robbery, and bloodshed. The people of the Georgian districts submitted too tamely, being influenced by the Greek priests, emissaries of Russia, or b)^ their own native priests of the Greek Church, who were taken into the pay of Russia, al- though the monej'' so employed was appro- priated out of the revenues of Georgia. The districts inhabited by the Armenians were even more tamely submissive than those of Georgia, for the Armenians became useful to Russia because of their sagacity in commerce, and were encouraged to an extent which somewhat counterbalanced the despotism politically main- tained over them. The Mussulman population never really submitted, and no means were adopted to conciliate them. Every insult that could be devised was offered to them by the native Christians, with the connivance and sometimes at the instigation of the Russian officials ; and at last the oppressions and insults of the latter were such, as if it were their policy to exasperate the people into open insur- rection, in order to find occasion for the more entire destruction of their liberties. Mosques were turned into taverns, wine-cellars, and stables, and " the prophet" was mocked in various ways tantalizing to the people. The pilgrims of the Mohammedan religion carried tidings of these things on their way ; and all around the shores of the Black Sea and the Caspian, the name of the czar became as hated as that of " Shatan," and whatever tended to check his power was, in popular estimation, holy. The mountaineers of the Caucasus maintained still their independence. They had never surrendered to either the sultan or the shah, although they had nominally embraced Mohammedanism, and were, like the rest of the Mohammedan world, divided into the sects of Ali and Omar, which Turkey and Persia respectively embrace. Mingled with their doctrines of Islamism were many traditionary notions of Paganism, and some opinions and practices older than either Mo- hammedanism or Paganism, and cherished amidst these fastnesses ever since the regions of the Caucasus became the cradle of the second population of the world. Different tribes dif- fered somewhat in race, and somewhat more in religion, and jealousies on the part of their chiefs kept them divided ; still, each hated Russia with an animosity embittered by dis- tinction of race and of religion, and, above all by love of countrj^ The treaty of Goolistan did not define the line of frontier between Persia and Russia with sufficient distinctness, and this uncertainty was preserved by various political tricks on the part of Russia. Sometimes she induced the Georgians to object; sometimes the political agent or commissioner on the spot pleaded guilty to a violation of his instruc- tions ; sometimes the Russian envoy at Teheran exceeded his authority, and thus disputes were kept alive, and adjustment rendered more diffi- cult; while Russian jickets, on various pre- Chap. VII.J HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. is tences, spread themselves beyond the borders, and gradual]}^ encroached upon territor}^ which had not previously been comprehended in the debated line. Upon the accession to the throne of the Emperor Nicholas, Russia pursued a not less cunning, but a still more vigorous policy than during the reign of Alexander. Prince Menschikofl", the chief mover of all aggression and mischief during the late reign, appeared as the emperor's representative in Persia. The shah, in terms of moderation and even defer- ence, requested the surrender by Russia of the violated territory, and his demands, so obvi- ously just, were met by the prince in a manner similar to that which he since employed at Constantinople. The minds of the Persians were inflamed with an incurable resentment, and, as in the case of the present sultan of Turkey, the shah had his choice of abdication, or a peremptory dismission of the Russian envoy. He chose the latter, the result was war; and Nicholas, whose accession to the imperial throne at St. Petersburg had been resisted with bloodshed, became at once popular with all classes, even of the capital, when it was known that he had entered into a fresh crusade for the extension of Russian dominion. The war raged on for some time, the Persians everywhere giving way before the system of European warfare which the Russians opposed to them ; and the result was the acknowledg- ment of Russian ascendancy from the Caspian to what is now called Russian Armenia. In February, 1828, these series of wars with Persia terminated by the treaty of Turcoman- chai; and Russia, protesting that she wished for no territory, but had indeed too much, nevertheless, to prevent all cause of future war with Persia, arising from an ill-defined boun- dary, declared herself compelled to seize the line of the Araxes. Persia, besides paying the expenses of the war — a proviso which Russia never omits when successful — had to sur- render most valuable territory. The splendid provinces of Erivan and Nukchivan, including various fortresses, especially that of Erivan, were surrendered; and although Russia laid down as the basis of the treaty of peace, the possession as a boundary of the river Araxes, she, in the course of the negotiations, seized upon provinces beyond the Araxes; and, in reply to the remonstrances provoked by this treachery, threatened to break off" the negotia- tions and recommence war. Baffled and beaten, Persia surrendered to her avaricious, tyranni- cal, and most unprincipled victor; and thus Russia became dominant in a position from which the powers of Turkey and Persia could be always menaced, and whence she might gradually push her way to Teheran, on the one hand, and Constantinople on the other. The possession of the fortress of Abbasabad, which a former shah had constructed under the direc- tion of a distinguished French engineer, might be said to command the line of communication between Turkey and Persia. This fortress is north of the Araxes, the line which Russia had herself chosen as separating the territories of the contending empires ; but she pretended that, to complete the defensive utility of the fortifica- tions, a tete du jiont on the opposite side was essential, with an esplanade, for which she required a segment of a circle with a radius of two miles : all this was ceded by Persia. Finally, what Russia had already by force secured for herself — the exclusive navigation of the Caspian — this treaty formally recog- nised; so that, from the Caspian on the east, and from the Sea of Azoff on the west, Russia could always pour her troops and supplies undisturbed upon the country between the Caucasus and the Cuban, and carry out her long-projected desire of including the whole Caucasian range within her boundaries. The treaty of Adrianople with Turkey, framed so soon after the treatj' of Turcomancliia with Persia, stipulated the surrender by Turkej- of the Caucasian shores of the Black Sea, and of the territory contiguous to that of Persia bor- dering upon that sea; and although the Cau- casian range was not subject to either Persia or Turkey, by the treaties above-named, Russia wrung from both a recognition of her sove- reignty there, so as to forbid tlieir aid thence after to the eff'orts of the wild mountaineers to maintain their freedom. Through all the transactions of battle and treaty, war and peace, between Russia and the two great Mo- hammedan empires, these brave mountain men held their own, regardless of the policy of the empires which claimed or conceded the riglit to subject them. The Russian troops were attacked in all the posts which they had esta- blished nearest to the mountains. Every stray soldier was picked otf ; detachments were way- laid and destroyed. Russian officers of dis- tinction fell by the dagger of the Lesghai within their own lines. Russian battalions were more than once discomfited by women in the mountain defiles. The Russians erected fortified posts along the whole line of the Cau- casus, as points of support for the razzias by which they contemplated wearing out the Cau- casians : the forts were entered as if by en- chantment, and every soul fell beneath the heavy swords of the Chechenes, Lesguis, and Circassians. The lines of road from the western shores of the Caspian, and from that sea to the straits of Tamen, were impassable by any but large bodies of troops attended by a powerful artillery, as bodies of cavalry comprising from one to five thousand men would swoop down with the speed of the falcon, and through the least opening dash across the lino of march, 41 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Cii.vr. VII. throw into confusion both front and rear of the marching columns, and, after cutting many to pieces, again disappear with the same celerity. Sometimes these bands of horsemen would not lose a single man, while the road for miles would be strewn with the bodies of their foes. The Russians are slow in forming to receive cavalry, and were some years ago still less prompt in this manoeuvre, and the tactics of the mountaineers being altogether different from regular European horse, and their arms and mounting of the very best, they were a terror to the Russian infantrj^, and the Cossacks and other Russian irregular cavalry seldom dared to meet the shock of their charge. The irregular Cossacks of the Cuban were much superior to their brethren of the Don in com- bating with the Caucasians, as they understood their mode of warfare, and were often as well mounted. These have been the only really efficient troops in the Russian service through- out the long wars hitherto waged against the liberties of the Caucasian people. Since the Russians erected forts upon the Rlack Sea, the tribes have frequently descended the southern slopes of their mountains with the suddenness and force of a mountain- storm, and swept the coast of the invaders. Commu- nications between the forts by land wei'e cut off, the forts themselves stormed, or the Russian troops shut up, ill-provisioned, and harassed by a desitltory and deadly warfare in the most unhealthy situations, until, under the bullet of the Circassian marksman, and the malaria of the marshes and lagunes, they melted away. In vain was garrison succeeded by garrison, and expedition by expedition ; thirty thou- sand Russian soldiers were in vain sacrificed yearly. Up to the breaking out of the pre- sent war, the population of the Caucasian dis- tricts had actually increased, their mode of warfare improved, their combination become more complete, and, at last, under a chief possessing a military and legislative genius, and a moral ascendancy previously unknown amongst these free tribes, they are more for- midable than ever. Of all services the invasion of a mountain country is the least suitable to the Russian soldier. He is brave and obedient, but he is slow and unwieldly. He is — at all events has been in the Caucasus — ill-fed and most inappropriately clothed and armed ; and, brought up upon the steppe, he is entirely incapacitated by all previous habit from any enterprise in a country of unequal surface, more especially where, as in the Caucasus, moun- tains tower up to the regions of eternal snows. History tells us how easily the Swiss preserved their liberties against armies superior to any wliich Russia has ever introduced to the regions of which we write ; and what are the Alps to the Caucasus — what a height of 7000 feet to one of 17,000 — Avhat the highest alp to the Elb Rous, which dominates the whole Cau- casian range, and seems to wear the heavens for its crown r The incompetency of the Rus- sian soldier for campaigns in such a country may be more readily conceived from the fol- lowing graphic sketch of him by "the Roving Englishman : " — " He is a sulkj% sullen, stupid- looking fellow, with a pale blue complexion, like that produced by what the doctors call ' the administration ' of nitrate of silver in cases of disease. Poor wretch ! he looks lilce a felon, for he has been treated all his life as a hound. He has a short, straight nose, the nostrils of which are turned outwards, and seem like two small holes in his face. He has little round eyes; but he is too stupified by ill-treatment to have any expression in them, though he is in the first flush of youth and strength. His hair is of a rusty bay or reddish brown : it does not dare to curl or wave, and sticks out in points and notches, as though in despair of doing I'ight, turn which way it wiU. He is a square-built, powerful man, but he is listless, silent, and awkward. He appears susceptible of neither pain nor pleasure ; to have no respect or love for himself. He seems to have neither reason nor instinct. He is a machine ready to obey a touch of the impelling hand, or to have something within him which hears and acts at the hoarse shout of command, but of himself he does nothing. He has no will, no energy, no pride of craft. If you speak to him suddenly he starts and takes an attitude of drilled attention. He will not flinch or stir for a blow, but his eyes darken and his thick lips close. He is dirty in his person and habits, but not untid}' or slovenly ; for he seems always on parade. God only knows what thoughts pass through his mind, for he never utters any. He appears pro- foundly impressed with his own insignificance and inferiority to every one who wears a good coat, and he bows down abjectly before a bit of gold lace and a sword, whoever wears them. He has no soldierly love of pleasure. He loves driuk, indeed, and he will sit silently soaking raw spirits as long as he can get any, but the liquor has no brightening effect upon him j he is as impassive in his cups as when sober. He may drink himself blind, deaf, motionless, speechless, but he cannot drink himself gay. If an officer told him to walk down a precipice, or drink a glass of speedy poison, the idea of remonstrance or disobedience would never occur to him. He would do either as merely a part of his allotted task in life, the object for which he was born. He has been told that the French and English are impious heretics, a sort of plausible devils in human shape ; he believes it devoutly, for he has no reasoning powers, no opinions. He believes that he will incur Chap. VII.] HISTORY OE THE WAE AGAINST RUSSIA. 45 Divine wrath by holding communion with them ; that thej' will poison him if he eats their food ; that the)^ will torture instead of healing him if he be wounded; that their medicines are death in disguise, their benefits a mockery, their kindness a device of the Evil One. He does not think these things distinctly, and one after the other, but such is the general confused impression on his abject mind. " His clothes are ill-made and scanty, they are so thin that they seem all outside ; a broad white band is slung over his right shoul- der and descends on his left hip ; this sustains his sword — it is not a very good one. The mass of the Russian army are of course badly armed, from the organised system of peculation which exists in every department. Indeed, the Russian soldier has perhaps never had a full meal in his lifetime. He was robbed before he was born, and he has been robbed ever since : first, by the baron and the disponent ; since, by every one who has had to do with him. In the army he has had to digest the last sublimated essence of robbery ; for in Russia the commander-in-chief robs the generals, and the generals after their degree rob the colonels, and the colonels rob the majors, and the majors rob the captains, and the captains rob the lieutenants, but all rob the soldier together. Russia presents, per- haps, the only example in history of a countrj' governed by a military despotism, and in which the soldiers have been kept in the same state of slavery as the rest of the community." Such a soldiery will, at the word of command, ascend the mountain steeps as far as it suits the purpose of the defenders to allow tliem, sure that the issue will be their destruction. Still, up they clamber from " aoul " to " aoul," burning the cottages, wasting the fields, cutting- down the vines, and sparing neither woman nor child, until at last they reach a point where their superiority of numbers no longer avails them, and they are sent rolling back in blood and destruction to the mountain's foot. The country thus fiercely contended for is worth the contest. It is one of political im- portance, from its position at the head of the Black Sea. Historically no countrj-, scarcely excepting Palestine, has more sacred asso- ciations. Upon Mount Ararat, in Armenia, the ark rested, and thence Noah and his offspring went forth to colonise the world. A tradition whi':]i prevails over all these countries, from the Cimmerian Bosphorus to Erzerum, aflirnis that before the ark settled on Ararat it rested on the Elb Rous. On the shores of these fine regions the immediate descendants of Noah formed tlieir first settlements, and tlierc tlie first altars of a pure patriarchal worship were reared. Erom those I'egions westward the sons of Japhet made their way to Eastern Europe, and round to the Mediterranean, thence spread- ing by Spain and Gaul over Western Europe. From this cradle of humanity the children of Shem encircled the eastern shore of the Euxiue, and penetrated to Asia Minor and the shores of the Mediterranean to central Asia, Persia, India, and the farthest east; and the unfor- tunate descendants of Ham had a home in these provinces before they crossed to Arabia and Egypt, and penetrated the dark continent where they have for thousands of years slum- bered in ignorance and slavery. When classic history opens its pages upon these lands, wc perceive Greece sending thither her expeditions and her colonies, and recording the importance, beauty, and fame of these tine realms. In Mingrelia a vast plain still bears the name of Argo, the son of Phryxus, by whom Sinope was founded, when Mithridates once reigned in his glory. Jason built Idessa, iu Georgia. Im- eritia, Mingrelia, and Gourial, constituted the Greek Colchis. The followers of Castor and Pollux built the far-famed Dioscurios. All along the inland sea called the Caspian, jierhaps to its northern shores, the Greeks had colonies. The tribes called Iberians and Albanians claim a Grecian origin. The resources of these countries are rich and various. In the days of Strabo, if we credit his testimony, the soil of Imeritia and Mingrelia produced four crops annually, and troops were furnished for the services of the kings of Pontus more in number than the population which those provinces could now sustain. Where now vast marslies stretch away in miserable monotony, sending up the deadly marsh malaria upon the country beyond, rich corn-fields and orchards once flourished. The baleful Crescent first spread its blight over these healthful and fertile lands ; and since, the dreary despotism of Russia j)erpetuates the ruin. Traces of public works for drainage and other useful purposes are to be met with in various directions, showing the superiority of former generations of inhabitants to the Turk, Persian, and Muscovite, by whom the country has been overrun. Conquest has sometimes civi- lised, but it is far more generally a curse to the moral and physical condition of the conquered nations. Whatever may be the blessing or the value of peace, liberty is still dearer even amidst the din of arms and the sacrifices which war entails. War brings many evils, but the loss of liberty is generally the loss of all good. The nation that knows not how to combat can soon be tauglit to forgot all otlier things ; the nation that forgets not the use of arms, and the legitimate occasion for their employment, may learn every other lesson in security, and is most likely to realize the blessing of peace withal. The independence of these fine coun- tries must first be Avon, and then once more, from the Bosphorus to the Cimmerian Bosphorus, 46 HISTOEY OF THE WAR AGAIXST EI'SSIA. [Chap. YII. along the wtole Asiatic coast of the Euxinc, towns shall iiouiish, agriculture pour forth its teeming treastu-es, wealt-h give power and stability to new states, and civilisation spread those blessings which no other hand can scatter, and which she never bestows but upon the free. The countries which enriched the com- merce of Athens, her trade with which laid the foundation of her maritime glory ; the countries associated with the most brilliant annals of mighty Greece, and mightier Rome; the shores studded with the ruins of a glorious antiquity, and crowned with the loftiest grandeur of majestic nature, — where cities smiled in the security of peace, and were decorated with the chaste architecture and glorious sculpture of Grecian genius, and where every refinement that could adorn life, to use the language of the great Edmund Burke, '* from poetry up to eloquence," was cultivated, even as in classic Cormth or imperial Kome, — must not be trodden down by the rude foot of the Muscovite, the enemy of all freedom, honour, and truth. This is no wild dream. The Caucasus is the great natural barrier to invaders either from the south or north. Neither Turk nor Persian has been ahle to conquer it. The renowned Mithridates, the hero and conqueror of all the adjacent shores, failed to surmount it. Eome, in the elevation of her military pre-eminence, was here foiled ; and the great Alexander was rolled back from it, as the waters of the E'oxine subside at its feet when the storm ceases to urge them against its shores. We will not recount the defeats of Russia while at the same time invading its southern and northern slopes ; everv crag has been drenched in the blood of assailant and defender, every ravine has been a grave for a Russian band ; the vulture and the eagle have feasted upon hosts of the stricken Russ, who fell beneath the sabre or the bullet, the malaria, fatigue, and hunger, but Circassia is still free : — " For oh I the great God never plann'd, For slvunbering slaves a home so grand." The country is everywhere lovely. In Syria and in Switzerland there are many rival scenes, and especially amidst the lake-scenery of the latter — a description of beauty in which the Caucasus is very deficient, although some lovely exceptions to this deficiency are to be met. The vicinity of the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the Sea of Azofi" afford, however, according to the point of prospect, many magnificent spec- tacles, especially when seen from the more elevated mountain shelves, commanding as they do such a vast variety of view, of crag, and cUff, and verdant slope, and forest, and corn-field, nntil the eye rests upon the silver light of the distant waters. There is no grandeur in the Alps to be compared with what is to be seen all over the Caucasus. The climate is also superior — indeed, there are many climates, from the sultry plains of the Cuban and Leman, to the snow-clad breasts of the more loftv ele- vations. Tet nowhere is the climate a bad one; the shores of the rivers just mentioned, or of the Caspian, are only sultry in certain seasons; and in the highest lands, amongst the glacier and snow-peak, it is said that vast sheltered valleys, rich in corn-fields and orchards, are the homes of the beautiful races that love them so dearlv and defend them so well. The Circassians are certainly the fijiest race in the world. They are celebrated for their beauty, and the celebrity is deserved. Of all the numerous tribes inhabiting the mountains they are the handsomest. They are probably the aborigines. When they mix with other races, by the emigration of the females to other countries, this beauty is imparted to their offspring. The Turks have, since the intro- duction of Circassian slaves to their harems, physically become a much superior people to what they had previously been ; the Cuban Cossacks and neighbouring Tartars were in like manner improved ; and a perceptible improve- ment among the Russian colonists has been observed, since the adoption of Caucasian wives by both soldiery and olficials. The Circassians are not so large as many other races, but are beautiful in form and countenance, and in fine proportions excel all other people. Perhaps few Englishmen have had equal advantages with Captain Spencer for observing the habits and personal characteristics of the people. In his visit to the Asiatic shores of the Black Sea with Prince Woronzof, while the latter was the Russian governor of the Caucasus, he attended the great summer fair of Redout Kaleh, and thus describes its visitors : — " It afforded us an opportunity of seeing specimens of all the various races who inhabit the neigh- bourhood. In addition to Mingrelians and Imeritians, there were Georgians and Persians, Circassians, Lesghians, and Armenians, to- gether with Jews, Turks, Tartars, and Turko- mans — a curious melange, each habited in their separate costume, and exhibiting in their fea- tures and manners their characteristic pecu- liarities. There was the stately Georgian, in his becoming costume — a blue cloth blouse with the sleeves open to the elbow, the whole neatly braided ; wide shalwers confined at the knees, and a high cap of black Astracan lamb-skin. In features he might be taken for an Armenian or a Persian ; the only weapon he carried was a larg;^ poinard with an ivory handle, stuck in a red silk sash. The Alingrelians and the Imeritians in their costume and features somewhat resembled the Circassians, except that they were much in- ferior in personal appearance, and wanted the bright sparkling eye and bold independence of Chap. YII.] HISTORY OF THE WAE AGAES^ST EUSSIA. 47 manner "which distinguish that people. These peasants were all well armed, with poinard, pis- tols, and gun, slung across the shoulder; and car- ried hanging from the shoulder the same species of black mantle, made from plaited goat's hair, as the Circassians are accustomed to use. But by far the most interesting among the assem- bled multitude were the inhabitants of the higher alps, the Souanians of Suuanethia, a territory where the winter, it is said, lasts eight or nine months in the year. These gigantic mountaineers were all armed to the teeth, and looked as fierce and savage as if they had never before mingled with civilized men. Instead of the becoming blouse worn by their countrymen on the coast of Circassia, they were habited in long sheep-skin coats, orna- mented in front with the usual red leather patron pocket of a Circassian mountaineer, sheep-skin caps with the wool plaited in ringlets, while their bare legs were encased in a sort of sandal made of untanned leather, and fastened with thongs. Besides these there were other tribes from the remote districts of the Caucasus equally interesting." Such is the country, such are the people, and such the leading historical events connected with both up to the period when the present hero of these mountains, the intrepid Schamyi, found a fitting theatre for his genius and courage. He has organised most of the tribes, combined them in a great league against the common enemy, and assumed the direction of the whole, guiding and dictating their enter- prises, governing them as a prince, and in- structing them as a prophet. He has not the merit of originating either the opposition to Russia, or the present plan of warfare, nor has the idea originated with him of making religious enthusiasm subserve national inde- pendence. The struggle commenced before he was born ; he found it raging, became an humble soldier in the cause, and a devoted enthusiast in the faith, and rose to direct both. Soon after the middle of the last century, a chieftain named Mansiir Bey, a native of Da- ghestan, and a zealous Mohammedan, became a preacher of the Koran throughout these moun- tains. Many of the chiefs and people were pagans, or inherited, perhaps from patriarchal times, a recognition of the Supreme Being, whom they worshipped in groves, ottering animal sacrifices, the heads of families and clans being the priests and prophets. In the lowlands a mere nominal Christianity obtained, which was defaced by pagan traditions, which were commingled with its observances. Tiie Dervish Mohammed, as Mansur was first called, per- suaded b}' his eloquence many of all these classes to embrace Islamism. He did much to unite the tribes in their common defence ; and his authority as an apostle of the great prophet enabled him to use this union for purposes of formidable demonstration against the enemies of the independence of the Caucasus. Others suc- ceeded him when his career was finished ; but one only rivalled him in power before Schamyi surpassed them all. One Kasi Mullah exceeded Mansur both in a reputation for sanctity and in the skill of govei-nment. F. Bodenstedt, a German writer, describes him as of small eyes, after the Russian type, a face seamed with smallpox, beardless, of very low stature, but thickset and strong. He was a travelling scribe, by which he had an opportunity of learning the family circum- stances and the tribal feuds of the whole country. He gained by his doctrines, sagacity, and the enthusiasm which he had the faculty of exciting, many followers of his opinions, who ultimately became followers of his person ; and soon after Russia had — by her treaties with Persia and Turkey, above described — fancied herself sure of the Caucasus, Kasi Mullah raised the standard of a holy war. In the beginning of 1830 he suddenly appeared, at- tended by a sacred band, sworn upon the Koran to be true to him as their chief and prophet, to give up everything for the freedom of their religion and the independence of their country, and never to be at peace with Russia until she was no longer in a condition to invade it. His sacred band he called mar ids. Many were the daring feats of Kasi Mullah and his murids, among whom was one distinguished for religious fervour above all the rest, and as distinguished for his bravery and skill — that one was Schamyi. In 1832, when Himri, a mountain fort, was stormed by the Russians, Kasi Mullah perished in the breach. His chief companion on that occasion was Schamyi, who, after performing prodigies of valour, escaped marvellously, to appear elsewhere, not as a simple murid or guard of a prophet, but as a pi-ophet. The mantle of Mullah was supposed to descend on the shoulders of Schamyi. It was at this aoul, or village, of Himri that the new chief had been born some thirty- five years before. His eai-ly life was remarkable for reserve and piety, his long abstinences, his severe vigils, his enduring prayers ; while even in his boyhood he was, although the most delicate of all his companions, the bravest of the brave. He is below the middle stature, of perfect symmetry of form, with largo and beautiful eyes, and genuine Circassian contour, although himself a Lesghian, a race less beau- tiful. He has small feet, of which, like the great Emperor Xapoleon, he is — especially when on horseback — very vain. He is, like the same exemplar, still more vain of the beauty of his hand, which is small and fair. Hs wears a large beard, which is very red ; and he is said to be not less vain of this hirsute 48 HISTORY OF THE WAE AGAmST RUSSIA. [Chap. VII. appendage, more espcciallj' of its colour than he is of the other personal peculiarities which in Western Europe would be more generally considered graces. Taciturn, calm, collected, possessing much personal endurance strangely associated with considerable delicacy, he is of the most active physical habit and mental genius ; and both to friends and foes seems as if endowed with ubiquity. He is the most splendid of all the Circassian horsemen, although they are the first in the world, not excepting the Arabs ; his rifle takes the most deadly aim when the rocks are ringing with the voUies directed upon the foe ; and high above the battle the slender arm of Schamyl waves the scimitar where danger is thickest, and the most adventurous enemies press on. Like the founder of his religion, Mohammed, Schamyl is sincere in believing that he is chosen of God to effect a great and glorious work ; but like him also, he adds to the hallucinations under which from fanaticism he labours, a cunning leaven of religious im- posture. In his far off mountains he adopts the policy, so prevalent in Europe, of making religion subservient to politics and ambition. While the Emperor Nicholas was telling the nations on the shores of the Caspian that God had predestinated him to spread there the " Orthodox Church," Schamjd was telling the Mohammedan sections of those populations that the prophet Mohammed appeared to him in trances, and that in exterminating the Giaours he was acting as the anointed of Allah. The giant of St. Petersburg and the genius of the Caucasus were both playing the same game, both intoxicated and intoxicating others with a cup brimming with mingled fanaticism and imposture. There is this difference — the hero of the Caucasus is not a hypocrite, the bully of St. Petersburg was ; Schamyl has a creed in his heart, Nicholas believed in himself and his ambition. Intellectually, Schamyl is well qualified for his self-imposed task. He never loses his presence of mind ; his moral courage never fails ; his sagacity in selecting his agents and officers is wonderful; his power of pene- trating the designs of the enemy, both in a political and military point of view, prove him to be one of nature's great statesmen and gene- rals ; but the gift in which he excels most is that of eloquence. He is nature's orator as well as legislator and hero. When fear and hope, gifts and war, have failed to decide a dubious tribe, or reconcile a refractory one, a single oration of Schamyl has accomplished everything, and brought tliem willing captives to his feet. His sarcasm is withering, and his power of repartee, such as would cause Louis Derby and Brougliam Mr. D'Israeli and Mr. Bright, considerable uneasiness for their wreaths, were he to enter the lists of parlia- mentarj' competition witli the same command of their langiiage which he has of his own. His fertility of resource, copiousness of illustra- tion, softness of persuasion, and vehemence of passion, are all alike extraordinary. No man ever united in public address the suaviter in mode and the fortiter in re as perfectly as he dues. As the shadows and sunbeams passing in rapid transition over the many-tinted foliage of the Caucasian forest, so his anger and his encouragement pass in gloom or brightness over the hosts that move responsive to his ever varying but ever effective oratory. Thus gifted, his mission to the tribes was like a message along the electric wire, it flashed intelligence and impulse to all. The munds of his prede- cessor gathered around him ; he greatly added to their number, made more stringent the rules which discipline them, and the laws which keep them to their fealty; and with this desperate and devoted body-guard he went on conquering and to conquer, like some warrior of prophetic vision, and like such also a mysteiy. Many deeds attributed to him are no doubt exaggerated, and many have had no existence but in the oriental imagination of his followers : we shall only attempt to satisfy the popular interest awakened in this country concerning him, by a relation of a few of the more notable and well- authenticated feats of his history. The people of the Caucasus say of him — " Mo- hammed was Allah's first prophet, Schamyl is his second ; " and this saying betrays the great secret of the enthusiasm upon which he works so well, which, united to the powerful amor pairicB, so characteristic of the mountaineers, is a sufficient motive power to enlist in his service all the oppressed races from the south- ern shores of the Caspian to the lofty eyrie of Souathania. When the Emperor Nicholas committed the war in Daghestan to the charge of the German general, Willeminoff (and it is curious, by the way, to notice that the most ferocious executors of Russian policy in the Caucasus have been Germans), he gave strict charge that certain fortresses, the eagles' nests of Kasi Mullah, Schamyl's predecessor, should be scaled and stormed. This was accomplished with incal- culable bloodshed, and Himri, the birth-place of Schamyl, was the last stronghold of the chief Kasi Mullah : thither he retreated, at- tended by his murids, the desperate body- guards, of whom Schamyl was the most distin- guished. By incredible labour the Russians, under the German general, Rosen, to whom Willeminoff committed the enterprise, brought up their artillery, and opened a heavy cannon- ade upon the mud walls and irregular defences of the place. Breaches were soon made, but there was no way of reaching them, except by single file, along paths only partially sheltered Chap. VII.] HISTOKY or THE WAE AGAINST RUSSIA. 49 by overhanging rocks and foliage ; it is needless to say that the advancing Russians Avere "picked off" long before they could reach the Dreach, if such the chasm made by the artilleiy in tliese peculiar defences could be called. When the cliief path of access for the be- siegers was literally choked by their dead, the attempt to enter the breach was given up, and the cannon again resorted to until the place was levelled, and the very rocks brought crumbling about the heads of the besieged. The cannon was carried nearer on men's shoulders, although many fell dead beneath the load, under the bullets of the besieged, and the fatigue of the undertaking, still General Rosen ordered up fresh men, and the guns opened with grape and canister upon the ruins, the defenders making every particle of cover available to take certain aim. Thinned by this wasting fire, the besieged still daunt- lessly held by their forlorn post until, unable to offer to the Russians a fire so prompt and rapid as before, the latter crowded over theii* dead and dying comrades to the place, and put to the baj'onet the hapless garrison. All perished, and Kasi Mullah and his faithful Schamyl, the last to fall, were hurled by the Russians over the precipices into the Koi-son beneath. Any others in whom life was de- tected were consigned also to the abyss, and wolves and vultures began their feast ere yet the smoke of the battle had rolled from the cliffs. The fate of Kasi Mullah and of Scha- myl was placed beyond all doubt, and their memory was mournfully sung by the bards of Daghestan, when once more the natives of the district flew to arms against Russia. Two years had elapsed since the storm of Himri, when again upon its eagle-i'ock a body of Daghestans were assembled in desperate contest, resolved to emulate the gallant deaths of Kasi Mullah and Schamyl. The Russians again swarmed up the rocks in multitudes, using scaling-ladders to ascend the almost perpen- dicular faces of the cliffs, at the base of which the Koi-son winded its rapid and boisterous course. Just as all hope for the brave Daghes- tans had vanished, and the martyrdom to creed and country, of which they aspired to make themselves worthy, was about to be attained, a. chosen baud, led by Schamy], and guided through unknown trades, fell upon the flank of the besiegers with a fierce crj', which the Russian officers describe as thrilling through every heart, and to which the very rocks might have vibrated ; volley after volley sped amidst the conf lunded Russians, and then the garrison and the brave band who came to their rescue attacked the Russians with the sabre, or flung them over the precipices, with that strength and agility by which the mountaineers are characterised. The women of the garriso.a hurled large fragments of rock upon them, and even used the firelocks of tlieir husbands with rapidity and skill. The Russians were utterl}- routed, leaving several pieces of cannon in the hands of Schamyl, the first artillery ever pos- sessed by the mountaineei's ; muskets, pistols, Russian sabres, and a great store of powder also fell into the hands of the victors. There could be no doubt of the identity of their deliverer on the part of the garrison ; but how the warrior who two years before had perished on that spot, and had become the food of the wild dog or the eagle, could then appear so sud- denly as a conqueror, Avas an enigma which they could not solve. It was equally a mystery to the Russians. Schamyl attributed it to Allah and his prophet, but how either had intervened remains still a secret ; neither Schamyl nor any other son of the mountain has told the storj-. From the remotest eastern to the remotest western mountain of the Caucasus, the tale spread that Schamjd had returned from tVie dead, sent by Mohammed in pity to the faith- ful, and to punish the presumption and cruelty of the Giaour. Even the common Russian soldiery were awed by "the miracle," and began to think that God was fighting against them. The name of Schamyl became terrible to friend and foe ; to the one it had the terror of awful sanction and of a divine authority, to the other of superhuman wisdom and bravery, or Satanic alliance. Thence Schamyl began a system of more complete organisation, the more easy of accom- plishment as none dared to dispute his will. He introduced a system of revenue, orders of honour, rewards, provisions for the disabled and widows and children of the falliai, and esta- blished gradually a regular government It was, however, his fortune to be again hemmed in by the Russian armies. He skilfully retired upon his fortresses; they this time as skilfully drew their cordon around him. Every defile was guarded, every commanding position se- cured ; a possible retreat was provided for by having guns placed in position and detached bodies of rifles, so that the pursuing Daglies- tans could not assail the army in flank. On- ward and upward the dark tide of Russian soldiery surged, as if a sea of vengeful life rising to overwhelm the barriers of freedom for ever. Schamyl was driven to his last resting- place, the fort of Akhoulga. It was strong b\ nature, and strengthened not only by native art, but some rude conc(>ptions of European fortification entered into the plans of defence. It was well provisioned, and some captured guns, of small calibre and in bad condition, gave a new feature to the defensive preparations of the mountaineers. The place held out with wonderful tenacity; it seemed as if its walls were animated witli the spirit of resistance 50 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [CilAP. VII. wliich manned them. The Russians fell in multitudes before it ; but it was ordered to be taken, and the order should be executed although Russian blood dripped from every rouk. The moment for storming at last came, and the scenes of Himri were renewed at Akhoulga — the whole garrison was put to the bayonet ; and this time Schamyl, not last, but "Foremost fighting, fell;" he was struck by a rifle bullet in the breast, and afterwards repeatedly stabbed by the bay- onets of the Russian soldiery as they entered. When the tire of the besieged was utterlj' quenched in blood, the dead were put aside in heaps, that the body of Schamyl, easily iden- tified by his dress and the position in which he fell, might be separately disposed of; but it was sought for in vain — it had mysteriously disappeared ! Meanwhile the tidings of his destruction had been transmitted to the head- quarters of the Russian army, and thence to St. Peters- burg, where the Te Deum swelled through the Russian churches for the removal of the great impediment to Russian conquest in the East. Scarcely had these songs of thanksgiving and glory died away, than the tidings reached the palaces of the czar that Schamyl, at the head not of a band, but of an army, was laying waste the property of the tribes subject to Russia, and with numerous hordes of irresistible cavalry was sweeping over the adjacent plains, cutting off detachments, charging columns, cap- turing artillery, and seizing convoys ! If miracle only accounted for the preservation of his life on the former occasion, how much more must the explanation of his escape this time resolve itself into the supernatural ! His authority rose still higher, and his fear haunted the superstitious Russian soldier, causing the lonely sentinel to quail with terror at the supposed apparition of the Satanic chief; and diffusing through the Russian ranks the idea that valour was thrown away in such a war, when the enemy was commanded not by an ordinary man, but by an enchanter or a fiend. Yet Schamyl had another escape, scarcely inferior to these. Once more shut up by Russian military skill and perseverance, and by the reckless expenditure of the soldier's life, characteristic of the conduct of the war in the Caucasus, the Russians were preparing to storm the mountain-fortress where, with a few of his murids, he had found a retreat, when a deserter, reaching the Russian lines, warned the general that, by a certain hour that night, Schamyl, apparelled in female attire, would descend from the rock upon a certain sheep-walk, and escape, leaving the murids to defend the rock to the last extremity. Acting upon this information, a sufficient force was placed in ambush, and at the hour foretold Schamyl was seen to descend, and bound along the path by which escape might be secured, had he not been betrayed ; rifles rang out upon him, and a desperate pursuit commenced, the Russian officers being desirous of taking him alive. At last the fugitive fell under a shower of bullets, and the prize was seized ; but lo ! it was not Schamyl, but one of his faithful murids, who, with exulting lips, mocked the Giaours as he expired. The diversion purchased by the brave man's life was successful; the true Schamyl and his little garrison escaped in another direction. The deserter, like the pre- tended Schamyl, was devoting life to the safety of his chief and the service of the cause ; upon him Russian vengeance was to be wreaked, he was ordered to be immediately hanged ; but he also was gone, leaving his poinard buried in the heart of the Russian sentinel, in whose custody he was supposed to have been placed unarmed. Sometime previous to the revival of the Cau- casian war, in 1828, the Russians secured the son of a chief, took him to St. Petersburg, gave him a military education, and promoted him step by step to the rank of major-general. He was sent into the Caucasus, that, by his know- ledge of the language and the instincts of the race, he might be more efficient than the Rus- sian officers had been. He no sooner reached his native mountains, than, giving up all the honours and advantages of civilised life, mili- tary glory, and imperial favour, he deserted to his countrymen. He is now the right hand of Schamyl and his brother-in-law, Daniel i3ey. To him the mountaineers are indebted for European discipline, which they are fast ac- quiring. Poles, and even Russians, deserters, are in considerable numbers among them, and act as artillerymen, engineers, and sappers ; and as they generally many native women, they become as eager in defence of their moun- tain liberty as those born to it. Such was the condition of the Caucasus, and such was Schamyl, when, in 1853, the Sultan Abdul-Medjid formed an alliance with him, and instructed the commander of his army iu Asia to co-operate with the chivalrous highland chief in the conduct of the war. Had the Turkish generals done their part as cflBciently and gallantly as Schamyl did his, the Russian army of Asia had been annihilated before the close of 1853; but never in the history ol armies were cowardice, folly, and peculation so conspicuous as with the Turkish comm.andei-s upon that theatre of the war. We have already observed that the first care of the Porte was to provide against all contin- gencies on the Asiatic frontier. A rude force of militia, irregulars, and volunteers, amount- ing it was alleged to 50,000 men, was placed Chap. VII.] HISTORY OF THE WAE AGAINST RUSSIA. 51 on the Persian frontier, as reports had reached the sultan that Russia would allow Persia more time to pay the debt contracted by her — or rather the tribute imposed upon her — in the last war, on condition of her making certain aggressive movements against Turkey. Batoum was strengthened; and reinforcements, to the amount of 10,000 men, sent thither before the summons to Prince GortschakofF was made by Omar Pasha. The corps stationed at Batoum was probably better organised than any other portion of the Turkish army, not excepting the guards ; compared with it the troops placed under Omar Pasha's command were a mere rabble. Several officers of skill, experience, and spirit, were nominated to commands, most of them were from other European armies. The Irish general, Guyon, who arrived at such distinction in the Hungarian war, now known as Churshid Pasha, held the highest position amongst these. As a dashing horseman and brilliant sahreur, he would be more highly appreciated by the Turkish soldiery than for his superior attainments as a strategist and tactician. He seemed to unite all the qualities desirable for a general in such a command. If he failed subsequently to effect what was ex- pected, the fault was not his : the corruption and incapacity of the Turkish pashas, and the intrigues of the divan, paralj'sed his efforts. His counsels were slighted, his orders counter- acted, his remonstrances overruled at the seat of government. He did all a man under such circumstances could do, and more than most men would have attempted. Associated with him were Perchat Pasha (Stein), Osman Bey (Zashitzkey), Fehti Bey (Colman) — a German, a Pole, and an Irishman. There were Euro- pean officers of minor rank, refugees, Poles and Hungarians, and a few Irish officers. All these proved subsequently to bo capable and gallant officers; but their efforts, as well as those of their superiors, were rendered nugatory by the Turkish system, which they had no po-^\'er to correct. Troops were actively poured through the Bosphorus into Asia from July until the massacre of Sinope : Kurds, Nestorians, a large force from the corps d^annee of Syria, and oven a brigade from Tripoli, were ordered to that destination ; and there seemed no reason to apprehend disaster in Asia. The mountaineers of the Caucasus "opened the ball" in Asia. The Russian fortress of Tojnak Kaleh was taken by the Circassians by one of their sudden and daring movements, and they appear to have created with as much skill as bravery such diversions in favour of the Turks as w^ere practicable ; indeed, so it was acknowledged at Constantinople, for the go- vernment official oi'gans thus described them : — "The Daghestans, Circassians, and other tribes, have advanced to the Black Sea, and taken five Russian fortified posts, and razed the forts of Gostogajewskof and Tengainsky. In consequence of these disasters Russia has been necessitated to send reinforcements, which are already off the coast. Three Russian brigades have already advanced towards the frontiers at Tortun ; and Adi, the pasha of that place, and Selim Pasha of Batoum, are preparing to make a diversion, which would assist the inhabitants of Lasistam, the Kurds, Circassians, and people of Daghestan, to relieve their brave brethren of the Crimea from a foreign yoke." The doings of the Turkish eastern army very little corresponded with the great words of the officials at Constanti- nople. Meanwhile the Russians were not idle in these quarters : they formed an army of reserve at Redout Kaleh, on the Black Sea; on an island close to Astrabad, on the Caspian Sea, they landed a large force — it was said in Con- stantinople as many as 20,000 men ; at Tifiis a regular corps d'armce was established, under General Ackoudinski Dolgoranki. Schamyl at this juncture harassed the Russians ; he appeai'ed suddenly at the head of nearly 20,000 men before Zahattali, but was promptly repulsed, after a short, but bloody and decisive battle, in which the Russians were superior in numbers and arms, 'the mountaineers in activity and bravery. By a well-concerted arrangement another force was prepared to fall upon Schamyl as he retired, but he effected his retreat without loss, carrying with him his wounded, and even many of his dead. It was reported at Tiflis that the Russian loss was not less than 3000 men. While the Rus- sians were carrying out their plans to intercept the Daghestan chief, he not only made good his retreat, but burnt all the villages where Rus- sian property was to be found in the surround- ing clistrict, and put many Russians and pro- Russians to the sword. As upon the Danubian frontier, so upon the Asiatic, the Turkish soldiery did not await either the declaration of war or the orders of their officers, but made razzias across the line which separated the territories of the sultan and the emperor. In this respect the inferior officers were as impatient as the men. In July several severe skirmishes occurred, rather to the disadvantage of the Russians, who were not in expectation of these desultory attacks. Along the line of the river Arputsky espe- cially these doubtful encounters occurred, as it gave opportunity for smart surprises and sudden attacks on the pai't of the Osmanlis. This desc-ription of warfare was put a stop to by the vigorous conduct of the Russian general Meanwhile, Selim Pasha made demonstrations -at Bayazid, in front of General Bubatoff', one of the most active and experienced of the Russian 52 HISTORY or THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. ICiixv. TIL generals, and suffered a prompt and decisive repulse. On the 4th August, iMustapha Zarif Pasha attacked General Bul)atoff near Kars, and was repulsed. Next day Bubatoff assumed the offensive; and at Kurukdar, near Gumri, de- feated Mustapha. At this juncture General Guyon recom- mended a plan of operations to the general-in- chief, Selim Pasha, which, if carried into effect, would have probably been decisive of the campaign. Guyon, discovering that the Russian general Andronikoff (having, con- siderably to the right of Selim's array, driven in all the Turkish outposts) was turning the flank of Selim's line, and would get between him and Kars, advised an advance and sudden attack upon Bubatoff, and then to retire as suddenly and fall upon Andronikoff, and thus assailing the Russian forces in detail, in all probability destroy both corps. Selim had, however, some religious scruples against ad- vancing that day, or the next, or the next — they were Turkish holidays ; the result was that when the movement was attempted it was too late — the Russ.ian spies had conveyed to Buba- toff a knowledge of the contemplated move- ment, so that when the Turks, by torchlight, made as they thought a surprise, the Russians, who were posted by the hills of Hadjivelekey, were well prepared to receive them, and re- pulsed them with severe slaughter. The first to set an example of cowardice, where there was but little valour displayed by any, was Selim himself. His generals all followed his example — Zarif Pasha especially. Riding about with terrified looks, he gave orders im- possible of execution, inspiring alarm wher- ever he appeared, until, upon the first sign of repulse, he fled precipitately from the field. His generals either had not presence of mind to repair his errors, or had not themselves courage to supply his deficiency. They also refused obstinately to do anything recom- mended by Guj-on or Stein, both of whom were present, and could have retrieved the fortunes of the hour if their advice had been heeded, or they had been allowed to assume command. Resul Pasha, who commanded the right flank, fled instantaneously. Vely Pasha had capacity enough to appreciate the advice of General Guyon, but his jealousy of that officer pre- vented his acting upon it. The men fought bravely enough for some time after the lunha- shis and muraUais (superior regimental ofiicers) forsook them. One man displayed gallantry and skill throughout, and only one — Tahir Pasha, who commanded the Turkish artillery ; wher- ever he was present the guns were well served, but except where he personally directed, even this portion of the force conducted itself badly. On some heights which commanded the Russian right he placed an excellent | mountain-battery, the fire of Avhich could com- mand their flank — this battery never discharged a shot. An American ofiicer. Major Tevy, remonstrated and entreated, but with no effect, the officer in command would not be dictated to by an infidel foreigner. Pinall}', upwards of 80,000 Turks were routed by just lialf their number, and fled panic-struck in every direction. Soon after this terrible disaster of the Turks, all the plans and successes of General Bubatoff were rendered nugatory by another incursion of Schamyl, which filled the mind of General Bubatoff with the utmost apprehensions con- cerning his communications, and prevented his undertaking anything worthy of his previous victories and great talents. Throughout Sep- tember, Schamyl and several inferior chiefs not only cut off detachments, but stormed forts and attacked armies. They took Toprak Kaleh, and retained it. Djen was also cap- tured by them ; while the Russian general Orlianoff I'efused Schamyl battle, although at the head of 15,000 men, whose retreat was harassed, the rearguard suffering severely from Schamyl's cavalry. In October, the Turks showed great spirit and energy in many points, so as to lead to a general suspicion that their previous defeat by General Bubatoff had been much exaggerated, and that the European officers, with Abdi Pasha, had lent themselves to the propagation of these exaggerated reports because disap- pointed in the commands and influence they had expected. Be that as it may, throughout October and November the spirit and gallantry of the Turks merited the eulogies which re- joicing Europe conferred upon them. On the 14th October, the Russians having begun fortifi- cations on the Tchouroukson, Selim Pasha crossed the river at several places simulta- neously, and fell upon the Russians so rapidly that they, unprepared for the possibility of so largo a body crossing to their side of the river, made an ill-arranged and desultory resistance, which ended in their being driven back with loss. They were pui'sued by Hassan Pasha as far as Orelli. In this attack and pursuit the Turks suffered little, and captured two of the enemj-'s guns, and 144 prisoners, principally of the artillery ; 600 Russians were placed hors de combat. The Russian troops retreated upon Chenkedy, as it is called by the Turks, Fort St. Nicholas, as it is termed by the Rus- sians. This is the border fortress upon the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Here they received reinforcements, but the Turks pursued their advantage, and forced another battle, which issued still more unfavourably to the Russians. The Turks attempted to storm the fort, but were repulsed; they again attempted a .'?torm, and were a second time repulsed ; but CuAr. VII.] HISTORY OF THE WAE AGAINST EXJSSIA. 53 the third effort "was successful, as they were aided by a naval squadron, and the slaughter of the Russians was very great. Many prisoners also fell into the hands of the Turks, and large Btores of provisions, gunpowder, and munitions of war. Nearly 2000 stand of arms, and, still more valuable at that juncture, 3000 sacks of flour were among the spoils. General KlofF, a Cossack hotman, was among the prisoners. Prince Woronzoff, the Russian general-in- chief of the forces in Asia, admitted in his despatch the full extent of this disaster. It is fre- quently desirable to consult the Russian de- spatches in the Asiatic war, for they are often truthful, although vaunting ; and the facts are often correct when any misfortune is recorded, although the explanations offered consult Rus- sian vanity and interests. Prince Woronzoff writes : — " It was judged necessary to keep the place as long as possible because of the provisions, but the detachment in the fortress could not do so, and fell fighting. Three officers and thirty soldiers were alone able to cut their way through the enemy's forces; but two pieces of artillery fell into the hands of the Turks, and the provisions were burnt.'^-' It is painful for me to commence my report of the hostilities with the Turks by so unfortunate an event; but it is necessary for us to hope and to say, as in 1812, 'God will punish the aggressor.' " The pious fraud upon his own conscience, with which he closes the despatch, shows how all classes of Russian officials, even the highest, deemed it necessarj^, either to please the autocrat or to conciliate the spirit of the nation, to maintain a tone of hypocris5^ No one knew better than this distinguished prince that Russia was the aggressor, yet he resorts to this pseudo-piety of expression to do his part in keeping up the assumption of I'eligious and spiritual motive, and of standing upon the defensive in this war, which the czar and his diplomatists so impudently put forth. The expression in the above despatch, that he regretted to have to beqi'n his report with an account of so great a misfortune, has led several writers upon the war astra}'. Prince Woronzoff refov? only to the operations upon the coast, which were conducted on the part of the Turks by Selim ; while on the Georgian confines, Abdi Pasha conducted a separate series of operations, wliich issued in the contests above noticed, before the attack on Port St. Nicholas. The victory at Fort St. Nicholas took place on the 28th October; from that time until the 9th November, or as some accounts state the 17th November, the Russians made five different attempts to regain it, but without success. The Russian operations from the sea, designed * There was not time to execute bis orders in tliis respect, a hirgu portion of the provisions was secured by the Turks. to assist these land attacks upon the fort, were still more disastrous. 4. Russian war-steamor, with troops on board, while endeavouring to land them, was fired upon from the fort and from a new battery just erected on the coast, and her machinery disabled ; she, however, was drifted by the wind until, striking upon a rock close bj' Batoum, slie went down, and out of her crew and 800 soldiers, twenty- five men only were saved and made pri- soners by the crew of the Egyptian frigate the JSlIe. The English captain (Turkish ad- miral), Slade, called Mushawar Pasha (the advising or consulting pasha), rendered consi- derable service by landing arms and ammunition for the Circassians, and munitions of war at Fort St. Nicholas; he also made various cap- tures of Russian ships, and not a fishing-boat manned by Russians could elude his vigilance. He conveyed to the Circassians Seffer Bej', who had, at the demand of Russia, been so long detained a prisoner at Constantinople. Russian and Polish deserters were also taken up by him from various parts of the coast, and con- veyed to the army of Selim Pasha. Several transports from the Sea of Azoff" were inter- cepted by him, and one Russian brig-of-war; another and larger vessel ,a war-steamer, laden with arms, ammunition, and provisions, and having troops on board), in order to escape him made for Sebastopol, but was overtaken by a storm, driven on a dangerous part of the coast of the Crimea and lost, every soul on board perish- ing. On the 17th November, 1200 Russians were landed near to Chevketil (Fort St. Nicho- las), for the purpose of co-operating with certain troops designed to attack that so frequently contested stronghold ; but tiie Turks attacked them, and compelled them to re-embark. In this affair the loss of the Russians was propor- tionatelj- enormous ; 400 were left dead upon the beach, the wounded, who were also nu- merous, were brought on board, as were the guns, except one, which remained in possession of the Turks. Subsequently another attempt was made to land an army of 18,000 men, Slade having gone with his squadron to the Bosphorus. This attempt was also unsuc- cessful, the Turks opposed the landing, and the Russians had to re-embark, tliis time carrying their dead as well as wounded with them, and saving all their guns. General Prince Woronzoff' was now in great straits at Titlis: Schamyl had penetrated thitlier in one of his impetuous and wonderful razzias, and carried off not only boot)*, but several pri- soners, under the eye of the astonished Woron- zoft". The latter Avas nearlj' surrounded, and his retreat all but cut off: the ^lussuhnen of Georgia were in arms ; Goumri showed above its white towers the ensigns of the sultan; Redoubt Kaleh and Kislar acknowledged the 54 HISTOEY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. VII, ascendancy of tlie Crescent. Schamyl attacked and stormed the fortress of Zahkatula, after thirty-six lionrs' unremitted figliting and great slaughter. Kahitty caj)itulated to a detach- ment of auxiliary Lesghians and Daghestans, after a bloody resistance of several days. The Turks advanced to Alexandrople, in Georgia, which they blockaded, as also Akista (or Akhalt- zick), and summoned the citadel to surrender. The plan of Selim Pasha was for the two corps of the Turkish army, that of Batoum and that of Anatolia, to unite at Tifiis after they had cleared their respective lines of route of the Russian forces ; and although but little skill was shown by the Turkish leaders, and as little bravery, such was the coui'age of the soldiery that when led by European officers, or by the few officers of science and courage of their own nation, they greatly distinguished themselves. In many of these combats fortune favoured the Turks, or hard fighting, in spite of bad generalship, achieved the victory; and sometimes by fortui- tous circumstances they literally stumbled upon success, when the measures of their chiefs were such as to render defeat all but a certainty. Abdi Pasha was always frightened in action, always apparently desirous to get out of it, and yet as eager for an advance, after having so often shown to himself and others that he did not know what to do when the object of such advance was reached. On the other hand, Prince "VVoronzoff, if not great in arras, suc- ceeded by his most effective civil administration in preventing insurrection, and he effectually checked the disposition of the Russians to commit excesses upon the inhabitants of the disturbed districts. General Bubatoff, his lieu- tenant, displayed consummate military skill, and by one sti'oke of generalship he saved the Asiatic provinces of Russia from being over- run by the vehement onslaught of the Turks in the first campaign. He blew up the fort of Bayazid, just as the Turks had made prepara- tions to take it, and led the garrison by forced marches in another direction, so as to confuse and paralyse the plans and proceedings of the Turks. He tbllowed out this plan of destroying ibrts, the defence of which was uncertain, and which kept his men detached ; employing their garrisons in the field, where they might be most useful in checking the onward course of the enemy, or in attacking with superior numbers the unsuspecting Turkish generals, so as to defeat them in detail. Early in November, Mehemet Pasha, the com- mandant at Bayazid, advanced upon Erivan, which the Russians wisely evacuated. The Russians about the same time attempted a surprise on Goumri, which they were very near accomplishing. It was defended by Ahmed Pasha, "director of the army of Anatolia," who, recovering from the confusion into which he was at first thrown, beat back the Russians with much carnage, and pursued them to the citadel of Alexandrople. In the neighbourhood of Akhaltzick there was fighting with little intermission throughout November, until the Turks received a defeat there, which was one of the most signal in their annals. The minor combats in that neighbourhood were all in their favour, and the encounter at Paskoff was even brilliant on the side of the Turks. Zarif Mustapha, at the head of his Bashi-bazouks and a few batallions of regular troops, drove out the Russians with the utmost impetuosity, and then threw up with celerity such defences as secured the position, which was of some importance from its vicinity to the fortified ' town of Akhaltzick, which it was Mustapha's design to storm. The capture of this place was urgent, because it is so situated on the borders of Georgia and Armenia as to give its possessors a secure base of operations upon a large extent of country in both provinces. Before the attack upon Akhaltzick the Turks attempted to storm Alexandrople, but their artillery was too light to make any impression upon the place, and, at their first attempt to force it, they were repulsed so signally that their troops fell back upon Goumri. At Akhaltzick they were at first successful ; they entered the town, and were in possession of every part of it except the citadel, which they could not breach from the inferiority of their guns ; the Rus- sians, seizing a favourable juncture, attacked the besiegers, drove them out of the town, and afterwards defeated them on the open plain. The accounts received in England of this battle, or rather series of battles, were contra- dictory ; some of them coming by way of Con- stantinople, some by Vienna, and others through St. Petersburg and Berlin. The Turkish de- spatches admitted a loss of 1000 men killed (without stating the number of wounded) and 200 prisoners. From Vienna we were informed that the Turks lost 5000 killed (the wounded not being referred to), twelve pieces of cannon, and seven stand of colours, and all the baggage and stores of the besiegers. The Ptussian account is inconsistent with the others and irreconcilable, — especially with the detailed particularisation of the Turkish occupation of the city, and their eflorts to breach the citadel. We give it from the despatch of General Audronikoff, who commanded the garrison, which account is itself discrepant with what appeared in the St. Petersburg papers. " On the 12th November (0. S.) I arrived at Akhaltzick. I reconnoitred the position of the enemy, and obtained the conviction that the ground they occupied was unapproachable. It extended from the village of Ab down to Sup- plis ; and this position was farther strengthened Chap. YII.] HISTOli^ or THE WAE AGAINST ETJSSIA. ^S by many breastworks and batteries. The condi- tion of ihe town and district of Akhaltzick com- pelled me to act with decision; and this the more, since I had been informed that the Turks had been reinforced, and that fresh reinforcements were expected from Ardogan, Adjar, and Kars. Early on the morning of the 14 th instant, I formed a column of four battalions of foot and fourteen guns, and pushed them forward against the enemy's front at Lower Supplis. The artil- lerymen had been drafted from the various regiments, and the horses were taken wherever the}- could be got. Another column, consisting of three battalions and three light guns, was detached against the left wing of the Turkish position, on the banks of the river Poskhotf- Tchai. This second column was supported by nine sottiias (100 men each) of Cossacks, twelve sotuias of Tiflis militia, and one detachment of noble volunteers. The engagement commenced with the tire of the artillery, which was con- tinued on either side till thirty minutes past eleven, a.m. The obstinacy of the enemy in the defence of the position they had taken, convinced me of the necessity of storming that position, in spite of its natural advantages and fortifications, and although the river is of con- siderable depth. The Turks made a desperate defence in their entrenchments, in the houses, gardens, and, in short, in every point which offered the possibility of resistance. Exposed to the grapeshot of the whole of the enemy's ai'til- lery, and harassed by the fire from the Turkish foot, our own infantry, up to their necks in water, crossed the river, and attacked the enemy with such violence and overwhelming force, that, in spite of their obstinacy, they commenced losing ground. The first step backward was the commencement of a total defeat of the Turks. On this side, in Lower and Upper Supplis, we captured nine pieces of artillery ; and in the village of Pamatsh, we took three pieces of artillery and two light field-pieces. The streets and houses of the village were covered with the bodies of the slain. While a hand-to-hand combat was raging on the right bank of the Poskhoft-Tchai, a second victory was gained on the left bank. At ten o'clock a large column of the enemy, horse and foot, was descried approaching the heights of the moun- tain Obas Tumansiki. Six sotnias of Cossacks were sent against this force, and the firing com- menced at two o'clock, P.M. A detachment of the mountain battery No. 1, consisting of guns taken from the enemy, was sent to support the Cossacks. The six sotnias of Cossacks and the noble volunteers, who joined them from Upper Supplis, attacked and routed the enemy. Two hundred were killed, and the rest dispersed ; and, in spite of their attempts, they could not efi'ect a junction with the main force. At Bunset the combat was over, because there were no antagonists for us to conquer. I must confess that this success, unheard-of in its way, which was obtained by perseverance in a cannonade of four hours, and after a fixe of grape and musketry, which lasted two hours, and which was consummated by a hand-to-hand engagement, could be expected only from the dauntless courage of Russian troops. All this proves that there can be no obstacles for the orthodox armj^ fighting at the call of the mighty Sovereign for its creed, czar, and country. Can there be obstacles for an army which is mindful of the imperial word ? — ' In thee, Lord, have we trusted : let us not for ever be confounded ! ' We have lost one officer and thirty -nine privates, and nine officers and 179 privates were wounded. The loss of the enemy must have been very severe, for above 1000 Turks remained dead on the field of battle. "We took 120 prisoners of foot, horse, and artillery; and among them a mullah, and the servants of the pasha. They were taken to the fortress. We took also ten field-pieces and two moun- tain guns, two artillery parks, several flags and standards, and a large number of small flags, with stores, &c." In this battle the Russians brought into action field-pieces carrying balls of 161b., the usual weight carried by other armies being 121b. Those guns of superior weight were managed with the same facility as the lighter guns of other European armies ; and to this superiority in their iield- artillery the Ilussians were mainly indebted for their signal victory, although neither the despatch of Andronikoff' nor the publications of St. Petersburg chose to make the acknowledgment. This was not the first time this new description of gun was brought into the field by Russia; but it was the first time upon a large scale that it was used, and con- tributed so signally to victory. In the battle of Baschkady, fought soon after, they were still more indebted to this weapon, for chiefly by its instrumentality the Turks were routed, their artillery being speedily overpowered. Other- wise the battle was against them, for the Turks everywhere foiled them in bayonet charges and hand-to-hand combats with the sword. In this action the Turks lost more than thirty pieces of cannon, which were spiked or broken by the Russians, and left upon the roads. The Russians in the closer strife of the engage- ments lost heavily; and 1500 men, according to their own despatches, were placed hors de combat. Another defeat was sustained by the Turks, and on their own territory, in quick succession to the former disasters. At Ongusli, U])on the 1st December, General Bubatoft" attacked, by a sudden and bold manoeuvre, the Turkish seraskier, and routed him, driving him in great disorder upon Kars. The Turkish camp ; 56 HISTOEY OF THE WaE AGAIXST El'SSIA. [Chai-. YIL equipage and stores, with twenty pieces of cannon, became the prizes of this enteqjrising Kussian officer. Later in the year the Turks •were attacked at Soubattan ; both sides claimed the victory, but the Turks remained in posses- sion of the ground. They were attacked also at Baiander; where both sides also claimed the victory, but the Russians were certainly repulsed. Both ai'mies now went into winter-quarters. The Turks in doing so almost disbanded, and suftered from attacks concerted between the Russian armies and certain Georgian volun- teer bands, fanatics of the Greek Church. In some cases whole detachments of the Turks were cut off. Tahir Pasha, who had received an EagUsh military education, did all in his power to prevent and to repair these evils, and among the Turkish officers he was by far the most efficient. At the close of the year, Prince "VYoronzoff had collected an army of about 50,000 men upon skilfully arranged positions, and had written the most urgent applications for rein- forcements ; he was said to have remonstrated, in terms which no other Eussian subject dare employ, against the tardiness with which sup- plies and troops were sent, and the imperfect arrangements in his rear, in those provinces over which he had no control. The Turks, greatly reinforced and better officered, held also strong positions. Zarif Mustapha Pasha and Selim Pasha were in occupation of the Eussian terri- tory of Georgia, at the head of more than 20,000 men, chiefly irregular Asiatic troops. -General Guyon, at the head of 30,000 mei , menaced Akhaltzick ; and Stein, at the head of 25,000, menaced AJexandropol. It had been arranged at Constantinople, chiefly through the counsels and remonstrances of the British am- bassador, that the European officers of the Asiatic army should not have a merely nominal command. The religious scruples of the Turks against obeying "infidel commanders" consti- tuted the difficulty in the way of such arrange- ments; but the Porte undertook, notwith- standing such an obstacle, to give the European officers in its service in Asia such commissions as would release them from the subjections to the pashas which had hitherto embarrassed them. Thus both armies awaited the opening of the campaign in 1854. The two most re- markable men in action upon the fields and shores of these countries, during the events we have recorded, were Prince Woronzoff and Ad- miral Slade. 'We shall make the close of the campaign of 1853 available for giving a brief memoir of each. Prince Michael "VToronzoff, or, as the Eus- sians spell it, Woronzow, was born at iloscow, in the year 1792, a year remarkable in Euro- pean history. His father was appointed to the embassy in London while Michael was but a child ; and in England therefore he received his early eduiation, and spent a considerablp portion of his life. It was his father's intention to bring him up for the diplomatic profession, — one ot the highest ambition to every Eussian, — but he preferred the army, and served with distinction in the ever- memorable campaigns commencing in 1812 and ending with the battle of ^'aterloo. He commanded the Eus- sian armies in occupation of France from 1815 to 1818. He left France to take part in the conferences of Aix, where his sagacity attracted attenrion. Proceeding home, he received from the emperor the governor-generalship of Odessa, New Eussia, and Bessarabia. During his con- trol of these provinces he showed the usual craft and greediness of his race; and in the exercise of these qualities pleased his master, the Emperor Alexander, by gaining for him fresh acqxiisitions of territoiy. On the acces- sion of Nicholas, he was ordered to support the negotiations of the Eussian ambassador at the Persian court (the emperor's designs upon Persia having first developed the ruthless spirit of aggrandisement which influenced his whole career), and there he acquitted himself to his lord's satisfaction. Subsequently, as holding the government of the contiguous pro%inces, he was ordered to give efficient support to the Eussian armies acting on the Danube. Prince Menschikoff, then commanding the army besieging Yarna, was dangerously wounded, and had to resign the command, which Prince, then Count, TVoron- zofl' assumed. Less fiery in his temper than Menschikoff, and characterised by the discretion and cunning hereditary in his family, he sought to gain by address what Menschikoff failed to Avin by anns. He succeeded in corrupting the Tui'kish commandant of Yarna, and in this way obtained the surrender of the place. After this exploit he was made governor and com- mander-in-chief of the Caucasus. He suggested the plan of a "blockade" of the whole mountain district, and the gradual separation of the tribes by corruption. His plans were harassing to the Caucasians ; but it was generally thought that a slow but sure success would attend them, had not the breaking out of the present war disconcerted all his arrangements. It does not appear, however, that his projects for subjuga- ting the mountaineers issued in any soUd suc- cesses ; and he was himself despondent, when the war upon the Asiatic frontier of Turkey directed his energies thither; and there, when- ever he was personally engaged, he incui'red de- feat. It is indeed questionable whether, but for the skill of Bubatoff throughout the campaign, and the unexpected victory of Andronikoff at Akhaltzick, he would not have been obliged to have abandoned all Eussian Armenia and CiiAi'. YIL] UISTOllY OF THE WAR AGAINST ErSSIA. 57 Georgia before the end of 1853. His title of prince was conferred upon him for his services in the Caucasus, when, in 1845, the novelty of his undertakings attracted attention, and seemed to promise the best results for Russian policy. *■" Perhaps no subject of the czar held so high a post, or is so much honoured. As a politician, a diplomatist, and an administrator, he is wise and adroit ; as a military man his plans are showy, and wear the appear- ance of being thoroughly perfected, but he does not himself execute them with prompti- tude and address. His reflective faculties are in excess of his observing, and yet he is a shrewd adept in corrupting oriental politicians. His improvements at Odessa, where he has large property, and in the Crimea, are praise- worthy. His palace in the Southern Crimea is one of the most magnificent and most beau- tifully situated in the world. !Mrs. Xeilson, an Irish lady, long resident in the Crimea, has given the most graphic sketch of both the palace and the country around it that has yet issued from the press. From a perusal of her account we infer that the prince is better adapted to the arts of peace tlaan of war ; that the government of provinces rather than the command of armies is his forte ; and that in the encouragement of industry and of the fine ai'ts he is a munificent patron. In our account of the capture of Fort St. Nicholas, and the performances of the Turkish navy in the Black Sea, we noticed the services of Admiral Slade. He was born at Maunsel Grange, in Somersetshire, and is the fifth son of General Sir John Slade, Bart., G.C.H. This family has given servants to their queen and country in larger proportion than have most others. The father of Admiral Slade was a dis- tinguished officer. The admiral's eldest brother died in 1843, when lieutenant-colonel of the 1st Eoyal Dragoon Guards ; his second died a few years previously, when major of the 3rd Light Dragoons, with which notable regiment he served in India. Another brother died in 1828, when lieutenant, E.X., from fever, caught in the discharge of his duty upon the western coast of Africa. Colonel ilarcus Slade, who commanded the Light Infimtry during its distinguished services in South Africa, is also a brother of the admiral ; and so is Fre- derick "\\''illiam Slade, the well-known queen's counsel. The subject of this notice is named Adolphus, and bears the rank of post- captain in the British navy, and that of admiral in the Turkish. He is also of the distinguished Turkish rank of a pasha, and receives the designation of Mushawar. From a very early * Mr. Sydney Herbert, who Is married to a near rela- tive cf this promoter of Russian ambition, was the British secretary at war while the prince commanded a llu«siaii armv against our ally. age he betrayed a partiality for the sea, aril was entered by his family as a pupil in the Royal Xaval College at Portsmouth. He was a close student, and carried off the gold medal from many competitors. He entered as a midshipman in the navy in the year 1817, on board the Tt/ne of 26 guns, and served three years on the South American station. "NVe next hear of him on board the flag-ship of Sir Hai-ry Xeal, at the demonstration against Algiers, in 1824. He served at the battle of Xavarino, in charge of the Hind cutter, after which he was promoted to the rank of lieu- tenant. When the war of 1828 broke out between Russia and Turkey, Lieutenant Slade went to Constantinople as a private gentleman, but accompanied the Capitan Pasha in his cruise in the Black Sea. Of this he has published a very interesting account, as well as of his travels in Turkey, which were extensive, and in which he infoiTDed himself accurately of the resources and military strength of the Turkish empire ; the book is entitled Becords of Travels in Turkey, tcith a Cruise in the Black Sea with the Capitan Pasha. Lieutenant Slade afterwai'ds became a student in the Xaval College at Portsmouth, and gave himself sedulously to the study of every branch of his distinguished profession, until appointed to the flag-ship of Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, in 1834, upon the Mediterranean station. Em- ployed by the admii-al chiefly in scientific and diplomatic afi'airs, he visited Sebastopol, and drew up a report of its defences ; he had been previously there in the Blonde with Captain (now Admiral) Sir Edward Lyons. On liis return home, after the usual tour of the Medi- terranean service, he published his work on Turkey, Greece, and Malta. In 1841, after having been twenty-six years in the service, he was promoted to the rank of commander. In his indefatigable thirst for knowledge, and especially professional knowledge, he placed himself in the arsenal at Woolwich, for the purpose of studying steam power as applied to naval warfare, and obtained a first-class certificate. He then received command of the Recruit, 12-gun iron sailing brig, and was em- ployed on the coasts of the Spanish peninsula and at the Azores, where his services met with the approbation of his superiors. It was not until Xew Year's- day, 1849, that he obtained the rank of post-captain, lor whicli he was indebted to the influence of the first sea lord of the Admiralty, Admiral Dundas, afterwards associated with him in the allied commands of the fleets in the Euxine. At the beginning of 1850, we again hear of him as an ardent student in the 2\aval College at Portsmouth, from which he was taken by Lord Palmerston, and sent to the British admu-al on the Medilir- ranean station, to oft'cr his advice and assist- I 58 HISTOEY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [CuAi-. YIII. ance should war arise between Turkey and Austria in the case of the Hungarian refugees. By Lord Pahnerston's further recommendation, he was received by the sultan as advising or consulting Admiral of his fleet, which is the rank he now holds. He is a distinguished scientific scholar, a profound proficient in for- tifications and naval gunnery, and a man of extensive reading and literary research ; as a linguist few surpass him : he converses freely in all the languages spoken on the shores of the Mediterranean and Black Seas. His flag-ship, the JVuz reticle (the Yictorious), is a model of naval architecture ; she is built after Turkish taste, but nothing is sacrificed to Turkish pre- judices. With the exceptions of the inter- positions of Admiral Dundas and Lord Palmcr- ston, Admiral Slade never had a friend at the Admiralty. He belonged to a very unfashion- able class of British officers there — the truly scientific. "A learned sea-horse" is quite odious to a first lord : a dashing spirited young fellow, with a brave heart and a high title and plenty of money, is the favourite. Many whom Slade had assisted to give them some qualification for their profession were promoted over his head ; the students from whom he won naval prizes were post-captains while he was a midshipman ! Honour to Lord Palmcrston for his discrimination and justice, in this instance, in giving merit its proper place. CHAPTER YIII. THE WAR ON THE DANUBE AT THE OPENING OF 1854.— GREEK INSURRECTION.- PROCEEDINGS OF THE WESTERN POWERS. " At times a warning trumpet blown, At times a stifled hum." Scott. -THE The year 1854 opened with many and painful forebodings ; for although hope against hope was cherished by the cabinets and com- munities of civilised countries, the general un- easiness was manifest, and many foresaw that the year could not close before the peace which had so long prevailed among the leading powers of the world would be interrupted. The thunder-clouds hung darkly and menacingly over Europe, which were so soon to concuss, and startle the whole world by the flashes and peals of war. In the meantime, Turkey waited not for the accomplishment of these portents ; she had armed and battled not in vain, and her recent successes nerved her arm for more vigorous exertions. The war in Asia had issued in something like a drawn battle ; the campaign had been exceedingly chequered, which terminated there with the close of the old year. Russia had not lost — with the exception of the defeats at Port St. Nicholas — battles such as she had gained. The Turks had been shamefully defeated upon the open field, although their movements had been more rapid than those of the Russians, except where General BubatofF was in command ; and in various conflicts they proved themselves su- perior in close combat. The Russians in Asia, however, had the worst of the war viewed as a whole, for they had been obliged to encounter other enemies than the Turks ; and these, if not uniformly successful, and if sometimes severely defeated, had nevertheless carried on a desultory warfare, disastrous to the Russians. Turkey had every right then to feel encouraged as the year 1854 opened with its dim light upon the dreary wastes of the Danube, It was a severe winter, the operations of the contend- ing hosts had been embarrassed by the frosts and snows of December, and with the opening year the severity of the winter increased ; as war hung upon " 'J'he skirts of the departing j'ear," SO the arriving j-ear was attended by its furies. Omar Pasha M'as ill, but still active. The embarrassments which were so needlessly placed around him by the intriguing pashas, politicians, and bigots at Constantinople, com- pelled more exertion than even his vigorous habits could with impunity endure, and he was scarcely equal to any task, much less that imposed upon him by the aspect of affairs. He, however, continued the policy so success- fully pursued by him hitherto ; and on the 4th January he opened the work of 1854 by an attack upon Giurgevo in person. The contest was little more than one of skirmishes, and seemed only to have been directed by Omar to give heart to his men for more important struggles, and to increase their confidence in themselves and him. The Russians, however, lost more men than the Turks, and both in skill and courage the latter showed superiority. The Turkish general seems to have been unable to undertake anything further, but having given such directions to his officers as, if pro- perly executed, would lead the Russians to believe that his vigilant eye was still upon them, he retired to Schumla, and was for some time in imminent danger of death. The tidings of his illness, although fortunately kept pretty well from general cognizance, soon reached the Porte, and the sultan immediately dispatched CHAr. VIII.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 59 his own chief physician to be in attendance upon his most trustworthy general. Before his personal surveillance became essential, his recovery was completed : had the Russians known of his illness, they would have been emboldened to more enterprising measures. The corps of the Russian army which was directed to advance upon the Danube in a westerly direction, bent their march upon Ivalafat; but as this corps was not of itself of sufficient strength to attack that place, the general in command ordered entrenchments to be made behind the village of Citate, — we pre- sume in the hope that troops from the corps moving to their left would converge upon Kalafat also, and in sufficient time to co-operate with them. Seeing that the columns moving on their left were witliin a few hours' march of them, it indicated some timidity on the part of the Russian general at Citate to entrench his army there. The lessons of the previous au- tumn and winter were not forgotten : Oltenitza especially filled the recollections of the whole Russian army. The entrenchments were not well executed, and instead of being thrown up before the post which they were intended to defend, they were formed behind it ; and as an enemy in possession of the village would have gained an advantage towards the accomplish- ment of his intentions against the trenches, the Russians were obliged to occupy the village also. The village consisted of a long, straggling street, with intersecting lanes ; behind the houses lay farmyards ; and large haystacks in great numbers were in those yards and the adjoining fields, also ricks of maize and piles of firewood; near the centre of the street is a large Greek church, and for a mile in one direction, and some seven-eighths of a mile in the other, the street straggles away from this centre. The troops in the neighbourhood were commanded by General Fishback : his generals of division were Englehardt and Rellegarde. Prince Vasilitchkoff commanded the cavalry ; General Aurep, it was said, commanded in Citate. The prince was the only Russian general in the corps of Fishback ; the rest were all Germans — ever ready, as we have shown in our account of the war in the Caucasus, to aid Russia as mercenaries in her career of spolia- tion. Achmet Pasha and Ismail Pasha com- manded at Kalafat ; and these, acting in concert with Sami Pasha, the intelligent and most gallant governor of Widdin, resolved to attack the Russians quartered so securely as they thought themselves at Citate. A certain American officer has described this as an attack with "purposeless aim, although of fortunate issue;" but the purpose was wise, and luid it not been wise on general grounds, it were still wise from necessitj". The Turkish pashas must have been assured that if the three advancing corps were to unite at Kalafat, under Gortscha- koff, the chances of maintaining themselves at Kalafat in the face of such an army were greatly lessened ; and to maintain Kalafat was worth great sacrifices, for it was the only place the Turks had on the northern shores of the river, and as long as they held it, the Russian possession of Wallachia was threatened in a manner to disturb its security. It was evidently then good generalship to strike a blow at Citate, sudden and effectual, before the converging corps of the invaders should concentrate. Accordingly, ' earl}'- on the 6th January (Christmas-day, old style), while the Russians were either whoUj- in repose, or look- ing forward to a day of religious festival and rejoicing, the Turks marched stealthily out from Kalafat, and proceeded along the road which lies through Romau, Galoutza, Maglavit, Gunia, and Funtina. As if Heaven smiled upon their enterprise, the morning was exceediugly fine. The severe frost which had prevailed suddenly relaxed the previous day, and rain fell, but on the morning of the 6th the sun rose genially, the air was clear and warm as on a sunny spring daj-; the Danube rolled its huge masses of floating ice crashing by the works of Kalafat, and its uproar could be heard even while the guns were passing through the gates of the defences, so quietly did the host m/jve out to their enterprise. The Turks never fight so well in cold weather as undc;r a warm sky, and the effect of the change was observable upon the soldiery. A column of 10,000 infantry, under the more immediate direction of the two pashas, was supported by 4000 cavalry under Mustapha Pasha, and 1000 irregular cavalry or Bashi-bazouks under Ferck Bey, with Skender Bey, so well known by reputation both in Europe and Asia, as his second in com- mand. Two batteries of six guns each accom- panied the infantry. Two "battalions" of light field-pieces were with the cavalry, and there were two howitzers with the reserve. The advance-guard was under the command of Tefih Bey, and consisted of about 1000 chas- seurs, or irregular infantry, armed with the new French rifle. Tefih Bey arrived at the entrance of the village about nine o'clock, followed closely by Achmet Pasha ; the former with some guns entered by a cross street or lane, while the latter took post with a portion of the infantry in reserve, and Ismail Pasha charged into the place at the head of tlie main body of the infantry. The cavalry ^'heeled round to the other end of the street, where a detached body of Russians were posted, and whom the cavalry cut up, driving them down the street to the church, the Russians making ever)- curve in the line of street and every pro- jection of house a defence, against wliich the light guns with the cavalry immediately o[)cne(l, 60 IIISTOIIY or TJIE AVAll AGAINST IlUSSIA. [CuAP. YIII. Bwcoping awa}- tlie defouccs and tlic dcfcMulors, until tlic latter fell back upon the entrench- ments, the guns of which played with effect upon the cavahy, who still pressed forward, suffering much and inilicting some injury. The Ikishi-bazouks threw themselves from lane to Line, and taking the houses in the main street from the rear, stormed them, putting their occupants (the Russian soldiers) to the sword. These men were thus as formidable dismounted us when in their saddle. The irregular infantry also clambered into carts and upon the fire- wood, maizc-ricks, and haystacks, and thence replied to the fire of musketry opened by the llussians from the windows of the houses which they occupied when surprised by the attack, or to which they had been driven. Selim Pasha and his infantry were in front, but even there fighting in line was out of the question. Every rush of the infantry was, however, facilitated by volleys of artillery ; then, leaping forward, the foot soldiery, hand to hand, encountered every group of llussians who could find means to throw up some obstacle between themselves and their opponents, or who defended the houses which now front and back were assailed with such determined impetuosity. Thus for some hours a wild and murder- ous street-fight, more bloody than those sus- tained behind the barricades of Paris, was kept up between the defenders and the as- sailants. The superiority of the light-armed Turk, who in close combat frequently us-ed his musket merely as a shield, and with his scimitar or dagger rushed into the closest sti'uggle with his foe, was evident. Those of the Kussian soldierj' who were roused from bed or from breakfast, and had no time properly to accoutre themselves, fought best, as they were unencumbered by the long-tailed coats and heavy helmets. Before twelve o'clock, the village of Citate was cleared of the Russians with great slaughter, and very little loss to the Osmanlis ; and such of the former as could, found refuge in the entrenchments behind the village. There the Russian cannon were princi- pally placed; and they were twice as numerous, and of twice as heavy mettle as those of the Turks. Upon these entrenchments the Turk- ish cannon opened with deadly skill, while the Russians served their guns as badly as it was possible for soldiers to serve artillery ; yet in the front of these entrenchments the Turks incurred considerable loss : cannon fired point- blank upon a body of men rushing up to their very muzzles must be destructive, however incompetent the gunners. Twice, or as some accounts say, thrice, the Turks were scattered back from the open mouths of those instru- ments of death ; but the four Turkish pieces, which were with the cavalry who had entered to the right of Cita|«, had opened upon the entrenchments with excellent effect, levelling the earthworks and dismounting the guns ; and the cavalry had actually ridden into the en- trenchments, and put many of the gunners to the sword, but with severe loss. If a battalion of in- fantry had been at that point with the cavalry, the trenches would have been at once conquered. Thus matters were when a new event caused the assailants to hesitate, and singu- larly changed the whole aspect of the combat. The Russian troops in the neighbourhood of Karul heard the firing (or, as some say, re- ceived a messenger dispatched by the Russian general at Citate the moment he recovered from his surprise), and hurried to the scene of battle. This reinforcement consisted of the regiment of Odessa, 3000 strong, and two regiments of the tenth division of infantry, each regiment of the same strength, — with that of Odessa making a force of 9000 infantry, together with 600 horse and nine guns. 1'his new enemy appeared on the road from Respiteh, where at the beginning of the action Achmet posted himself with about half a brigade of infantrj', while Ismail gallantly commanded the attack, riding everywhere on a large white horse, and wearing a white pelisse, as if anxious to show himself to the Russian marksmen. In the critical juncture of aftairs now developing itself, Achmet Pasha met the advancing host ; and while Ismail and a portion of the brave assail- ants of the trenches kept order of battle in that direction, another portion made front in their rear — a manoeuvre which would try the courage of the most veteran soldiers of our best Euro- pean armies. Fortunately, the Russians had been driven out of the village, their battery at the church had been captured, at the lower end of the main street a Russian battery h-ad been also taken, and at the opposite end of the long line of street a redoubt, which had served the Russians as a defence, had been stormed ; now every barrier formed by the Russians became one for the Turks against the new Russian force in their rear. The orchards, ricks, barricades, farmyards, all were made into ready and efficient defences ; while Achmet Pasha with the immediate reserve formed the first line of the new front thus so gallantly oftercd with impromptu, skill, and valour by the Turks. Assailed between two fires, and by double their numbers, the prospects of the conquerors seemed now darkly changed : the new Russian force was already in the streets of Citate ; the cavalry had dashed upon the guns of the Turks, some of which had been dismounted, and the positions of which they were changing ; but a volley of musketry and a discharge of grape and canister left half that cavalry prostrate on the spot where they charged. Happily, when the Turks were advancing upon Citate they left some troops Chap. YIII.-l HISTORY OF THE ^'AR AGAKs^ST RUSSIA. 61 on their line of march to cover, if necessary, their I'etreat ; for these Ismail Pasha now sent, and they arrived just at the moment when their presence was essential, not indeed to repulse the column from Karul, that had already been effected, but to complete its rout, prevent it from reforming, and to advance in a new attempt upon the entrenchments. It was at the moment Ismail Pasha's rcseiwes were in sight that the Russian reserves had made their attack: they came on in dense columns — ^just as the French used to do in the peninsula — and were received by the Turks as our " tliin red line" used to x-eceive the columns of the French. Tiie result was similar : before the Russians could deploy, the line two deep of musketry flashed upon them, and with the grape and canister of the cannon rent the column into fragments ; and the speedy charge witli the baj'onet upon the disjected masses, put them completely to the rout, the living line passing as it charged over piles of the fallen foe. As the Turks v/ere exhausted with this charge, the reserves from Moglovitz arrived, and threw in their fire upon the retreating Russians, whose retreat was speedily turned into flight, leaving several guns in the hands of the victors, while the dispersed and fugitive soldiers were broken beyond the power of their ofiicers to rally. Nearly 3000 Russians had now fallen in the streets, field-works, defences of the village, and along the road by which the Rus- sian reinforcements arrived. Still thei'o was more work to do ; and joining the reserves to his already victorious foi'ce, Ismail Pasha pre- cipitated them against the entrenchments, and with success. Citate is built upon a slope, and the entrench- ments behind the town command it. So long as Russ and Turk fought hand-to-hand in its streets, the batteries from the trenches could not play upon the latter; but when they at- tempted a storm, then as they mounted the ascent they were exposed, without the slightest shelter, to the devastating fire of the trenches. So excited were the Turks in the flush of their previous triumph, and the confidence inspired by the arrival of their reserve, that they charged the entrenchments with enthusiasm. The com- mands of their ofiicers were anticipated by a general impulse; and through the murderous fire, across the bellowing guns, breasting tlie measured array of musketry, forcing aside the fixed lines of bayonets, onward rose the tide of brave men, and every arm struck for life and victory. It was victory, but it was carnage — horrible ; no quarter was expected, none need have been : the Russian ofiicers, pulling their caps over their faces, rushed madly upon tlie weapons of the stormers, and died pierced with every weapon borne by the victors. There were no prisoners — the broken and. scattered trench, and the bleeding piles of conquered slain, alone remained. The Turkish loss was very little anywhere but in the entrenchments. They had so completely surprised the Russians on their arrival, and were so well protected by the defences of the town v>-hen tlicy turned front to the Russian force from Karul, that their loss was mainly before and in the trenches •: here it was considerable — 1000 men in killed and wounded ; but they had at this cost stormed a strong place, dispersed two separate corps, killed and wounded 6000 of the enemy, proved that the Turkish soldier well led could take as well as keep entrenchments, and so humbled the vaunting foe in the eyes of all Europe as to lessen his courage and sully his renown. There was great booty captured ; but as the Turks did not intend to hold Citate, this was to a great extent destroyed. On the 7th the Russians made a reconnais- sance in force, but retired upon the advance of the Turkish cavalry and some field-guns. On the 8th a more formidable demonstration was made, and there was some severe fighting, — the Russians who were sent to attack putting themselves on the defensive the moment they felt the fire of their opponents. On the 9th the Turks advanced, and drove the Russians before them, who retired upon Krajova. Various estimates arc given of tlie Russian loss, some making it as low as 3000 killed and wounded : we believe that the estimate we give is the nearest to the truth. Some accounts also repre- sent the Turks as retiring upon Kalafat on the 7th, leaving the Russians in possession of the entrenchments ; but such accounts are entirely inconsistent with the nature of the victory, and the efforts which the Turks had chiefly in view — uamel)-, to clear the neighbourhood of Kalafat from the presence of the enemy. The battle of Citate made a great impression at St. Petersburg. The czar bit his lips at the intelligence until the blood appeared ; and it was dangerous to be near his person and hazard any unwelcome remark. The terrible excite- ment he evinced after the battle of Oltenitza was renewed; and he sent orders to tako Kalafat whatever the cost of life. Rloodshcd was of little moment to that man, if his hu- mours only could be gratified, and his ambition promoted. General Aurep, who it was alleged commanded in Citate, was ordered in disgrace to the rearguard of the army of the Caucasus ; which, if a position of humiliation to him, was also one of peril, for the reaiguard of that army had, in fact, become the advance-guard of the troops destined to supply the war on the Georgian and Armenian frontier, and was con- stantly harassed by the free bands of the un- vanquished regions. As soon as the expeditionary force had re- tired from Citate and the surrounding country 62 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. VITI. upon Kalafat, that place was further strength- ened, and also "VYiddin, upon which as a place of support it rested ; and the returning severity of the weather precluded all hostile operations on either side, until the spring of the year should enable them, with renewed resources, to open another campaign. At this juncture, General Schilders arrived with instructions from the emperor to Prince GortschakoiF, and with a commission to report upon the losses of the army. He confirmed the report previously given, that up to New Tear's-day (old style) 35,000 Russian troops had perished, many also being in hospital, of whom a considerable portion would probably be disabled from active service. Prince Gortscha- koff, upon the reoeption of his new commands, was to perfect his arrangements for a decisive opening of the spring campaign early in Pe- bruary; and, meanwhile, supplies and troops were to be moved southward from Bessarabia and the capital of Moldavia. The usual boast- ings were now rife in St. Petersburg, Brus- sels, and all the German cities from Berlin to Yienna, and wherever there was a pro-Russian party. Prince Gortschakoff was to operate, in February, at the head of such an army as would overwhelm, not only Kalafat and AYid- din, but sweep the armies of Omar Pasha behind the Balkan. This seems a suitable occasion to satisfy the inquiry which may arise in the minds of our readers, '•' Who is this redoubtable Prince Gortschakoff?" The name of Prince Gortschakoff has few souvenirs. AYe need not occupy much space in our history, or much time on the part of our readers, in a narrative of the commander of the Russian Danubian armies. He was born in that year of great events, and in which, and the year that succeeded it, so many great noto- rieties began their existence — the year 1792. He has an elder brother and a younger. The elder served well in the army of General Die- bitch, in 1829, and was in constant attendance upon the person of that chief, and in his coun- sels, until the treaty of Adrianople put an end to that war. He was afterwards employed as governor of remote provinces, especially in Siberia. The younger brother became a diplo- matist. He was chief-secretary of the Russian legation in London, in 1824. He was after- wards employed in negotiating the delicate affair of the marriage of the Grand-Duchess Olga with the Crown-Prince of Wirtemberg. Lately, he has taken a prominent place among the diplomatists of this war. The subject of this notice seems always to have been engaged in hard work ; and, without much praise or blame, he has made his way to high distinction. We can account for this bj- Avhat appear to us to be the leading peculiari- ties of has intellectual constitution. He is not a vain man, and docs not seek praise ; yet he is not indifferent to honour, and fails not to wear upon his breast the crosses, medals, orders of civil and military distinction, and badges of imperial favour. He is a man of no imagina- tion. His perceptions are also slow. He has no original power, no genius ; he is not even a clear thinker ; yet he is a plodding, painstaking, honest performer of prescribed work. He would have walked into Kalafat if he had known how, very indifferent as to any results of any kind whatever. If directed to dry up the Danube by any one whom he thought ought to know how the thing should be done, he would, according to his orders, work assiduouslj^, regularly, and truly, and try to dry it up, although with every apparent certainty of being himself swept away with its flood. He entered the artillery service, and he is an artillery officer to this daj', and nothing more. To fire upon a position, a fortress, or an advancing column ; to defend a position or a fortress according to any good old rule and prescribed jjlan or prin- ciple which he happens to know, is about the extent of his capacity. He will do what he is ordered, and say nothing about it before or after it is done ; . or he will try to do it, and, failing, be neither more nor less communi- cative. He is soldierly in his bearing, and has a severe, frank face, bearing a strange blend- ing of the intelligent and the puzzled in its expression, such as is often to be seen with merely practical and unimaginative men in our own coiintry, especially among gentlemen of the military profession. His conduct is very much influenced by his religion, when the naked idea of military duty does not rule it. He believes in God as the God of the Greek Church and of Russia; and that the Greek Church and Russia and the emperor (who is both the Greek Church and Russia) are almost, if not quite divine. During his whole military career, he has always been hammering away at something or at somebody. He served in the Danubian campaign, in 1828-9; he was the ar- tillery officer of General Urassoftsky, while the latter engaged the attention of Redschid Pasha, in order that General Diebitch might cross the Balkan, and gain Adiianople, while Redschid was so occupied. The encounters between Redschid and Urassoffsky were many, and the victory was nearly as often on the one side as the other, and Gortschakofi'was certainly always in those combats, at whichever side victory scat- tered its laurels ; but never, in any despatch of his general, nor previously in any despatch of General Diebitch, is any mention made of his name : he is never praised, and he is never blamed. In the great Polish insurrec- tion he again served as general of artillery, under Diebitch, with the same queer sort of distinction — that of always doing what he was Chap. YIII.] HISTORY OF THE WAE AGAINST RUSSIA. 63 bid. The cholera took away Diebitch, and then Paskiewitch succeeded to the command ; it was all one to Gortschakoff — he still did as he was bid, and poAvdered away with his artil- lery according to the best- known rule which he understood himself, or which any one else might tell him who was authorised to tell him anything. In this way, by a quiet sort of fighting (if that be jwt a solecism), and a constancy to his duty, he rose to distinction and power, and at the period which our his- tory finds him, he was commander-in-chief of the Russian army of the Danube, aide-de- camp general, general of artillcrj-, chief d'etat- major of the active arm}', militarj'-governor of Warsaw, and first member of the Council of Administration of Poland; and in the absence of Prince Paskiewitch, the Kamicstwiclc, or Secretary General of the kingdom, he held the privilege of presiding at the deliberations of the council of that kingdom. Having left the army of Omar Pasha shut up from enterprise, during the weeks of his illness and the severity of the Danubian win- ter, it seems a suitable moment to describe a portion of his army that figured in the previous contests, and which we shall hear of again and again during the progress of the war. A passage descriptive of the Russian soldier, from the graphic pen of the " Roving Englishman," enlivened a previous chapter, we v.'ill now give a description of the Bashi-bazouk from the same source. The description is, with certain excep- tions, as true as it is humorous and racy : — "He is a dark brown, wild-looking fellow, in golden clothes — a modern captain of a free company. His arms are a wonder of expensive uselessness. The settings of his pistols are perhaps solid silver, or silver-giit, inlaid with precious stones, but their barrels were pro- bably made by some clumsy Greek armourer during the war of independence ; their locks are on the old flint and steel principle, and bad of their kind ; yet the treacherous flint is of course fixed in a silver holder, and the worthless lock has very likely a thumping turquoise stuck rudely on to it. The fellow is a barbarian, and looks like it. He is tawdry, loose, and dirty beyond belief; he is fierce, selfish, and greedy to an equal degree ; he is clumsy and awkward ; his gorgeous clothes seem to be thrown on rather than put on ; and his apparel presents the same odd contrast as his mind. He comes from some far-away country — from the mountains of Circassia or Albania, from Syria, or where not — so that he does not comply with the modern fasliion of the Turks at Constantinople, and cover his head merely with a red cap ; but he twines an immense shawl in picturesque folds round and round it till he looks, while sitting down, like a gigantic mushroom. It may be that the shawl, thus apparently misapplied, is worth almost as much intrinsically as the useles.o pistols ; but it is incredibly soiled, and dirty and twisted, and tangled. I have used the word 'apparently' however with intention, for the headdress here described might be as absurd as costly in England, we should be slow to attach the idea of ridicule t-o that which is a general custom in any country. If, there- fore, most of the oriental countries keep their shaved heads warm, we may conclude with tolerable certainty that the practice is approved, and that they do so wisely. It is at least posi- tive that a thick covering wiU foil the rays ot the sun much more successfully than a thin one; and this is an object of paramount importance in a country where the inhabitants pass most of their time in the open air, and sun-strokes are frequent and dangerous. " The rest of the Bashi-bazouk's dress is contrived probably for reasons equally prudent, if one could get to the bottom of them. An immense sash of thick silk is wound many times round his loins, and again above it is girded a broad thick red leather belt with pockets and receptacles for arms. This makes a capital support for a man who passes some- times twenty hours on horseback at a time, and who never saw a chair with a back to it. His pistols and silver-sheathed sword (as splen- did and trustworthy as the pistols) stick out so far, both before and behind, that he could hardly wear a long coai, or button even a short one. His waistcoat is therefore one dirty blaze of bad embroidery in front, and he has also embroidered sleeves to it ; while his jacket is made something on the principle of a hus- sar's, save that it covers both shoulders; that is to say, the large, open, fantastic sleeves, hang down behind, like a fanciful pair of golden wings. His breeches are also embroi- dered, and they appear at first sight too sliort, for they fasten far above the knee, and leave the hinges of the leg as free as a Highlander's, and probably for the same reason. A man had better not confine or cramp his knees who is always scrambling up and down mountains, and who miist be always ready for a dashing leap across some yawning chasm. From the commencement of the calf of the leg down to the ankle, the leg is bandaged as tightly as strength can bandage it : it is bandaged until the leg becomes as hard and shapeless, and almost as thin as a broomstick. Over the ban- dages he wears leggings of the same eternal gold tinsel, confined by long, gay, flaunting garters of scarlet silk. His shoes are curi- ously old and foul ; he kicks them off" therefore at every opportunity, and curls his legs under him. He is a curious study, but he docs not improve on acquaintance. He has none of the vii'tucs or vices of a soldier. He avoids fighting (54 niSTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. rCnAP. YIII. •whenever it is possible, and will tliink it an extremely proper thing to decamp at the ap- proach of danger. His idea of the duties of the military profession is firing i'elon shots ■with a long rusty gun from a rock on the sea- coast, or a tree by the way-side. His glory is to surprise and butcher the defenceless, as they wind through some lonely mountain gorge ; to torture his prisoners for sport ; to rob his friends adroitly. He is a mere marau- der — a bandit — a ruffian. His savage heart would make a monster of him, if it were not so often palsied by a dastard fear. His love of money is a passion ; he clutches it with a rapacity, and hoards it with a secrecy quite wonderful. He would not give a piastre to save his comrade from being flayed alive ; he would rather even suffer torture than part with it for any purpose, save that on which his foolish heart is set. Perhaps he covets some glittering ring, which he has seen in the bazaar and cannot steal ; perhaps he wants a watch, or a more magnificent pair of pistols, or a new pair of silver-hilted pincers, to take little bits of ardent charcoal out of the fii'e and light his pipe. He plucks out his beard to look young ; he waxes his mustachios and arches his eyebrows with his dagger ; yet this love of fine appearance seems strange in a man who always leads a solitary, roving life ; who will never marry, and who lives unbeloved; who would as soon rend the coins from a virgin's hair as ease a Rayah merchant of his ducats. He is abstemious, almost to contempt of dainty food ; a few grapes or olives, according to the season, a lump of coarse black bread, a few onions, and a little unsweetened coffee, is all he cares for. He has a great fear of disease and death. He wears charms and talismans to protect him from harm. He believes in omens and magicians, but he has no real religion." In the above description of a very dirty military dandy, a robber without being exactly a professional robber, neither his patriotism nor courage have had fair play from the writer. He is sometimes a hero, sometimes a poltroon; and often, when he appears the latter, he is as gallant as ever. He has no notion of regular warfare; he does not profess to be a regular soldier ; he despises the drill, and the drilled man heartily. He will take to flight when placed before regular troops, but not to dis- appear altogether from the field of action, for he will be found speedily, somewhere or other, on the flank or rear of the troops before whom he fled. He will keep at long range while he sees regular forces in disciplined array, but let them break line, and he does not fear single combat, but will dash upon his enemy, and fight or turn, or turn and fight again, just as in his opinion any stratagem is open to him, or open^ to liim a prospect of success. These men, when sufficiently trained to act with regular troops, have, as in the battle of Citate, shown great bravery in the most trying emer- gency. They are often, they are generally, the first in the field and the last out; they will stay to plunder, or with desperate courage cover a retreat. They have certainly no roman- tic notion of generosity ; yet they have love of country, and a sense of loyalty to their sove- reign : they have often proved incorruptible to Russian gold, although alwaj's ready to risk a great deal to plunder it. Attempts to disci- pline them in the modern system of European infantry, or even cavalry, have generally failed, but not always. Our readers will judge of Omar Pasha by a knowledge of the materials out of which he had to make an army, and such, for the most part, they were. Under such commanders as Skender Bey, these men would go anywhere; but neither for him nor any one else would they submit to the regu- larity of discipline required in well-organised troops. In the battles yet to be described, in which the peculiarities of the Turkish forces were displayed, our readers will comprehend many features of the combats, and the motives and plans of the Turkish officers, by under- standing the sort of troops which composed those forces, and which these officers had to command. While matters on the Danube seemed to slumber, and, wrapt in the chill of winter, the belligerents found even their quarters scarcely tenable, the official tyranny of Russia was busy in the unfortunate provinces occTipied by her armies. The Moldavians suffered at first much more than the "Wallachians from the pillage of the Russian soldiery, and the oppression of the Russian chiefs. It was deemed politic to spare the Wallachs, because of their vici- nity to the enemy. Prince Gortschakoff', in a fierce proclamation, threatened them, how- ever, with a vengeance "speedy and dire" if they held any intercourse with " the pagan enemy," or showed that enemy any sympathy. The Wal- lachs did show them sympathy ; and this re- sulted in the decapitation of three of the principal inhabitants in one village, and the scourging of many heads of families in another. In a third case, the whole village was plundered, and the people left utterly destitute. In a fourth instance, the men rose in rebellion against the violation of their women ; and after all the women were violated, every male inhabitant was put to the sword. The frost and snow hemmed in the Russian troops in their cantonments from any active operations against an honourable and armed foe; but they still found opportunity to visit with rapine, rape, and murder, a most harmless and inoffensive peasantry. Kever was the military occupation of an enemy's country CllAP. VIII. J HISTORY OF THE ^yAIl AGAIis^ST RUSSIA. 65 more resentful, dishonest, and treacherous ; but in this instance the provinces occupied were under the protection of the emperor, and Prince Gortschakoff marched into the terri- tory proclaiming that protection, and offering justice to all. The sultan's dominions nearer to the capital ■were exposed to still more serious troubles. The Greeks of Greece and the Greeks of Turkej' formed a confederacy for the subjugation of the empire by a revolt, in concert with the Russian invasion ; and the bursting out of the insurrec- tion greatly depressed the sultan, embarrassed the allies, discouraged the people in the occu- pied provinces, and emboldened Russia to assume a loftier tone of boasting and defiance to Turkey and to the world. The establish- ment of the kingdom of Greece had been an event altogether in favour of Russia. The incompetency and servility to Russia of our foreign minister. Lord Aberdeen, spoiled every thing at that juncture which the good inten- tions of the allies proposed. The territory taken from Turkey for the purpose of making a Greek kingdom was too small or too large. Either such an extent of territory as might support a population numerous enough to retain independence sliould have been carved out of the sultan's empire, or the Greeks should have been left under his authority : the coercion brought to bear upon the sultan for the recog- nition of Greece, should have been employed (if employed any way) to secure his Greek and other Christian subjects their civil and religious liberties. The plan, as it was executed, was Russia's. The Emperor Nicholas, in his con- versations with Sir G. H. Seymour, already referred to, plainly declared that he would never suffer the revival of the Greek Em- pire, or anything similar to it; which means that he thought any power in Greece or Con- stantinople strong enough to defend the Bos- phorus and the Dardanelles, and to use the position of strength afforded by their shores, would be an impediment to the designs of Russian conquest sufficient to frustrate them. According to this policy, the little kingdom of Greece was just made large enough to be a focus of intrigue and treason for all the dis- contented Greeks of the sultan's empire. Rus- sian diplomacy found there a sufficient theatre for its talents ; and at Athens, as a centre, influences were laid and maintained, which soon spread through the whole population of European Turkey professing the Greek rite. The sums expended by Russia in Greece since 1829, would never be lavished by any power for honourable objects. It was designed that this outlay should repay itself by its effects upon Greek fanaticism in favour of Russui, and its efficiency in spreading discontent among the subjects of the Porte. The weakest prince in Eui'ope was by the wisdom of "the powers" put upon the throne of Greece, reminding one of the inimitable satire of Lueian, when he describes the gods as doing things too foolish, and using instru- ments too feeble, for mortals in their inferiority to think of. Otho and his patrons were at once feared, hated, and ridiculed by the Greeks: as their ancestors laughed in the theatres at the gods they adored in the temples, so the Greeks bowed down to " the powers" with servile reverence, and lampooned the puny despot they set up. Otho became, of course, the possession of the most active and keen amongst the diplomatists, which is only another way of saying that he became from the first an instrument of Russia. Austria was very anxious to see a scion of the house of Bavaria on the throne of Greece ; for it held out to her, through her influence upon the former, the prospect of promoting her own selfish ends upon Turkey, by pulling the strings of the Bavarian puppet at Athens. Austria became too weak and dependent upon Russia to turn the scheme to any account; and besides, her diplomatists were outwitted so thoroughly by those of the czar, that in seeking only for herself she was made solely to serve Russia. The policy of the sultans towards their Greek and other Christian subjects became greatly improved; but still the Christians of every creed, and everywhere under the government of the Porte, were great sufferers : they were plundered, and sometimes murdered, by the pashas, and even by mobs, who were allowed to do these things with impunity. Beautiful Greek and Armenian giiis — especially the former — were maltreated in a manner too horrible to describe, and their testimony would not be received in any court of justice : so that while the spirit of the sultan and his govern- ment was lenient, conciliatory, and just, that of the pashas and people was fanatical, insult- ing, and oppressive. There was no indisposition in Europe to promote the liberty and rights of these sufterers; but Russia never sought to do so, except in some form that would extend her own authority. Any liberal conces&'lons to the Christians were stigmatised as "new-fangled western ideas;" and the sultan was warned against " those revolutionary changes " by the Russian minister at Constantinople. Indeed, it was very injurious to Russian designs that any reforms in the administration of Turkish affairs, favourable to the liberties of the Greek Chris- tians, should take place. The czar hoped to work upon their sense of wrongs and oppres- sions to keep up disturbances, which, essaying to put down in the sultan's behalf, there would be afforded pretexts to deuumd new treaties, con- ferring new titles to Russian interference with the civil uif;m-s of Turkey, and ceding more 66 HISTOEY OF THE WAH AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. VIII. territory for the czar's better management. Thus affairs in Greece and Greek Turkey were kept in incessant irritation ; the emissaries of the Eussian chancellerie everywhere foment- ing discontent, because of the very grievances wliich the Russian ambassador as incessantly interposed to prevent the Porte from re- dressing. In this way the elements of insurgency were seething- up to Januarj^, 1854. The British ambassador called the attention of the Porte to the justice and necessity of vigorously carrying out all contemplated reforms, and he gave to his own government constant infor- mation on the subject. The sultan and the sultan's government, although obstructed by the Russian embassy, and the bigotry, igno- rance, avarice, and tyranny of the pashas, as well as by the fanaticism of the Mohammedan population, were vigilant to redress every wrong, and secure to the Christians every privilege compatible with the existence of a Moham- medan government. But the greatest difficulty in the way of reform was in the intemperance, bigotry, dishonesty, falsehood, and immorality every way, of the Greeks themselves. The Turks regarded them as rogues in the very grain — as born traitors, liars, and robbers ; and they were very much in the right, unhappily, in these opinions. Many of the Greek mer- chants and persons of opulence and education were an honour to the empire, as they would be to any country ; still retaining the com- mercial enterprise and judgment of their an- cestors, when Greek colonies and commerce were the fame not only of the Mediterranean and the Euxine, but of all Asia, Europe, and Africa ; still characterised by the lively and caustic wit of former generations ; still born Avith that unrivalled genius which shone in the works of Praxiteles or Ctesiphon, and that taste which of old could make proselytes by the exquisite sculpture or carving of a deity ; still speaking in the powerful and euphonious tongue which filled the eloquence of Demos- thenes with its thunders, and the song of Sappho with its strains. Yet the mass of the Greek people were, if addicted to arms, cut- throats and banditti; if engaged in commerce, cunning and fraudulent — and almost in every- thing and everywhere false. The glory of Grecian valour had 8adly departed, for the Greeks outnumbered their oppressors in Europe three to one, and yet only responded to their oppressions by clanking their chains, and cry- ing in the ears of Europe, or tiirning witli desire and hope to the stern despotism of the North. They mingled in all the vices of their conquerors, and surpassed them on their own ground and in their own way; and so sur- rendered to pleasure their energies, as to justify the taunt of Byron : — *' You have the Pj-nhic dance as }-et, Where is tlie Pjrrhic i)haL"iiix gone ? Of two sucli lessons, why forget The manlier and the nobler one ?" Perhaps this and kindred taunts were felt, and amongst the braver Greeks enkindled a desire for libertj' ; but still, as a whole, they were always relying upon foreign valour, again reminding one irresistibly of the stinging words of the generous and noble friend of their race already quoted : — " Trust not for freedom to the Franks, They have a king that buys and sells : In native swords and native ranks Tour only hope of freedom dwells." Cringing and cursing, rebelling and running away by turns, they were at last, it was thought by the czar and his man Otho, ripe for a real revolt. Accordingly, in defiance of the terms on which Otho received hi.s throne, and of the recognised neutrality of his kingdom, he liter- ally placed himself at the head of the con- spirators. His chief minister might 'as well have been chairman of their committees ; and the printing-presses of Athens threw off oceans of insurgent proclamations and appeals, which, somehow, the censor of his Hellenic majesty never could detect. Arms, too, from the government arsenals, or rather stores, found their way into the hands of the rebels, who had been rapidly organising from the moment Turkey proclaimed war; and arms were also given into the hands of the sympathisers, who were collecting in bands, and bound by oath to liberate their brethren from the Osman yoke. The queen of Greece, a much more manly person than her husband, — besides having the comparative advantage of not being a fool, — might be considered in the light of secretary to the sympathisers, and Russian paymaster. Through her majesty, the czar's minister dis- tributed most of the douceurs so amply given to reward the labours of spies and emissaries. The Greek priests were paid through their superiors ; they were, major and minor, all agents of his imperial majestJ^ Everywhere, in Greek chapels and convents, splendid presents from the czar were paraded with great pride. The clergy showed magnificent rings ; and the churches were enriched with pictures, relics, altar furniture, and various ecclesiastical trap- pings, bestowed by the imperial protector of the Greek Church. Assassination and robbery were amongst the instrumentalities set to work in this reckless conspiracy, where czar, king, queen, and priests, were all straining after objects of their own by every means, however unprincipled; and only a few gallant Greeks were really fired with "the patriot's noble aspi- rations. Xing Otho and his ministers, we are strongly Chap. YIIT.] IIISTOUY OE THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 67 inclined to believe, would never liavc j-ielded to the gold of Russia, or her promises of aggrandisement for themselves, if Bavaria and Austria had not covertly encouraged the court of Athens. It is true that the courts of Vienna and Munich afterwards united with those of St. James and tho Tuileries in remon- strance to both Otho and his queen ; but Otho would never have braved the Western powers and Turkey for an hour, if he believed that the German governments were inimical to his pro- cedure. Russia, however, flattered him with the promise of enlarged dominions; and it was said that the Russian minister so little respected his sagacity, that he felt himself safe in holding out to his hopes the dazzling promise of an imperial crown. As the bird of Eastern story, which flitted from tree to tree with the talis- man, mocking the eagerness of the pursuer's ambition, so would the eagle of Russia play with the unhappy aspirant to the crown of the Byzantine Empire. Her majesty, who could see so much and so well where gold gave light, was blind to the omens of disaster which at the very outset of the undertaking threatened the throne of her frail lord ; and she devoted her whole energies, which were not contemptible, and used her address, which was not without a certain influence, in favour of the projected insurrection. A sort of proclamation was issued by the committee at Athens, although it was desired that it should be circulated as if coming from anotlier soiu-ce, of which we give a copy : — " AYe, the undersigned, inhabitants and ciders of Radobitsi, in the province of Arta, sighing under the pressure of the exorbitant taxation which has been imposed on us by Ottoman conquerors, who are not only in- capable of civilisation, but besides violate the chastity of our maidens, do renew the struggle of 1821, and swear by the name of the Almighty and by our sacred fatherland, in no case and under no plea to lay down our arms until we have obtained our liberty. "jSTow, at the commencement of the struggle, we hope to rouse the sympathy of our brethren, of the free Greeks, and of all those groaning under the Ottoman yoke, so that they may take up arms to renew the holy war of 1821, and fight for faith, fatherland, and our inalienable rights. " The war is holy and just ; and no one who considers the weight of our burdens and the rights of nations, M'ill utter a word in de- fence of our barbarous oppressors, or advocate the cause of tbc Crescent, which is planted on the summit of our sacred Church. "Up then, brethren! rush to battle! throw off the hated yoke of our tyrants ! and with us loudly proclaim to God and the world that wc do battle for our fatherland, and that the Most High is our shield of defence. " JoHAKJf CosovAKis ; Demetek Kokas ; CosTi KosMA ; Bas Nakos ; Nitulas Basos ; CoLios Maveomati ; K. C. Stcma; Demetee Scaltviojani ; Geokg Calzicgami; C.Meechas; K. Katzilas; KoxsT Zeyarides." With the above was circulated a foiiu of oath, to be taken by all willing to devote themselves to the revolt, which ran as follows : " I swear by the Holy Gospels, by the Holy Trinity, and by Him crucified, that I take up arms which shall not be cast aside until our oppressors are driven from the homes of our fathers, and my fatherland is free. I also swear by an Almighty God to be faithful to my flag, and, if necessary, to shed the last drop of my blood in defence of my comrades." The allegation of heavy taxes contained in the above addi'css is false ; no people were ever more lightly taxed than the Greek subjects of the Porte, and few populations better able to bear a heavy taxation. Commercially they were favoured by the Porte ; the foreign trade of all Turkey is in the hands of the Greeks, and the most liberal system of commercial law regulates their trafiic. Their acquisi- tion of property is never interfered with, and their possession of it never rendered insecure. The aim of the Greek population is not liberty. One reason why they hate the Otto- man government is, that they see other sects beside their own tolerated. Were there a Greek empire, an enlarged Greek kingdom perfectly independent, or a Greek republic, there would follow a cruel and bloody persecu- tion of Latins, Armenians, and Protestants, within its bounds. The Jews, despised by the Osmanlis, are everywhere beaten, robbed, and oppressed by the Greeks. "\Mien per- sons in England have advocated the resus- citation of an independent Greek nation, they have been unwittingly urging the ascendancy of a bigoted sect and a resentful peojile, and promoting the persecution of Jews and Cliris- tians of various communities, the most inoffen- sive in the world, but whom the Greeks desire to expatriate or extirpate. It is a remarkable confirmation of tliis view of the spirit of the Greek Church and people, that in none of their appeals to Christendom for countenance and aid do they ever refer to the persecutions en- dured by Jews or Armenians, Franks or iS'es- torians- -all other religions and all other sects of the Christian religion are ignored by these pseudo-liberals and patriots. The only activity and life of independent Greece is displayed in its religious intolerance or its brigaudiige; a gloomy superstition and morose intolerance 68 HISTORY OP THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. [Chap. YIIL brood over the mintls of the people, which even the love of pleasure does not banish from their hearts or from their physiognomies : — " 'lis Greece, but living Greece no more ; " that trite line tells the condition of the Greek kingdom, and of the Greek race beyond its limits, also, except where the freedom of Turkish commercial law, and the intercourse with foreigners, have quickened the commercial and literary enterprise of a portion of the popu- lations of the great cities. Shortly before the insurrection burst forth, the British ambassador had private information which enabled him to aid the Turkish government in detecting the plans of the projectors to some extent. Letters were also intercepted inviting Prince Gortscha- koff to cross the Danube, as the Greeks of Bulgaria were ready to rise in arms at his presence. It is likely that, had the prince been able to take Kalafat and AYiddin, a Bul- garian insurrection would have been attempted. He, however, had been occupied in a manner that neither promised much for his spring campaign, nor for tliose who intended to wel- come him between the Danube and the Balkan. Before the measures of the patriots — as they called themselves — were ready, the British minister for foreign affairs became urgent upon the Porte to make such concessions as would deprive the malcontents of their best plea, and of the sympathy of Christendom. Indeed, when the sultan was upon the verge of a declaration of war, and the Greeks and King Otho were but beginning to bestir themselves. Lord Clarendon thus wrote to the ambas- sador: — "It is the deliberate opinion of her Majesty's government, that the only real security for the continued existence of Turkey as an independent power is to be sought by enlisting the feelings of its Christian subjects in its preservation ; that altliough Turkey may get over her present difficulties by the aid of her allies, she must not reckon on external aid as a permanent resource, but that she must create for herself a sure defence in the affections of the most intelligent, active, and enterprising class of her subjects; and that it is impossible to suppose that any true sympathy for their rulers will be felt by the Christians, so long as they are made to experience in all their dailj* transactions the inferiority of their position as compared with that of their fellow-subjects — so long as they are aware that they will seek in vain for justice for the wrongs done either to their persons or their property, because they are deemed a degraded race, unworthy to be put in comparison with the followers of Mohammed. Your excellency will plainly and autlioritatively state to the Porte that this state of things cannot be longer tolerated by the Christian powers : the Porte must decide between the sacrifice of an erroneous religious principle, and the loss of the sympathy and support of its allies. You will point out the immense importance of the selection it has to make; and her Majesty's government conceive that very Little reflection Avill suffice to satisfy the Turkish ministers that the Porte can no longer reckon upon its Mussulman subjects alone as a safeguard against external danger, and that without the hearty assistance of its Christian dependents, and the powerful sym- pathy and support of its Christian allies, the Turkish empire must soon cease to exist." The Greek insurrection, so long ripening, came to maturity at the latter end of January, and it first indicated its strength in Albania, and then rapidly extended to other provinces. The Albanians"^' are a brave race, and are often employed in the service of the Porte ; they * In our sketch of Turkey we were obliged to glance merely at the general outline of the country, and the leading fucts of her history, because of our anxiety to approach in our story of the war the great events upon' the Danube and in Asia, which had so recently thrilled upon the heart of Europe. "We therefore take occasion, in passing, to notice the places and people referred to in the narrative of the struggles which so lately stained and darkened those beautiful realms. Albania is one of the western provinces of Turkey, and stretches along the shores of the Adriatic Sea from ^Montenegro and liosnia on the north, to the provinces of Epirus and Thessaly on the soutli. The physical character of botli Albania and Epirus are similar; and alike, or nearly alike, favoured the plans of the insurgents. They have been well described in a pleasant modern work, called European Turkey^ by William Knighton, M.A., we select the description from that work because of the grace of expression and the brevity with which so much is conveyed: — "The whole of the ancient Epirus, the lower portion of the modern Albania, is covered with mountains chiefly of a calcareous character, and furrowed by deep ravines or dark caverns. The outlets to the sea, which are few, correspond willi the character of the country — the Suli, the Votjutza, tlie Scombi, and the Drino, are all mountain torrents; making their way precipitously into the sea from the heights of the interior, sometimes hemmed in by narrow ravines, through which they murmur boisterously as they plunge on to the west, sometimes falling over precipitous rocks with headlong fury, and sometimes again watering peace- fully a level district that slopes almost imperceptibly to the "borders of the next ridge, where the foaming and dashing recommences. The climate of Albania is like that of Italy, warm, clear, and cloudless, but subject to protracted droughts, as well as to sudden and violent north winds, that produce instantaneous changes of temperature. The olive luxuriates on the lower shores of the Adriatic to tlie south-west of Albania, whilst as the traveller ascends to the mountains, extensive forests are found clothing their sides, forests concealing rich mines that liave but to be worked to furnish employment for many inhabitants. The vintage in the valleys and lower plains begins in September, and tlie heavy rains during December are succeeded by frosts, often severe in January. The oak, the plane, the cypress, and the ash, flourisH on the sides of the hills, at the base of which the laurel and the lastick abound, indigenous to the soil ; cedars, pine, larch, and chestnut trees, are by no means scarce. Such is the character of mo«t of the hills of Southern Albania, but by no means of all ; many ot them are arid and sterile ; but even of these, such is the prolific virtue of the stimulating heat, the sides in early spring are clothed with the violet, the narcissus, and the hya- cinth. The entire landscape is then a mass of vegetation of the most brilliant colours, abounding with contrasts that serve to embellish the scene, and to render it striking as well as beautiful." Cii-vr. VIII.J HISTOKY OF THE WAE AGAINST RUSSIA. G9 make good tioops — regular and irregular — and, Avhen well officered, fight with self-reliance, spirit, and obstinacy. They showed their cviaracteristic courage in various desultory encounters with the sultan's troops. The Turkish garrison of Arta Avas soon after be- sieged, and thrice attacked with boldness and skill. In the port of Arta--'" a sea-fight occurred between a Greek cutter and the Turkish guard- ship, which ended in the destruction of the latter. At Janina,f and various otlier places of more or less strength, the Turkish troops were hemmed in by superior numbers ; and in some instances the places were stormed, and the small garrisons put to the sword. These combats were maintained with virulent ani- mosity, the Greeks loading their enemies with curses and vituperations during the conflicts, and showing a rage, bigotry, fanaticism, and bloodthirstiness truly horrifying. When the Turks were successful, they showed as little disposition to give quarter, although they maintained the fight with a gravity and an enthusiasm strangely blended ; when the Turks were defeated, they died without a cry or a murmur of either despair or rage, but sc'ling their lives as dearly as possible. In Epirus the objects of attack by the insurgents were not so much tlie Turkish troops as the mosques ; but from which the aggressors only tore the emblems of the Mohammedan religion, supplanting the Orescent by the Cross, and erecting .altars where the Greek mass was offered. The insurrection extended in the same spirit to Thessalyij: and Macedonia ;§ in fact, * Arta is the second citj" of Albaniu. It is situated upon the banks of the river Arta, which falls into the Gulf of Arta. Its population is about 15,000. The neiglrbourhood is rugged and picturesque, sometimes ■wild and sometimes beautiful. f Janina is the first city of Albania. Its inhabitants number 40,000. It is beautifully situated upon the shores of a small lake called Acherusia, which discharges itself into a subterranean abyss. Viewed from the elevatio-ns of the Zitza, the valley of Janina is indeed lovely. " The lake tapering otT to a point towards the north, the white houses and lofty minarets reflected in its waters, the Bides of the encon>passiug mountains, with their calca- reous cliffs denuded of vegetation, form a landscape of which paintHigs might give an idea in detached portions, but which it would be impossible to bring before the eye in one view by any sketch however extended." J Thessaly is bounded on the east by the Archipelago, on the west by Epirus, on the south by the kingdom of Greece, and on the north by lloumelia. It is one of the fairest and richest portions of all Turkey. Pindus, Olympus, Issus, and Pclion, overlook its plains; and the traveller can wander nowhere in Thessaly without per- ceiving that he is on classic soil. { Macedonia, once the scat of kingdom and even of empire, where Philip reigned, and Philip's more glorious son, is now a division of the province of Roumelia, to the west of which it lies. The mountains of Macedon afforded secure haunts for the rebels ; but Macedon, although rich, is not so in the resources of armies. Cotton and tobattco are the staple jiroductions. The vine, however, flourishes there also, producing the best wines ; and the mountain-sides are dotted with rich corn-fields. Who can tliink of the legislative genius of Miltiades, and witness without regret the misrule of Macedon ? and who all the portions of Turkey contiguous to Greece, which had formed a part of ancient Greece, were speedily in some degree of revolt. The insurrectionary bands were led either by officers of King Otho's army, or by students from the University of Athens. One corps of 8000 men was led by Spiridion Karakaisis, son of the Karakaisis Avho figured in the Greek revolution ; this Spiridion held a commission from King Otho, and although publicly sum- moned to return to Athens, he disregarded the command, and so acted as to show that his proceedings would secure him the secret appro- val of his sovereign. These Greek companies, and this army under Spiridion were well paid, and the leaders had money whicli was freely distributed ; it did not all come from Russia — the Greek community of Constantinople was thoroughly initiated in the conspiracy, and largely subscribed to it through their com- mercial agents in Athens, Smyrna, and else- where. The Greek merchants of Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, London, Liverpool, and Manchester, are generally very rich, and it was alleged that they supplied the " sinsws of war." In Manchester and London they indignantly denied this, disavowing all complicity in any matter of disloyalty to the sultan, or embar- rassments to the countries whose hospitality they enjoyed. Circumstances of grave sus- picion existed, however, hj reason of which these disavowals were very much discredited. The insurrection was kept up without at aU relaxing through the month of Februar}-, and was not suppressed until, at the end of Ma)-ch, awed by the demonstrations of the allies, and the fear of consequences to himself. King Otho was made to feel the madness of the enterprise into which he had been seduced. Early in February, Salonica* suddenly rose in arms; but the Turkish troops, without firing a shot, charged with the bayonet, and dispersed the insurgents with slaughter. In Thessaly a body of 3000 men made head against the authorities ; but this corps was composed chiefly of sympa- can think of the inquisitive genius of Aristotle, and not mourn over the occupation of this fine region by a race of uninquiring Turks and of mongrel Greeks, wedded to their customs, however foolish } * " Salonica is situated on a semicircular extent of coast that lies at the head of the gulf of that name. Its population has been estimated at flity, seventy, and a hundred thousand. Monuments of its ancient splendour meet the wanderer in every direction ; triumplial arches, ruined temples and churches, broken statues and emi)ty pedestals — all evidences of a civilisaton passed away, ere the refinement of European civilisation gave way to the impetuous voluptuousness of Asiatic life. The harbour, built by Constantino the Great, will easily contain three hundred ships of large size; but the bay without is unsafe. The Jews form a very large proi)ortion of the population of Salonica. They have established some factories and several stJiools. A considerable overland trade is carried on by flieiQ with Semlin (opposite Bel- grade) and Vienna. They even penetrate to Leipzic with then- cottons, leather, carpets, and tobacco. '- 70 HISTOIIY OE THE WAR AGAINST IIUSSIA. [Cjur. VIII. thisers from Greece, and brigands. The Thes- suliaus generally felt that their smiling land, Avhere j)eacel'ul industry is so amply re2)aid by productive harvests, should not be overrun by banditti and the tools of foreign tyrants. Thessaly is now, as in ancient times, a pro- vince rich in cultivation ; and, whatever may be the political disabilities of the people, they are secure in person and property; and, lite- rally, " every man sits under his own vine and his own fig-tree, none making him afraid." They were unwilling to exchange all this for the despotisms of Athens or St. Petersburg, although they sighed, like all the Greek race, for the dawn of the happier time to which they look forward, ■when the Cross shall eclipse tlie Crescent, and shed Itoui the dome of St. Sophia its glory upon the capital of a Greek Empire. The Suliots*' and Serviansf were much ex- * The Suliots are the fiercest of the tribes of Albania and Epirus. The town of Souli is about twenty miles nortli-west of Arta. Lord Byron thus compliments their heroism : — " On Suli's rock, and Parga's shore. Exists the remnants of a line Such as the Doric mothers bore." These Suliots were nearly exterminated by the ruthless Turk, Ali Pasha ; there is, however, a formidable rem- nant of them still ; and, throughout the insurrection, the swarthy Suliot might be seen foremost in the bands of whatever kind that ravaged or attempted to ravage the western provinces of Turkey, and all the country between the Gulf of Venice and the Archipelago. The country of the Suliots is interesting from its picturesque character, its classic associations, and the dauntless heroism of its turbulent people. Loi-d Byron has consecrated afresh all the shores of the Adriatic to the Muses ; and, in mere passing gleams of description, his inimitable genius has given vivid pictures of both the people and the famed shores on which they dwell: — " Land of Albania ! where Iskander rose ; Theme of the young, and beacon of the wise ; And he his namesake, whose oft baffled foes Shrank from his deeds of chivalrous emprize : Land of Albania ! let me bend mine eyes On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men ! The Cross descends, thy minarets arise. And the pale Crescent sparkles in the glen. Through many a cypress grove within each city's ken. " Morn dawns; and with it stern Albania's hills. Dark Suli's rocks, and Pindus' inland peak, Piobod half in mist, bedewed with snowy rills, Array'd in many a dull and purple streak, Arise ; and, as the clouds along them break. Disclose the dwelling of the mountaineer : Here roams the wolf, the eagle whets his beak. Birds, beasts of prey, and wilder men appear, And gathering storms around convulse the closing year." t Servia lies to the extreme nortn upon the Danube, having Bosnia upon its western, and Bulgaria upon its eastern, confines. It is opposite to Sclavonia and the Banet, the Danube separating it from them. The Servians are Sclaves in race, and Greeks in religion. The influ- ence of Kussia in that principality is in the ascendant ; the utmost jealousy of the Turks being entertained by the people, who sympathise in religion and race with the llussians. The Servians do not desire, however, their country to become a Russian province ; they are resolved to maintain their independence against all odds, whether Euss or Turk invade it. Notwithstanding their invidious prejudice of race, and theii- bigoted prejudice of religion. cited ; and serious apprehensions were enter- tained by the Porte of terrible conflict with both. Montenegro"'-' also showed symptoms of renewing the proceedings which, in 1852-3, furnished Austria with a pretext for armed interference, and a mission to Constantinople, a la Menschikoff. In Epirus a corps of 2-500 men marched through several districts in triumph, carrying the Greek Cross, with the motto of the Labarum — the old standard of the Bj'zantine Empire — "Conquer by this!" As the Servians enjoy an advanced civilisation, and possess a very ancient liter.ature : the wild songs and irregular poetry of Servia are pervaded by a genius altogether pecu- liar, except that sometimes when in Sclavonia and Itussia the mind and heart were free to pour out their tribute to nature, similar chanacteristics of thought and feeling to those of Servia are seen. Of late some trouble has been taken, both by German and British writers, to bring out the literature of Servia ; and the public mind in England has been taken by surprise to learn that so remote and obscure a province upon the Danube should be so rich in literary treasure. The Servians are brave, pi'oud, and free. * Montenegro is a small, compact territory, bounded on the north by Herzegovina and Bosnia ; on the east and south by Albania ; on the west by the Gulf of Venice. Its Italian name, Monionegvo, "Black Mountain," ex- presses its aspect from the shores of the Adriatic. The whole circle of the province — if province we may properly call a territory which owns no master — is surrounded by a girdle of bold, dark, bleak, rigid-looking mountains. From these innumerable rivulets descend, intersecting the country like a system of veins. The landscape is wildly picturesque ; and supports in a barbarous life about 100,000 inhabitants. One fourth of the entire male population are warriors — old men and boys delight- ing in the use of arms, and a barbarous military parade. They are brave with a savage braver}-, robbers when they can find opportunity, with no scruple about murder where a Turk is concerned, and they are intensely religious according to the Greek ceremonial. None of the peoples formed into separate communities upon the soil of what is ostensibly the Turkish Empire regard Eussia without some jealousy and alarm, unless the Montenegrians. The interference of Austria on their behalf, in 1853, was manifestly at the instigation of Eussia, as we have shown at large elsewhere. Eussia would not tolerate Austrian interference in any way, whei-e a community professing the Greek Church was concerned, if she had not a concealed purpose of her own. Kravinski, in his w'ork entitled, Montenegro and the Sclavoniuns of Turkey, describes the government as republican, which is correct only so far as that its chief is not a king. The government is in fact sid generis. The chiefs are elected nominally by the people, but really by the military; and these chiefs elect the governor, the metropolitan, and the com- manders. The persons elected, however, are for the most part those who would have ruled on the hereditary prin- ciple. Fatliers govern their families, not by a national or even a religious code, but by their patriarchal privilege. Chiefs, soldiers, officers, and heads of families, are all governed by the priests, who teach them nothing but the most superstitious stories of saints, and to hate with all their hearts Turks, and schismatics as all Christians not of the Greek Church are termed. Their conduct to woman is that of savages. Sir G. "Wilkinson, in his work entitled, Balmatia and Montenegro, informs us that a Monte- negriau thinks it beneath him to speak of a woman before a stranger, even accompanying any remarks about his own wife with such expressions as "saving your presence," " begging your pardon," &c. The women are made, in fact, not only the labourers, but the beasts of burthen : a mule or an ass would have, among these friends of freedom, an easier life than that of a woman. To say their prayers, rob and murder the object of their plunder, or in the name of religion to perpetrate some great revenge, seems to be the occupations most congenial to the Montenegrians. Chap. YIII.] HISTOEY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. n this body passed through the districts which they sought to revolutionize, they scattered the most inflammatory appeals to the invidious feelings of race and religious distinction, and blazoned forth acts of individual injustice on the part of the Turks, as if the Turkish govern- ment had countenanced their perpetration. These means, by which it "was hoped to strengthen the insurrection, in fact Aveakened it, for they roused the martial spirit of the Turks even to ferocity. The garrison of Arta exem- plified the truth of this opinion, for they sallied forth, dispersed with slaughter various Greek bands, and, while exasperated by the calumnies they saw everywhere posted upon public places in the villages, they committed various excesses. At Peta they committed sacrilege upon the Greek Church, and violated the defenceless. This event did much to quicken the insurrec- tion into a fitful life — the people rose and cried for vengeance. Ai'ta was sacked, so far as the Turkish garrison was concerned, and Prevessa was obliged to capitulate. A great number of Greek subjects of Great Britain crossed over from the Ionian Isles into Epirus, and gave important aid to the rebellion by mone}', counsel, and arms. The Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Isles,* Sir Henry AVard, took measiii'cs to put a stop to this movement. He directed a circular to the British functionaries in all the islands, in which he said — "Your duty, sir, is to convince the authorities of your island that the movement which has so unfortunately commenced in Greece, is certainly calculated to remove all hope of amelioration in the condition of the Greek population of Turkey, by impelling them into a barbarous struggle of a nature to endanger themselves, their families, and their propert)', Avithout the slightest chance of success ; since no one can imagine that the treatie? and decla- rations of the great cabinets of Europe can depend on committees at Athens, the acts of which are assuredly not admitted by any established government." The Austrian government thought it neces- sary to comply with the requisitions of the Western powers, and to intimate to the Servians and Montenegrians that she would permit neither to revolt. The Turkish government acted with decision ; troops were dispatched to Epirus and Thessaly, and these were reinforced by Egyptian reserves. The forts previously taken by the rebels were recaptured ; hesita- tion appeared among their leaders ; and the courage of tlio Turkish and Egyptian soldiery, aided by tlieir superior discipline, which secured several signal successes, made such an impres- * The Ionian Isles were part of tlie ancient dominion of Greece, and afterwards suliject to llie Turks, they are now under the protection of England, who is represented by a lord high commissioner. sion upon the Greek population of Turkey that the revolters laid down their arms every- where, until the disturbance was confined to predatory bands in the mountains of Albania and Thessaly, and to the incursions of certain " free companies" across the frontiers of Greece. It would interrupt the order of narrating contemporaneous events, if in this place the final issue of the Greek insurrection were an- ticipated : other scenes and other actors de- mand our attention before that event finds its place upon our pages. The indignation felt in England and Prance when the tidings of the massacre at Sinopo reached them, compelled the governments to order their fleets into the Black Sea.* On the 19th December the instructions to the admirals were dispatched, but the storms and fogs so common at that season in the Euxine detained them at Beicos Bay until the 4th January, when, accompanied by several Turkish line-of- battle ships, laden with troops and stores for the * The Black Sea and the countries upon its shores being the principal theatre of the war, it is necessary for such of our readers as have not the advantages of exten- sive libraries that we give some description of it. It is a great inland sea between Europe and Asia, extending from the strait of the Bosphorus to the strait of Kertch, wliich separates it from the Sea of Azoff, in length about 700 miles, and rather more than half that in breadth. It washes the shores of the Turkish provinces of Rounielia and Bulgaria, and the Russian provinces of Bessarabia and the Crimea in Europe ; also the shores of the Turkish provinces of Asia ilinor from the Bosphorus to Fort St. Nicholas, and the whole shores of the Caucasus thence to the strait of Kertch. It is generally considered dangerous to navigators, because of dense fogs and sudden storms ; these dangers exist, but many who are well acquainted with it declare them to be exaggerated. It is tideless, and its depth steadily decreases. The waters are nearly one sixth less salt than those of other seas, which is attributed to the vast quantity of fresh water poured into it by the rivers which empty themselves froin its shores, such as the Danube, the Don, the Dniester, the Dnieper, and the Bug. Some of the most beautiful scenery in the world may be beheld from its bosom. The mountain- coast of the Crimea is very lovely ; from the southern side of the peninsula the hills are richly wooded to their summits, orchards and gardens clothe their slopes, amidst wliich are the summer-palaces of the Russian nobles, some of which are on a scale of princely grandeur, and others, conceived in the most perfect taste, are built in a style of architecture more in keeping with their purpose and the retreat of the locality. From the little port of Yalta one of the fairest scenes may be contemplated. All along the Circassian coasts the sublime or beautiful is present, and frequently the voyager realizes the truth of the doctrine taught by some metaphysicians — that the imago of the sublime is often formed by successive images of the beautiful. A voyager already quoted describes his tirst glimpse of the Caucasus in these terms : — " After passing the mouth of the Cuban, the lesser chain of the Caucasian mountains rose up before us in all their varied and picturesque beauty — for we were now skirting the coast of Circassia — and a more brilliant pageant than they exhibited, with the glorious sun of Asi.'i lighting up every separate pinnacle, cannot be conceived." Tho shores of the Black Sea have, if possible, more historic than picturesque interest; they are crowded with tumuli, ruins, dilapidated castles and monasteries, and the relics of ancient cities. All the great nations of antiquity had their emporiums and settlements upon these for ever famous coasts. But where the Greek, the Roman, and tho Genoese, built cities, the Turlc and the Russ sprea/? ruin and desolation. 72 HISTORY 01' THE WAll ACJAINST KUSSIA. [Chap. VIII. Asiatic armr, thoy proceeded to I'io coust of Anatolia, and afterwards lay a shun time off Trebizond. A small British s^qnadron remained at the entrance of the Bosphorus ; and the Re- tribution (ominous name!) was sent to Scbas- topol, to convey to the llussian admiral a notice that the fleets had entered the Euxine, and to requii'e the surrender of certain English engi- neers captured at Sinope. While before Sebas- topol, the officers of t\ni Retribution sketched the fortifications; this circumstance being observed by the llussians, gave them great umbrage, Avhich they have never since failed to show in receiving maritime flags of truce, or commimi- cations of any sort from the British squadrons, either in the Black Sea or in the Baltic. The fleets did not remain long upon their eastern cruise, but returned to Beicos Bay, except a few steamers which remained in observation off Odessa and Sebastopol, in order to prevent any sudden attacks or descents upon the Turkish coasts. When the czar was informed of the en- trance of the naval squadrons into the Euxine, he expressed no surprise, simply observing that he had foreseen the difficulty, and had provided against it. The despatch of Lord Clarendon, the English minister for foreign affairs, and the notifications of the English and French ambassadors at Constantinople, in reference to this new demonstration of the allies, rekindled the czar's wrath, which seemed to have been much appeased by his public thanksgivings for the slaughter at Sinope. He became morose, and almost savage to all about him ; no one but the empress could approach him with con- fidence; and tokens of a degree of excitement, amounting to mental aberration, began to dis- play themselves. While the tidings were fresh, and this excitement at the highest, he, in the presence of his whole court, delivered a sudden and terrible philippic against the allied govern- ments and the sultan. The impromptu cha- racter of this strange address — the intense ex- citement of the czar's countenance — the blended solemnity and ferocity of his manner, and the expressiveness of his elocution, produced the most imposing efi'ect upon all present. They listened with astonishment and awe while, with uplift eyes and extended hand, he pro- nounced, " War, war, war, to the enemies of llussia!" and added — " Eollowing in the path of my predecessors — faithful, like them, to tlie orthodox faith — after having invoked, like them, the aid of Almighty God, we shall await our enemies with a firm foot, from what side soever they come ; persuaded that our ancient device, ' the faith, the czar, and the country,' will open to us, as it has ever done, the path of victory." And then, ex- tending his hands, and assuming an attitude as if inspired, he pronounced the words — " Nobiscum Deus I Audite populi, et vinci- mini ; quia nobiscum Deus I " While in this elevation of excitement, he ordered despatches to his ambassadors at the courts of St. James and the Tuileries, directing them to demand explanations as to the entering of the allied squadrons into the Black Sea; and if the replies did not satisfy the ambassadors that the Western powers would preserve a strict neutrality, they were to demand their passports. The replies of course gave no such satisfaction ; and the ambassadors took their leave, much it was believed to their own regret, as rumour ascribed to them a hearty disapproval of the conduct of the czar in provoking the war. Baron Brunow had resided many years in the llussian embassy, and was an admirer of the English nation ; and If. Kisseleft' had resided many years in Paris, and was much respected by every class of Pari- sian society which could have the opportunity of intercourse with him. The answers of the English and French governments were pre- sented to Baron Brunow an.d M. Kisseleft' on the same day, the 1st of February; on the 6th the baron received his recall, M. Kisseleff his on the day following. W^hile the ambassadors of Russia were arranging the preliminaries of their withdrawal from the Western courts. Count Orloff was acting as the especial envo}' of the czar to the courts of Vienna and Berlin. His ostensible object was to negotiate terms of peace ; but what was shrewdly conjectured then, facts have since but too well established — that his real object was to secure the alliance, or, at all events, the neutralitj^ of the German powers. It was not alone with the governments of Austria and Prussia that the count was diplo- matically busy — all the petty German govern- ments had a share of his attentions ; and as his agents were legion, and all selected for their competency, and paid without parsimony, he was exceedingly well served. It was then the plans were laid of action and counter- action, advance and obstruction — of mimic rivalry and frustrating delays, which have ever since characterised the proceedings of the whole of the German powers. The ostensible proposals of the count were at once rejected by the Emperor Francis Joseph. Count OrlofiT, feigning himself ill — as some uncharitably suggested — remained in Yienna longer than diplomatic usage allowed after the rejection of his terms. He then fi'amed new propo- sals, to which the Vienna conference would not listen. The Turkish note which the Vienna conference adopted was refused bj- the Eus- sian emperor, who haughtily announced that he would listen to no mediation between him- self and the sultan ; that if the latter desirea to sue for peace, he must do so at the head- quarters of the emperor's army, or at St. Petersburg by an especial embassy. Count CilAP. VIII.] HISTOEY or THE ^'AV. AGAU^^ST RUSSIA. OrlofF, before leaving Yienna, presented his final terms of peace, in Avhich was included, as the first, that Turkey should initiate pro- ceedings, and, according to the emperor's mis- sive above noticed, either at the head- quarters of his army in the provinces, or at St. Petersburg ; with, however, liberty to refer for counsel to tlie four powers. The second "was that the former treaties between Russia and Turkey should be renewed. The third that Turkey should enter into a new treaty never to give an asylum to political refugees. The fourth that the sultan should recognise by an especial and formal declaration the emperor's protectorate of the Greek Christians. These demands, being much in excess of tliose made by Prince Men- schikoff, showed the allies the hopelessness of negotiating upon a basis favourable to Turkey, and might have taught them the futility of all negotiations with Russia until arms had im- pressed her with the necessity of herself seeking a peace founded upon the security of the Otto- man Empire. Count Orloff left Yienna on the 4th Februarj'-, and brought with him to St. Petersburg the welcome news that the German powers would retain a strict neutrality. The Austrian government immediately after pro- posed a general protectorate of the Christian subjects of the Porte, and sent this proposal to the czar for his acquiescence, before submittiug it to the allies. The answer of Nicholas was fierce and prompt. " Russia will permit no other power to meddle in the affairs of the Greek Church. Russia had treaties with the Porte which would settle the question between them alone." Yet, will it be credited by the general reader, that, after this decisive and insulting communication, Austria again set to work to engage the allies — Turkey more especiallj* — in another note; that the Western powers allowed themselves to be played with by the artifices of Austria, and constrained their spirited and consistent allj', Turkey, reluctantly to take part in the weak proceeding? Nothing, however, came of these diplomatic conferences but delay, until the allies sent their ultimatum to the czar some weeks later. The most notable person in all these negotiations, originating at Constantinople and transferred to Yienna, was Lord Stratford de Redclift'e ; and the most sagacious of all the negotiators, although not universally reputed so, was Rcdschid Pasha, the Turkish foreign minister. AYc shall close the present chapter by a brief memoir of each. YiscouNT Stratfoud de Rf.dcliffe, G.C.B., ambassador-extraordinary and ministcr-pleni- potentiar}' to the Ottoman Porte, was born about the year 1783, and is the son of a London merchant. George Canning, the dis- tinguished statesman, orator, and scholai", was his first cousin. Stratford Canning received hia early education at Eton, and his more complete education at King's College, Cam- bridge. The Cannings are of humble origin — the grandfather of Lord Stratford (and of George Canning) having lived in a very ob- scure condition in Ix-eland, where he was born, before he sought better fortunes in England. Stratford Canning was appointed, in 1807, precis writer to his cousin George, who was then secretary of state for foreign affairs. In the same year, he attended Mr. Merry on his special mission to Denmark and Sweden ; and, in conjunction with the late Earl of Morning- ton, acted as secretary to tlie envoy. In 1808, he accompanied Mr. Adair in a similar capacity to the Porte. In 1809, he M'as appointed per- manent secretary to the embassy at Constanti- nople; and so early as 1810, upon the recall of Mr. Adair, was appointed minister-plenipo- tentiary to that court ; but, after negotiating the peace of Bucharest, between the Porte and Russia, he returned home. His first exploit in diplomacy — at all events, the first on his own responsibility — gave great satisfaction to the party in power in England, among wliom Mr. Stratford Canning had many iutluential friends, who lost no opportunitj- of commending liis parts, and holding him up as a young man of genius and of the greatest promise. The treaty of Bucharest, however, was all in the interest of Russia. The success of Mr. Stratford Canning's mediation lay in obtaining, as it was thought, better terms for Turkey than could liavo been expected; and, at all events, in promoting a peace between the two powers, which was then desired by England. The English policy in those days was to strengthen Russia, as a conservative power, useful in the balance against revolu- tionary Erance; and Mr. Stratford Canning's negotiations were influenced by that policy. In 1814, the subject of our memoir was sent out as envoy to Switzerland, and assisted in the arrangement of the alliance of the nineteen cantons, which became the basis of their federal compact. This compact has never secured a happy and complete federal union of the can- tons; butwebclieveMr.S. Canning had no merit and deserved no blame in connexion with any of the successes or failures of that treaty : he merely represented his country, and did little and oflfered little advice upon the occasion. His presence was of more importance at the Congress of Yienna afterwards, whither he went to aid in the final settlement of the Swiss question. In 1820, he was created a privy councillor, and was accredited envoy-extra- ordinary and minister-plenipotentiary to the United States of America. He remained there three years. Soon after his return home, he was again dispatched to America to adjust all the questions in dispute between the govern- ment of that country and his own. A treaty was drawn up as the result of his negotiations, 74 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST llUSSIA. [CHAr. VIII. whicli was not ratified. The boundary question, which he supposed he had settled, remained as unsettled as ever, and nearly provoked a Avar subsequently between the two countries. In 1824, Mr. S. Canning was sent to St. Petersburg on a special mission in reference to the Greek revolution, and en route he ac- complished a mission to the court of Vienna. Having executed the duties laid upon him by his government at those courts, he was again appointed ambassador to the Porte, whither he went from St. Petersburg. He became the partisan of the Greeks on that occasion, and originated the petty policy which made a little kingdom for Otho, and which made a little kingdom and a little king the suitable instru- ments of the czar in his oriental designs. Upon Mr. S. Canning's return to London, in 1827, he drew up the treaty of London, by which the naval events of Navarino, and the coercion of the Porte by a Russian army, shook to their centre the power and empire of the sultan, and prepared the way for fresh Russian ag- gressions. In 1828, he went on a special mission to Greece; and, in 1829, took part in the especial conferences, held at Paris, for the formation of the Greek monarchy. While he Avas negotiating, Diebitch, the Russian general, was fighting his way to Adrianople ; as, recently, while the great diplomatist was similarly engaged, the armies of Russia were laying siege to Silistria. His province seems to have been the theoretical ; the czar's, and that of his officers, the practical and substantial. It must be told, in justice to Mr. S. Canning, that although disposed to make a little Greek kingdom, his plan assigned a considerably wider boundary than that agreed upon. It was chiefly through Russian influence that the independent Greek territory was so limited as it is. Mr. Can- ning opposed the Russian limits ; but the government at home repudiated their own plenipotentiary, and adopted in theii' integrity the plans of Russia. He then resigned, and returned home ; but public opinion Avas with him in this case ; and the government, yield- ing to its force, recommended the king to confer upon him the Order of the Bath, and he became thence known as Sir Stratford. He then entered parliament for the most corrupt and contemptible of aU the unreformed bo- roughs—Old Sarum. In 1831, Sir Stratford was sent once more to Turkey, and some of his previous views as to boundary, constitution, &c., were carried into effect concerning Greece; so that, in 1832, the treaty of London was executed finally, and definitely settling the affairs of Greece. The same year he was sent on a special mission to Madrid and Lisbon, but only went to the former. He soon returned, and re-entered parliament as member for one little borough after another, until his ecrvicea were again required at Constantinople. He had twice, in the meantime, refused the gover- nor-generalship of Canada. Returning, on leave of absence, he was sent to Berne, in 1847, to interpose in the cantonal quarrel between the Sunderbund and the other por- tions of Switzerland. It was a very judi- cious selection of a minister on the part of the British government, as the cantons regarded him as a sort of sponsor for their constitution. Russia, Austria, and Louis Philippe, the traitor citizen-king, had conspired against the liber- ties of Switzerland; and, as is always the case when a free state is to be oppressed or dismem- bered, they blackened the reputation of the Swiss people and government thorough the medium of the press of Paris, Brussels, Vienna, and Berlin. Sir Stratford exposed these calum- nies, and reconciled the existing differences, or controlled them .by his moral influence and intellectual and historic authority — much to the disappointment of the author of all the mis- chief, Louis Philippe, and his abettors, Austria and Russia. Sir Stratford again returned to his post in Turkey, where he was the sound counsellor of the Porte against Russian intrigue and aggres- sion, as far as the instructions of his government allowed. Although some of his proceedings were unfortunate, and the results of his policy detrimental to Turkey, we are of opinion that, in these cases, he was much fettered by the orders of the Poreign-office. On one occasion, the czar refused to receive him as an ambas- sador from the British court ; and the bitter personal hostility to him of Nicholas was notorious. He is much feared and disliked by the Russian diplomatists, and by none more than by Count Nesselrode, who is often re- garded as friendly to England. Sir Stratford's oriental policy was drawn from the advice of his illustrious cousin, of whom Byron said, " Canning is a genius — almost a universal one : he is a wit, a poet, an orator, and a states- man." It was well understood at St. Peters- burg whence Sir Stratford derived his diplo- matic inspirations, and he was disliked and feared accordingly. We have a remarkable exemplification of this in a certain diplomatic document of Count Pozzo di Borgo, dated Octo- ber, 1825; it is from a secret despatch to Count Nesselrode : — " The introduction of Mr. Canning into the ministry, and the influence which he exercises in it, in his character as a popular leader, have weakened the ancient relations between Russia and the British cabi- net; indeed, the change of doctrines which results has almost destroyed them. His con- duct in the aflaks of Turkey proves that nei- ther the most perfect confidence displayed on our part, nor sacrifices the most evident, have Chap. VIII.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 75 been able to change his sentiments in regard to us. It has been full of suspicion and jealousy; "which proves that it may one day become hostile." Sir Stratford and Lord Palmerston heartily co-operated in the case of the Hungarian re- fugees ; and the advice which was given by them, and by Redschid Pasha and Omar Pasha, sustained the sultan in refusing their extra- dition at the demands of Austria and Russia. The most important reforms in the Turkish administration were accomplished at the in- stance of Sir Stratford, and since he became Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, his influence has been similarly wielded. Torture, and the in- fliction of death upon renegades, were abo- lished at his suggestion. The appointment of mixed commissions of Turks and Christians for the trial of offences is his idea; and the reception of the testimony of Christians in the courts was afterwards established at his request. On the 24th of April, 1852, lie was I'aised to the peerage; and on his re- turn to Constantinople, he obtained firmans for the liberties of all Protestant Christian sects, as well as of the oriental sects through- out the sultan's dominions. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe is a man of taste, and a patron of literature and science ; he is especially fond of classic antiquities. "When Mr. Layard could not obtain any help from government. Lord Stratford (then Sir Stratford Canining), at his own expense, authorised him to proceed with many of his researches. The Eudrum marbles, the supposed remains of the Mausoleum erected at Halicarnassus by Artemisia, Queen of Caria, for her husband, Mausolus, were obtained by Sir Stratford, by firman from the Porte, and given by him to the British Museum. Lord Stratford married, in 1816, Harriet, daughter of Thomas Raikcs, Esq., Governor of the Rank of England, who was removed from him in the year following by death. In 1825, he married his second wife, Elizabeth Charlotte, daughter of James Alexander, Esq., of Sumner Hill, near Tunbridge, niece of the Earl of Calcdon. His heir is his son, the Hon. George Canning. Lord Stratford is one of the most industrious men that ever represented England at a foreign court. It was not from laziness or love of case that he neglected the hospital at Scutari, about which so much has recently been said. He was duped by those whose interest it was to deceive him, but upon whose representa- tions he relied. He has been much blamed for the severity of his temper, and his want of urbanity to British sti'angers in Turkey. "VYe believe that no resources of time or temper could meet the demands made upon them, in Lord Stratford's case, by the crowds of his idle, and foolish, and wc must add interested fellow- subjects, who pursue him for patronage and favour in his embassy. Truth compels us, however, to admit that his temper, always quick, has of late years become irritable to a degree that gives just offence to others, and is most painful to his friends. He does not possess the vigilance and activity of his former years. Since exalted to the peerage, it has also been observed that he has assumed a hauteur, an air of consequence, a pomp, and an authority, foreign to his previous habits. The time has arrived when the otium cum dignitate becomes his years. Memoir of REDScnin Pasha. — Redschid Pasha is undoubtedly the most eminent man in the Turkish Empire ; Lord Redcliffe is represented to have said of him that he was the only honest man among its public men. Guizot in public designated him a great man. That he is a very important person to Turkey and Europe may be inferred from the fact that he is the chief instrument in effecting all the useful reforms of the sultan's govern- ment, and that by his conduct of its foreign affairs Russian encroachment has been resisted, and Russian menace recently defied. "\Ye wish we could add that Russian intrigue had been baffled, but that has not been the case. The diplomatists of the czar have outwitted Redschid ; they soon discovered that his weak points were a love of protocols and treaties, and a pride in his own capacity and dexterity ; they also perceived that he dreaded and ab- horred war, for which he has no genius, and that he would make great sacrifices to avert it. The policy of ISTicholas was based upon this knowledge of Redschid ; and therefore the Porte was perpetually threatened with war during that monarch's life, in order to induce Redschid to negotiate, which he was alwa5's ready to do, and, with the aid of his faith- ful friend, Lord Redcliffe, he was even eager to try a diplomatic fencing-match with tlie czar's envoys. Skilful as Redschid is, he was generally defeated, having a weak power to serve, and the cunning employers of a formida- ble empire to contend with. It was under Red- schid's influence that the late sultan founded a diplomatic corps to represent him abroad; previously, the sultans, although occasionally sending ambassadors for special purposes, did not employ stated representatives to foreign governments. Of the early life of Redschid very little is known. It is diflicultto learn anything of the early life of public men in Turkey : they arc generally persons who have originally been poor tradesmen, small shopkeepers, or slaves. Redschid was the son of some government functionary, and when a boy had opportunity of observing how the public business was carried on. Tlic terrible Ali Pasha, whose 76 HISTOUY OP THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [CiiAr. IX. cruelties in the Greek insurrection became so notorions, married lledschid's sister; and as lier father died while her brother was a boy, she took him to her home, and he became the private secretary of his brother-in-law. While the latter was governor of the Morea, and when previously grand vizier, lledschid was his painstaking and intelligent secretary ; and when All's failure in Greece ruined him, lled- schid, previously a notable person, emerged into a prominent public life. He was em- ployed in various important offices in Turkey ; and, in 1836, he was appointed ambassador to France, an office for which his knowledge of the French language and literature peculiarlj^ qualiticd him — departments of intelligence generally unknown to Turkish public men. After serving his master well in Paris, he was accredited to London in a similar capacity, and here his knowledge of the English language and literature excited great surprise, and won for him much respect. In fact, Eedschid was one of the most considerable persons in Paris and London while residing in those places. He was respected by the corps diplomatique, and was fashionable with the leaders of liaut ton. In 1846, he was first named minister of foreign affairs by the sultan; and since then was three times grand vizier, and twice minister at the Foreign-office. He is the head of the reform- ing party, and is violently opposed by the old Turkish party. M. Bianchi, late oriental secretary to the foreign minister of France, says of him : — " Eedschid Pasha is not only — by the European celebrity of his name — the first statesman in the empire, he is also indis- putably the man whose past history recalls the greatest services to the country, and to its civilization. Among these services may be enumerated the constitutional act of Gulhkane, the quarantine, the posts, the abolition of monopolies, the re-organisation of the army, the reform of the currency, the creation of the university ; in short, all the important im- provements by which Turkey has been favoured by the sultans since 1838, have either been suggested, or prepared and executed oy Eed- scliid Pasha, under tlie auspices of these sove- reigns." His personal character is not to bo commended. He has been accused of pecula- tion, and but for his services would have been punished. No foreigner can visit his house without being surrounded by his servants for " lachhish" (a fee), in order to obtain the privilege of an interview. Important public business will not secure the great man's re- ception unless bribes go before it. It is alleged that even Lord Stratford, who pre- serves Iledschid in power, cannot visit him without a cost of 500 piastres. Opposed to polygamy, he allows his wife to train young persons for the harems of others. He is cun- ning, expert, intriguing, and selfish ; and but for his love of European manners and ideas, and his vigilant opposition to Russia, he would be an undesirable servant or councillor for the sultan. His age is about fifty-five, and he is said to be very handsome, but all writers do not so represent him. Mr. McFarlane, who seems to have a prejudice against him for his reforming tendencies, says, " I never saw him but once, when he was returning through the filthy streets of Tophana from a conference with the sultan. He appeared to be a very different man from what he was in London, he had grown obese, and his complexion had become muddy; he looked gloomy, uneasy, and sulky ; but this may have proceeded from the fact that he was then on the point of being thrust from place and power." If our readers wish to know more of him, they may consult Bayle St. John's work — The Turlcs in Europe. He is still the most influential man in Turkey in the department of foreign politics, and is a warm partisan of the Western powers, and a de- cided opponent of Russia. If he can be kept from entangling himself, his country, and her allies, in some new mesh of protocols, by which he may display his accomplishments in that line and gratify his vanity, his usefulness as a minister or vizier of Turkey may yet be very great. CHAPTER IX. PEEPARATIONS FOE WAR.— COREESPONDENCE OF THE TWO EMPERORS.— RUSSIAN MANIFESTO. -ENGLISH PEACE DEPUTATION.- ULTIMATUM OF THE ALLIES.— THE CZAR'S REPLY. " He doth bestride tlus narrow woi-ld Like a colossus." While the negotiations recorded in the pre- vious chapter were "draggingtheir slow length along," England and France began gradually to prepare for the impending strife. It is marvel- lous to ordinary men how our statesmen could suppose peace possible under such circum- stances as our history has pointed out; but the Sn.UvsrERE. hallucination prevailed equally in the Foreign- offices of Paris and London, and, stranger still, the Turkish Foreign-office admitted the idea, and Iledschid Pasha was as ready to nibble at all sorts of overtures as Lord Westmoreland at Vienna, and as Count Puol was to present them ; yet some of the best statesmen in Chap. IX.] HISTORY OF THE AVAR AGAmST RUSSIA . 77 both countries warned their respective govern- ments against indulging in the hope that war could be averted. M. Thiers expressed him- self to the Emperor Napoleon with great confidence to this effect. His words are represented to have been — "The Emperor Nicholas finds that Russia has in face of her a far more difficult affair than he had ever anti- cipated, but notwithstanding the difficulty of his position he is not the man to give way : in addition, he is subjected to the pressure of the old Muscovite part}-, as the sultan is con- strained in a measure bj- the ulemahs and the old Ottoman party." M. Guizot was especially summoned to the imperial presence, and in- terrogated as to his opinion. His answer is said to have been — " Sire, I am convinced that the czar will not abandon an iota of his pre- tensions." The opinions of our own leading political men are already familiar to our readers. At this juncture Kossuth wrote some letters which did not attract sufficient notice at the time, but which foreshadowed darkly the com- ing events. The French emperor was still of opinion that peace might be maintained, and so expressed himself to the two veteran statesmen above-named. It was not then known that his reliance was mainly upon the effect an autograph communication from himself might have upon the Emperor Nicholas. He wrote a letter — a masterpiece in its way — but the czar was unchecked even for a moment in his career. Still, while the letter was meditated, and, afterwards, speeding its way to St. Peters- burg, Napoleon III. was organising his re- sources and making ready for the worst. Early in January orders were given to provide 400 horses for every cavahy regiment, instead of 120, the usual yearly supply. Soon after an order was issued to the minister of marine to arm twelve additional ships of the line ; at Brest a squadron had been already fitting when this order was given ; and at L' Orient a squa- dron of four frigates was nearly ready for sea. The emperor frequently consulted ilarshal St. Arnaud and General Pelissicr on subjects of military arrangement ; and the Dehats hinted that the latter should be made minister of war, the former commander-in-chief of an expedi- tionary army. Other Paris papers foretold the appointment of General Canrobert. An extraordinary levy of seamen in the ports of Brittany was ordered contemporaneously with the instructions issued to the minister of marine for the increase of ships. The Courier (hi Ildcre gives a painful picture of the promp- titude and stringency with which these orders were executed. The preparations in England were not equal to those of France, and our French neighbours murmured at this ; the English press also called public attention to the dilatory conduct of the British government. Quickened by these dis- contents in both capitals, some hurry was shown, and various orders were issued and recalled. There seemed to be no directing head in English military affairs ; and the fact that an order was given was no security that it was intended to be obej-ed. Sir Stejjhen Lake- man was sent to Omar Pasha as an adviser, and a sort of British commissioner. A military writer in CoJhurn's New Ilontldy for June, 1855, represents this appointment as an annoy- ance and hindrance to the pasha, and calls Sir Stephen a military incubus ! Several other officers were sent to Turkey, some of them to Omar Pasha, and others to Selim Pasha, at Batoum ; but none of these appointments were popular among military men, and very little good, if any, resulted from them. In the case of Omar Pasha, he was continually harassed by pompous opinions from these officers, who were alike ignorant of the character of the contending armies, and of the habits of the people upon the theatre of war. The presence of Lord Dudley Stuart and other independent English gentlemen at Con- stantinople encouraged the sultan ; and they were afterwards acceptable guests at the head- quarters of Omar Pasha's army, where their presence greatly encouraged the Turkish troops by this proof of sympathy on the part of the Western nations. Several distinguished Poles and Hungarians offered their swords to the sultan, but the Austrian minister, in a menac- ing but still furtive manner, opposed his acceptance of their services. The sultan was also discouraged and surprised by receiving from the Austrian and Prussian ministers strongly-expressed communications disapprov- ing of the entrance of the allied fleets into the Black Sea. So long as the sultan's allies only directed protocols against the aggressor, Austria and Prussia affected coincidence of opinion ; but, upon the first display of solid pro- tection, they were full of alarm and disapproba- tion. This was consistent on the part of powers whose ministers congratulated the czar upon the cowardly butchery at Sinope ; but how the "Western governments or Turkey could put any confidence in sovereigns so acting, passes our knowledge of human nature, and may well furnish metaphysical and ethical writers with a new chapter on the philosophy of credulitj'. The Pasha of Egypt was a less doubtful ally ; he sent to the Porte 25,000 muskets, a large portion of which were given in charge to a murid sent by Schamyl on an especial embassy to tlie Porte. This murid brought an autograph letter from the Dagliestan chief, or a letter at all events purporting to be such, as some deny to the warrior a knowledge of letters. A com- munication from the Pasha of Egypt placed at the sultan's disposal 12,000 additional tJoop-5. 78 IIISTORY or THE WAR AGAINST HUSSIA. [CnAP. IX, and a small but efficient detachment of artillery, independent of the guns usually allotted to Egyptian brigades. The eflbrts of the Porte Avere incessant to direct reinforcements upon the Danube, and to send to Schumla and also to Batoum, upon the Asiatic theatre of the war, large supplies of arms and ammunition. The most formidable preparations were made by the English Admiralty throughout the month of January, and in February, up to the time of the departure of the Eussian ambassador. There was much hesitation and confusion — almost as many counter- orders as orders — waste and extravagance incalculable; but still, so great were the naval resources of Great Britain that the work went on, and powerful naval armaments filled her ports and arsenals before the word was given to "let slip the dogs of war." Russia was not idle : the din of preparation for a war d Voutrance seemed to sound forth all over her vast territory. Inspections of the Russian fleets in the Baltic, and of the Russian arsenals, were incessant. Reviews of immense bodies of troops took place, especially in Poland and in "the governments" contiguous to the Baltic. Masses were offered, and incense per- fumed the air in all the churches, for the divine interposition and the " powerful aid of our Lady and the holy saints of Russia." The czar made various mendacious representa- tions to the Scandinavian powers ; his efforts to cajole them failed, and he resorted to menace. The Falles East, a Stockholm journal, informs us that King Oscar laid before the chambers of his kingdom no less than twenity- five notes, lettered from A to Z, which he had received from the " diplomatising" powers. He referred to the demands of Russia in terms of indignation, which his majesty's enemies represented as assumed. These demands were to the effect that Sweden should join her, or maintain an unarmed neutrality. The allies, on the other hand, were desirous to secure the assistance of Sweden, but offered no threats. Prussia advised a strict but armed neutrality for the present — her own course of action, or non-actien ; and King Oscar preferred the ad- vice of Erederick William, with whom he seemed disposed to co-operate in any policy. Norway decided on the fitting out of a squa- dron composed of frigates, corvettes, brigs, and gun-boats — crafts suited to the shal- lows of the Baltic Sea ; and she was willing to join the allies, if Sweden would concur. Sweden would not concur. The Russian en- voys retired baffled and angry with the spirit evinced by the Swedes, but with undissembled rage and vengeance towards the people of Norway, whose love of liberty and jealousy of Russia far exceeds in intensity those traits of feeling on the part of the people of Sweden. Overtures were at the same time made from St. Petersburg to the cabinet of Copenhagen for the cession of the island of Bornholm to Russia. Bornholm is within a day's sail of the Sound and Copenhagen. The King of Denmark was not unwilling to oblige his great conservative and imperial brother, but his fear of the Danish diet decided his refusal. IIi.s majesty, moreover, resolved upon a neutral position, and the czar declared that he would not recognise that neutrality — that Denmark must, from her position, be on one side or the other. It is to be presumed, therefore, that if the Baltic coasts of Russia cease to be block- aded by the allies, the Russian fleets will attack Denmark, making her neutrality a casus helli ; for, although the war has far ad- vanced at the time we write, Russia has not withdrawn her protest, nor recognised the neutrality of his Danish majesty. A similar protest was sent by the Russian court to that of Sweden, and the czar added this significant threat — " Look well to your interests." It had been well for the interests of all the Baltic powers ifthey had united with the allies; Russia might ere now have been forced back from the positions vi'hich she has so recently taken upon its shores. Sweden, Norway, and Den- mark, could furnish gun-boats and other small craft, and hardy and gallant seamen to man them, who would have penetrated every sinu- osity upon the shores of the Gulfs of Bothnia and Einland ; Helsingfors, Cronstadt, and perhaps St. Petersburg itself, would ere now have been bombarded. When peace is being secured, it will certainly not be for the interest of the Western powers to do anything for the Scandinavian nations, or shelter them in any way from the v.'rath of Russia, unless they have shaken off in the meantime the thraldom of theii' present unconstitutional and pro-Russian sovereigns. It is remarkable that throughout these pro- tracted negotiations the sovereigns of Ger- many and Scandinavia, and of Europe gene- rally, with the exception of the King of Sardinia, were all in favour of the czar, while the people were as generally in favour of the allies. The existence of so many petty states in Germany and Italy, the preservation of which, and of despotic authority in them, forms a part of the czar's policy, is injurious to the liberties of Europe, and promotes the designs of Russia. An author of some cele- brity wrote well many years ago on this sub- ject; we wish his words may enlighten the policy of the more free and powerful govern- ments. "Europe is divided into unnatural sections by the force of its existing governments ; when that foreign and hostile force is removed, the sections will reunite with the masses from which they were originally sepai'ated. The Chap. IX.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 79 mind of Germany is one, though the govern- ments are many ; the governments are totter- ing, and Germany, free and independent, will form one powerful and enlightened empire. This change must be for the benefit of Great Britain. Our alarms about the power of France are unnecessary ; but Germany, united in one body, would at all times form a counter- poise to all aggressions from the other side of the llhine. Italy, when it formed one king- dom, would be sufficient to defend its natural barrier, the Alps ; and the Sclavonian pro- vinces of Austria, confederated with Poland, would form an advanced guard against the aggressions of Russia in Europe." * The czar did not confine his naval or diplo- matic efforts to the northern and western departments of his empire. He made fresh attempts to entangle the shahs of Central Asia and the Persian monarch in his nets, and he increased his defences on the coasts of the Crimea ; his ships were withdrawn within the harbour of Sebastopol, where they numbered forty — twenty of them being line-of-hattle ! What an armament to keep upon the waters of an enclosed sea, where he had no enemy to encounter, and no use for this array of power but aggression upon Turkey ! Sympathy with the objects of the "Western powers, and opposition to Russia, arose at this juncture from a very unexpected quarter. Prince Metternich, the veteran and absolutist statesman, exerted his influence with his royal master to induce a closer alliance between Austria and the West. When taunted by the Russian party at Yienna with his inactivity in the days of his power where Russia was con- cerned, he replied: "My administration of affairs has been always anti-Russian ; I have never been indifterent to her progress, and was only passive when I saw that France was in alliance with her, and when my opposition and protest could avail nothing. I was greatly opposed to the erection of a Greek kingdom, for which opposition I incurred great reproach. I wished to do everything possible for the independence of Germany, which must cease if Russia become one day all-powerful ; and the emancipation of Greece was an additional instrument in the hands of Russia." These remarkable words made a deep iraj^ression upon the young Emperor Francis Joseph, and greatly disconcerted the Austro-Russian party. Amongst the many schemes and enterprises which racked the brain of the czar, was one to dethrone the Emperor Napoleon by what was called the fusion of the elder branch and the Orleanist brancli of the Bourbon family. The agents of the czar accomplished " the fusion." The Duchess of Orleans, mother of ♦ The Progress of Britain, p. 80. By .Tames Douglas. the lieir of the French throne through the Orleans dynasty, resisted, notwithstanding the importunities of her unprincipled brothers-in- law, who, forfeiting nothing themselves, were willing to strip her and their young nephew of hope and glor}-, if they could only inflict mis- chief upon the hated rival of both sections of the Bourbons. The conduct of the Duchess of Orleans was politic, wise, fearless, and high- principled ; and if a scion of the Bourbon race again mount the throne of France, we trust it may be under the regency of this pure and noble-minded woman. Before the answers of the British and French. governments were communicated to the Rus- sian ambassadors, concerning the entrance of the allied fleets into the Black Sea, the French emperor performe<3 one of those eccentric but clever "afiairs," for which he has gained so much notoriety. He addressed an autograph letter to the czar ; the letter he had been for some weeks revolving in his mind, and upon the effect of which he relied so much. The letter occupies too important a place on the scroll of history to be omitted from our pages. "Talace of the Tuileries, 29th January, 18-5t. " SiEE, — The difference which has arisen between your majesty and the Ottoman Porte has assumed such a grave aspect, that I think it right myself to explain directly to your majesty the part which France has taken in this question, and the means which suggest themselves to me in order to avoid the dangers which menace the tranquiUity of Europe. The note which your majesty has just sent to my government, and to that of Queen Victoria, endeavours to prove that it was the system of pressure adopted from the commencement by the two maritime powers Avhich alone involved the question in bitterness. On the contrar}-, according to my view, tlie matter would liave continued a cabinet question, if the occupation of the two principalities had not suddenly transferred it from the region of discussion to that of fact. Nevertheless, although your majesty's troops had entered Wallachia, we advised the Porte not to consider that occupa- tion as a warlike act, thus proving our extreme desire for conciliation. After I liad consulted with England, Austria, and Prussia, I proposed to your majesty a note designed to give satis- faction to all. Your majesty accepted it. We had hardly, howevei', been informed of this good news, when your minister, by explanatory commentaries, destroyed all the conciliatory effects of it, and thus prevented us from insist- ing, at Constantinople, upon its pure and simplo adoption. The Porte, for its own part, sug- gested some modifications in the note, to which the representatives of the four powers at Vienna were not indisposed to agree. They were, not, HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. IX however, agreed to by j-our mtijesty. It was theu that the Porte, wounded in its dignity, its independence threatened, and being com- pelled to raise un army to oppose that of your majesty, preferred to declare war rather than remain in a state of uncertainty and humilia- tion. The Porte had claimed our support ; the cause of the Porte appeared to us to be a just one J and the English and French squadrons "were therefore ordered to the Bosphorus. Our attitude in reference to Turkey was that of a protector — but it was passive. We did not invite her to war. We unceasingly addressed to the ears of the sultan the advice of peace and moderation, persuaded that this was the best mode of coming to an agreement; and the four powers consulted together again, and submitted to your majesty some other propositions. Your majesty, on your part, exhibiting the calmness which arises from the consciousness of strength, contented yourself with repulsing from the left bank of the Danube, as in Asia, the attacks of the Turks ; and, with the moderation worthy of the chief of a great empire, your majesty declared that you would act on the defensive. Up to that period we were, I may say, inter- ested spectators — but simply spectators — of the dispute, when the aftair of Sinope compelled us to take a more decisive part. France and England had not thought it necessary to send troops to the assistance of Turkey. Their flag, therefore, was not engaged in the conflicts which took place upon land. Put at sea it was very different. There were at the entrance to the Bosphorus 3000 guns, the existence of which proclaimed loudly enough to Turkey that the two leading maritime powers would not allow her to be attacked by sea. The aftair at Sino2)e was for us as painful as it was unex- pected ; for it matters little to us whether the Turks wished to convey munitions of war to the Russian territory. In fact, Russian ships attacked Turkish vessels in the waters of Turkey, while those vessels were riding quietly at anchor in a Turkish port. The Turkish ves- sels were destroyed, in spite of the assurance that there was no wish to commence an aggres- sive war, and in spite of the vicinity of our squadrons. It was no longer our policy which received a check, it Avas our military henour. Tlie sound of the cannon-shot at Sinope I'e- sounded painfully in the hearts of all those who, in England and France, wish to preserve national dignity. There was a general partici- pation in the sentiment that, wherever our cannon can reach, our allies ought to be respected. Out of this feeling arose the order given to our squadrons to enter the Black Sea, and to prevent by force, if necessary, the I'ecur- rence of a similar event. Thence arose the collective notification sent to the cabinet of St. Petersburg, announcing that if we prevented the Turks from making an aggressive war upon the coasts of Russia, we would also pro- tect the Turks upon tlieir own territory. As to the Russian fleet, in prohibiting its naviga- tion of the Black Sea, we placed it upon a difterent condition ; because it was important during the war to preserve a guarantee equi- valent in force to the occupation of the Turkish territory, and thus facilitate the conclusion of peace, by having the power of making a desir- able exchange. Such, sire, is the real result and statement of the facts. It is clear that having arrived at this point, they must either bring about a definite understanding or a decided rupture. Your majesty has given so many proofs of your solicitude for the tran- quillity of Europe, and by your beneficent influ- ence has so powerfully arrested the spirit of disorder, that I cannot doubt as to the course you will take in the alternative that presents itself to your choice. Should your majesty be as desirous as myself of a pacific solution, what would be more simple than to declare that an armistice shall now be signed ; that things shall resume their diplomatic course ; that all hostilities shall cease ; and that the belligerent forces shall return to the places from which motives of war have led them ? Thus the Rus- sian troops would abandon the principalities, and our squadrons the Black Sea. Your ma- jesty, preferring to treat directly with Turkej-, might appoint an ambassador, who could nego- tiate with a plenipotentiary of the sultan a convention which might be submitted to a conference of the four powers. Let your majesty adopt this plan, upon which the Queen of Eng- land and myself are perfectly agreed, and tran- quillity will be re-established and the world satisfied. There is nothing in the plan which is unworthy of your majesty — nothing which can wound your honour; but if, from a motive diflicult to understand, 3"our majesty should refuse this proposal, then France, as well as England, will be compelled to leave to the fate of arms and the chances of war that which might now be decided by reason and justice. Let not your majesty think that the least ani- mosity can enter my heart. I feel no other sentiments than those expressed by your ma- jesty yourself, in your letter of the 17th of January, 1853, in which you write, ' Our rela- tions ought to be sincerely amicable, based as they are upon the same intentions — the main- tenance of order, the love of peace, respect for treaties, and reciprocal good feeling. ' This programme is worthy of the sovereign who traced it, and I do not hesitate to declare that I remain faithful to it. I beg your majesty to believe in the sincerity of my sentiments; and it is with these sentiments that " I am, sire, your majesty's good friend. " NArOLEO>\" Chap. IX.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. 81 The above letter arrived at St. Petersburg the 6th February. M. de Castelbacque, the French ambassador, informed Count Nesselrode that he wished to present a letter to the czar from the Emperor of the French. The etiquette of the Russian court forbids any business with the emperor after four o'clock ; but Count Nesselrode made this important communication an exception, and M. Castelbacque appeared at the palace the same evening. The emperor was ill, but graciously received the envoy and his communication. Ilaving read it, the czar appeared painfully affected. He then spoke a few words in Russ, in a low tone, which the ambassador did not comprehend. The czar, upon recovering his composure, told the envoy that he would answer the letter in a few days, which he did upon the 9th of February, in a spirit as insolent, as false, and as hypocritical, as pervaded the other documents and manifestoes to which his signature has been attached since Prince Menschikoff appeared at Constantinople. " St. Petersburg, 28th January (9th February), \S6i. " SiKE, — I could not reply better than by repeating to your majesty, as they belong to me, the words by which your letter terminates : — ' Our relations must be sincerely amicable, and rest upon the same intentions — the main- tenance of order, the love of peace, the respect of ti'catics, and mutual good- will.' Accepting, as you say, that programme such as I have traced it, you profess to have remained true to it. I dare believe, and my conscience tells it to me, that I have not deviated from it. For in the affair which separates us, and of which the origin does not come from me, I have always endeavoured to maintain friendly rela- tions with France. I have avoided with the greatest care to come in contact on this ground Avith the religion professed by your majest3\ I have made in the interests of peace, both in form and substance, all the concessions com- patible with my honour; and in claiming for my co-religionists in Turkej^ the confirmation of the rights and privileges which have been ac- quired for them since a long time, at the price of Russian blood, I have demanded nothing but what was consequent upon treaties. If the Porte had been left to itself, the differences which now rend Europe would have been long ago settled. A fatal influence alone came and threw itself across it. Ry provoking gratui- tous suspicions, and exalting the fanaticism of the Turks — by misleading tlieir government on my intentions and the real bearing of my de- mands, it has made the question assume such exaggerated proportions that war lias been the result. "Your majesty will allow me not to enter into too long details of the circumstances ex- posed in your particular point of view, of which your letter presents the chain. Yarious acts of mine very unexactlj' appreciated, in my opinion, and many a controverted fact would be necessitated to be re-established, at least, in such manner as I conceive them — long developments scarcely suitable in a corre- spondence from sovereign to sovereign. It is thus that your majesty attributes to the occupa- tion of the principalities the wrong of having suddenly translated the matter from the domain of discussion to that of fact. Rut you overlook the fact that that occupation, still purely even- tual, was anticipated, and in a great measure caused, by a very grave anterior fact — that of the apparition of the combined fleets in the neighbourhood of the Dardanelles. ^Moreover, long before that, when England still hesitated to assume a menacing attitude towards Russia, your majesty had first sent your fleet to Salamis. That oftensive demonstration surely evinced little confidence in me. It was of a nature to encourage the Turks, and paralyse beforehand negotiations by showing them France and England ready to maintain their cause at all risks. And, again, your majesty attributes to the explanatory commentaries of my cabinet on the Yienna note the impossibili- ties in which France and England found them- selves to recommend its adoption to the Porte. But your majestj' may be able to call to mind that our commentaries followed, and did not precede, the non-acceptation, pure and simple, of the note ; and I think that the powers, if they really desired peace, were bound to demand as a preliminary that adoption pure and simple, instead of permitting the Porte to modify what we had adopted without change. Moreover, if any part of our commentaries was of a nature to give rise to difliculties, I offered at Olmutz a satisfactory solution, which appeared such to Austria and Prussia. Unhappily, in the in- terval, a portion of the Anglo-French fleet had alread)' entered the Dardanelles, under the pre- text of protecting there the life aiul property of English and French subjects; and, to allow the whole fleet to enter without violating the treaty of 1841, it was necessary that war should be declared by the Ottoman govern- ment. It is my opinion, that if France and England liad desired peace as I did, they should at all cost have prevented this declara- tion of A^'ar, or wlien war was declared, at least have acted so as to keep it within tlie narrow bounds which I desired to trace for it on the Danube, so that I should not have been forcibly torn away from the purely defensive system it was my intention to follow^ Rut froin the moment the Turks were allowed to attack our Asiatic territory, to storm one of our frontier posts (even before the term fixed for the commencement of hostilities), to blockade Ak- haltzick, and to devastate the province of 82 HISTORY or THE YfAll AGAIN>ST EUSSIA. [CUAP. IX, Armenia — from the moment it was loft free to the Ottoman fleet to convey troops, arms, and ammunition to our coasts, could it be reason- ably expected that we should wait the result of such an attempt? Was it not to be sup- posed that we should do everything in our power to forestal it ? The affair of Sinope was the consequence — the forced consequence — of the attitude adopted by the two powers ; and the event surely could not appear to them un- expected. I had declared my wish to remain on the defensive ; but before the explosion of the war, as long as my honour and interests allowed me, as long as it remained within certain limits. Was that done which ought to have been done to prevent those limits from being passed ? If the part of spectator, or even of mediator, did not suffice for your majesty, and you desired to be the armed auxiliarj'- of our enemies, then, sire, it would have been more worthy of you to have told me so beforehand, by declaring war to me. Then every one would have known his part. But is it equitable to ch-arge us with criminality after an act which nothing was done to pre- vent r If the cannon-shots reverberating from Sinope were painful in the hearts of all those Mho in France and England entertain the lively sentiment of national dignity, does your majest)' suppose that the menacing presence of the 3000 guns you speak of, and the noise of their c-ntrance into the Black Sea, are facts without an echo in the heart of the nation wliich I have the honour to defend ? I learn from you for the first time — as the verbal declaration made to me here did not mention it — that at the same time they protected the provisioning of the Turkish, troops on their own territory, the two powers have resolved to forhid us the navigation of the Black Sea ; that is to say, apparently, the right of pro- visioning our own coasts. I leave it to j^our majesty to consider if that is, as you say, to facilitate the conclusion of peace, and if, in the alternative of which I am placed, I am allowed to discuss — to examine for a moment — your proposition of an armistice, of the imme- diate evacuation of the principalities, of nego- tiating with the Porte a convention to be submitted to a conference of the four powers — would you, sire, yourself, if you were in my place, accept such a position ? Would your national spirit permit you to do so ? I boldly Bay JSTo. Grant to me, then, the right to think as you do. Whatever your majesty may de- cide, it is not threats that will make me give in. My confidence is in God and in my right ; and llussia, I will guarantee it, will know how to show herself in 1854 what she was in 1812. "If, however, your majesty, less indifferent to my honour, should return to our pro- gramme — if you will offer me a cordial hand, as I now offtr mine to you at this last mo- ment — I will willingly forget how offensive the past has been to my feelings. Then, sire, — hut then only — we may discuss, and perhaps come to an understanding. Let your fleet confine itself to the prevention of the Turks taking new forces to the theatre of war. I willingly promise they shall have nothing to fear from attempts of mine. Let them send me a negotiator, and I will give him a fit- ting reception. My conditions are known at Vienna ; they are the only .basis upon which. 1 can treat. ''I beg of your majesty to believe in the sincerity of the sentiments with which. I am, sire, " Your majesty's good friend, " Nicholas." This letter to the Emperor Napoleon Avas followed by another irate production of the czar, in the form of a manifesto, which, as it produced an immense effect upon llussia, and the members of the Greek Chuix-h in Turkey, we give. " We Nicholas, Autocrat and Emperor of all the liussias, &c. «S:c. " We have abeady informed our beloved and faithful subjects of the progress of our disagreement with the Ottoman Porte. Since then, although hostilities have commenced, we have not ceased to wish — as we still wish — the cessation of bloodshed. We retained even the hope that reflection and time would convince the Turkish government of its misconceptions, engendered by treacherous instigations, in which our just demands — founded on treaties — have been represented as attempts at its inde- pendence, veiling intentions of aggrandisement. Vain, howevei", have been our expectations thus far. The English and Erench govern- ments have sided with Turkey, and the ap- pearance of the combined fleets off Constanti- nople served as . a further incentive to its obstinacy ; and now have the Western powers, without previously declaring war, sent their fleets into the Black Sea, proclaiming theu* intention to protect the Turks, to prevent the free navigation of our vessels of war for the defence of our coasts. After a course of pro- ceeding so unheard of among civilised nations, we recalled our ambassadors from England and Erance, and have broken off all political intercourse with these powers. Thus England and France have sided with the enemies of Christianity against Russia, combating for the orthodox faith. But Russia will not betray her holy mission ; and, if enemies infringe her frontiers, we are ready to meet them with the firmness bequeathed to us by om- forefathers. Are we not still the same Russian nation to CnAr. IX.] HISTORY OF THE WAP. AGAINST RUSSIA. 83 whose exploits the memorable year of 1812 bears witness ? — May the Ahuighty assist us to prove tliis by deeds ' With this hope — combating for our persecuted brethren, fol- lowers of the faith of Christ — with one accord let all Russia exclaim : ' Lord, our Redeemer, whom shall we fear ? May God be glorified, and his enemies be scattered !'" To both these documents an able refutation was given by the French minister for foreign affairs in what is called, in political parlance, a diplomatic circular. The animadversions of the French minister were eloquent and cutting, but betraying some mortification that his re- liance on the Emperor of Russia's moderation Avas disappointed. It is at once amusing and painful to read the recognition of the czar's great services to the cause of order, and his extreme moderation, in the despatches and circulars of the French minister, and compare them with the recorded conversations of her majesty's ambassa- dor at St. Petersburg. What services did the czar ever render to the cause of order ? Did he not throw the two great eastern empires of Turkey and Persia into repeated disorder by his aggres- sions ? Did he not rob and trample upon the people of the Danubian provinces whenever it suited his purposes? Did he not tread out the last glimmering spark of libertj' in Poland ? Did he not aid Austria to carry fire and devasta- tion upon the free and happy homes of Hun- gary, and there quench liberty and order in the blood of their bravest defenders? There lived no man in Europe, while he lived, from whom freedom and order might demand such extensive reparation. It is with shame, then, we read of Sir G. H. Seymour reminding his imperial majesty of his well-known modera- tion, which he alwaj's maintained, and perceive such men as Drouyn do Lhuys complimenting him for the services he rendered to Europe in supporting it against what were really oiforts for its own emancipation from civil and eccle- siastical bondage. There were parties and public men in Europe, in 1848-9, whose objects and proceedings were anarchical and unholy ; but the mass of the European population sought for liberal and enlightened government, and used their victories with moderation. The ro-actionaries and despots neither imitated the moderation of the people, nor proposed to themselves righteous or honoui'able ends. Never in the history of nations was political perfidy more shamelessly perpetrated than in the conduct of the courts and governments of Europe in the re-actionary policy of which the great autocrat was the main support. It is no wonder that Drouyn de Lhuys should ulti- mately retire from liis post, overreached by both Austria and Russia, whom he trusted, and after having perverted his own great talents and abused the position and interests of Jiis cc-untry by a temporising policj-, dictated by his despotic sympathies, as evinced in the cir- cular we give below. It is necessary to call the attention of our readers thus early to the bias of this statesman's mind, because of the important and injurious part j)laycd by him in the tedious negotiations by which the progress of the war, and the success of the allies, were impeded ; while, at the same time, we give him credit for his exposure of tlie czar's sophisms, and his eloquent denunciation of the czar's hypocrisy. " Paris, Marcli 5, 1854. " Sir, — You arc now cognisant of the answer of the Emperor Nicholas to the letter of the Emperor Napoleon, and you have also read the manifesto which the former sovereign has addressed to his people. The publication of these two documents has destroyed the last hope which might have been placed upon the wisdom of the cabinet of St. Petersburg; and that same hand which had acquired honour by the support it had held forth to Europe, shaken to its foundations, now opens the way to pas- sion and chances. The government of the emperor is deeply afflicted at the inutility of its efforts, and the ill-success of its moderation; but on the eve of the great struggle which he has not desired, and which the patriotism of the French nation will enable him to assist, he feels it necessary once more to disavow respon- sibility for results, and to place its whole weight upon that power Avhich will have to account for it in history, and to God. " In addressing the Emperor of Russia in terms in which the utmost conciliation was united with the most noble frankness, his impe- rial majesty was desirous of clearing the ques- tion of all the absurdities which kept the world in suspense between peace and war; and endea- voured so to arrange it as that there might be no ofTcuce given to the dignity of any one. Instead of acting upon a similar principle, and accepting tlie hand extended to him, the Emperor Nicholas preferred to recur to facts upon which Europe had definitively pronounced an opinion, and to represent himself as hav- ing had to contend, from the commence- ment of a crisis provoked bj- his government, with a preconceived and systematic system of hostility, whicli was fatally calculated to bring about that state of things wliicli has happened. It is not my voice, sir, it is that of Europe which replies, that never, at any period, did an imprudent policy meet Avitli adversaries more calm and more patient in their resistance to designs which their judgment pronounced to be unjust. " I will not go back to past events, upon which such full light has been thrown; but I must 84 niSTOUY OF THE WAR AGAINST IIUSSIA. [CllAI'. IX. once more repeat tliat it is no longer allowable to assiioilate the dispute between the Latins and the Greeks about the H0I5' Sepulchre, with the claim now put forward. The question . was arranged from the commencement of Prince Menschikoff's visit to Constantinople; and it is the claim which that ambassador raised upon one point, when he had obtained satis- faction upon another, which has aroused the whole world, and inspired all the cabinets with the same desires for caution and conciliation. " Is it necessary to enumerate all the attempts, the fiiilure of which is only attributable to an invincible obstinacy ? Nobody is ignorant of them; and there is nobody that is not aware that if decisive demonstrations were made during the progress of negotiations, each one of them was preceded by an aggressive act on the part of Russia. " I will only recall to recollection the fact that if the Prench squadron, at the end of March, anchored in the bay of Salamis, it was because since the month of Januarj^ there had been an immense assemblage of troops in Bessa- rabia. If the naval forces of France and Eng- land had approached the Dardanelles, where they only arrived in the month of June, it was because a Russian army was encamped upon the banks of the Pruth, and because the resolu- tion to cross that river had been taken, and had been effectually announced since the 1st of May. If, at a later period, our fleets were at Constantinople, it was because cannon resounded on the Danube ; and, in short, if they entered the Black Sea, it was because, contrary to the promise of acting upon the defensive, Russian vessels had left Sebastopol to destroy the Turkish vessels at anchor in the port of Sinope. Every step which we took in concurrence with Eng- land in the East had peace for its object, and we did not desire to interfere between the belligerent parties. Every day, on the contrary, Russia advanced openly towards war. Assur- edly, if there were two powers unlikely to coincide with France and Great Britain in a conflict with Russia, these powers were Austria and Prussia. You know, sir, that the principles by which we are actuated are known, and that Europe, constituted as a jurj-, has pronounced a solemn verdict upon preten- sions and acts of which no apology — however high the name from which it may now emanate • — can change the character. Thus, the dispute is not between France and England assisting the Porte, and Russia ; it is between Russia and every state which has a respect for what is right, and Avhose opinion and whose interest must compel it to support the good cause. " I therefore confidently contrast the una- nimity of the great cabinets with that appeal to the recollections of 1812, addressed to a sovereign who had just made a honourable and powerful eff'ort at coni;iliation. The whole conduct of the Erapei'or Napoleon sufficiently attests that if he be proud of the inheritance of glory left him by the head of his race, ho has neglected nothing in order to render his accession to the throne a pledge of the peace and tranquillity of the world. I will onlj' say one word, sir, of the manifesto in which his majesty the Emperor Nicholas announces to his people the resolutions he has taken. Our epoch, however troubled, has at least been exempt from one of the evils which most affected the werld in former days — I mean the wars of religion. Now, however, an echo of those disastrous times is made to resound in the ears of the Russian people. There is an affectation of opposing the Cross to the Crescent; and an appeal is made to fanaticism for the support which cannot be obtained from reason. France and England need not defend themselves from the imputations made against them. They do not support Islamism against the orthodox Greek faith. They go to protect the Ottoman empire from the ambitious covetousness of Russia. They go there with the conviction that the presence of their armies in Turkey will destroy the prejudices — already much weakened — which still separate the different classes of the subjects of the Sublime Porte, and which cannot be reconciled, unless the appeal sent from St. Petersburg, by provoking hatred of race and a revolutionary explosion, should paralyse the generous intentions of the sultan. For us, sir, we seriously believe that by giving our support to Turkey, we shall be of more use to the Christian faith than t-he government which uses it as an instrument to promote its temporal ambition. Russia is too oblivious, in the reproaches she makes against others, that she is far from exercising in her own empire, in reference to the sects not professing the dominant faith, a tolerance equal to that to which the Sublime Porte has a good right to lay honourable claim ; and that, if she were to display less apparent zeal for the Greek religion bej'ond her frontiers, and more charity towards the Catholic religion at home, she would better obey the law of Christ, which she so pompously invokes. " Receive, &c., "Deotjtn de LnTjTs." The ambassadors of the allies left St. Peters- burg during this diplomatical logomachy. The emperor showed a marked difterence in his mode of treating them. The French ambas- sador took his leave in the usual manner, and such politeness was oflered to him as the occa- sion allowed. He left on the 21st of February. The English ambassador was not permitted to ask for his passports — the czar, anticipating his recall, sent them ; he was not allowed to take Chap. IX.] IIISTOHY OP THE AVAR AG^UNST RUSSIA. 85 leave, and intimations were made to him that his departure had better be quickened : accord- ingly, Sir Gr. H. Seymour left on the 18th of February. The French ambassador signified his displeasure at the discourtesy^ shown to his Eritish colleague, and declined such marks of respect as, being refused to Sir G. H. Seymour, it might appear in him invidious to accept. The St. Petersburg Journal immediately after recorded the czar's protest against the line of policy pursued by the Western governments. The circular of Drouyn de Lhuys was exceed- ingly well-timed, for it followed immediately upon the allied ultimatum, which was dated the 28th of February; and on Tuesday, the 7th of March, the messenger left Vienna to bear it to the Russian capital. The terms were brief and stringent: — that, before the end of April, the czar should withdraw his armies from the principalities; and that, in six days after his receipt of the demand, he should signify its acceptance. The czar's comment on this was, that " it did not require five minutes' consideration ; and that he would expend his last rouble, his last musket, and his last man," rather than submit. This, however, was not his formal reply; he gave none, but retired to Peterhoff the day before the missive arrived, and the only official notice taken of it was by Count Nesselrode, who intimated that " there icas no answer^ Thus haughtily, defi- antly, and contemptuously, did the autocrat treat the "Western nations, their overtures of jjeace, their demonstrations of power, and their respectful forbearance. Austria and Prussia did not join in the ultimatum ; their policy was to reap all the fruits of war, if it should ensue, without any of the costs or risks. Austria pretended that it was necessary for her to give all her attention to the security of peace among the Sclaves on both sides of the Danube; to strengthen herself against Russian attack; Hungarian, Polish, or Italian revolt; and the suspicious and jealous policy of her German rival, Piiissia. An oificial document published in Yienna immediately upon the ultimatum having been sent, characterises the demands of the allies as just, and in accordance with the interests of Europe. AYhile, however, the czar aftected so much haughtiness and dis- dain at St. Petersburg, he sent a confidential agent, whose path ca'osscd that of the bearer of the ultimatum ; this agent was authorised to make proposals through Austria to the Western governments. These proposals were, however, the same imperious demands som.ewhat changed in form; and the ministers of England, France, Austria, and Prussia, were unanimous in at once deeming them unworthy of any serious discussion. Thus was brought to an end all negotiations between the allies and Russia preliminary to war. In order to preserve in our narrative the consecutive occurrence of these controversial and diplomatic letters and documents, we have carried our readers some way into the month of March, whereas the combatants on the fields of war were left shut up in the snows of winter, except as they emerged occasionally for some desultory attack. The warlike preparations of the allies we left as they s'tood at the end of January. Y''e shall return to these matters in another chapter, and shall conclude this by noticing one of the most odd and eccentric cii'cumstances which has ever been recorded in connexion with the politics of belligerent states. The Quakers, and the members of otlier religious denominations in England, consti- tuting the Peace Society, regarded the probable outbreak of war with great anxiety. The Society of Friends convened a general meeting of their body, and delegated from it three of their number to wait upon the Emperor of Russia, and present him with an address depre- cating war. The letter was written in the second week of January, and the Friends deputed to convey it Avere — Joseph Sturge of Birmingham, Robert Charleton of Bristol, and Henry Pease of Darlington. They left London on the 20th of January, and proceeded by way of Berlin, Ivonigsberg, and Riga, to St. Peters- burg, and arrived there on the 2nd of February. The deputation did not adopt the usual method of foreigners who seek a comuumication with the emperor ; instead of applying through their own ambassador, they at once made application to Count Kesselrode, who most courteously received them. The Friends justified their departure from the etiquette observed in com- munications with the imperial person or go- vernment by foreigners, on the ground that theirs was a religious, and in no sense a poli- tical mission, and therefore they made no use of courtly media in approaching the chief of the grand chancellerie and the emperor. Pos- sibly the shrewd Friends divined that neither the government at home, nor the ambassador at St. Petersburg, were vei-y favourable to their undertaking. On the 1 0th of February, the deputation was introduced by Count Nesselrode to his majesty, who received them standing, although at the time ill with the gout. The address was then read, and was as follows : — " To Nicholas, Empkkor op all the Russias. "May it please the Emperor, — We, the undersigned members of a meeting representing the roligiousSocietyof Friends, commonly called Quakers, in Great Britain, venture to approach the imperial presence under a deep conviction of religious duty, and in the constraining love of Christ our Saviour. " AYe are, moreover, encouraged so to do by the many proofs of condescension and Christian 86 HISTOEY OF THE WAll AGAINST RUSSIA fCnvr.. IX kindness, manifested by thy late illustrious brother, the Emperor Alexander, as well as by thy honoured mother, to some of our brethren in religious profession. " It is well known that, apart from all poli- tical considerations, we have, as a Christian Church, uniformly upheld a testimony against all war, on the simple ground that it is utterly condemned by the precepts of Christianity, as well as altogether incompatible with the spirit of its Divine Founder, who is emphatically styled the ' Prince of Peace.' This conviction we have repeatedly pressed upon our own rulers ; and often, in the language of bold but respectful remonstrance, have we urged upon them the maintenance of peace as the true policy, as wc-U as manifest duty of a Christian government. "And now, great prince, permit lis to express the sorrow which fills our hearts as Christians and as men, in contemplating the probability of war in any portion of the con- tinent of Europe. Deeply to be deplored would it be, were that peace (which to a large extent has happily prevailed for so many years) exchanged for the unspeakable horrors of war, with all its attendant moral and physical suffering. " It is not our business, nor do we presume to offer any opinion upon the questions now at issue between the imperial government of Eussia and that of any other country; but, estimating the exalted position in which Divine Providence has placed thee, and the solemn responsibilities devolving upon thee, not only as an earthly potentate, but also as a believer in that Gospel which proclaims ' Peace on earth and good- will toward man ;' we implore Him by whom 'kings reign and princes decree jus- tice,' so to influence thy heart and to direct thy counsels, at this momentous crisis, that thou mayest practically exhibit to the nations, and even to those who do not profess the ' like precious faith,' the efficacy of the Gospel of Christ, and the universal application of his command, ' Love your enemies : bless them that curse you : do good to them that hate you : and pray for them that despitefuUy use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father, which is in heaven.' "The more fully the Christian is persuaded of the justice of his own cause, the greater his magnanimity in the exercise of forbearance. May the Lord make thee the honoured instru- ment of exemplifying this true nobility, thereby securing to thyself and to thy vast dominions that true glory and those rich blessings which could never result from the most successful appeal to ai-ms. " Thus, mighty prince, may the miseries and devastations of war be averted ; and in that solemn day when ' every one of us shall I give account of himself to God,' may the bene- diction of the Eedeemer apply to thee : — ' Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God : ' and mayest thou be permitted, through a Saviour's love, to exchange an earthly for a heavenly crown, ' a crown of glory which fadeth not away.' \_Thc signatures folloiv.l " London, 11th of First month, 1854." The emperor listened with the most serious interest to these plain, pious, and impressive words. He seemed especially affected by the reference to his mother, and nodded assent to the expression concerning his predecessor, Alexander's, good-will to the Friends. Indeed, his whole manner was urbane and even respect- ful. These simple, upright, honest men, com- manded from the haughty arbiter of the fate of nations a respect which generals, and nobles, and kings could not win, even from his cotirtesy. The impression of the deputation was, that he was not uninfluenced by what was addressed to him; and the harshness, so often characteristic of his countenance, gave way to a bland kindness, while his voice, natu- rally commanding and severe, was filled with suavity. He detained the delegates some time in conversation, and gave them what he termed " an explanation of his differences with their government." The Friends afterwards noted down what was addressed to them, and com- pared these notes, which were as nearly as possible as follows : — " "We received the blessings of Christianity from the Greek empire ; and this has esta- blished and maintained ever since a link of connection, both moral and religious, between Russia and that power. The ties that have thus united the two countries have subsisted for 900 years, and were not severed by the conqtiest of Russia by the Tartars ; and when, at a later period, our country succeeded in shaking off that yoke, and the Greek empire, in its turn, fell under the sway of the Turks, we still continued to take a lively interest in the welfare of our co-religionists there ; and when Russia became powerful enough to resist the Turks, and to dictate the terms of peace, we paid particular attention to the well-being of the Greek Church, and procured the inser- tion, in successive treaties, of most important articles in her favour. I have myself acted as my predecessors had done, and the treaty of Adrianople, in 1829, was as explicit as the former ones in this respect. Turkey, on her part, recognised this right of religious interfer- ence, and fulfilled her engagements until within the last year or two, when, for the first time, she gave me reason to complain. I will not now advert to the parties who were her prin- cipal instigators on that occasion. Suffice it Chap. IX.j HISTOEY OF THE ^YAV. AGAIXST IIUSSIA. 87 to say that it became my duty to interfere, and to claim from Turkey the fulfilment of her engagements. My representations were press- ing, but friendly ; and I have every reason to believe that matters would soon have been settled, if Turkey had not been induced by other parties to believe that I had ulterior objects in view — that I was aiming at con- quest, aggrandisement, and the ruin of Turkey. I have solemnly disclaimed, and do now as solemnly disclaim every such motive .... I do not desire war ; I abhor it as sincerely as you do ; and am ready to forget the past, if only the opportunity be afforded me .... I have great esteem for your country, and a sincere affection for your queen, whom I admire, not only as a sovereign, but as a lady, a Avife, and a mother. I have placed full confidence in her, and have acted towards her in a frank and friendly spirit. I felt it my duty to call her attention to future dangers, which I con- sidered sooner or later likely to arise in the East, in consequence of the existing state of things. "What on my part was prudent fore- sight, has been unfairly construed in your country into a designing policy and an ambi- tious desire of conquest. This has deeply wounded my feelings and afflicted my heart. Personal invectives I regard with iudili'erence — it is beneath my dignity to notice them ; and I am ready to forgive all that is personal to me, and to hold out my hand to my enemies in the true Christian spirit. I cannot understand what cause of complaint your nation has against llussia. I am anxious to avoid war by all possible means. I will not attack, and shall only act in self-defence. I cannot be indifferent to what concerns the honour of my country. I have a duty to perform as a sovereign : as a Christian, I am ready to comply with the precepts of religion. On the present occasion, my great duty is to attend to the interests and honour of my country." The deputation observed that as their mission was not of a political character, but only intended to convey to his majesty the religious views of their body, they could not enter into any of the topics touched upon by his majesty as concerned in the dispute. They craved per- mission, however, to call the emperor's atten- tion to the subject of national arbitration, by which nations might settle their disputes as peaceably-disposed individuals find it feasible to settle theirs. They pointed out to his ma- jesty the difference between Mohammedanism and Christianity — the former resting upon the sword as its instrument of propagation, the latter relying upon truth and moral suasion. They then made an appeal to the czar as to the slaughter, suftering, famine, and rum, which must be attendant upon a European war amongst such great powers, and depicted the iujui'ics which must in its course befall the weak and the innocent. The emperor, how- ever stern his heart, must have been deeply affected by such themes from the lips of these true, benevolent, and disinterested men. As the deputation were about to leave, the empe- ror expressed his desire to introduce them to the empress, who, with the Grand Duchess Olga (said to be favourable to the English) entered the room, and conversed in an affable manner with " the Friends." On their depar- ture, the czar shook each of them cordialhj hij the hand, and desired them to remain some days in St. Petersburg. They were afterwards informed by Paron Kicolay that the emperor desired to transmit to the Society of Friends a written reply. A reply in French was subsequently given, which is substantially the same as the viva voce address of the czar. It is as follows : — " Sa Majeste I'Empereur a re^u I'Adrcsse presentee par la Deputation de la Societe des Amis avec une vive satisfaction, comme I'ex- pression de sentiments cntierement conformes a ceux dont il est anime lui-meme. Sa Majeste a horreur comme eux de la guerre, et desire sinceremcnt le maintien de la paix. Pour y arri- ver elle est prete a oublicr insultes et offenses personelles, a tendre le premier la main a ses ennemis et a faire toutes les concessions com- patibles avec I'honneur. Sa Majeste n'attaquera pr.s : elle ne fera que se defendre, et sera tou- jours disposee a entendre des offres de paix. " L'Empereur regrette vivement I'etat actuel des choses, et il en rejette loin de lui la respon- sabilite. II a constamment desire vivre en bonne entente avec I'Angleterre : il a une sincere affection pour la Heine, qu'il estime comme souveraine, femme, epouse, et mere; et il lui a donne des preuves uon equivoques de con- fiance et d'egards. Sa Majeste repudie toute idee ambitieuse de conquete ou d'ingerence injuste dans les affaires de la Turquie : elle n'y reclame que ce qu'eUe a le droit de demandcr en vertu des traites explicites conclus par scs devanciers et par elle-meme. Le lion qui unit la Ilussie a ses co-religionnaires en Orient date d'il y a 900 ans ; c'est de I'ancien empire Grec que lui est venu le Christianisme, et depuis ce tems une communaute constante d'interets reli- gieux a ete maintenuc entre la Ilussie et I'cm- ])ire de Bj-zancc jusqu'a sa chute. Debarrassee elle-meme du joug des Tartarcs, la Ilussie s'est depuis ce tems constamment applicjuee a ame- liorcr le sort de scs co-religionnaircs : elle y a travaille avec succes. Elle ne saurait recuser ses sympathies religicuses pour eux et renoncer a une influence legitime acquise au prix do son sang. Mais rcmpcreur ne vcut rien au dela ; il n'eu vent nullement aux Turcs : et il serait heurcux dc voir- I'Angleterre rendie HISTOKY OF TEE WAE AGAIXST RUSSIA. [CnAP. IX. rncillouro justice au mobile qui a guide ses actions. 11 ne croit pas lui avoir jamais donne le moindrc motif de plainte; ct il en appelle au temoignage de tous les Anglais etablis dans cc pays, qui n'hesitcront pas, sa Majestu en est convaincue, a declarer qu'ils n'ont eu toujours qu'a sc loucr de I'accueil qu'ils ont trouve en Ilussie. " Nksselhode." " retersbourg, le 1 (13) fevrier, ISoi." For the reception of the Quaker deputation, the Emperor Nicholas took great credit to him- self; and the Emperor Alexander II. and his government have since paraded it in all sorts of ways, as proofs of the amicable spirit of the llussian court and government. As a specimen of the mode in which it is still traded upon as a political capital, "we annex an extract which recently appeared in Ze Nord, a Belgian paper, established in Brussels by the Russian government, for the purpose of pi'oducing some eitect upon the public opinion of Western Europe in favour of Russian ideas. The extract is another flagrant proof, added to the many which have appeared already in our pages, of the unblushing hypocrisy of the Russian govern- ment, and the falsehood upon which the whole political system of Russia is based. It is dif- lieult to peruse the extract withoiit being at a loss to know whether amusement or indigna- tion should predominate in the mind to which Buch transparent humbug and pretence are presented. "When, two years ago, the Oriental ques- tion assumed the gigantic dimensions of a European war; when the French Emperor challenged the czar, and the English parlia- ment voted, amidst the cheers of the House, the declaration of a war Avhich already has cost so many precious lives and so large an amount of money, without bringing the prin- cipal question a single step nearer to its defini- tive solution ; then, three men of brave hearts and intelligence — three generous defenders of humanity and pacific progress — set out from England for St. Petersburg to carry to the Emperor Nicholas the wishes and the prayers of the Peace Party, which they represented. And in the whole of Europe there was one man only who treated seriously this noble and touching enterprise of the pilgrims of peace and humanity. He was the only one fully to comprehend the whole compass and purpose of that sterling generosity — that sincere devotion to the interest of civilisation and progi'css, and the enlightened patriotism and self-denial of this pacific mission, upon which the English people looked with irony and contempt — as nothing else than a piece of good-natured Don Quixotism. To talk of peace at a moment when the soldiers of the West embarked in all the English and French ports, impatient to destroy the phantom of Muscovite preponder- ance, was an anachronism, an absurditj', a fully ! The Emperor Nicholas was the only man who, to the full extent, comprehended this cry of anguished charity. In his imperial palace he received the English pilgrims; listened with kindness and sympathy to the expression of sentiments so like his own; and no doubt, if the dignity of his empire and the interest of his subjects had allowed him, the czar would have instantly sent to the armies of the West the olive-branch which these peacemen had brought to him. But it was not the czar who had to recall a declaration of war, which he never made ; it was to France and England that the words of conciliation and peace ought to have been addressed ; to these powers it behoved to retrace an imprudent and precipitate resolution — the worst consequences of which will recoil upon themselves — by making accept- able propositions to Russia, who has always shown herself ready to accept them. The mis- sionaries of peace understood this. They went back to their homes, and then arose that power- ful Peace Party which, from time to time, raises its voice indignantly, to protest against the disasters accumulated upon the country by an unjustifiable armed intervention, and appre- hensions of conquests perfectly imaginary — to cry over the huge war-graves which cover the sons and relatives of the noblest families of Great Britain ; to groan under the enormous burthens imposed by a reckless war expen- diture ; and to this voice answers — like a sinister and threatening echo — the cries of the army in the East, twice renewed and twice destroyed." The Friends remained some time in the Rus- sian metropolis, where tliBy were "the lions" of the day. Crowds followed them in every direction, and they were most popular persons. They were treated by all classes of the people Avith honour. Their mild and benevolent de- meanour, and the obvious sincerity of all they said and did, produced an impression every- where in favour of their Society, their country, and themselves. Chap. X.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. 89 CHAPTER X. PEOCEEDIXGS OF THE ALLIES IlfMEDIATELT TREVIOUS TO TEE DECLARATION OF 'W'.VR.- EMBARKATION OF TROOrS FOR THE EAST.— DEPARTURE OF THE BALTIC FLEET. " A great nation cannot have a little war." — Field-Marshal the Duke or Wellington. Oy the last day of January, Queen Victoria opened parliament in person ; and the introduc- tory paragraphs of "the speech" from the throne were well-timed, and more expressive and clear than such documents usually put forth : — " My Loeds and Gentlemkx, " I am always happy to meet you in par- liament, and on the present occasion it is with peculiar satisfaction that I recur to your assist- ance and advice. " The hopes which I expressed at the close of the last session, that a speedy settlement would be effected of the differences existing between Russia and the Ottoman Porte have not been realised ; and I regret to say that a state of warfare has ensued. " I have continued to act in cordial co-ope- ration with the Emperor of the French, and my endeavours, in conjunction with mj' allies, to preserve and to restore peace between the contending parties, although hitherto imsuc- cessful, have been unremitting. I will not fail to persevere in those endeavours ; but as the continuance of the war may deeply affect the interests of this country and of Europe, I think it necessary to make a further augmenta- tion of my naval and military forces, Avith the view of supporting my representations, and of more effectually contributing to the restoration of peace." The speech of her majesty was received with great unanimity in both liouscs, and every disposition was shown to support her re- quisitions should war unfortunately ensue. Much dissatisfaction was, however, expressed with the dilatory proceedings of the govern- ment, and their want of firmness of purpose ; and a verj- general discontent in and out of parliament began to evince itself in reference to secret diplomacy. The Marquis of Clanri- cardc said in his place, and the truth of his remark was generally acknowledged, " that no policy had ever been attended with such want of success. The people of the conti- nent had in consequence entertained a lower opinion of the spirit and energy of the English nation ; and that we were neither to be trusted by friends, nor feared by foes — ' willing to wound, but yet afraid to strike.' We were on the brink of a great war, but a war which a more firm and direct attitude on our part would have done much to prevent. The government ought to have been more watchful of tlie ag- gressive policy of Russia upon Turkey. And I this neglect could not have been the result of want of intelligence of what was passing, for in the February of 1823 the French government had called their attention to it, and the public press had done the same. When Colonel Rose called for the fleet, the government sliould have been awakened, and the vigour displayed by Colonel Rose followed up." We quote his lordship's speech because it echoed the public voice at the time, although his lordship was not regarded as a popular leader. In the reply of Lord Clarendon, he admits — " It is only another proof of the inconvenience which I have seen for the last few months, of not being able to lay the whole of the intelli- gence before the house and the country. Xo one can be more conscious than myself of this dis- advantage, and of the many misrepresentations that might have been pi'evented by publicity. But we thought it right not to dejjart from the established practice of this countrg. The govern- ment is answerable to parliament alone for its conduct." These opinions were everywhere quoted and discussed, and that prejudice against secret diplomacy which has grown up in the public mind began to develop itself more actively from the influence exercised upon it by the opening of the session. The opinion of the public was also much influenced by another passage from the speech of Lord Clarendon : — "My Lords, it must be remembered that if this peace, which is of unexampled duration, be once broken, it may be followed by a war alike without parallel. You must remember that those doctrines which convulsed Europe in 1 848 are still cherished by vast numbers ; and they having lost none of their strength, a war now would be no ordinary war. Europe in such a case would be the battle-field not onlj- of con- tending armies, but of contending opinions ; and wo, to whom such miglity interests are entrusted, would have been worthily thought utterly unmindful of their importance — would have disqualified ourselves when we asked for support in a necessary war — if we could not have then shown that we had first exerted and exhausted every means for maintaining the blessings of peace." The inference deduced from this by a large portion of the general public was, that inas- much as a war might endanger the despotic thrones upon the continent, and give the people — betrayed and oppressed by the re-actionary 90 HISTOPvr OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. X. ])olicy since 1848 — a chance of recovering their liberties, her majesty's government were wil- ling to make almost any sacrifice, even the sacrifice of the independence of Turkej-, if it conld have been managed by any trick of notes and protocols, rather than by any prompt and energetic resistance to llussia, give opportunity for popular insurrections abroad." That the government of Lord Aberdeen sympathised with Austria, Prussia, and the other despotic powers who had trampled upon the liberties of the continent, became a conviction with multitudes after tliat speech. It is necessary to notice these causes of the general disposition to find fault with the government, and to suspect it, which charac- terised the population of the British Isles, and more especially of London, during the pre- parations and negotiations which pervaded the months of Tebruary and March. The public was denounced by the government press as rash, petulant, and impatient, in a degree pre- viously unknown ; and all remonstrances with the government for dilatoriness at home, and uncertain and trimming policy abroad, was set down to a disposition too impatient and war- like. The opinions uttered by Lord Clarendon were afterwards repeatedly endorsed by Lord Aberdeen, Mr. Gladstone, and Mr. Sydnej' Herbert; and thus were sown the seeds of that suspicion and constitutional jealousy with which tlie whole government came to be re- garded by so large a portion of the people. TJnhappily, the popular suspicions were too well founded; the objectionable passages in these speeches of the cabinet were the real indices of the opinions and sympathies with which thej' entered into the war, which left Silistria to its own resources, which spared Odessa, which entered upon the Crimea expe- dition without foresight, and which in all the preparations for war, both before and after the declaration, showed such confidence in ulti- mately securing a peace without a contest, because of the magnanimity of the emperor; and. such an unwillingness to lessen his power, or give pain to his feelings, — although bj' neglect- ing to do the one, and by an undue consideration of the other, disaster to our arms, and disad- vantage to the national objects, should ensue. At this juncture, the public mind was also much disturbed by reports concerning his Royal Highness Prince Albert. Much of the unwil- lingness of government to meet the designs of llussia with energy and promptitude had been attributed to the piince for some months. It was said that he interfered in an unconstitu- tional manner with the foreign despatches; that he also interfered with the army in a man- ner as much at variance with the constitution; that he corresponded with the foreign despots, sypipathising with them, and aff'ording them counsel and information, such as was incom- patible with his station as the consort of a constitutional queen. These rumours caused much dis(;ontent and distrust in the mind of the multitude, and made them look with less respect and confidence upon the court. Lord John Russell, in one of his most eloquent speeches, denied some of these charges alto- gether, and gave a cpalified negation to the others, and the public impression became much more favourable concerning his royal highness; but still there lurked in various directions a feeling that the court sympathised with Russia — that the government regarded the unimpaired power of the czar as necessary to the European balance, and as a counterpoise to foreign liber- alism. Under the influence of such ideas, the people became more liable to imprudent zeal for hostilities. The omission of any notice of this state of the popular will in England, and the causes of it, would leave much unaccounted for in the pressure exercised upon the government and parliament. As to the conduct and policy of the Piritish government, from the presence of Prince Men- schikoff in Constantinople to the opening of the British Parliament on the 31st of January, 1854, it may be summed up in the speech of the Earl of Derby, delivered in his place in the House of Peers on the 14th of February. The noble earl ironically asked — " "What must be the state of that country which was neither at peace nor war, nor yet neutral ? Taking the Blue-books," he contended, " that so early as the 7th of January, 1853, the government had ample information that Russia was preparing military forces to carry out her objects, what- ever those objects might be. They had similar information in March, and again in April. It is true, that Count Nesselrode's answers to questions on this subject were evasive ; but there were the like accounts from our own consuls and agents in or near the countries where the forces were being collected. The noble earl, the foreign secretary, had in his possession the fact that Russia had endea- voured to negotiate a secret treaty with Turkey against the Western powers when he stated to their lordships, on the 25th of April last, that he had perfect reliance upon the friendly assur- ances of Russia. And, subsequent to that period, had they reason to believe that Russia would abandon her claims? Again, quoting the Blue-books, they must have had every rea- son for supposing the contrary, particularly from the despatches of Sir G. Seymour. The governraent had characterised the occupancy of the principalities as an act derogatory to the dignity and fatal to the independence of Turkey ; but when it occurred, did they re- monstrate against it, or did they throw upon Chap. X.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAI2fST IIUSSIA. 91 the czar the responsibility of war ? Xo : but they mildly expressed their confidence in the czar's pacific intentions, and that the door would not be closed to an arrangement. Yet, at this moment, they were also encouraging resistance on the part of Turkey. After the czar had taken this stej), it was not likely that he would withdraw upon such language; but if, before lie had ventured upon it, energetic language had been held, the peace which the noble earl at the head of the government valued so much, might have been preserved. With regard to the prospects of the future, he could not see any hope of avoiding war. On what did Lord Aberdeen rest his expectations of peace? Did he expect that the Emperor of Russia would suddenly recede from his posi- tion ? If he did, it would be the strongest condemnation of the noble earl's policy ; for, in such a case, on what ground could he say that his attitude of war ought not to have been taken earlier. He did not blame the govern- ment for having endeavoured to preserve peace, though he did not approve of the means they had adopted ; but if they were in earnest, and if they were embarking in this war in a man- ner worthy of the country, and of the justice of its cause, he should, waiving all other con- siderations, render them all the support in his power." Against these arguments the Earl of Aber- deen reiterated his assurances of going to Avar in earnest, if necessary, but declared " that he would not even then abandon the hope of peace." It is no wonder if the preparations for the struggle went on slowly, considering the magnitude of that struggle, and the delay ali'eady permitted. How the czar in his cabinet must have laughed the English premier to scorn ! He had already overmatched him in his previous war with Turkey; and he rightly calculated that, while the destinies of Britain wex'e in the same hands, he might with safety prosecute the schemes of his ambition suffi- ciently far to secure a formidable footing upon Turkish soil, before England could move a regiment to expel him. During the month of February, the debates upon tlie impending war in the British Com- mons were frequent. Mr. Layard called the attention of the House and tlae government to the sluggish preparations made by the British government, and showed from the Blue-books, and from circumstances whidi fell under his l)ersonal knowledge, that the French govern- ment had initiated every movenient of a deci- sive character, and had (to use the honourable member's own language) " great difliculty in dragging the English government along with it." To the taunts and admonitions of Mr. Layard, and other gentlemen acquainted with Eastern politics, Sir James Graham replied with the boldest affirmations of vigorous ear- nestness in the prosecution of the war; and demanded great credit for his government in pursuing so politic a course towards Russia and the German powers, that the former was isolated from the rest of Europe, and Austria and Prussia committed to the alliance of the West. Lord John Russell's assertions as to facts were more cautious; but his bold denuncia- tions of Russian imperiousness and aggression were such as would lead the countrj- to suppose that he was satisfied with the determination of his colleagues — to obtain ample guarantees for the integrity and independence of Turkey, or have recourse to arms. Notwithstanding these assurances by the leading members of the government, it was evident that it had no heart for the war; and that it would have accepted any concessions on the part of Russia, although merely nominal, which Turkey could be induced to comply with. The bold speeches were made to keep the British public at bay, whose indignation was now fairly roused. The people at large were as eager for war as a boy iu classic times impatient for the toga virilis; there grew up a desire in the nation to try its strengtli with Russia, and put an end to the vaimting and defiance with which that power marked its relations with the rest of the world. The loader of the House of Commons told that assembly that an increase of '' no less" than 10,000 men would be demanded for the array — a statement which was received by " the House" with great seriousness, but which the people laughed to scorn. The country every- where saw the absurdity of voting estimates for an addition of only 10,000 men to the armj', while Russia was already master of the Moldo -Wallachian territory, and had an arm}- in her empire of three-quarters of a million of men. The increase demanded b)- govern- ment for the navy was 10,000 seamen ami 3000 marines. The calling out and organi- sation of the militia went slowly on. There was bustle and preparation; but through it all a keen observer might perceive that the government of England expected that thesi* demonstrations would effect, without conflict, all that was desired. The naval preijarations assumed, however, formidable magnitude; and never did England look forward to her navy with such confidence as she did to tlie fiecu preparing for the Baltic. Before a derlaratiou of war was even resolved upon, it was de- termined by France and England to jn-otect; Constantinople by a large body of troops; and it was confidently believed that the presence of the allied armies on Turkish soil, and of the allied fleets in the Black Sea and the Baltic, would either render a declaration of war unnecessary, or, if war must come, suth a display of the resolution and resources of 92 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. f Chap. X. the allies would speedily bring the czar to terms. Subsecjucnt events have proved that both the Western governments, but more especially the Rritisli, laboured under this delusion — a delu- sion by which many thousands of men, many millions of money, and much honour have been sacrificed. On the 14th February the first movement of troops was observed in London. The 1st battalion of the Coldstream Guards marched out of St. George's Barracks, Trafalgar Square, in order to proceed to Chichester, previous to embarkation for Malta. This event produced an intense enthusiasm among the people ; and, at th-e same time, excited the most kindly and tender feelings towards the soldiery. Seldom do our historians depict the first scenes of mili- tary preparation; the accounts we first learn from them relate to the actual campaign, when the grim front of battle is presented. How much of the evils of war are experienced before the first gun booms over the field of conflict, or hostile navies meet in terrible encounter ! Often will the old soldier, while he " Shoulders his crutch, and shows how fields were won," turn his recollections beyond the battle and the bivouac, to the first pangs of parting, and the last look upon eyes that to his never looked love again. No one could witness the depar- ture of the first battalion for the war through the streets of London without mingled emotions of triumph and sorrow : triumph, to witness the soldierly bearing of the men, as they returned with dauntless but kindly looks the greeting of the multitude, as their steady tramp re- sounded along Trafalgar Square, and their fine aniform and array appeared to such advantage upon what has been called " the finest site in Europe; " sorrow, when the thought forced itself upon the unwilling heart that many of these men went forth never to return, and that " the leave-takings, hopeful though heart-breaking," were the last kind interchanges of feeling between the dearest. Where are these brave men now ? Has it not been as truly as elo- quently written of them — " Reckless of all danger were they, regardless of death ; spurn- ing all ease, all pleasure, all private emolument, they seemed preternaturally daring. They fought like gods, but how many of them perished like beasts ? They have faced without flinch- ing the roaring cannon, the silent cholera, the deluging rains, and the riotous tempests." " Meanwhile, we have at home their disconso- late relatives, attired in mourning, and weeping because they are not. In the halls of the nobility, and the cottages of the peasantry, alike is this affliction seen. Many a pale young bride sits solitary ; she is now a widow, and eveiy night she sees in visions her gallant husband's corpse; many an ardent daughter weeps when she thinks of her noble father, who has perished in the field; and many a tender sister's heart is bleeding, for her brother has fallen. And see ye that anxious and hud- dling group of little children, who watch in vain for their father's return ? They shrink already beneath the chilling winds of orphan- hood, and wonder why they too could not have died." It was just noon when the battalion left the barracks, and the hour of course was favourable to a large assemblage. The steps of the National Gallery and of St. Martin's Church were perhaps never so thronged by eager sight-seeing crowds ; and the whole line of streets, from the ban-acks, along the Strand, over Waterloo Bridge, to the terminus of the South Western Railway, was literally blocked up by multitudes, all eager to show some token of sympathy. Many a hand was stretched out to the brave fellows as they passed, which they had never clasped before — men of the humblest station grasped hands in which the best blood of England flowed. "Fair women and brave men" waved their parting adieus ; and tears trembled upon the cheek of beauty and the stern cheek of manhood, as the long line of martial men marched past. The windows and even the housetops were peopled with spectators, whose cheers, and waving hats, and kerchiefs, testi- fied their interest in the scene. Many of the officers were young-looking men, and the rank and file seemed to be in the very bloom of youth and manhood, and to have attained that soldierly bearing which onlj'' a perfect discipline, united to professional pride, ever thoroughly forms. There were some heart-rending incidents along the track of this brave pageant. One motherly-looking poor woman, of much beauty, and with two neatly-clad boys with her, all dressed in mourning, as if death had been lately in their little circle, or as if they felt that mourning became the occasion, stood on the flagway by the steps of the National Gallery. A soldier, in the first company, with an ex- pression of manly sorrow on his countenance, waved them an adieu, which they returned; and then, with a passionate burst of weeping, the poor woman placed an arm round each of her boys, and hurried along through the mul- titudes to keep pace with the line in which he marched. In the Strand an elegant girl stood, with countenance deadly pale, until nearly the last company arrived, when she clasped her hands, and exclaiming, "He is there!" fell senseless upon the pavement. A more toirching picture of aficction and despair occiu-red still further on. A very old woman, poorlj' clad, her white haii' streaming beneath a bonnet that seemed as if crushed by the crowd in her Chap. X.] HISTORY OF THE "WAR AGAINST ErSSIA. 93 efforts to make her way to the front, stood Btraining her eyes for some object of the deepest interest to her, when suddenly recognising in the ranks what she sought, she stretched out her lank arms as if to grasp it, and would have fallen if not caught by the bystanders, and carried from the spot. She neither spoke nor cried — a low, deep groan expressed her an- guish. On the same day, the 3rd battalion of the Grenadier Guards left the Tower, to take the place of the Coldstreams in St. George's; but as it was generally known that they were to depart thence on the following Saturday, the populace in the East-end made that the occasion for their adieus. They played the "British Grenadiers" as they left the Tower, which seemed to delight the mob, who made the vicinage of the "old keep" ring with their cheers. As they passed along, and played "The girl I left behind me," the multitude took a more sober tone ; cordial greetings were expressed mutually by people and soldiers, and the latter frequently turned and smiled significantly, as voices from the crowd rang out with such expressions as "Guards, remember England!" "Grenadiers, think of England!" " Guard.s, leave your mark on 'em !" " Give it 'em. Grenadiers!" &c. &c. The 1 st battalion of the Fusileer Guards being "on turn" for foreign service, volunteers from the 2ud battalion, at Windsor, were ordered to join it at the Wellington Barracks, London. Three hundred and sixty rank and file left Windsor on the same day as the movements above recorded took place ; they proceeded to the Windsor Station of the South Western Rail- way, imder Lieutenant-colonel Dixon; and the scenes in the line of march were similar to those which took place in London with the Cold- streams and the Grenadiers. The band of the 2nd battalion of the Fusileer Guards was re- puted a fine one, and it "played off" the volunteers. As they marched out of barracks they struck up " Cheer, boys, cheer," which evidently thrilled upon the crowds, and fired the soldiers themselves, for they mai-ched with a most animated expression, loudly cheered by the people. As they passed up to the station they played " We are going far away," and the eftect upon the multitude was instan- taneous; a feeling of deep and inexpressible sympathy pervaded them, and fond farewells were heard on every side. At the station, the concourse was so great that it appeared as if the wliole population of AYindsor and the neighbouring country had turned out. The Eton boys and their tutors occupied a small elevation at the end of the arrival platform ; and when the guards entered the train, and the band ceased to play, these young patriots raised a loud and hearty cheer, which evidently delighted the soldiers, who responded to it vociferously, waving their hats, and appearing as if excited by the surprise with which this youthful huzza fell upon them. The people in the Park and at the station caught up the cheer ; the animation of the whole multitude, military and civilians, patricians and plebeians, proved that the heart of England was stung by the insulting bearing of the czar, and that the national spirit, goaded to war, met its prospects with unquailing energy. Meanwhile other regiments in England and Ireland received orders to prepare for embarka- tion, and volunteers were invited to join them from such regiments as were not intended for the campaign. Notice was sent to the provi- sional battalion at Chatham that 600 men were required : they were promptly supplied. It was remarked that not one man who volun- teered had ever been tried by a court-martial, or fallen under military censure, and many of them bore good-conduct marks. The duty-men of the 24th volunteered to a man, witli the exception of two old soldiers who had served long in India, and having just come home, expected to retire from the service : they were left by themselves on parade, amidst loud laughter from the troops and the civilians who were present. ^Mien the 71st Highlanders came oflf duty the day they were requested to furnish volunteers, the whole depot oftered and were accepted, and their pay-sergeant was left standing on the parade alone ! On the following Thursday morning, the 1st battalion of the Fusileer Guards were drawn up for parade and inspection at the Wellington Barracks, by the Duke of Cambridge, the Colonel-in-chief of the regiment. His royal highness was accompanied by General ilild- may Fane, Colonel the Hon. C. B. Phipps, Colonel Bentick, Colonel Hall (1st Life Guards), Colonel Brownlow Knox, and other officers. The men were under the command of Lord Rokcby ; Colonel Colville's retirement on half- pay, and exjiectcd brevet, leaving the command to that nobleman. After the men had been satisfactorily conducted by the noble lord through various evolutions, his royal highness formed them into square, and delivered to them a most inspiriting address. The Duke of Cambridge bears no reputation as an orator, but his words and manner in that scpiarc of guards were thoroughly elo(iuent : it was an abrupt, frank elocpience, suitable to soldiers, and evidently went home to their hearts. His royal highness did not flatter them, while ho, at' the same time, conveyed his admiration of their celerity of movement and thorough disci- pline. Perhaps the battalion never before presented so tine an appearance, or seemed animated by a higher military enthusiasm, although it has so often " gone to the wnrs," to 94 inSTOIlY OP THE WAll AGAINST IIIJSSIA. [CuAr. X. justify tlie proudest confuleuce, aud most generous liopes of the nation. On the evening of this day, the guards liad their farewell banipiet at the Londou Tavern. His royal highness the Duke of Cambridge, as Colonel of the Scots Fusileer Guards, occupied the chair, supported on the right by Lieutenant- general Sir Edward Bowater, K. C. II., and on the left by Lieutenant-general Sir AVilloughby Cotton, G.C.B., K.C.H. A long list of noble and gallant men surrounded the festal board: General Hope, General Aitchison, Colonel Berkeley Druraraond, Colonel W. T. Knollys, Colonel Colville, Colonel Lord Eokeby, Colonel Eden, Cohmel Moncrieff, Colonel Walker, Colo- nel Blair, Colonel Sir G. Walker, Colonel Tyrwhitt, Colonel De Bathe, Colonel Onslow, Colonel G.Dixon, Colonel Phipps, Colonel Scott, Colonel Dalrymple. After t!ie banquet, the Duke of Cambridge alluded to the services those around him were about to render to their country, and his royal highness mingled hap- pily the rough energy of the soldier vvith the sentiment of a man of feeling. There was a deep seriousness about this meeting which was toned by patriotic and professional enthusiasm. Alas ! some of the names recorded in the above list belong to men who now sleep beneath the turf of Alma, or upon the bleak ridges of Inkerman ; and some never saw the fields of war towards which their impetuous valour aspired, but dropt silently beneath the withering pestilence at swampy Varna; and some still keep watch and ward in the contested trench, lead the perilous assault, perhaps, ere long, to add to the list of the great and gently born who died for England and for honour. Woolwich, Portsmouth, Plymouth, and all our great arsenals seemed as if we were pre- paring to resist an invasion, rather than fitting out squadrons, and preparing to embark troops for a distant theatre of war. On Monday, the 20th of February, Prince Albert inspected the 3rd battalion of the Grenadier Guards, and the 1st battalion of Scots Fusileer Guards, in the square of the Wel- lington Barracks. Both these battalions were under immediate orders for embarking, and this circumstance gave eclat to the proceeding. His royal highness was attended bj- the Duke of Cambridge, Lord Hardinge, the Commander-in- chief of the forces, and a retinue of the nobility. Peers and peeresses gathered together to look upon the line of brave men upon whose valour the pride of England would so soon depend. A series of banquets were given to the officers of the guards, which were attended by many of the nobility, and assisted to keep alive, in that class, the warlike ardour which was generally supposed at the time to actuate more warmly the humbler classes of the community. A banquet given to the Duke of Cambridge, who was appointed to command one of the divisions of the expeditionary army, was espe- cially recherche ; and it was said that no- thing so splendid had been seen since the grand entertainment given to the royal visitors in 1814. The Duke of Cambridge was at this time a most popular personage. He was re- garded as a well-instructed and practical officer, and not wearing the uniform of the army as a royal decoration. On Wednesday, the 22nd, a portion of the Grenadier Guards left London, en route for the East. The men were mustered at three o'clock in the morning, aud although they had unre- stricted leave, not a man was absent when the roll was called. Early as was the hour fixed for their departure, a dense crowd occu2>ied every spot in Trafalgar Square. While the multitude awaited the appearance of the guards, they sung with stentorian vehemence " llule Britannia," and " God save the Queen." Soon after five o'clock the band emerged from St. George's Barracks, through the passage beneath the iSTational Gallery, and proceeded to the Strand, where they took up their station. Soon after the grenadiers came forth, without order, each sejjarate group as it came out, and almost each separate man, was cheered by the people; as they ran along to foi'm in the Strand, they were attended by running escorts of friends and admirers, every one eager to show them some courtesy, and to bestow upon them some little gift. When the column was formed, it was a thousand strong, and they began their march to Waterloo Bridge, their black bear- skin caps towering above the heads of the masses of people, and their bright flashing bayonets gleaming above all in the light of the lamps, for day had not dawned. As the band played, and the people shouted, many a door and window was flung open along the line of march, and many an adieu was given en deshabille. From the Waterloo terminus to Southampton, at every intervening station, fresh greetings awaited " the gallant guards ;" and their arrival at that place was signalised by an outburst of national and generous feeling, which vied with that of the metropolis. The same evening thej' embarked for Malta, on board the liij^on and the Manilla, the band playing them on board at an early hour. The Coldstreams had arrived from Chichester, and went quietly on board the Orinoco for the same desti- nation. The Manilla, the smallest of these steam- ships, and which was fitted with the boomerang propeller, was the first ready for sea ; she steamed out about two o'clock, having 250 rank and file of the grenadiers, six officers, and a large quantity of baggage and stores on board. Soon after three, the Jiipon paddle- wheel steamer followed, having on board 600 Cuxv. X. ] HISTOilY OF THE AVAll AGAINST iiUSSlA. 9j rank and filo of the grenadiers, thirty officers, and thirty-two -women. Last of all, and detained for moi'e than two hours in the dock hj want of water, the Orinoco took her departure, with 854 rank and file of the Coldstreams, tliirty officers, and thirtj'-two women. Slie had also on board Colonel Bentinek, Colonel Eyre, and their respective stafis. The three steamers remained in Southampton water all night. The next morning, as they proceeded on their voyage, crowds were collected in the vicinity of the ships, and the soldiers departed upon their long voyage, their cars and hearts filled with the encouraging shouts of their fellow-coun- tiymen, and their own lips bidding their " native land adieu, " in the strains of excited patriotism and enthusiastic loyalt}-. It was a grand sight, not only in its scenic effect but in its moral aspect, to witness this first departure of the soldiers of Enghind for the great war of 1854. Nor was this boister- ous leave-taking unmingled with tender inci- dents : as the vessels proceeded out of dock, there were fair hands to wave " a long, a last adieu," and eyes too dim with tears to behold any objects but those on whicli love fixed their gaze. One fair girl was there, whose dearest earthly object and whose hope fell on the slopes of Alma. A mother wended her way, " with broken step and slow," to the house which had been deprived of two brave boys — only sons: they fell together at bloody Inkcrman. An old man took his leave of an only son — his pride and joy: he died amidst the stench of the Scutari hospital, neglected by the country (or rather its government) in whose service he had been maimed. The pageant was fair, and there Avas a halo of glory in it, as the stately ships rode away through the still Southampton waters; but, alas! it was a gorgeous funeral procession — these brave men went, with few exceptions, to untimely death. It was a striking feature of this scene, that the women seemecl the least affected of any on board ; nay, in most cases, their bearing was positively joyful. They had won the lot by which per- mission was exterKled to some to accompany their husbands ; aiul to share with them their dangers seemed their ambition and their solace. A few of these soldiers have returned, and since then the hand of the first lady in England has appended medals to their gallant breasts : they were nobly won — they were nobly and appropriately bestowed. A few of the humble soldiers who were on board that little fleet of transports wear now, not onlj- the medal and clasps which record the contests they sustained so well, but tlie epaulette also. We wish that all who merited so distinguished a promotion had received it: it would have redounded to our country's honour, and in- creased her strength. The fine spirit of the rank and file of the guards may be further illustrated by the fact that several of the non-co]umissioned officers, not re(]uired to go with the Fusileer battalion, requested to be reduced to the ranks that they might be eligible. ]\rany officers of the house- hold infantry were absent on leave, and having wintered in Italy, had still lingered about Home, Legliorn, Naples, Nice, Genoa, and other It.alian cities of fashionable English resort. The telegraph was put into requisition for their recall ; in tliis way Lieutenant-colonel Cartwriglit, Sir John Ferguson, the Hon. Cap- tain Egerton, Captain Lewis, and other officers of distinction, were hurriedly recalled to their regiments. Private letters at the time gave amusing accounts of the sensation produced in the petty courts of Italy by the perpetual flashing of the telegraphs to the British consuls; and Cardinal Antonelli, and the papal cabinet, were at first seriously alarmed. Having vacil- lated with Austria — between the secret dread of Russian encroachment and jealousy of the Greek Church, on the one hand, and the Anglo- French alliance and liberalism, on the other — these apparently energetic measures gave them uneasiness, which was betrayed in a manner that amused the British and French residents. The last detachment of the brigade of guards, whose turn it was to go on foreign service, left London on the 28th. This was the 1st batta- lion of the Scots Fusileer Guards. It was reputed to be the finest corps in the service. Her majesty gave orders that the regiment should draw up in front of Buckingham Palace, that she might take her leave of them there. The hour appointed was seven o'clock ; but hours before that time a vast concourse of persons had assembled in St. James's Park, and along the Birdcage Walk. The impression being very general that it was at the Horse Guards, and not at Buckingham Palace, the regiment Avas to be paraded, the esplanade and all that portion of the park Avere also crowded. A t seven o'clock the troops marched out of the east gate of the barracks, and consequently had to pass through the densest portion of the croAvd, so that they could witli difficulty proceed. It was impossible to preserve their ranks — the people pressed upon them with gifts and greet- ings, and after considerable delay only were they mustered before the palace. On "the en- trance of the troops within the railing of the principle facade, her Majesty, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, Prince Alfred, Prin- cess Alice, and his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, appeared upon the balconies, and Avere received by the people with every demonstration of loyalty. As soon as the entire battalion had entered the enclosure they formed line, and presented arms, the band playing "God save the Queen." Their royal highnesses stood 96 IIISTOllY OF THE AVAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. X. uncovered, and her majesty repeatedly Lowed in acknowledgment. The soldiers then un- covered, and gave three hearty cheers ; and at least 20,000 persons, many of whom were standing too remote to witness the scene, caught up the cheering, and again and again renewed it. The mounted officers then rode up in front, and saluted her majesty, who returned it with evident emotion. The order for tlie march was given — her majesty and the royal family remaining standing until the last of the troops filed off from the vicinity of the palace. The line of march was crowded with enthusiastic multitudes, so that the troops could scarcely move along. The wives, sisters, and other female relations, broke into the ranks, and with sobs and weeping caused a deep feeling of sympathy and pity even amongst the most uproarious of those whose plaudits rang in the ears of the soldiery. An observer of the march at Charing Cross wrote at the time — "Women saw husbands, lovers, brothers, friends, for the last time; and sad and woe- worn were their looks as they rushed to the ranks, and the crowd intuitively made way for them." Numbers of young men, relatives, and friends, encouraged the men with feeling but manly tone — "Keep a brave heart, Rob!" "Never say beat, Dick!" "We'll meet again, old boy!" "We'll see one another before you come home !" was the significant expression of some. It was at Waterloo Rridge that the en- thusiasm of the multitude rose to the highest pitch ; and there also the most painful part of the proceedings took place. The agony of the w^omen could no longer be suppressed, and aery of helpless grief rose above every other sound. The countenances of the soldiers were wet with tears, while a manly resolution was also un- mistakeably expressed there. Some poor fellows seemed to have no friends ; they perhaps were happiest — the tendrils of the heart were not so rudely torn by so rough a parting; and yet, at such a moment, to feel alone in the world, ■without one to bid them an adieu, was perhaps more afiiicting than to hear for themselves the cry of anguished love which filled the farewell with which others were so fondly left. It was beautiful to notice the attentions of this class of the soldiers to their comrades, and to the women who clung to them. Perhaps other hearts far away, in loneliness, were breaking for them — eyes which could not look upon them a fond good-bye, wept in bitter soli- tude their departure — lips which could not speak the parting word, were then earnestly moved in prayer to Heaven on their behalf! And the brave men thought of this, and felt for others. They thought of it afterwards on the solitary sea — on the pallet of pesti- lential disease — by the drear watch-fire, as they paced the sentinel's desolate round upon the barren hill — as they followed where their leaders pointed, when the tide of battle rose tiercely against their breasts — and as they struck for "England, home, and beauty," in the moment of chivalry which crowned them with victory and their country with glory, or left only for the loved ones far away the hallowed memory of their valour, their duty, and their affection. When the troops were fairly got within the Waterloo Station, the band struck up " Cheer, boys, cheer;" and the brave fellows gave three hearty Rritish huzzas, and waved their hats, as they were rapidly borne away. It was a curious thing to witness, the emo- tions of the crowd as they dispersed. The women, who had parted with those most dear to them, were the objects of many manly acts of kindness ; and from their own sex received unbounded attentions. Some seemed to take comfort in this, but others slipped away as soon as possible, and sought a sUent spot in which to weep. The children of the soldiers were literally laden with confectionery; and many a poor man and poor woman gave gifts of money that day to the bereaved, which they bestowed from purses as scanty as their hearts were full of generous sympathy. Groups of young men collected at every corner, and by every public-house door; and not a few mounted the ribbons of the recruit forthwith. On all hands, and from all sexes and ages, the czar came in for liberal denunciations ; and we fear that the handling given by certain brewers'- men to a notorious Austrian general, would only symbolise what the Emperor Nicholas would have met with from some portions of the crowd who lingered to discuss his peculiar qualities, after the train bearing the guards had passed from sight and hearing upon its mission. On arriving at Portsmouth, this favourite corps was received with similar enthusiasm to that which had been shown to it bj- the people of London. Four fine regimental bands met it at the station, and "played it on board" the Simoom. They were received by the governor. Major-general Simpson, who then little expected that he would occupy the im- portant position to which he has since been appointed in the expeditionary army. Wliile the departure of the guards occupied so largely the attention of the metropolis and the southern seaports, and, indeed, of all the country, other bodies of troops were daily hastening to the ports of embarkation; and their departure was also signalised by the generous sympathy, the loyal respect, and the hearty patriotism of the people. The 2nd battalion of the Rifle Rrigade, which has since rendered such useful service, embarked at Chap. X.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 97 Portsmouth on the 27th February. Few corps were so distinguished as the Kitle Brigade during the Peninsula struggle; there and at "Waterloo thej^ formed part of " the light division" — a division drilled after the peculiar tactics of the unfortunate but most distin- guished general, Sir John Moore. Napier, the Liv}- of English military history, assures us that it was the best disciplined and most efficient division in the arm)' of the Peninsula. Napier himself served as subaltern and captain in the 43rd Light Infantry, which was also attached to the division ; and what he relates of the gallant rifles, therefore, fell under his own observation. From the reputation of this corps there was a large assemblage of nobility and gentry to witness their embarkation, many proceeding from London to Portsmouth for the purpose. The Duchess of Sutherland, the Marquis and Marchioness of Stafford, the Mar- quis and Marchioness of Kildare, the Earl and Countess of Grosvenor, Rear-admiral Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, Lord Leveson Gower, &c. &c., were on the dockyard jetty, where the Vulcan, which lay alongside, received her gallant freight. Major-general Simpson ad- dressed the battalion in language adapted to the object of sustaining and inciting their patriotism and love of military glory ; and •when he expressed the hope that they would not allow the old reputation of the Rifle Brigade to be lowered, an intense and deafening hurra burst from the square — it was like a volley of musketry, instantaneous and abrupt : as if one voice uttered the sudden shout, the men gave vent simultaneously to the esprit de corps which the general's words enkindled. A romantic incident occurred at the moment of embarking. The wife of a private, not having the good fortune as she would have deemed it to draw the ballot, so as to be included among the number of women allowed by the regulations of tlie service, dressed her- self in the Rifle uniform, and, rifle in hand, marched into the dockyard. She was not detected until just getting on board; but the mediation of the benevolent and noble-hearted Duchess of Sutherland, backed by that of the ladies who were with her, so wrought upon the authorities, that she was allowed to go, and marched on board the Simoom, shouldering her rifle, to the pride of her husband, and the pleasure of his comrades. What will not woman do where she loves ! The storm, the weary march, the desolate bivouac, the roar of battle, cannot deter her from following him to whom she gives her heart. The soldier's wife often exhibits noble traits of character, and we fear too often is poorly recompensed. Let such instances as these, however, be remem- bered, and the soldier's wife will also be re- membered when the soldier falls ; and if both are sacrificed to their country's necessities, let not their orphan children be strangers to their country's gratitude. The Rifle Brigade was formerly the Old 95th, and their colours bear the words " Copenhagen, Monte Video, Corunna, Rolioa, Yimiera, Bu- saco, Barossa, Fuentes d'Onor Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos, Salamanca, Yittoria, Nivelle, Nivo, Orthes, Toulouse, Waterloo." The 1st battalion had been only a year at home when ordered to the Cape, to take part in the late Cafl"re war : upon their return, just before the expedition was ordered to the East, most of the men volun- teered to serve in the 2nd battalion. On the 24th of February, the streets of the metropolis of the sister- country presented scenes similar to those we have described as witnessed in London. The first contribution of men from the Dublin garrison for the army of the East embarked that day at Kingstown. The 50th regiment, with staff-colours and band, was paraded in the Palatine Square of the Royal Bar- racks in heavy marching order. They thence, forming four deep, marched to the Westland Row Station of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway. The bands of three other regiments of the garrison led them along the line of route — one of the finest in Europe; and vast crowds accompanied them, vociferouslj- cheering, while from the windows handkerchiefs and scarfs were waved, and every token of a hearty " God speed" displayed. As the regiment took the nortli side of the long and splendid line of quays for which Dublin is so celebrated, the bands struck up " Auld lang syne," which the citizens took as a compliment, as the " Blind Half-hundreth," as the regiment used to be called, had often shared their hospitality. As they came to the Queen's Bridge, they played " A good time coming;" the bands took up the concluding line of each verse, as the in- strumental music died away, and sang it. This vocal repetition was quite in unison with the habits and tastes of the Diibliners, and old Eblana echoed the shouts of the people. When the regiment arrived at Essex Bridge, it crossed, passing up Parliament Street, wliere the Exchange steps presented a splendid position for the sight, and from which the cheering and waving of handkerchiefs was most enlivening as the corps turned down Dame Street. When they arrived in College Green, instead of wheeling to the left between the Bank of Ireland and tlie statue of Wil- liam III., they kept to the right " of King William, " and leaving the University to the left, proceeded up Nassau Street and Leinster Street to Westland Row, affording by the longer route the better opportunity to the people to dis])lay their feelings. It also gratified the gownsmen, wlio, at the front of Trinity Col- lege, welcomed tlie soldiery by waving of o 98 HISTOllY OF TPIE WAR AGAINST liXISSIA. [Chap. X- caps aud flourishing of shillelahs, and various original demonstrations of good-will, retired through the grand entrance into the College Park, and climbing the railings, continued their hearty plaudits along the line of j^Tassau Street, and then penetrating to the rear of the College grounds by the Scliool of Anatomy, met the procession again in Wcstland Row. Prom the station to Kingstown, crowds of the elite of Dublin society welcomed the ti'ain as it passed, and a new concourse received it at the Kingstown Station. The troops hastened on board the Camhria, and when the colours of the 50th were placed upon the deck of tlie steamer, the granite cliffs of Kingstown re- sounded with the cheers of the assemblage who had gathered to bid them a brave "good- bye." The whole jetty, and every crag of rock, was gay with the many-hued multitude ; and as the destination of the regiment was Constantinople, merely touching at Malta for coal and water, there was the more interest felt by the people — it was the direct reality of an expedition to the probable theatre of war. The 50th regiment fought through the Penin- sula, and one of the best accounts of its services we know of, may be found in The Adventures of Captain (afterwards Major) Patterson.'" In the war of the Punjaub, it more recently won many laurels— the battles of Moodkee, Pero- zeshusha, Aliwall, and Sobraon, having wit- nessed its valour. "When the regiment left Kingstown Harbour, it was in fine condition, being principally composed of well-seasoned and hardy veterans. On the Monday following (the 27th of Feb- ruary), the ' 93rd Highlanders embarked at Plymouth. The distance from the Citadel at Plymouth to the gates of the Victualling Yard, at Stone House,, is over a mile and a half; and perhaps no spot of ground of the same extent was ever more densely occupied by people than this was. In the midst of the general excitement, the cheering of men and wailing of women, the Highlanders maintained a calmness such as none of the regiments that had previously embarked had the self-control to maintain. Those fine men, with compressed lips and steady countenances, sustained their martial bearing, and preserved their order, notwithstanding all the temptations to relax, which circumstances presented. The spectacle within the Royal Yictualling Yard was strik- ing; the extensive wharves which surround the government offices were occupied by the people of Plymouth, Stone House, Devonport, and neighbourhood; many of the gentry of Cornwall and South Devon came to take leave of the brave Higldanders, and it was in this position they were principally congregated. The weather was extremely fine — it was one of the most beautiful specimens of a bright spring-day in the south-w^est of England. The searching light which belongs to spring, and whicli often makes faces and attire appear to less advantage than at other seasons, only served in this instance to bring out prominently every feature of the spectacle. The beautiful har- bour of Hamooze was studded with numerous vessels; little boats filled with gay company glided about, and gave a picturesque life to the whole. While the regiment was embaiking. the bands of the 20th regiment and the Royal Marines played the national anthem and " Auld lang syne," and the band of the High- landers produced much effect upon the crowds b)' the w^ay in which they played " Scots, wa hae," " The girl I left behind me," and " 0, Susanna, don't you cry for me," which was played again and again with renewed applause. At last the embarkation was completed, the steamers moved off, and rounded the point opening into Plymouth Sound, amidst volumi- nous cheers from the people, responded to by the waving of Highland bonnets. At the disciplinary camp at Chobham this regiment was noticed with especial interest by all visitors, professional and non- professional. They are called the Sutherland Highlanders, and their plaid well becomes the military cos- tume. Recently, at the Cape of Good Hope, this corps rendered good service, aud attracted very much the interest of the natives, enemies and allies. Major-general David Stewart says, " There are few regiments in the service which, in all those qualities requisite to constitute good soldiers and valuable members of so- ciety, excel this respectable body of men. None of the Highland corps is superior to the 93rd regiment. I do not make comparisons in point of bravery, for, if properly commanded, they are all brave ; but it is in their well- regulated habits that the Sutherland High- landers have for twenty years (this was written in 1825) preserved an unvarying line of con- duct. The light company has been nineteen 3-ears without having a man punished." In the beginning of xiugust, 1805, the regiment embarked for the Cape of Good Hope, to form part of the expedition of Sir David Beard, intended for the reduction of that place. The regiment remained in the Cape, after the con- quest of that colony, until 1814, when it landed at Plymouth, and was soon embarked for North America, where, in the short campaign of that year, it fought with distinction under the com- mand of Generals Keane and Pakenham. These were the only campaigns in which the regiment was engaged, from its being raised in Suther- land and Ross, in 1800, to the peace in 1815. The character given of the corps by General Stewart, in 1825, has been strictly maintained ever since. It is a curious fact in connection with this corps, that they occupy moie ground Chap. X.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 99 than an equal number of any other infantry regiment in the service. At the same time that the British Isles were stirred throughout by the dispatch of troops to the East, several regiments in garrison at Gibraltar and Malta received orders to hold themselves in readiness for immediate embarka- tion. The 55th was at Gibraltar, where it had been stationed since 1851, and orders were transmitted to it to prepare for the probable seat of war. This regiment had fought through the Chinese campaign, and has consequently the word " China" embroidered on its colours, and the figure of a dragon, to commemorate its services in the land of which that device is the very inappropriate emblem. The 33rd, at Malta, received similar orders. This regiment has probably seen more active service than any other in the British army ; from the days of William III. to the battle of Waterloo it has always been in the lists of war. The late Duke of Wellington com- manded it in India in the war of Tippoo Saib, where first the great duke's renown became illustrious. It was the regiment in which, as the Hon. Mr. Wellesley, he entered as an ensign. After his decease, the queen herself suggested that it should be called, "the Duke of Wellington's own," and bear on its colours his motto and crest. We have been particular in noti<;ing the first regiments sent to the East, and the popular feeling connected with their depar- ture, because such topics are so commonly neglected by the historian ; and because few remembrances are more deeply interesting to many who will peruse these images, than those associated with the departure of our brave countrymen. The alacrity for the defence of their queen and country displayed by a class of men so little cared for and so seldom re- warded, forms one of the noblest subjects for the historian's pen ; and exemplifies the bold and generous character of the nation in a waj' to add to its honour, and encourage it in every just undertaking. The language of Shakspere may be appropriately applied to these poor but gallant men — " 'Tis wonderful That an invisible instinct should frame them To loyalty unlearned ; honour untaught ; Civilitj' not seen from others ; valoiir That wildl)' grows in them, but yields a crop As if it had been sowed." During the movements of troops in Eebruary and the beginning of March recruiting went briskly on through all parts of the United Kingdom : never did the guards, line, or militia, meet with such numbers ready to enlist. In the remoter parts of Ireland and Scotland this desire was less active than else- where; but in the metropolis of both coun- tries the readiness with which recruits entered the service was surprising. An Irish periodical thus amusingly describes it : — " Those who are enlisting in Ireland just now have amongst them not only those M'ho may have nothin"- else to do, but many of comparative substance in their class of life, who are urged by a sort of chivalry to take up arms. A tew days ago a number of Dublin car-drivers — men whose worldly means are certainly superior to a common soldier's — threw down their whips with one accord, and followed the ribbons. To give some idea of the animus which moved the new recruits, the fuUovring anecdote may be relied upon : — A sergeant was, after his custom, importuning some people 'to 'list,' when one, who appeared to be spokesman for the whole, advanced to ask something about their prospects in the army. He did not inquire whether the eating or the drinking might be good, or if they would have fair pay, or anything of that kind, but simplj- — ' Musha, sir, d'ye think we'd ever git a prod at the Imperor of Roosha?' Of course the sergeant said they would not fail to come face to face with the redoubtable Nicholas; and in five minutes after her majest)- had twenty addi- tional soldiers." Strong detachments of artillery, engineers, sappers and miners, and men connected with tlie commissariat, were put under orders ; and Woolwich was a scene of intense bustle and activity. Yet all this apparently energetic pre- paration only appeared so because of the con- trast afforded to the usual quiet in our military depots and arsenals ; in reality the preparations were far beneath the exigency, and the pro- gress made in the equipment of troops, and in commissariat and hospital arrangements, did not comport with the intelligence and earnest- ness of the country. The government was for "making a little war," if driven to muke war at all; and the country was determined upon a bold and magnanimous course, worihy of its chivalry. Some weeks before the declaration of war, the officers for the command of the expedition were nominated, and the number of troops agreed upon between the Western allies and tiieir Eastern protege. The British were to send 30,000 men, and the French 70,000: the British to be under the command of the Master-general of the Ordnance, Lieutenant- general Lord Raglan, who was to receive the brevet of General. Although anticipating the military arrange- ments, which were not perfected until after the declaration of war, it will render the narration of the further proceedings of the authorities at the Horse Guards more intelligible, if we give in this place an outline of the staff of the army as ultimately constituted, and the divisional and 100 HISTORY OF THE WAE AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. X, brigade arrangements of the regiments sent on Bsrvice. KiRST Division. — Lieutenant-gen-ekal the Duke OF Cameridge commanding. First Brigade. Grenadier Guards, 3rd battalion. Tlie Grenadier Guards boar on their colours " Lincelles," " Co- runna," "Barossa," "Peninsula," "Waterloo." Coldstream Guards, 1st battalion. Tlie Coldstreams bear on their colours " Egypt," " Talavera," " ]ia- rossa," "Peninsula," "Waterloo." Scots Fusileer Guards, 1st battalion. The Scots Fusi- leer Guards bear on their colours " Egypt," " Tala- vera," " Barossa," "Peninsula," "Waterloo." Under the command of Major-general Bentinck. Second Brigade. 42nd Eoyal regiment, or " Royal Highland Watch." They bear on their colours a noble record of ser- vices : "Egypt," " Corunna," " Fuentes d'Onor," "Pyrenees," " Nivelle," "Nive," " Orthes," "Toulouse," "Peninsula," ""Waterloo." The motto of the corps is " Nemo me impune lacessit." 79th regiment (Cameron Highlanders). "Egmont- op-zee," " The Sphin.\-," " Egypt," " Fuentes d'Onor," "Salamanca," "Pyrenees," "Nivelle," "Nive," "Toulouse," "Peninsula," "Waterloo." 93rd, or Sutherland regiment. Under the command of Major-general Sir Colin Campbell. Second Division. — Lieutenant-general Sir de Lacy Evans commanding First Brigade. 30th regiment. This corps served with honour on many fields, especially in Egypt, at " Budajoz," "Salamanca," "Peninsula," " Waterloo." 55th regiment. "China." 9oth regiment (a new regiment). The Old 9'5th served throughout the Peninsula and at Waterloo. Under the command of Major-general Pennefather. Second Brigade. 41st regiment (Welsh). "Detroit," " Queenstown," "Miami," "Niagara," " Ava," " Candah.ar," "Ghuznee," "Cabool." Motto in Welsh — "Gwell Angau na Chywilydd;" the device — the Prince of Wales's plume. 47th regiment (The Lancashire). "Tariffa," " Vit- toria," " St. Sebastian," "Peninsula," "Ava." 49th regiment (The Princess Charlotte's). " Egmont- op-zee," "Copenhagen," "Queenstown," "China." Under the command of Brigadier-general Adams. Third Division. — Lieutenant-general Sir Puchard England commanding. First Brigade. 1st regiment (The Eoyal regiment, formerly called Eoyal Scots). "St. Lucia," "Egmont-op-zee," "Egypt," "Corunna," "Busaco," "Salamanca," " Vittoria," " St. Sebastian," "Nive," "Penin- sula," "Niagara," "Waterloo," " Nagpore," " ilaheidpore," " Ava." 28th regiment (North Gloucester). During the present century this regiment lias been Irish. " Egypt," "Corunna," "Barossa," "Albuhera," "Vittoria," " Pyrenees," " Nivelle," " Nive," " Orthes," " Peninsula," "Waterloo." 38th regiment (1st Staffordshire). "Monte Video," " Rolitja," " Vimiera," "Corunna," "Busaco," "Badajoz," "Salamanca," "Vittoria," " St. Se- bastian," "Nive," "Peninsula," "Ava." Under the command of Brigadier-general Eyre. Second Brigade. 44th regiment (East Essex). During the present century this regiment has been Irish. "Egypt," "Badajoz," "Salamanca," "Peninsula," " ]31a- densburg," "Waterloo," "Ava." 56th regiment (West Esse.x). " Moro," " Gibraltar." The device — the castle and key ; the motto — " Montis Insignia Calpe." G8th regiment (Durham Light Infantry). "Sala- manca," "Vittoria," "Pyrenees," "Nivelle," "Orthes," "Peninsula." Under the command of Brigadier-general Sir J. Campbell. Fourth Division. — Lieutenant-general Sir George CaTHCART C0M5IANDING. First Brigade. 20th regiment (East Devonshire). "Mindcn," "Eg- mont-op-zee," "Egypt," " Maida," "Vimiera," "Corunna," "Vittoria," "Pyrenees," "Orthes,' "Toulouse, "Peninsula." 21st regiment (Royal North British Fusileors-). " Ela- densburg." 1st battalion Rifle Brigade. Under the command of the senior Lieutenant-colonel as Brigadier. Second Brigade. 63rd regiment (West Suffolk). "Egmont-op-zee," " Martinique," " Guadaloupe." 46th regiment (South Devonshire). "Dominica." 57th regiment (West Middlesex). " Albuhera," "Vit- toria," "Pyrenees," "Nivelle," "Nive," "Pe- ninsula." Under the command of the senior Lieutenant-colonel as Brigadier. Fifth, or Light Divi.'^ion. — Lieutenant-general Sir George Brown commanding. First Brigade. Royal Rifle Brigade, 2ud battalion. 7th Royal Fusileers. "Martinique," "Talavera," "Albuhera," "Badajoz," "Salamanca," "Vit- toria," " Pjrenees," " Orthes," " Toulouse," " Peninsula." 23rd Royal Welsh Fusileers. "Minden," "Egypt," "Corunna," "Martinique," "Albuhera," "Bada- joz," " Salamanca," " Vittoria," " Pyrenees," "Nivelle," "Orthes," "Toulouse," "Peninsula," " Waterloo." 33rd i-eginient (Duke of Wellmgton's own). " Se- ringapatam," "Waterloo." Under the command of Brigadier-general Goldie. Second Brigade. 19th regiment (1st York, North Riding). 77th regiment (East Middlesex). " Seringapatam," " Ciudad Rodrigo," "Badajoz," "Peninsula." 88th regiment (Connaught Rangers). "Egypt," " Talavera," " Busaco," " Fuentes d'Onor," "Ciudad Itodrigo," "Badajoz," "Salamanca," "Vittoria," "Nivelle," "Orthes," "Toulouse," " Peninsula." Under the command of Brigadier-general Buller. Cavalry Division. — Lieutenant-general the Earl of lucan commanding. First Brigade, Heavy. 1st (Eoyal) Dragoons. " Peninsula," " Waterloo." 2nd (Eoyal) Dragoons (Scots Greys). "Waterloo." 4th Dragoon Guards (Eoyal Irish). " Peninsula." oth Dragoon Guards (commonl)- called Green Horse). "Salamanca," "Vittoria," "Toulouse," "Penin- sula." 6th Dragoons (Inniskillens). "Waterloo." Under the command of Brigadier-general the Hon. J. Scarlett. Second Brigade, Light. 4lh Light Dragoons (Queen's own). "Talavera," "Albuhera," "Salamanca," "Vittoria," "Tou- louse," "Peninsula," " Affghanistan," "Ghuz- nee." 8th King's Eoyal Irish Hussars. " Leswarree," " Hin- dostan." 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's own). "Egypt," "Sa- lamanca," "Peninsula," "Waterloo," "Bhurt- pore." 13th Light Dragoons. "Peninsula," "Waterloo." 17th Lancers. : Underthe command of Major-general the Earl of Cardigan, Chap. X.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 101 We have marked the names of the engage- ments in ^vhich these various regiments wei-e distinguished, as the minds of our readers will follow them to the campaign with greater interest, by being reminded of their past ser- vices and glory. During these military preparations, public discussions were promoted in connection with the dress and pay of the Britisli soldier. Scarcely a particle of his dress, from the bear- skin cap, or shako, to his ill-made shoes, escaped criticism. The public soon became unani- mous in denouncing the weight the soldier is obliged to carry : the stock by which on parade he is often nearly choked, the general tightness and want of freedom in his uniform, the indifference to climate shown in providing him with apparel, and the exorbitant charge made upon him for an inferior " kit." Out of a shilling a day, stoppages of all sorts are wrung, under every conceivable form of pre- tence, for clothing which ought to cost him nothing. The arms and accoutrements fell as much imder public censure as the costume : the British soldier was badly armed — " Swords that would not cut, muskets that would not shoot, pioneers' tools that were impracticable, clothes in which the wearer had difficulty to move, and a stock to stifle him in hot weather," was the stinging description with which an American newspaper summed up the informa- tion afforded by the discussions on these matters in the London press. The infantry soldiers' old companion, "Brown Bess," became unpopu- lar both in the army and among the people ; indeed, everywhere but at the Ordnance-office, and among the older generals, who still insisted that as the army had driven the French before them from the heights of Busaco to Toulouse withhold Brown Bess," there was no need of Minie rifles or any other " new-fangled" weapons. It is to the discredit of a portion of the manufacturing and commercial community that ships, arms, and stores, were in course of pre- paration for the enemy, while our government was organising armaments against him. In the Clyde and the Tyne steamers intended for the service of the czar were under equip- ment, and were seized by the authorities, and confiscated to the use of her majesty. Informa- tion was conveyed to the Home- office, that large stores of arms and ammunition were preparing for export to Odessa, and a procla- mation was issued on the 18th of February, from the Queen in Council, declaring contra- band all such material of war. Tlirougli tlie imbecility of the government, large quantities of munitions of war had, however, previous to the proclamation, been actually shipped to Odessa, and other ports of the enemy. The estimates which parliament was asked to vote for 1854, beginning on the 1st of April, were utterly inadequate to the crisis; they were — Proposed Vote. Increase. For the Army 0,287,483 262,470 „ Kavv 7,487,948 1,202,4-55 „ Ordnance 3,8.54,878 792,311 £17,621,312 £2,2.57,236 These estimates were of course the occasion of much parliamentary discussion, the feeling of the House being in favour of a larger vote. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Gladstone, hoped by this " bit by bit" preparation for the war to show his majesty the czar British desire for peace ; and expected to conciliate him by showing how few regiments we were willing to raise, and the modicum of expense we con- templated. All who knew the habit of thought in Asiatic nations — and Russia is essentially an Asiatic nation — were aware that this parsi- monious war-making would have a contrary efi'ect : the czar understood it as a token of a commercial disgust to war, and a dread of adding to the national debt, and he was encou- raged to proceed. That such was the feeling at St. Petersburg private letters at the time, and subsequently, abimdanlly established. The naval preparations for the wai", as wo have already intimated, made better progress than those of the army. A fleet was fitted out, the most magnificent the world ever saw, and was committed to the command of Yice- admiral Sir Charles IS^apier. Rear-admirals Chads and Plumridge were also appointed to important commands imder Sir Charles. This fleet was exercised daily off Portsmouth by Admiral Chads, especially in gunnery, who had obtained great celebrity in that department of a naval officer's qualifications. The Russian fleets had paraded about the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland the preceding autumn, and the usual boastings were heard through the Russo-German organs of the press, and from the friends of Russia in the London clubs. In consequence of these boastings, the public were very anxious for the dispatch of the Baltic fleet as early as possible in the spring, and the 11th of March was fixed upon. On the 7th, a grand banquet was given to Sir Charles Xapier by the members of the Reform Club. It was given in the coftee-house of the club-room, in Pall Mall, which only afforded accommodation for 200 persons. The members of the club, however, who could not obtain seats at the dinner-table, crowded the ante- rooms and the approaches to the coftee-room, in order to hear the addresses. The flags of England. France, and Turkey, were tastefully blended around the room. There was a large assemblage of persons outside the club, who greeted the arrival of distinguished individuals 102 HISTOiiY OF THE WAR AGAINST IIUSSIA. [Chap. X, with hearty applause; but the favourites vrere Sir Charles Napier and Lord Palmerston, who, perhaps, were never before greeted by the populaec so fervently. The latter member of the club took the chair. He was supported by political names of eminence, and of some who deserved eminence: — SirW.Molesworth, M.P. ; Mr. Peto, M.P.; Admiral Berkeley, M.P.; M. Musurus, the Turkish Minister ; Namik Pasha ; Mr. Olievera, M.P. ; the Hon. W. Cooper, M.P. ; Sir J. Lillie. The Vice-chairs were occupied by Lord Dudley Stuart, M.P., and Sir De Lacy Evans, M.P. This banquet was afterwards a subject of discussion throughout the whole em- pire, and even in foreign countries. A tone of boasting was adopted unusual among English gentlemen; expressions of foolish menace fell from almost all the speakers when referring to Russia. Unhappily, the men who from their position should set an example of prudence, seemed to lose all self-possession, and to give themselves an indulgence in absurd rodomon- tade. The most Avarlikc and boastful language was adopted by Sir J. Graham, the First Lord of the Admiralty — a man who has since avowed himself to have been anxious to obtain any terms from Russia; and who, in fitting out that mighty fleet, only intended it as a demon- stration, and expected to awe the czar by its display, while he and his colleagues flattered him by a courtly diplomacy, and craved peace at his hands almost in the language of sup- plication. The public universally disapproved of the conduct of the leading men at the Reform Club ; and grave questions and re- monstrances connected with the language there employed were heard in the senate. The excuse oiFered for all the folly enacted there was, that the speeches were after-dinner ora- tions, to which especial indulgence ought to be given. This did not satisfy the public, who believed that men to whom the guidance of our diplomacy and the command of our fleets were entrusted, ought to be able to preserve their discretion after dinner as well as before. When the health of Sir Charles was drunk, he responded with great vivacity to the compliments paid to him : the open- ing sentences of his speech were made the subject of much pai'ty animadversion: — "I cannot say that we are in a state of war, be- cause we are still in a state of peace ; but I suppose we are very near at war. I suppose that, Avhen I get to the Baltic, I shall have an opportunity of declaring war. {Loud cheering.) And certainly, if I have the opportunity, I hope it will end in a prosperous war, because I can safely say that this country never sent out such a splendid fleet as that which is about to go into the Baltic in a ie'^ days." Sir James Graham, as First Lord of the Admiralty, was of course toasted, and as a matter of course also made a speech, fi'om which we select this paragraph : — " He docs not go forth under the hypocritical pretence of conducting a religious war {loiid and vehe- ment cheerinej) ; but he goes forth to assert the indejjendence of Europe; to resist — and I hope successfully to resist — that lawless spirit of aggression and aggrandisement which now threatens to disturb the general peace (cheers). My gallant friend says, that when he gets into the Baltic, he will declare war: I, as First Lord of the Admiralty, give him my free consent to do so (hud cheers). I hope that war will be short; it may be shai'p; but I hope that, with the spirit and energy that ever characterised m}' gallant friend, it may be decisive." On the Monday after these foolish speeches, Mr. French called the attention of the House of Commions to the fact of Sir James Graham having announced that he gave permission to Sir Charles Napier to declare war upon entering the Baltic. Sir James Graham, in a rambling and irate reply, endeavoured to escape the consequences of his words, by reminding the House that he had spoken " after dinner." A scene of wordy conflict ensued between the friends and opponents of governmeni ; but the general sense of the House was clearly indicated as hostile to the spirit of empty bravado that had pervaded the speeches complained of, and the arx'ogant and imprudent language em- ployed. We especially notice these incidents as explaining the indignation of the country, when, subsequent! J', the men who thus boasted, and uttered such belligerent language, were proved to be unfavourable to the war they appeared to advocate, and anxious to avoid everything that might practically humble Rus- sia, while deceiving the country and its allies by the utterance of an earnest patriotism. On the 10th of March, her majesty, on her way to Osborne, visited the fleet in the Fairy, royal yacht ; and a scene only somewhat in- ferior in grandeur and efi"ect to that which was presented the next day, at the departure of the mighty armament for the Baltic, was witnessed by the multitudes who, from eveiy part of Great Britain, had collected in Ports- mouth and its neighbourhood, and the Isle of Wight. Sir Charles had his flag flying on board the St. Jean d'Acre, and as soon as the guns from the guardship, the Victory (on board of which Nelson fell at Trafalgar), announced the queen's arrival, the signal was given from the St. Jean, and every ship was seen with her yards manned. Imme- diately after the Fairy, with the royal stan- dard floating from her main, bent her course for the head of the fleet. As she passed the Platform Battery, the guns thundered out their welcome, and tens of thousands of people Chap. X.] HISTORY OF THE ^YA^i AGAIXST IIUSSIA. i03 rent the air with, their acclamations. The salute then, began, and ran along the fleet, forming a sublime spectacle. The first flash was seen from the broadside of the St. Jean cT Acre, and then the roar of cannon was poured over the quiet waters from all the hiige thundcrers that composed the formidable array. When the smoke passed away, the Fairy — a tiny but graceful thing, a perfect contrast to the huge war ships by which she passed — was seen steaming for Osborne. Then, ship after ship poured forth its volleys of cheers, the men upon the yards displaying the utmost enthu- siasm. The Black Eagle attended the Fairy, and carried a large company of the most dis- tinguished attendants upon the court. Up to a late hour on Friday night, myriads of persons entered Portsmouth and the con- tiguous towns. Hotels, lodgings, out-houses, every available place, was eagerlj' resorted to by those in quest of an abode. The illumina- tions were on a scale never before witnessed in Portsmouth, Portsea, or Gosport. The next day, the first symptom of the events about to transpire was the shifting of Sir Charles I^apier's flag from the St. Jean d' Acre (lOl guns) to the Duke of Wellington (131 guns). Soon after, the Neptune (120 guns) was steamed out to Spithead by a small steamer. An observer graphically remarked — "It was a strange sight to see that majestic hull, towering aloft with its three decks and its lofty masts, and taken as a helpless prisoner by a petty steam-tug, which could have been stowed awaj'- without inconvenience in any part of its ample decks. The superiority of science over bulk could hardly have been better illustrated than in this case : here was one of the finest line- of-battle ships iu the world lying sluggishly at the mercy of the reluctant breeze, when lol a little black magician appears, and taking the huge le\4athan by the fin, coolly places her in her position in the proper order of departure. It is quite clear that sailing line-of-battle ships will soon be matters of history in this country. Vast crowds were upon the ramparts to see this ship pass out; and the band, playing well- rcmembercd tunes, gave to the proceeding a strong degree of interest." The gallant Sir Charles was invited to the Guildhall, to receive an address from the Cor- poration ; and as he proceeded thither, he was welcomed by " the shoresmen" with vociferous cheers. As he returned to embark on board the Sprightly for his flng-ship, the tlirong that pressed around him of all ranks was at once cordial to liim personallj-, and enthusiastic for the enterprise. The pier was decorated with the flags of France, Turkey, Austria, and the United States, as well as that of the United Kingdom. Sir Charles was attended by his three daughters, who were the objects of unbounded admiration and respect on the part of the multitude. Arriving on board i\ic I)uke of IFellington, the admiral and the fleet pre- pared to receive her majcstj-. The fleet itself was, in fact, but the first division of that destined for the Baltic ; the second division was in course of preparation, and to be dis- patched subsequentlj', under the orders of Vice- admiral Corry. That under the immediate command of Su' Charles jS^apier consisted of the following ships: — SCKEW LIKE-OF- BATTLE SHIPS. Horse- Guns. Men. power Duke of Welliu gton . . 131 .. 1100 . 780 lloval George . . 121 .. S90 . 400 St. Jean d'Acre . 101 .. 900 . 650 Princess lloval . 91 .. 8-50 . 400 Bleulieini . . . 60 ., 660 . 450 . 60 .. 660 660 . 4.50 Ajax .... . 58 .. . 450 Edinburgh . . . 5S .. 630 . 450 680 6120 4030 SCREW FEIGAXES. Imperieuse . . . . 50 .. .530 . 360 Arrogant . . 47 .. 4.50 . 360 Amphion . . 34 .. 320 . 300 . . 30 .. 300 IGOO . 300 161 1320 PADDLE -WnEEr.S. Leopard . . . . . 18 .. 280 . 560 Dragon . . . 6 .. 200 160 220 . 560 Bulldoo- . . . , 6 . . 500 ^'ak'rous . . . . . 16 .. . 400 46 860 2020 Making a total of sixteen war steamers; of which two, the Duke of Wellington and the Royal George, are three-deckers, wliile three carry admirals' flags — Sir Cliarles Napier's in th.Qj)uke, Admiral Chads' iu i\\c. Edinburgh, and Admiral Plumridge's in the Leopard. The Euryalus, screw-steamer, 51 guns, 531 men, and 400 horse-power, was subsequently added. The second division, under Vice-admiral Corry, which afterwards joined Sir Charles J^apier, may be here noticed. It consisted of: — SAILING SIUPS OF THE LUTE. Guns. Neptune 120 .. . St. George 120 .. . Waterloo 120 .. . St. Vincent 101 .. . Prince llegout .... 90 . . . Monarch 84 . . . Boseawcn 70 . . . Men. 970 970 970 900 820 750 730 SCREWS. iiorsc- Gniu. Men. power. Ctesar 91 . . 850 . . 400 James Watt 91 . . 850 . . 000 Nile 91 . . 850 . , 400 Majestic 80 .. 750 .. 400 FEIGATES, SLOOPS, ETC. SCREWS. Guns. Sliranda 15 . . . Archer 14 . . . Conflict 8 . . . Man. 175 160 180 01 O'lin . . . HISTOllY PADDLi:.S. Guns. , ir, 01< THE Men . 220 Bulldog . , fi . 160 r, . 160 Driver . G . 160 Rosamond Prometheus . Alban . . . f) G . 160 . 145 . GO Liglitning . . Prolic . . 3 a.viLiiio. 10 . 60 . 130 Win AGAINST RUSSIA. [CiiAr. X. Making in the whole a fleet of forty-four vessels, 2200 guns, 16,000 horse-power, and 22,000 sailors and marines. After Sir Charles received the address at the Guildhall, and had returned on board the Did-e of Wellington, the Fairy yacht with the royal party set out from Cowes. There Avere on board Her Majesty, the Prince of Wales, the Prin- cess Eoyal, Princess Alice, Prince Alfred, and the Prince Consort; also the ladies and gentle- men in waiting, and Sir James Graham, in attendance as First Lord of the Admiralty, and Vice-admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane. The Elfin, Fire Queen, and Blade Eagle, were in attendance upon the Fairy. On a signal from the admiral, a salute of twenty- one guns was fired by the whole fleet; and when the spectacle was associated with its grand object, none could fail to feel its sublimity. Scarcely had the thunder of the guns died away, and the smoke dispersed, when the Fairy and her retinue of steamers reached the fleet. The rigging of the ships was manned, and the men cheered heartily; and their cheers were as enthusias- tically taken up by the multitudes on board the pleasure-boats which swarmed around every ship. The bands of the several vessels, as well as the amateur bands on board the various yachts and steamers, played the national anthem. The flagship had her side ladders and decks covered with scarlet cloth, to receive her majesty and suite on board; but the little yacht kept on her course, threading the mazes of the fleet — the royal party examining every ship — and finally passing to leeward, the cap- tain made signal for admirals and captains to come on board. The barges and gigs of the sevei'al vessels were instantly put into requisition to convey those ofiicers to the Fairy ; the admiral's barge led the way, with Sir Charles and his captain in the stern- sheets. By this time an immense circle of pleasure -yachts formed around the Fairy, as near as propriety allowed. Her majesty and suite received the officers on the deck of her little yacht. Sir Charles iS'apicr, and Com- modore Seymour, the captain of the fleet, were the first on board ; they were presented to her majesty by Sir James Graham, and she conversed in an animated manner with these two officers for some time. The queen was deeply affected while speaking to the officers around her, and addressed them in the lan- guage of confidence and hope — manifesting the deepest personal interest in them, and a tender sympathy for all her loyal tars. She was attired in black, but wore a blue veil and parasol, in compliment, it was supposed, to the admiral's flag. The Fairy answered well to its name — so swiftly did it glide about, and appeared, in its brilliant painting and tasteful carving, an elegant thing beside the huge war ships amongst which it so gracefully passed. Witli all this gay and exciting array, and all the enthusiasm of the multitude on board the fleet and the pleasure ships, there was some- thing in the spirit of the whole in contrast to that of the grand naval review of the previous autumn : on the one occasion all was holiday and merrymaking; on the other, there was an aspect of stern reality — an expression of coun- tenance and a bearing which indicated, both on the part of the crews and the spectators, a consciousness of the terrible reality of war. An observer thus describes it : — " Boats passed from ship to shore incessantly, and with rapidity which seemed directed by earnestness. Signal- men were in constant requisition. Weeping female faces might constantly be seen, as fathers, sons, or brothers, sped away to join their ships. Even the people, who came in thousands to behold the spectacle, wore coun- tenances that were thoughtful, earnest, and even sad." At two o'clock a signal-gun was fired from on board the DuJce of Wellington for the fleet to get under weigh. The scene on board the noble ship was at that instant exciting : the veteran Sir Charles stood, glass in hand, giving orders to the ships to weigh in succession ; and immediately the signals were run up, and answered by the ships addressed. The shrill sound of the boatswain's whistle could be faintly heard in the distance; " and the sailors, crowding aloft, spread themselves along tho yards. Soon the great sails were shaken out, swelling majestically in the breeze; the cap- stans could be heard working to the sound of the fife, and soon the great anchors were seen dangling at the bows, and the ships creeping slowly away." As soon as the first division of the fleet was fairly started, the admiral's own ship "weighed," and made sail with wonderful celerity. "Every rope was hauled home in a moment by tho silent but simultaneous eff'orts of a hundred men ; the rigging was soon literally black with sailors ; and, while the eye detected everj'where the greatest energy and activity, there was no sound perceptible to the ear but the boat- swain's whistle, and an occasional command from an officer, sharp, short, and decisive." The most interesting event on the occasion was the Fairy heading the fleet. By a rapid CUAI'. X.J HISTOKY OF THE WAIl AGAINST IIUSSIA. 105 move round to -windward, she passed from "where she had been lying to, and, followed by her attendaiit steamers, took up her station a little in advance of the leading ship — her majest)^ standing on the deck, and literally leading her fleet out to sea. The effect of tliis movement upon the sailors and the spectators was electric, loud shouts filled the air; the sun, which had been partially hidden by ])iles of cumbrous clouds, burst out ref'ulgently, and seemed to fill the sails of the screw steamers, which all went out to sea impelled by the breeze, and not by steam ; the sea foamed and sparkled, as divided bj- the prows of the advancing ships ; and the queer^_ of the seas herself was in the van of the miglity forces she thus led forth to menace and defy her foes. If ever Victoria felt proud of her greatness it might have been then, as she stood uj)on the deck of her beau- tiful Fairy yacht, followed by those floating fortresses, frowning in their grim strength over the yielding v.'aters. "When the foremost ships had neared St. Helen's, signal was made to shorten sail, that the admii-al's flag-ship might come up, and this was the moment chosen by the queen to return; and as the whole fleet passed her, shij) by ship, she wept, and bid them Cod speed; and the cheers of her brave tars rang in her ears, until, borne afar upon the •world of waters, their sounds died awaj-. As the Duhe of Wellington was neared by the Fairy, the crews rushed up the rigging, and uttered the most hearty demonstrations of loyalty ; the Fairy hove to, and let the Dulce pass her ; this apparent condescension of the queen filled the generous hearts of the rough sailors with delight, which they were by no means sparing in expressing. One of the crew climbed up to the truck of the maintop-mast, followed by crowds of others, among whom he was the successful competitor for the dangerous position ; having attained the giddy eminence^ he then seated himself, and taking off his hat, waved it, cheering her majesty, and seeming to occupy this pinnacle of elevation witli as much easuvre which should enable them to regain their liberty, if only for a short period. To this, however, many obstacles were presented — the most serious of which was 'how to pass the gate,' and 'hoodwink the peelers?' Jack's ready wit, however, here stood him in good need ; and the following cleverly concocted stratagem being put into ex- ecution, was attended with the desired result : About forty 'bluejackets' and marines having clandestinely left the ship, by preconcerted arrangement, met in the yard and formed into line. Prior to leaving the vessel, one of the men had possessed himself of a 'sergeant's jacket,' whilst another had donned a 'middy's' upper garment ; and, being thus prepared, they boldly marched up to the gate. Here, as expected, they were stopped b}- the police inspector on duty, who demanded their business. Onr 2)sei(do sergeant, commanding his ' company' to 'halt!' replied that 'they were the pic/cet,' and were 'going out to pick up stragglers' 'Can't let you pass,' rejoined the individual in blue coat and silver buttons, ' without permission of the officer.' 'AH right!' immediately responded a mimic small voice, in a tone of authority, from the rear, and which proceeded from the aforesaid ' middy ; ' who, stepping forward, gave the now satisfied inspector ' ocular demonstra- tion' of his 'authority.' The word was then passed, and the gate being thrown open, the 'gallant band' saw libertj- before them; and our ' sergeant,' commanding his troop to ' form four deep' and 'quick march!' the 'picket' marched gravely forth, and shortly afterwards dispersed ; not, however, without indulging in a hearty laugh at the facility with which they had ' hoaxed the inspector.' An hour subse- quent, as one of the police constables was quietly patrolling his beat, he had occasion to pass the vessel, when a brief colloquy ensued between him and the 'officer of the watch.' 'Rather a large picket gone out to-night, sir,' casually remarked the former. ' Picket,' re- joined the astounded officer — 'what picket?' ' The one that's gone to look out for stragglers,' quoth the other. ' There is no picket sent from here ; ' and so saying the officer of the watch proceeded below, when his fears were speedily Terified — Jack's 'trick' had been successful." These men were not runaways ; their carouse over, or their visits to their wives and sweet- hearts paid, all were again at their posts, ready to do or dare, as duty demanded. On the 1 6th, the Queen, Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, Princess Helena, and Princess Louisa, visited Admiral Corry's squadron, at Spithead, preparatory to its depar- ture to join the division of the fleet under command of Sir Charles Napier. The scene was in every respect similar to that which was presented when her majesty took leave of Adiriiral Napier, only that everj-thing was on a smaller scale. The Neptune (120 guns), under the command of Captain Hutton, attracted the attention of the royal party, and of all the visitors. So rapid were the performances of her crew, that her sails were set by simul- taneous movement, as if by machinery. As she lay at anchor, with all sails furled, she seemed as if no life were within her; the next moment her canvas fell, and she wore round with the grace and swiftness of a cutter. This being her first trip, she was watched by nautical eyes with great interest and with great pride, for never did ship put to sea in more gallant trim. She seemed a creature of conscious beauty and power. The Fairy, with the Queen and court on board, followed by the Elfin, accompanied the Neptune out for some distance; and when signal was made that she was about to part company, the rigging was manned in au instant, and the sailors resorted to all their usual daring and boisterous modes of greeting their sovereign. What had previously taken place on board the Duke of Wellington was repeated here; the men climbed the giddy top of the main, fore, and mizen trucks. The royal party received these exuberan t tokens of loj'alty with their wonted kindness and grace ; and her majesty seemed so much atfected by the loyalty of her brave mariners that, instead of parting companj', she ordered the Fairy to resume its course, and follow the Neptune out- side the Nab, notwithstanding that there was a fresh gale blowing, and the sea was very rough. Her majesty and the royal children are, how- ever, reputed to be good sailors; and "Jack" is not a little proud of the way in which her majesty, and the Prince of Wales especially, bear the sea. The Prince-Consort does not share in this reputation for partiality to " blue water," which "Jack" attributes to his being a foreigner. While the Neptune glided out, followed by the Fairy, a large war-steamer appeared in the distance. The Queen herself ordered a demand-signal to be run up ; to which the reply given by the stranger was, "Penelope, from the coast of Africa." Her majesty is well acquainted with the whole signal-system, and frequently takes that de- partment under her own management when on board the royal yachts, selecting and reading the signals with as much precision and quick- ness as her officers. The tars consider her a real " Sailor Queen," and this opinion is very influential in the enthusiasm with which they regard her. The arrival of the Baltic expedition at iia OiiAr. X.] HISTOllY OF THE WAK AGAINST IIUSSIA. 109 destination, without accident of any kind, gave great pleasure to the British public: the tirst letters IVom the fleet were eagerly read, not only by those to whom they were addressed but by the general public, as they soon found their way into the public prints. One of these, written from on board "the St. Jean d'jicre, Wingo Sound, March 1 8th," gave an inter- esting description of the progress of the fleet at sea, anil of the occurrences attendant upon its arrival at that place of rendezvous : — *' On Monday evening we weighed and stood out to sea. AH the ships, witli the exception of the paddle-steamers, taking advantage of a favourable breeze from the S.S.W., were under sail. But the impatience of the admiral to arrive at the scene of his future operations was soon evinced by a signal to get up steam. AVe proceeded in the same order as before, leaving the English coast; the in-shore squadron, under Admiral Plumridgc, to windward; Sir Charles leading the starboard ; and Admiral Chads the port line. Towards evening, however, a light wind from the northward rolled down upon us a dense mass of fog, which soon made the relative positions of the ships a mere matter of conjecture. Nothing could be seen, save an occasional flash from the position guns of the admiral, or the top- gallant-mast heads of some tall ships towering above the vapour. During the night even these uncertain guides failed ; and Ihougli we, from our position immediately astern of tlie flag-ship, were enabled to keep station with some degree of certainty, the re- mainder were not so fortunate. Morning came, and with it a strong wind, which swept away the fog, and revealed our straggling squadron. " The recall signal hoisted by the flag-ship was quickly repeated by all witliin sight. Mere specks in the far-away horizon gradually increased into great ships, as the)' hastened to take up their positions; and, by twelve o'clock, all who had not liopelessly strayed were again in order of sailing. The paddle-squadron of Admiral Plumridge, and the Princess Royal, Imperieuse, Amphion, and lioi/al Gcon/r, were not to be seen. This morning, on arriving, we found them all (excepting the Royal George, which has not yet turned up) anchoring at Wingo.* The Euryalus, which started from Sheerness on the same day as we from the Downs, having been ordered to proceed with all speed, was here on Tliursday. She is spoken of as a wonder of naval architecture. " I give you the gossip of the fleet for what * Wingo is a rock near the entrance to Gotheborg (or Gothenburg), on the Swedish coast. Wingo Sound lias good " hokling ground" for sliips in lifleen fathoms water. Tlie roadstead is convenient for vessels going to Gothenburg, and thence outward-bound. In a south- west gale, a heavy sea sets in, but in the Fiord of liifo, four miles to the eastward of Ruskar (the Sound is bituated between, liuskar and JJatta), in the inlet of it is worth, believing that all the sayings and doings of our naval armaments have an interest, at the present moment, for readers at home. Our vicinity to Gothenburg has aftorded facili- ties for crowds of eager sight-seers to visit the fleet. Their little steanjers, gaily decked out with national colours, have been cantering about all day, cheering each ship with nearly as much enthusiasm as their brother-excur- sionists off the English south coast. I need hardly say, that the rigging is manned and the ensign dipped, on board all the ships, at each fresh demonstration of Swedish kindly feeling. This enthusiasm for the English is, I am told, very general throughout the country; but 1 cannot speak from any personal knowledge. " The bay in which we are lying is sur- rounded on three sides by a low rocky coast. There are no houses but those belonging to the light-keepers ; and a more bleak, unhiiteresting spot could hardly be imagined : the weather, (luring the last few days, has been bitterly cold." "While the fltting out and dispatching of squadrons and single ships-of-war for the Baltic were in such rapid progress, means were adopted to embark the artillery and cavalry for the East. Captain Laury's troop of Eoyal Horse Artillery, and part of Captain Anderson's company of Eoot Artillery, Avere ordered to embark at Woolwich with very unnecessary dispatch, judging by the delays permitted after the actual embarkation. On March the 1 7th, at midnight, the Deputy Quartermaster-general of Artillery communicated to the Commodore Superintendent of the Dockyard that the troops must begin to embark next morning shortly after six. At five o'clock on the morning of the 18th the men were awakened, and then for the first time had any intimation of the order. B)' that time the waggons and stores had actually arrived. Such were the prompti- tude and celerity of the men, that by a quarter past six o'clock they were all mounted in route order. The troops left the garrison before seven o'clock. The band did not play; and the whole prooeeding was so quiet and so quick, that the inhabitants of Woolwich were not apprised of it. On entering the Dockyard at seven o'clock, the horses were unharnessed in the Dockyard parade-ground, and the harness packed into casks for each given department. The embarka- tion of the horses then began ; and the whole of the guns and ammunition-waggons were })Ut on board, and the six ships taken out of the basin and towed to moorings at the lloyal Gothenburg, ships may ride sheltered in all winds. Tho city of Gothenburg is a commerci;il place, having facilities bv'its water communicationB for intercourse witli the interior of Sweden. The population is about 30,000. The selection of Wingo Sound for the rendezvous of the tleet was judicious, as offeiing peculiar laeililies for such a purpose, imd as affording thi! licet a position for the conunand of tlie lialtis. 110 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [CllAP. X. Arsenal by half-past three o'clock in the after- noon : tlius prompt were these brave fellows at the call of duty. No section of the army contained an equal proportion of well-conducted and excellent men as the artillerj' stationed at Woolwich, for which Colonel Anderson deserves much of the credit : his untiring efforts, enduring patience, kind interest in the soldiery, humane conduct to their families, and the high moral example he personally sets them, have greatly tended to produce such results. . It was not until two o'clock that the men could find opportunity or permission to take leave of their families and friends, who were admitted into the Dockyard for short interviews. Seven women, but no children, were allowed to go ; and as a large proportion of the men were married, another scene of heart-rending suffering was added to the num- ber which the preparations for the war entailed. Many of these men since feU. in action ; they bid "a long and last farewell," upon the parade at Woolwich, to those they loved beyond all things, except so far as country and duty entered into the honourable rivaliy. They wept as they pressed their wives and little children to their hearts, and yet there was in their bearing a noble manhood — " A woman's tear-drop melts, a man's half sears, Like moken lead, as ii' you thrust a pike in His heart, to force it out." Their adieus were uttered in the mingled cadences of intense suffering, and of a most dauntless defiance of all adverse fortunes. Some of the most soldierly-looking men were in this party, and among those that clung to them with fondest embrace, and hung upon their breast in passionate weeping, were truly lovely young women. There was too a con- siderable number of fine children, old enough to be conscious of their loss. Oh, how terrible the responsibility of that bad, ambitious man, whose lust of power, and ruthless indifference to human tears and blood, begat this war ! Large draughts from the artillery stationed in Ireland were embarked for the Black Sea, so that the garrison of Athlone, the central gar- rison of that country, was left with a single gunner. The whole of the horse -artillery sta- tioned at Dublin were sent out, and Woolwich, the great artillery depot, was in a constant state of bustle, em-barking guns, horses, and men. Much discontent was evoked amongst the more thinking portion of the public by the mal-arrangement which characterised all these preparations. Horses were shipped in vessels that were not sea-worthy. When steamers could have been obtained, horses w^ere sent in sailing ships, and died before they reached Malta ; and a considerable body of troops had been landed in that place, and the transports had returned, while it was generally understood that Gallipoli was the spot in the Turkish dominions where the allies were ultirautely to disembark. The public naturally felt that, although the troops at Malta were so much nearer Turkey, yet they might as well have remained in England for any power they had to get to Gallipoli ; while the transports that might have conducted them thither were use- lessly lying in English harbours, or were on their Avay home. Dissatisfaction with the arrangements of the commissariat, although it had as yet scarcely extended to the general public, was freely expressed in intelligent circles. The hay purchased for the horses of the artillery was discovered to be of the very worst quality, and many of the trusses were filled with dust, straw, shavings, and other rubbish : a dead cat was found in one truss, and a dead lamb in another. It was evident that, among the contractors, were men who would sell their country; men who, for a paltrj" profit woidd put the lives of the troops in peril ; for of course the efficiency and safety of the artillery and cavalry depended very much upon the means of keeping their horses in health. While England was occupied with the great preliminaries for war, her ally was not less busy : the two governments acted in per- fect accord. The exertions of France, how- ever, were greater for the common object. We of course do not possess the means of giving these in such accurate detail as those of our own government, nor would our readers take the interest in descriptions of the embarkation of particular corps of the French army which they would in the departure of those of our own, in which their near relatives, or friends, or acquaintances, may have been enrolled. The French Baltic fleet was not equipped so soon as ours, the maritime resources of Finance being much less than those of Britain. It was not until after the allies had declared war that the French squadrons were dispatched; and at the same time a new squadron, under Admiral Bruat, was sent forth as a reserve for the Black Sea fleet, under Admiral Hamelin. The Moniteur, which was the organ of the Imperial govern- ment, gives a statement of the whole of the French naval expeditionary forces in its num- ber of the 21st of April. " The Baltic fleet, under the command of Vice-admiral PiU'seval-Deschenes, has sailed from Brest for the Gulf of Finland. This fleet, on board of which a body of infantiy and marine artillery has embarked, is composed of the following vessels: — Tage, 100 guns; Auster- litz, screw, 100; Uercule, 100; Jeinmapes, 100; Breslaw, 90 ; Duguesclin, 90 ; Inflexible, 90 ; Dnperre, 80 ; Trident, 80 ; Semillante, 60 ; Andromaque, 60 ; Vengeance, 60 ; Pouysuivante, 50; Virginie, 50; Zenobie, 50; Fsyche, 40; Chap. XI.] HISTOEY OE THE WAR AGAIXST IIUSSIA. Ill Barien, steam- frigate, 14; Phlcgeton, stoara- corvette, 10; Soujfleur, ditto, 6; and Mi! cm, Lucifer, Aigle, and Daim, small steamers. The Erench naval force in tlie Black Sea, under the command of Vice-admiral Hamelin, is com- posed of the Friedland, 120 guns; Valmy, 120; Ville de Paris, 120; Henri IV., 100; Bayard, 90 ; Charlemagne, screw, 90 ; Jena, 90 ; Jiqiiter, 90; Marengo, 80; Gomer, steam-frigate, 16; Descartes, 20 ; Vaicban, 20 ; Mogador, 8 ; Cacique, 14; Magellan, 14; Sane, 14; Caton, steam- corvette, 4; Serieuse, sailing ditto, 30; Mercure, Oliriere, and Beaumanoir, 20- gun brigs ; Cerf, 10-gun bri'g; PrometMe, Salamandre, Heron, and Monette, small steamers. The squadron of Vice-admiral Bruat, intended to act in the Black Sea, the Sea of Gallipoli, and in the Eastern Archipelago, comprises the following vessels: — Montebello, 120 guns; Napoleon, screw, 92; Suffren, 90 ; Jean Bart, screw, 90 ; Ville de Marseille, 80; Alger, 80; Pomone, screw, 40; Caffarelli, steam- frigate, 14; Roland and Pri- mauguet, steam-corvettes, eight guns each. Independently of these three scjuadrons and all the frigates, or steam-corvettes, which are assem- bled in the Mediterranean for the transport of the army uf the East, all the naval stations in the West Indies, the Pacific Ocean, the Indo- China seas, and in all quarters where the fish- eries are carried on, have been reinforced. The Erench navy has now embarked on dif- ferent seas 56,000 sailoi-s, and England has an equal force." The Erench army embarked from ilarseilles and Toulon with great dispatch. The force set apart for the expedition was two divisions of infantry of 20,000 men each ; the first under the command of General Canrobert, the second under the command of General Bosquet. A reserve division of 20,000 men was placed under the command of Prince jS^apoleon Buona- p;irte, cousin to the Erench Emperor. The Marshal de St. Arnaud commanded in chief. Tiie engineers and artillery of this fine force were considered by British military men as most intelligent and efiicient troops, especially the ofificei's. There were very few cavalry appointed to go out with the first corps of tlic expeditionary array. The commissariat was as nearly perfect as could be desired. The hos- pital department was perhaps better arranged tlian that of any armj- which ever left the shores of Erance, or of anj* other countiy. Before wai' was declared, a large portion of the allied expe- dition reached Malta, — a few of the superior officers of the British army, and most of the superior officers of the Erench, having arrived with their respective troops. CHAPTER XL THE SECRET CORRESPONDENCE. " Before mine eyes thou hast set, and in mine ear Vented much policy, and projects deep Of enemies, of aids, battles, and leagues." — Milton. The proceedings of the allies were undoubt- edly quickened by the popular feeling in both countries ; and just before war was declared that feeling was intensely exasperated by the productions of " the secret correspondence." The occasion by which this correspondence was brought to light was a speech delivered by Lord John Russell in the British Parliament, February 17th, in reply to some important questions from Mr. Layard. An abstract of both speeches will best introduce our readers to the true position of the matter. Mr. Layard called the attention of the House to the present state of the relations of this country with Turkey and Russia. There had been so much reserve by this country that it became abso- lutely necessary that some incpiiry should be instituted. Had the ministers adopted a more straightforward policy, tlicy would never have blundered into the position in which they now found themselves. The statements made by the Russian government to the British and French governments were sufficient to disclose the intentions of that power ; but if any doubt could exist, it ought to have been removed by the immense military preparations of Russia, intelligence of which was dulj' communicated to our government by our ambassadors abroad. He was quite willing that credit should be given to the pacific assurances of Russia, so long as her acts did not contradict those assur- ance-.? ; hut when she was privately saying one thing, and openly doing another, it was an extraordinarj' infatuation that could influence the government in giving credit to her state- ments. He said there was reason to believe that the Turks would have driven the Russians out of the priDcipalities before they had time to establish themselves there, had it not been for the paralysing advice of our government. It was alleged as an excuse for the tardy operations of our government that they were infliumced by the desire to carry the French government along with them ; but it was evident that the Erench Emperor was before them in promptitude, and in a clear perception of what was best to be done. It was the Erench government that had to slacken its 112 HISTORY OF THE WAE AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. XI, progress to bring up tlic rolucttmt British niinistr)'' to its side. In reference to the mehmcl'.ol)' affair at Sin ope, he thought the res})onsibilit3' of it shouhl be tlirown upon the Englisli minister, by whose instructions Lord Stratford do Rcdcliffe had persuaded tiie sultan not to send the whole of his fleet into the Black Sea. Lord Stratford had gone so far as to remonstrate with our government upon its A'acillating polic)'. Although it was well- known the Russians were cruising in the Black Sea, the fleet was kept back, and the result was the dreadful slaughter of Sinope. It appeared as if from some fatality every step taken by our government was a mistake, and it was therefore the more necessary to require from them an explanation of the policy which they now were about to pursue. Sir James Graham made an ingenious " ad captandTim" reply; but the House was not satisfied, and Lord Dudley Stuart and Mr. Roebuck demanded explanations in a manner which showed that the temper of the House was not to be trifled with. This brought up Lord John Russell, who blandly said he was willing to give the information sought for, and, in a tone of much decision and energy, gave the following exposition of affairs : — " There was no doubt that there was deception and concealment on the part of Russia towards this government. Although giving credit to Russia, they were aware that she might have ulterior objects in view, against which it was ;uecessarj^ to be on their guard. He believed that the czar was sincere in the declaration that he was not contemplating an acquisition of territory in the course he was pursuing. He believed the object was to degrade Turkey by defeats, and to force her into terms which would lead at a future period to its conquest or partition. As to the future he had to say that, as the course pursued by the Emperor of Russia had an utter disregard to the peace of Europe and a contempt for its opinions, he had no doubt that the Emperor of Russia would re- fuse the proposal of the Emperor of the French, and direct all the power of Russia to effect his designs against Turkey. To meet such a pro- ceeding there was but one course of action, and that was to exert the powers at their disposal to defeat his objects ; to aid Turkey in resisting the wanton distui'ber of the peace of Europe ; and to fling back upon him the conse- quences of his own acts. He had further to inform the House that France and England united had an agreement with Turkey that the latter should make no peace with Russia with- out the consent of her allies. He hoped the House would give the government their con- fidence, or confide to other hands the destinies of the approaching contest — and may God defend the right." Tlio effect of this bold speech upon the House was evinced by the repeated bursts of cheering that arose from every side, tlie oppo- sition benches not less t?ian the ministerial. "Out of doors" the sp(;ech produced a similar effect, and may "God defend the right" cclioed througli the nation. Due notice of all this was of course taken in foreign countries. At Vienna and ]ierlin the speech was consi- dered as tantamount to a declaration of war, and the imputations of treachery and aggran- dizement cast upon the Russian government and emperor startled the timid courts and governments of Germany as something very daring. The effect of these brave words upon the continent, and upon Eastern Europe espe- ciallj-, was such that the Russian government was at once uneasy as to the result, and exas- perated as to the course which produced it ; but resorted to a method of counteracting the moral influence of the speech, which only gave to it a greater depth and breadth. The St. Peters- hurg Journal was instructed to retort the charge of treachery, and to insinuate that whatever the designs of Russia, there was on the part of the British government complicity. This was evidently done by the Russian court under the impression that the English ministry would be unable or unwilling to produce " the secret correspondence " — the production of which eventuallj' refuted the 8t. Petersburg Journal, and the government of which it was the organ. On the 2nd March the following article appeared in that paper : — " "VYe have just received a report of the sit- ting of the House of Commons of the 17th Feb- ruary, and the speech which Lord John Russell made on that occasion. It is not here the place to repeat brutal outrages, of which ever}- faithful servant of the emperor will preserve the recollection, but which do not reach the august person to whom tkey are addressed. We shall confine ourselves to remarking that the parliamentary annals might be searched in vain for an example of such intemperate lan- guage from the mouth of a cabinet minis-ter, in reference to a soA^ereign against whom the country of that minister has not yet declared war. What are of importance in this s]',('ech, are not the invectives of the minister, but the nature of the determinations of the goverTimcnt which the speech reveals. It must be very evident henceforward that the peace of the world does not depend upon chance only, but that war forms a decided element of the plans of the English ministry. From this cause has necessarily arisen that fatal distrust which in the Eastern question was the origin of all the previous difficulties, and which will lead at last to the most deplorable result. That such distrust may have been entertained by France Chap. XI. HISTORY OF THE ^VAIl AGAINST IIUSSIA. 11.1 — that it may, up to a certain point, liavo found a place in the mind of a government still recent, Avhich has not had time to acquire by long ex- perience of former relations with it an exact idea of cur real intentions, and abandoning itself involuntarily to the almost traditional opinion which has been formed of Russian policy in the East, — that may be easily con- ceived ; but on the part of England, which is aware of the antecedents and the character of the emperor fi-om a connexion of long date, an opi'nion of such a nature justly excites surprise. Less than any other the British government sliould entertain such suspicions. It has in its hands the written proof that there is no foun- dation for them ; for long before the present condition of affairs — before tlie questions which led to tlie mission of Prince Menschikoff to Constantinople had assumed so serious an as- pect of difference — before Great Britain had adopted the same line of policy as France, the emperor had spontaneously explained himself with the most perfect candour to the queen and her ministers, with the object of establish- ing with thi-m a friendly understanding, even iipon the most important result which can effect the Ottoman Empire. Since the year 1829, his majesty followed with great attention the march of events in Turkey. The emperor could not shut his eyes to the consequences of the changes which were, one after the other, introduced into that state. Ancient Turkey disappeared from the time when it was sought to establish those institutions diametrically opposed as well to the genius of Islumism as to the character and usages of the Mussulmans — institutions more or less borrowed from modern liberalism, and consequently entirely opposed to the spirit of the Ottoman govern- ment. It became evident that Turkey was undergoing a complete transformation, and that these experiments, at least doubtful so far as regarded the reorganisation of the empire, seemed rather calculated to lead to a crisis which would overturn it. It seemed likely that a new order of things would arise, wliicli, although indefinable, would at all events de- stroy that which existed. To these permanent aud increasing causes of dissolution recent com- plications have been added, resulting from the affairs of Montenegro, the religious persecutions uxercised in several Christian provinces, a dif- ference with the Austrian government, con- siderable financial embarrassment, and, lastly, the important affair of the holy places, to whicli the imperious demands of the French ambas- sador at Constantinople were beginning to give a serious and menacing character. These com- plications, which created sullen ex(;itement among tbe Christian po])ulation, were likely, from one daj- to another, to bring about a sudden catastrophe which it was urgent to prevent. Penetrated with the extreme im- portance of such a result, and having at that period almost reached tlie region of the possible, if not entirely of the probable, — convinced of the disastro\is consequences which might result from it, the emperor tliouglit it necessary to assure himself beforehand whether the English government shared his apprehensions. He wished more particularly, by a frank previous understanding, to remove every subject of mis- understanding between Great Britain and him- self. It seemed of the highest importance to his majesty to establish the most perfect identity of views with the government of Great Britain. With this view the emperor engaged the Eng- lish minister at St. Petersburg to cause her majesty to be informed of his anticipations with respect to the danger, more or less immi- nent, that menaced Turkey. He requested on this subject a confidential interchange of opinions with her Britannic majesty. That was certainly the most evident proof of confi- dence which the emperor could give to the court of St. James; and thus did his majestj- most openly signify his sincere wish to prevent any ulterior divergence between the two go- vernments. Sir H. Seymour acquitted him- self forthwith of the important commission which the emperor had impressed on him in a long and familiar conversation. The result has shown itself in a correspondence of tho most friendly character between the present English ministers and the imperial govern- ment. It is not permitted to us to divulge the contents of non-ofhcial documents, which do not concern the emperor alone, and which contain the expression of a mutual confidence. AVhat we are permitted to say is, that in examining the circumstances more or less likely to affect the duration of the status quo in the East, — an examination undertaken from the conviction respectively entertained that every effort should be made to sustain that status quo, and to prolong it as long as possible, — there never was any question of a plan by wliich Russia and England might dispose be- forehand, and between themselves, of the destiny of the different provinces which consti- tute the Ottoman Empire ; still less of a formal agreement to be concluded between them, with- out the knowledge and unassisted by the counsel and intervention of the other courts. The two parties were limited k) a frank and single confidence, but without reserve on either side, to communicate what might be adverse to English interests, what might be so to Rus- sian, so that in any given case hostile or even contradictory action might be avoided. In looking over the diifcrent parts of this confiden- tial correspondence — in recalling tlie sj)irit in which they themselves had interpreted it — the ministers with whom at the time it was carried 114 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. rCHAP. XL on, and who since have permitted themselves to be swayed by prepossessions to be regretted, will be able to decide if those prepossessions are just. Let Lord J. Russ-ell more especially re- peruse that correspondence, in which he was the first to take part, before ceding to Lord Clarendon the direction of foreign affairs. Let him consult his conscience, if the passion which leads him astray permit him to recognise its voice. He can decide now whether it be reallj' true that the emperor has been wanting in frankness towards the English government, or if rather his majesty has not unbosomed himself to England with as little reserve as possible ; if there exists the least reason for believing that we have ambitious or exclusive views on Constantinople, or if, on the con- ti'ary, the emperor has not explained himself in a way to remove aU doubt as to his real intentions on the subject of the political com- binations to be avoided, in the extreme case which he at the time pointed out to the fore- eight of the British government." This article soon found its way into the English papers, and attracted universal notice and surprise. The Earl of Derby gave expres- sion to the feeling of the whole country, when, in his place in the House of Lords, he demanded of the premier^ "Whether the correspondence referred to by the St. Petersburg Journal did actually take place, and whether the noble earl, being challenged by the Emperor of Rus- sia, would satisfy the people of this country by producing the whole of such correspond- ence?" Lord Aberdeen, in reply, said: — "The communications to which the noble earl referred, and which took place between his majesty the Emperor of Russia and some of her majesty's ministers, were not printed with the papers laid on the table, in consequence of the confidential character which was considered to be in some degree attached to them. It has not been usual, under circumstances similar to those under which these communications were made, to lay upon the table of parliament a statement of familiar conversations, such as those described, between a sovereign and a foreign minister; and for this reason her majesty's government did not think it proper or consistent with that respect or delicacy which was due to a prince with whom we were on terms of alliance, to produce p; pers which had a somewhat private and confidential character. The statement in the St. Peters- hurg Journal, which must be considered as in some degree official, and by which it appears that there is no reluctance on the part el Russia that her majesty's government shouLi produce and make public all communication- which had passed on the subject, relieves her majesty's ministers from much difficulty in treating with the matter, and removes any reasonable scruple .thej- might liave entertained relative to the production of the papers to which the noble earl refers. I can assure the noble earl that if he had not made the ob- servations he has, I should still have laid these papers on the table, and stated these communications to your lordships, the object to retain them and consider them as private having now ceased. The whole of this cor- respondence will therefore be laid upon the table." To describe the sensation which the answer of Lord Aberdeen to the Earl of Derby's demand for the confidential correspondence produced, not only in England, but all over Europe, would be impossible. The production of the papers was eagerly watched, and perhaps such a run upon the printing-offices of government state-papers was never previously known, even in the fiercest times of political contention. It was necessary in an earlier part of this history, when unmasking the designs of Russia, to quote some passages from the despatches of Sir George Hamilton Seymour : it is iiere desirable to place the whole correspondence before cur readers, for while by so doing we furnish an account of one of the most impor- tant and exciting preliminaries of the war, we at the same time afford an insight to the secret springs of these movements on the part of Russia, which filled the world with alarm. The magazines and journals of the day, which of course gave publicity to this corre- spondence, omitted a most important document, which, however, throws a full light upon the whole. It is marked No. 6 in the series of Eastern papers published by order of Parlia- ment. It is a memorandum of Count Nessel- rode, drawn up and presented to the British government, and founded on communications received from the Emperor of Russia subse- quently to his Imperial Majesty's visit to England in June, 1844. This memorandum was not presented to Parliament until March, 1854, when it was given in connection with the secret correspondence, of which it was in fact a sort of anticipation, showing that for a long time the designs of Russia to use England as an instrument of her own aggrandizement was a cherished feature of the policy of St. Petersburg. \_Translat{oih'\ Russia and England are mutually penetrated with the conviction that it is for tlu'ir common interest tliat the Ottoman Porte should maintain itself in tlie state of in- dependence and of territorial possession which at present constitutes tliat Krap-ire, as that political combination is the one which is most compatible with the general interest of the maintenance of peace. Being agreed on this prin- ciple, Russia and England have an equal interest in uniting their efforts in order to keep up th^ existence of the Ottoman Empire, aud to avert all tlie dangers v. hieh can place in jeopardy its safety. With this object the C^AP. XI.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. llo essential point is to sufi'er the Porte to live bx repose, without needlessly distur jing it bj' diplomatic bickerings, and witliout interfering without absolute necessity in its internal aft'airs. In order to carr}' out skilfully this system of forbear- ance, witli a view to the well-understood interest of the Porte, two things must not be lost sight of. They are these : — In the first place, the Porte has a constant tendency to extricate itself from the engagements imposed upon it by the Treaties which it has concluded with otlier Powers. It hopes to do so with impunity, because it reckons on the mutual jealousy of the Cabinets. It thinks that if it fails in its engagements towards one of them, the rest will espouse its quarrel, and will screen it from all respoti- sibility. It is essential not to coiitirni the Porte in this delusion. Every time that it fails in its obligations towards one of tlic Great Powers, it is the interest of all the rest to make it sensible of its error, and seriously to exhort it to act rightly towards the Cabinet which de- mands just reparation. As soon as the Porte shall per- ceive that it is not supported by the other Cabinets, it will give way, and the differences whijh have arisen will be arninged in a conciliatory manner, without any conflict resulting from them. There is a second cause of complication which is in- herent in the situation of the Porte ; it is the difficulty whicli exists in reconciling the respect due to the sove- reign authority of the Sultan, founded on the Mussulman law, with the forbearance required by the interests of the Christian population of that Empire. This difficulty is real. In the present state of feeling in Europe, the Cabinets cannot see with indifference the Christian popu- lations in Turkey exposed to flagrant acts of oppression and religious intolerance. It is necessary constantly to make tlie Ottoman Ministers sensible of this truth, and to persuade them that they can only reckon on the friendship and on the support of the Great Powers on the condition that they treat the Christian subjects of the Porte with toleration and with mildness. While in.sisting on this truth, it will be the duty of the foreign Repre- sentatives, on the other hand, to exert all tlieir influence to maintain the Christian subjects of the Porte in sub- mission to the sovereign authority. It will be the duty of the foreign Representatives, guided by these principles, to act among themselves in a perfect spirit of agreement. If they address remonstrances to the Porte, those remon- strances must bear a real chiiracter of unanimity, though divested of one of exclusive dictation. By persevering in this system with calmness and moderation, the Repre- sentatives of the great Cabinets of Europe will have the best chance of succeeding in the steps v.hich they may take, without giving occasion for complications which might affect the tranquillity of the Ottoman Empire. If all the Great Powers frankly adopt this line of conduct, thej' will have a well-founded expectation of preserving the existence of Turkey, However, they must not con- ceal from themselves how man_v elements of dissolution that i'lmpire contains within itself. Unforeseen eircum- stances may hasten its fail, without its being in the power of the friendly Cabinets to prevent it. As it is not given to human foresight to settle beforeliand a plan of action for sucli or such unlooked-for case, it would be jiremature to discuss eventualities which may never be realised. In the luicertainty which hovers over the future, a single fundamental idea seems to admit of a really practical application : it is that tlie danger which may result from a catastrophe in Turkey will be much diminished, if, in the event of its occurring, Russia and England have come to an understanding as to the course to be taken by them in connnon. That understanding will be the more bene- ficial, inasmuch as it will have the full assent of Austria. Between her and Russia there exists already an entire conformity of principles in regard to tlie affairs of Tur- key, in a common interest of conservatism and of peace. In order to render their union more efficacious, there would remain nothing to be desired but that England should be seen to associate herself thereto with tlie same Tiew. The reason which recommends the establishment of this agreement is very simple : — On land, Russia exercises in icgard to Turkey a prepon- derant action ; on sea, England occupies the same posi- tion. Isolated, the action of these two Powers miglit do much mischief; united, it can produce i. real benefit: thence the advantage of coming to a previous under- standing befoie having recourse to action. This notion was in principle agreed upon during the Emperor's last residence in London. The result was the eventual engagement, that if anything unforeseen oc- curred in Turkey, Russia and England should previously concert together as to the course which they should pursue in common. The object for which Russia and England will have to come to an understanding may be expressed in the following manner: — 1. To seek to maintain the existence of the Ottoman Empire in its present state, so long as that political com- bination shall be possible. 2. If we fore^ee that it must crumble to pieces, to enter into previous concert as to everything relating to the establishment of a new order of things, intended to replace that which now exists, and in conjunction with each other to see that the change which may have oc- curred in the internal situation of that Empire shall not injuriously afl'ect either the security of their own States and the rights which the 'JVeaties assure to them respect- ively, or the maintenance of the balance of power in Europe. For the purpose thus stated, the policy of Russia and of Austria, as we have already said, is closely united by the principle of perfect identity. If England, as the princiijal Maritime Power, acts in concert with them, if, is to be supposed that France will find herself obliged to act in conformity with the course agreed upon between St. Petersburg, London, and Vienna. Conflict between the Great Powers being thus obviated, it is to be hoped that the peace of Europe will be maintained even in the midst of such serious circumstances. It is to secure this object of common interest, if the case occurs, that, as the Emperor agreed with Her Britannic Majesty's Ministers during his residence in England, the previous under- standing which Russia and England shall establish be- tween themselves must be directed. Having perused the foregoing document, our readers will be the less surprised at the overtures made by the czar to our ambassador at St. Petersburg, and which the following correspondence reveals : — * No. 1. SIR G. fl. SEYMOUR TO LORD JOHN RUSSELL. (^Received January 23.) (Secret and Confidential.) My Lokd, St. rvtersburg, Jan. 11, 1853. On the evening of the 9th insUint I had the honour of seeing the Emperor at the palace of the Grand Duchess Helen, wlio, it aiijieared, had kindly requested permission to invite Lady Seymour and myself to meet the Imperial family. The Emperor came up to me, in the most gra- cious manner, to say that he had heard with great pleasure of Her Majesty's Government having been definitively formed, adding that he trusted the Ministry would be of long duration. His Imperial JIajesly desired me parti- cularly to convey this assurance to the Earl of Aberdeen, with whom, he said, he had been acquainted for nearly forty years, and for whom ho entcrUiined equal ii'g-aid and esteem. His Majesty desired to be brought to the kind recollection of his Lordship. You know my feelings, the Emperor said, with regard to England. What I have told you before I say again : it was intended that the two countries should be upon terms of close amity ; and I feel sure that this will con- tinue to be the case. You have now been a certain time here, and, as \ ou have seen, there have been very few points ujiou which we have disagreed ; our interest--, iu fact, are upon almost all questions the same. I observed, tiiat I really was not aware that since I had been at St. I'etersburg there had been any actual dis- agreements whatever between us, except with regard to * The French text is omitted, in order to economi8on tiie Emperor, and had the honour of holding with His Im- perial Majesty the very interesting conversation of which it will be my duty to offer vour Lordship an account, which, if imperfect, will, at all events, not be incorrect. I found his Majesty alone; he received me with great kindness, saying, that I had appeared desiious to speak CUAP. XI.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 117 to him upon Eastern aftUivs ; that, oti his side, there was no indisposition to do so, but that he must begin at it remote period. You know, Ilis JIajcsty said, the dreams and plans in ■whicli the Empress Catherine was in the habit of indulg- ing ; these were handed down to our time; but while I inherited immense territorial possessions, I did not inherit those visions — those intentions if you like to call ttiem so. On the contrary, my country is so vast, so happily circuiu- stanccd in every way, that it would be unreasonable in mc to desire moi e territory or more power than I possess ; on the contrary, I am the first to tell you that our great, perhaps our only danger, is that which would arise from an extension given to an Empire already too large. Close to us lies Turkey, and, in our present coudition, nothing better for our interests can be desired ; the times have gone by when we liad anything to fear from the fanatical spirit or the militarj' enterprise of the Turks : and yet the country is strong enough, or has hitherto been strong enough, to preserve its independence, and to insure rcsjiectful treatment from other countries. Well, in that Empire there are several millions of Christians whose interests I am called \ipon to watch over (surveiller), while the right of doing so is secured to nic by 'J'reaty. I mav truly say tluit I make a moderate and sparing use of my right, and I will freely confess that it is one which is attended with obligations occasionally very inconvenient ; but I cannot recede from the discharge of a distinct duty. Our religion, as established in this country, came to us from the East, and there are feelings, as well as obligations, which never must be lost siglit of. Now Turkey, in the condition which I have described, has by degrees fallen into such a state of decrepitude, that, as I told you the other night, eager as we all are for the prolonged existence of the man (and that I am as desirous as you can be for the continuance of his life, I beg you to believe), he may suddenly die upon our hands (nous rester Bur les bras) ; we cannot resuscitate what is dead : if the Turkish Empire falls, it falls to rise no more; and I jiut it to you, therefore, whether it is not better to be provided beforehand for a contingency, than to incur the chaos, confusion, and the certaint}' of an European war, all of which must attend the catastrophe if it should occur unexpectedly, and before some ulterior system has been sketched ; this is the point to which I am desirous that you should call the attention of your Government. Sir, 1 replied, your Majesty is so frank with me, that I am sure you will have the goodness to permit mc to speak with the same openness. I would then observe, that, deploraole as is the condition of Turkey, it is a country which has long been plunged in ditficulties, supposed by many to be insurmountable. With regard to contingent arrangements. Her Majesty's Government, as your Majesty is well aware, objects, as a general rule, to taking engagements upon possible even- tualities, and would, perhaps, be particularly disinclined to doing so in this instance. If I may be allowed to sa\' so, a great disinclination (repugnance) might be expected in England, to disposing by anticipation (d"escompter) of the succession of an old friend and ally. The rule is a good one, the limperor replied, good at all times, especially in times of uncertainty and change, like the present ; still it is of the greatest importance that we should understand one another, and not allow events to take us by surprise. " Maintenant je desire vous parler en ami et en pcntlcman ; si nous arrivons a nous entendre sur celte alVaire, I'Angleterre et moi, ]iour Ic reste, peu m'importe; il m'est indiflerent ce que font on pensent les atitres. Usant done de franchise, je vous dis nettement, que si rAugieterre songe a s'etablir un de ces jours a Constantinople, je ne le jiermettrai pas ; je ne vous prete point ces intentions, mais il vaut mieux dans ces occasions parler clairement; de mon cote, je suis egalement dispose de prendre I'engagement do ne pas m'y etablir, en i>roprietaire, il s'entend, car en depositaire je ne dis pas ; il pourrait se faire que les circonstances me misent dans le cas d'occuper Constantinople, si rieii ne se trouvc prevu, si I'ou doit tout laisser aller au ha;{ard."* * " Now I desire to sjieak to you as a friend and as a qentleinau ; if Englaiul and I arrive at an understanding of tliis matter, as regards the rest, it nuitters little to me ; I thanked Tlis Majesty for the frankness of his di-r inti- mating to the Sultan that he cannot keep peace at home, or preserve friendly relations with his neighbours. It occurs further to Her Majesty's Government to remark, that the event which is contemplateu is not definitely fixed in point of time. When William the Third and Louis the Fourteenth disposed, by treaty, of tlie succession of Charles the Second of Spain, they were providing for an event which could not be far off: the infirmities of the Sovereign of Spain, and the certain end of any human life, made the contingency in prospect both sure and near. The death of the Spanish King was in no way hastened by the Treaty of Partition. The same thing may be said of the provision, made in the last century, for the disposal of Tuscany upon the decease of the last prince of the house of Medici. But the contin- gency of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire is of another kind : it may happen twenty, fifty, or a hundred years hence. In these circumstances it would hardly be consistent with the friendly feelings towards the Sultan which animate the Emperor of Russia, no less than the Queen of Great Britain, to dispose beforehand of the provinces under his dominion. Besides this consideration, however, it must be observed that an agreement made in such a ease tends, very suixdy, to hasten the contingency for which it is intended to provide. Austria and France could not, in fairness, be kept iu ignorance of the trans- action, nor would such concealment be consistent with the end of preventing an European war. Indeed, such concealment cannot be intended by His Imperial ^lajesty. It is to be inferred that, as soon as Great Britain and Russia should have agreed on the course to be pursued, and have determined to enforce it, they should communi- cate their intentions to the Great Powers of Europe. An agreement thus made, and thus communicated, would not be very long a secret ; and wliile it would alarm and alienate the Sultan, the knowledge of its existence would stimulate all his enemies to increased violence and more obstinate conflict. They would fight with the conviction that they must ultimately triumph ; while the Sultan's generals and troops would" feel that no immediate success could save their cause from final overthrow. Tlius would be produced and strengthened that very anarchy which is now feared, and the foresight of the friends of the patient would prove the cause of his death. Her Majesty's government need scarcely enlarge on the dangers attendant en the execution of any similar Convention. The example of the Succession War is enough to show how little such agreements are respected when a pressing temptation urges their violation. The position of the Emperor of Russia as depositary, but not proprietor, of Constantinople, would be exposed to num- berless hazards, both from the long-cherished ambition of his own nation, and the jealousies of Europe. The ulti- mate proprietor, whoever he might be, would hardly be satisfied with the inert, supine attitude of the heirs of Mahomet the Second. A great influence on the affairs of Europe seems naturally to belong to the Sovereign of Chap. XI.] HISTORY OF THE AYAE AGAINST EUSSIA. 119 Constantinople, holding: the gates of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. That iuliuence might be used in favour of llussia ; it might be used to control and curb her power. His Imperial Majesty has justly and wisely said: My country is so vast, so happily circumstanced in every way, that it would be unreasonable iu me to desire more territory or more power than I possess. On the contrary, ho observed, our great, perhaps our only danger, is that which would arise from an extension given to an Empire already too large. A vigorous and ambitious State, re- placing the Sublime Porte, might, however, render war on the part of liussia a necessity for the Emperor or his successors. Thus European contiict would arise from the Very means taken to prevent it ; for neither England, nor France, nor probably Austria, would be content to see Constantinople permanently in the hands of llussia. On the part of Great Britain, Her Majesty's Govern- ment at once declare that they renounce all intention or wish to hold Constantinople. His Imperial Majesty may be quite secure upon this head. They are likewise ready to give an assurance that they will enter into no agree- ment to provide for the contingency of the lall of Turkey, ■without previous communication with the Emperor of Eussia. Upon the whole, then. Her Majesty's Government are persuaded that no course of policy can be adopted more wise, more disinterested, more beneficial to Europe, than tliat which liis Impea-ial Majesty has so long followed, and which will render liis name more illustrious than that of the most famous Sovereigns who have sought immortality by unprovoked conquest and ephemeral glory. With a view to the success of this policy, it is desirable tliat the utmost forbearance should be manifested towards Turkey ; that an)' demands which the Great Powers of Europe may have to make, should be made matter of i'riendly negotiation rather than of peremptory demand ; that military and naval demonstrations to coerce the Sultan should as much as possible be avoided; that difter- cnces with respect to matlers affecting Tm'key, within the competence of tJie Sublime Forte, should be decided after mutual concert between the Great Powers, and not be forced upon the weakness of the Turkish Government. To these cautions Her Majesty's Government wish to add, that in their view it is essential that the Sultan should be advised to treat his Christian subjects in con- formity with the principles of equity and religious iree- ilom which prevail generally among the enlightened nations of Europe. The more the Turkish Goveinmeiit adopts the rules of impartial law and equal administra- tion, the lets will the Emperor of llussia find it neces- sary to apply that exceptional protection which liis Imperial Majesty has found so burthensome and incon- venient, though no doubt prescribed by duty and sanc- tioned by Treaty. You may read this despatch to Count Nesselrode, and, if it is desired, you may yourself place a copy of it in the liands of the Emperor. In that case, you will accompany its presc^ntation with those assurances of friendship and confidence on the part of Her ilajesty the Queen, which the Conduct of His Imperial Majesty was so sure to inspire, I am, &c., (Signed) J. Eussell. iso. 5. SIR G. H. SEYMOUR TO LORD JOHN RUSSELL. {Received March 6.) (Secret and Confidential.) (Extract.) St. Fctcnbitrg, Feb. 21, 1853. Thk liinperor came up to me l.itt niglit, at a party of the Grand Luchess Hereditary's, and in the most gracious manner took use apart, saving that he desii'ed to speak to me. After expressing, in Ualtering terms, the confi- dence which he has in me, and his readiness to speak to me without reserve upon matters of the greatest moment, as. His ilajesty observed, he had pioved in a late con- versation, he said: And it is well it is so; for what I most desire is, that there should be the greatest intimacy between the two Governments : it never was so necessarv as at present. Well, the Emperor continued, so you have got your answer, and you are to bring it to me to- morrow ' I am to have that honour, Sir, 1 answered ; but your iMajest)' is aware that the nature of the reply is very exactly what I had led you to e.xpect. So I was sorry to hear ; but I think your Government does not well understand my object. I am not so eager about what shall be done when the sick man dies, as I am to determine with England what shall not be done upon that event taking place. But, Sir, I replied, aUow me to observe, that we have no reason to think that the sick man (to use your Ma- jesty's expression) is d\uig. We are as much interested as we believe your Majestj' to be in his continuing to live; wiiile for myself, I will venture to remark, that experience shows me that countries do not die in such a hurr}'. Turkey wiU reinaiii for many a year, unless some unforeseen crisis should occur. It is precisely. Sir, for the avoidance of all circumstanees likely to produce such a crisis, that Her Majesty's Government reckons upon your generous assistance. Then, rejoined tne Emperor, I will tell you, that if your Government has been led to believe that Turkey retains any elements of existence, your Government must have received incorrect information. I repeat to you that the sick man is dying ; and we can never allow such an event to take us by surprise. We must come to some understanding ; and this we should do, I am convinced, if I could hold but ten minutes' conversation with your Jlinisters — with Lord Aberdeen, for instance, who knows me so well, who has full confidence in me, as I have in him. And remember, I do not ask for a Treaty or a Protocol ; a general understanding is all I require — that between gentlemen is sufficient; and in this case I am certain that the confidence would be as great on the side of the Queen's .Ministers as on mine. So no more for the present ; you will come to me to-morrow, and you will remember that, as often as you think your conversing with me will promote a good understanding upon any point, you will send w ord that you wish to see me. I thanked His ilajesty very cordially, adding that I could assure him that Her Majesty's Government, I was convinced, considered his word, once given, as good as a bond. It is hardly necessarj' that I should observe to your Lordship that this short conversation, briefly but correctly reported, offers matter for most anxious reflection. It cau hardly be otherwise but that the Sovereign who insists with such pertinacity upon tlie impending fall of a neigh- bouring State, must have settled m his own mind that the hour, if not of its dissolution, at all events for its dissolution, must be at hand. Then, as now, I reflected that this assumption would hardly be ventured upon unless some, perhaps general, but at all events intimate, understanding, existed between liussia and Austria. Supposing my suspicion to be well founded, the Empe- ror's object is to engage Her Majesty's Government, iu conjunction with his own Cabinet, and that of Vienna, iu some scheme for the ultimate partition of Turkey, aud for the exclusion of France from the arrangement. No. 6. SIR G. H. SEYMOUR TO LORD JOHN RUSSELL. {Received March G.) (Secret and Confidential.) (Extract.) St. Fetcrshitrg, Feb. 22, lSo3. I HAD the honour of waiting ) esterday upon the Em- peror, and of holding with his Majesty one of the most inlerestuig conversaiioiis in which 1 ever found myself engaged. My only regret is my inability to report in full detail a dialogue which lasted an hour and twelve minutes. The Emperor began by desiring me to read to him aloud your Lordship's secret and confidential despatch of thu 9lh instant, sa\iiig that he should stop me occasionally, either to make an observation, or to call upon me for the translation of a jjassage. Upon arriving at tiie fourth paragraph, the Emperor desired me to pau^e, and observed, that he was certainly 120 HISTORY OF THE WAll AGAINST IIUSSIA. [Chap. XT. most (losirous tliat some unJerstanding should bu en- tered into with ll'.r Jliijesty's Gnvermnent, for jjrovidiii"? against a contingency so i)iobable as that of the downfall of Turkey ; that he was, perhaps, even more interested than England could be in pieventing a Turkish catas- troi)he, but that it was constantly iuipending; that it might bo brought about at any moment, either by an external war, or by a feud between the old Tuikish jiarty and that of the "new superficial Freji';h reforms;" or again, by a lising of the Christians, already known to be very impatient of shaking oft' the Mussulman yoke (Jong). As regards the first cause, the Emperor said that he had a good right to advert to it, inasmuch as, if he had not stopped the victorious progress of General Uiebitch, in 1S29, the Sultan's authority would have been at an end. The Emperor likewise desired me to remember that he, and he only, had hastened to the assistance of the Sultan, when his dominions were threatened by the Pasha of Egypt. I proceeded to read, and was again stopped at the sen- tence beginning "In these circumstances it would hardly be consistent with the friendly feelings," wlien the Em- peror observed, that Her Majesty's Government did not appear to be aware that his cliief object was to obtain from Her Majesty's Government some declaration or even opinion of what ought not to be permitted in the event of the sudden downfall of Turkey. I said, Perhaps your Majesty would be good enough to explain your own ideas upon this negative policy. This Ilis ^lajesty for some lime declined doing; he ended, however, by saving, Weil, there are several things which I never will tolerate : I Avill begin by ourselves. I will not tolerate the perma- nent occupation of Constantinople by the llussians ; hav- ing said this, I will say that it never shall be held by the English, or French, or any other great nation. Again, I never will permit an attempt at the reconstruction of a Uyzantine Empire, or sucli an extension of Greece as would render her a powerful State ; still less will I per- juit the breaking up of Turkey into little republics, asylums for the Kossuths and Mazzinis, and other revo- lutionists of Europe ; rather than submit to any of these arrangements I would go to war, and as long as I have a man and a musket left would carry it on. These, the Emperor said, are at once some ideas ; now give me some ill return. I remarked upon the assurance which would be found respecting the English resolution of never attempting to possess Constantinople, and upon the disinclination of Her Majesty's Government to enter into eventual arrange- ments ; but upon being still pressed by his Imperial Majesty, I said — Well, Sir, the idea may not suit your Majesty, may not suit Her Majesty's Government; but what is good between man and man is often a good system between one State and another ; — how would it be if in the event of any catastrophe occurring in 'Turkey, Russia and England were to declare that no Power should be allowed to take possession of its provinces, — that the property should remain, as it were, under seals until amicable arrangements could be made as to its adjudi- cation ? I will not say, the Emperor observed, that such a course would be impossible, but, at least, it would be very difficult; there are no elements of provincial or communal government in Turkey : you would have Turks attacking Christians, Christians falling upon Turks, Christians of different sects quarrelling with each other ; in short, chaos and anarchy. Sir, I then observed, if your Majesty will allow me to speak plainly, I would say that the great difl'erence be- tween us is this — that you continue to dwell upon the fall of Turkey, and the arrangements requisite before and after the fall; and that we, on the contrary, look to Jur- key remaining where she is, and to the precautions which are necessary for preventing her condition from becoming •worse. All ! replied the Emperor, that is what the Chancellor is perpetually telling me ; but the catastrophe will occur some day, and will take us all unawares. His Imperial Majesty spoke of France. God forbid, he said, tliat I should accuse any one wrongfully, but there are circumstances both at Constantinople and J^lontenegro which are extremely suspicious ; it looks very much as if the French Government were endeavouring to embroil uB all in the East, hoping in this way the better to arrive at their own objects, one of which, no doubt, is the pos- session of Tunis. The Emperor proceeded to say, that for his own part he eared very little what line the French might think proper to take in Eastern affairs, and that little more than a month ago he had apprised the Sultan that if his assistance were required for resisting the menac(^s of the French, it was entirely at the service of the Sultan ! In a word, the Emjieror went on to observe, as I before told you, all I want is a good understanding with England, and this not as to what yhall, but as to what shall not bo done : this point arrived at, tlie English Government and 1, I and the English Government, having eiitire confi- dence iu one another's views, I care nothing about the rest. I remarked that I felt confident that Her Majesty's Government could be as little disposed as His Imperial Majesty to tolerate tlie presence of the French at Con- stantinople ; and being desirous, if possible, of ascertain- ing whether there were any understanding between the Cabinets of St. I'etersburg and Vienna, I added, Ijut your ilajenty has forgotten Austria ; now all these Eastern questions ailect her very nearly ; she of course would e.xpect to be consulted. Uh ! replied tiie Emperor, greatly to my surprise, but you must understand that when 1 speak of Russia, I speak of Austria as well; what suits the one suits the other; our interests, as regards Turkey, are perfectly identical. I should have been glad to have made another inquiry or two upon this subject, but I did not venture to do so. I ought to have stated that in a preceding part of the conversation, His ilajesty, although without any appear- ance of anger, expressed some surprise at an expression in } our Lordsliip's despatch, " the long-cherished ambi- tion of his (the Emperor's) own nation;" he would ask what that jdirase meant .■' It happened that I was pre- pared for the surprise expressed, and ready to answer any rellectiou which it might call forth. Sir, I said, Lord John Russell is not speaking of your ambition, he speaks of that entertained by your people. The Emperor could not at first admit that the term was applicable to the Kussiuii nation any more than to himself; when I said, Your Majesty will permit me to remark tiiat Lord John Russell only repeats what w as said thirty years ago by jour brother, ot glorious memory. In writing contideutiaily to Lord Castlereagh in the year 1822, the Emperor Alexander spoke of being the only Russian who resisted the views of his subjects upon Turkey, and of the loss of popularity which he had sus- tained by this antagonism. This quotation which, by accident, I could make almost in the words of the letter, seemed to change the current of the Emperor's ideas. You are quite right, he said ; I remember the events to which my late brother alluded. Now it is perfectly true that the Empress Catherine indulged in all sorts of visions of ambition, but it is not less so that these ideas are not at all shared by her descendants. You see how I am behaving towards the Sultan. 'This gentleman (ce mon- sieur) bre.iks his written word to me, and acts in a manner extremely displeasing to me, and I have con- tented myself with despatching an ambassador to Con- stantinople to demand reparation : certainly I could send an army there if I chose, there is nothing to stop them ; but 1 have contented myself with such a show of force as will prove that I have no intention of being trified with. And, Sir, I said, you were quite right in refraining from violence, and I hope upon future occasions ycm will act with the same moderation ; for your ilajesty must be sensible that any fresh concessions which have been obtained by the Latins are not referable to ill-will towards you, but to the excessive apprehensions of the French entertained by the unfortunate Turks ; besides. Sir, I observed, the danger, I will venture to say, of the present moment is not Turkey, but that revolutionary spirit which broke out four years ago, and whicli, iu manv countries, still burns underground ; there is the danger, and no doubt that a war in Turkey would be the signal for fresh explosions in Italy, Hungary, and elsewhere. We see what is passing at ililan. His Imperial Majesty spoke of Montenegro, observing that he approved of the altitude taken by the Austrian Cabinet, and that in these dajs it could not be permitted Chai'. XL] HISTORY or THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 121 that the Turks sliouid ill-treat and even miirJcr a Chris- tian population. I ventured to remark that upon this peint the wrongs Mere at least divided bet\v(>en the Turks and the Jlonte- ne;^rins, and that I had full reason for believing that the provocation came from the latter. The Emi)eror, with more impartiality than I had expected, aihnitted that there had been wrongs on both sides; that certainly the mountaineer.s were rather addieted to brigandage," and that the taking of Djablak had caused him great indig- nation. At the same time. His Majesty said, it is impossible not to feel g^i-eat interest in a population warmly attached to their religion, who have so long kept their ground against the Turks ; and the Emperor continued, It may be fair to tell you that if any attempts at exterminating those people should be made by Omar Pasha, and should a general risiirg of the Christians fake place in consequence, the Sultan will in all probability lose his throne ; iu this case he falls to rise no more. I wish to support his authority, but if he loses it, it is gone for ever. The Turkish Empire is a thing to be tolerated, not to be reconstructed ; in such a cause I protest to you I will not allow a pistol to be tired. The Emperor went on to say that in the event of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, he thought it might be less difiicult to arrive at a satisfactory territorial arrange- ment than was commonly believed. The Principalities are, he said, in fact an independent State under my pro- tection : this might so continue. Servia might receive the same form of government. So again with Bulgaria : there seems to be no reason why this province should not form an independent State. As to Egypt, I quite understand the importance to England of that territory. 1 can then only say, that if, in the event of a distribution of the Ottoman succession upon the fall of the Empire, }ou should take possession of Egypt, I shall have no objections to offer. I would say the same thing of Can- dia : that island might suit you, and I do not know why it should not become an English possession. As I did not wish that the Emperor should imagine that an English public servant was caught by this sort of overture, I simply answered, that I had always under- stood that the English views upon Egypt did not go beyond the point of securing a safe and ready communi- cation between British India and the mother country. The conversation now drawing towards an end, the Emperor expressed his warm attachment to the Queen, our gracious Sovereign, and his respect for Her JIajesty's present advisers. The declarations contained in your Lordship's despatch had been, he said, very satisfactory: he could only desire that they should be a little amplified. The terms in which your Lordship had spoken of his conduct were, the Emperor said, very flattering to him. In dismissing me. His Imperial ^Majesty said, "Well, induce )'our Government to write again upon these sub- jects — to write more fully, and to do so without hesitation ; I have confidence in the English government. " Ce n'est point un engagement, une Convention, que je leur demande; c'est un libre echange d'idees, et au besoin une parole de c/eiitlcnwn; cntre nous cela sufEt."* I might venture to suggest that some expressions might be used in the despatch to be addressed to me, which might have the effect of putting an end to the further consideration, or, at all events, discussion, of points which it is highly desirable should not be regarded as offering subject for debate. I may only add, apologetically, that I may jiossibly have failed in reporting some part of His Majesty's con- versation, and that I am conscious of having forgotten the precise terms employed by him with respect to the com- mercial policy to be observed at Constantinople when no longer held bv the Turks. TTie purport of the observation was, that England and llussia nad a common interest in providing for the readiest access to the Black Sea and the jSIediterranean. A copy of your Lordship's despatch was left in the Emperor's hands. * "It is not an engagement, a Convention, which I ask of them ; it is a free interchange of ideas, and, in case of need, ths word of a ffoilkmaii, that is enough between us." Ko. 7. SIR G. II. SEY.MOUE TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON. {Recchcd Jfarch 19.) (Secret and Confidential.) (Extract.) Si. Fciersburt/, March 9, 185.3. "U'nr.x I waited upon Count Nesselrodo on the 7th instant, his Excellency said that, in pursuance of orders which he had received from the Emperor, he had to place in my hands a verv confidential memorandum, which His Imperial Majesty Lad caused to be drawn up, and which was intended as an answer to, or a comment upon, the communication which I had made to his Imperial Majesty on the 21st ultimo. At first. Count Xesselrode invited me to read the paper ; he subsequently observed that if, instead of reading it at the time, I chose to take it away, I was at liberty to do so; that, in fact, the paper was intended for m}' use {aie.) Very little conversation upon the subject passed be- tween the Chancellor and me. He observed that I should find iu the memorandum indications of the Emperor's wish to be further informed of the feelings of Her I^la- jesty's Government as to what should not be permitted to take place in the event of any great catastrophe in Turkey; and I, on my side, remarked that, as there is danger in handling hot coals, it appeared to me desirable that communications upon a subject so delicate should not be long kept up. I have the honour of inclosing to your Lordship a copy of what, under the circumstances which have attendeii its drawing up and delivery, cannot fail of being con- sidered as one of the most remarkable papers which have been issued, I do not say from the Russian " Chancel- Icrie," but from the Emperor's secret Cabinet. It would not be difKcnlt either to controvert some of the facts which the memorandum advances, or to show that the impression under which it has been fiamcd is an incorrect one ; that impression being evidently that, in the disputes carried on between Russia and France, Her Majesty's Govern- ment has leant partially to the latter Power. ' Three points appear to me to be fully established by the Imperial memorandum : the existence of some dis- tinct understanding between the two Imperial Courts upon the subject of Turkey, and the engagement taken by the Emperor Kicholas neither to possess or establish himself at Constantinople, or to enter into arrangements respecting the measures to be taken in the event of the fall of the Ottoman Empire without previous concert with Her Majesty's Government. The wording of this engagement, coupled with the conversation which I had the honour of holding with the Emperor, leaves upon my mind the impression that, whilst willing to undertake not to make himself the permanent master of Constantinople, His Majest)' is intentionally inexplicit as to its temjjorary occupation. Assuming, as a certain and now acknowleged fact, the existence of an understanding or compact between the two Emperors as to Turkish aii'airs, it becomes of the deepest importance to know the extent of the engage- ments entered into between them. As to the manner in whicli it has been concluded, I conjecture that little doubt is to be entertained. Its basis was, no doubt, laid at some of the meetings between the Sovereigns which took place in the autunm ; and tl.e scheme has probably been worked out since under the management of Baron Meyen dorff, the Russian Envoy at the Austrian Court, who has been passing the winter at St. Petersburg, and is still here. Incxosure IX No. 7. J[EMORANDUJ[.— [TrrtMs/rt/io;;.] Febrvary 21, 1S.53. TiiE Emperor has, with the liveliest interest and re.al satisfaction, made himself acquainted with the secret and confidential despatch which Sir Hamilton Seymour com- municated to him. He duly appreciates the frankness \ihich has dictated it. He has found therein a fresh 122 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. XI. proof of the friendly sentiments which Her Majesty the Queen entertains for him. In conversing familiarly with the British Envoy on the causes which, from one day to another, may bring- on the fall of the Ottoman Empire, it had by no means entered into the Emperor's thoughts to propose for this contin- genoy a plan by which Russia and J'^ngland should dispose beforehand of the provinces ruled by tlie Sultan— a system altogether arranged; still less a formal agreement to be concluded between the two Cabinets. It was purely and simply the Emperor's notion that each party should conlidcntially state to the other, less what it wishes tlian what it does not wish ; what would be contrary to English interests, what would be contrary to Russian interests, in order that, the case occurring, they might avoid acting in opposition to each other. There is in this neither plans of partition, nor Convention to be binding on the other Courts. It is merely an interchange of opinions, and the Emperor sees no necessity of talking about it before the time. It is precisely for that reason that he took especial care not to make it the object of an official communication from one Cabinet to another. By confining himself to speaking of it himself, in the shape of familiar conversation, to the Queen's Representative, he selected the most friendly and confidential form of opening himself ■with frankness to Her Britannic ]\[ajesty, being desirous that the result, whatsoever it might be, of these commu- nications should remain, as it ought to be, a secret be- tween the two Sovereigns. Consequently, the objections which Lord John Russell raises to any concealment as regards the other Powers, in the event of a formal agree- ment being entered into, of which there is at present no question, fall to the ground ; and consequently, also, the inconveniences disappear, which he points out as calcu- lated to contribute to hasten the occurrence of the very event which Russia and England are desirous of averting, if the e.\istenoe of such an agreement should become prematurely known to Europe and to the subjects of the Sultan. As regards the object of this wholly confidential inter- change of opinions — the possible downfall of the Ottoman Empire, doubtless that is but an uncertain and remote contingency. Unquestionably the period of it cannot be fixed, and no real crisis has arisen to render the realization of it imminent. But after all it may happen ; happen even unexpectedly. Without mentioning the ever in- creasing causes of dissolution which are presented by the moral, financial, and administrative condition of the Porte, it may proceed gradually from one, at least, of the two questions mentioned by the English Ministry in its secret despatch. In truth, it perceives in those questions only mere disputes, which would not difter in their bearing from difficulties which form the ordinary business of diplomacy. But that kind of dispute may, nevertheless, bring on war, and with war the consequences which the Emperor apprehends from it; if, for instance, in the affair of the Holy Places, the amour-propre and the menaces of France, continuing to press upon the Porte, should compel it to refuse us all satisfaction, and if, on the other hand, the religiousi sentiments of the orthodox Greeks, offended by the concessions made to the Latins, should raise the immense majority of his subjects against the Sultan. As regards the afhvir of Montenegro, that, according to the late accounts, may happily be looked upon as settled. But at the time that the Emperor had his interview with Sir Hamilton Seymour, it might be apprehended that the question would take a most serious turn. Neither ourselves nor Austria could have allowed the protracted devastation or foiced submission of Montenegro, a country which, up to the present time, has continued actually independent of the Porte, a country over which our protection has been extended for more than a century. The horrors which are committed there, those which, by Ottoman fanaticism, have a short time since been extended over Bulgaria, Bosnia, and the Herzegovine, gave the other Christian provinces of the Porte only too much reason to anticipate that the same fate awaited them. They \yere calculated to provoke the general rising of the Christians who live under the sceptre of the Turkish Empire, and to hasten its ruin. It is not then, by any means, an idle and imaginary question, a contingency too remote, to which the anxiety of the Emperor has ca'lled the attention of the Queen his ally. In the face of the uncertainty and decay of the existing state of things in Turkey, the English Cabinet expresses the desire that the greatest forbearance should be shown towards the Porte. The Emperor is conscious of never having acted otherwise. The English Cabinet itself admits it. It addresses to the Emperor, with reference to the numerous proofs of moderation which he has given up to the present time, praises which His ^Majesty will not accept, because in that he has only listened to his own overbearing conviction. But, in order that the Emperor may continue to concur in that sjstem of forbearance, to abstain from any demonstrations — from any peremptorv language — it would be necessary that this system should be equally observed by all the powers at once. France has adopted another. By menace she obtained, in oppo- sition to the letter of the Treaties, the admission of a ship of the line into the Dardanelles. At the cannon's mouth she twice presented her claims and her demands for indemnity at Tripoli, and afterwards at Constantinople. Again, in the contest respecting the Holy Places, by menace she effected the abrogation of the firman and that of the solemn promises which the Sultan had given the Emperor. "With regard to all these acts of violence England observed a complete silence. She neither offered support to the Porte nor addressed remonstrances to the French Government. The consequence is very evident. The Porte necessarily concluded from this that from France alone it has everything to hope, as well as every- thing to fear, and that it can evade with impunity the demands of Austria and of Russia. It is thus that Austria and Russia, in oi-der to obtain justice, have seen them- selves compelled, in their turn, against their will, to act by intimidation, since they have to do with a Government which only yields to a peremptory attitude; and it is thus that by its own fault, or rather by that of those who have weakened it in the first instance, the Porte is urged on in a course which enfeebles it still more. Let England then employ herself in making it listen to reason. Instead of uniting herself with France against the just demands of Russia, let her avoid supporting, or even appearing to support, the resistance of the Ottoman Government. Let her be the first to invite the latter — as she herself considers it essential — to treat its Christian subjects with more equity and humanit)'. That will be the surest means of relieving the Emperor from the obligation of availing himself in Turkey of those rights of traditional protection to which he never has recourse but against his will, and of postponing indefinitely the crisis which the Emperor and Her Majesty the Queen are equally anxious to avert. In short, the Emperor cannot but congratulate himself at having given occasion for this intimate interchange of confidential communications between Her Majesty and himself. He has found therein valuable assurances, of which he takes note with a lively satisfaction. The two Sovereigns have frankly explained to each other what in the extreme case of which they have been treating their respective interests cannot endure. England understands that Russia cannot suffer the establishment at Constanti- nople of a Christian Power sufficiently strong to control and disquiet her. She declares that for herself she re- nounces any intention or desire to possess Constantinople. The Emperor equally disclaims any wish or design of establishing himself there. England promises that she will enter into no arrangement for determining the measures to be taken in the event of the fall of the Turkish Empire without a previous understanding with the Emperor. The Emperor on his side, willingly con- tracts the same engagement. As he is aware that in such a case he can equally reckon upon Austria, who is bound by her promises to concert with him. he regards with less apprehension the catastrophe which he still desires to prevent and avert as much as it shall depend on him to do so. No less precious to him are the proofs of friendship and personal confidence on the part of Her Majesty the Queen, which Sir Hamilton Seymour has been directed on this occasion to impart to him. He sees in them the surest guarantee against the contingency which his foresight had deemed it right to point out to that of the English Government. CilAl'. XI.] HISTOHY OF THE WAR AGAIJS^ST IIUSSIA. No. 8. SIR G. H. SEYMOUR TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON. {Received March 19.) (Seci-et and Coufidential.) My Lord, St. Fcfcrshurg, March 9, 1853. As it appears very evident that the secret memorial which, b\- a despatch of this day, I have the honour of bringing to your Lordship's knowledge, has been drawn up under a complete misapprehension (real or assumed) of the part taken by Her JIajesty's Government in the late Turkish affairs, I have thought it my duty to address to Count Nesselrode the private and confidential letter of which I beg to inclose a copy to your Lordship. I have, &c., (Signed) G. H. SEYitouR. IXCLOSURB IN No. 8. SIR G. H. SEYMOUR TO COUNT NESSELRODE. (Private and Confidential.) St. Fctersburg, Feb. 24 {March 8), 1853. Mt dear Count Nesselrode, There is an observation respecting the very important memorandum placed yesterday by your Excellency in my hands, which I feel obliged to make. I am most anxious to observe that this paper must have been drawn up under the impression of English policy at Constantinople having been very different from what iu reality it has been. I can affirm, conscientiously and distinctly, that the object proposed to themselves, as well by the late as by Her iiajesty's present Government, has been to act as a common friend in the contests between the allied Govern- ments ; and that far from having inclined, as has been stated, to France in the course of the late critical trans- actions, it has been the desire of the Queen's advisers (to the full extent permitted to a Government compelled to observe a neutral attitude) that ample satisfaction should be given to the demands which His Imperial Majesty's Government were justified in making. This assertion I should have no difficult)" in substantiat- ing by written evidence ; and I will add, that in any just demand which England may have to make upon a foreign Cabinet, I only desire that the conduct of a friendly Power towards us may be that which quietly and unostentatiously the English Government has pursued in the complicated question of the Holy Places with regard to the claims of Russia. I request your Excellency's good offices for causing this, the real state of the case, to be rightly understood ; at all events, for preventing a contrary belief from being adopted until it shall be clearly ascertained whether or no my etatement is correct. I have, &c., (Signed) G. H. Seymour. No. 9. SIR G. H. S EYMOUR TO THE EARL OF CLARENDO:^ . {Received March 19.) (Secret and Confidential.) My Lord, St. Petersburg, March 10, 1853. I HAVE just had a very amicable and satisfactory con- versation with the Chancellor, who, under the impression of my letter of the 8th instant having originated in a mis- conception with regard to the Emperor's memorandum, had desired to see me. We read over the memorandum together, and Count Nesselrode observed that all that was desired here was, that while appealing to the Emperor's magnanimity and feel- ings of justice. Her Majesty's Government should employ some efforts towards opening the eyes of the Frencli Ministers as to the false course into wiiich they have been led by M. de Lavalette. To this I replied that such had been the conduct pur- sued by Her Majesty's Government, not on one occasion, but on various occasions ; and that as a specimen of the language held by your Lordship's predecessor to tlie French Government, I would beg to read to him an extract from one of Lord John llusseU's despatches. I read accordingly the five or six lines of Lord John Russell's despatch to Lord Cowley of January 28, b.gin- ning, " But Her Majesty's Government cannot avoid per- ceiving," and concluding with, " the relations of frieudly Powers," which passage I had copied out and taken with me. Count Nesselrode expressed his warm satisfaction at finding that Her Majesty's Government had given such excellent advice to the French Government; and only regretted that he had not been long ago put in possession of evidence so conclusive, as to the part taken upon the question of the Holy Places by Her JIajesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. In conclusion the Chancellor requested that I would consider the passage in the Imperial memorandum com- mencing with the words, ''Que rAngleterre s'emploic done," as expressing a hope, and not as implying a re- proach, — as referable to the course which it was desired should be taken by Her Majesty's Government, and not as alluding to that which had been pursued. I have, &c., (Signed) G. H. Seymour. No. 10. THE EARL OF CLARENDON TO SIR G. H. SEYMOUR. "(Secret and Confidential.) Sir, Foreign Office, March 23, 1853. Your despatches of the 21st and 22nd ultimo have been laid before the Queen, and I am commanded to express Her ilajesty's entire approval of the discretion and judg- ment displayed byyo'.i in the conversations which you had the honour to hold with the Emperor. I need not assure you that the opinions of His Imperial Majesty have received from Her Majesty's Government the anxious and deliberate consideration that their import- ance demands; and although Her Majesty's Government feel compelled to adhere to the principles and the policy laid down in Lord John Russell's despatch of the 9th of February, yet they gladl}- comply with the Emperor's wish that tiie subject should be further and franklv dis- cussed. The generous confidence exhibited by the Empe- ror entitles His Imperial Jlajesty to the most cordial declaration of opinion on the part of Her ilajcsty's Go- vernment, who are fully aware that, in the event of any understanding with reference to future contingencies being expedient, or indeed possible, the word of His Imperial ^Majesty would be preferable to any Convention that could be framed. Her Majesty's Government persevere in the belief that Turkey still possesses the elements of existence, and they consider that recent events have proved the correctness of the opinion expressed in the despatch of my predecessor — that there was no sufficient cause for intimating to the Sultan that he cannot keep peace at liome, or preserve friendly relations with his neighbours. Her Majesty's Government have accordingly Icanit, with sincere satisfaction, that the Emperor considers him- self even more interested than England in preventing a Turkish catastrophe ; because they are convinced that upon the jtolicy jiursued by His Imperial ^lajesty towards Turkey will mainly depend tlie hastening or the indefinite postponement of an event which every Power iu Europe is concerned in averting. Her JIajcstv's Government are convinced that nothing is more calculated to precipitate that event than the constant prediction of its being near at hand ; that nothing can be more fatal to the vitality of Turkev than the assumption of its rapid and inevitable decay ; and that if the opinion of the Emperor, that the days of the Ttnkish Empire were numbered, became notorious, its downfall must occur even sooner than His Imperial JLajcsty now appears to expect. Hut on the supposition tliat, from unavoidable causes, the catastrophe did take place. Her Majesty's Government entirely share the opinion of the Emperor, that the occu- pation'of Constantinople by either of the great Powers would be incompatible with the present balance of power 124 lUSTOKY OF TlIK WAR AGATXST llUSSIA. [CilAP. XI. and the mainU-iiancc of pcico in Europe, nnd must nt once he reganlcii as impossible ; tliat tlicrc an; no eleiiu.-nts for the rpconstiuotion of a Byzantine Empire ; tliat tlic systcniatio misf;o^■o^^mpnt of Urecee offers no encouriip;p- meut to extciui its territorial dominion ; and tliat as tlicrc arc no materials for provincial or communal government, anarchy would be tlie result of leaving the provinces of Turkey to themselves, or permitting them to form separate republics. Tlie Emperor has announced that sooner than permit a pettlement of the question by any one of these methods, lie will be prepared for war at every hazard ; and however much Her iMajestv's Government may be disposed to a^rrec in tlic soundness' of the views taken by ilis Imperial Majesty, vet they consider that the simple predetermina- tion of what shall not be tolerated, does little towards solving the real difficulties, or settling in what manner it would be practicable, or even desirable, to deal with the heterogeneous materials of which the Turkish Empire is composed. England desires no territorial aggrandisement, and could be no party to a previous arrangement from which bIic was to derive any such benetit. England could be no partv to any understanding, however general, that was to bo kept secret from other Powers; but Her Majesty's Government believe that no arrangements could control events, and that no understanding could be kept secret. They would, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government, be the signal for preparation for intrigues of every descrip- tion, and for revolts among the Christian subjects of the JPorte. Each Power and each party would endeavour to secure its future interests, and the dissolution of the Turkish Empire would be preceded by a state of anarchy which must aggravate every difficulty, if it did not render a peaceful solution of the question impossible. The only mode by which such a solution could be attempted would be that of an European Congress, but that onlv affords an additional reason for desiring that the present order of things iu Turkey should be main- tained, as Her Majesty's Government cannot without alarm reflect on the jealousies that would then be evoked, the impossibility of reconciling the different ambitions and the divergent interests that would be called into play, and the certainty that the Treaties of 1815 must then be open to revision, when France might be prepared to risk the chances of an European war to get rid of the obliga- tions which she considers injurious to her national honour, and which, having been imposed by victorious enemies, are a constant source of irritation to her. The main object of Her Majesty's Government, that to v.hich their efforts have been aud'always will be directed, is the preservation of peace ; and they desire to uphold the Turkish Empire, from their conviction that no great question can be agitated in the East without becoming a source of discord iu the "West, and that every great question iu the Vfest will assume a revolutionary charactei-, and embrace a revision of the entire social system, for which the continental Governments are certainly iu no state of preparation. The Emperor is fully cognisant of the materials that are in constant fermentation beneath the surface of society, and their readiness to burst forth even in times of peace ; and His Imperial ^[ajcsty will probably, therefore, not dissent from the opinion that the first cannon-shot may be the signal for a state of things more disastrous even than those calamities that war inevitably brings in its train. But such a war would be the result of the dissolution and dismemberment of the Turkish Empire; and hence the anxiety of Her Majesty's Government to avert the catastrophe. Nor can they admit that the signs of Turkish decay are now cither more evident or more rapid than of late years : there is still great energy and great wealth in Turkey ; a disposition to improve tlie system of government is not wanting ; corruption, though unfortu- nately great, is still not of a character, nor carried to an extent, that threatens the existence of the State ; the treatment of Christians is not harsh, and the toleration Inhibited by the Porte towards this portion of its subjects might serve as an example to some Governments who look with contempt upon Turkey as a barbarous Power. Her Majesty's Government believe that Turkey only requires forbearance on the part of its allies, and a deter- mination not to press their claims in a manner humiliating to tlie dignity and independence of the Sultan. — that friendly support, in short, that, with States as with indi- viduals, the weak are entitled to expect from the strong, — in order not only to prolong its existence, but to remove all raiise of alarm respecting its dissolution. It is in this work of benevolence and sound European policv that Her Majesty's Govemment are desirous of co- operating with the Emperor; they feel entire confidence in the rectitude of His Imperial !^iajcsty's intentions, and as they have the satisfaction of thinking tliat the interests of Ilussia and England in the East are completely identical, tliey entertain an earnest hope that a similar policy there will prevail, and tend to stren^'then the alliance between the two countries, which it is alike the object of Her Majesty and Her Majesty's Govern-ment to promote. You will give a copy of this despatch to the Chancellor, or to the Emperor, in the event of your again having the honour to be received by His Imperial JIajesty. I am, &c., (Signed) Clakf.ndon. No. 11. SIR G. H. SEYMOUR TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON. {Received Mareh 26.) (Secret and Confidential.) JfY LoKD, St. rdcrsburg, March 12, 18-55. The Chancellor sent for me this morning, when he placed in my hands a copy of the memorandum which was brouglit to your Lordship's knowledge by my despatch of the 9th instant. Upon this copy the Emperor had written in pencil, that he was sorry to find that Sir Hamilton Seymour had considered a passage in the paper as reflecting upon the conduct of Her Majesty's Govern- ment ; that no reproach had been intended, and that the Chancellor would do well to see me and to state that if it should be my wish, the paper might be taken back and altered. After a few moments' reflection it occurred to me that the explanations which I had received were sufficient, so that a record could be obtained of the Emperor's amicable intentions, and that the paper, if taken back, might be altered in more than one of its passages; I therefore stated, that instead of changing the memorandum I would suggest that his excellency should write me a few lines explanatory of the purport of the passage which I had considered objectionable. To this the Chancellor at once acceded, and it only remained for me to request that his Excellency would be kind enough to express to the Empe- ror how sensibly I felt his gracious solicitude to efiace a disagreeable impression. I have, &c., (Signed) G. H. Seymovr. No. 12. SIR G. H. SEYMOUR TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON {Iteceivcd April 4.) (Secret and Confidential.) My Lord, St. Pctersburrj, March 16, 18o3. "With reference to the despatch marked " secret and confidential," which I had the honour of addressing to your Lordship on the Pith instant, I beg to transmit in original the letter which Count Nesselrode undertook to write to me expressive of the Emperor's willingness to change the passage in his memorandum which I had con- sidered open to some misinterpretation. I have, &c., (Signed) G. H. Seymour. Chap. XI.] HISTORY OF THE WAll AGAINST RUSSIA. 125 IxCLOSfRE IX Xo. 12. COUNT NESSELRODE TO SIR G. H. SEYMOUR. [^Traiisluiiuii.'] March 3 (15), 1853. I HAVE the pleasure, my dear Sir Hamilton, to add to the explanation wliich I liad tljo lioiiour to oft'er to you verbally, that liaving; coinmunirated your doubts to the Emperor, His Majesty has authorised me to modify the passage which had caused you to entertain tliem, at least if you should consider it necessary. The Emperor is, above all things, desirous of removing; from a communica- tion altogether personal and friendly with the Government of Her Majesty the Queen, what might give occasion even to an erroneous interpretation, which would be contrary to the intentions by which it was dictated, as also to the object which His Majesty proposes to himself. 13e pleased, &c., (Signed) Kr.ssELKOUE. No. 13. THE E.IRL OF CLARENDON TO SIR G. H. SEYMOUE. (Secret and Confidential.) Siu, Forcijn Office, April 5, 1853. Y'ouii despatches of the 9th, 10th, and I'ith ultimo have been laid before the Queen. ^ly despatch of the 23rd ultimo will have furnished you with answers upon all the principal points alluded to in the memorandum which Count Nesselrode i)laced in your liands ; but it is my duty to inform you that that important and remarkable document was received by Her Majesty's Government with feelings of sincere satisfaction, as a renewed proof of the Emperor's confidence and friendly feelings ; and Her Majesty's Government desire to convey their acknowledgments to His Imperial Majesty for having tlius placed on record the opinions he expressed at the interview with which you were honoured by His Imperial Majesty. Her Majesty's Government do not consider that any useful purpose would be served by prolonging a corre- spondence upon a question with respect to which a complete mulerstanding has been established ; and I have only, therefore, further to state, that Her Majesty's Government observe with pleasure that, in the ojiiuion of the Emperor, the fall of the Turkish Empire is looked upon as an uncer- tain and distant contingency, and that no real crisis has occuired to render its realisation imminent. Her Majesty's Government have never any wish to dis- guise their policy, which they trust is honest and straight- forward towards all other countries ; but on sucli a question they would particularly regret that any misapprehension existed on the mind of the Emperor, and they accordingly approve of the confidential note which you addressed to Count Nesselrode, for the purpose of rectifying some ideas which rcfiected upon the course pursued by Her Majesty's Government. On the subject of tlie Chon this latter jioiiit Her Majesty's Government are inclined to believe that the Turkish Government are at length awakened to a sense of their own true interests. At the beginning of this year we know that orders wero sent to Kianiil Paslia to proceed instantly to Ijosnia, in order to redress Christian grievances, and to empower the Christian communities to build churches. About the same time also the Porte sent the strongest instructions to Omar Pasha, to act with unvaried moderation and humanity towai'ds his enemies (the Montenegrins) ; and the English Yicc-Consul at Scutari confirmed all the previous statements that the inhabitants of Jlontenegro committed an un])rovi)ked attack on the troops and sub- jects of the Porte ; while the accounts that have reached iler Majesty's Government respecting the atrocities said to have been committed by the Turks in Bosnia, Herze- govine, and Montenegro, are extracted from Austrian newstuipers, and must necessarily, tlierefore, be received with caution. I have only in conclusion to add, that as Her Majesty and the Emperor have now niutuallv renewed the assur- ances of tJieir intention to uphold the independence and integrity of the Turkish empire, it is the earnest desire of Her Majesty's Government that Uie Representatives of the two Powers may henceforward co-operate togetlier in carrying out tliis intention by giving similar advice in the same friendly spirit to the Porte. You are instructed to read this despatch to the Chan- cellor, and to furnish liim with a copy, should he de- sire it. I have, &c., (Signed) Clakendox. No. 14. SIR G. II. SEYMOUR TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON. {Rccciced Mnij 2.) (Secret and Confidential.) (E.\tract.) SI. Fctershurg, April 20, 1853. The Emperor on rising from table, when I had tlie honour of dining at the Palace on the 18tli instant, desired me to follow him into the next room. His Majesty then said that ho had wished to state to me tlio real and sincere satisfaction which he received from your Lordship's despatch marked Secret and Confidential of the 23rd ultimo. It had been, His Slajesty said, most agreeable to liim to find that the overtures which he had addressed to Her Majesty's Government had been responded to in the same friendly spirit in which they were made ; that, to use a former expression, there was nothing in which lie placed so much reliance as " la parole d'un gentilliomme;" that he felt that the relations of the two Couits stood upon a better basis now that a clear understanding had been obtained as to points which, if left in doubt, might have been productive of misintelligence ; and, as His Majesty was pleased to add, he felt obliged to me for having contributed towards bringing about tliis friendly entente. And His JIaiesty said, I beg you to understand that what I have pledged myself to will be equally binding upon my successor; there now exist memorandums of my intentions, and wliatever I have promised, my son, if the changes alluded to should occur in his time, will be as ready to perform as his father would have been. 126 HISTOIIY OF THE WAR AGAINST IIUSSIA. [Chap. XL Tlie Emperor proceeded to state that he would vcrj' frankl}' ofler an onsorvation or two — it might be a criti- cism—on your Lordship's despatch. TJie dcspatcli spoke of the fall of the Turkish Empire as an uncertain and distant event : he would remark that the one term excluded the other; uncertain it was cer- tainly, but for that reason not necessarily remote : he desired it might be, but he was not sure that it might so prove. His Majesty desired further to observe that he could not doubt that Her Majesty's Government had taken too fuvourable a view of the state of the Christian population in Turkey, the Sultan might have intended to better their condition, might have given oi-ders in that sense, but he was quite certain that his commands had not been attended to. Upon my remarking that Her Majesty's Government were understood to receive very accurate reports of what passes in Turkey, the Emperor replied with considerable animation, that he called this fact in question ; that he believed, on the contrary, that some of the English Gon- Bular agents were incorrect in their reports : he would only refer to Bulgaria; the greatest discontent prevailed there, and His Majesty would affirm that wei'c it not for his continued efforts to repress the manifestation of feel- ings of the sort, the Bulgarians would some time since have been in insurrection. His Iklajcsty proceeded to contrast the threatening attitude which had been assumed by Count Leiningen with the peaceable character of Prince Jlenschikoft''s mis- sion ; not, however, that he desired to blame the Emperor of Austria, a noble Prince, whom he loved sincerely, and all of whose acts he approved ; the ditl'erence existed in circumstances, and when Montenegro was threatened with utter devastation, the Emperor of Austria was obliged to act with energy ; His Majesty would, he said, have acted in the same manner. I am desirous of remarking here, that part of the Emperor's observations were, it was obvious, addressed to me personally, and were intended as a reply as well to an allusion which I had made as to religious intolerance in Tuscan V, as to my comments to the Chancellor upon the conduct of the Austrian Cabinet with regard to the late confiscatory measures in Lombardy. His Majesty, after observing th-at according to the accounts just received (those of the 29th ultimo) little or no progress had been made towards an adjustment of difficulties at Constantinople, said that as yet he had not moved a ship or a battalion ; that he had not done so from motives of consideration for the Sultan, and from economical motives ; but that he would repeat that he had no intention of being trifled with, and that if the Turks did not yield to reason, they would have to give way to an approach of danger. I ventured to remark to the Emperor, that it was only by the despatches just arrived that he had received in- telligence of the landing at Pera of the French Ambas- sador, who was understood to be a party to the arrange- ments about to be concluded ; the indirect answer, however, returned to me by His Majesty, and the expres- sions which he used, lead me to apprehend that this consideration did not receive the attention of which in fairness it appears to me deserving. Xo. 1.3. SIR G. n. SEYMOUE TO THE EARL OF CLAKENDON. (Received May 2.) (Secret and Confidential.) My Loiiu, ;S'^. Pclershirr;, Apnl 21, 1853. I HAVE had the honour of recci\'ing your Lordship's despatch marked Secret and Confidential of the 5th instant, which, in obedience to your Lordship's orders, I communicated to Count Nesselrode on the 15th instant. His Excellency, before the arrival of this messenger, had desired to see me for the purpose of comumnicating to me a paper which had been drawn up by the Emperor's desire, and which was to be considered as an answer to your Lordship's despatch of the 23rd ultimo. This document, Tvhich I beg to transmit in original. was accordingly placed in my hands by the Cliancellor. who observed that he had previously thought that it would close the correspondence, but that it was possible that the fresh despatch which I had brought to his know- ledge might, upon being laid before the Emperor, call for some fresh observations on the part of His Majesty. The only passage in the inclosed paper to which Count Nesselrode was desirous of drawing my attention, was that in which an observation is made respecting the treat- ment of the Christian population as described by English or by Russian agents. I remarked, in reply, that the point was the less mate- rial, Her Majesty's Government being (as his Excellency has been made aware) as desirous as the Imperial Cabinet could be that no eftbrt should be wanting on the jiart of the Porte to remove any and every cause of complaint which could be made in justice by the Sultan's Christian subjects. Your Lordship will perhaps allow me to observe, that supposing the present crisis in Turkish affairs to pass over, an intimation is made in the inclosed paper, which, if taken up and embodied in a joint resolution by all the great Powers, might possibly be the means of long avert ing a catastrophe which, happen when it may, will pro- bably have disastrous consequences even to those to whom it may be considered the most profitable. Since the preceding part of this despatch was written, the Chancellor has intimated to me that the Emperor, being of opinion that the paper which I now inclose, followed up by the conversation which I had the honour of holding with His Majesty on the 18th, maybe con- sidered as replying to any points touched upon in your Lordship's despatch, does not propose to ofi'er any fresh observation upon the subjects which have been under discussion. His Excellency does not conceal from me his satisfaction at this resolution, these subjects being, as he remarked, of so delicate a nature, that there are always objections to their being brought under discussion. I have, (Sec, (Signed) G. H. SEY?>iora. Inclosuri: ix No. 15. MEMOEANDUM.— [TrffJwfci'/oH.] The Emperor has, with lively satisfaction, made him- self acquainted with Lord Clarendon's despatch of the 23rd of March. His Majesty congratulates himself on perceiving that his views and those of the English Cabi- net entirely coincide on the subject of the political com- binations which it would be chiefly necessary to avoid in the extreme case of the contingency occurring in the East which Russia and England have equally at heart to prevent, or, at all events, to delaj- as long as possible. Sharing generally the opinions expressed by Lord Claren- don on the necessity of the prolonged maintenance of the existing state of things in Turkey, the Emperor, nevertheless, cannot abstain from adverting to a special point which leads him to suppose that the information received by the British Government is not altogether in accordance with ours. It refers to the humanity and the toleration to be shown by Turkey in her manner of treating her Christian subjects. Putting aside many other examples to the contrary of an old date, it is, for all that, notorious that recently the cruelties committed by the Turks in Bosnia forced hun- dreds of Christian families to seek refuge in Austria. In other respects, without wishing on this occasion to enter upon a discussion as to the symptoms of decay, more or less evident, presented by the Ottoman Power, or the greater or less degree of vitality which its internal con- stitution may retain, the Emperor will readily agree that the best means of upholding the duration of the Turkish Government is not to harass it by overbearing demands, supported in a manner humiliating to its independence and its dignitv. His Majesty is disposed, as he has ever been, to act upon this system, with the clear understanding, how- ever, that the same rule of conduct shall be observed without distinction, and unanimously, by each of the great Powers, and that none of them shall take advantage pf the weakness of the Porte to obtain ftom it conce.ssioiis Chap. XII.] HISTOEY OF THE WAR AGAINST ETJSSIA. 127 which might turn to the prejudice of the others. This principle being laid down, the Emperor declares that he is ready to labour, in concert with England, at the com- mon work of prolonging the existence of the Turkish Empire, setting aside all cause of alarm on the subject of its dissolution. He readily accepts the evidence offered by the British Cabinet of entire confidence in the up- rightness of his sentiments, and the hope that, on this basis, his alliance with England cannot fail to become stronger. .S^ Petersburg, Ajjril 3 (1.5), 185-3. We canuot conclude our chapter upon the secret correspondence more appropriately than in the words of Mr. W. Newman, of Oxford : " The strength of despots is diplomacy, through "which they paralyse the support of right by its only possible guardians. Since tbe days of Demosthenes and Philip of Macedon, it has been notorious to all educated men that the despot who communicates his counsels to none — who is master of the whole resources of his nation — who pursues his plans undeviatingly and secretly — has infinite advantage over free states, both in negotiation, and in the first out- break of war. The only means of resisting him is by rallying popular enthusiasm ; but this is made diflicult or impossible by free states when they are so senseless as to allow any communications with him to be secret." CHAPTER XII. SPEING CAMPAIGN ON THE DANUBE. " And let thy blows, doubly redoubled. Fall like .iniuzing thunder on the casque Of thy adverse, pernicious enemy." — Shakspeiie. The czar made preparations corresponding to those made by the allies. In the Baltic his ships and gun-boats were increased, and Cron- stadt was greatly strengthened. Xew bat- teries were erected at Helsingfors, as well as on the islands of Sweaborg. Patteries were also erected at St. Petersburg, and on various salient points of the Gulfs of Bothnia and Fin- land ; and troops were massed on all positions where they were likely to be available in re- sisting an attack. On the Euxiue, also, careful and laborious preparations were made; the batteries at Odessa were rendered much more formidable ; and on the Danubian frontier of Bessarabia immense artillery reinforcements were parked. Even in the Crimea, the coast defences were put in better condition, although there were then no indications that the allies meditated any attack in that direction. Through Moldavia and WaUachia the forces of Russia were incessantly poured, as soon as the snows of winter departed and the roads were practicable ; and it soon became obvious that the Danube was to be the scene of early contest. Famed in story from remote antiquity as washing the shores of many battle-fields, it was destined once more to roll between the camps of opposing hosts, and " Towers that skirt, and towns that seem to lave Their battled walls in that majestic wave." Towards the middle of February the Turkish army, having heard of the departure of the Rus- sian ambassadors from the Western courts, was excited to the utmost enthusiasm, and in va- rious small detachments harassed the Russians before the latter were ready to act upon the off'ensive. Indeed the Russians, made more cautious by their terrible defeat at Citato even than they had been after the battles of Olte- nitza, began their spring operations by forti- fying Fokshani, at the foot of the Carpathians ; and so far to the rear of their army, that such a measure could only be dictated by a respect for the Turkish army and its general, acquired during the conflicts of the autumn and winter. In Fokshani great store of warlike munitions was laid up, and troops arrived incessantly as the weather allowed. Finding that the Turks were not in a condition to commence offensive operations, the Russian general took the ini- tiative. It is difficult to say with what forces he commenced the spring campaign, so diff'erent are the Russian accounts and those of the pro- Russian press in Germany, and so diflferent is the force of a Russian army upon paper and in fact. Probably 140,000 men had entered tlio provinces up to the close of 1853, and that I'orce was reduced to less than 90,000 before the arrival of the first spring reinforcements; but so promptly did these arrive, that tlie Russian general felt confident of the capture of Kalafat, and prepared for a grand system of ofteusive action upon the whole Danubian frontier. We have already noticed the importance of the Danube to the Turks as a line of defence, when we described the operations conducted by Omar Pasha in the autumn of 1853 and tho winter of 1853-4. It is desirable that our readers should form a more complete conception of it. The topographical and picturesque cha- racter of its shores may be studied with interest and pleasure in the Bosphorus and the Danube* * Eastern Europe, illustrated by a scries of 160 Views on the Bosphorus and Danube, from original drawings by \V. II. BartU'tt and other artists. "With topograpliical 128 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [CUAP. XII. by Miss Pardoe and Dr. Rcattle. Rut, in a military point of view, it is desirable to direct the attention of our readers to its adaptation for defence by an army protecting Rulgaria from invasion. We know of no M'orlc wbere military accuracy and popular simplicity of language are to be found so liappily united as in that of Moltko, who, in his book entitled The Russians in Buhjaria and lloumvlia in 1828-9, thus describes tlie orographical peculiarities of this great river : — "Ever since the Turks have been liable to invasion from Russian troops, the Danube has been their first bulwark of defence. It will be necessary for our purpose to give a short de- scription of the lower part of that river. Re- twcen Golubraen and Gladova, a distance of about forty miles, the Danube breaks through the limestone rock, which runs from north to south between the Carpathians and the Ralkan. At the former point, where there is an old Servian castle, the stream, which is not less than 2000 paces wide, is suddenly narrowed to a width of only a few hundred, and pursues a very winding course between high, and, in many places, precipitous walls of rock, with a very rapid fall. At several points, especially Reb- nitz and the Iron Gate (Demir Cassee), its bed is crossed by reefs of rock which, when the water is low, rise above the surface of the river, and when it is high, create prodigious whirl- pools, always rendering the navigation of the river difficult, and, at these points, impassable. On this point of the river's course are the Turkish fortresses of New Orsova (Ada Kalessi, the island fort) and Gladova (Fete-Islam, the triumph of the faith). The width of the stream throughout this tract is, on an average, 600 to 900 paces, and on both sides lies an almost uncultivated, thickly-wooded, and very inaccessible hilly country. Very little belovi^ tlie Iron Gate, however, the stream changes altogether. On the Servian side, it is true, wooded heights still stretcli along the right bank as far as the boundary stream of Timoch, but below that the mountains recede far away on either side, and the river flows on through a plain, 100 miles in breadth, down to its mouth. " Lesser Wallachia as far as the Alouta, and the south of Rulgaria, are indeed traversed by a few chains of hills branching oft' from the high mountains, and are altogetlier less flat and low than the vast plains of Greater Wallachia; nevertheless they are, on the whole, level countries. There is, however, a very marked difference be-tv/een the opposite banks of the river. On the Rulgarian side (all the way below Widdin) they rise steep and high, im- descriptions of tlie Bospliorus, by Miss Pardoe ; aiiJ the Danube, by Dr. Heattie : Virtue and Co., London and New York. mediately overhanging the stream ; while, on tlie Wallachian, they are flat and muddy, with extensive meadows intersected by branches of tlie Danube, and overflowed whenever the water rises. As the river flows on, these low banks become wider and wider, and more and more marsh)', and the islands more and more numerous. Ikdow Rustchuk there is only a single spot at the mouth of the Dembowicza, opposite Turtukai, where tlie shore is firm and dry, though flat, down to the edge of the river, which at that point is not impeded by any islands. Opposite Silistria, too, a road pass- able at all seasons leads from Kalarash to the Danube. " In the Dobrudscha, too, the right bank is considerably the highest; the opposite low Wallachian shore is for the most part firm and dry down to the edge of the river, so far as the Rertisa branch ; but the islands form a marsh covered with trees and rushes many miles in breadth, which is always flooded when the river is high. Hirsova is the first point at which the valley becomes narrowest, and a passage across the river is practicable. At Rrailow the left side of the valley of the Danube first begins to rise from the river in perpendicular terraces of clay, of about eighty or one hundred feet high. From Rrailow and Galatz there arc roads across the wide marshes, pji'acticable in the fine season to Matschin, which place commands their debouches, and beyond which the fine pic- turesque tops of the Matschin and Retschepe mountains rise to a height of about 1100 feet. " Relow Isaktchi, the Danube flows through its Delta in three branches, of which only one, the Sulina, is navigable, and this is not above 200 paces wide at the mouth. The whole space, thirty miles in width, between the northern and southern branches (the Kedullet and the Kiilibogas) is covered by an unbroken waving sea of rushes ten feet high, above which the rigging of the ships is only visible. The Danube, below the Iron Gate, except where it is divided by islands into several arms, is nowhere under 900 paces in breadth, and in many places it is more than double that width. In some places it is as much as seventy or eighty feet deep, but in many parts it is far shallower. Relow Resth, where there is a suspension bridge constructed, the mighty river is only crossed by one bridge of boats, — that at Peterwardein. Of the massive bridge built by Trajan, at Gladova, nothing now remains but the piers, and a sort of tower on the Wallachian shore. The stream at this point is very broad and shallow. At Pulcha the river is diagonally crossed by a sand-bank, which leaves a navig- able channel only fourteen or fifteen feet deep. At this point a bridge on piles might be thrown across the main channel, if the approach on the left bank were not rendered impassable by Chap. XII.] IlISTOilY OF THE WAll AGAINST RUSSIA. 129 extensive marshes and islands overgrown with reeds. Everywliere else, the passage of the river could only be effected by bridges of boats or pontoons. Although the tail of the Danube *s not nearly so great below the Iron Gate, the current on an average does not run less than two miles and a half an hour. " The natural obstacles offered by ihis mighty river to the passage of troops across, are in- creased by the great number of strongholds on its banks. AVitliin a course of 300 miles there are, upon the Lower Danube, ISTecopolos, Sis- tova, Kustchuk, Giurgevo, Turtukai, Silistria, Hirsova, ilatschin, lirailow, Isaktehi, andTult- scha, all situated at the ])oints Avhere the stream miglit otherwise most easil}' be crossed. " The outworks of Tutukai alone had not been built since tho former war ; and yet that is the most advantageous place for the passage of an army on the whole of the Lower Danube. " If Schumla and Yarna were to be the points of operation for a llussian army, its march thither from Eessarabia would lie direct through Turtukai. The march across the Dobrudscha, rendered so difficult by the want of water, ■would thereby be avoided. The obstacle pre- sented by the commanding height of the right bank is, as we have seen, everywhere the same. Moreover, Turtukai stands in the greatest in- terval between two fortresses, twenty -four miles from Silistria, and twice as far from Rustchuk. The Danube is 995 paces in width ; the banks are firm, and always passable ; and the Dembowicza, which flows past Bucharest and empties itself into the Danube exactly opposite the town of Turtukai, affords facili- ties for bringing the means of crossing to the spot. *' It would, however, be utterly impossible, even here, to collect the materials for construct- ing a bridge 1000 paces long. The navigation of the Danube, properly sj)eaking, does not extend above Lrailow and Galatz, where very large sup[)lies of corn are annually shipped for Constantinople." If our readers will keep in view this brief but very complete sketch of the river line of defence, the proceedings of both armies will be more intelligible in the events that wo proceed to record. The first blow was struck by tlie Russians on the luth of Pebruary. They collected in very considerable force against Giurgevo, wiicre liiere had been such fierce contests in the preceding campaign. Tbe Turks were unable to resist such a superior force with any hope of success, yet they prolonged the confiict for several days, and tlieu retired in good order, taking boat to Rustchuk. The Russians, upon taking posses- sion of the place, dirf.eted a terrible cannonade against Rustchuk. Considerable ability was shown, and dogged perseverance, in repeated attempts to cross the river there. Ine Turkish garrison was kept in a state of painful and un- remitting vigilance ; and hard althougli desul- tory fighting tried the couruge and endurance of both armies. At this juncture, the conduct of Omar Pasha was much criticised; his Ger- man critics generally animadverted severe! v upon his strategy, and among them were many officers of note ; the American military authori- ties took up the German criticisms, and gave them currency in the United States; not a few British ofiicers cen.sured, and even deiided, the conduct of the Turkish general at that crisis. AVe believe the " rules of war" were considered by almost all, even his most warm advocates, to demand a different strategetical arrange- ment on his pait; but, as a military writer observes, who was no friend to the Turkish chief, " The wisdom of any plan of defence where an extended line of territory is to be guarded is relative. What would be utteily absurd in the face of an exi)erienced general, and well-disciplined army, might be tlie very perfection of wisdom before an ill-conditioned army and incompetent general." It Avas plain that Omar despised his antagonist. Prince Gort- schakoff, as a strategist; and while he knew the deficiencies of his own armj-, he had reliance xipon the courage of his troops. The results of any deviation from the strict rules of war justi- fied his judgment. Omar, perceiving that he had not sufKcient force to prevent the Russians from crossing the river, detached his left wing, making it a separate army — no longer having its base upon Schumla, but rather upon Servia and Bosnia. On the 4th of March, before the Russians had yet crossed the river, Omar gave them another lesson, similar to these at Citate and Oltenitza. Tlie corps at Rathova suddenly crossed under his orders, and attacked the lius- sians at Kalarasch with great impetuosity and success. The Russians fell back with rapidity, suffering great loss. Tlie usual hurryings to and fro, marches and countermarches on the part of the Russians, showed their surprise ; but before they could chastise the aggression, the Turks rccrossed the river. In spite of all the valour of the latter, and the skill of their chief, the progress of the Russians became speedily such as to dishearten Europe, and create an impression that, before the allies could intervene, the Russians would be through the passes of the Balkan. This feeling was sti'engthencd by the recollection that " In the late war with the Turks, the power of Russia in the first camjjaign appeared to be feeble, and many exulted at the ruin of an empire which had been so formidable; but in the second campaign, when it had put forth its real strength, il was evident that the Turkish Empire existed but at the mercy of their oi)po- nent." Still every stop which the Russians 130 HISTORY OF THE WAll AGAINST IIUSSIA. [Chap. XIl. "won to the walls of Silistria was opposed by a stubborn resistance, such as the Turks had not offered in modern times to an invading force. Omar Paslia did everytliing at this juncture that man could do, to prepare liis army for effectual warfare ; it is difficult even now to know with what hopes and expecta- tions the general completed his arrangements; but, in spite of the valour of his levies, he must have felt considerable uneasiness. The Con- stantinople papers give us no real information as to either the plans, movements, or resources, of the Turkish general. The German papers are contradictory, and the correspondents of the London and Paris press not less so. The Sol- daten Freund professed to have especial sources of information, and was just then more minute than any other publication in Europe in its descriptions of the varying events on either side of the contested flood. According to this au- thority, Omar's object was to form three army corps, with their head-quarters at Karassu, Sistau, and "Widdin ; each corps to consist of more than twenty battalions of infantry, thirty squadrons of cavalry, and sixty guns. The force of each corps, 26,000 Nizam (regulars), 18,000 Eedifs (militia), and contingent of Bosnians, Albanians, and Herzegovinians ; a reserve of well-appointed Egyptian regulars to support each corps. The regulars, militia, and Egypt- ians, were thoroughly trustworthy; but the Bashi-bazouks were, as we have elsewhere in this History described them, sometimes good and sometimes bad' soldiers, and always given to insubordination, plunder, and violence. The Albanians and Herzegovinians were mutinous, from their sympathy with the Greek insurgents, and it was with difficulty the generals could prevent their desertion en masse. It was on the 5th of March Prince Gortscha- koff received his orders to cross the Danube, ccmte qui coute; on the very same day that the czar proclaimed martial law in seventeen governments of his dominions. Previous, how- ever, to any attempt at effecting the passage of the river, Kalafat was made the object of a reconnaissance in force. Strong detachments of llussian irregular cavalry and light artillery were permitted by the Turks repeatedly to come with impunity close to the place. The object of allowing the E-ussians thus to parade almost under the muzzles of the guns was to conceal their strength. Some good opportunities of cutting off these advanced detachments were lest ; and when an attempt on a grand scale, well-planned by the commandant, was made, it was so badly executed that the Ilussians made good their retreat. It was of the utmost consequence to the Ilussians to take Kalafat, at this juncture the only strong place held by the Turks on the left bank of the river; it was the key to the great fortified place called "Widdin, on the right bank; it covers Servia, and its occupation by the Turks did much to shut up fronf the liussians the way that by Sophia leads to the Balkan and to Adrianople. Accordinglj^, on the 11th of March, a powerful corps of Prince Gortscha- koffs army reconnoitred the place, with the view apparently of turning the reconnaissance into an attack, if circumstances might be found at all to favour it. The Turks sallied ont and attacked this corps with impetuosity ; the struggle was fierce and protracted, and ended by a decisive repulse of the Ilussians. Meantime General Luders, one of the most skilful and enterprising of the llussian generals, crossed the Danube at Galatz. So conflicting are the accounts of the passage of the Danube by Luders, that no less than five different dates are assigned to it — the 10th, 11th, 22nd, 23rd, and 25th of March. We believe we can unravel this skein. It was on the 10th that Luders made good his landing on the right bank of the river. The passage was effected mainly by rafts, constructed for the purpose, with con- siderable perseverance and some skill ; for he conducted, without any decisive interruption or accident, a large army over a broad river, iji the face of a brave army commanded by an able general. The army of Luders consisted of twenty-four battalions of infantry, eight squadrons of regular cavalry, six sotnias of Cossacks, and sixty-four guns. Omar guarded the river effectually, except on the shores of the Dobrudscha, where he knew that a Eussian arm}', if he could contrive to detain it there, would perish from thirst and malaria without the expenditure of much shot or shell on his part. In fact, taciturn as the Turkish general was, he could not dissemble the joy he felt at the direction in which the enemy was compelled to enter that region, bj- the general- ship which prevented their efiecting any more advantageous footing in Bulgaria. The indiffer- ence with which Omar obviously regarded the advance of this corps of the llussian army, or rather the pleasure he evinced at catching them within the deadly angle of that terrible region, caused reports to be raised in Constan- tinople that he was bribed ; and these reports were amplified in Vienna, and sent rapidly about through Europe. Omar, however, main- tained his equanimity, and not only offered no serious obstruction to Luders in crossing, but took no means to prevent his occupation of the entire region, except so far as to maintain a few strong places as long as they could hold out. On the 15th of March Prince Gortschakoff in person resolved to effect a passage by Turtukai. Our readers will remember that in an early part of this History, the river between Tur- tukai and Oltenitza was described, and the character of its shores on both sides. In our Chap. XII.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 131 accounts of the incursion, of the Turks from Turtukai to Oltenitza, Ave represented them as first seiziufj and fortifying an island which commanded the banks of the river at Oltenitza, and was itself commanded from the heights of Turtukai. General Gortschakoff determined to take, if possible, that island. This act was one of inconceivable rashness ; for not only could the guns of the island command his troops in em- barking to reach it, but, if reached and cap- tured, the batteries at Turtukai would make it untenable. Of course, by a terrible expen- diture of life, superior forces could ultimately seize the island and cross from it to the oppo- site side, and storm the batteries there; but the object, when gained, would not by its posses- sion repay the sacrifices made in attaining it. The result of the attempt to capture the island was a terrible defeat, with the loss of 2000 men. The operations of Prince Gortschakoff against Rustchuk by Giurgevo were as disheartening as his attempts to cross by Turtukai; and while discouraged, doubtful, and almost desperate, because of the stringency of his orders from St. Petersburg to restore the prestige of the Rus- sian name by some feat of arms, he received a despatch from General Luders, announcing what both generals deemed a success ; neither sus- pecting, that as Wellington lured on Xapolcon to Waterloo — a field previously chosen by him — so Omar was gradually drawing forces, which he knew were powerful enough to cross the river somev.diere, into the trap where they might become the prey of pestilence as well as war. Gortschakoff immediately hurried to the support of Luders, and taking a detour in the rear of the place where the latter made his passage, the prince, far to the general's left, passed over a little above Tultscha with four- teen battalions of infantrj', sixteen squadrons of regular cavalry, six sotnias of Cossacks, and forty- four guns. He took some guns and pri- soners, and drove back upon Tultscha a detach- ment of Turks who were in observation of his movements. The Russians were now in great forcein theUppcr Dobrudscha, and they appeared to advance in an alarming career of victory. They stormed and captured one strongliold after another, suffering and inflicting much loss. A detail of these conflicts is unneces- sary; what the Russians won they won with difficulty; what the Turks held they held with tenacity; and terrible carnage marked nearly every struggle. At Tultscha the Turks made the most prolonged and desperate resist- ance, causing heavy losses to the Russians, ob- structing their progress, and rendering insecure the advance they were so rapidl)- making, by maintaining a considerable force in their rear. Tultscha at last fell, after resisting three desperate attempts to storm it. Matschin, another of the strong places on the southern side, repulsed as many attempts to storm it, but the garrison at last surrendered at discre- tion. Isaktchi and Hirsova, the remaining strongholds on that side of the Danube, sur- rendered, but not with dishonour. The for- tresses on the Danubian shores of the Dobrud- scha were dearly paid for with Russian blood. When their keys were received in great pomp and amid great rejoicings at St. Petersburg, it was Kttle understood there what an amount of human life had been expended in winning the trophies. Before the 1st of April the Turks, who had fallen back upon Babadagh by the sea, were forced to evacuate that place, the possession of which was of considerable import- ance to the invaders. It is here necessarj' to give our readers some idea of the military value of these conquests. The Dobrudscha is not properly a part of Bulgaria, altliough on the Bulgarian side of the river, and is always spoken of by the Turks as a distinct territory. It is a dis- trict skirting the Danube on its northern and western bounds, the Black Sea on its eastern bounds, and Bulgaria to the south and south-west. Its extreme measurement is from ninety to one hundred miles by thirty- five. It is perfectly flat, and lower than the Danube ; in most places marshy, and the deadly marsh malaria prevailing to a degree more fatal than perhaps anywhere else in Europe. In other places it is dry and sterile, and water cannot be obtained by digging to any depth. There are no roads, and even the paths are dangerous to the solitary traveller. The outlets from this district to Roumelia are commanded bj' fortifications of great strength, with a fertile country behind them; so that an army hemmed in within this dismal plain is exposed to certain destruction — they will waste away Avithout any attack from a foe. The Russians calculated upon forcing a passage into Bulgaria, as they did in 1828, Avhen Silistria and Varna were captured by them ; but at that time they had the command of the Euxine, upon which the allies, at tlie time we now treat of, kept up a sort of marine patrol. There remained, therefore, nothing for the Russians but to force their way to the Balkan. As the allies occupied Varna later in the spring, the Russians could make no attempt in that direc- tion ; or the deeds of Menschikoff and Woron- zoif, in 1828, might have been again enacted. A description of the fortresses whicli fell into the hands of the Russians by their invasion of the Dobrudscha, will account for the alarm felt in Turkey and throughout Europe. Isaktchi is thus described by 13aron von Moltke : — " It stands near the Danube, upon a hill, surrounded within musket-shot by two valleys, which arc not commanded by the for- 132 HISTOllY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. XII. tress : no advantage is taken of the lay of the ground, and tlie correct instinct by -which the Turks are usually guided in the choice of their lines seems here to have forsaken them. As usual, there were neitlier outworks nor covcrcd- Avay, only a narrow foot-path inside the glacis, ■which was three feet higli. The ramparts were so narrow that there was not room for the guns, except in the bastions, which were toler- ably large. The inner escarp of the rampart was supported perpendicularly with wattling ; a measure wliich, in 1810, had so embarrassed the besiegers of lUistchuk. The inner slope of the parapet was partly lined with pallisades, and their outer slopes on the bastions, as well as the embrasures, were lined with gabions. The point of attack upon the fortress comprised the two northern sides of the polygon, which could be eniiladed in their whole length from the heights to the south. Tlie besieging force would not need any entrenchments or other works ; they would only have to erect a battery near the bank of the rivei', at 500 or GOO paces distance from the fortress, to secure themselves from attack by advanced bodies of troops, and to eliect breaches in the escarps, which at that point are not defended by any ditch." The same author describes Matschin, where the Russians incurred such heavy losses, in the following terms: — "It stands upon a ridge which juts out into the Danube, and ends in a precipitous descent into the stream; on the west it is defended by an impassable marsh. Tlie lofty mountains which rise in jagged points on the south-east are too far off to be dangerous, and the intervening ground slopes off gently towards the fortress, and forms a plain on the eastern side. The walls of the town form a heptagon, defended by six small bastions. On the top of the lofty northern precipice stands a citadel upon a granite rock. The citadel commands the town and its walls, the ground in front of it, and the Danube, with all the islands within range of the guns. Although the citadel had no ditch, it presented a very formidable relief, Avith escarps fifty feet in height, rising twenty-five feet above the en- ciente of the town, which was so small that it was commanded in every part by the high cavalier, even with musketry. Hence it would have been almost impossible for an attacking party to occupy the town while the citadel remained in the hands of the enemy ; and, on the other hand, no attack could be made upon the citadel until the enciente of the town were taken. In fact the citadel, occupied by a re- solute garrison, was impregnable by any other means than a well-directed and vigorous bom- bardment ; and even this would by no means ensure the surrender of the place." This de- scription by Baron Moltke was borne out by the facts in March, 185 i, for the Russians in vain attempted the place; the)' could only conquer it by investment, the garrison having been un- provided for a protracted siege. " Hirsova, which stands at the point where the Danube may most easily be crossed, is a Utc-de-font formed as it were by nature against the Turks. The town is an irregular quadrangle, enclosed on three sides by rocky heights, which slope gently on the inside and abruptly on the out, and on the fourth side by the Danube. At one point, where a perpendi- cular piece of rock rises eighty or one hundred feci out of the stream, stood an ancient castle, of wliich the Russians took possession in 1809." " Tultscha formerly stood upon abroad ridge of hills, with a deep declivity towards tlie Danube, but separatee! from it by a marsh 400 paces wide. On the western side the ground sloped gently down towards the fortress. The new town has been built about a mile lower down the Danube, on a spot eminently fitted to command the navigation of the Sulina, which is not 400 paces wide at this point. The town could scarcely be fortified in its whole actual extent ; but, if the southern point were sacri- ficed, the northern — which is surrounded by the Danube, a marsh, a lake, and a commanding height — might be converted into a small fortress, which would require but a slender garrison. But then it would be essential to the safety of the place to erect an outwork upon the further extremity of the island, opposite to the place which, like all the islands in the Danube, was ceded to Russia at the last peace (1829)'." The descriptions by Raron von Moltke were written in reference to the invasion by the Russians, in the war of 1828-9; we have sup- pressed such portions of his account as were inapplicable to the state of things in 1854. Captain Spencer, writing at the latter end of 1853, says that considerable improvements were made in all these fortresses since he had visited them in 1851. At that time they were in the condition which Yon Moltke depicts. It Avill be seen that the rejoicings at St. Petersburg, and the apprehensions entertained in other portions of Europe, were not unreason- able. The possession of these river fortresses was of the utmost importance to Russia, although in the actual result she was only emboldened by these successes to commit her- self irretrievablj' to a campaign in the Dobrud- scha, with all its attendant disasters. At the beginning of April, the Russians from Hirsova prepared for a great attempt to pass Trajan's AVall, the line of defence behind which the Turks were necessarily driven; and the Cossacks patrolled to Kustendje-upon-the-Sea, a fortress of considerable strength, and the capture ot which would have facilitated an advance upon Varna. On the 30 th day of March, the Turks made a HISTORY OF THE WAP. AGAIX.ST ItUSSIA. 133 Biilly from Kuhifat, which served to repair so many disasters. The llussians were posted at Skripetz, and in considerable force. About 10,000 foot and a strong brigade of cavalry from the fortress surprised them, and a battle ensued which lasted several hours, and was most sanguinary. The Muscovites were de- feated, losing three men for every one man lost by their victors. Encouraged by this suc- cess, the Turks two days after made another sally in the direction of Pojana. The Cossack scouts were in observation, and rode hastily back to alarm the garrison; the Turkish irregu- lars rode after them, and leaped the ditch of the intrenched camp as the Cossacks entered ; being speedily followed by a regular bodv of horse, the llussians were attacked with fury, and thrown into consternation. A brigade of llussian cavalry was dispersed, some hundreds put hors de combat, and many made prisoners. A force of 15,000 men advanced upon. Kalafiit, to avenge as it was supposed these disgraces, and, if possible, effect something against that strong place; the movement ended in skir- mishes, and a partial cannonade, the assailants retiring discomfited. It is likely that this demonstration against Kalafut was not, however, in any hope of sur- prising the place, or making any impression there ; the forces that defended it were too numerous, and the works too strong for any such hope : it was probably to cover the retreat of the llussian armies from Little AVallachia, as they were withdrawn to carry on the operations organised by Prince Paskiewitcli, wlio arrived on the 8th, and disapproving of Prince Gort- schakoff's plan of campaign, new dispositions of the troops were necessary to carry his own projects into execution. The whole right of the llussian army was drawn back ; the left was pushed on fiercely through the Dobrudscha, to force an exit thence,to Bulgaria; and the troops drawn back, with the reinforcements from Moldavia, were poured upon that portion of the Danube between Oltenitza and Czerna- Toda. Hirsova was the medium of commu- nication between the corps of Luders in the Dobrudscha and the troops thus massing under Gortschakoif, and which were to be placed under Schilders, while Prince Paskiewitch directed the whole line of operations. Luders was ordered to get between Silistria and Yarna, and cut off any chance of help thence by the allies while Silistria was assailed. "When the Russian head-(][uarters were broken up at Kra- jova, in order to execute the manoeuviTs we have above detailed, the Turks seized it, and were welcomed by the inhabitants with every token of sincere gratitude and delight : tlie presence of the Russians had been an intolerable burthen. At this juncture the llussians sustained a defeat on tlie extreme left of their line. As alreadj- stated, they were desirous to gain the Wall of Trajan, and drive the Turks from that line of defence. This wall, built by the Roman emperor whose name it bears, for the purpose of repelling the incursions of the bar- barians of his days upon the fertile fields and opulent cities of the South, commences at Czer- navoda and extends to Kustendjc on the Black Sea.''-'' The Turks were in possession of the former place, to dislodge them from which would be necessarily a part of the Russian design upon that line of defence. They at- tacked the Turks with superior numbers, but with some rashness ; for their recent triumplis in the Dobrudscha had filled them with a vaiu confidence, and they had already begun to suffer from cholera, ague, and fever, so extensively that they were desirous, even at great sacrifices, to conquer their passage onward from this fatal steppe. The Turks received them with unflinch- ing courage, and with great coolness. The llussians were repulsed after a short battle, leaving in slain and prisoners nearly 1000 men. The prisoners were sick and emaciated, and gave terrible evidence of how rapidly the deadly climate of the peninsula of the Danube had wasted their strength. They were also found miserably deficient in apparel, and they reported the Russian army to be but iU pro- vided Avith supplies and munitions of war. This was probably the result of the catastrophe which happened some time before at Eok- shani, where vast stores of military appliances were burnt by an accidental fire, or, as some suppose, by incendiary Y^allachs and Molda- vians; who, in revenge for the outrages offered to their liberties, and the plunder of their pro- perty, so laid the train of the conflagration as to secure the rapid destruction of the vast accu- mulations of military supplies which the place contained. We have now approached one of the most eventful periods of the war — the siege of Silis- tria. We should, however, have to leave too far behind us contemporaneous incidents of great interest, were we here to pursue the contest in the Dobrudscha before the walls of Silistria. * In a work entitled FMStcrn Europe Ilhistrahd, pub- lished by A'irtue and Co., London and New York, tlierc is the following description of the present condition of this wall, and the appearance of its neighbomhond : — "In consequence of the steamer halting: for a day at Tclierna- woda, we took advantage of the delay, and set out to explore the Wall of Trajan. Our walk across the hills was delightful. In every green liollow were thickets of lilac and numerous flowering shrubs. In about an hour's walk, we came to the Koman wall, which once stretched from the D.mube to the Black Sea. A camp, the dimen- sions of which may still be traced, formed its defence towards the river; and its high green vallum and accom- panying ditch are seen running over ridge and hollow towards the sea. The whole of the next day, in our descent of the river, these were still visible on our right, till we arrived at our destination on the Euxine Sea." 131 HlSTOllY OF THE WAll AGAINST KUSSIA. [Chap. XIII. We shall here take occasion to notice the more prominent incidents of the histor}' of General Luders. He is an aide-de-camp general, a high degree of rank in the Eussian service. He did not take any very prominent part in war until the Hussian campaign in Transji- vania, in the year 1849, hut there greatly dis- tinguished himself. A separate corps-d'' armcc of ahout 40,000 men was placed under his command, with which he defeated Bern, the celebrated Polish general, utterly routing his forces. The principal part in forcing Georgey to surrender, devoh^ed also upon him. That campaign made the military reputation of Luders, and upon the breaking out of the present war it was proposed to place him in command of the army of the principalities. The claims of Prince Gortschakoff prevailing, Luders was appointed to a high command under him, and as has been already shown in this chapter, he led a separate corps into the Dobrudscha, gaining some temporary eclat for the tarnished honour of the Hussian arms. He was in the prime of life when conduct- ing these operations. His name will fre- quently occur in the history of this war, throughout which, up to the grand results in the Crimea, he has been in active command. He is a remarkably handsome man, of noble expression of countenance, and commanding mien ; intellectual, and of very superior military talents. General Luders is generally recognised as one of the best officers in the Eussian CHAPTEE XIII. DECLARATIONS OF WAR BY THE ALLIES.— COUNTER DECLARATION AND MANIFESTO BY THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.— RUSSIAN EFFORTS FOR THE STRUGGLE. " Pax qureritur bello."* — MoUo on the coat-oj-arms of Oliver Cromicell. We again turn from the events upon the " dark rolling Danube" to those which occurred at home. The declaration of war by the "Western powers, and the destinations of their expeditions, must necessarily influence the character assumed by the struggle on that great theatre of contest. The armies there confront- ing one another, looked with feverish anxiety for every scrap of intelligence from England and France; and as the Tartars and Eashi- bazouks were like carrier-pigeons for speed, not a regiment arrived at Malta, nor an article of prominent interest was published in the London and Parisian press, nor a speech de- livered in the British parliament upon the sub- ject of the war by any great leader, or eloquent member, the tidings of which did not reach the officers of both hosts. The further progress of the campaign it was felt by both the great leaders of the belligerent armies must be regulated by considerations arising out of the certainty of war being proclaimed by the Western powers. The British government and parliament were intensely solicitous to be assured themselves, and to assure others, that the war was not of their seeking, and was inevitable. To this end two classes of state papers were demanded by the Commons, and produced by the government. One of those was the treaties between Turkey and Eussia ; the other the despatches connected with the ultimatum directed by the allies to the czar. It was necessary that by the perusal of the former, the country and the world should see that the Western nations were not encouraging Turkey in a breach of treaties, as * " Peace is sought by war." the czar had alleged ; but that he had en- croached upon the letter, and violated the spirit, of his treaties with the Porte. It was as necessary that by the other class of papers it might be equally plain that no just cause of offence was given personally to the czar ; but that all the arts of deference and conciliation having been exhausted, the demand for satis- faction was firmly and temperately made, and that the allies were literally compelled to search for peace by a just, necessary, and unavoidable war. In the third chapter of our history, we gave such an outline of the aggressions of Eussia upon Turkey, as included some account of the various treaties wrung fro^ the latter in her seasons of weakness, we shall therefore be ex- cused if we omit the documents themselves, as likely to be tedious in the perusal, as well as necessarily occupying more space than we can spare. The despatches connected with the ultima- tum are pai't of the narrative, and a very exciting and interesting part; for they reveal to us tlie tone and spirit of the courts and cabinets immediately interested, and inform us of the actual interviews and transactions between those whose influence alone could secure the blessings of peace, or let loose upon a distracted and appalled world all the horrors of so general a war. The first of these to which we need direct the attention of our readers is that of the Earl of Westmore- land, our ambassador at Yienna, in which he gives to his government the Austrian explana- tions as to the missions of Count Orloflf, which Chap. Xin.] HISTORY OF THE WAE AGAINST RUSSIA. 135 excited so much speculation throughout Europe. There can be no doubt that the mission of Count Orloff was as the Austrian court repre- sented it, at all events in part ; whether the bearing of the Austrian government towards tlie Count were such as its minister represented to the British ambassador, may well be doubted. THE EARL OF WESTMORELAXD TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON. {Received February 4, 18.5i.) (Telegraphic.) Vienna, Feb. 4, 18-54. Count Buol bas announced to the French Ambassador and to me, that Count Orloff's proposition to the Emperor of Austria was, that his iLajest)' should engage himself to a strict neutrality in the event of the war between Turke}- and Russia, in which it appeared that England and France were about to take a part. The Emperor of Austria replied to Count Orloff, asking if the Emperor of Russia would confirm his Majesty's engagements not to pass the Danube ; to evacuate the Principalities after the war ; and not to disturb the general arrangement at present existing of the Turkish provinces .•* Count Orloff replied, that the Emperor of Russia could take no engagement. The Emperor of Austria answered, that in that case he could take no. engagement, as was proposed to him. He should remain faithful to the principles he had adopted in concert with the other three Powers, and should be guided in his conduct by the interests and the dignity of his empire. Your Lordship will not be surprised, after learning this termination of Count Orloff s mission, and after having received the Protocol of the Conference signed j-esterday, to hear that the Austrian Government have decided immediately to increase the cordon they have upon the frontier of Transylvania to 30,000 men. Count Buol expected that Count Orloff would have left Vienna to-morrow; but he learns, with surprise, that he intends to prolong his stay for some days. The next despatch which we deem it necessary to select, is an appropriate sequel to the secret correspondence — a despatch of Sir George Hamilton Seymour — almost his last diplo- matic act before leaving St. Petersburg; and it discloses the finale of a long- sustained system of trickery and intrigue on the part of the court and government of Russia. SIR G. H. SEYMOUR TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON. {Received February 24.) (Extract.) St. Petersburg, Feb. 1-5. In the Russian Projct de Frotocnlc, the Russian Pleni- potentiary declares : " Que si divers actes de la Porte, et notamment a I'egard des lieux saints, ayanl paru a I'Em- pereur indiquer des dispositions peu favorables au culte qu'il professe, avaient engage sa Majeste a deraander, en nieme temps que I'arrangemcnt special des dits licu.x, uue garantie generale des droits, privileges, et immunites rcligieuses accordees a I'Eglise Orthodoxe." These few words contain a tardy tribute to veracity. In the early days of Prince MenschikofFs mission, it was stated to me repeatedly, and most positively, that he had no other object in view than to re-establish and secure the rights of the Greek Church at Jerusalem. When the real motives which had carried Prince Men- echikofl' to Constantinople became known, I was next informed that I had no right to consider that I had been misled, inasmuch as what was claimed for the Greek Church was the necessary confirmation of the Greek rights at the Holy Places ; and only now it comes to light that the special arrangement regarding the Holy Places is considered by the Russian Cabinet as a question quite distinct from that of the guarantee to be demanded of the rights, privileges, and immunities of the Greek Church. I feel grateful to the Imperial Cabinet for having made this admission before my withdrawal from St. Petersburg, Upon the departure of Count Orloff from Vienna, the Austrian government spared no pains to make the British government believe in its sinceritj', and even earnestness, io force Russia to reasonable and just terms of peace. It is obvious that the Earl of "Westmoreland had implicit faith in all the assurances of Austria; and so plausible were they, that we cannot but admit that they were likely to impose upon honourable men. At all events, our government felt secure of Austrian support in the result of these communications; and believed that, when the moment for action came, Austria would be found as energetic in arms as she had been in protestations of her alliance. THE EARL OF WESTMORELAND TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON. ( Received February 13. ) My Lord, Vienna, Feb. 8, 1854. I HAVE just left the Conference to which Count Buol had this morning invited me, in conjunction with my colleagues. Upon our assembling, he stated that he had no proposal to make to us ; but, in consideration of the perfect union existing among us upon the Eastern ques- tion, he thought he was forwarding our common objects by communicating the despatches he had addressed to Count Esterhazy, for the purpose of being submitted to Count Nesselrode. Count i;uol then read to us these despatches. The first gave an account of the proposal brought forward by Count Orloff, that the Emperor of Austria should, in conjunc- tion with Prussia, take an engagement with the Emperor of Russia for the maintenance of a strict neutrality in the war now existing with the Porte, and in which" the Maritime Powers seemed likely to take part. Count Buol, in his despatch, developcs in the clearest and most distinct language, the impossibility of the adoption by the Em- peror of any such engagement. He states, with all courtesy to the Emperor Nicholas, the obligations by which the Austrian Government is bound to watch over the strict maintenance of the principle of the independence and integrity of Turkey— a principle proclaimed by the Emperor Nicholas himself, but which the passage of the Danube by his troops might, by the encouragement of insurrections in tlie Turkish provinces, endanger. Count Buol therefore states tliat he cannot take the engagement proposed to him. The second despatch, to Count Ester- hazy, relates to the answer which has been returned to the proposals for negotiations transmitted by Count Buol with the sanction of the Conference on the 13th ultimo. In this despatch Count Buol states, with considerable force, the disappointment felt by the Emperor at the want of success which had attended his recommendation in favour of the Turkish propositions. He enters very fully into the subject, and renews the expression of the Emperor's most anxious desire that the Emperor Nicholas may still adopt the proposals which had been submitted to him. The last despatch is one in which Count Buol replies to the reproach which was addressed to the Imperial Government that, by its present conduct, it was aban- doning the principles upon which the three Governments of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, had hitherto acted for the maintenance of the established interests and independence of the different States of Europe ; and that, by so doing, it was endangering the established order of things in Europe, and the security at present existing. The answer of Count Buol to this reproach is very firmly and clearly stated. 106 HISTOKY OF THE WAIl AGAINST ETJSSIA. [CflAr. XIII It is impossiblfi for me to give your lordsliip a more detaik'd account, before the departure of the niesscriger of these despatclies ; but I must add that the}- met with the entire ;ii)probatinn of tlie members of tlie Conference ; that they were looked upon as most ably drawn up; and that, while using every courteous and friendly expression towards the Emperor Nicholas, they most clearly pointed out the present position which the Austrian Government would maintain, with the view of upholding the principles they had proclaimed, and the engagements which they had talccn for their support. Al'ter these commuuicationa. Count Buol stated lliat the Eui])eror, in speaking of the departure of Count Orloft", had inquired whether any suggestion could be made to him, in a confidential manner, by which the negotiations for peace might still be continued. Count Buol had subsequently given this subject his best consideration. Tic had gone to Caunt Orloft" before his departure, which had taken place this morning, and, as a private suggestion of his own, and only verbally, had stated that if the Emperor Nicholas would accept the Turkish proposals, a'ud, upon their general import, send to Vienna the form of preliminaries for peace which he would agree to, and which might be discussed by the Conference with Baron Meycudorlf, who should be instructed to that effect, these preliminaries, if approved by the Conference, might be sent to Constantinople with the recommendation of the Eour Powers. The following telegraphic despatch is a still further apology for the confidence which both the allied governments were disposed to place in Austria. It is obvious that tlie efforts of Count Buol to stand well with the court of Paris, were as constant and as deceptive as those resorted to with the court of London. LORD CO^TEY TO THE EAIIL OF CLARENDON. {Received Fibrut-vj 23.) (Telegraphic.) Far is, Feb. 22, 1854. CnuNXBuoi. assures !AL de Bourqueney, that if England and France will tix a day for the evacuation of the Friu- ri|ialitie?, the expiration of which shall be the signal for li'istilities, the Cabinet of Vienna will support the sum- mons. M. Drouvu de Lhuys is of opinion that this should be done immediately, and that the two governments sliould write to Count Nesselrodo to demand the immediate commencement of that evacuation — the whole to be con- cluded bv a given time, say the end of ilarch. Silence or refusal to be considei-ed a declaration of war on the part of Russia. Whenever a decision is taken, M. Drouyn de Lhuys begs that you will inform me by telegraph. Our government were not only ready to com- ply with the moderate request of M. Drouyn de"^ Lhuys, but even to go beyond it, and give the czar a month's longer grace, if he were willing to take it. The object of the Austrian foreio^n minister was not to force the compli- ance of the czar, but to gain time for him, and avert, as long as he could, a declaration of war by the Western powers. While, however, he pretended the willingness of his government to unite in enforcing the withdrawal of the Ilus- sians from the principalities, he was, in truth, desirous that they should withdraw, in the hope that an Austrian occupation, with the consent of the allies, might supervene. There was no intention, whatever might be the reply of Rus- sia, to proceed to extremities in support of France and England. Subsequent events have proved this; most politicians of eminence then saw it; but our government Avas credulous, and were made more credulous bj' the influence of the French minister for foreign affairs, whose incurable blindness to the designs of Austria at last is.sued in his escapade at the Vienna con- ference, and the loss of office. Upon the receipt of Lord Cowley's telegraphic request. Lord Clarendon, our foreign minister, wrote to the British ambassador at the court of Berlin, enclosing a co^iy of a despatch to Count Nesselrode, demanding the evacuation of the provinces. THE EARL OF CLARENDON TO COUNT NES- SELRODE. I\L i.r. CoMTE, Forcijn Office, Feb. 27, 18.54. As the ordinary channels of communication between England and Russia have been closed by the recent inter- ruption of diplomatic relations between the t\yo Courts, I am under the necessity of addressing myself directly to your Excellency on a matter of the deepest importance to our respective Governments and to Europe. The British Government has for many months anxiously laboured, in conjunction with its allies, to effect a recon- ciliation of differences between Russia and the Sublime Porte, and it is with the iitmost pain that the British Government has come to the conclusion that one last hope alone remains of averting the calamity which has so long impended over Europe. It rests with the Government of Russia to determine whether that hope shall be realized or extinguished ; for the British Government, having exhausted all the efforts of negotiation, is compelled to declare; to the Cabinet of St. Petersburg, that if Russia should decline to restrict within purely diplomatic limits the discussion in which she has for some time past been engaged with the Sublime Porte, and does not, by return of the messenger who is the bearer of my present letter, announce her intention of causing the Russian ti-oops under the orders of Prince Gortschakolf to commence their march with a view to re- cross the Pruth, so that the provinces of Sloldavia and Wallachia shall be completely evacuated on the 30th of April next, the British Government must consider the refusal or the silence of the Calunet of St. Petersburg as equivalent to a declaration of war, and will take its mea- sures accordingly. The messenger who is the bearer of this letter to your Excellency is directed not to wait more than six days at St. Petersburg for your reply ; and I earnestly trust that he may convey to me an announcement on the part of the Russian Government that by the 30th of April next the Principalities will cease to be occupied by Russian forces. I have, &c., Cl-^-Rendox. The following is the despatch of the British minister to Lord Bloomfield : — THE EARL OF CLARENDON TO LORD BL005I- FIELD. My Loud, Foreign Office, Feb. 27, 1854. I TitAN.SMiT to your lordship herewith a copy of a letter which I have addressed to Count Ncsselrode, requiring the evacuation of the Principalities ; and I have to in- struct your lordship to communicate it immediately to Baron Manteuffel, and to state that her Majesty's Govern- ment, having anxiously, but in vain, laboured for many montlis, in conjunction with the Governments of Austria, France, and Prussia, to effect an amicable settlement of the differences between Russia and the Porte, must now consider that negotiation is at an end ; that the inad- missible terms upon which the Emperor of Russia will alone negociate for peace, and the vast scale on which military and naval preparations are proceeding in Russia, leave no doubt as to the disastrous policy which his Imperial Majesty is determined to pursue. Chap. XlII-l HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. 137 The dignity of tlie Powers concerned in tliese recent transactions, and the great interests now suffering from suspense, forbid an)' furllier delay, and require that all doubt as to the future should be removed ; and, as the forcible occupation of the Principalities was an injury in- liicted upon Turkey and an otlence ofl'ered to Europe by Eussia, it has appeared proper to her iFajesty's Govern- ment, and to that of the Emperor of the French, that the final issue should have reference to that act of aggression, and that the Government of llussia should be required within a given time to evacuate that portio-ii of the Sul- tan's territory. Both Governments, however, are animated by the sin- cerest desire of co-operating with Prussia. They acknow- ledge the paramount necessity of a cordial understanding between the Four Powers at this critical juncture of the affairs of Europe ; and they are convinced that the all- important questions as to whether the war is to become general, or be confined within narrow limits, and whether the contest is to be protracted, or peace speedily restored, must depend on the policy of the Four Powers being de- cided, vigorous, and united. They have consequently determined not to send for- ward the identical letter they have addressed to Count Nesselrode without previous communication to the Go- vernment of Prussia, in the conviction that that Govern- ment will appreciate the friendly confidence implied by this proceeding ; and your lordship will earnestly request ]!aron Manteufi'el to join in the requisition to Russia ; or, if he should unfortunately decline to do so, that the Prussian Government will, at least, make known to the Cabinet of St. Petersburg that it has their sanction and support. It is impossible for your lordship to overstate the importance which her Majesty's Government attach to a decision upon which the best interests of Europe may depend. Your lordship will place the messenger Blackwood at the disposal of Baron SlanteuSel, and may for that pur- Eose detain him for a few hours ; but it is desirable that e should proceed on his journey to St. Petersburg with the least possible dehiy. You will read this despatch to Baron ManteufTel, and you will give his Excellency a copy of it. I am, &c., Cl.vkendon. Lord Bloomlield's account of the waj' ho dis- charged the duty thus imposed upon him, and the result of his efforts, are shown in his de- spatch in replj' to tlie above. LOKD BLOOMFIELD TO THE EAllL OF CL.IEENDON. (^Received March 7.) (Extract.) Berlin, March 4. Bauon Manteuffel has just informed me that ho had not failed to submit to the King the copies of your lordship's despatch of the 27th ult., and of the letter therein en- closed which you have addressed to Count Nesselrode, re- quiring the evacuation of the Danubian Principalities, and that His Majesty immediately ordered him to address an instruction to General llochow in the sense desired by Her Majesty's Government. This instruction, he said, was sent to St. Petersburg last night by the post, and was drawn up in very pressing language. It urged the Russian Government to consider the dangers to which the peace of the world would be ex- posed by a refusal, and declared that the responsibility of the war, which might be the consequence of that refusal, would rest with the Emperor. Baron Manteuffel added that the King, in approving the draft of the despatch which liad been laid before him, ob- served that he felt it to be his duty to give all the support in his power to any measure wfiich might still hold out a hope, ever so slight, of the maintenance of peace. The King of Prussia knew very well that there was but one way of securing peace, and that was the union of the German powers with the allies, in making the refusal of the auto- crat to withdraw his troops from the provinces a casus belli. The czar would have obeyed such a summons. But the King of Prussia held poli- tical, as well as personal, relations with his imperial brother-in-law too intimate not to be well aware that the latter would endeavour to hold his vantage-ground in the principalities; and trust to a rupture between France and England, their embroilment with the United States on some questions connected with block- ades, the sympathy of the German and Scandi- navian governments, the success of a Greek in- surrection, or such other unforeseen event as would paralyse the friends of Ottoman inde- pendence, and leave him free to act out the long-cherished dreams of his ambition. It would appear that privately the Prussian king was more candid than the despatch of the Bri- tish ambassador would lead us to believe, for Lord Bloomfield sent a telegraphic communica- tion previous to his despatcli, that he had had an interview with. Baron Manteuffel, who repre- sented to him the probability of his Prussian majesty using his influence with the Russian emperor to induce him to evacuate the pro- vinces, " but he did not think his majesty would take a part in active hostilities in the event of a refusal." At all events, if the king were not so candid the minister was, and the roundabout proceedings of the English foreign minister only conduced to loss of time, and aided the German governments to carry out their plans in assisting the czar by diplomatic intervention and delay. Still, when these papers were produced to the English House of Commons, they furnished proof to the most obstinately prejudiced of the Anglo-Russian party, that there remained nothing for the security of Turkey, or the honour of England, but war. The mode in which the czar re- ceived the ultimatum of the allies is detailed, with interesting and somewhat amusing mi- nuteness, in the last of those papers which it is necessary to lay before our readers, and strengthened the feeling of the House that war was wisdom, however reluctant the country might be to the adoption of its policy : — CONSUL MICHELE TO THE EARL OF CLARENDON. {Received March 25.) (Extract.) St. retcrshurg, March 19, 1854. I BEG to acknowledge the receipt of the despatch which your lordship did me the honour to address to me on the '27tli of February ult. This despatch, together with its enclosure from your lordship to Count Nesselrode, was de- livered to me by the Queen's messenger. Captain Black- wood, at a few minutes after eleven o'clock, on the morn- ing of the 13th inst. ; and I lost not a moment in endea- vouring to give effect to your lordship's instructions. Within an hour after the arrival of the messenger, the despatch forwarded to me by his Excellency, Lord Cowley (enclosing a communication from the French Government to their Consul here), was placed by me in the hands of M. de Castillon ; and, before the expiration of another hour, M. de Castillon and invself had presented ourselves T 188 HISTOEY OF TKE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [CllAP. XIII. at the Imperial Miiiistiy for Foreign Affairs, and solicited the honour of an interview with the Cliancellor of the Empire, for the purpose of simultaneously presenting the Notes of the English and French Cabinets. Count Nes- selrode, through the Director of his Chancellerie, ex- pressed his inability to see us at that moment, but ap- pointed twelve o'clock on the following day to receive the communications of which we were respectively the bearers. "When I parted from M. de Castillon, about two o'clock, it ■was arranged that I was to call for him the following morning at half-past eleven, in order that we might pro- ceed together to the Chancellor. By two o'clock on the I3th, I had placed in the hands &f his E.\cellency Count Valentin Esterhazy, the Austrian Minister at this Court, the packet of Despatches brovight to me by Captain Blackwood, from his Excellency the Earl of Westmoreland, at Vienna ; and by a little after two, I had communicated to his E.xcellency General Ro- chow, the Prussian Minister here, the purport of Lord Bloouifield's despatch, dated Berlin, 2nd of March inst. : viz., " tliat no packet had been received by his lordship from the Ministry for Foreign Aft'airs for transmission to 8t. Petersburg, but that despatches from the Prussian Government would be forwarded to the Prussian represen- tative by their own separate courier." A few minutes before the appointed hour (twelve o'clock on Tuesday, the 14th March inst.) M. de Castillon and I an-ived at the Imperial Ministry for Foreign Aftairs, and, after waiting a few minutes, it was intimated to me by the Director of the Chancellerie, " that Count Ncsselrode would receive the English Consul alone," and I was ushered into his room. Count Ncsselrode received me with his usual courtesy. I handed to his Excellency your lordship's letter, and stated, from a memoi'andum which I had drawn up, the precise terms of your lordship's instructions with refer- ence to the return to England of the Queen's messenger. Count Nesselrode requested permission to peruse this memorandum, and I handed it to him. He then informed me that "the Emperor was not at that moment in St. Petersburg ; that on His Majesty's return (which would probably be on Friday, the 5th (17th) inst.), your lord- ship's communication should be laid before His Majesty, and His Majesty's commands taken thereon ; when a reply to your lordship's letter should be forwarded to me." The Chancellor then remarked upon the length of time that had elapsed since the date of your lordship's despatch to me, viz., February 27th, and asked me what had de- tained the messenger so long on the road .'' I e.xplained that the Queen's messenger had not come direct from London to St. Petersburg, but had been the bearer of despatches for the British Ministers at Paris, Berlin, and Vienna, which latter capital Captain Black- wood left only on the 7th inst., and had arrived at St. Petersburg on the morning of the 13th, thus making a rapid journey, considering the very bad state of the roads. On quitting Count Nesselrode, I was about to take with me the memorandum I had, at his desire, handed to his Excellency for his perusal, when he requested " that I would be kind enough to leave it with him." I said that I had merely transcribed your lordship's instructions for my own guidance, and to prevent any misapprehension of your lordship's intentions, with reference to the time fixed for the return of the Queen's messenger to England ; that I had no instructions to make any written communication in presenting your lordsiiip's note, but since his Excel- lency desired to retain this paper (which was only a trans- cript of your lordship's instructions to me relative to the precise moment for despatching the messenger to Eng- land), I felt that I should not be acting otherwise than in accordance with your lordship's wishes by rendering any misunderstanding on this head impossible ; and accord- ingly I allowed the Chancellor to retain this memoran- dum, a copy of which I have the honour to send herewith. The Emperor returned to St. Petersburg early on the morning of tlie 5th (17th) inst. from Finland, whither he had proceeded on Sunday evening, the 12th inst., in com- pany with three of his sons, the Grand Dukes Alexander, N leholas, and Michael, to inspect the fortifications at Wi- borg, Helsingfors, and Sweaborg ; the Grand Duke Con- stautine having gone to Finland some days previously. At ten o'clock last night, I received a note from the Chancellor of the Empiie inviting me to call upon him at one o'clock, p.m., this day. I was punctual in my at- tendance ; and on sending up my name to the Chancellor, I was informed that the French Consul was with his Ex- cellenc)'. After waiting a short time, I was told Count Nesselrode would receive me. On entering the room, his E.xcel- lency's greeting was of the most friendly description. He said, "I have taken His Majesty's commands with reference to Lord Clarendon's note, and the Emperor does not think it becoming to make any reply to it." I re- plied, " il. le Comte, in a matter of so much importance, I am sure I shall be excused for desiring to convey to my Government the exact words employed by your Excel- lency." The Count at first used the words, " His Ma- jesty does not think it becoming in him to give any reply to Lord Clarendon's letter (ne le croit pas convenable de donner aucune reponse a la lettre de Lord Clarendon)." Upon my repeating this phrase after Count Nesselrode, his Excellency said, "L'Empcreur ne juge pas convena- ble." &c. ; and I again repeated after him the entire sen- tence. After I had done so, the Count said, " Yes, that is the answer I wish yiu to convey to your Government: — " L'Empereur ne juge pas convenable de donner aucune reponse a la lettre de Lord Clarendon." Having delivered to me this official message. Count Nesselrode begged me to be seated, and explained to me that he had only waited the return of the Emperor to submit your lordship's letter to His Majesty. His Excel- lency then asked me, " When I proposed to despatch the Queen's messenger?" I told him, " This afternoon, pro- vided his passport, &c., could be got read}' in time." Count Nesselrode informed me he had already sent a cou- rier's pass for Captain Blackwood to the Baron de Plesson, and then asked me, " AVhether to-day was not the sixth day .'' " I said, " From Ids arrival at St. Petersburg it is ; but had I been left without an) reply, or without such an intimation as I have to-day received from your Excel- lency, I should not have despatched the messenger until to-morrow, the 20th inst., at twelve o'clock, when six entire days would have elapsed since I placed Lord Cla- rendon's despatch in your Excellency's hands." In the course of our subsequent conversation I asked Count Nesselrode what the intentions of his Government were with reference to the consular arrangements between the two countries, in the event of a declaration of war } His Excellency replied, "That will entirely depend upon the course Her Britannic Jilajesty's Government may adopt ; we shall not declare war." In-closuke 1 IX No. 137. MEMOKANDUM GIVEN BY CONSUL MICHELE TO COUNT NESSELRODE. In pursuance of the instructions conveyed to me by my Government, dated the 27th of February ult., I have the honour of placi.ng in your Excellency's hands, a letter from the Right Hon. the Earl of Clarendon, Her Bri- tannic Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Afiairs. In doing so, I am further instructed to acquaint your Ex- cellency, that the Queen's messenger, who was the bearer of this communication, and who reached St. Petersburg only yesterday morning, will be ready to return to Eng- land, with your Excellency's reply, as soon as it shall be sent to me ; but if, on the expiration of six days from to- day, your Excellency should not have sent me any letter to the Earl of Clarendon's address, or if, previously to the expiration of that period, your Excellency should inform me that the messenger need not remain at St. Petersburg, in either of these cases I am to direct the Queen's mes- senger to return to England with the utmost speed. These scenes at St. Petersburg were soon brought to an end ; the haughty Czar returned no answer. He treated with contempt menaces and friendly overtures. He desired to realize the representation which the professor of his- tory at St. Petersburg gave of him — no doubt with the imperial sanction — that he needed not Chap. XIII.] HISTOllY OF THE WAR AGAIXST IIUSSIA. 139 to draw the sword to quell the disquieted ia Europe, but, as all the world knew, he alv>-ajs chose the right juncture for interference — he had only to speak, and the nations submitted to his sublime will. He was now about to prove the truth of the oft-quoted aphorism of the great Xapoleon, " There is only a step between the sublime and the ridiculous." From the haughty prince, who would not condescend to notice the just demands of the mightiest states, he was about speedily to descend to the condi- tion of the baffled and beaten tyrant ; whose armies were chased from the field by undis- ciplined levies — whose fleets were obliged to cling for shelter to the moorage and anchorage of fortified harbours — whose most grateful allies feared to acknowledge him openly — whose sub- jects looked for the appi'oach of his conquerors as their deliverers — and who, at last, was to sink in despair before the strength of the storm his own rage invoked. The czar gave no an- swer to the requisition of the imited powers, and they, at last, goaded by the insult to a promptitude which his injustice ought sooner to have provoked, pronounced the fearful word which involved vast empires in a whirlwind of destruction. On the 27th of March her majesty sent a message to the Commons House of Parliament. It was known to the public that such would be the case, and the house was crowded with mem- bers; the Speaker's, reporters', and strangers' galleries were filled; the lobbies were nearly as much crowded as the galleries, and all around the queen's palace, at Westminster, a vast concourse were assembled, some watching the approach of members to the House, and others collected in groups, discussing the event to which the expectation of the nation, the em- pire, the world.^was directed. On great occa- sions, the English House of Commons presents an aspect of moral sublimity. The plain, un- pretending air of the members, and of the house, as compared with the House of Lords, and as associated with the relative power of the Commons, — holding the supplies, and directly representing the richest, freest, and most intel- ligent community in Europe, — always impresses foreigners with an idea of British power, be- yond what they acquire in our arsenals, or be- hold even in our fleets. The free-and-easy air which the House ordinarily maintains, alwa}s gives way on great occasions to one of deep " earnestness and steady purpose. They are, and they appear to be, the representatives of a bold, rough, and manly people, stern in work or war, tenacious of purpose, fearless of dangers, and of a practical genius unequalled in tlie history of nations. After the usual buzz and bustle pre- liminary to an event in the Commons, the atten- tion of the members was fixed, and every sound was hushed, when, at five o'clock, Lord John Eussell left the ministerial benches, and walked down to the bar of the House. The Speaker having requested him, in the usual form, to bring up the queen's message, he placed the document in the Speaker's hands, who pro- ceeded at once to read it to the House. It is siu'prising (if we may be allowed this brief digression) how frequently fortune lays upon Lord John the conduct of great aftairs. Of what memorable scenes in that house he has been the most prominent object — of what start- ling acts he has been the author or mover — of what important national or party conflicts he has been the hero ! Lord John never, or at all events seldom, has appeared equal to the great occasions in which he has borne the chief part. His person, although pleasing, is not dignified ; his bearing and manner cannot fail to leave an impression of cunning and ambition ; and his eloquence is seldom earnest, except with a mere rhetorical earnestness, unless when a party cause is to be debated. The occasion of deliver- ing her majesty's message made no exception to these general characteristics of the great commoner's appearance. He did not seem to transact his part in the great drama heartily. The message read by the Speaker was as follows : — YiCTOKiA Eegina. — Her Majesty tliiuks it proper to acquaint the House of Commons, that the negotiations ia which Her Majesty, in concert with her Allies, has for sometime past been engaged with His Majesty the Em- peror of all the llussias, have terminated, and that Her Majesty feels bound to afl'ord active assistance to her ally the Sultan, against unprovoked aggression. Her Jlajesty has given directions for laying before the House of Commons copies of such papers, in addition to those already communicated to Parliament, as will afford the fullest information with regard to the subject of these negotiations. It is a consolation to Her Majesty to reflect that no endeavours have been wanting on her part, to pre- serve to her subjects the blessings of peace. Her Majesty's just expectations have been disappointed, and Her Majesty relics with confidence on the zeal and devotion of her faithful Commons, and on the exertions of her brave and loyal subjects, to support her in her deter- mination to employ the power and resources of the nation for protecting the dominions of the Sultan ugainst the encroachments of Eussia. The House deferred its consideration of her majesty's message, as is the custom, but the next day the declaration of war, by her ma- jesty, appeared in the Gazette : — DECLARATION. Ir is with deep regret that her Majesty announces the failuie of her anxious and protracted endeavours to pre- serve for her people and for Europe the blessings of peace. The unprovoked aggression of the Emperor of Russia against the Sublime Porte has been persisted in with such disregard of consequences, that after the rejection by the Emperor of Russia of terms which the Emjieror of Austria, the Emperor of the l-'rench, and the King of Prussia, as well as her Majesty, considered just and equitable, her Majesty is compelled by a sense of what is due to the honour of her Crown, to the interests of her people, and to the independence of the States of Europe, to come forward in defence of an ally whose territory is invaded, n-ul whose dignity and independence are assailod. 140 HISTORY OF THE WAK AGALXST KUJSSIA. [Chap. Xlll. Her Majesty, in justification of the course she is about to pursue, refers to tlie transaction in which her Majesty has been engaged. The Emperor of Russia had some cause of complaint against the Sultan with reference to the settlement, wliioh his Highness had sanctioned, of the contlicting claims of the Greek and Latin Churches to a portion of the Holy Places of Jerusalem and its neighbourhood. To the com- plaint of the Emperor of llussia on this head justice was done ; aud her JNIajesty's Ambassador at Constantinople had the satisfaction of promoting an arrangement to which no exception was taken by the Russian Government. But while the Russian Government repeatedly assured the Government of her Majesty that the mission of Prince Jlenschikofl" to Constantinople was exclusively directed to the settlement of the question of the Holy Places at Jeru- salem, Prince Menschikofl' himself pressed upon the Porte other demands of a far more serious aud important character, the natui'e of which he in the first instance endeavoured, as far as possible, to conceal from her Majesty's Ambassador. And these demands, thus studi- ously concealed, attected not only the privileges of the Greek Church at Jerusalem, but the position of many millions of Turkish subjects in their relations to their Sovereign the Sultan. These demands were rejected by the spontaneous deci- sion of the Sublime Porte. Two assurances had been given to her Majesty ; one, that the mission of Prince Menschikoflf only regarded the Holy Places ; the other, that his mission would be of a conciliatory character. In both respects her Majesty's just expectations were disappointed. Demands were made which, in the opinion of the SuKan, extended to the substitution of the Emperor of Russia's authority for his own, over a large portion of his subjects ; and those demands were enforced by a threat; and when her Majesty learnt that, on announcing the termination of his mission. Prince Menschikotf declared that the refusal of his demands would impose upon the Imperial Government the necessity of seeking a guarantee by its own power, her ilajesty thought proper that her fieet should leave Malt.i, and, in co-operation with that of his Majesty the Emperor of the French, take up its station in the neighbourhood of the Dardanelles. So long as the negotiations bore an amicable character her Majesty refrained from any demonstration of force. But when, in addition to the assemblage of large mili- tary forces on the frontier of Turkey, the Ambassador of Russia intimated that seriovis consequences would ensue from the refusal of the Sultan to comply with unwarrant- able demands, her Majesty deemed it right, in conjunction with the Emperor of the French, to give an unquestion- able proof of her determination to support the sovereign rights of the Sultan. The Russian Government has maintained that the de- termination of the Emperor to occupy the Principalities was taken in consequence of the advance of the fleets of England and France. But the menace of invasion of the Turkish territory was conveyed in Count Nesselrode's note to Redschid Pasha of the 19th (31st) of May, and re-stated in his despatch to Baron Brunow, of the 20th May (1st June), which announced the determination of the Emperor of Russia to order his troops to occupy the Principalities, if the Porte did not within a week comply with the demands of Russia. The despatch to her Majesty's Ambassador at Constan- tinople, authorising him in certain specified contingencies to send for the British fleet, was dated the 31st May, and the order sent direct from England to her Majesty's Ad- miral to proceed to the neighbourhood of the Dardanelles, was dated the 2nd of June. The determination to occupy the Principalities was therefore taken before the orders for the advance of the combined squadrons were given. The Sultan's Minister was informed that unless he signed within a week, and without the change of a word, the note proposed to the Porte by Prince Menschikofl', on the eve of his departure from Constantinople, the Prin- cipalities of Moldavia and Wallachia would be occupied by Russian troops. The Sultan could not accede to so insulting a demand ; but when the actual occupation of Che Principalities took place, the Sultan did not, as he might have done, in the exercise of his undoubted right, declare war, but addressed a protest to his allies. Her Majesty, in conjunction with the Sovereigns of Austria, France, and Prussia, has made various attempts to meet any just demands of the Emperor of Russia with- out affecting the dignity and independence of the Sultan ; and had it been the sole object of Russia to obtain secu- rity for the enjoyment by the Christian subjects of the Porte of their privileges and immunities, she would have found it in the ofl"ers that have been made by the Sultan. But as the security was not offered in the shape of a spe- cial and separate stipulation with Russia, it was rejected. Twice has this offer been made by the Sultan, and recom- mended by tlie four Powers, once by a note originally pre- pared at Vienna, and subsequently modified by the Porte, once by the proposal of bases of negotiation agreed upon at Constantinople, on the 31st of December, and approved at Vienna on the 13th of January, as offering to the two parties the means of arriving at au understanding in a becoming and honourable manner. It is thus manifest, that a right fur Russia to interfere in the ordinary relations of Turkish subjects to their sovereign, and not the happiness of Christian communities in Turkey, was the object sought for by the Russian Go- vernment ; to such a demand the Sultan would not sub- mit, and his Highness, in self-defence, declared war upon Russia; but her Majesty, nevertheless, in conjunction with her allies, has not ceased her endeavours to restore peace between the contending parties. The time has, however, now arrived, when the advice and remonstrances of the Four Powers, having proved wholly ineffectual, and the military preparations of Russia becoming daily more extended, it is but too obvious that the Emperor of Russia has entered upon a course of po- licy which, if unchecked, must lead to the destruction of the Ottoman empire. In this conjuncture, her Majesty feels called upon by regard for an ally the integrity and independence of whose empire have been recognised as essential to the peace of Europe, by the sympathies of her people with right against wrong, b)" a desire to avert from her dominions most inju- rious consequences, and to save Europe from the prepon- derance of a Power which has violated the faith of trea- ties, and defies the opinion of the civilized world, to take up arms, in conjunction with the Emperor of the French, for the defence of the Sultan. Her Majesty is persuaded that in so acting she will have the cordial support of her people, and that the pretext of zeal for the Christian religion will be used in vain to cover an aggression undertaken in disregard of its holy precepts and of its pure and beneficent spirit. Her Majesty humbly trusts that her efforts maybe suc- cessful, and that, by the blessing of Providence, peace may be re-established on safe and solid foundations. JFestminster, March 28, 1854. DECLARATION. Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, having been compelled to take up arms in support of an ally, is desirous of rendering the war as little onerous as possible to the Powers with whom she remains at peace. To preserve the commerce of neutrals from all unne- cessary obstruction, her Majesty is willing, for the pre- sent, to waive a part of the belligerent rights appertain- ing to her by the law of nations. It is impossible for her Majesty to forego the exercise of her right of seizing articles contraband of war, and of preventing neutrals from bearing the enemy's despatches, and she must maintain the rights of a belligerent to pre- vent neutrals from breaking any effective blockade which may be established with an adequate force against the enemy's forts, harbours, or coasts. But her Majesty will waive the right of seizing enemy's property on board a neutral vessel, unless it be contra- band of war. It is not her Majesty's intention to claim the confisca- tion of neutral property, not being contraband of war, found on board enemy's ships, and her Majesty further declares that, being anxious to lessen as much as possible the evila Chap. XIII.] HISTOET OF THE WAR AGAI:N"ST ErSSIA. HI of war, and to restrict its operations to the regular!}' organised forces of tlie country, it is not her present in- tention to issue letters of marque for the commissioning of privateers. Westminster, March 28, 1854. la accordance with the last part of the de- claration, the Russian merchants resident in England were informed that, so long as they obeyed the laws of the country, and abstained from giving any information to the enemy, they should remain unmolested. A similar conces- sion to modern notions of humanity in war was made by the French emperor. How far the Russian and Greek merchants in England and France entered into the spirit of these conces- sions it is not easy to determine; but the public impression has been certainly unfavourable to them in this respect. Russia has been well informed of everything which transpired in England, in which she has had any interest. On the 30th of March, Lord John Russell gave notice of motion for an address to her majesty, in reply to the royal message, and in support of her majesty's declaration of war. This announcement was followed by cheers, such as might be expected from a public meet- ing of citizens, but which, in the Commons of England, on an occasion of such gravity, proved the strength of feeling by which the country and its representatives were animated. On the 31st, Lord John Russell prefaced his motion by a long speech, in which he replied to the ai'ticle published in the government journals of St. Petersburg, animadverting upon his warlike speech at the beginning of the session, and which was the occasion of bringing out from its privacy " the secret correspondence." The address, moved by Lord John, was adopted by the House, after a debate into which some warmth was thrown by a very eloquent piece of invective from Mr. Bright, one of the members for Manchester, to which Lord Palmerston de- livered a reply, which, for calm dignity, lucid exposition, self-possessed authority, and cutting satire, has seldom been equalled in the Com- mons of England. The efiect of this speech upon the House and the country was decisive, and conduced much to that increased confidence in his lordship's statesmanship, rectitude, and manly British feeling, which has since charac- terised the feelings of the country towards him. The address adopted by the House was the following : Most Gracioi-s Sovf.reigx,— "We, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parlia- ment assembled, beg leave to return to your Majesty our humble thanks for your Majesty's most gracious message, and for the communication of" the several papers which have been laid before us, in obedience to your Ma- jesty's command. "NVe assure your Majesty of the just sense we entertain of your Majesty's au.xious and uiiifovni endeavours to preserve to your people the blessings o£ peace, and of our perfect confidence in your Majesty's disposition to terminate the calamities of war, whenever that object can be accomplished, consistently with the honour of your Majesty's crown and the interests of your people. We have observed, with deep concern, that yom' Majesty's endeavours have been frustrated by the spirit of aggression displayed by the Emperor of Russia, in his invasion, and continued occupation, of the provinces of "Wallachia and Moldavia; in the rejectioji of equitable terms of peace, proposed under the sanction of four of the principal Powers of Europe ; and in the preparation of immense forces to support his unjust pretensions. These pretensions appear to us, your faithful Commons, subversive of the independence of the Turkish Empire ; and we feel that the trust reposed in us demands, on our part, a firm determination to co-operate with your Majesty in a vigorous resistance to the projects of a sovereign whose further aggrandisement would be dangerous to the independence of Europe. The same evening that this address was voted in the Commons, it was also moved in the Lords, by the Earl of Clarendon, after a speech which very much surpassed that of Lord John Russell in the Commons; justif3-ing, in forcible and indignant terms, the course pursued by the queen and her government, in at last answer- ing by war the duplicity, injustice, and in- sults of Russia. Lords Derby and Malmcsbury expressed their strong discontent with the management of the Turkish question by the government, and Earl Grey peevishly refused his concurrence with the address. In the speech of the Earl of Derby reference was made to the memorandum of 1844, which was ad- dressed bj- Count Nesselrode to the British go- vernment; and reminded Lord Aberdeen that as he was then foreign minister, and allowed this memorandum to pass without any expres- sion of disapprobation of the designs upon Tur- key, which it shadowed forth, it was not un- natural that, upon the noble earl (Aberdeen) assuming ofiice, the czar would expect a con- formity of the policy of the British govern- ment with his own. To this just critique Lord Aberdeen had the extraordinary temerity to reply, that he regarded the memorandum of 1844 with satisfaction, because it pledged the Russian government to do nothing without the concurrence of Great Britain ! Having already placed this memorandum before our readers, in connection with the secret correspondence, they can judge liow little chance there was of the vigorous prose- cution of a war against Russia, for its designs upon Turkey, by a minister who could express himself satisfied with a document so transparent in its spirit and intention. Its aim was to en- gage England, in connivance with Russia — if not participation — in her designs upon the Turkish Empire ; and the whole secret corre- spondence was no more than an effort to bring out more fully the views of a minister, whoso approbation of sttch a document inspired the czar with hope that, so far as the Englisli go- vernment was Ovmcerned, there was leason to 142 HISTOliY or THE WAE AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. XIII. believe that, for his interests and objects, " the right man was in the right place." Notwithstanding the murmurs of the oppo- sition against the cabinet, the vote was car- ried nem. con., and the House of Lords was thus pledged to the war policy of the govern- ment. On the 3rd of April, the House met soon after two o'clock, and a deputation of peers, in full dress, went in procession to the palace, and presented their address to her majesty. The queen returned the following reply : — " Mr Lords, — I thank you for your loyal and dutiful address. It is highly gratifying to me to receive the assurances of your co-opera- tion, in giving effect to the measures which I consider necessary for the honour of my crown and the welfare of my people." Her majesty having intimated that she would receive the address of the House of Commons at three o'clock, the members waited upon her witl. it at that hour. She returned a similar answer to the one she had sent to the Lords. The procession of the Commons excited more public attention. The way from the palace at Westminster to Buckingham Palace, Avas thronged with a multitude whose loyalty and enthusiasm were stimulated to the highest de- gree. The members were cheered as their car- riages passed thi'ough the crowds, especially those most noted as approving of the war. The leader of the opposition was the object of much notice, the people paid discriminating compli- ments to his abilities, creditable to men many of whom apparently moved in the humblest walks of life. Colonel Sibthorp was the only exception to the popularity of the members ; his carriage was followed by a low and boister- ous mob, whose language was not calculated to add anything to the vanity of the gallant mem- ber. When the Speaker's carriage passed the entrance to St. James's Palace, the well-known countenance of Mr. Brotherton, the member for Salford, reminded the crowd of Cobden and Bright, and they inquired for those peace- loving representatives of the great industrial sections of the country, in terms the politeness of which might have been easily exceeded. As several of the members went in military or naval uniforms, they were objects of vigorous applause, whatever their political reputation. These indications of feeling and opinion on the part of the masses can never be overlooked with safety; had the members of her ma- jesty's government been more attentive to these symptoms of the popular convictions and sym- pathies, they might have been spared a dis- honourable retreat from office, their country been spared much suffering, and the loss of some renown. It is not from the highest circles, in a free state, that opinion finds its way throughout the community; it rather as- cends to those circles, supporting their influence, pervading their councils, or sweeping away their ascendancy. When we kindle a lire, we do not place the light at the top of the pile, but beneath it, and it will ascend by every crevice through which air can find an access, and finally envelop the whole. The working intellects of a nation are always nearer the masses than they are to the exclusive circles of high birth and courtly associations; and hence, generally, the popular crowd is afi'ected with progressive opinions and great national sympathies, before the privileged classes are aware that the mind of any considerable section of the community is in motion, or that a public opinion is forming, which has the heart of the nation within it, and will assert itself, although governments and dynasties pass away before its power. The present generation of Englishmen has wit- nessed some scenes of vast and universal interest in this great metropolis, but never, hitherto, one so replete with momentous meaning, as the procession of their representatives from the queen's palace at Westminster to her pa- lace at Pimlico. We shall never forget the scene, still less our emotions on beholding it, as the corfec/e passed us, when about to enter the palace gates. Metaphysicians tell us that it is a proof of the freshness and genuineness of feeling, when the impression is remembered more strongly than the incidents which occa- sioned it ; and now, as we look back upon that brave pageant, its lines of carriages, its guards, its men of historic note, its popular leaders and men of action, all seem to vanish away from the retrospect into a dim and shadowy outline, while the emotions it awakened are as vivid as when they were formed. We felt that — how- ever the men into whose hands the destinies and honour of the nation were committed, might trifle with the sacred trust — there were tokens in the utterances of that multitude, that they would watch their rulers with a constitu- tional jealousy, which would be satisfied by no pretences, and quieted with no excuses. The heart of the people was set upon the liberation of Europe from the apprehensions with which it was haunted concerning the gigantic force of an unscrupulous empire, ever prompt to wield that force to break down every safeguard of liberty with which the wisdom and valour of past ages had surrounded nationalities. On the 29th of March, orders in council were promulgated, and published in the Loudon Gazette, concerning reprisals, embargoes, and prizes. Amongst these one is worthy of being singled out, as it showed the desire of the go- vernment — a desire which was thoroughly approved of by the people — to make war bear a more humane aspect than it had hitherto borne in past struggles. Chap. XIII.] HISTOUY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 143 At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 29th day of March, 1854. Trcsent — The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Her Majesty being compelled to declare war against his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, and being desirous to lessen as much as possible the evils thereof, is pleased, by and with the advice of her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, that Eussian merchant vessels, in any ports or places within her Ma- jesty's dominions, shall be allowed until the 10th day of May next, six weeks froni the date hereof, for loading their cargoes and departing from such ports or places ; and tliat such Russian merchant vessels, if met at sea by any of her Majesty's ships, shall be permitted to continue their voyage, if, on examination of their papers, it shall appear that their cargoes were taken on board before the expiration of the above term. Provided that nothing herein contained shall extend, or be taken to extend, to Russian vessels having on board any officer in the military or naval service of the eneni}', or any article prohibited, or contraband of war, or any despatch of or to the Rus- sian Government. And it is hereby further ordered by her Majesty, by and with the advice of her Privy Council as aforesaid, that any Russian merchant vessel which, prior to the date of this order, shall have sailed from any foreign port bound for any port or place in her Majesty's dominions, shall be permitted to enter such port or place and to discharge her cargo, and afterwards forthwith to depart without moles- tation ; and that any such vessel, if met at sea by any of her Majesty's ships, shall be permitted to continue her voyage to any port not blockaded. And the Right Hon. the Lords Commissioners of her ilajesty's Treasury, the Lords Commissioners of the Ad- miralty, and the Lord "Warden of the Cinque Ports, are to give the necessary directions herein as to them may respectively appertain. C. C. Greville. On the 31st of March, the ceremony of pro- claiming war at the Roj-al Exchange Avas gone through, \\-ithout any of the pomp which cha- racterised that proceeding in former times. The proper officers, unattended, ascended the steps of the Exchange, and read the declaration. There was of course a crowd — for when is there not a crowd upon that great highway of Europe ? The assemblage listened with respect- ful silence, gave three hearty cheers, and melted away into the common current of the great throng ever flowing by those old haunts of commerce which surround that world-noted spot. • The House of Lords, at the suggestion of the Earl of Roden, voted an address to her Majesty that she would be pleased to set apart some day for national humiliation and prayer. This mo- tion naturally "called up" the Archbishop of Canterbury, who gave the sanction of his great name to the war as a just one, and one upon which the nation might, with clear conscience, invoke the blessing of God. Perhaps there is not an ecclesiastic in anj- Church, or in any nation, whose high character entitles him more to veneration and esteem than Archbishop Sumner : a man of the meekest and gentlest spirit, a lover and promoter of peace in the Church and in the world, whose liberal and unsectarian spirit has won for liim the love of Christians of all sects, as his extensive learning, sound judgment, and elegant tastes, have woa for him universal respect. Nothing could in- duce such a man to pronounce a war just wliich he believed to be otherwise; and no language could be more clear, explicit, and solemn, than that which he adopted when committing his judgment to its defence. It is a vile slander upon such men, when the advocates of "peace at any price" represent the present contest as supported by those who delight in blood. War is terrible ; but, as Lord Palmcrston told the House of Commons, in answer to Mr. Bright, " there are calamities which nations may endure still worse than war, and there are things for which peace may be advantageously sacrificed." It was not until the 26th of April that a day of fasting and humiliation was observed. In the meantime, the country was filled with warlike bustle, and troops were hurrying on by rail and ship to their destination in the land which their valour was expected to save. On the fast-day solemnity characterised tlie bearing of the population. Prayer ascended from thousands of sanctuaries and millions of worshippers, and their prayers were heard. Chastisements, not unmerited, fell upon the country ere such triumphs were granted as have since moved the old church bells of England to merry music, when the exulta- tions of the people ascended with their peal ; but the prayers of that solemn day were not offered to the Lord of Hosts in vain. This was a second proclamation of the war — a procla- mation made by the whole people, and made from the thresholds of their temples. It was an occasion to awaken conscience, if the nation had any misgiving as to the justice of its cause; and it was one to revive the deep heart of a thoughtful and church-going people, that the enemy against whom their hosts went forth to battle, sought a universal and ruthless domi- nation, before which, if not checked in his career, their " Happy homes and altars free" would be desecrated together. This day of solemnity was a call to the whole people from the churches where they worshipped, and the grave-yards where the dust of their fathers slept, to arm for the preservation of the great principle of national independence ; for if this principle be violated with impunity upon the weaker by the more powerful states of Europe, England might herself be assailed by the ag- gressor in the pride and presumption of his strength. Collections were made in all the churches on the fast-day, on behalf of the wives and children of those who had gone out for their country in the defence of her ally: these col- lections showed, by the universal libei-ality with which they were made, that a humane as well as resolute spirit animated the nation's heart. Throughout the months of April and May 144 KTSTORY 01^ THE AVAll AGAINST IIUSSIA. [CflAr. XIII. troops proceeded to the East, and reinforcements to the Baltic fleet were from time to time dispatched, as circumstances seemed to require. It would border on prolixity, after the details given of the embarkation of troops before the declaration of war was made, to recount the regiments afterwards selected for service, or the alacrity of the troops to depart for the field of duty. Our army was literally an army of volunteers. No conscription brought to its depots the unwilling and weeping rustic, torn from his obscure home and the circle of his family, unable to comprehend the causes or objects of such disaster. Nor were there parades of silent and depressed men, whose reluctant battalions went sorrowfully forward to encounter dangers which to them offered no glory. A sense of duty, animated by a gallant nature, made the whole army ready to offer themselves for foreign service. The memory of their great chief, so lately removed by death, and the assurance of victory Avhich liis command inspired, filled the imagination of the soldiery, and made them aspire to pre- serve the great renown his genius and their own valour had shed upon their arms : — " That star of the field, which so often had poured Its r.ij's on the battle, was set ; But enough of its glory remained on tlieir swords To light them to victory yet." On the same day upon which the announce- ment was made by the Queen of England to the representatives of her people that peace was no longer possible, the Emperor of the French made a similar announcement to the corps Ugislatif, to which body the minister of state read the message of the Emperor. A similar communication was made to the senate, which body rose, and with repeated cheers and cries of Vive VEmpereur, attested their zeal for the honour of Erance and the dignity of their chief. Thus the two nations buried together the rivalry of the past, and commenced a new rivalry, where success should consist in ren- dering the greater aid to the arms, and bearing the more generous testimony to the military virtue of each other. AYaterloo was avenged, and avenged by the heir of his house whose power, but not greatness, perished on that field ; and avenged, not by the vulgar violence of ignoble hatred, but by a competition of magnanimity and justice, subserving the welfare of mankind. Thus perish for ever the feuds of France and England ! May they live only in the stories of their fatuity and misfortunes — of the individual and national greatness they called forth — and of the principles and aims which rent the fair bosom of Western Europe, scattered the resources of the most fertile lands, and engaged in mutual warfare two nations destined by Providence to grow great side by side, until the hour for mutual support should come, and display their greatness together. A new convention between the two govern- ments was signed in London on the 18th of April; the object of the two courts being the re-establishment of peace between the sultan and the czar, so as to guarantee the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. They disclaimed all exclusive advantages^ and professed to desire only to protect the public interests of Europe. To these proceedings the czar could not affect indifference. Every means that his pei'sonal cunning and the state-craft of his counsellors could adopt, was resorted to, for the purpose of inflating the pride of race, and intensifying the religious bigotry of the Ptussian population. The popes, as the Greek priests are called, were, however, his most effectual instruments. Whe- ther the story was originated by the czar him- self is uncertain, but there is no doubt that, with his connivance, a strange tale was cir culated throughout all Eussia by the popes. It was said that the emperor had a vision of St. Nicholas, his patron saint — the patron saint of Eussia, and, very odd coincidence, the patron saint of thieves ! For three successive nights the apparition of the saint was vouch- safed. He, upon the first appearance, ques- tioned the czar as to his motives in undertaking a religious war against the Turks. The czar replied that he had only one motive — the desire to plant the Cross upon St. Sophia. The saint disappeared with a doubtful expression of countenance, as well he might, but seemed more disposed to push an investigation of the matter on his second apparition. Tlie czar, after many pious asseverations, such as might satisfy any saint dead or living, disclaimed all motives of personal ambition, and professed the war to be a crusade for the orthodox Church. It was not, however, the Earl of Aberdeen, or the Duke of Wellington with whom his impe- rial majesty had to do this time : the saint was as inquisitive a visitor as Sir George Hamil- ton Seymour, and would not be put off with mere declarations, even on " the word of a gentleman." StiU, with an expression of du- bious reflection upon his countenance, Saint Nicholas vanished, like other ghosts, on the last shadow of the retiring night. The third visit of the saint was marked by great solemnity: in tones of" imperious but sacred authority, such as none other could think of using to a czar, he demanded whethei*, possibly, the gran- deur of the enterprise, the richness of the pos- session, and an impatience of any independence in surrounding nations, had not influenced his imperial protegi. Nicholas, the czar, once again assured Nicholas, the saint, — with all that cunning persuasiveness which is said to belong to the family of Eomanoff", and which De Cus- tine attributes to the whole Sclave race, — that he was entirely free from cupidity or aggran- Chap. XIIL] HISTOllY OF THE AVAll AGAIXST EUSSIA. 145 disemcnt, or any other fL'c4ing not approved of -where St. Nicholas came from ; but that he meditated -what all saints, whether living in heaven or in holy llussia, must desire to see accomplished— the glory of the only true and oi'thodox Church. Wreathed with smiles brighter than the glory which surrounded him, the saintly patron of saintly E-ussia ad- dressed its chief: "Go, my son! God will prosper you ; your arms will be crowned with success ; your name shall be associated with the triumph of the orthodox faith; God, who sent me to you, will give you the victory ! " He then disappeared, leaving the devout czar still more devout, and resolved, under such a sanction, and with such prognostics of success, to defy the Moslems, the schismatic French, and the infidel English. This story prepared the minds of the devotees, and of the multi- tude, for the canting and hypocritical manifesto which followed fast upon its circulation. MA2;iFEST0. By tlie grace of God, we, Nicholas the First, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, King of Poland, &c., &c., to all our subjects make known : — Since the commencement of our difference with the Turkish Government, we have solemnl)' announced to our faithful subjects that a sentiment of justice had alone induced us to re-establish the violated rights of the orthodox Christians, subjects of the Ottoman Porto. "We have not sought, we do not seek, to make conquests, nor to exercise in Turkey an)' supremacy whatever that might be likely to exceed that influence which belongs to Eussia by virtue of existing treaties. At that period we already encountered distrust; then Boon a covert hostility on the part of the Governments of France and England, who endeavoured to lead the Porte astray by misrepresenting our intentions. Lastly, at this moment, England and b'rance throw ofl' the mask, regard our difference with Turkey as a hiere secondary question, and no longer dissemble that their joint object is to weaken Russia, to tear from her a part of her possessions, and to bring down our country from the powerful position to which the hand of the Supreme Being has exalted it. Is it for orthodox llussia to fear such threats ? Heady to confound the audacity of the enemy, shall she swerve from the sacred purpose that has been assigned to her by Divine Providence } No ! Russia has not for- gotten God ! It is not for worldly interests that she has taken up arms. She combats for the Christian faith, for the defence of her co-religionists oppressed by implacable enemies. Let all Christendom know, then, that the thought of the sovereign of Russia is also the tliought that animates and inspires all the great family of the Russian peoj)le — this orthodox people, faitliful to God and to His only Son, Jesus Christ our Redeemer. It is for the faith and for Christendom that wo combat ! " God with us — who against us .' " Given at St. Petersburg, on the 11th day of the month of April, in the year of grace 1854, and tlte twenty-ninth of our reign. Nicholas. A much more important document than the above was also published under the alleged influence of the vision. The manifesto was for Russia ; but it was necessary to issue a declara- tion of war counter to the declaration of the allies. DECLARATION. FiiANCE and Great Britain have at lust openly left the system of disguised hostility which they had adopted towards Russia, especially by tlie entrance of their fleets into the Black Sea. The result of the explanations which they have given of that measure was of a nature io lead to a rupture of reciprocal relfitions between rhem and the Imperial Cabinet. This last fact was shortly folio >ved by a communication in which the two Cabinets, through their respective Consuls, invited the Imperial Government to evacuate the Danubian Principalities within a given term, which England fixed at the 30th .\pril, and France, still more peremptorily, at the loth of the same month. With what >ight did the two Powers thus pretend to exact everything from one of the two belligerent parties, witliout demanding anything from the other ? Tliis is what they have not thought fit to explain to the Imperial Cabinet. To evacuate the Principalities, without even the shadow of a fulfilment, by the Ottoman Government, of the conditions to which the Emperor made the cessation of that temporary occupation subordinate — to evacuate them in the brunt of a war which the latter was the first to declare, whilst it is activelv carrying on offensive operations, when its own troops occupy a fortified point of Russian territory — was already a condition inadmissible in substance. The two Powers wished that, in form, it should become still more unacceptable. They fixed a term of six days for the adhesion of the Imperial Cabinet, at the expiration of which a refusal, or the absence of any reply whatever, was to be bj- them regarded as equivalent to a declaration of war. To a summons so partial in its tenour, as practically inexcusable as it was insulting in its terms, silence was the only reply compatible with tlie dignity of the Emperor. Consequently, the two Governments have just publicly made known that Russia, by her refusal to accede to their demand, has constituted herself towards them in a state of war, the entire responsibility of which will rest upon her. In the presence of such declarations, it only remains for the Emperor to accept the situation which has been made him, reserving to himself to employ all the means which Providence has put into his hands to defend with energy and constancy the honour, independence, and safety of his empire. Independently of the message by which the Cabinet of London announces its resolution to the two Houses of Parliament, it has, in a supplementary declaration, explained the motives which induce it to take up arms, and has recapitulated the origin and the incidents of the question. The Imperial Government thinks it superfluous to return to a discussion on this subject. All its preceding documents seem to it to have exhausted the polemic. The recent memorandum of the ISth February, published on the occasion of the rupture of diplomatic relations, and which contains up to that point the whole liistorical exposition of the question, will have sufficed to demon- strate to whom, whether to Russia or the two maritime Powers, belongs the initiative of the provocations, and what disastrous ffutieslcj chain of circumstances the false position in which their first steps placed the two Cabinets, and led them on by degrees to take others still more provok- ing. Unprejudiced minds will liav«> been able to discover there all the successive concessions made by Russia for the maintenance of peace, before as well as after the Vienna note, whilst the increasing exactions of the two Courts engaged them daily more and more still further in the path of a war with us. The occupation of tlie Principalities, which is taken now, apris coup, as a pretext for this war, did not prevent the opening of negotiations. It would not have any more prevented tlicir continuation, or rather these negotiations would have led to something long since, if the Powers had not suddenly, without any good reason, completely changed the bases which they themselves had laid down in the first note concerted at Vienna. The objections made by the Porte to certain passages of that note were not sufficient eitlier to nullify the rest. The essential substance remained intact, and the Imperial Government had the right to rc-ard all the points which the Ottomau 146 HISTORY OF THE WAll AGAINST IIUSSIA. [Chap. XIII. Porte lud not contested as acquired for any ulterior proposition. Such was not done. An attempt was made to impose entirely new conditions upon us ; what liad liitlicrto been admitted was declared inadmissible ; tlie complaints of lUissia wore ignored, as also any claim on its part to an equJalile Reparation, and all its counter- propositions rejected without, discussion. At the same time, measures contrary to its rights as a belli. XIV. by the sultan upon the extent to which his people would endure innovation. The chief of the ulemahs, the Sheik-ul-Islam, is the most powerful person in the empire, scarcely except- ing the sultan. His veto decides all laws promul- gated. He is at once primate and lord chancellor, and a court of legislation in his own person ; in fact, one of "the estates" of the realm, or rather, he is the chief and representative of one of the estates of the realm — the ulemahs. The then presiding — we had almost written reigninrj — sheik, positively refused to carry out several of the sultan's deci'ees. He would never consent, he declared, to place the word of a true be- liever on a level with the testimony of a Giaour ; and if the sultan persisted in doing so, and in subverting the laws of the Koran, he was no longer their padishaw, and ought to be deposed. On the ground of treason he was himself de- posed, to the horror and terror of all the faithful. His chief abettor was llefaat Pasha, the presi- dent of the council, who was also dismissed, and Aarif Pasha appointed to that office; while the distinguished ulemah, Parik Effendi, was nomi- nated successor to the uncourtly sheik. The astounding intelligence of the resolve of the great Western nations to confront the giant power of the North, rendered it impossible for sheik or ulemah to raise an insurrection ; and even the popular ferment in their behalf seemed to find its vent in the national purpose and en- thusiasm which the decisive step of the mighty allies of Turkey excited. Another and scarcely inferior source of danger was the Greek insurrection, which at this junc- ture reached the acme of its fury. On page 71 of this History we suspended our narrative of that outbreak, in order to relate con- temporaneous events which transpired else- where ; this is the proper place to resume our story of that wild and wilful revolt. The Hussians were making as much progress by their propagandism among the Greeks, as i\\ey were by their feats of arms in the Dobrudscha. Indeed, it is scarcely credible that they would ever have tempted famine and failure there, if they did not hope by their onward movement, timed skilfully with their intrigues at Athens, to raise the Greeks throughout Bulgaria and Eoumelia. The flame of revolt spread every- where, but did not burn steadily; while raging fiercely in one direction, it flickered in another, and sank into a smothered and smouldering fire wherever the Turkish army was in force. "We shall not weary our readers with accounts of the desultory and vengeful encounters and treacherous assassinations by which this insur- rection was characterised. It was discovered that the government of Greece continued the complicity disclosed in an earlier portion of our History, and that a general massacre of Turks, in the districts where the Greeks greatly out- numbered them, formed part of the insurrec- tionary plan, of which the Greek and llussian governments were both cognisant. Prince Menschikofi', the llussian commissary, Paron Oelamer, a certain dragoman in Constantinople, and the llussian minister at Athens, were all proved to have coi'responded with the leading Greek ecclesiastics in Turkey and in Greece Proper, as well as with the government of Greece, in reference to the sudden rising of the Greek race, and the cowardly assassination of the Turkish population scattered among them. The Tarkish minister of foreign aff'airs had made urgent representations to the allied re- pi'csentatives that some decisive measures must be adopted towards King Otho and his govei'n- ment ; and it will scarcely be credited that the remonstrances and even menaces of the ministers of the allies were without efi"ect, until force was employed and Athens was occupied by their troops. And even after the ships of the allies appeared in Greek waters, as a demonstration in support of the sultan, the King of Greece and his abettors contemplated resistance. Au individual sent to the Greek government a plan for making fire-ships, for the purpose of setting fire to the squadron. The government took the proposition into serious consideration, and referred it to a committee of examination. The committee reported that the scheme was im- practicable, but that the projector was entitled to a reward for having propounded the idea ! While the Greek king, or rather the Bavarian king of the Greek kingdom, was alternately threatening to fight and to run away, — for he seemed to imagine that his dej)arture would be as grave an event to the allies as his resistance, — he had an army of precisely the following mag- nitude : 4013 infantry, 327 cavalry, 363 artil- lery, 200 engineers and mechanics ; 2412 irregular troops, composed of banditti and of men who only occasionally employed them- selves in that profession; and the gend^ armerie consisted of 1466 individuals — policemen, con- stables, and spies. "Well might an able con- temporary writer remark that, "next to Russia, the kingdom of Greece was the most remarkable national humbug in existence, or that ever existed; for nothing in that ill-fated realm ap- pears to be real or productive of result — not even her intrigue, which is as sterile as her pre- tensions of classic regeneration. The Greeks have been unable to keep their country from becoming a toy in the hands oi the cadet of a petty German court. Without a national go- vernment, Greece has shown no capacity for fulfilling or even comprehending national re- sponsibilities. Her loan is a gibe ; her patriotism is put down by the court, until the invasion of a neighbour reconciles that very court to in- surrection; and the fidelity of Greece to her very founders is exhibited towards that one Chap. XIV.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 151 alone Avhose piitronage had aa arriere fcmee of selfishness and malice. The Greeks are not insensible to internal improvements or foreign commerce, but they cannot keep order at home, or iaith abroad ; and the national flag of Greece covers the skirmishers and scouts of Russia. This has been long evident, but especially since the arrival of Admiral Kornileff at Athens, when Menschikoff arrived at Con- stantinople." In virtue of a protocol annexed to a treaty of alliance between England, France, and Tur- key, the three allied powers addressed to King Otho a collective note, demanding the suppres- sion of the outrages by Greek subjects upon the frontier provinces of Turkey ; the Greek minis- ter at Constantinople received his passports ; Ali Pasha was sent on a special mission to the court of Athens, "vvith a formal demand for re- dress. This not being given, Greek subjects were ordered to leave Turkey. As many of them were engaged in commerce within the Ottoman dominions great suffering was inflicted by this measure, for the proceeding was sudden and summary. The French ambassador interfered on behalf of Greek subjects of the Latin rite, and only succeeded in saving them from the opei-ation of the decree by a threat of leaving Constantinople. General Baraguay D'Hilliers is a good officer but a bad politician, and his conduct on this occasion was arrogant and un- just ; not vcrjr much less culpable than tliat of Prinoe Menschikoff, or of a former French envoj', M. Lavalette, by whose indiscretions Prince Menschikoff found a pretext. Still, there was ground for interfering on behalf of the Greeks of the Latin communion, for they had taken no part in the insurrection, and had given the sultan no cause of offence, but sym- pathised with him and his allies against the common aggressor. However severe the edict of the Porte against the Hellenists, it was pro- voked by the atrocity of the conspiracy, the whole plan of which had been disclosed. Baron Oelamer, the Russian spy, who for that disre- putable office was paid 1000 piasters a month, had the folly to make a confidant of a Greek physician, named Oska. Oska, whether from love of reward, or horror at the contemplated butcher}^ revealed the plot. The dexterity of the Queen of Greece extri- cated her husband from one complication after another, and enabled him to avert the impend- ing storm which was gathering around him, until the 22nd of May, when an answer to the demand of the allies must be given. We must, however, again leave the affairs of Greece, with this short notice, until we can return to them in their chronological sequence. The complicity of Russia in the insurrection of the Gi'eek subjects of the Porte, and in the incursions of King Otho's subjects upon the Turkish territory, was brought clearly to light by a circular of Count Nessekode's, signed March 2ud (old style). This document, directed to the foreign agents of the czar, was intended to appeal to the imagination of the Greeks, both of Greece and of the Turkish Empire, and to stimulate those agents to fresh exertions, wherever their influence might be brought to bear upon that revolt. It is as follows : — Sill, St. Fctersburg, March 2, 1854, The memorandum annexed to my despatch of the 18th of labt month has enabled you to communicate to the Go- vernment to which you are accredited a faithful and cir- cumstantial account of our difierence with Turkey, of thp negotiations by which we sought to bring the Porte to a more just appreciation of our demands, and of the compli- cations which arise therefrom, iu consequence of the pas- sionate intervention of the Cabinets of Paris and Loudon, and of the hostile altitude they assumed towards us at the very moment that they announced themselves as pacific mediators between us and the Ottoman Government. The events having acquired now the gravity which we feared for the tranquillity of Europe, we consider it a duty to- wards the Courts who have hitherto judged our acts with- out prejudice or partiality, to continue to provide ihem with data to enable them to judge with the same justice the situation in which some of the great Powers of Europe are desirous to place Russia in its future relations with Turkey, and the obligations thereby sought to be imposed upon the Emperor. There is one especially which touches the conscience of the whole of llussia and of its Sovereign, that which re- lates to the position of the Christian populations subjected to Turkey, and upon -whom the Mussulman Government and people, excited by fanaticism, and confiding in the sympathy and aid oflered to them with so unjustifiable an eagerness by the Christian Powers, think themselves au- thorised to exercise the most cruel vexations. Some of those populations, especially those wliich bor- der upon independent Greece, driven to extremes, and losing all hope of better fate, have taken up arms to throw olf a yoke which has become insupportable. This rising, already for a long time foreseen and even announced, occupies and moves at the present moment the minds and the press of Europe. By a contradiction, which those who pretend to protect against us the power of the Crescent and the rights of the Sultan can alone ex- plain, these same Powers, who declare war to us for the sole motive that we wished to maintain the religious im- munities of the Christians of Turkey, say that they are disposed to obtain in their favour tlie same civil and poli- tical rights as are enjo3'ed by the JMussulmen. We do not wish to draw sinister prognostics ; but these tardy promises, so little in accordance with the acta of those who proclaim them, will have, we fear, no other result than to exasperate stiU more the oppressors against the oppressed, to provoke snnguinary reprisals, and to render for the future impossible the submission of those populations to Turkish rule. For our own part, we never demanded from the Porte in favour of its Christian subjects but what was just, practicable, and confirmed by the acts of the Sultans themselves ; but when others than ourselves come and raise up complications and calamities which fall with all their weight on our co-religionists, and drive them to an unequal struggle, we caunot surely refuse them our interest and our assistance. If the rising we hear of should take greater extension— if it should become a war to the death, and of long duration, like that of the Greeks in 1821— we do not think that any Christian Power could assist in replacintr these populations under the Ottoman yoke without ofi'ending its conscience. The Emperor will in no ease lend his hand to it. During our war, as at the period when peace will be possible, their fate will be the object of the Em- peror's care. We also hope that God will not allow that, from an unjust animosity against llussia. Christian Sovereigns shall permit theii- armies to join in the work of extermination, which the renegades assembled iu the 152 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. XIV. camp of Omar Pasha meditate doubtless at this hour against those who liave taken up arms for tlio defence of their hearths and their Church. Such, Sir, is the point of view in which wo think it right to consider the rising in Hpirus, the possible conse- quences of which we regret, which we have the conscious- ness not onlj- not to have excited, but which we were unable to prevent, though we desii-eJ to do so. You will make use of the above indications to rectify the false rumours and malicious insinuations which will doubtless be circulated also ou this occasion against llussia and her intentions. (Signed) Nesseluode. In keeping with the above attempt to pre- serve the agitation in Greece, the czar's agents in Montenegro made vigorous efforts to disturb that countr)'. A prochxmation was read in all the viUages, appealing to tlie religious zeal of the people, and promising not to sign any treaty of peace until having obtained for them Herzegovina, the plains of Rosuia, and a part of those of Albania. Just at this juncture the czar was obliged to forego the services of one of his chosen bands. A body of Wallachian fanatics of the Greek Church had been eni'olled, under the designations of "the cross bearers" and "the champions of Christ;" but, in consequence of their uncon- querable propensity for stealing, in gratifj'ing Avhich they did not spare even Russian officers, their services were dispensed with. On the 12th of March a treaty of alliance was concluded by Turkey with France and England, by which the latter powers agreed to support the former by force of arms, until the conclusion of a peace which should secure the integrity of the sultan's rights and dominions. The Porte engaged not to conclude any separate peace with Russia, or any peace without the consent of the allies. The allied powers pro- mised to evacuate the territories of the sultan at his request, and at the conclusion of the war. This treaty was to remain open for the accept- ance of the other great powers of Europe ; and, lastly, it secured to aU the subjects of tlie Porte, without distinction of religion, a perfect legal equality. The last clause gave rise to furious discus- sions, and to official changes, such as we have already- described. The general exclamations of the old Turkish party were, "The Musco- vites ask us for a part, and we refuse, and go to war with them ; the Franks ask us for the whole, and we tamely acquiesce ! Better to die, sword in hand, in defence of the faith, or abandon Europe, which our fathers entered as conqun'ors, than submit to have the Giaours placed ou an equality with us." The liberal or modern Turkish party urged the sincerity of the allies, the requirements of the age, and the necessities of the occasion, and eventually triumphed. There were two separate conventions, one relating to a loan of twenty millions of francs by England and France to the Porte ; the allies undertaking to pay all the expenses of the sub- sistence of their troops while engaged in defence of Turkey, and all other expenses whatsoever incurred in her defence. The second related to the reforms in favour of the Christians. The old Turkish party had no objection to the allies paying or fighting for their countrj', but they would not concede the smallest privileges to those professing the religious faith of those allies — thus exhibiting all the selfishness of in- tolerance in the very hour when they received from Christian nations the most generous aid. "While affairs thus proceeded with the go- vernment of Turkey, her Asiatic frontier was the scene of continued interest to herself and to her allies. The conduct of the superior officers of her armies at Kars, Erzerum, and, indeed, everywhere along the line of military opera- tions, was utterly despicable. "\Ye can remem- ber no parallel in history, unless it be the con- duct of the superior Spanish officers during the struggle against France, when Wellington sig- nalised his name by his exploits in the Penin- sula. Cowardice, pride, obstinacy, stupidity, peculation, characterised the conduct of the Turkish generals. Genei'al Guyon was the life and soul of the army; everything would have gone to ruin but for him, and the few European officers who seconded his exertions. He was resisted by the Turkish officers, high and low, as he had been in the autumn of 1853. These men had no sympathy with the common sol- diery, whom Guyon did all in his power to succour and encourage. From these poor fel- lows he received gratitude, and had he not been at last so effectually obstructed by the bigoted Turks, in quarters and at Constantinople, he would have made the Asiatic army a superior one, instead of being, as it remained, a rude mob of nominal soldiers. The operations upon the boundarieo of the eastern provinces of the belligerent empires, were, in the early months of spring, a series of razzias on a large scale, which the reports of the generals engaged, magnified into battles. The Russians had a salutary apprehension of the energy, bravery, and militarj- skill of Guj'on ; but they regarded the Turkish pashas with undisguised contempt, for all their move- ments were evidently directed under the im- pression that these men might be safely despised. We must reserve our record of the progress of the war in these regions, until we have related the great events which transpired elsewhere. The Asiatic theatre of war was isolated, and continued so, until, as the struggle became more comprehensive and earnest, it too was comprehended in the common vortex of more fierce and more skilful strife, which involved all the northern and eastern shores of the Black Sea, and the Sea of Azoff. There was abundant Chap. XIV.] HISTORY OF THE YtMIl AGAINST nUSSIA. 1, opportunity for those proTinces wliich Russia had Avrenched from her eastern rivals — espe- cially from Persia, — to rise and assert their liberties; but their populations hugged their chains, under the influence of ignorance or priestcraft, and the "waves of war ebbed and flowed around their habitations in vain, with regard to any advantage its changes and chances offered them. Russia beyond the Cau- casus was, unfortunately, steadfast to its des- potism; and there was no genius, valour, or address in the Turkish pashas, to turn to ac- count the circumstances of the Georgian or Armenian populations, or their own military position upon these frontiers. There will pro- ' bably occur to us no more suitable place than this, to present to our readers a glimpse of cer- tain portions of these regions from the pen of M. Haxthausen.* This gentleman had pecu- liar opportunities for acquiring information (not unlike those of Captain Spencer, in an- other direction, elsewhere mentioned in this History), being under the protection of Rus- sian officers of distinction, civil and military. Prince Paul Leiven, nephew of the former ambassador to this country, obtained for him every opportunity for investigating the social and economic condition of these fine regions. He throws considerable light upon the past history, as well as present resources, of Georgia; which, in the days of its historic glory, subjected Leghistan and Daghcstan, where Schamyl, the renowned mountain mon- arch, now holds sway. As Georgia became enfeebled, the mountaineers, in their turn, be- came invaders and conquerors, and have left the traces of their inciirsions everywhere. Our author, when he parted with Prince Leiven, proceeded into Russian Armenia and Erivan, a place of some note in its indirect relation to the progress of the present war. The follow- ing abstract of his description of the country around Erivan, given by one of the ablest of his reviewers, will be of use to our readers when we conduct them to a future page of our History. His route to Erivan was "by the northern extremity of the Goktschai Dcgnitz (Blue Water), the highest of the three great Armenian lakes, it being no less than 5500 feet above the level of the Caspian Sea. This enormous piece of water, which is of about the size of the Bodcn-See, in Switzerland, per- forms a most important part in the country around Erivan. It is the source from which the canals are supplied with water for the irrigation of the whole district. Ten leagues from Erivan the river Seng (or Zcngui) issues from the lake, and, after running past the city, ultimately falls into the Araxcs. Canals * TrrtTiscauoasia : Sketchei" of the Nations and Eaccs between the 151ack Sea and tne Caspian. ]Jy Ijarou von ilaxtliaustn. branch from it, and from the lake, in all di- rections, conveying water to the surrounding villages. The centre of the Erivan water- works is at a place called Eanakir, about two leagues off the city. Erom hence four princi- pal canals take their rise, from which innumer- able small channels branch off; and by this means sufficient water is provided for the irri- gation of the land every ten days or a fortnight in the spring, and as often again in the summer, at a very small cost, the annual repairs ordina- rily amounting to about 300 roubles only. AVithout these arrangements the whole of this country would be an uninhabitable steppe. The extensive vallej' stretching northward, be- tween Ararat and the mountains which form the base of the cup containing the (Joktschai Degnitz, is of the same nature. It is ex- tremely hot and dry, both from its southern latitude and from its high elevation, the city of Erivan being nearly as high as the summit of Skiddaw. The soil, which everywhere ex- hibits traces of its volcanic origin, — in the lava and basaltic rocks witli fragments of which the ground is covered, — is of extreme fertility when sufficiently watered, but, without regular irri- gation, will not produce a single blade of grass. This southei-n climate, unlike AVestcrn Europe, is doomed for months together to continuous drought in the ordinar}- course of the seasons, and anj' remark on the fineness of the weather would sound as extraordi- nary on the banks of the Araxes as one upon the stability of the earth would on those of the Thames. This ariditj*. indeed, although not in quite so high a degree, is common to the whole of the valleys of the Kour and the Araxes. At Marienfeld, the number of days on which rain. falls rarely amounts to forty in the course of the 3-car ; while in summer the thermometer stands at 30°, or even 32°, Reaumur (99° to 104° Fahrenheit), iu the shade. Artificial irrigation is, under such circumstances, an absolute neces- sity. The Persians destroyed the canals and sluices in the district below Ivakhetia in iheir invasion of 1797. There was no power to re- store these ; and the whole population neces- sarily left the country, which is now a steppe, tenanted only by tigers, leopards, and serpents." The unhappy social state of these countries may be gathered from the following passage, in which the Baron, notwithstanding liis pro- Russian feeling, is constrained to admit the curse of Russian dominion : — " It is probable that serfdom did not formerly exist among the peasantry in Georgia and Min- grelia, and was not introduced until the occupa- tion of these countries by Russia; and that not by law, wliich would never have been sanc- tioned by tlu! Emperors Paul, Alexander, and Nicholas, but in the ordinary course of adminis- tration. The Russian officers were accustomed 151 IIISTOIir OF THE WAH AGAINST IIUSSIA. [Cfi.u-. XIV. to regard the peasants in their own countrj- as serfs, and naturally looked upon those living under the nobles and princes in Georgia in the same light. The crown peasants in llussia hare been emancipated since the time of Alex- ander, and the same class in Georgia are con- sequentlj' free likewise. The existence in all these countries (the Transcaucasian) of a cer- tain sj"stera and constitution in family and coramuuul life, arising out of manners and cus- toms, and even sanctioned by law, however defective, — in Georgia, indeed, by the Vakh- tang code of laws, — was entirelj' disregarded by the Russian officials. They were far too indo- lent to study the existing social condition of the people, and followed only the laws and principles of administration to which they were accustomed, and which they brought from Russia; while their rule was not a little marked by arbitrary conduct, with occasional extortion and spoliation, the superintendence and control being naturally much feebler and more ineffec- tual in the Caucasian provinces than elsewhere. The entire administration was, at the same time, of a military character ; and all com- plaints, even those of a merely civil nature, were referred to the general in command. As a na- tural result of this state of things, a bitter animosity to the Russians and the Russian government, grew up among all these Cauca- sian tribes. On occasion of a journey vrhich the Emperor Nicholas made in October, 1837, through these provinces, it is said that the fschinownihs, or officials, issued an order that no petitions should be presented to him. At Akhaltzick, the inhabitants of an entire village were seen kneeling on the road in silence as the emperor drove past, and this circumstance recurred several times. The emperor inquired of the people what it meant ? They replied, ' That they were forbidden to approach him with petitions.' He told them it was not true, and that they might fearlessly present anj' pe- titions. Thereupon the people poured forth to meet the emperor in such numbers, that during his journey only as far as Erivan, about 1400 petitions and complaints were preferred to him." Such, however, was the hatred of the Chris- tian to the Moslem, that many of the Armenian and Georgian peasants armed against the Turks; while the men of commercial pi'operty among the Armenians, and the higher orders of the Georgians, were generally ready to retire before the enemies of Russia, and identify themselves with its destinies. Neither the justice of the Turkish cause, nor the heroism and love of liberty inherited by the brave bands of Schamyl, had any charm for them. Sacerdotal intrigue, pecuniary seltishuess, and the habit of submis- sion, kept them true to the standards of their oppressor throughout 1854, as in the fierce campaign of the autumn of 1853. "While Constantinople was moved with deep excitement by the tidings which reached ifc from such remote countries, and by the news of insurrection almost at its gates — while on the Danube, along the Greek frontier, and in Asia Minor, the empire was at once invaded, and despatch followed despatch in rapid succession from pashas and commanders — the city itself became the theatre of new and strange scenes. From every portion of the sultan's wide dumi- nions, and from countries beyond professing Islamism, volunteers to serve in his army came pouring in. From Central Asia and the frontiers of India — from Kurdistan and the frontiers of Persia — from Syria and the con- fines of Arabia — from Morocco and Tunis — from Asia Minor and Armenia, strange wild warriors came, undisciplined and diverselj' armed, to ofter their service to the sultan as their prince or padishaw. There were stalwart Albanians, with pistols and yataghan ; the old Asiatic Turk, with curved scimitar, highly polished and richly ornamented ; the gigantic A ftghan, bearing his long matchlock; and from the remotest Asiatic recesses men came with "bended bow and quiver full of arrows." But of all the wild braves that wan- dered through forest and over steppe, there was none so curious to look upon as Fatima, and none so grotescjue as her motley bands. Fatima is queen (or was queen) of a wander- ing, and, we presume, somewhat predatory tribe, whose home is in the mountains of Cilicia, and who can muster 4000 cavalry for war. She is to them as sacred as Schamyl is to the Caucasians : she is prophetess and princess. Her age seemed to be about sixty, aud nothing Amazonian in her appearance or bearing brought any attraction to her standard. Hc-r attire was that of the sterner sex, if the other sex may presume to anything more stern than Fatima. She bestrode her horse like a cav^alier ; and if ferocious looks appertain to bravery or military efficiency, the followers of Fatima were good soldiers and heroes, or heroines, for it was hard to say to which department of the heroic race they belonged. Some of her troops were undoubtedly of the softer sex, if the term be not off'ensive, as incompatible with their pro- fession of arms. It would have been a mournful duty had the " gallant Greys," or "far-famed Inniskillens," been ordered to charge this very original array of cavalry ; military obligation, and that gallantry for the fair for which our troops claim a reputation, would be oddly at variance in such an event. It would constitute a case of conscience for the ablest casuists — among whom her majesty's dragoons are seldom found — to open up the solution of its intricacies. Fatima had her troops "well in hand," and quartered them in an old barrack in Stamboul, demanding for them " cup and stirrup fees," Chap. XV.] HISTOEY OF THE WAR AGAIXST EUSSIA. 155 and a trifle of eighty piasters a month from the great padishaw, at whose feet they came to make their own prostrations, and to whose enemies they were to afford instructions to do likewise, tip to the time wo write, this lady has performed no exploit which history can record : she may have rendered services agree- able to both the sultan and the prophet, we cannot say where. Neither Brigadier-general Scarlett nor Earl Cardigan saw anything of her at Baiaklava, where cavalry reinforcements were desirable, and where a force so original might have produced some previously unknown and uncalculated effect ! CHAPTER XV. TEEATY OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE BETWEEN FKANCE AXD ENGLAND.— CONVENTIONS BE- TWEEN THE ALLIES, AND AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA.— TREATY OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE BETWEEN AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA. — PUBLIC OPINION IN BRITAIN. —EMBARKATION' OF TROOPS FOR THE SEAT OF WAR.— REMARKABLE SPEECH OF SIR G. H. SEYMOUR. "Hail to thee, Albion! that meet'st the oonimotiou Of Europe as calm as thy cliffs meet the foam, With no bond but the law, and no bound but the ocean, Hail, Temple of Liberty, thou art my home !" — Mooke. As soon after the declaration of war as cir- cnmstances allowed, a treaty offensive and defensive between England and France was signed, the terms of which Avcrc few, brief, and clear; binding each against a separate peace, and pledging them to a united prosecution of the war, sharing all costs and eventualities. The progress of the allies in cementing their own union, and conciliating those powers which sympathised with Russia, became more rapid as their appeal to arms became an accom- plished fact. Accordingly, on the 9th of April, the representatives of Austria and Prussia, at Vienna, united with those of France in signing a protocol, which is of too important a nature to be omitted from this History. At the request of the Plenipotentiaries of France and of Great Britain, the Conference met to hear the docu- ments read which establish that the invitation addressed to the Cabinet of St. Petersburg to evacuate the Moldo- Wallachian provinces within a fixed time having- remained unanswered, the state of war already declared between Bussia and the Sublime Porte is in actual existence equally between Russia, on the one side, and France and Great Britain, on the other. This change which has taken place in the attitude of two of the Powers represented at tlie Conference of Vienna, in consequence of a step taken directly by France and England, supported by Austria and Prussia as being founded in right, has been considered b}- the represen- tatives of Austria and Prussia as involving the ne(^essity of a fresh declaration of tlie union of the Four Powers upon the ground of the principles laid down in the pro- tocols of Decembers, 1853, and January 13, 1854. In consequence, the undersigned have at this solemn moment declared that their Governments remain united in the double object of maintaining the territorial inte- grity of the Ottoman Phnpire, of whicli the fact of the evacuation of the Danubian Principalities is and will re- main one of the essential conditions ; and of consolidating in an interest so much in conformity with the sentiments of the Sultan, and by every means compatible with his independence and sovereignty, the civil and religious rights of the Christian subjects of the Porte. The territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire is and remains the sine qnii non condition of every transaction having for its object the re-establishment of peace between the belligerent Powers ; and the Governments represented by the uiulersigned engage to endeavour in commou to discover the guarantees most liltely to attach the existence of that Empire to the general equilibrium of Europe; as they also declare themselves ready to deliberate and to come to an understanding as to the employment of the means calculated to accomplish the object of their agree- ment. Whatever event may arise in consequence of this agree* ment, founded solely upon the general intei-ests of Europe, and of which the object can only be attained by the re- turn of a firm and lasting peace, the Governments repre- sented by the undersigned reciprocally engage not to enter into any definiti\-e arrangement with' the Imperial Court of Russia, or with any other Power, which would bo at variance with the principles above enunciated, without previously deliberating thereon in common. (Signed) Buol-Schaukxsteix. bouuquen-ey. West.moiielaxd, Aknim. The sympathy of other continental states was very much promoted about this time by a most eloquent reply on the part of the French go- vernment to the Russian declaration. This document was extensively quoted in America, and gave the Russian chancellerie much annoy- ance, as was evinced by the nibbling and spite- ful notices of it which the press of St. Peters- burg contained. Seldom did a state paper attract in England more attention ; and the ability of our great ally to write, as well as combat, became tlie subject of universal con- versation. As the Russian declaration has been already placed before our readers, the}- can compare it with this masterly replication. The Russian Government lias just published a declara- tion, in answer to the summons addressed to it for the last time by France and England, and to whicli it has not consented to subscribe. We have not the intention to enter once more into an examination of the arguments refuted to satiety ; we will limit ourselves to some obser- vations on the new errors which that declaration is endea- vouring to get accredited. In the first jjlace, the Russian Government demands by what title England and France pretend to exact the eva- cuation of the Principalities of tlie Danube. 'J'hcrr. is no one so ignorant as not to be aware how much their sum- mons is founded upon right. The Powers who signed the acts of Vienna have themselves recognised them as such. 156 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. XV. The Cabinets of Paris and London acted on this occasion in virtue of treaties, and tlieir conduct had the approba- tion of other Governments. How (sa3s the declaration of the Russian Cabinet) could ■we evacuate the Principalities, without even the shadow of the conditions to which the Emperor had made subor- dinate tlie cessation of that occupation being fulfilled by the Ottoman Government ? 13ut these conditions which llussia required were manifestly unjust, and the Confer- ence of Vienna had formally coutiruicd on that point the judgment of Europe. The declaration adds, that the Russian armies could not evacuate the Principalities in the midst of a war which the Ottoman Government "had been the first to declare." The parts cannot be more strangely interverted. The in- vasion of the two Provinces of the Turkish Empire was, in the eyes of the whole world, an act of war. If the Porte has been recommended not to make it a case of war, it was because, in spite of the aggressive character of the acts of Russia, it was still hoped that there would be, on the part of that Power, a return to moderation and equity. Russia has no better foundation for casting back on the two maritime Powers the initiative of the provocations. It is an affair already judged; and since the Cabinet of St. Petersburg brings to our recollection, on this subject, its memorandum of the 18th of last Februar}', we can, in our turn, send it back to the whole of the documents which, in England as in France, have so completely placed the question beyond a doubt, that neither of the two Go- vernments have thought it worth their while to occupy themselves for one moment with this memorandum, which has frequently been refuted beforehand. The initiative of the acts of war, as far as regards the Porte, is well as the provocations in matters touching the maritime Powers, belongs exclusively to the Power which invaded the Prin- cipalities of the Danube ; and such is the opinion of all Europe. The declaration of the Russian Cabinet remarks that the occupation had not prevented the negotiations from being opened, and that they would not have stopped their being followed out, if the Powers had not suddenl}', and ■without valid reasons, changed the bases which they had themselves given in the first note drawn ■up at Vienna. The Powers had, in fact, laid down principles which, loyally admitted, might then have solved the difference ; but the commentary which the note in question received from the Count de Nesselrode attested that the Russian Cabinet did not accept them, except by attaching to them a signification very different from the idea of the Confer- ence of Vienna, as was admitted by all the Governments represented in that conference. It is, therefore, Russia herself whicli changed the bases of the negotiation, and compelled the Great Powers to seek for others. The Rus- sian Government bitterly complains of the demand which the Cabinets of Paris and of London addressed to the Commander-in-chief of its naval forces at Sebastopol, in consequence of the aggression of Sinope. We admit that that demand was unusual, but it was called for by a state of things which was not less so ; and it was not until after every means of conciliation which patience, moderation, and a sincere desire can suggest had been exhausted, that France and Great Britain had recourse to that extreme measure. It is true that the Russian Government at- tempts to lessen the proportion which " exists between the efiects and the cause," adding, "that the two Powers are compelled to exaggerate the object of it by putting forth the most vague accusations against Russia." In order to prove the gravity of the cause, it is only necessary for us to call to mind the declarations made at Vienna in the documents of the Conference; and as to the object, the revelations contained in the English documents sufli- ciently prove that the accusations of France and Great Britain are far from being exaggerated. According to the declaration of the Russian Cabinet, we have less respect for the independence of the Porte than it has ; and one of the proofs which it adduces for this is, that the Ottoman Government has renounced, b\' treaty, the power of making peace without its allies. In entering into that engagement the Porto only contracts a reciprocal obliga- tion, on tlie footing of a perfect equality, and moreover in strict conformity to constant and general usage and the law of nations, when several unite together to pursue by arms a common object. " The Porte (adds the Russian Cabinet) is about to be forced to subsiTibe to an engagement which would extentl to all its subjects e(|uality of civil and political rights." That assertion, far from being well founded, gives us an occasion of showing, in a striking manner, what is the difference of acting between Russia and the Western Powers in their relations with the Ottoman Empire. Russia has insisted on stipulating with the Porte, either in a treaty or by moans of a note, for the maintenance of the liberties of the Sultan's subjects. The other Powers have not, for a single moment, thought of requiring from the Porte any such engagement, either in the form of a treaty or of a note. They have not, it is true, neglected any occasion to suggest to the Porte such measures as ap- peared to them best calculated to ameliorate the condition of the Christians in the Turkish. Empire ; out they never could have thought of restricting the sovereignty of the Sultan, when, on the contrary, they were taking up arms to defend it against the pretensions which were menacing it. " It is for Europe, and not for the two Powers (con- tinues the Russian Government) to decide if the balance of power in Europe really runs any of the dangers which, it is pretended, arise from the excessive preponderance of Russia." On that point the wish of the Russian Cabinet is already realised. It is tlie great Powers of Europe, and not France and England alone, who have sigmd the acts of Vienna ; and these acts declare loudly that the position taken by Russia on the Danube, places the general equi- librium in danger. According to the Cabinet of St. Petersburg, it is, on the contrary, France and England who are exercising at present on Europe a pressure of a nature to disquiet all the neutral Powers. Every one, however, knows that, far from manifesting any disquietude, the neutral Powers, on the contrary, applaud the attitude assumed by the two maritime Powers, and that at the present moment, from every part of the world, they send to thank the two Powers for the recent declaration which has just confirmed the ensemble of the principles under which they had in vain endeavoured hitherto to shelter their liberty in time of war. FinuU)', the Russian Go- vernment thinks that the isolation into which it declares it is about to be thrown, will only deliver the world up to a more dangerous preponderance than its own could possi- bly be. That Government forgets that not one of the Great Powers aims like it at exclusive advantages, or wants to act by itself alone. Far from permitting a pre- ponderance of any kind to be established, a common action exercised by the Four Powers is for all the other States a pledge of security and impartiality. The influences which co-operate for the object in view constitute a just counter- poise of one to the other, and guarantee in advance to Europe that the general interest which has drawn the Four Powers together will not cease a single moment to guide their resolutions, and will be alone listened to to the end. The observations which precede will enable every one to judge of the new document published by the Russian Government. As the conduct of the German po-wers will come frequentl}' under discussion as ■we advance in our narrative, it is here necessary to notice that Austria and Prussia, immediately upon signing the protocol at Vienna, entered into negotiations between themselves for an alli- ance offensive and defensive ; in order that, if the territories of the one -n^ere attacked hy any of the belligerents, the other should regard it as a German question, and declare war against the power by which such territory might be violated. The ostensible object of this treaty was their mutual protection from Russia, in case the latter, offended by their Western alli- ance, should attack either ; the real object was to afford a mutual support against the Western powers. Austria feared that if, in the compli- cations which were sure to arise in her attempts to preserve neutrality, she should feel disposed Chap. XV.] HISTORY OF THE ^VAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. 157 to give any moral support to Russia, Prance might invade her Italian provinces, and Eng- land, ahvays formidable to Austria so long as she makes Malta a great naval station, and pre- serves a garrison in Corfu, might operate thence in promoting Italian revolt. Prussia regarded Prance as a most untrustworthy neighbour to her Rhenish provinces, so long as a member of the house of Buonaparte directed her govern- ment. Neither power had any real fear of Russia. Their trust was in the sympathy of the absolutism of the Russian government ; and the King of Prussia cherished a paternal affec- tion for the Emperor Nicholas, to whom his sister was married — a sister for whom he felt strongly the love of a brother. The following is the treaty between those two governments: — ITraiislaiion.l His Majesty the Emperor of Austria and His Majesty the King of Prussia, penetrated with deep regret at the fruitlessness of their attempts hitherto to prevent the hreaking out of war between Russia, on the one liand, and Turke_v, France, and Enghmd, on the other ; Mindful of the moral obligations entered into by them by the signing of the last Vienna Protocol; In the face of the military measures ever gathering on both sides around them, and of the dangers resulting therefrom for the general peace of ]']urope ; Convinced of the high duty wliich on the threshold of a future pregnant with evil, is imposed, in the interest of the European welfare, on Germany, so intimately united with the States of the two High Parties ; Have determined to ally themselves in an offensive and defensive alliance for the duration of the war which has broken out between Russia, on the one hand, and Turkey, France, and England, on the other, and have appointed for the conclusion of it the following Plenipotentiaries: — His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, the Baron Henry de Hess, his Actual Privy Councillor, General of Artillery, and Chef d'Etat Major-General of the Army, Commander of the Imperial and Military Order of Marie Theiese, Grand Cross of tlie Imperial Order of Leopold of Austria, Chevalier of the Order of the Black Eagle of Prussia, &c. ; and the Count Frederic de Tliun-Hohenstein, his Cham- herlain. Actual Privy Councillor, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of Prussia, Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Leopold of Austria, Chevalier of the Order of Leopold of the Red Eagle of Prussia of the first class, &c. ; And His Majesty the King of Prussia, the Baron Othon Theodore de Iilanteutiel, his President of the Council of Ministers, and ilinister for Foreign Affairs, Chevalier of the Order of the Red Eagle of Prussia of the first class ■witli oak leaves, crown and sceptre. Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of St. Stephen of Austria, &c. The same having exchanged their full powers found to "be in good order, have agreed upon the following points : — ARTICLE I. His Imperial Apostolic Majesty and His Majesty the King of Prussia guarantee to each other reciprocally the possession of their German and non-German possessions, so that an attack made on the territory of the one, from wliatever quarter, will be regarded by the other as an act of hostility against his own territor}'. ARTICLE IL In the same manner, the High Contracting Parties hold Ihemselves engaged to defend the riglits and interests of Germany against all and every injury, and consider them- selves bound accordingly for tlie mutunl repulse of evcrv attack on any part whatsoever of thi'ir territories; like- wise also in the case where one of the two may find him- Belf, in understanding with the otlier, obliged to advance actively for the defence of German interests. The agree- ment relating to the latter-named eventuality, as likewise the extent of the assistances then to be given, will form a special as also integral part of the present Convention. AKTICLE III. In order also to give due security and force to the conditions of the offensive and defensive alliance now concluded, the two Great German Powers bind themselves, in case of need, to hold in perfect readiness for war a part of their forces, at periods to be determined betwee.i them, and in positions to be fixed. With respect to the time, the extent, and the nature of the placing of those troops, a special stipulation will likewise be determined. ARTICLE IV. The High Contracting Parties will invite all the Ger- man Governments of the Confederation to accede to this alliance, with the understanding that the federal obliga- tions existing in virtue of Article 47 of the final Act of Vienna will receive the same extension for the States who accede as the present Treaty stipulates. ARTICLE V. Neither of the two High Contracting Parties will, during the duration of this alliance, enter into any separate alliance with other Powers which shall not be in entire harmony with the basis of the present Treaty. ARTICLE VI. The present Convention shall be ratified as soon as possible by the High Contracting Sovereigns. Done at Ihrlin, the 20th of April, 1854. (Signed) Henry Box. De Hess. F. Tiiu.v. Bon. Oth. Tueod. Manteuffel. ADDITIONAL ARTICLE To the Offensive and Defensive Allicoice bettceen Austria and Friissia of April 20, 1854. According to the conditions of Article II. of the Treaty concluded this day between His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Austria and His Majesty the King of Prussia for the establishment of an otTensive and defensive alliance, a more intimate understanding with respect to the even- tuality when an acti\ e advance of one of the High Con- tracting Parties may impose on the other the obligation of a mutual protection of the territory of both, \yas to form the subject of a special agreement to be considered as an integral part of the Treaty. Their Jlajesties have not been able to divest themselves of the consideration that the indefinite continuance of the occupation of the territories on the Lower Danube, under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Porte, by Imperial Russian troops, would endanger the political, moral, and material interests of tlie whole German Confi.'deration, as also of their own States, and the more so in pronortion as Russia extends her warlike operations on Turkish territory. The Courts of Austria and Prussia are united in the desire to avoid every participation in the war which has broken out between Russia, on the one hand, and Turkey, France, and Great Britain, on the other, and at the same time to contribute to the restoration of general peace. They more especially consider the declarations lately made at Berlin by tlie Court of St. Petersburg to be an important element of pacification, the failure of the prac- tical influence of wliich tliey would view with regret. According to these declarations, Russia appears to regard the original motive for the occupation of the Principa- lities as removed by the concessions now granted to the Christian subjects of the Porte, which ofl'er the prospect of realization. They therefore hope that the replies awaited from the Cabinet of Russia to the Prussian pro- positions transmitted on the 8th, will ofier to them the necessary guarantee for an early withdrawal of the Rus- sian troops. In the event tliat this hope should be illusory, the Plenipotentiaries named, on the part of His •Majesty the Emperor of Austria, Freiherr Baron von Hess and Count Tliun, and on the part of His M.ajesty the King of Prussia, Baron Mantcuft'el, have drawn up the following more detailed agreement with respect to the eventuality alluded to in the above-mentioned Article 11. of the Treatv of Alliance of this day :— 158 HlSTOr.Y or THE ^YAIl AGAIKST RUSSIA. fCuAP. XV. SINGLE ARTICLE. The Imperial Austrian Governinent wiil also on their side address a communication to the Imperial llussian Court, with the object of obtaining from tlie Emperor of llussia the necessary orders that an immediate stop sliould be put to the further advance of his armies upon the Turkish territory, as also to request of His Imperial Majesty sufBcienl guarantees for the prompt cvacu.ition of the j)anubian Principalities ; and the I'rus^sian Govern- ment will again, in the most empliatic manner, support these communications with reference to their proposals already sent to St. Petersburg. Should the anssver of the liussian Court to these steps of the Cabinets of Vienna aTid Herlin — contrary to expectation— not be of a nature to give them entire satisfaction upon the two points afore- mentioned, the measures to bo taken by one of the Con- tracting parties for their attainment, according to the terms of Article II. of die Oflensive and Defensive Alli- ance signed on this day, will be on the understanding that every hostile attack on the territory of one of the Contracting Parties is to be repelled with all the military forces at the disposal of the other. But a mutual otfensive advance is stipulated for only in the event of the incorporation of the Principalities, or in the event of an attack on or passage of the Balkan by Eussia. The present Convention shall be submitted for the ratifieation of the High Sovereigns simultaneously with the above-mentioned Treaty. Done at Berlin, the 20'th of April, 1854. (Signed) Hess. Thun. Maxteuffel. This private treaty between the two great German powers rendered explanations neces- sary to the Western allies : they were not very satisfactory, and raised grave doubts as to the ultimate intentions of all the German govern- ments, great and small. Austria and Prussia found it desirable to pacify France and Eng- land; and, consequently, on the 23rd of May, a conference was held at Yienna, by the repre- sentatives of the four great nations ; and from this conference a protocol was issued, which was intended to reassure the govex'nments of Prance and England of the loyalty of Austria and Prussia in the conventions into which they had mutually entered. The following is a copy of the protocol : — [Translation.] Present — The Representatives of Austria, France, Great Britain, and Prussia. The undersigned Plenipotentiaries have deemed it con- formable to the arrangements contained in the Protocol of the 9th of April, to meet in conference in order to com- municate reciprocally and record in one common Act the Conventions concluded between France and England, on the one hand, and between Austria and Prussia, on the other, upon the 10th and 20th of April of the present year. ' After a careful examination of the aforesaid Conven- tions, the undersigned have unanimously agreed : 1. That the Convention concluded between France and England, as well as that signed on the 20th of April be- tween Austria and Prussi.i, bind both of them, in the relative situations to which they apply, to secure the maintenance of the principle established by the series of Protocols of the Conference of Yienna. 2. Tliat the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, and the evacuation of that portion of its territory which is occupied bj- the Eussian army, are and will continue to be the con- stant and invariable object of the union of the four Powers. 3. That, consequently, the Aeta communicated and an- nexed to the present Protocol correspond to the engage- ment whicli the Plenipotentiaries had mutually contracted on tlie 9th of April, to deliberate and agree upon tho means most fit to accomplish the object of their union, and thus give a fresh sanction to the firm intention of the four Powers represented at the Conference of Vienna, to combine all their efforts and resolutions to realise the object which forms the basis of their union. (Signed) Buol-Sch.wenstein. bouiiquexey. Westjiokeland. A.RNIM. A considerable portion of the British public were very unwilling that any confidence should be placed in the German governments ; but, at that time, the power or weakness of Ptussia, in a military point of view, was not sufficiently developed for the Western governments to be indifferent to any alliances which it might be possible to form ; and if, by skilful negotiation and address, the great Gernaan powers could even be preserved from aiding Pussia, it would be a point gained of great value. In fact, at that period of the war, the Western allies dare not risk any measure which would throw Austria, especially, into the arms of the foe. The geographical position of Austria to the two empires originally at war, gave her a pre- ponderating voice in the councils and confer- ences to which all were so ready to resort, with aims so widely diflerent. The position which the armies of Austria coidd at any time assume in reference to Turkey, was also of the utmost importance in weighing her claims to consideration in the stipulations she proposed for even her carefully qualified alliance ; for while an invasion of the Turkish territory by Eussia must be always strategically difficult, an invasion from the Austrian frontier is strategically easy; and Austria, although with an indifi"erently replenished exchequer, pos- sessed at this period a splendidly equipped and numerous soldiery. A private letter from Yienna, in Spenei-'s Journal, contained the following statistics of the troops which Austria had under arms, in readiness to act on the Servian and AYallachian frontiers : — '"At the beginning of February, the 9th cor^ps d^armee, under Lieutenant-general Count Schaff- gotsch, part of which garrisoned the capital, was pushed to the south frontier of the Banat. These were followed ere long by a second army corps, formed from the troops of the first army, quartered in Bohemia, Moravia, and Austria (Proper). Each of these corps formed a total of 25,000 or 50,000 in all. At the beginning of March, the third army, cantoned in Hungary and Transylvania, was moblised. It consists of the 10th and 11th army corps, under com- mand of the Archduke Charles Ferdinand and Lieutenant-general Count Wengersky, in Hun- gary, and of the 12th army corps in Transyl- vania, commanded by Prince Sehwarzenberg. CiiAP. XV.] IIISTOllY OF THE WAR AGAIXST EUS3TA. 1-59 The amount of these three corps may be taken at 80,000 men, the half of which, with 20,000 Grenz troops, and 12,000 cavalry, are added to the south frontier army. So that of the remainder of the Grenz battalions, dislocated along the Croatian frontier upon the right flank of the grand army, the total will amount to more than 160,000 combatants, ready to ad- vance at a moment's notice. But the prepa- rations for eastern eventualities do not terminate here. Dalmatia, a point of great importance, is occupied by 20,000 men. Provision has also been made for an efficient reserve. This con- sists of half the 10th, 11th, and 12th armj^ corps, about 40,000, and of the 6th arm)- corps quartered in the Venetian territory. So that the south corps (Schaffgotsch), including the I'cserve, and the corps in Dalmatia under Lieu- tenant-general Mamula, present an effective force of 260,000 men ready for action in the East, and this independent of all other corps cscheloned in divers parts of the monarchy.' "As the words 'armies' and 'army corps,' employed in these details maj^ give rise to con- fusion, it may not be irrelevant to observe that the Austrian military establishment is divided into four armies, subdivided into thirteen army corps, thus : — " Xat Akjit. — 1st army corps, head-quarters at Prague ; 2nd ditto, head-quarters at Erunn ; 3rd ditto, head-quarters at Griitz; 4th ditto, head-quarters at Vienna. " %ul Army. — 5th army corps, head-quarters at Milan ; 6th ditto, head-quarters at Treviso ; 7th ditto, head-quarters at Verona; 8th ditto, head -quarters at Bologna. " 2>rd AEiir. — 9th army corps, head-quarters at Pesth ; 10th ditto, head-quarters in West Hungary; 11th ditto, head- quarters in Tran- sylvania; 12th ditto, head-quarters in South Hungary. " 4;'7i Akmt. — 13th army corps, head-quarters in Galicia and Bukowina. "A 14th corps cVannee, then named the 4th, was made up of detachments for service in Holstein, but was broken up on the return of that special corps to Austria." It would be a discussion as yet scarcely per- tinent to our pages to enter upon the question of what the final results would be, if the Ger- man diet were to support any modification of the Russian pretensions, so as to unite their armies against the Western powers. We be- lieve that eventually that coalition would be beaten, but not until Europe had been deluged in blood, from the shores of the Rhine to the defiles of the Balkan — from the banks of the Po and the Tiber to the sliores of the Vistula, and the forests of Hungary. The war would, in such case, assume terrible proportions, and a struggle fierce and protracted would ravage the fertile fields, the commercial marts, and the gay capitals of many kingdoms, until it would be mournfully told in all of them — " Friend and foe the land hath harried. And the surge swept o'er us, and destroyed us." While the allied governments were thus cau- tiously guarding against all misalliance or ex- tension of their quarrel with Russia to the states which most sympathised with her, the enthusiasm of the people at home rose to the highest fervour. All sects and all political parties supported the government, with the exception of the Society of Friends and the Peace Society. It was impossible to peruse the forms of prayer, or listen to the extempore efiusions of the various religious denominations — not only on the day of fast and humiliation, but on the Sabbaths — in their different sanctu- aries, without being struck with the high tone of religions feeling which pervaded them all. The most beautiful of all these devotional ex- ercises, to which the perils and prospects of war gave rise, was undoubtedly that used in the Jewish synagogue. It is so peculiar and strik- ing, as a composition, that we cannot refrain from presenting it to our readers. The Chief Rabbi (Dr. Adler) issued and com- manded the order of service and forms of prayer to be used in all the synagogues of the United Congregations of the British Empire. The original is in the Hebrew language. The fol- lowing is a correct translation of the prayers and order of service : — " The afternoon service having been read, the reader says — " ' We approach Thee with supplication, for mercy and truth precede Thy presence. We beseech Thee grant us pardon, and send us salvation and mercy from Thy celestial resi- dence. We come to implore forgiveness from Thee, Thou most awful and tremendous Being ! Thou who art our Refuge in time of trouble, grant us life, and be gracious unto us, that we may invoke Thy name. pardon us, and send us forgiveness and mercy from Thy celestial residence.' " Here the reader and congregation or choir shall read or sing the 27th Psalm of David : — ' The Lord is my light and my salvation.' "At the conclusion of the Psalm, on the opening of the Ark, the following prayer to be said : — " ' Almighty God ! abundant in mercy and great in power, it is Thou who guidest by Thy strength the heavenly host. The numberless stars, in obedience to Thy command, jiass not beyond their assigned course. But man hast Thou created in Thine own image, granted him freedom of will, so that there is no restraint to hinder him from choosing good or evil, life or death How deep are Thy thoughts ! The ignorant know not that Thou makest even the 160 HISTORY OF THE WAIl AGAINST IIUSSIA. [CiiAr. XV, folly of man an instrument to produce ultimate good. " ' Thou hast chosen this land and its inha- bitants. Thy providential care hath always watched over it, so that it occupies a high po- sition, and has become the admiration of the world. It is this land, wherein mercy and truth meet, righteousness and kindness kiss each other, which enlightens the darkness of the earth, and teaches understanding to tlie wrong- doers. ""' We humbly approach Thee, Lord ! this day, when our souls are overwhelmed. Thou knowest that our most gracious Sovei'eign, with great reluctance, has taken up arms in order to uphold the rights and independence of nations, which form the foundation of peace, to main- tain justice and tran(]uillity in the dominions of her ally, which had been endangered through unprovoked aggression. " ' Judge of all the earth ! we bow down be- fore Thy holy abode, and most humbly beseech Thee to turn the hearts of the aggressors, that they may forsake their designs, llenew a right spirit within them ; dispose their hearts to justice; that they may know that the world was not created for destruction, but for the friendly intercourse of nations, so that tlie earth might be filled with the knowledge to exalt and magnify Thy glorious name. How- ever, if Thou hast not so decided ; if, in Thy fathomless wisdom, it is decreed that the earth's iniquities shall not be forgiven without blood- shed, encourage and strengthen the armies of our Queen, on the day of battle, by Thy might and Thy strength. Grant them victory when they fight on behalf of truth and righteousness ; tliough hosts encamp against them, let them not fear ; may they scorn danger, and prosper in all their ways and in all their doings. " ' Thou who rulest the raging seas, be with the leaders and mariners of our fleets ; inspire them with a spirit of wisdom and understand- ing, of counsel and courage, of meekness and compassion; be unto them a rock of strength, a refuge from the fury of the assailants, that they may maintain their ancient fame, and up- hold their old glory. May they speedily return to their native shores with success and tri- umph ; may then the sword return to its scab- bard, and a permanent peace be establislied, and all mankind joyfully shout together: Let the Lord be magnified ! " 'Trust of Israel, and their Ecdeemer ! we cast ourselves on Thy great mercy ; grant us a heart to perceive Thy way in the sanctuary, that we may know the benefits we derive even from the calamities which befall our brethren, by returning unto Thee in humility and sin- cerity, and purifying our hearts from all our sins and iniquities. Grant that the remnant of Israel may henceforth rely on Thee alone in truth and uprightness, that the scattered flock may repose in the shadow of peace, and never more be harassed. " ' Open our eyes, that we may comprehend the good which the days of peril and perplexity bring forth in Thy beloved land and in Thy holy mountain ; grant that it may no more be injured or destroyed, that many nations may flock thereto, saying : Come, let iis go up to the house of the Lord, for from Zion shall come forth the law, and the word of God from Jeru- salem. Amen.' "At the conclusion of the prayer. Psalms cxx. and cxxi. are to be read or sung. Then the usual prayer for the Queen and the Eoj-al Family, followed bj' Psalms xlvii. and Ixvii., the service concluding with the prayer, ' It is peculiarly our duty, &c.' " The pulpit and the platform w^ere occupied by the clergy of almost every creed in advo- cacy of the war as just and righteous, although in some cases "the peace principle" was ad- vocated, and all war denounced as indefensible and wicked. A zealous member of the Peace Society, a distinguished dissenting minister in London, a man of well-established eloquence and great public ability, argued, in an address to his congregation, against the policy and righteousness of the war on the very original ground — at all events, for a member of the Peace Society — " that all nations should be allowed freely to develop themselves." But by far the most remarkable of all the religious addresses of the time, and we sup- pose also the most extensively potential, was that of Archbishop Cullen of Dublin, to the clergy and laity of his diocese, and read on the Sunday from the altars of all theEoman Catholic chapels in and around that city. The following is its principal and most peculiar passage : — " For nearly forty years we have enjoyed the blessings of a profound peace, but now this em- pire is involved in a war of which no one can • foresee the vicissitudes and final issue. It is a war against a most powerful monarch, who has been always a most dangerous enemy to our holy religion. In the countries subject to his sway he has renewed the scenes of persecution and confiscation against Catholics, of which our poor country was the theatre under Elizabeth and succeeding sovereigns. Acting on the same principles, and imbued with the same spirit with which the fanatics of this kingdom are ani- mated, he, too, has persecuted nuns, destroyed convents, confiscated their property, and, in many other ways, afflicted the Church of Christ. The recent encroachments of this monarch on a neighbouring state have compelled our gra- cious sovereign and her ally, the Emperor of the French, to declare war against him in defence of the state which has been invaded. In the contest thus provoked, how many countries will be laid waste, how many cities pillaged and Chai>. XV.J HISTOEY OF THE WAE AGAINST RUSSIA. 161 destroyed, and how many thousands of human beings hurried unprepared to the bar of divine judgment ! During the course of this moment- ous struggle it will be our duty to beg sincerely of God, to bring the war to a speedy and suc- cessful issue, and to restore the blessings of peace ; nor should we forget to offer up a spe- cial petition for our own brave Catholic coun- trymen who have gone forth to fight the bat- tles of the empire. Placed in the midst of danger, and exposed to great spiritual destitu- tion, they stand in need of all the charitable assistance of the faithful. To render our prayers for them, and for the success of our arms, more efficacious, we enjoin on all the clergy of the diocese to recite, every Sunday, from the pre- sent date until further orders, after the other prescribed collects, the prayers taken from the mass, In Tempore Belli, as laid down in the lloman Missal. We may add, that it must ap- pear to the children of Mary a good omen of the prosperous issue of the war, that the fleets of our ally have been placed under the protec- tion of the mother of God, and that her image, sent by the Emperor of the French, has been inaugurated with great religious pomp on board the admiral's vessel. This solemn profession of Catholic faith, this act of tender devotion to the mother of God, cannot fail to be the source of inestimable blessings to the Church ; they will also contribute, in some measure, to make reparation to the offended dignity of the Queen of Heaven for the outrages and insults that have been offered, within the last few years, to her name and images elsewhere." When it is remembered how impressible the Irish are as a people, and how much under the influence of their clergy, especially of the episcopate, it will excite no astonishment, after the perusal of the above extraordinary pastoral, that the Irish Roman Catholics flocked to the standard of the queen in great numbers, that the recruiting depots were soon crowded, and that amongst those who perished before the gloomy bastions of Sebastopol, stiffened with cold or drenched in blood, so large a proportion were from the sister-land. Even that which in the above address of Archbishop Cullen is so little acceptable to Protestant associations, was all the more calculated to tell upon the people ad- dressed, who felt that in serving against Russia, they were assisting the subjugation of a power by which their co-religionists in Poland had been persecuted. Some of the most eloquent addresses ever delivered on public occasions from the pulpit, were at this time made in the churches and chapels both of London and the provinces. Those of the Rev. Dr. Gumming of London, the Rev. Dr. M'Neil of Liverpool, the Rev. Arch- deacon Sinclair of Kensington, and the Rev. Canon Stowcll of Manchester, were well-calcu- lated to direct and guide the national enthu- siasm, and inspire the loyalty of the people with a spirit of piety, and a devout acknowledgment of the presiding hand of God in peace or war. It would not be a faithful history that omitted to notice these springs of thought and feeling among the people, which fed the exuberant valour, the dauntless endurance, and the steady loyalty, of those who served, and haply died, in the ranks of battle, or in the stormy bivouac. During the month of April, troops poured forth to the great rendezvous in the East, from the shores of France and of the British Isles; and many scenes, similar to those which we have already described, took place as the various regiments embarked. It can be no matter of surprise that the troops designated for the expedition went forth with cheerfulness and ardour, when we peruse such addresses as were delivered to them by the generals of the districts in which they had been quartered. No regiment which went abroad was more jealous of its renown than the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers. They embarked from Southampton, and were previously thus addressed by General D'Aigular: — " Royal Welsh Fusiliees, — I am anxious to say a few words to you. I have great satis- faction in seeing you under arms on this inter- esting occasion, and in assuring you that I feel both pride and pleasure in being the colonel of so fine a regiment. " You are about to proceed upon a service that has awakened, not only the interest of England, but of Europe. You are embarking in the cause of justice and humanity, as well as in defence of a people oppressed. " Soldiers ! the eyes of the world are upon you. The gallant exploits performed by you on former occasions, from the days of 'Minden,' down to those of * Waterloo,' are the best secu- rity for your acquiring fresh trophies, and adding fresh honour to your renown. But remember, that to accomplish this you must persevere in the same steady course of disci- pline that has always distinguished you. " It Avas an observation of our great Duke (not a passing observation, or casual remark, but an observation repeated so often, as to pi'ove his desire to impi'css it as a principle), ' that no permanent success in war was ever achieved without discipline in peace, as well as in the field.' " I charge you, therefore, in his name, and by Ms memory, which you all alike revere, to obey your officei's and non-commissioned offi- cers ; to be orderly, temperate, and vigilant, in the performance of your duties ; exercising the utmost consideration and kindness towards the inhabitants of the countrj'' in which you are employed — mindful tliat even an enemy ceases Y 162 HISTOEY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. XY. to be an enemy when his sword is no longer drawn against you ; but, above all, extending a hand of hearty co-operation and good fellow- ship to the gallant comrades with whom you are about to serve. Let it be a glorious and ani- mating sight for you to see the flags of England and Erance united in the cause of justice and of the rights of nations ; and let the only rivalry that exists between you be that of a generous and friendly competition in the path that leads to victory and honour. Soldiers ! I must not detain you longer, for your time is short ; but I cannot conclude without praying that ' God may defend the right, and bless your cause,' and bring you back with fresh devices on your colours, and with rejoicing, to the hearts of your friends, your wives, your children, and your country." A Lancashire correspondent describes one of these demonstrations of public sympathy upon the embarkation of troops in the following graphic manner : — " The departiire yesterday of the celebrated Connaught Rangers (the 88th Foot) appears to have been marked by more than even the usual amount of enthusiasm. They left Preston about ten o'clock yesterday forenoon. They were accompanied to the station by thousands of the inhabitants of Preston, who most enthusiasti- cally cheered them on their departure. The regiment, 850 in number, under the command of Lieutenant-colonel Shirley, arrived at the Tithebarn Street Station, Liverpool, about eleven A.M., by special train, and were received with the most vociferous cheers by thousands of spectators. Having formed into marching order, the band struck up ' Patrick's Day, ' which was the signal of a tremendous cheer by the entire regiment; they then marched to the Exchange, a portion of w^hich was kept apart for them. The entire of the windows of the Town-Hall, Exchange, and Underwriters' rooms. Stock Exchange, Police Office, and the various offices in the buildings, were crowded with spectators, of whom a large number were ladies, who added their quota of enthusiasm by the constant waving of handkerchiefs. Having formed into a circle round Nelson's monu- ment, the band played with splendid effect the National Anthem, the spectators during the performance remaining uncovered, and at the close joined the gallant soldiers in three deaf- ening cheers. The march was then resumed to the landing stage, where the Cunard steam- tenders, Jackal and Satellite, with two huge barges in tow, were in attendance to convey them to the Niagara, lying at her moorings in the Sloyne. About half-past twelve, all being on board, the tenders moved off, and the troops Avere all comfortably disposed of on board the Niagara. Judging from the enthusiastic and sinewy appearance of the 88th, it is most un- likely that the fame so gloriously acquired by the Connaught Rangers, in the Peninsula, will be otherwise than bravely sustained in the East." It was amusing to read, in the public papers of the day, the generous martial rivalry between the three kingdoms. What a gratiheation to the people of England — who are so much the more powerful members of the ^'Trio Juncta in mto" — to perceive the sister-countries emu- lating them in a brave ambition to be great ! Thus a paragraph from the Scotsman, in April, tells us : — "It is well known that Admiral Sir Charles Napier is a native of Falkirk. The distin- guished admiral of the fleet in the Black Sea is, in a sense, a native of Falkirk likewise. His father was Dr. Deans, who was for some time a medical practitioner in Falkirk, and who married Janet, daughter of Thomas Dun- das, Esq., of Fingask and Carron Hall. The gallant admiral was born at Calcutta ; his father having received a government appointment in India shortly after his marriage. Admiral Dundas married his cousin, the only daughter of Lord Aylesbury, a younger son of the Dundas family of Carron Hall, and after his marriage he obtained the king's permission to assume the name and arms of Whitley and Dundas, in addition to those of Deans." And in the Civil Service Ga%ette, about the same date, there appeared the foUowing amusing paragraph as to the birthplaces of the chief officers of the British expeditionary army : — '' A gentleman curious in such matters has made out the following statement: — Of the five who are to command divisions, all are of diff'erent birth : a Scotchman, a Hanoverian, an Irishman, a Canadian, and an Englishman. Thus, Sir George Brown is a native of Link- wood, near Elgin ; the Duke of Cambridge was born at Herenhausen, in Hanover; Sir De Lacy Evans is a native of Moig, in Ireland; Sir Richard England, a native of Detroit, in Upper Canada ; and the Earl of Lucan is the only Englishman of that rank ; he is to command the cavalry, and is a Londoner by birth, though of course an Irishman by descent. So also it is remarkable, with respect to the fleets, how th& two highest in command are not Englishmen. Sir Charles Napier was born near New Fal- kirk, in Scotland ; and Admiral Dundas at Calcutta, though he also is a Scotchman by descent. Amongst the eleven Brigadier-gene- rals it is interesting to observe: H. J. Bentinck (English?) of Dutch origin (on both sides — his mother having been a De Reede de Ginkle); Sir Colin and Sir John Campbell, of Scotch blood ; Colonel Pennefather, a " Tipperary boy;" Colo- nel Yorke Scarlett, of Jamaican descent ; while J. B. Estcourt is a Londoner, born near Port- man Square; and Lord Cardigan, a native o£ Chap. XV.J HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSTA. 163 Hambledon ; leaving only four unaccounted for, and of these H. W. Adams is probably a native of Warwickshire, since he is head of an old family in that county. William Eyre is pro- bably of Nottinghamshire birth, and George Buller a Cornish man. Amongst the six assistant adjutant-generals, we notice the two Irish names of Doyle and Sullivan ; and two Scotch, Maule and Gordon. The mixed nature of our population is here shadowed forth." Amongst the home events to which the declaration of war gave rise, there was one which, commonplace enough in itself, was the occasion of bringing out some statements from Sir George Hamilton Seymour, the late ambas- sador to Russia, which were peculiarly inter- esting to the public. The occasion which called for these statements of Sir George was a dinner at the Mansion House, where, amongst the other notables of the day, Sir George figured. The secret correspondence had made him a very considerable man in public estimation, and, indeed, he appeared to advantage, intel- lectually and morally, in those transactions, which have now for ever associated themselves with his name. The Lord Mayor, of course, toasted the diplomatic service of the country, which "brought up" Sir George in acknow- ledgment of the honour. He delivered the following speech, which gives a better character of the spirit and genius of British diplomacy than it generally obtained ; and he gave also a sketch of the spii'it of Russian diplomacy, of the Russian chancellerie, and of the czar him- self, which should be read and remembered by every Englishman, and by every man w^ho would guard the freedom of his kind from the encroachments of a barbarous power. "After returning thanks for the honour which they had done him in drinking his health, he said he could have been well content to sit down at once, as he was altogether unaccus- tomed to address large assemblies, but that he had a long story to tell. He might begin by remarking that the confidence which they were pleased to place in him, and the confidence they reposed in him, were due in great measure to the system of diplomacy adopted by the Eng- lish government. That system was remarkably simple. It consisted in a man keeping his eyes as wide open as he could, and in writing home observations — not such as were most likely to please the Engli-sh government, but such as they appeared to be to the man himself. That was the system universally adopted by English diplomatists; but, unfortunately, it was not followed abroad. In particular, it was not adopted by the Russian government, and the consequences were what they had all seen. Had the Russian government followed the same practice, he believed that none of the present evils yrould have come to pass. But, unfor- tunately, a contrary course was ad'opted ; for nothing could be more inexact, nothing more false, than the notions with regard to Europe in general that were circulated through Russia. What did they write with regard to the pro- vinces of Turkey ? They wrote that nothing but the greatest horrors prevailed — that the priests were murdered at the altar — that the Christian temples were burned — that the gross- est sacrileges were everywhere committed — things that made his hair stand on end, till he found that he could not trace a single word of truth in the whole relation. AVhat did they write from Constantinople ? They wrote that that interesting invalid, the sul- tan, got worse and worse ; that his flesh, and his appetite were quite gone; and that his obstinacy was such that he refused to take the prescriptions which the imperial physician was good enough to send him. What did they write from London? They wrote that John Bull was a very material feUow ; that he was immersed in the Three per Cents. ; that he was very fond of the creature-comforts; and that he was most unwilling to interrupt his present flow of prosperity by meddling with afi'aii's with which he had no direct concern. So much for England. He must say here that he was not alluding to mere diplomatic corre- spondence — to the despatches of Prince this, or of Count that — but to general reports sent from the country. What did they write from Erance? Why, they represented that country as having hardly escaped from one revolution, or political change, and as being only bent upon avoiding another; that the men of com- merce were intent upon realising large for- tunes; that the government was imperial in its sympathies; and, above all, the idea of a close connection between England and Erance was treated as a myth — as a thing to be talked of, but never to be realised {hear, hear). But it might be asked, what was the English minister about all this time ? The English minister, he might tell them, was a very small man. He did what he could, but his voice was small ; for it was not what was said to the Emperor of Russia in the English language that availed anything, but what w^as said to him in the Russian language ; and he was per- suaded that, if there had been any one among his advisers of courage or of character suflicient to tell his majesty the exact truth, his majesty would never have followed his present unfor- tunate course. The result was, that England was now plunged into a war with a country with which we had long been on the most friendly relations ; a country that had many sympathies with this country — as miglit be expected when it was considered that half of its produce was not only purchased by England, but paid for beforehand; — and with a very 164 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. rCiiAp. XVI. kindly people, for, he could not conceal it, that he had found there many kind hearts among the people (^cheers); and when the present mists of prej udice had been dispelled, there were many friendly hands there which it would give him great pleasure again to shake (^cheers). But if they had lost an ancient ally on the one side, the circumstances of the case had had the extraordinary effect, with regard to another country, of wiping away the results of cen- turies of jealousy and hostility, and of producing a state of friendly feeling which, he trusted, would be equally durable. He need not say that he alluded to their ally the French nation {cheers). In every language there were words of peculiar significance and importance. Thus, when they said in England that a man behaved himself like a gentleman, they bestowed upon him the highest compliment, and they meant that such a man would not only fulfil, but go beyond, his engagements. Now, in the French language, the words lotjal and loyaute had the same significant meaning. And, in speaking of the French cabinet, he must say that, as far as his own powers of observation had gone, those terms were peculiarly applicable to the acts of the French govei'nment {cheers). As far as he had been able to observe, nothing had been more loyal — nothing more marked by loxjauU — than the proceedings of the French government. He did not wish to go into any personal affairs ; but there was one slight cir- cumstance which occurred to himself, and which he thought, as regarded the conduct of the French government, had not attracted the attention it deserved. Among the arts that were used — dodges, he believed, was the modern word {laughter) — to separate the English and the French governments, the Russian cabinet meted out a very different treatment to the English minister from what was awarded to the French minister. For instance, he received one fine winter's morning the agreeable intimation that his back was more agreeable to the government than his face — that his passports were ready — and that it was desirable he should set out from St. Petersburg as soon as possible. Nothing of the sort was done to the French minister. Eut it happened that this little act was foreseen and discountenanced at Paris ; and it so happened that when the French minister heard of this, acting upon his instructions, he wrote to the Russian cabinet, requesting that a similar pass- port might be made out for him — and so, off he went {cheers). It was therefore possible, and he hoped it was probable, that the long centuries of hostility that have existed between France and England may now be succeeded by as many centuries of peace. Before sitting down, let him endeavour to point out the difference between the first and the second empires. The one appeared to him to rest upon war and upon a disregard of national rights ; the other rested upon an extreme desire for peace, as long as peace could be preserved upon honour- able terms, and upon the greatest respect for the rights and privileges of other nations. There had lately resounded through the streets of Paris the cries of ' Vice la Heine Victoria!^ ' Vivent les Anglais.'^ He believed he was speaking the universal sentiments of his coun- trymen when he said that Englishmen would respond to those cries with the shout of ' Vive la France! Vive V JEmpereur ! Vive le defenseur des droits de V Europe.'^ {cheers). He would not detain them longer. If any observation had appeared in his speech tinged with asperity, he hoped they would excuse it. He dared to say that many of them, in travelling, had expe- rienced the discomfort, when arriving at a sta- tion, of finding that they had left an umbrella or carpet-bag behind them ; and they would therefore excuse any annoyance felt by a poor traveller like himself, who had left behind him the whole of his luggage, and who therefore naturally felt a little excitement on the subject." CHAPTER XYI. OPERATIONS OF THE ALLIED FLEETS IX THE EUXINE IN THE SPRESTG OF 1854.— BOMBARD- MENT OF ODESSA, AND THE BATTERIES AT THE MOUTHS OF THE DANUBE.— APPEARANCE OF THE FLEETS BEFORE SEBASTOPOL.— GALLANT CONDUCT OF HER MAJESTY'S STEAMER "FURIOUS." " Scathed and mournful, like a blasted pine-tree Left alone when fire the land hath ravaged, Now appeared the late so prosperous homestead." — Soiigs of Finland. The month of April opened with fair and genial weather on the Euxine, and the allied fleets, receiving intelligence, about the 9th, that war was proclaimed, prepared to do some- thing more than merely cruise about as a sort of maritime police. They did not protect our merchant vessels in the Danube, which one might have supposed within the scope of their commission, even while yet war was not proclaimed ; before that ceremony was per- formed, the Russians repeatedly fired upon the trading ships in the Danube. The Bedlington CiiAP. XVI.] HISTORY OF THE WAE AGAIXST ETJSSIA. IGo mercliantman received no less than seventeen shots, and sunk in eight minutes ; the Crescent received seven, and the Annie three shots. The two latter were boarded, and the crews taken prisoners, but were released again the following day. The master and crew of the Annie retook possession of their vessel, and arrived safely at Constantinople. The Crescent could not be brought into port; she was com- pletely disabled, and was left stranded within three miles of the batteries. An interesting combat between sailors and Hussian cavalry, unusual antagonists, occurred at Kustangi. The steamers Si(lo7i and Magellan were both anchored in that port, and the cap- tain of the latter vessel, with some of his men, set out on a shooting excursion. Some Eussian troopers were concealed in a wood, at some dis- tance from the town, but were just discovered in time by the French commander and his men to place themselves on the defensive. They fired, and three of the troopers fell. The sailors steadily retired, showing face to the enemy whenever the latter pressed upon them. They would, however, have soon been over- powered by numbers, had not the affair been descried from the Magellan, from which a shell was directed, at the imminent risk of falling among their own little party, instead of the enemy. It fortunately fell in the right place, killing three more of the troopers, and creating such confusion among them as greatly to faci- litate the escape of the ship's people. The cavalry recovered from their sui'prise, and were about to charge, when a shot from one of the long guns of the ship swept through them, disconcerting their movements ; this shot was fullowed up by several othei's, all telling with admirable precision among the cavalry, who galloped off, leaving the captain and his handful of men a clear passage to their ship. The Rus- sians however again took courage, and presented themselves within range, when another shot from a long gun strewed the ground with men and horses, and the rest dispersed pellmell. On the 6th of April, an event occuiTcd at Odessa which constrained the allies to inflict a severe punishment upon that city. We shall give it in the words of one who was, from his position and abilities, amongst those best qua- lified to describe it. The following is an extract from a report sent in to the minister of marine and colonies by Yice- admiral Hamelin, commanding the French squadron in the Black Sea : — On board the ' Ville dc Paris,' at the anchorage of Batshi, April 10, 1854. " The English steam-frigate the Furious had gone on the Gth instant to Odessa, in order to claim and take on board (reclamer) the consiuls.and such of our feUow-subjects that might wish to quit that city at the approach of hostilities with Russia. The Furious arrived here yesterday, and, in casting your eyes over the report of her captain, your excellency will see that, in spite of the flag of truce which she had hoisted, and which her boat for landing also bore, the batteries of Odessa — the numbers of which have been much increased since these recent events — fired traitorously seven cannon- shots upon this very boat a few moments after it had left the quay and the naval authorities. This is an unexampled proceeding in the his- tory of the wars of civilised nations ; we must go back to 1829, the period when the Dey of Algiers did the same to the Provence (and here also it was a ship), in order to find an ana- logous fact ; that is to say, we must borrow the precedent from a war of barbarians. Ad- miral Dundas and myself are going to deli- berate on the severe measures that such a proceeding requires." As Admiral Hamelin intimates in the above despatch, the admirals consulted, and resolved to attack Odessa. Before we relate the cir- cumstances of the event, it is necessary to give some description of the place.* Accord ing to Captain Spencer, it is fifty-four hours' steaming from Constantinople ; but he must have had a tedious voyage, as it may be reached in a much shorter time. He describes it as having 100,000 inhabitants. Oliphant doubts whether its population reaches any such number; and other writers, with more proba- bility as to correctness, compute it at 70,000. It is frequently said to resemble Brighton in its topographical aspect and position. A much more striking resemblance would perhaps be found, except as to size, in the small town cf Youghall, in Ireland. In 1792, it was a poor Tartar village, called Hadji-bey. The Czarina Catherine II., that most talented and am- bitious of princesses, saw at once the advan- tage of Odessa when she secui'ed her Black Sea conquests, and founded there a city, which has risen to opulence and gran- deur. Captain Spencer says, that few towns have risen in prosperity more rapidly than Odessa; but, both in Great Britain and the United States, the instances are not few in which a prosperity has been attained as yet beyond the reach of this town. The port of Odessa is free, and the result is that a con- course, gathered from almost all nations, may be seen crowding its streets, and its well- stocked and oriental-looking bazaars. The port, notwithstanding its prosperity, is a bad one. It is ice-bound two months in the year, and has nearly the worst anchorage ground in * Our readers, who wish to have more extensive in- formation about its history and progress, can consult Olipliant's Himxi/i/i •'S/wrcsof the Black Sea in 1852; or I Kohl, the well-kuowu UerniaD traveller. 166 IIISTOrtY OF THE WAK AGAINST RUSSIA. [CiiAr. XTI. Europe, but there is deep water. The harbour is much exposed to a keen east wind, which penetrates everything that can be devised as a protection against, it. The climate is bad — in summer there is burning heat, in winter jjicrcing cold. The neighbourhood of Odessa is iinhealtlij-; the diseases of the Crimea preva-il — tlie same fatal dysentery, and the same deadly ague. The impediments to commerce are in- numerable, from quarantine, port regulations, dues, spies, and passports. Odessa is the great depot for the grain of Southern Eussia, previous to exportation. To promote the commerce of this place, as the outlet for that grain, Eussia has persisted, in spite of treaties, to block up the Sulina mouth of the Danube, and thereby check the rival commerce of Turkey and Austria. Odessa is ornamented by the mansions of wealthy merchants, Eussian officials, and even nobles. Prince WoronzofF built a palace, the fame of which burthens the stories of most voyagers on the Black Sea and travellers upon its shores. The vicinity is not pleasing : the city is built on the shores of a great steppe, which stretches away from the sea far inland, and the prospect from the town (inland) is one of unmitigated gloom. This accounts for what, from a similar cause, is so unpleasant in the Crimea — the dust covering everything in dry weather, and in the rainy season the streets being literally knee-deep in mud. The town is wretchedly lighted, and the paving and cleansing neglected. The exag- gerated accounts given of everything connected with this place, have probably arisen from the fashion of late years to laud everything Eus- sian — a fashion which Eussian agents have been assiduous to promote. When the allied squadrons prepared to attack it, they found it well protected with heavy batteries scientifically placed. At the south- east of the town is a long mole, at the end of which is the light-house. This mole is regularly defended by a parapet, with em- brasures for cannon. It is called the Quaran- tine. At the northern side of the cliffs stands the Imperial Mole. The Quarantine Mole en- closes the ships of all nations ; the Imperial Mole encircled the Eussian ships, military and mer- cantile. There were here large barracks and mili- tary and naval stores ; the allied squadron was ordered to spare, as far as possible, the Quaran- tine Mole, and the property it sheltered, which ■was British, French, or neutral. The ban-acks, stores, and shipping, at the opposite side, it was their object to destroy. Between the two moles there was a battery at the foot of the cliff. The citadel on the west side of the town domi- nates the port, which is formed by the moles above described. The number of batteries by which the place was defended was seven ; four Df which guard the entrance to the port. Of these four No. 1 was on the Quarantine Mole, and was of twelve guns, this defended the en- trance of the great roadstead ; No. 2, of six guns, below the boulevard — this battery divides the entrance to the Quarantine ; No. 3, of eight guns, is to the left of the steps, and is so erected as to cross fire with No. 2 ; No. 4, also of eight guns, on the quay of the " Port de Pratique," below the palace of Prince Woron- zofF. The other three batteries were thus situated : — one on the oth*r side of the gulf of Odessa, at the village of Dohinafta, opposite, or nearly so, to the Quarantine Port ; the second, to the south of the port ; and the third in the same direction, near the cape of the Great Fountain. Such was Odessa when, in consequence of the outrage named in the despatch of Admiral Hamelin to the French minister of marine, above given, three war-steamers, two English and one French, were sent to demand from General Baron Osten-Sacken, the military governor, an apology. An evasive answer having been given, a reply in writing was de- manded, and the baron vouchsafed it in the following terms : — " Aide-de-camp General Baron Osten- Sacken thinks it right to express to Admiral Dundas his surprise at hearing that shots were fired fi'om the port of Odessa upon the frigate Furious, bearing a flag of truce. " At the arrival of the Furious two guns were fired without ball, in consequence of which the vessel hoisted its national flag, and stopped her course beyond the reach of can- non-shot. Immediately a boat was sent out with a white flag in the direction of the mole, and the officer on duty, in answer to the question of the English officer, said that the English consul had already left Odessa. Without further question, the boat took the direction of the ship, when the frigate, without waiting for it, advanced towards the mole, leaving the boat at its left, and approached the batteries within cannon-shot. It was then that the commander of the battery of the mole, faithful to his order to prevent any vessel from coming within reach of the guns, thought it his duty to fire, not upon the flag of truce, which had been respected to the end of its mission, but upon a vessel of the enemy which had ap- proached the land too nearly after having been twice fired uponwithoutball — the signal to stop. " This simple explanation of facts, as they have been related to the emperor, ought of it- self to destroy the supposition, otherwise inad- missible, that in the ports of Eussia there is no respect paid to the flag of truce, the inviolabi- lity of which is guaranteed by the laws com- mon to all civilised nations. " Baeon Osten-Sacken, ^'■Aide-de-camp General to his Majesty the JSniperor," Chap. XYI.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 167 The letter of the governor being an artful evasion, the admirals wrote demanding " that all the British, French, and Russian vessels, now at anchor near the citadel or the batteries, must forthwith be delivered up to the co-mbined squadron. To this summons no answer was returned. After the manner of Russian officials, the de- mands of the admirals were treated with con- tempt. The baron knew that the allies could not efftct a landing with the troops at their disposal, and, therefore, whatever the damage inflicted upon the place, the squadron would of coui'se draw off, and his despatches would fill Russia with the tidings of a victory. Be- sides, he expected that the property most likely to be injured would be that of the allies and of neutral states. It is probable, also, that he regarded the demand of the admirals for repa- ration for the outrage offered to the British flag as a pretest, and that whatever course he might adopt, Odessa would be ultimately bombarded. He never could have supposed that a fortified city, sheltering ships of war, and a large mer- cantile navy, which had been used to convey provisions to 'the Russian armies, would be left unmolested, had no especial difi'erence arisen about a flag of trace. As a great depot of sup- plies for the Russian forces, he had common sense enough to expect that it would have been treated, as our squadrons have since served similar places on the Sea of Azoif. But our government at home had no intention to carry on an earnest war with Russia, with, the monarch and government of which they at heart sympathised ; and, therefore, instead of destroying Odessa, as an act properly conse- quent upon the war, and as politic from its im- portance as a place of supply, both to the Rus- sian forces in the Dobrudscha, and possibly to the garrisons of the Crimea, our admirals, not daring to exceed their orders, merely inflicted a chastisement by silencing the batteries and destroying the Russian ships ; contrary to their intention, the city also suffered. On the 22nd of April, the combined fleet neared Odessa, and a detachment of twelve steamers, six from the fleet of each nation, at- tended by a number of rocket-boats, com- menced the bombardment. The rocket-boats stood well in, as they were smaller marks for the land artillery, which, besides, dare scarcely waste its fire short of the covering vessels. Thus the rockets, which were 24-poundcrs, were enabled, with impunity, to cast in a stream of destruction upon the Imperial Mole and the Russian shipping. The plan of attack was one of the most beautifully conceived in the annals of maritime war. The steamers moved in file, each tracking upon the wake of that which preceded it, in an ever-repeated cii'cle, and each delivering her fire from that place in her orbit which was nearest to the enemy, she passed on, making way for her suc- cessor in the revolving circle, until she again wheeled round in the precise period for another delivery of her fire. This movement was most happily described by one who witnessed it as a wild waltz. of vengeance. Another as happily described it as the wheeling flight of some beautiful birds of prey, swooping at intervals each in turn upon the quarry. The Russian guns from the Imperial Mole answered with some efi'ect and great steadiness, and even rapidity of firej but the Terrible stood in nearer to the town, using red-hot shot and rockets, some of which, falling through a shed behind one of the batteries, it caught fire, the flames spread, and after a short interval a ter- rific explosion sent volumes of smoke and broken and burning fragments high into the air — the imperial magazine had been fii-ed, and the Im- perial Mole on which it rested was rent and shattered with the shock. Three loud cheers from the squadron hailed this token of success. The battery on the Imperial Mole being si- lenced, signals were made for the ships to stand in closer. This was done, and the fire directed upon the Russian shipping. A Russian frigate was the first victim — a shell penetrated to its magazine, and it was blown instantly to atoms. Two new frigates, not yet removed from the stocks, and several other ships in progress of building were burnt. A brig, a sloop of war, and a heavily armed schooner, were riddled with shot and sunk. The attack upon the stores and dockyard was conducted by the rocket-boats. The troops in the garrison opened fire from their horse-artillery with spirit, but the artillerymen were literally swept from their guns, and several of tlic pieces dismounted. It was impossible to defend stores or dockyard — the shells and rockets flew like fiends conscious of their mission and eager for destruction; the dockj-ard was ignited, and the conflagration spread everywhere; explosion followed explosion as detached portions of am- munition were touched, and the flames burst up, in fierce and fitful gusts, above the explod- ing and burning masses which sunk with loud crashes within them. The town itself caught the spreading fire, which pursued its careei-, leaping from house to house, until nearly half the city was reduced to a pile of charred and scattered rubbish. The punishment was sig- nal, and might have been complete. As it was, the fleet drew ofi", leaving a heap of ruins to rebuke the pride of the imperial representative. About fifty Russian sailors were captured, who were ultimately put on shore (very unnecessarily and very unwisel)% for those men afterwards de- fended Sebastopol), thirteen vessels, laden with munitions of war, were cut out and captured, and about 1000 Russian sailors and soldiers, 168 HISTORY or THE WAR AGA^ST RUSSIA. [Chap. XVI, the latter principally artillerymen, were killed and wounded. The loss of the allies was ex- tremely light; only one man was killed and ten men wounded of the English, the French suf- fered but little more. Several of the ships incurred damage, especially the British steamer Retribution, and the French steamer Vauban. The latter was on fire, and had to steer out of action until her magazine was secured, when she returned to her part in the curious gyrations of these angry swallows of the deep. Russian despatches, manifestoes, and circulars, are always " curiosities of literature" — and curiosities of lying. The ingenuity with which a defeated general, or admiral, will turn a defeat into a victory, or a terrible disaster into a matter for unmixed congratulation, is to be admired, if we can only divest ourselves of any idea of the morality of such conduct. Accord- ingly, "all the Russias" heard of the "repulse" of the allies, who could not silence the bat- teries of Odessa, but exercised their powers of destruction upon a peaceful city. The czar addressed an imperial rescript to the people of the battered town in these terms: — To the Inhabitants of our well-beloved and loyal town of Odessa. The Anglo-French fleets, entering the Black Sea, attacked some daj's back the peaceful city of Odessa, open to the commerce of Europe. General Baron Osten- feacken, in speaking of the brilliant courage with which the 'attempts of the enemy have been repulsed by the military forces, has likewise informed us that, in the midst of the danger which menaced the inhabitants, public tranquillity was not disturbed a single moment ; and that the people executed with exemplary zeal all the orders of the local authorities. Strict obedience to duty, as prescribed by our holy religion, and devotedness to the throne, animate all our well-beloved and faithful subjects. At Odessa, that sentiment, so worthy of praise, has been manifested to its full extent under the thunder of the enemy's cannon. The firmness and self-denial of the inhabitants of that town could not fail to attract our attention, and we feel pleasure in expressing, on this occasion, to all classes of the population our special kind feelings. Nicholas. St. Petersburg, May Sth, The emperor also directed a decree to the commandant, in honour of the triumph gained by his troops, which he is represented as "leading" to victory. We imagine, as the St. Petersburgers read this decree in the columns of the Invalide Russe, they were persuaded that holy Russia had driven the infidels from her sacred soil. " ' On the day when the inhabitants of Odessa, united in their orthodox temples, "were cele- brating the death of the Son of God, crucified for the redemption of mankind, the allies of the enemy of His holy name attempted a crime against that city of peace and commerce — against that city where all Europe, in her years of dearth, have always found open grana- ries. The fleets of France and England bom- barded for twelve hours our batteries, and the habitdtions of our peaceful citizens, as well as the merchant shipping in the harbour. But our brave troops, led by you in person, and penetrated by a profound faith in the Supreme Protector of justice, gloriously repelled the attack of the enemy against the soil which, in apostolic times, received the precursor of the Christian religion in our holy coxmtry. The heroic firmness and devotion of our troops, inspired by your example, have been crowned with complete success ; the city has been saved from destruction, and the enemy's fleets have disappeared. As a worthy recompence of so grand an action, we grant you the order of St. Andrew. 'Nicholas.' " The Russian government then decreed: — * The military stores, batteries, and all the other works of defence destroyed by a division of the combined squadron, shall be reconstructed at the expense of the city of Odessa.' It is added that the czar, in taking that decision, had merely acceded to the patriotic demands of the inhabitants." This latter decree accounts for the previous flattery of the bravery, obedience, and sanctity of the citizens. The combined squadron succeeded, in its progress to Odessa and subsequently, in taking a number of prizes, some of them of consider- able value. There was yet another exploit performed by the allied squadron, during the early spring, upon the shores of the Euxine. By the treaty of Adrianople, Russia was allowed to become the custodier of the mouths of the Danube. She acted especially as trustee, as it were, for the freedom of the Sulina mouth — the navigable mouth of that great outlet of the productions of many lands. Russia violated the engagements which this guardianship imposed upon her, as she always has violated engagements when she dare. Under the pretence of quarantine, to keep out cholera or plague from Bessarabia, she threw impedi- ments in the way of the commerce of the river. Persons and ships not going to Bessarabia, were subjected to the same inconveniences as if about to touch Russian territory. In fact, Russia seized the mouth of the Danube, almost stopped up — or, contrary to treaty, permitted to be almost stopped up — its navigable mouth, and acted as if the czar were lord paramount of its shores and waters. This course of con- duct was, as we have briefly intimated already, for the purpose of diverting the stream of com- merce to Odessa. Turkey produces the same commodities as Southern Russia : corn, flax, hemp, and all the products of the soil of which Odessa is the outlet, can be cultivated in the Danubian provinces of Turkey, of which the Danube is the outlet. To stop up that highway Chap. XVII.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAIN'ST IITJSSIA. 169 of ^vaters is to check Turkish commerce and cultivation; to impoverish the exchequer and the soil of vast and rich provinces of the sultan's empire; and thus, by force, to divert all the commercial advantages which nature has so lavishl}- bestowed on these territories, to the czar's own provinces of Eessarabia and Podolia. The English government many times remonstrated against this violation of treaty, in which it was interested. The czar and his minister made the fairest promises, and with all that seductive persuasiveness for which the Sclave race has credit; but there was no change; and England quietly submitted, when a spirited check to the pretension and power of her insi- dious enemy might have saved her millions of the treasure and much of the blood which have, in this war, been already expended. The bat- teries erected by Russia to control the naviga- tion of the river were bombarded by a portion of the allied ships. This opened to the allies the command of the river in a military point of view, and constrained the Russian armies to retreat from the provinces, when they were driven, baffled and defeated, from the battered earthworks and broken walls of SQistria. After tlio bombardment of Odessa, the allied fleets proceeded to Scbastopol, where the Ftirious, which took part in the destruction of the moles and batteries of the former place, signalised itself again and repeatedly. On one of these occasions s]:e narrowly escaped cap- ture, when her captain performed a feat of daring and dexteritj*, characteristic of the brave old times of the British navy. A letter from a naval officer thus descz'ibes the achieve- ment : — " Captain Tutham, of her Majesty's steamer Fury, has had the honour of opening the ball in the Euxine. He was sent by Admiral Dun- das to reconnoiti-e Sebastopol, and on Tuesday night (the llth) he anchored near Capo Lou- koul, some fifteen miles north of Sebastopol, so as to be able to run in towards the fortress just before daylight. Cossacks were seen riding towards the city to give information of his presence. At daylight, when about a mile and a half from the forts, he observed two man-"of- war brigs standing out, followed by two mer- chant si;hooners. Reiug anxious to get infor- mation, lie thought it desirable to make a prize of one of these schooners. He therefore hoisted Austrian colours, and stood right in for the har- bour, passing these vessels. Having got inside of them, he put on full speed, turned round, chased one of the schooners, and ran alongside of her, with the intention of making her fast to the Fury without the delay of lowering a boat. In this he failed, and subsequently lowered a boat and sent his first lieutenant with the end of a hawser, made her fast and brought the crew out of her, and took her in tow. On running alongside the schooner, he changed the Austrian for the British flag. "While so employed, two frigates and a steamer were observed to leave the harbour in chase, with a strong favourable breeze. Observing that they were fast gaining upon him, he found it necessary to cast off the schooner. For nearly three hours he was very hard pressed, and several shots were exchanged, but, b}- dint of good seamanship and misleading the enemy by signals, they eventuallj- gave up the chase. He has brought in the master and crew of the schooner, from whom some valuable informa- tion has been obtained. Thus the enterprising little Fury, mounting but six guns, was hon- oured by a chasing force of some 120 guns, and has now safely rejoined the fleet." All attempts to coax out the skulking navy of the enemy proved in vain, although "all odds" were offered to them. We must now leave our ships as sentinels before the entrance of the great arsenal, while we return to other scenes and another arm cf the service. CHAPTER XYII. KECEPTIOX OF BRITISH: GEXERALS IN FRANCE ON THEIR WAY TO THE EAST.— FRENCH AND ENGLISH TKOOrS AT M.ALTA.— THE ARRIVAL OF THE ARMIES AT GALLirOLI. " Adieu, adieu I my native shore Fades o'er the waters bhie ; The night-winds sigh, the breakers roar, And shrieks the wild sea-mew. Yon sun that sets upon the sea We follow in his tlijjlit ; Farewell awhile to him and thoe, My native laud — good night ! "—Byron. Ix an earlier chapter, wc gave a somewhat detailed account of the embarkation of the first troops dispatched for the East, on board the Ripon, Orinoco, and JLiiuHa ; and of the vari- ous regiments by which the first detacinncnts were speedily followed during the latter eud 2S 170 HISTOIIY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [CuAP. XYII. of February and the whole of March. The destination of those troops was Malta,* fi'om Avhcnce they were, after a short stay, with- drawn for Turkey, and landed at Gallipoli. The fust French detachments for the eastern expedition were also landed at Malta. Many of the superior officers of the British array Avent by way of France, either to Malta or Gallipoli direct : the hospitalities shown to them in Paris and other cities of France, were of the most courteous and loyal kind. The Duke of Cambridge, who was appointed to the command of the first division of infantry, was amongst the last of the officers who arrived in the East, he having certain especial diplo- matic lunctions to perform in Paris and Vienna. AVhile in Paris, he was greeted by the people with cnthusiam, and received with the most marked respect by the emperor, and the heads of the army and the ministry. Lord Raglan, upon whom the command of the British army devolved, was a sharer with the Duke in these cordial manifestations. The following is pro- bably the most exact account which appeared at the time, of the great military spectacle which the visit of the English chiefs occasioned. Paris was crowded with British officers of dis- tinction, whose superior rank or age rendered their appointment to divisional commands un- suitable. Their critiques upon the appearance and discipline of the French troops, were such as to give our countrymen every prospect of sharing the glory of a great campaign with the finest army that ever left the shores of France: — " The review given by the emperor in honour of the Duke of Cambridge, Lord Raglan, and the other high English officers now in Paris, was a most splendid spectacle. Since the great military display of delivering the eagles to the troops on May the 10th, 1852, nothing of so imposing a character as the present assemblage of troops has been seen in Paris. The weather, too, was on the whole favourable, for although * Malta is so well knovrn as an island in the Medi- terranean, strongly fortified and garrisoned by England, that it is only necessary to notice, en 2}assa>/t, its situa- tion or history. It is about twenty miles in length and twelve in greatest breadth. In ancient times it was little more than a barren rock ; but has been made pro- ductive by the vast quantities of soil brought from Africa and Sicily, between which it lies. The number of inha- bitants is about 100,000. Since the commencement of the present war, the population has increased very rapidly. The languages spoken are a very corrupt Arabic in the country, and nearly as barbarous Italian in the towns. The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem were here long estab- lished, the island having been given to them by Charles V., after the taking of Ehodes. It was attacked by the Turks in 1.565, who made many dreadful assaults, from the ISth of May to the 13th of September, and were unsuccessful after liaving lost near 30,000 men. The Christians lost near 5000. Buonaparte took possession of it on his way to Egypt, in 1798 ; on which occasion an old officer of artil- lery remarked, "It was well there was someone inside to sinrendcr it, or we could never have got in." The reader may consult with advantage the Kev. Sheridan Wilson's work ou Malta. some rain fell for a short time after the pro- ceedings had commenced, still the dust was laid, and the Champ do Mars rendered in good order for military exercises. By a quarter to one o'clock the whole army was in review order. The infantry formed a line extending nearly along the whole northern side of the Champ de Mars. The cavalry wtis ranged op- posite the grand race-stand, being in the centre of the line, and the artillery was in the centre, with the Ecole Militaire in its rear. Almost as soon as the empress had taken her seat in the state compartment of tlie grand stand, the em- peror and the Duke of Cambridge, followed by a brilliant and numerous staff, were seen gal- loping across the bridge of Jena towards the field. On arriving on the ground, however, the emperor immediately checked the pace, and, although it was raining hard, proceeded in a most business-like way to review the front of the infantry line at a walk. The Duke of Cambridge rode about half a neck behind him, and the mathematical precision with which this exact distance was kept throughout the day, showed the two royal equestrians to be perfect masters of their noble horses. The two uni- forms formed a Very pleasing contrast. The duke's scarlet uniform and white plume was an unerring guide to the position of the emperor, who, in the less conspicuous attire of a French general of division, would not otherwise have been always distinguishable from the crowd of officers about him. "When the emperor had reached the upper end of the infantry line, he turned, and at the same slow pace proceeded along the rear of the front rank, to the surprise of many of the spectators, who were not pre- pared for this minute inspection. But, not content with this, and determined to give the English officers the fullest opportunity for cri- ticism, he again turned, rode along the front of the rear rank, and then descended again by their rear, thus traversing the infantry line four times. Instead of a review, it was a searching inspection, such as a colonel would make of his own regiment on its private parade. The cavalry was afterwards inspected with nearly equal minuteness. One of the cavalry regiments played ' God save the Queen,' as the reviewing party passed by. The inspection over, the emperor led the Avay to the front of the grand stand, where he and the Duke of Cambridge saluted the empress. In a few minutes the filing past commenced. AU the regiments marched exceedingly well, and being stimulated by the presence of the English offi- cers, with greater precision than usual. When the filing past was finished, it was thought that the review was over, and a momentary disappointment was felt because no manoeuvres had been executed. This disappointment was of short duration, for although the (h^le is Chap. XYII.] HISTORY OF THE ^'AP. AGAINST EDSSIA. 171 usually the conclusion of a review, it was not so to-day. Whether by a preconcerted arrange- ment, or in consequence of a request from the Duke of Cambridge, or a sudden thought of the emperor, I cannot say — a brilliant charge of cavalry was reserved for a honne louche. A few minutes after the filing past was concluded, the entire force of cavalry in the field appeared, as if by magic, in a single line at the furthest ex- tremity. The word was given to charge, and they rushed forward along the whole length of the Champ de Mars, towards the opposite side, of which the grand stand is the centre. As the formidable line came rushing on to within a few yards of the Emperor, the staif, and the spectators, people rapidly reviewed in their minds a question much debated of late, whether cavalry would stop of themselves rather than go through a material obstruction. I, for one, confess that I was not easy aboiit tlie theory at all ; it seemed to me as if nothing coiild stop the impetuosity of their charge, and that in a few seconds Napoleon III., his marshals, the Duke of Cambridge, Lord Eaglan, and the crowd of curious beholders immediately behind them, must inevitably be trampled upon under the hoofs of the advancing cohorts. However, at the word * halt ! ' enforced, it is true, with great and apparently anxious energy by officers com- manding squadrons, the imposing line drew up, still in line, within a few feet of the emperor's horse. This brilliant conclusion of the day was the signal for deafening cheers from the tribTines. Lord llaglan, during the day, rode among the French general officers, a good way behi-nd the emperor. Marshal St. Arnaud, and Marshal Vaillant, the minister at war, were immediately next to the emperor and the Duke of Cambridge." It was impossible to peruse the French papers of the time, without being struck with the liigh tone of admiration and respect for everything English. Strong as tlie favour- able feeling of the English people to France and the French emperor tlien undoubtedly was, it was far surpassed in warmth and appropri- ateness of expression by the French, towards the army, government, and people of Britain. The Pays, then a very great authority, thus writes concerning the events above recorded : — " The revicAv at which the Duke of Cambridge was present yesterday was more than a bril- liant military manoeuvre : it had a political importance, which did not escape the notice ot any of the numerous spectators who thronged the Champs de Mars. English uniforms, min- glirg with French imiforms, were tor every eye tbe visible sign of that strict alliance which the same feeling of dignity and civilization, and the same interest, has cemented between France and England — an alliance so much the more serious and durable that it does not result from those personal considerations, nor from those dynastic affirmities which the slightest incident compromises and overturns, but rests on mutual sympathy and on a truly national policy. The presence of the English officers has besides been the occasion of manifestations altogether spontaneous, which attest at the same time the progress and the justice of public opinion. The acclamations which broke out on their passage have demonstrated in an undeniable manner that the union of the two nations is not less cordial than that of the governments. There remains at present nothing of the ancient pre- judices which aroused such lively and such de- plorable passions between England and France. All the classes of society in each of these two countries are well aware that France and Eng- land are, in the whole Avorld, the most worthy and the most disinterested representatives of right, justice, and moral and material progress; that they have the same interests to carry out, and the sanie interests to defend ; that in fine, as their contests have shaken all states, so their alliance confirms the general equilibrium, and guarantees the security of modern nations. The first effort of this new and generous alli- ance has for object to promote the right of Europe against the ambition of Russia, to maintain respect for treaties, to arrest in their invading march the heirs of Attila and of the Huns, and to oppose to the barbarism of the races of the north tlie impassable barrier of civilisation. The armies Avhich march for the support of this noble cause may be proud of their mission ; they will obtain not merely that glory of a military character which is sought for on the battle-field— they Avill also have that still more useful glory which great services merit, rendered to humanity by the triumph of principles which ensure universal peace. Such were the sentiments and impressions which yesterday filled every mind in seeing a Prince of England by the side of the Emperor of the French, and the superior officers of Great Britain and France confounded in the same ranks, at the same moment when they are about to undertake the supreme struggle of right against iniquity, and of the interest of all against the ambition of a single on.\" The only English paper published in Paris, Galiynani's Jlcsscnyer, if less philosophical, was more graphic in describing wliat took place. "The most remarkable part of this splendid pageant was not the appearance of the troops, however magnificent, but their bearing and that of the multitude of spectators towards the English. That our countrymen would be re- ceived with courtesy, no one could doubt, from the exquisite politeness and hospitality of the French. It was not, however, with mere po- liteness that they were greeted, but with marked and even afi'ectionate cordiality. As the Duke 172 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. Chap. XVII. of Cambridge passed along tlie lines, loud and constant cries of ' Vive V Angleterre ! Vive h Prince Anglais!^ were raised both by soldiers and peo})le, in conjunction with the shouts of ^Vivel Empereur!^ and during the filing off, these cries were again repeated with marked enthusiasm br both. The bands, too, of most of the regiments frequently played ' God Save the Queen. ' Amongst the pedestrians, that is to say the lower and most numerous part of the spectators, the friendly feeling towards the English was in fact so great as to occasion sur- prise. ' AVhich is the Prince ? ' ' Which is Lord Raglan?' were the universal inquiries, whenever the imperial cortege passed near ; and whenever any good-natured fellow said — (with, by the way, as regarded the duke;, a greater desire to oblige than, perhaps, his knowledge of English social distinctions warranted) — ' Voilcl, Lord Camhridgc, le Prince Anglais — cclui-Id a c6te de VEmpereur!' or, 'Voild, Milord BagJan — celui c[iii n' a qu\m hras r — whenever such a reply was returned, up rose a shout of ' Vhc le Prince! Vivent les Anglais/' One would have said, really, that 'perfidious Albion' had never existed in the imagination of the Erench, and that French and English had been fast friends for ages!" "When leaving France, the Duke of Cam- bridge and Lord Raglan were received by the municipalities, and the people everywhere, as if on a triumphal progress. Whatever is ani- mated in spirit, gay in mode, and artistic in taste — characteristic of the French people — was put forth upon these occasions. All France was eager to prove the entente cordial, and to show that, as in the days of Cromwell, the warrior and dictator, so, in the days of Yictoria the peaceful, French and British, not- withstanding all their diversities of policy and taste, could fight side by side for the cause of European independence. The arrival of the British expeditionary forces at Malta excited the utmost delight among the soldiers of the garrison, who thronged the formidable-looking battlements, awaking the echoes with their cheers, as the transports glided into the harbour. The first detachment of the brigade of Guards landed upon the 4th of March, and at an hour which allowed to the inhabitants and the garrison an opportunity for assembling to give them a hearty welcome. It was about two o'clock in the afternoon when they arrived ; but so wretchedly wet and dismal was the weather, that comparativelj- few were there to greet them, beyond the troops in the vicinity. Four companies of the Guards were immediately quartered in Fort Manuel, three others in the Lazaretto, and one in Fort Tigue, at the entrance of the quarantine harbour of Marsamuscetta. The 28th landed a little later in the afternoon, when the weather was, if possible, more gloomy. Three companies were placed in quarters in the Xaval Hospital Store, in Beghi Bay, at the entrance of the grand harbour of La Valetta ; two companies in St. Salvador, nearly adjoining; the head-quarters and tv/o companies in the new works at Fort Verdela, within the Cattoncra lines ; and one company at Zabbar Gate. The next day, the remaining portions of the Guards landed at an earlier hour, and under a clear blue sky, such as the people of Malta often look upon, and always delight to behold. The day was clear and bright, and the searching spring light revealed every peculiarity in the uniform, mien, and bearing of these gigantic messengers of England's strength and valour. The soldiers looked as hale and fresh as before they embarked, and their gay uniforms, contrasted with the frowning walls of the place, presented a pictui'esque eflect. jSTot an accident occurred to mar the beauty of the scene, or to afford the superstitious an evil omen in reference to the cause for which the force was sent forth. The sol- diers, although more at home on shore, were profuse in their acknowledgments of Jack's hospitality, many of whose songs and " yarns" they had contrived to " stow away " in their memory during their brief sojourn upon blue Avater. Immediately upon the troops taking up quarters, the general issued an order that all olEcers should appear in uniform; and regula- tions were made of the most judicious nature, to secure the troops against coming into any collision with the inhabitants, whose hatred to the English government and nation is deep, rancorous, and unreasoning. Mingled hostility, of a political and religious nature, thus inflames the minds of the Maltese. There was, how- ever, no manifestation of it to the expeditionary forces. On the contrary, the people seemed to catch the infection of loyalty b}' which the soldiers were inspired, and there v.'ere no avail- able marks of kindness which they did not confer. Tlie common people treated the com- mon soldiers in the coffee-shops and divans, while the clubs were opened to the officers, and balls and parties became the order of the day. The men of " the force" showed a laud- able curiosity, and lionized con amore: they were very ready to receive all the hospitalities offered, and gave promises in return — which the Maltese did not seem much to value — that they would thrash " them there barbarians," and " make master J^icholas let the poor devils of Turks alone." As the Manilla, and other ships and troops arrived, it became very soon manifest that there was a great want of organisation, both on ship- board and on shore. The commissariat depart- ment even then gave way ; and timely warning was afforded, that if it were not placed at once upon a better basis, the expeditionary army would Chap. XYII.l HISTORY OF THE WAE AGAINST ETJSSIA. 173 be the most inefficient, as an army, "whatever the efficiency of individual corps or men, whiht ever left the ports of England. Various men and things were soon discovered to be wanting, that ought to have been brought from home ; and there was such advertising in Malta as was never known in its history. Every person required was referred to Commissary Filder, or the assistant, Commissary-general Strickland. All sorts of tradesmen, from a tinker to a borer of rifles, was in request. Clerks, store-keepers, servants, interpreters, sadlers, harness-makers, tailors, musicians, smiths, wheelwrights, far- riers, armourers, packers, shoemakers, were all wanted; while at home all these could be found in superabundant numbers, and at the cheapest rate. There was a great deal too much of very many things of indiifei'ent utility; there was nothing to be had when many requisites of essential concern were sought. The soldiers were daily made more perfect, during their stay at Malta, in the use of their weapons, especially in the practice of the Minie musket. The men of the British Isles, in all ages, have been renowned as marksmen. Nei- ther Swiss nor Tyrolese possess the qualities calculated to make good riflemen in a greater de- gree than the soldiers of "the three kingdoms." From the days of Cressy to the wars of the Cape, the soldiers of England could take a deadly aim. A certain German military writer calls the British army, an army of grenadiers; — it seemed, at this juncture, to be the object of its chiefs to make it an army of riflemen. It was well that these exercises were insisted upon, as they tended to give a healthy tone to the men; who soon became addicted to the use of bad brandy and worse wine, and various execrable viands, sold in the cook or coff"ee- shops, which were injurious to their health. In March and April, notwithstanding the splendid spring days, and a sun hot as in Midsummer with us, the nights are cold and unhealthy, and especially to those not accustomed to the climate. The sea- son, too, was unusually sickly ; and there Avere indications in the English camp that colds and carousings were both doing their work : catarrh, alcohol, and a new climate, at a trying season, had spread the germ of sickness among the troops, which afterwards so fatally de- veloped itself elsewhere. The island became a very busy and a very gay place while the army remained ; trade was brisk, money circulated freely, every one was speculating in his line, and the Jews reaped a plentiful harvest amongst the spendthrifts. Moses did not, however, always succeed in fleecing his supposed victims — he was often fleeced himself; and we have had moi'e than one amusing description, by an eye and ear-witness, of a Jew in liis office, long after the departure of his debtors to other scenes, comparing the lists of casualties from the Crimea with the names on his books, and denouncing as a disgrace to his country, in all the varieties of passion impelled by avarice, the fallen heroes who were in his debt ; while those who escaped the rage of shot and shell, or were only slightly wounded, remained in his estimation true heroes, as they survived to honour his drafts. The continued arrival of French troops, while the British expeditionaiy force remained at Malta, was the occasion of scenes which amused the Maltese a good deal. The soldiers of both nations were fired with an irresistible curiosity to see one another ; and whether en- gaged at some little distance, or exchanging civilities, seemed never tired of mutual gazing. There was no end to their fraternisation. Tlie little Zouave nestled under the arm of the big British grenadier, or strutted out before him, as if the latter was a big pet of his, and just then under his protection. Their abortive attempts to become intelligible to one another, were not the least amusing feature of tlic fra- ternisation of the soldiers of the two nations, to the observant Maltese. There, yonder, are a pair just now acting out the Western alli- ance in their own proper persons; one is a chasseur, well equipped, slight in figure, and nimble as a rat, or a roe, if it be a more com- plimentary comparison. He places his hand on his heart, his gesture is eager, and varied beyond all imitation ; that burly guardsman smiles, and positively blushes ! he raises his hand to his shako, as if he were saluting one of his own officers. The little chasseur rushes at him, embraces him, and rings the changes on all the customary phrases of compliment and satisfaction which his language supplies; the guardsman still blushes, and assures him he is glad to sec him, and asks him, in ap- proved cockney, if he will have a glass of porter, which he gratefully and somewhat boastfully informs liini lias been sent out to the troops. The Frenchman shakes his head, and repeats his plirases and gesticulations ; but most expressively slirugs his shoulders, and declares that he does not speak English. An English sailor, who has been quietly surveying the interview with his hands in his pocket, and a quid going leisurely its rounds in his cheek, " can't stand this any longer," and goes up to the Frenchman, claps him on the back with a blow that seems a sliock to the Frenchman's whole frame, seizes his hand and shakes it, as if he wanted to wrench it ofi^, and tells him "that them ere sogers are very much like marines," to which the shaken French friend politely assents by a beatifying grin, which Jack takes for a compliment iu turn, and seizing the Frenchman under his brawn)' arm, walks off with him to a brandy- shop, leaving the " non-plussed " grenadier in stat'jly admiration and astonishment, mixed 174 HISTORY OF THE WAH AGAINST IIUSSIA. [Chap. XYIl. in. any proportions the reader pleases ; while the chasseur, turning round, kisses liis hand to his quondam friend, and reconciles liiraself to his new acquaintance, who seems to regard liim with a sort of pity, as too little entirely for the profession of arms. A greater numher of the Euglish soldiers — especially among the non- commissioned officers — knew French than might have been supposed, or has been generally represented, and the admiration which the French entertained for these was boundless. In fact, these men were of great use, not only to their fellow-soldiers, but to their regiments, in transacting business, for which then a know- ledge of the French language was so necessary. "When the fi.rst meetings of considerable bodies of the two armies occm'red, their cheers were vociferous, and their demonstrations of alliance animated by the warmest conceivable cordiality. If making Malta the first rendezvous for both answered no other end, it answered this — of giving the soldiers of both nations time to know something of one another, and form an acquaintance with those peculiarities to which they would afterwards to some extent be obliged mutually to adapt themselves. Yet there were cu'cumstances which tried this new- born friendship. Upon the British regimental colours there are many inscriptions to perpe- tuate the memory of the battles won over their allies when they were enemies, but the British covered these ensigns with a good taste which the French appreciated. Prince Napoleon, it was alleged, was so in- veterately prejudiced against the English that he could never be engaged to countenance the policy of a united action; and although burning to revive the military prestige of his name and race, would not take a command in an army which was appointed to co-operate with an English army in the field. It was even alleged, that during the then recent visits of the English generals in France, en route to Malta, he left Paris in order not to meet them at the reviews given by his cousin the emperor for their en- tertainment. Happily, however, he belied all these evil allegations, for when he arrived at Malta, no French officer was more complaisant to the British than was the prince; thereby re- moving a source of uneasiness from both ca- binets, if there were any truth in these reports concerning him; and, at all events, relieving the English people, and the ofiicers of the army, from any apprehensions entertained about the interruption of good feeling between the troops of the two nations. Such were the scenes in Malta during the short period that the troops were there, before proceeding to Gallipoli. A lady, who seems quite at home amidst military stir and occupa- tion, thus sketches the picture : — " The Strada Reale wos crowded. The pavement, occupied by riflemen and red jackets of all sorts, looked like a double row of poppies, relieved here and there bj' the green leaves. The entrances of the hotels — the Imperial, Dumford's, and Ba- ker's — were assailed by weary, gasping people, earnestly desiring shelter, and generally re- pulsed by the answex", ' No room.' Then pri- vate lodgings were tried; some of them of the most extraordinary kind, and in the most ob- jectionable neighbourhoods. A swarthy house- holder would usher one into the newly-swept charcoal closet, with laudatory remarks on its security from noise and cold — he might have called it light and air. The aiiherges of the knights were filled ; the forts of St. Elmo, St. Angelo, Fort Manuel, the new Lazaretto, were bursting with troops ; so was it also with the new barracks at Valetta ; in fact, it was only wonderful that the caverns of the rocks, the sheltering places of the milch goats of the island, had not been also thought of, and se- cured for the troops. Then the gossip ! Every half-hour brought its news; the clubs, of course the nucleus. Greek mischief-makers, Russian spies, Turkish alarmists, were all busily engaged. The waiting-rooms of Muir and Goodenough, the two librarians of the Strada, were filled with inquirers all day long. Wonderful monster vessels, that had ploughed the Atlantic, and were never before heard of among us, came proudly into the stirring harbour of Valetta, and were away again ere morning light. Old, creaky, crazy steamers, patched ibr the time, were towed slowly out, laden with women, horses, and stores, — the spectators doubting whether any of them would reach their destination, and the destination itself involved in much obscurity. Then all Malta would be excited by the thunderings of a salute by the fort, which, reverberating among the rocks, was re-echoed by the men-of- war in harbour. Anon we all raced up to a haracco — an elevated sort of colonnade over- hanging the Mediterranean, while beneath us rushed in a little steamer, carrying English or French colours, on which we at once ran down again to the Custom-house landing, to arrive with the guard of honour and the governor's carriage, and witness the disembarkation of a number of cocked hats and white feathers, be- longing to the great men and stafi" of the allied armies. I3y this time the square in front of Government House was covered with Maltese, in their hanging capes and sleeve-depending coats; and people happy enough to squeeze into project- ing windows, or out into the narrowest of all bal- conies, in time, might see a carriage filled with Algerine or other heroes, Marshal St. Arnaud with his beautiful wife, honest-looking Can- robert, or Prince Napoleon, the living image of his uncle. One soon sees all that Malta has to show : — St. Paul's Bay, Citta Yecchia, the gar- Cuxv. XVII.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 175 den of St. Antonio, St. John's Church, and the Capuchin Morgne. After this people declare themselves tired ; and I dare say they are, for one must naturally grow tired of standing on the steps of a club, to hear constantly contra- dicted news — of eating ices from the Cafe del Commercio, rather thawed by their transit — of going to the post-office, to find letters are not sorted yet — and of taking refuge in listening to a badly-performed opera, of which one cannot understand a word. All this monotony be- comes the more unendurable because of the panting anxiety there is to go forward and mingle in great events — in new scenes, to win shining honours or glorious memories." Such wishes were soon to be gratified : and meanwhile Malta became a vast military depot — great at all times in this respect, it now became a wonder. Stores of every im- aginable description were accumulated ; re- sources were pUcd up, the destructive energies of which, wei'c appalling to contemplate, and yet all were soon to be consumed in the wild waste of war. Again and again were these vast stacks of balls and shells to be re-piled, as the exigencies of the contest diminished them. The magazines were fiUed with powder, ■which would soon prove to be but a small portion of the masses to be exploded in the cannon or in the mine ; and when count- less weapons, such as Avere ranged in these arsenals, should be scattered in fragments, still more formidable ranges must replace them. After the arrival of the allied expeditionary forces, great pains were taken to strengthen the fortifications. It was resolved to place them in a condition to resist, with more certainty, the new naval armaments. So formidable were these arrangements, that the fine old 24-pounders, and finer 32-pounders, of St. Elmo and St. Angelo, were displaced by long fifty-sixes, and guns of still heavier metal. The fortified aspect of the place, during the stay of the allied troops, was graphically described by a popular writer, in these terms : — " To an inexperienced eye, those long lines of Avhite stone curtains — those tiers of bastions, with their huge iron guardians peering above them — those serrated walls, all armed with grinning embrasures, which stretch all around the harbours and town of Valetta, and command the sea in every direction — ap- pear calculated to defy the greatest navy that could be brought against them ; but modern science has found them vulnerable, and the strong is made to replace the weak. Wherever you go outside the town, the eye of a cannon is gravely and steadily fixed upon you. Take a walk down that tempting slab of rock down by the sea-side — an 8-inch howitzer is investi- gating your proceedings from that embrasure and if you turn round, you will face liis bro- ther, looking at j^ou cut of another window directly opposite." Mrs. Young thus describes the Maltese streets, people, and occupations: — "How pretty the Malta market is, with its wonder- fully coloured fish, its marvellously-sized vege- tables, tropical as well as European — its piles of pnvple figs, rich grapes, loquats, medlars, melons, oranges, peaches — a massing of rich colour, delightful to the painter's eye ! So with the street stalls. I know nothing pret- tier, as the sun falls on it, than a street fruit- stall at Malta, resting against some portion of richly-carved stonework, with its gay awning, brown and yellow baskets, throwing east sha- dows on each other, and the white-tcethed, bright-eyed, smiling, picturesqueh'-attired ven- dor. Altogether, the early mornings of Malta are charming. The fresh delicious air ; the blue waters, with their many coloured passage- boats plying about the harbours, from Valetta to Sliema, Sliema to Pieta ; the goats in large flocks, with red necklaces and silver bells, strolling from door to door, waiting to bo milked ; the Maltese ladies, kind-looking and soft-eyed, passing along in theii- black pal- dettes to the morning mass ; the curious pic- turesque old green calcsses, on two wheels, with sorry nags, quite overpowered with heavy and antique harness — the drivers smoking, laughing, singing along, as they go jolting on the shafts to a neighbouring cased (village) ; the little carts passing in, laden with rich and monster clover; the large, handsome, gaily- caparisoned mules; the stealthy, handsome, sandaled Capuchin, on his way to St. John's ; the merry children, each a study for Murillo ; — each and all are pleasant items, and form a whole most agreeable to the eye of that too rare seeker for healthy enjoyment, the early stroller about Malta. " One of the pleasantest modes of passing a warm morning at Malta, I found was to lounge in a comfortable chair, in the quiet library of kind Mr. Quintana, in the shaded Strada Straetta, and turn over books on Turkey. From Quintana's library I often hired a boat, at the especially disagreeable landing-stairs of the Marsamuscetta, and glided away across the quarantine harbour to Missida, where my friend !Mr. Quintana had lately built a house, from the angle of whose flat roof floated the Spanish flag, in compliment to his nation. Here I was able to observe the process of making gardens out of hard rock ; a matter, as I pondered over the aspect of our ocean bar- rack, as wonderful to me as any performance of Herr Dijbler, Robin, or Anderson. Yet here and there the marvel is seen of a beautiful, luxuriant, and well-kept garden in the rocky fastnesses of Malta; while about Missida and the casah, generally, the wild flowers are beau- 17G niSTORY OF THE ^VAU AGAINST IIUSSIA. [CiiAV. XYir. tiful and abundant, springing in masses about the pretty rock, like a dream of the Trosachs, and reminding one of lliuhardson's llighhmd pictures of the New "VVater-colour." At last tlie order came for the first division to embark for the sliores of Turkey, wliilc othei' bodies of troops from home were to take; up their quarters, and some were dispatched from the ports of France and Eiighuid directly to Gallipoli. In ilalta, the scenes which were presented upon the departure of the troops for Turkey were more exciting, and inspired more emotion, than those which had occurred on their landing. Account for it how we may, tlierc was a Tcry general foreboding on the part of the •wives, and oiScers, and soldiers, v/hen the troops were ordered to Gallipoli. It was not merely the sad feelings of parting, such as, under any circumstances, the families of sol- diers would feel, as those they loved went forth to the campaign — there was an ominous gloom over almost every lieart. Neither superstition, nor an over-formidable estimate of the foe to be encountered, caused this gloom ; for it rested on the minds of those who were strangers to superstition; and no confidence could exceed that which was felt in the extent of our re- sources, the sufiiciency of our armies, and the justice of our cause. Such was the complexion of mind with the sojourners at Malta, wlien, as the interesting lit-tle work, Our Gam}) in Turhy, and the Way to it, presents the debarkation to us : — "Malta must be left, and heavy were the hearts as the day approached ; the troop- ship is dedared in readiness; and poor women, whether wives of officers or soldiers, were left ■with streaming eyes on the haracco, while the fine ship glided on towards her eastern point, and those whom God joined were put asunder — when again to meet?" " I remember coming in from a country ride in a calesse, when the Himalaya was going out laden with troops ; the sun was shedding its golden light over the blue water, and that deep purple tone was rising in the horizon peculiar, I think, to Malta in early spring. A crowd was scattered about the rocky hillocks at Florian, watching and wishing well to the noble ship. Among them was a pretty young Englisliwoman, a soldier's wife, with two little smiling rosy children at her feet, gathering daisies. ' Get up, children,' said the mother, ' and kiss your hands to father.' ' I don't want to, mother,' said the elder, intent upon its little pastime. ' Oh, you naughty child!' answered the woman, snatching it in her arms, and hurrying to the wall under which the ship lay; 'you'll likely never see him again!' I turiied away, — the truth was so sorrowful, so full of pathos ! How few of the brave hearts now beating with hopes of glory on the deck of tliat fine sliip, would ever feel again the loving ])ressure of wife or cliild ! But Kuch is w;u' ! 'Tis well it lias its bands and colours, flags and music, to liide the tears in manly eyes, and drown the sobs of woman's voice !" Upon the arrival at T'.falta of the dr-claration of war, the dispatch of troops for Gallipoli was continued with redoubled energy. The first portion of the expeditionary forco left Malta in the Golden Fleece, on the Gist of Jlarch, and entered tlie Dardanelles on the Sth of April. As the first detachment of our troops, on their way out, landed at Valetta amidst gloom and shovrers, so did they re- embark for their onv/ard course in similarly depressing weather. There was consequently none of that boisterous cheering from fort to fort by the soldiery, nor waving of hats and handkerchiefs by the population, which marked the sailing away of the subsequent detachments. Eut there were tearful eyes which watched them in that sullen mist, and bleeding hearts that yearned over their departure, and loving lips that blessed them, until the good ship left the harbour, and was lost to sight in the dim atmosphere. The vessel made its way through drenching rain, and foaming waves, and pelting storm, until night closed tranquilly around it; and upon the clear heavens the soldiers, and more super- stitious tars, were surprised to see the well- known portent of war from all antiquity — a comet. Although something of the nature and history of such celestial phenomena are now known, even by our poor soldiery, yet this only modified the superstitious feeling which the bright wanderer, so unexpectedly appearing to them on such an occasion, was calculated to excite. They knew that its mysterious revolu- tions were fixed by definite and unei'ring laws; but they know also that the hand wliich moved it in its eccentric course, directed also the revolutions and changes of the earth beneath, and of its multitudinous peoples; and thej' could not therefore divest themselves of the associa- tion between the fiery sign and the fierce enter- prise upon which they were intent. Still it was observable, even amongst the Irish sol- diers in the rifle-brigade, who, in their dark uniform, stood discussing the nature of the phe- nomenon, that amongst the most superstitious portion of our troops the portent was favour- ably regarded — " Saw 5-e yon blajiinj; star } — The heavens look dowii on Freedom's war, And light her torch on high." "When the Morea was descried, the terres- trial prospect was as much a matter of interest to the officers, as the heavenly apparition had been to the men. The classic associations of the land past which the vessel steamed, could not fail to awaken, in educated minds, associa- Chap. XYll.] HISTOPtY OF THE WAR AGAIXST TtrSSIA. 177 tions of tasto and genius, beauty and glory. The days when Greece was young would start up from the pages of classic story, and live again in the imagination of the beholders. The Econes where gods and men held strange coun- sels, and lived, or waned, in the long vista of bright and fadeless memoi-ies, were too much identiiied with the classical education of British gentlemen not to thrill upon the heart, as they beheld the rocks, the shores, the isles, the capes, the headlands, storied in the beautiful annals of a remote and glorious antiquity. However busy our younger officers, especially, may have been Avith Avhat they learned of Greece at Eton or at Harrow, they gave no heed to the Grecian counsel, for " him who doubled Cape Malea to forget his home ;" for while the Golden Fleece buttled fearlessly with the winds and waves, which, in olden time, sent so many adventurous mariners beyond tlie reach of all future storms, " Home, sweet home," Avas the theme Avith those who sought glorj' as eagerly as they remembered home tenderly. There is a peculiar disposition of the mind, in the stillness Avhich, in night or calm, so fre- quently occ-urs at sea, to indulge in retrospection the scenes of childhood; and even if bent upon some proud enterprise, engrossing our ambi- tion, and stirring up our Avhole courage and purpose, we feel ourselves again and again softly murmuring — " My native land, good niglitl " During this voyage it was a banquet to the pride of tlie Avarlike and educated Englishmen, that the old Morca echoed, for the first time, the music of the patriotic and loyal strains of Eng- land, as the bands of the ship and troops played " llule Britannia" and " God save the Queen." An eye-witness trippingly describes a portion of this voyage thus : — "The ship, having run safelj- through all the terrors of the il^]gean and its islands, dashed away right for the entrance of tlie Dardanelles.* Smooth seas accom])anied the ship as she steamed past Mitylene. On the left lay the entrance to the Gulf of Athens — Eubea was on our left hand — Tenedos was before us — on our right rose the sunny heights of Mount Ida, and the Troad (atrociously and imforgivc- ubly like the Bog of Allen) lay stretching its flat brown folds from the sea to tlie mountain side, for miles aAvay. Athos (said to be ninety mik^s * Lieutenant O'Eeill)-, of hor!Majostv'ss]iip7?(y;-(7;M/;'ow, dcsi'ril)i^s the great guns of the Dardanelles at Ch;iTiek Kali- Bee, thi! residence of the governor, thus : — In tlie works of i\w castle on the Asiatic side of tlie Straits, there are 171 embrasures, and 102 guns mounted. The size of the guns are enormous; six Britisli midshipmen crawled into one of tlieni : the diameter is twenty-eight inches. This '^\\n unsrrews at the centre, and traverses on a fixed raised platform : it is shotted with granite shot, which in loading ar;^ placed in slings, and then raised to the muzzle by a tackle and crane. The weight of the shot is SOO lbs. ; that of a charge of powder 110 lbs. distant) stood between us and the setting sun — a pyramid of purple cloud bathed in golden light ; and, as if to complete the utter confusion of ideas, and the dislocation of all association, the Leander frigate showed her number, and went right away down from the very Avaters that lay between Sestos and Abydos, past the shadow of the great mountain, stretching away on our port beam until lost to sight." We have before us, as wo write, the expe- rience and observation of several voyagers witli the expedition, who, being on board difiercnt ships, and entering the Dardaiicllcs at difierent hours, viewed sea and shore under various aspects, and arrived at their destination at a time Avhen Gallipoli was being so rapidly transformed, as to give each of these accounts a rich novelty when read after any of the others. The correspondent of the Times ar- rived in the Dardanelles at night, with the Golden Fleece. " She Avas not lired at, as of yore ; but, as she ran up higher, the senti- nels on the European side screeched horribly and shoAved lights, and seemed to execute a convulsive jyr?.? of fright or vfJour on the rocks. Our only reply Avas the calm sounding of the tattoo on our bugles — the first time the blast of British light infantry bugles broke the silence of these antique shores. After mid- night Ave arrived at Gallipoli, and anchored for the night." The description given of the passage through the Dardanelles to Gallipoli, by the lady of an officer, is more graphic, daylight favouring her voyage. It Avas five weeks later than the arrival of the Golden Fleece : — " "We came on the entrance of the Dar- danelles. HoAV pretty it was ! under that lovely sunlight, Avith the curious forts of Seddul Bahr on our left, the fine four-masted steamer across our bows, and a fleet of beautiful vessels, crowded with canvas, entering the straits like a flock of sea-birds ! The town at the entrance of the Dardanelles is interesting. The houses we see have oA-crhanging caves, which give them a very chalet-like appearance ; and being covered with tiles of a veiy pure bright red, and surrounded by cypress foliage, the poAver of contrasting colour in this clear atmosphere adds materially to the sunny eflect. Within tlie straits, under some very beautifully- coloured hills, Ave saw a succession of singular erections of white stone: their graduated size and form negatived the idea of tlieir being old windmills. The straits were crowded Avith boats and transjiorts, Avith the Ercnch and English colours living : during the morning avc counted some sixty sail, all bound for the East. One or two barques only Avere beating dowii ; and from time to time a Turkish boat, with tho crimson flag of the sultan, would cross our stern, with all sail set, and a speed that Avas A. A 178 IIlSTOllY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. XViI. the admiration of our blue jackets. Beautiful, too, were the smaller Greek craft, flying along on a side-wind, lying fearfully over, and the white foam dashing from the bows. It was a lively sight, the Hellespont, that sunny day ! and one scarcely knew which most to admire — the various, numerous and beautiful craft on the smooth waters, or the picturesque beautj'- of the shore, with its bold rugged masses of grey rock, interspersed with beautiful plains of intensely brilliant verdure, studded with patches of dark underwood. Some little open- ings of this sort were peculiarly lovely, and came on the eye so unexpectedly, surprising one with a sense of sweet repose, that the effect on the feelings was as agreeable as turning to the melodious voice of Scott, after the rugged force of Carlyle — or floating into a calm, sunlit harbour, after near escape from oceans' turbu- lence. We had just passed some gigantic boulders of dark rock — over which, at times, pent in this narrow channel, the angry sea beats furiously — and came on a lovely lawn, as it were of green sward, dotted with trees, resembling delicate young ash ; some half way up the gorge stood one of the pretty chalet-like houses the Turks so much admire ; and, running up on either side, woods of bright oak, whose rounded form and bright colour were admirably relieved by the presence of tall dark cypresses, not too numerous, but breaking simply the mo- notony of the general foliage. There was little appearance of animal life : here and there were a few shepherds tending their flocks, usually with a small tent, attesting the nomad habits of the people ; but altogether the habits of the villagers and the inhabitants were, I thought, remarkable. About mid-day on the 9th of May, our attention was attracted by a large steamer (large at least in proportion to ours), rapidly gaining on us; and, despite the volumes of smoke from the funnel, we soon distinguished the royal flag, and hurried to drop ours in all courtesy. We were near the shore, but the Caradoc passed inside, having the Duke of Cambridge and staff" on board ; and his royal highness, on the paddle-box, acknowledged the prolonged cheering of our crew with his usual urbanity. Soon after this pleasant little ex- citement had passed, we arrived at the entrance of .the straits, which is five miles broad, and opens into the Propontis, or Sea of Marmora, guarded by the castle Chanuli Kalessi (or Asia) on one side, and Castle Europe on the other. The date of these celebrated castles is 1659. They are extremely strong, and very pic- turesque. A few small tents were pitched on the slope below the fortifications of Castle Europe, on a bright bit of sward ; and a ie\Y English soldiers, from the Gallipoli force, were employed in throwing up an embankment. In the afternoon we came in sight of the French camp at Gallipoli, spread out on one of the sloping hills of the classic land — the ancient Chersoncsug. From our bows Gallipoli itself soon appeared, having the effe.jt of two pro- montories, with a range of low purple hill's in the background, — the harbour crowded with shipping, steamers of all nations, huge, dirty transports, and magnificent three-deckers, with all colours flying, in honour of the Caradoc, which, having beaten us, was lying at anchor under the odd, staring, yellow house of the French consul. Gallipoli, which crowns the first of the two promontories, looked of some size from the shore ; and on the hills inland the camps were visible, studding the slopes. The great red sun sank beneath the low line of deep blue hills ; the great four- masted ship, the Victoria, towing a lesser steamer, took a great sweep round the harbour, and glided forth for Stamboul ; the men of the three-deckers burst patriotically forth with the national anthem as the Caradoc went out ; the moon rose — the little boats passed less fre- quently — the cold was distressing, and I, left alone on the deck, with the goat, the water- cask, and the cafii'ar, humbly went down to lea. There was not much to do that evening, unless to listen to the Frenchman's chaunt — ' Vive Vamour, et le hoji vi^i!' that sounded until a late hour through the open ports ; and, in the meanwhile, the Turks had returned, carefully attended by some ten other Turks, in remark- ably dingy sheepskin jackets; who, having set our Turks quite up again with radishes and onions, departed. " About midnight our friends came on board, with a dismal account of having rowed along every ship in the harbour in search of us, and, having been nearly fired into by every Turkish crew in consequence — would have been, indeed, but for shouting 'God save the Queen!' to show themselves English, a watchword the Turk now knows right well. However, mid- night is an admirable time for gossip, and so, pleasantly enough, we heard all about it. All agreed that Gallipoli was a most filthy place — filthy beyond the usual filth that we consider characteristic of towns Turkish ; that the Eng- lish were more popular than the French, be- cause we committed oppressive acts more politely ; that our poor women suff'ered dread- fully on landing, lying about in ditches, with a soldier's blanket over them, houseless, starving; that the greatest unanimity existed between the services — French soldiers wearing the caps of the English, and a Highlander being occa- sionally brought in a state of inebriation be- fore his commanding ofiicer, attired as a Zouave. So lasted the pleasant chat till morning, v»"hen our friends left us, and the little Army and Navy steamed out into the beautiful sea of the Marble Isles, bright, smooth, as the calmest Chap. XYII.] HISTOKY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 179 lake. The impression those lovely watei-s made on me I shall never forget, as we glided over their silvery blue aud most tranquil sur- face, with the great dolphins, so reverenced by the Turks, rolling in playful mood on every Bide. To describe the sea as being smooth as a mirror, was no longer a phrase of hyperbole, as descriptive of this rippleless surface. Not a vapour floated on the sky, and a peculiar at- mosphere softened the scene — ^just as one might view bright colours shaded by the most trans- parent gauze ; — a woman's comparison, but it best expresses the tone, certainly not a haze, that was so exquisitely lovely there. The island of Marmora, with all its forms, shades, and cast shadows, was perfectly reflected from base to summit ; and the only effect I ever re- member to have seen of a similar kind, though for atmospheric effect far inferior in beauty, was the inverted portrait of Mont Blanc in the Lake of Geneva, on a still, warm, summer even- ing. I have passed over the Sea of Marmora under other circumstances, and at other seasons; but were I a poet, and desirous of feeling all the exquisite beauty of which an Eastern sea is capable, I could desire no more than the power to recall at will, with the full force of the original impression, the aspect of that most lovely sea, when, in its placid hour, I passed over its surface on my first visit to the ' City of the Sultan.' At midnight the charm was broken ; the moon, which had so gloriously risen, was obscured by dense vapour ; and when at early dawn I hurried on deck, to catch the first long-wished-for view of the glories of Stamboul, I saw but the tips of minars above the rolling mists, the heights of Scutari in deep shadow, and the Maiden Tower lying like a dark blot before us upon the waters." Our allies had reached Gallipoli before the first detachment of British troops arrived, and they quartered themselves as advantageously as possible, showing the national tact and adroitness in such matters. Their debarkation at Gallipoli was admirable — the regularity ■which marked every movement — the rapidity with which they executed the most intricate arrangements — the ease with which everything was found when wanting, were in striking con- trast to the deficiencies which showed them- selves in the debarkation and on-shore move- ments of the British. The latter were quar- tered in the upper and healthier portion of the town, but amongst a hostile population, who regarded them as enemies, the supporters of a despotism from which Russia was warring to deliver them. The French placed themselves amongst the Turkish population, who re- garded them as allies, and treated them accord- ingly. Nothing was left to chance, all their arrangements were preconcerted. They sent out efficient officers, who organized all requi- sites for the landing and billeting of a large force. They did not stand upon much cere- mony with corrupt pashas or cheating dealers, Jew, Greek, or Armenian ; they plainly, although politely, intimated that they came to fight for the sultan, not to starve for him — they would pay for what they received, but would punish all attempts at extortion, with or without the consent of bey or pasha. The)- were accordingly well treated. The Oriental understood men who adopted such a line of conduct — it was intelligible in itself. The British neither knew how to land a large body of troops, nor to provide for them when landed. All was disorder and confusion. Scarcely were the soldiers put in quarters, when scarcity of food, absence of medical care and of medicine, extortionate prices by the market people, in consequence of the neglect of regulations for the mode of supplj', and peculation in every form, afflicted the men. Lieutenant-general Brown, who was in command before Lord Raglan's arrival, was opposed to all new notions. He paid great attention to the shaving department, but the feeding department belonged to Com- missary Filder, or somebody else — it was be- neath the notice of a British general to attend to groceries and butcher's meat. Never were troops kept in better drill, but when sick it was no business of the general's to look after the like. Lieutenant-general Brown was as humane and generous as he was brave, but he was there as the representative of a system — the clean chin and tight stock system — the sj-stem of hard fighting and hard fare — and it was not to be expected that a British general would be so sacrilegious as to break through forms con- secrated by the sanction of generals, colonels, and clerks of the ordnance. Besides, why should a lieutenant-general be confounded with a surgeon-general, or a commander-in-chief be turned into a chief apothecary ? It is true the men must die if their food were bad in quality or insufficient in quantity, or if the physicians were few, careless, and unskilful ; but that was not his fault; — better to lose men, than that the system should lose its high and long-established prestige. Commissaries, chirurgeons, and cor- respondents of newspapers, were the proper persons to fidget about camps, and talk of "the condition" of troops. So long as their chins were clean, their stocks stiff, their heads erect, their shakos of orthodox weight and dimensions, and their hearts and hands ready for the fray, the general in command, being British, and an officer of rank who knew his own place and the system, had no further concern. Let us just contrast the account given by the Paris 3Ioniteur and the London Times of the conditions of the two armies, in the matters so essential to their efficiency, and our readers can form a clear notion how, at the very outset of 180 niSTOllY OF THE WAR AGAINST llUSSIA. [Chap. XVII. the Eastern campaign, llicir respective military systems ■worked. The Monitcur says : — " The government has received reports from G neral Canrobcrt, on the arrival of the Ereneh troops at Gallipoli, and on their instalhition in tlie environs of that town. These first accounts nre very satisfactory. A Turkish commission, presided over by Ibrahim Pasha, had preceded at Gallipoli the arrival of our iirst detachments, in order to make itself acquainted with our necessities, and to satisfy them as far as possi- ble. The general has had much cause to be satisfied "with this intervention. The pasha of Adrianoplc had come at the same time to Gal- lipoli to support with his authority the execu- tion of the meas-ures to be taken ; thus all the resources were turned to use, and our soldiers at their disembarkation received all that was necessary for them. A proportional part of the resources of the town had been reserved for the English army. This division has been effected between them with the most cordial under- standing. General Canrobert has reconnoitred all the Peninsula; he' has fixed upon the spots where the different corps will encamp, and will form themselves into brigades as they disembark. The troops will be there in good condition, at the smallest distance possible from Gallipoli, and in localities abounding with water and wood. The country is very healthy, and the necessities of the sick have been pro- vided for by the installation of a temporary hospital at Gallipoli. Localities have also been prepared in the town to serve as magazines, and to receive provisions of all kinds sent from France for the arm)'. Our installation has therefore commenced on the best conditions, and, in a short time, the first three divisions will be united in the camp of Gallipoli, with all the matiriel of artillery, engineers, provi- sions, hospitals, and encampment, destined for the expeditionary corps. All those immense stores have been embarked from the shores of Prance and Algeria, and, Avithout doubt, the greater portion has by this time arrived at its destination." The Times correspondent describes matters thus : — " The French came first, and like all first- comers they are the best served. When the Golden Fleece came in on Thursday night there was no pilot to show her where to anchor, and it was nearly an hour ere she ran out her cable in nineteen fathoms water. No one came off to her, for it was after midnight, and there was something depressing in this silent reception of the first British army that ever landed on the shores of these Straits. As we entered the por- tals of the Dardanelles, and rushed swiftly up between its dark banks, crowned with moun- tain ridges looming througli the darkness, we tried to catch their form, and discern the out- line of the villages on its shores. The sentinels on the forts and along the ridges cliallenged loudlj', shouting to each other to be on the alert — the band of the Pufles all the while playing the latest fashionable polkas, or making the rocks acquainted with ' llule Britannia, ' and 'God save the Queen.' Put all these things ceased at Gallipoli, and when morning came we only felt sorry that nature had made it a desirable place for us to land at. The tii- colour Avas floating right and left, and the blue coats of the French were well marked on shore, the long lines of bullock-carts stealing along the strand towards their camp making it evident that they were taking care of themselves. As it happened, our active, intelligent, and able consul, had gone to the tower of the Dardanelles to look for us, but we had escaped him in the dark. The first thing that happened after the visit of the commissaries was characteristic. The general desired to send for the consul, but the only Avay of doing so was by water, and the only vessel available for the purpose was a small Turkish imperial steamer near us. The consul's dragoman, a grand-looking Israelite, prepared to go on the expedition, but the en- gineer on board had just managed to break his leg. He therefore requested the loan of our engineer, as no one could be found to under- take the care of the steamer's engines, and, after a successful cruise, he returned in tho evening with the consul, Mr. Calvert, on board. Mr. Calvert went to the Turkish council, re- minded them that there were British troops yet to come, and succeeded in having half of the quarters in the town reserved to him for their use. Next day he visited and marked off the houses ; but on his return the French autho- rities said they had made a mistake as to the portions of the town they had handed over to him, and he of course had to yield and give them up. They have the Turkish part of the town, close to the water, with an honest and favourable population ; the English have got the Greek quarter, further up the hill, and perhaps the healthier, with ' dextrous ' trades- men, and a population which hates them bit- terly, and regards them as foes quartered on them by force of arms. " Sir George Brown, commanding first divi- sion British expeditionary army. Colonel SulH- van, assistant-adjutant-general. Dr. Alexander, first class stafi'-surgeon. Captain Whitmore, aide-de-camp, &c., the rifle-brigade, and two companies of Sappers and Miners, under Lieu- tenant-colonel Victor, arrived, as we have seen, on Wednesday night (Thursday morning}, but it was mid-day on Saturday ere the troops were landed and sent to their quarters. Why was this ? Because nothing was ready for them ! The force consisted of only some thousand and odd men ; and, small as it was, owing to the fault Chap. XVII.] IIISTOllY OF THE l^AE AGAIXST EUSSIA. 181 of 'somebody or other/ it had to lie idle for t^vo da,ys and a half, watching the sea-gulls, or Avith half- averted e^-e regarding tlie ceaseless activity of the Prench, the daily arrival of their steamers, the rapid transmission of their men b}' the paddle-box boats of their vessels to shore, and the admirable completeness of all their arrangements in every detail ; hospitals for the sick, bread and biscuit bakeries, waggon trains for carrying stores and baggage, ever)' necessary and every comfort indeed to be had the moment their ships came in — not a British pendant was afloat in the harbour ! Our great naval state was represented by a single steamer belonging to a private company. Well might a Turkish boatman ask — ' Oh, why is this ? Oh, why is this, young man ? By the beard of the prophet, for the sake of your father's father, tell me, oh, English lord, how is it ? The French infidels have got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven ships, with fierce little soldiers; the English infidels, who say they can defile the graves of these French (may Heaven avert it !), and who are big as the giants of Asli, have onlj' one big ship. Do they tell lies ?' (Such ■was the translation given to me of my inter- esting waterman's address). " On Thursday there was a general hunt for quarters through the town. Mr. Calvert, the consul, attended bj^ dragoman and interpreter, and a train of lodging-seekers, went from house to house, but it was not till the eye had got accustomed to the general style of the buildings and fittings that any of them seemed willing to accept the places off"ered them. The general got a very fine place in a heai quartier, with a view of an old Turk on a counter looking at his toes in perpetual perspective. Colonel Sullivan and staff were equally successful. From one learn all. The hall door, which is an anti- quated concern — not aftording any particular resistance to the air to speak of — opens on an apartment with clay walls of about ten feet higli, and of the length and breadth of the whole house. It is garnished with the odds and ends of the domestic deity — with empty barrels, with casks of home-made wine, buckets, baskets, &c. At one side a rough staircase, creaking at every step, conducts one to a saloon on the first floor. This is of the plainest possible appearance. On the sides are stuck prints of the Nicolaus ho hasileiis, and of the Virgin and Child (after the Greek school), with won- derful engravings from Jerusalem. There is no other furniture. It may be observed, that as the schism between the Greek Catholic and the Iloraan Catholic churches arose out of the discussion of an intricate question on the sub- tlest point of theology, they fight bitterly on matters of very fine distinction yet. Thus tlie Greeks are iconoclasts, and hate images, but tlicy adore pictures A yellow Jonah, in a crimson whale with fiery entrails, is a favourite subject for these artists, and doubtless bears sora'j allegorical meaning. From this saloon open the two or three rooms of the house — the kitchen, the divan, and the principal bed- room. The floors are covered with matting, but with the exception of the cushions on tlio raised platform round the wall of the room (about eighteen inches from the floor), there is nothing else in the rooms offered for general competition to the public. Above are dark attics — voild tout ! My apartment would form a study for Dr. Ilcid or Mr. Gurney. If they want to understand the true principle of keeping up a current of fresh air everywhere, let them at once come out to Gallipoli, and become my successors in tlie possession of this remarkable chamber. True, the walls are of mud and straw, and the staircase has been devised expressly for the purpose of entrapping the first heavy Turk wlio may happen to stride up. It is the thinnest wood- work possible. "Water is some way off, and the philosophers, if not provided Avith ser- vants who can speak the language, and an allowance of rations from her majesty's stores, may be seen soon after their arrival stalking up the street with as much dignity as is com[)ati- ble with the circumstance of their carrying a sheep's liver on a stick in one hand, some larJ in the other, and a loaf of black bread under their arms — at least your correspondent had to adopt that course or die of hunger the other day. There is not such a thing as a pound of butter in the whole countrj', meat is very scarce, fowls impossible, but the country wine is fair enough ; eggs are not so rare as might be imagined from the want of poultry." The result of all this was the very early development of disease and depression of spirits among the British, and although ultimately the more hardy sons of our stern isles suffered less in proportion than the French from disease and death, that proportion would, from that very hardihood of constitution which charac- terised them, have been much smaller, had the soldiers not been deprived of just and generous care. An authorit)^ in all such matters. Colonel Leach, of the Old 95th, one of the regiments of the celebrated light division in the Peninsula War, has said concerning the losses by disease attendant upon defective commissaiy arrange- ment, and tlie actual stroke of battle— "40,000 were killed or died of wounds; 120,000 of dis- ease; and 120,000 more were by disease unfitted for service." SirCharles Shaw, whose experience in outpost duty in the wars of Don Pedro, in Portugal, and of Don Carlos, in Spain, — a kind of service exposing men to both disease and conflict, — made these remarks in conse(p.ience of having his attention called to the want of proper physical care of the troops in Turkey: — " During the fust years the French were in 182 JIISTOllY OF THE ^yAR AGAINST IIUSSIA. [Cn.ip. XVII. Algiers, their annual loss averaged about 5000 by sliot, and 15,000 by disease; but whou they brought into use the ' tcntes a Vahri,' or sack tents, the loss by disease was much diminished. The British authorities might have adopted these 'sack tents/ and our brave fellows, in coming to a bivouac, miglit have found themselves as well cared for as their French allies. But no change has taken place. There can be no objec- tion as to weight, as tlie French soldiers, as heavily weighted as ours, carry them with the greatest pleasure, and consider them their greatest comfort. If a pair of flannel drawers and waistcoat were to be carried in the square bag, there would be no additional weight and more comfort. The sack tents weigh 2 lbs., and cost 2s. Qd. The price of the soldier is, say £130; this 2s. 6r^. being no great extra- vagance to preserve his health, as it is a hot sun on a halt by day, and the dews by night, which fill the hospitals." These words were written at a later period of the mismanagement of the British authorities, and the sufferings of the soldiers; but they were applicable upon the very first experiences by the troops of the mal- arrangements of those to whose incompetent care and blind ofiiciaiism they were entrusted. Much discussion was excited at the time as to the fitness of Gallipoli and its neighbour- hood for the encampment. Of course, this discussion could only be conducted in a clear light, with a fuU knowledge of the true aims and plans of the allied governments. If they liad well-grounded hopes of peace, the selection of Gallipoli, all sanitary considerations apart, was prudent. That they did suppose them- selves justified in entertaining such hopes, the world learned only when unparalleled misery to our troops had resulted from such delusion. The faith of the Fx'ench minister for foreign affairs rested upon the fidelity of Austria, and the terror which he supposed the junc- tion of the Austrian armies with those of the AVcstern allies would inspire. The faith of Lord Aberdeen, and the section of liis col- leagues most intimately associated with him in politics, was in the moderation of the Emperor Nicholas, his esteem for England, his friendship for Lord Aberdeen himself, his sympathy with the Cons?rvative section of the British cabinet, and the impression to be produced at St. Peters- burg by a demonstration of the allied forces. All these grounds were baseless, and can only be explained upon the theory that the Conserv- ative sj-mpathj^ of the Aberdeen part of the ministry, and perhaps of the whole ministry, blinded them utterly to the character of the Emperor Nicholas, and the prevailing policy of his court, and feelings of his people. It is ditncuit to believe that Lord Palmerslon shared with his colleagues the confidence in czarism and the czar; but he held at this time an office in the ministry wliich gave him l(;ss influence in the conduct of the war than any other minister; and it is now well known that he but coldly supported the half-measures and empty demonstrations, which proved the strength of the enemy, and the destruction of so many of the noblest soldiers that ever crowded round the standard of England. It has also been alleged, that not foreseeing the gallant resistance of the Turks at Silistria, and not believing that Turkey possessed so much military virtue, it was deemed expedient that the expeditionary forces should first secure the capital, and await the chances of war and the progress of events for the next enterprise. The government undoubtedly wished the British public to believe that this was their policy, ^ye are certain that it was the policy of the French Emperor, who never partook in the confidence which his able foreign minister placed in Austria. The Palmerston and Eussell section of the English ministers regarded the matter in the French Emperor's point of view ; but their colleagues believed that no real war would ensue ; that the Russians would never stay to hear the beat of an English drum ; that Gallipoli, or any- where else on the shores of the Bosphorus, would do for the purpose of the expedition ; and that even the government of their alh^ would have proof of their sagacity, originality, inti- mate knowledge of the czar's character, and personal influence with him, in the speedy return of the armies, without firing at anything more formidable than a refractory Bashi-bazouk, a sea-gull, or an insurrectionary Greek. They made Avar on a principle and with prospects which rendered Gallipoli far enough out of the way, and, therefore, a suitable place for the troops to imitate the manoeuvre so celebrated in satire — " Jlarched up the hill, and then marched dov.Ti ngalji."' Indeed, there was no knowing that the fire- eating autocrat might not eat ship biscuit with Admiral Napier, and the redoubtable Menschikoff see the troops home from the East, and dine in company with Lord llaglan and the Duke of Cambridge at the hospitable board of the French Emperor, and that of the greatest dinner-giving official of this realm, the Lord Mayor of London. Even that Othello of the host. Sir George Brown, might, in such case, own without a sigh his "occupation gone." Supposing it even necessary to defend Con- stantinople, what were the advantages of Gd- lipoli, or of the camp which was formed some seven miles from the port of supply — an inconve- nience so disastrous subsequently in the Crimea? It was alleged that Marshal Yaillaut chose the neighbourhood, and Sir John Burgoyne the site ; the former in his ofiice in Paris, the latter Chap. XVII.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. li after ten minutes' inspection of the ground chosen to pitch our tents upon. A world of controversy on these points, never very satisfactorily adjusted, and various conflicting opinions among military men, still leave them vexed questions for the general public. The opiuion given by Mr. Russell, whose sagacity deserves as much commendation as has ever been lavished upon the qualities of his style, is thus expressed : — " The geographical acci- dents at Gallipoli would lead one to think the army placed there is intended for occu- pation and defence. It would be within such a distance of Constantinople that, if the capital were in the smallest danger, the troops could be sent there in a few days, artillery, baggage, and all, while it effectually commands the Dar- danelles and the entrance to the Sea of Mar- mora, and makes it a mare clausum as it lists. But there are other considerations not to be overlooked, and which become significant enough when it is recollected that a small town, on a spit of land opposite the mouth of the Maritza, on the coast of Turkey, to the north-east of Samothrace, was surveyed and examined for an encampment by Prench and English engineers. I mean the town of Enos. It is obvious that if some daring Muscovite general, forcing a passage across the Danube, beat the Turks and crossed the western ridges of the Ealkan, he might advance southwards with very little hindrance to the very iEgean ; and a dashing march to the south-east would bring his troops to the western shores of the Dardanelles. An army at Gallipoli could check such a movement, if it ever entered into the head of any one but the person who is now writing of it. Gallipoli is in effect situated on almost the narrowest portion of the tongue of land or peninsula which, running between the Gulf of Saros on the west and the Dardanelles on the east, forms the western side of the Strait. An army encamped here commands the JEgean and the Sea of Marmora, and can be marched northwards to the Balkan, or sent across to Asia or up to Constantinople with equal facility." The selection of Gallipoli and neighbourhood was much against the opiuion, both of the Turkish authorities and people, and greatly contributed to the distrust which the Turks felt towards the allies. On the arrival of the ITimalaija with troops on the 13th of April, General Brown, unable to make any arrangements for their accommoda- tion, sent the vessel on to Constantinople ; the troops it carried were quartered at Scutari. The immense size of the Jlimalaija attracted the attention of soldiers and people, both at Gallipoli and at Constantinople, and impressed Turks, Greeks, and even French, with the naval superiority of England. Ultimately, the authorities considered it judicious to direct the great body of the English troops, as they arrived, at once to Scutari. The arrival of the allied generals soon increased the stir and bustle of camp and city. Lord Raglan arrived on the 28th of April at Constantinople; on the 30th Prince Napoleon arrived at Gallipoli; on the 7t}i of May Marshal St. Arnaud landed at the former place ; the Duke of Cambridge, as we have already seen, in our notice of the arrival of tlie Caradoc, landed at Gallipoli on the 9th of May, but remained only a short time, re-embarking for Constantinople. The immense barracks at Scutari were given up to the possession of the English, but so hor- ribly was the place infested with vermin, that the troops could not occupy them, but wero obliged to pitch their tents behind, at some dis- tance. Scutari is situated on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, opposite Constantinople. The " Green Palace," at Iveuatscheschme, was ap- propriated to the superior officers. The view of Scutari from Constantinople is very fine, and seldom has it been more happily described tiian in the following passage, from the peu of one who has witnessed the best and brightest scenery of many lands : — " It is impossible for the eje to fall upon a more perfectly lovely picture than that com- manded by the upper rooms of the Hotel d'Europe. Immediately below are clusters of tlie Pera houses, interspersed with foliage, and rich with every variety of warm colouring — in some cases the effect of age, in otliers of the pink and orange tints of the original stucco. On the right are the beautiful mosques of Stam- boul, rising among the dark cypress trees, and seeming to form a sliining barrier between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmora, whose islands stretch away, far as the eye can reach, in a mystery of soft blue haze; while imme- diately opposite the eye, is the great barracks of Scutari, backed by the hills of Asia." From the same pen we give a description of Scutari, and the neighbourhood of the camp there : — " At tlie time of which I write, there were twelve regiments encamped here, in addition to three battalions of the Guards and some horse artillery. At one of the even hours destined for the departure of the little military steamer, we made our way to the Topluma bridge, and took our places for Scutui-i. A wonderful mat- ter is that Tophana bridge ! Uniting Galata to Stamboul, it is constantly traversed by the population of the old and new city ; while, on the side next Scutari, all the steamers for Buyukdere, Therapia, and all points of the Bosphorus, receive and leave their passengers. To arrive at the camp we passed the general hospital, a large, well-built brick building, said to be one of the finest in Europe ; but I imagine liiat when completed, I'Hopital des Fran^ais, 184 lilSTOEY OF THE WAU AGAINST RUSSIA. [CiiAP. XYIII. at Pera, "will alone deserve to hold that rank. On the grass-plot in front of the hospital were pitched the tents of Lady Errol, with one or two others, occupied hy the staff- surgeons ; and passing on, we came upon one of the finest scenes Turkey has ever boasted — the great en- campment of the Eritish forces. The High- landers happened to be on parade, and made the scene more effective. Its great charm, however, apart from pati'iotic feeling, arose from the extreme beauty of the position which had been chosen for this great array of the national power and purpose. Before us lay the beautiful Eosphorus, with the shining citj^ of the Osmanli ; to the rear, the fine mountains of Asia, and the dark cypress woods of the Champs des Morts ; around, on the undulating plain, stretched lines of the British tents — the promise of freedom to the darkened people of this most lovely land. Parties of men in varied uniforms, under process of drill, were gazed at by Greeks and Turks with intense interest; horsemen galloped about in the picturesque costumes of oriental cavalry ; and even Turkish ladies in their arahas — ostensibly on their way to some tomb sacred to the memories of their friends in the neighbouring cemetery — could not resist the temptation of stopping for a time to see the ' Englese.^ " A very pretty maison de camjJci^ne, belong- ing to the sultan, was to be seen among rich foliage at the rear of the encampment of 'the Guards. We were told that it had been offered for the occupation of the duke, who declined it ; and when it was suggested that the same offer should be made to Lord llaglan, the sultan's reply had been to the effect, that none but one of England's roj^al blood should sit in the saloons of the Brother of the Sun. " Passing round the walls of the Scutari barracks, we came upon the most wretched mud-huts imaginable, which had been erected for the soldiers' wives. These edifices, moro resembling the plasterings of mason- wasps than anything intended for habitation, were so low as to prevent the possibility of any one standing in them; and were simply patched against tiie wall, Vv'ith a bit of matting over the doorway, and a small hole to admit air and light. It v/as of course impossible that women could wash in sue!) places as these ; consequently, the poor creatures, wdth blistered arms and faces, and often bare-headed, were standing exposed to the burning sun outside the tenta of the men. " I knov/ nothing, whether at home or abroad — whether in the lanes and alleys that spread infection, moral and physical, over Lou- don, or in the distant heathen lands where slavery prevails, and of which religious philan- thropists consider it their dutj^ to preach — that so loudly and so justly appeals to the sympa- thies of the men and women of England, as the condition of the soldier's wife." While the camps were increasing in the East, and the depots were gathering strength at home, two captains, two lieutenants, and two ensigns, v.^ere added to each battalion of in- fantrj- ; and the cavalry regiments were pro- portionably strengthened by an increase of officers. Several officers of engineers and artillery visited by command the head-quarters of Omar Pasha, and reconnoitred the Itussian Danubian army. These duties were performed with great skill and daring, and conspicuous amongst those endowed with genius and heroism was Lieutenant Butler, doomed so soon and so nobly to fall. CHAPTEll XVIII. GALLirOLI AND CONSTANTINOPLE DUEING THE OCCUPATION OF THE ALLIES. " The European with the Asian shore Sparkled with palaces ; the ocean stream Here and there studded with a seventy-four ; Sophia's cupola witli golden gleam ; The cypress groves ; Olympus high and hoar." — Byron. Ix was with pleasure the troops at Gallipoli •were gradually moved forward to Constanti- nople ; and those regiments which were sent directly to the latter from Malta, or from home, congratulated themselves on escaping the un- comfortable quarters of either town or camp. Gallipoli has been, perh.aps, more frequently described than anj' other place equally tumble- down — if such a place there be in Europe out of Turkey. Above them all, unquestionably, stood that of the Times correspondent for accu- racy and gi'aphic effect : — " Take dilapidated out-houses of the farmers' yards in England, remove rickety old wooden tenements of Holywell Street, Wych Street, and the Borough — catch up, wherever you can, any seedy, cracked, shutterless structure of planks and tiles that have escaped the ravages of time in our cathedral towns — carry off sheds and stalls from Billingsgate, and add to them the huts along the shores of the Thames between London Bridge and Greenwich, bring them all to the European side of the Straits of the Dardanelles, and having pitched on the most CiiAP. XVIII.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 185 exposed portion of the coast, on a bare round hill, sloping away to the water's edge, with scarcely tree or shrub — tumble them ' higgledy piggledy' on its declivity, in such wise that the sti'eets may resemble, on a large scale, the devious traces of a bookworm through some old tome — let the roadway be very narrow, of irregularly varying breadth, according to the bulgings and projections of the houses, and filled with large round slippery stones, painful and hazardous to walk upon — here and there borrow a dirty gutter from a back street in Boulogne — let the houses in parts lean across to each other so that the tiles meet, or that a fow planks thrown across from over the doorways unite and form a sort of ' passage ' or arcade — steal some of our popular monu- ments, the shafts of various national testi- monials or Irish round towers, surround them with a light galler)- about twelve feet from the top, put on a large extinguisher-shaped roof, paint them all white, and having thus made them into minarets, clap them down into the maze of buildings — then let fall big stones all over the place — plant little windmills with odd-looking sails on the crests of the hill over the town — transport the ruins of a feudal for- tress from northern Italy, and put it in the centre of the town, with a flanking tower ex- tending to the water's edge — erect a few build- ings of wood by the waterside to serve as cafe, custom-house, and government stores — and when you have done this, you have to all appearance imitated the process by which the town of Gallipoli was created. The receipt, if tried, will be found to answer beyond belief. To fill it up you must, however, catch a num- ber of the biggest breeched, longest bearded, dirtiest, and stateliest old Turks (to be had at any price in the Ottoman Empire) ; provide them with pipes, and keep them smoking all day on little wooden stages or platforms about two feet from the ground, by the water's edge or up the main streets, as well as in the shops of the bazaar (one of the ' passages ' or arcades already described) ; see that they have no slippers on, nothing but stout woollen hose, their feet gear being left on the ground below ; shawl turbans (one or two being green, for the real descend- ant of the prophet), fur-lined flowing coats, and bright-hued sashes round tlie Avaist, in ■which are to be stuck silver-sheathed yataghans and ornamented Damascus pistols — don't let them move more than their eyes, or express any emotion at the sight of anything except an English lady; then gather a noisy, pic- turesque, and active crowd of fez-caj»ped Greeks in baggy blue breeches, smart jackets, sashes, aud rich vests — of soberly dressed Armenians —of intellectual-looking Jews, with keen fiasli.- ing eyes ; Chasseurs de Vincenncs, Zouaves, British Riflemen, Yivandiercs, Sappers and Miners, Nubian slaves, camel-drivers, commis- saries, officers, and sailors, and direct them iu streams through the streets round the little islets in which the smoking Turks are har- boured, and you will do much to populate the place. It will be observed there are no women mentioned, but children are not by any means wanting, on the contrary, there is a glut of them, in the Greek quarter particularly, and now and then a bundle of clothes, in yellow leather boots, and covered at the top with a piece of white linen, may be seen moving about, which you will do well to believe con- tains a woman neither young nor pretty. Dogs — so large, savage, tailless, hairy, and curiously- shaped that Wombwell eould make a fortune out of them, if aided by any clever nomen- clator — prowling along the shore and walking through the shallow water, in which stands a herd of bullocks and buftaloes waiting till the araba or cart is readj- for them ; six French steamers, and three French transports, with the tricolour flying, and the paddle-box boats full of troops on their way to land, a solitary English steamer, with the red ensign, at anchor in the bay, and some Greek polaccas, with their beautiful white sails and trim rig, flying down the Straits, which are here about three and a half miles broad, so that the vil- lages on the rich swelling hiUs of the Asia- Minor side are plainly visible ; all these must be added, and then the picture is tolerably complete. In truth, it is a wretched place — picturesque to a degree, but like all pictu- resque things or places, horribly uncomfort- able." The desire of the army to reach the city of the Golden Horn was intense ; the men ex- pected to find there realities corresponding to the scenes depicted in oriental fable. The officers spent a good deal of time in "reading up." Turkish histories and Turkish travels were almost the only books in vogue among the readers. The bright visions of those whose day-dreams were tinctured by the Arahiau Nights, and kindred productions, were pain- fully dissipated by the realities of the place. There were many things which to their occi- dental habits were irreconcilable with comfort, convenience, or good taste : there was no dis- position evinced among the troops of either of the Western nations to adopt the faith of Islam, from any of its advantages exemplified in the maimers and customs of its professors. Still, so great a city as Constantinople could not fail to interest men of enterprise and inquisitivc- ness, such as composed the two fine armies quartered in its vicinage. The city possesses about G.50,000 inhabitants. Of these, a moiety are Turks and Mohammedans of various na- tions. The Christian population is composed of Franks, Copts, Armenians, Nestorians, a few 11 B 186 HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. [Chap. XYIII. Protestants, besides Greeks, Avho vastly out- number all these together. Tlie government and social institutions have already been glanced at by us in our sketch of Turkish history. The city is miserably lighted, if it may be said to be lighted at all. There is no atten- tion paid to sewerage, drainage, or cleansing ; the dogs, which are innumerable and common l^ropertj', being the only seavengers. No city could be better situated for sanitary advan- tages, none was ever more neglected in respect to many of them. Yet there are things in which even the metropolis of Eng- land might take example from the City of the Sultan. Great care is taken in the decent burial of the dead. The place of graves is one of the most interesting objects to the visitors of Constantinople. A vast area of turbaned tombs is cared for -with the tenderest feelings ; a deep reverence for the place of the dead per- vades the Turkish mind. It would be im- possible to find a man amongst all the ulemahs, softis, dervishes, or reverends of any degree of dignity, "who, like Archdeacon Hare, would think of advocating the maintenance of church- yards in populous places, as in the great cities of England, desecrating all the associations ■which love and reverence connect with the departed. Even the London J^ecropolis Com- pany, with all its praiseworthy exertions to ensure a place of beautiful and sacred sepul- ture, can scarcely elevate our public to the ideas of Tui'kish veneration and respect for the dead. The great burial-place of Constantinople is truly beautiful, and after the seraglio, ba- zaars, mosques, and great thoroughfares, have ceased to occupy the eager interest of the traveller, he may love to linger — " Yrithiu the place of thousand tombs That shine beneath, while dark above The sad but living cypress glooms, And withers not, though branch and leaf Are stamp' d with an eternal grief, Like early unrequited love." While the Turks are to be commended for their care of the dead, and for the beautiful taste which characterises that care, and much as they excel us in these particulars, there is one unhappy circumstance connected with their burials in which they perform a part too closely resembling our own conduct. Church-yard in- tolerance is gradually growing odious among us, although our cemeteries and burial-grounds still exhibit distinctions repugnant to piety, tolerance, and common sense. Sectarian sec- tions in places of burial are not confined to Tis — the Mohammedan can be as bigoted as the Christian in the "city of the dead." " The Turks carry their contempt of the Christian even beyond the grave. Tlie funeral cypress, so singularly beautiful in its native East, is permitted to throw its dark shadows only tipon turbaned tombstones. The Arme- nian rayah, tlie oppressed Greek, and the more hated Jew, slumber in their unprotected graves on the open heath. It almost reconciles one to the haughtiness and cruelty of the Turkish character, however, to stand on one of the 'seven hills' of Stamboul, and look around upon their own beautiful cemeteries. On every sloping hill -side, in every rural nook, in the court of the splendid mosque, stands a dark necropolis — a small city of the dead — shadowed thickly by the close- growing cypresses, that the light of heaven penetrates but dimly. You can have no conception of the beauty it adds to the landscape. And then, from the bosom of each, a slender minaret shoots into the sky as if pointing out the flight of the departed spirit ; and if you enter Avithin its religious darkness, you find a taste and elegance unknown in more civilized countries — the humblest headstone let- tered with gold, and the more costly sculptured into forms the most sumptuous, and fenced and planted with flowers never neglected. " In the East, the graveyard is not, as with us, a place abandoned to its dead. Occupying a spot of chosen loveliness, it is resorted to by women and children, and on holidays by men, whose indolent natures find happiness enough in sitting on the green bank around the resting- place of their relatives and friends. Here, while their children are playing around them, they smoke in motionless silence, watching the gay Bosphorus or the busier curve of the Gol- den Horn, one of which is visible from every cemetery in Stamboul. Occasionally you see large parties of twenty or thirty, sitting to- gether, their slight feast of sweetmeats and sherbet spread in some grassy nook, and the surrounding headstones serving as leaning- places for the women, or bounds for the infant gambols of the gaily-dressed little Mussulmans. " Whatever else we may deny the Turk, we must allow him to possess a genuine love for rural beauty. The cemeteries we have de- scribed, the choice of his dwelling on the Eos- phorus, and his habit of resorting, whenever he has leisure, to some lovely scene, to sit the live- long day in the sunshine, are proof enough. And then all over the hills, both in Anatolia and Roumelia, wherever there is a finer view or greener spot than elsewhere, you find the small sairgah — the grassy platform on which he spreads his carpet, and you may look in vain for a spot better selected for his purpose." The water supply of a great city is an impor- tant feature of its civilization. In this respect London is far behind the metropolis of Islamism. The Builder, a scientific and yet popular peri- odical, thus describes the advantages of Con- stantinople in this particular : — " The Turkish capital offers the peculiarity that good and salutary regulations exist where Chap. XYIII.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. 187 a mere chaos was hitherto supposed to occupy their place. According to late calculations, based on correct observations and tables, the fifteen systems of sources and water wells which surround Constantinople, and from which nu- merous aqueducts and cisterns are alimented, yield a daily supply of 249 luhhs of water, •vi'hich is equivalent to 12,267,532 kilogrammes ; and as the population of the Turkish capital is calculated at 600,000, a daily supply of 2044 kilogrammes for every person indiscriminately is resulting therefrom. The administration and service of this water supply is confided to an especial class or order of men, the corps of the Sii-Jaldshi, or well-masters. This reguhu-ly organised corps exercises a licensed art, and if they possess no theoretical knowledge, still they practise their art according to some traditional rules and principles. To this corps all works relating to the searching after water, its con- ducting and distribution, as far as want and even comfort are concerned, are confided. The corporation of the Su-Jaldshi now consists of about 300 Turks and 100 Albanese Greeks, who are exclusivelj' selected from some families of the district of Diinopolis, in the Epirus. The inhabitants of five or six villages emigrate for the sake of occupying the situations of well-masters in Constantinople and other Turkish cities." " Dctur (h'(jm'ssimo,'' to the sultan personally, the city and its inhabitants are especially in- debted for the maintenance of what is valuable, and the preservation of whatever meliorates the condition of the people, and improves their great city. Although without genius, and in almost every i*espect destitute of the energetic qualities of his immediate predecessor, his amiable and benevolent disposition impels him in the course of improvement, and he is not destitute of the courage requisite to enter or persist in the path of innovation where his whole people are benefited, however much he may thereby offend the bigotry, political or religious, of the Turkish party par excellence. Perhaps the most precise, although attractively- coloured description of him, is given by Lamar- tine, in the introductory chapter of his History of Turkey. The sultan had appointed a meeting with the poet at "a small pavilion or retreat, wlierein he loved to meditate, remote from the noise and pomp of his palaces at Stamboul." Lamartine was then on his travels, and he copies this de- scription, made at the lime, from his note-book. The interview took place several years after Abdul-Medjid succeeded his father, who died in 1839: — "On entering the kiosk, I looked around for the sultan. He was standing almost invisible in the shade between the door and window, at the corner the least lighted in the room. The Bultan Abdul-Medjid is a young man from twenty-six to twenty-seven years old, of an appearance rather more mature than his age. His figure is tall, elegant, and slim. He bears his head with that gracefulness at once 6up])le and noble, which the length cf neck gives to the bust of Alexander in his early youth. The features are regular, the forehead high, the eyes blue, the eyebrows arched as in the Caucasian races, the nose straight, the lips well cut and jtarted ; the chin, that foundation of cliaracter in the human countenance, is fu-m and well set ; the aggregate leaves an impression rather attractive than imposing; you see a man who wishes to be loved rather than to be feared ; he has the timidity of modesty in his general air, melan- choly on his lips, and a precocious lassitude iu the attitude ; you perceive that this young man has thought and suffered before his time. But the feature that predominates is grave and me- ditative sensibility. You say to yourself: — ' This man carries something weighty and holy in his thoughts, like the interests of a people, and he feels the weight and sanctity of the burden.' jS^otbing of levity, nothing of youth in the expression. It is the statue of a young pontiff, rather than a young sovereign. The countenance inspires a certain tenderness of heart. Y^'ou are haunted with the thought, despite of yourself, that here is a man sacrificed to supreme power, who is young, handsome, all-powerful, who wiU be doubtless great, but who will be never free, never without care, never happy. You pit)- — you love him, for amid his greatness he feels vividly his respon- sibility. Every man in his empire may be happy except himself. The throne has taken him in his cradle. His apparel was simple, uniform, almost a mourning suit. A tunic of dark drab reaching down to the knees, the neck bare, loose linen pantaloons over dark- coloured half-boots, a sabre without ornament on the hilt. His countenance alone could have discovered him to the crowd. I felt moved, attracted, affected, by the melancholy of his majesty. While I was speaking to biin, he turned several times the pommel of bis sword, upon which he was leaning, in his hand. He blushed, and looked down as if he had the bashfulness of his virtue. "We attended him to the examination that he went to make in per- son of the military youth in an adjoining insti- tution." An American traveller gives the following description of the sultan's father, whose career exercised so imjjortant an influence ujM'n the destinies of Turkey, and to whom Constanti- nople is indebted for much of what is valuable in its present condition : — " I had slept on shore, and it was rather late before I remembered that it was Friday (the Moslem Sunday), and that Sultan M:ilinioud was-to go in state to mosque at twelve. 1 hur- 188 IIISTOllY OF THE AVAR AGAI^^ST RUSSIA. [CirAi-. XVIII. ried down the precipitous street of Pera, and, as usual, escaping barely with my life irom tlie Christian-hating dogs of Tojjhana, embarked in 1 caique, and made all speed up the Eosphorus. There is no word in Turkish for faster, but I was urging on my cailjees, by a wave of the liand and the sight of a hisldik (about the value of a quarter of a dollar), when suddenly a broadside was fired from the three-decker, Mahmoudicr, the largest ship in the world, and to the rigging of every man-of-war in the fleet through which I was passing, mounted, simul- taneously, hundreds of blood-red flags, filling the air about us like a shower of tulips and roses. Imagine twenty ships of war, with yards manned, and scarce a line in their rigging to be seen for the flaunting of colours ! The jar of the guns, thundering in every direction close over us, almost lifted our light boat out of the water, and the smoke rendered our pilotage between the ships, and among their extending cables, rather doubtful. The white cloud lifted after a few minutes, and, with the last gun, down went the flags altogether, announcing that the Brother of the Sun had left his palace. " He had but crossed to the mosque of a small village on the opposite side of the Eos- phorus, and was already at his prayers when I arrived. His body-guard was drawn up before the door, in their villanous European dress, and, as their arms were stacked, I presumed it would be some time before the sultan re- appeared, and I improved the interval in ex- amining the handja-lashcs, or state-caiques, lying at the landing. I have arrived at my present notions of equipage by three degrees: — the pope's carriages at Rome rather astonished me ; the Emperor of Austria's sleighs dimin- ished the pope in my admiration; and the sultan's caiques, in their turn, 'pale the fires' of the Emperor of Austria. The handja-hash is built something like the ancient galley, very high at the prow and stern, carries some fifty oars, and has a roof over her poop, supported by four columns, and loaded with the most sumptuous ornaments, the whole gilt brilliantly. The prow is curved over, and wreathed into every possible device that would not affect the necessary lines of the model; her crew are dressed in the beautiful costume of the country, rich and flowing, and with the costly and bright-coloured carpets hanging over her side, and the flashing of the sun on her ornaments of gold, she is really the most splendid object of state equipage (if I may be allowed the mis- nomer) in tlie world. " I was still examining the principal barge, when the troops stood to their arms, and prepa- ration was made for the passing out of the sultan. Thirty or forty of his highest military officers formed themselves into two lines from the door of the mosque to the landing, and be- hind tliem were drawn up single files of soldiers. I took advantage of the respect paid to the rank of Commodore Patterson, and obtained an excel- lent position, with him, at tlio side of the caique. Eirst issued from the door two Geor- gian slaves, bearing censers, from which they waved the smoke on either side, and the sultaa immediately followed, supported by the capi- tan-pasha, the scraskier, and Haleil Pasha (who is to marry the Sultana Esmeh). He walked slowly down to the landing, smiling and talk- ing gaily with the scraskier, and, bowing to the commodore in passing, stepped into liis barge, seated himself on a raised sofa, while his attendants coiled their legs on the carpet below, and turned his prow across the 15os- phorus. " I have perhaps never set my eyes on a handsomer man than Sultan Mahmoud. His figure is tall, straight, and manly, his air un- embarrassed and dignified, and his step indica- tive of the well-known firmness of his character. A superb beard of jetty blackness, with a curl- ing moustache, conceals all the lower part of his face ; the decided and bold lines of his mouth just marking themselves when he speaks. It is said he both paints and dyes his beard, but a manlier brown upon a cheek, or a richer gloss upon a beard, I never saw. His eye is described by writers as having a doomed darlc- ness of expression, and it is certainly one that would well become a chief of bandits — large, steady, and overhung with an eyebrow like a thunder-cloud. He looks the monarch. The child of a seraglio (where mothers are chosen for beauty alone) could scarce escape being handsome. The blood of Circassian upon Cir- cassian is in his veins, and the wonder is, not that he is the handsomest man in his empire, but that he is not the greatest slave. Our 'mother's humour,' they say, predominates in our mixtures. Sultan Mahmoud, however, was marked by nature for a throne." Miss Pardee, in a brief paragraph, lias ex- pressed what must have been the impression of the officers of the allied forces, as they ram- bled through the streets and environs of the queenly city : — "The great charm of Constantinople to a European qjq exists in the extreme novelty, which is in itself a spell ; for not only the whole locality, but all its accessories, are so unlike what the traveller has left behind him in the West, that every group is a study, and every incident a lesson ; and he feels at once the necessity of flinging from him a thousand factitious wants and narrow conventional pre- judices, and of looking calmly and dispassion- ately upon men and scenes wholly dissimilar to those with which he had been previously acquainted."*'* * Eastern Europe Illustrated. Chap. XYIII.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. !89 Constantinople is not only interesting for its natural beauties, singular associations, past historj', and present relation to the politics of Europe and the " balance of power;" its posi- tion must always make it important in a com- mercial point of view, and the key of Eastern influence. Sir A. Alison says that it "is the only capital in the world which can never decline as long as the human race endures, or the present wants of mankind contiuue." This is the opinion which a great historian formed of its importance and prospects; but what- ever may have been the elements of this con- viction with him, we have no hesitation in pronouncing it possible tliat Constantinoj^le might become as silent as the sepulchres of Scutari, if held by a people whose moral con- dition — and whose government, consequentl}* — unfitted them to make use of its great natural capabilities. Except so far as the reforms of the present sultan and of his predecessor tend to avert the downward tendency, the decline of Turkey has been bo rapid during the pre- sent centurj', that could the Ottoman power only maintain possession of the fine countries which its crescent has blighted, even this place, so Avell suited by situation to become the emporium of nations, might sink rapidly into silence and ruin, ere some new conqueror carried his arms over the classic realms wliich surround it, and again gave to it the gay and busy life its beauty and its site are so adapted to maintain. It is natural that Britain sliould regard with great political interest this famous seat of em- pire. It was, as its name implies, the city of Constantine, who was proclaimed emperor in Bri- tain, and as some affirm was of Britisli descent; his mother being daughter of a king who reigned over Essex, so we are informed at all events by Gibbon, whose authority is not im- paired even by grave errors of fact, and graver errors of opinion. The Ottoman race have always entertained a partiality for the English, arising from an impression of their tolerance for the Moham- medan religion, and from a tradition that Mohammed was prevented b}' death from con- verting the English to the faith. It is certain that no other nation possesses so completely the confidence and respect of the Turks as the English. To the English interests in India it must always be a vital consideration by what power Constantinople is held. If by an aggressive and great naval and militarj- power, England may tremble for her dominions in " the land of the sun." The question of who is to possess Constantinople can never be separated from the speculations of English politics. It IB impossible that the Britisli government can look with indifference, or with any feeling short of apprehension, upon the approaches of such a power as Russia to the possession of this city, which, not only gince the days of Peter the Great, as we are often told, but since the Scandinavian descent upon Xovo- gorod, has been insatiably coveted. "When the possibility of fixing their standards with- in its walls would have appeared to other nations the wildest dream the barbarous Russ could cherish, it teas the dream which filled their ambition : and, as if urged on by some mighty instinct thitherward, their savago chiefs conducted their hordes — scarcely less savage than themselves — across the " silvery Danaw," beyond the mazj- forests of Bul- garia, through the forbidding passes of the Balkan, and more than once their wild war- shout was echoed from the walls of the im- perial city. The feasibility of a rapid and sudden con- quest of Constantinople by Russia has been much discussed of late. AVith the possession of the Crimea, such an arsenal there as Sebas- topol became, a large fleet of war steamers and steam transports, and with such a point of support as Odessa, it is astonishing how any one could doubt tlu.'i a blow might be hurled against Turkey in some season of civil confu- sion, Greek revolt, foreign war, or national apathy, which would bring down seraglio and mosque together, and enable Russia to have in her own keeping what her Emperor Alex- ander I. so naivel}' told Napoleon I., was the " key of his house." Captain Spencer, who, as an engineer officer as well as an experienced traveller gave this subject his earnest con- sideration, represents in strong terms the prac- ticability of a well equipped Russian navy so co-operating with an army upon the Bulgarian frontier, as to make it possible in a single campaign to overthrow the empire of the Osmanli. It would be easy to quote naval and engineer officers of the highest authority, both French and English, in confirmation of this opinion. To write anything original of Constantinople is next to impossible : everything there — castle and caique, camp and cafe —has been described over and over again by travellers, AVe redeem tlie promise made in an early chap- ter of this History, by selecting a few of tlie more graphic pictures presented on the page of travel. "The Golden Horn" is an arm of the sen, curved so that the broadest extremity meets the Bosphorus, and forms the harbour of Con- stantinople ; the otlier extremity tapers away, until it is lost in the Valley of Sweet AVaters* " It curls through tlic niid?t of the city, and you cross it whenever you have an errand in old Stamboul. Its hundreds of shooting 190 HISTORY OF THE "\YAll AGAINST IIUSSIA. [CuAP. XYIII. caiques, its forests of merchantmen and men-of- war, its noise and its confusion, are exchanged in scarce ten minutes of swift piJling for the breathless and Eden-like solitude of a valley that has not its parallel, I am inclined to think, betAveen the Mississippi and the Casjiian. It is called in ^Turkish 1chyat-l-hana. Opening with a gentle curve from the Golden Hoi'n, it winds away into the hills toward Belgrade, its long and even hollow thridded by a lively stream, and carpeted by a broad belt of un- broken green sward swelling up to the enclos- ing hills, with a grass so verdant and silken that it seems the very floor of faery. In the midst of its longest stretch to the eye (perhaps two miles of level meadow) stands a beautiful serai of the sultan's, unfeneed and open, as if it had sprung from the lap of the green meadow like a lily. The stream runs by its door, and over a mimic fall, whose lip is of scolloped marble, is built an oriental kiosk, all carving and gold, that is only too delicate and fan- tastical for reality. " Here, with the first grass of spring, the sultan sends his fine-footed Arabians to pas- ture ; and here come the ladies of his harem, and in the long summer afternoon, with mounted eunuchs on the hills around, forbid- ding on pain of death all approach to the sacred retreat, they ventui-e to drop their jealous veils, and ramble about in their un- sunned beauty. " After a gallop of three or four miles over the broad waste table plains in the neighbour- hood of Constantinople, we checked our horses suddenly on the brow of a precipitoxis descent, with this scene of beauty spread out before us. I had not yet approached it by water, and it seemed to me as if the earth had burst open at mv feet, and revealed some realm of enchant- ment. Behind me, and away beyond the valley to the very hoiizon, I coukl see only a track- less heath, brown and treeless, while a hundred feet below lay a strip of very Paradise, blooming in all the verdure and heavenly freshness of spring. We descended slowly, and crossing a bridge half hidden by willows, rode in upon the elastic green sward (for myself) with half a feeling of profanation. There were no eunuchs upon tlie hills, however, and our spirited Turkish horses threw their wild heads into the air, and we flew over the verdant turf like a troop of Delhis, the sound of the hoofs on the 3'ielding carpet scarcely audible. The fair pa- lace in the centre of this domain of loveliness was closed, and it was only after we had walked around it that we observed a small tent of the prophet's green couched in a small dell on the hill-bide, and containing probably the guard of its imperial master. " Y"e mounted again, and rode up the valley for two or three miles, following the same level and verdant curve, the soft carpet broken only by the silver thread of the Barbyses, loitering through it on its way to the sea. A herd of buffaloes, tended by a Bulgarian boy, stretched on his back in the sunshine, and a small caravan of camels bringing wood from the hills, and keeping to the soft valley as a relief to their spongy feet, were the only animated portions of the landscape. I think I shall never form, to my mind another picture of romantic rural beauty that will not resemble the Ichjat-kliana of Constantinople." The minarets, and the general aspect they give to the city, especially from an elevation, have been thus described : — " I think the most beautiful spire that risea into the sky is the Turkish minaret. If I may illustrate an object of such magnitude by so trifling a comparison, it is exactly the shape and proportion of an ever-pointed pencil-case — the silver bands answering to the encircling galleries, one above another, from which tho muezzin calls out the hour of prayer. The minaret is painted white, the galleries are fan- tastically carved, and rising to the height of the highest steeples in our country (four and sometimes six to a single mosque), these slender and pointed fingers of devotion seem to enter the very sk}\ Remembering, dear reader, that there are two hundred and twenty mosques and three hundred chapels in Constantinople, raising, perhaps, in all, a thousand minarets to heaven, J'ou may get some idea of the mag- nificence of this seven-hilled capital of the East." The mosques are amongst the beauties of the city of Constantino, especially that of Sophia ; and the visitor cannot fail to be interested in the forms and manners of Turkish devotees, amongst whom the dancing dervishes are tho most remarkable. Their chief devotional ex- ercises, as they may with great propriety be called, consist in fantastic leaps and genuflec- tions, and tramps in a circle — a sort of dance, certainly without any poetry of motion, and which increases in rapidity and wildness as de ■ votion is inflamed, when it becomes a furious round of contortions of face and form, continued until the exhausted performers lose strength to pursue any longer a work of piety involving such requirements. The bazaars are among the beauties and wonders of the place. There Jews and Turks, Armenians and Greeks, sit cross-legged and smoking in front of their stalls all day. Every calling has a separate street, so that the visitor may pass from arcade to arcade of shops, under cover of the fantastic roofs beneath which they are arranged. It is very inconvenient, that while purchas- ing a shawl, a turban, or a pair of slippers, your merchant may suddenly retire to his dormitory. Chap. XVIILJ HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. 191 perform his ablutions, and return only to spread out his carpet in the direction of Mecca, and proceed with his devotions. This he does five times a day, no matter ho-sv business may be interrupted. A traveller observes : — " The Frank purchaser attracts a great deal of curiosity. As he points to an embroidered handkerchief, or a rich shaAvl, or a pair of gold ■worked slippers, Turkish ladies of the first rank, gathering their yashnacks securely over their faces, stop close to his side, not minding if they push him a little to get nearer the de- sired article. Feeling not the least timidity, except for their faces, these true children of Eve examine the goods in barter, watch the stranger's countenance, and if he takes off his glove, or pulls out his purse, take it up and look at it, without even saying ' by your leave.' Their curiosity often extends to your dress, and they put out their little henna-stained fingers and pass them over the sleeve of your coat with a gurgling expression of admiration at its fine- ness, or if you have rings or a watch-guard, they lift your hand or pull out your -watch with no kind of scruple. I have met with several instances of this in the course of my rambles. But a day or two ago I found myself rather more than usual a subject of curiosity. I was alone in the street of embroidered handker- ch.iefs (every minute article has its peculiar bazaar), and wishing to lock at some of un- common beauty, I called one of the many Jews always near a stranger to turn a penny by inter- preting for him, and was soon up to the elbows in goods that would tempt a female angel out of Paradise. As I was selecting one for a pur- chase, a woman plumped down on the seat beside me, and fixed her great, black, unwink- ing eyes upon my face, while an Abyssinian slave and another white woman, both appa- rently her dependents, stood respectfully at her back. A small turquoise ring (the favourite colour in Turkey) fii'st attracted her attention. She took up my hand in her soft fat fingers, and dropped it again without saying a word. I looked at my interpreter, but he seemed to think it nothing extraordinary, and I went on ■with my bargain. Presently my fine-eyed friend pulled me by the sleeve, and as I leaned toward her, rubbed her fore-finger very quickly over my cheek. Looking at me intently all the ■while. I was a little disturbed with the lady's familiarity, and asked my Jew ■n'hat she wanted. I found that my rubicund complexion ■was something uncommon among thesv; dark- skinned orientals, and she "wished to satisfy herself that I was not painted ! I concluded my purchase, and putting the parcel into my pocket, did my prettiest at an oriental salaam, but to my mortification, the lady only gathered up her yashmach, and looked surjirised out of her great eyes at my freedom. Aly Constanti- nople friends inform me that I am to lay no ' unction to my soul ' from her notice, such liberties being not at all particular. The hus- band exacts from his half-dozen wives only the concealment of their faces, and they have no otlier idea of impropriety in public."' The lunatic asylum, the churches, the cafus and restaurants, the divans over-hanging the waters of the Bosphorus, are all objects of deep interest to the wanderer within this charmed place. There are many objects of attraction for the antiquary, such as the remains of the ancient wall, the ruins of Greek churches, of baths and theatres, and the reUcts of a civiK- zation which has crumbled to decay beneath the haughty power of the Osmanli. The student of ethnology -^'ould find much, to engage him : no city in the world has such a motley population. Turks, Egyptians, Copts, Syrians, Albanians, Greeks, Kurds, Xestorians, Arabs, Armenians, Georgians, Tartars, and men ©f every oriental and European nation in lesser numbers. Our space will not permit us to linger longer in descriptions of the city which, ■with the ex- ceptions of Jerusalem, London, Rome, and Pekin, is more interesting than any other in the world. As we proceed in oiu- History, however, we shall fre(iuently have to refer to events in Constantinople, and we shall then take occasion to depict scenes and peculiarities upon which we must not now tarry. When our troops landed at Gailipoli, while they were encamped, and when quartered at Scutari, they suffered much from cold, and from deficiency of food, even when there was abundance to supply them. These suftcrings were caused by the imperfect management of the commissariat, -which, however, was fre- quently mitigated by the intelligence and exer- tions of the officers of engineers — a department of the service more neglected by the Horse Guards and the government than any other. In peace or war no arm of the service has been so well conducted and so efficient, in all respects, and in none is promotion so slo^w. Few of the very highly-born enter the en- gineer service or the artillery; and therefore, while men without military knowledge or ex- perience rapidly rise in the cavalry and in- fantry, in those branches promotion is a forlorn hope. Frequently by the officers in these de- partments of the army — as at Tariflu, Cabul, and Moultan — have disasters been averted or mitigated; and, as in these instances, so in almost all otliers, have statt'-officcrs, little en- titled to it, borne away the honours. But the heaviest censures that popular indignation could express, and the severest punishments that legislative justice could.infiict, ought to be visited upon the heads of these in the dircctiou of the medical department, whether at homo 292 HISTOKY OF THE WAR AGAINST IIUSSIA. [CuAP. XYIII. or in Turkey, There were literally no ar- rangements deserving the name for the sick soldiery during the stay of the armj- in Turkey. Men landed sick from Malta Avere obliged to lie in camp beneath a tent, with a single blanket for covering, although the nights of April are always, or nearly always, cold in that climate, from the causes which we ex- plained when treating of Turkey in our second chapter. The authorities of Malta sent on great numbers of women whose sufferings were horrible; many of these were sick when they left Malta, and many too delicate when in their best health, to enter upon the fatigues of campaigning. How far Sir William Eead, the governor of Malta, was responsible for this it is impossible for any but the authorities in Whitehall to say ; he certainly displayed more capacity for elegant hosjjitalities, although a colonel of cavalry, than for aiding or coun- selling the conduct of the expedition. As the troops arrived, the Turkish pashas received the superior officers with every mark of distinc- tion ; but it could scarcely fail to be observed that while the British ambassador and British civil and naval functionaries were treated with more respect than those of the French, the French military authorities received more marked tokens of deference than did those of England. The common Turkish soldiery re- garded the soldiers of both armies with looks of stupid astonishment, and invariably treated them with great courtesy, and a sort of cautious goodwill. By the end of April a very considerable body of troops of both nations were quartered in Turkey ; not less than 30,000 French had by that time landed. There was then, both at Gallipoli and Constantinople, a large proportion of the British contingent. At the former place, the rifle brigade, and the 4th, 28th, 44th, 50th, and 93rd, constituted a force of about 5500 infantrj-. The 18th, 49th, 77th, 88th, and other regiments at Scutari, exceeded that number, while nearly an equal force was quartered at TJnkier Skelessi. During April and part of May the French and British were engaged in raising defences, which might enable them to keep possession of the Cher- sonesus, in case of any sudden successes bj* the Russians. These defences were formed at Bulari, and were about seven miles in extent ; a third portion of the work being assigned to the English, who, although less at home in Buch operations than their allies, made up for their ignorance b)' their vigour, and excited the admiration of French and Turks by their brawny appearance and physical powers. With rare exceptions, the Turkish officials were incompetent for any business whatever, and the extravagance of the Turkish court kept pace with its poverty. Instead of providing food and other necessaries for the troops of its allies, or even for its own, the Porte lavished an indefinite number of piastres in entertaining the allied officers, and in all sorts of pompous receptions of the civil functionaries of the allied nations. General Canrobert, with that indignant and fearless honesty which charac- terises his noble nature, is said to have re- buked this selfish extravagance, when upon one occasion he observed jewelled pipes and gemmed cups in most costly profusion at the reception given him. The language of the French general is represented to have been — "I am much obliged by your attentions, but you will forgive me for saying I should bo much better pleased if all these diamonds and all this gold were turned into money to pay your troops ; and if you sent away all these servants of j-ours, except two or three, to fight against your enemy." Frequent reviews, both at the camp near Gallipoli and at Scutari, made the armies better acquainted with each other, as to their mode of directing movements on a great scale, and no doubt contributed much to that facility of co- operation in actual battle, which, in the Cri- mean campaigns, became so noticeable in armies so differently constituted. Mr. Russell, the correspondent of the Times, in his letter, dated May the 11th, 1854, gives a graphic description of the scenes presented at such reviews in the neighbourhood of Gal- lipoli. We give the description at length, as any attempt to curtail it would destroy its pic- turesque character: — " On the previous Sunday, Prince Napoleon, with General Canrobert and the whole of the French efat major, reviewed all the disposable French troops quartered in this district, and the English general and staff attended on the occasion. For two or three hours in the mox'n- ing long black columns of men might be seen marching through the corn-fields, and filing along the narrow lanes that intersect them, or toiling up the hilly ridges of land in apparent confusion, or at least without much visible order. The spectator who selects a high point of land on the undulating country round Brighton, and looks across the valley below, can form a tolerable idea of the terrain around Gallipoli. Crossing the hills around in all directions, and piercing the ravines between them, he must remember the dark masses of French infantry advancing from their nume- rous encampments, formed for miles around on every sloping plateau. Presently the shrill trumpets of the Zouaves are heard sounding a wild and eccentric march, and these fierce- looking soldiers of Africa, burnt brown by con- stant exposure to the sun, with beards which easily distinguish them from the native Arabs, come rushing past, for their pace is so quick Ciixr. XVIII.] HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. 193 that it fully justifies the term. The open collars of their coats allow free play to the lungs ; the easy jacket, the loose trouser, and the. well-supported ankle, constitute the lean ideal of a soldier's dress ; their firelocks and the brasses of their swords and bayonets are polished to a nicety. Each man is fully equipped for the field, with greatcoat strapped over his knapsack, canteen by his side, a bill- hook, hatchet, or cooking-tin fastened over all. In the rear, mounted on a packhorse, follows the vivandiere, in the uniform of the regiment, with natty little panniers and neatly-polished barrels of diminutive size dangling over the saddle; and then comes a sumpter-mule, with two wooden boxes fastened to the pack, which contains small creature comforts for the offi- cers. The word is given to halt — stand at ease — pile arms. In a moment the whole regiment seems disorganized. The men scatter far and wide over the fields collecting sticks and brushwood, and it seems incredible that they have gathered all those piles of bram- bles and dried wood and leaves which they deposit iu the rear of the lines in such quantity from the country that looked so bare. The officers gather in grouj)S, light cigars, chat and laugh, or sit on the ground while their coftee is being boiled. From the moment the halt takes place, ofi" come the boxes from the mule — a little portable table is set up — knives, forks, glasses, and cups, are laid out — a capa- cious coffee tin is set upon three stones over a heap of bramble, and in three minutes (I timed the whole operation) each officer could take a cup of this refreshing drink after his hot march, with a biscuit and morsel of cheese, and a chasse of brandy afterwards. The men were equally alert in providing themselves with their favourite beverage. In a very short space of time two or three hundred little camp fires are lighted, and send up tinj' columns of smoke, and coftV'O tins are boiling, and the busy brisk vivandiere, with a smile for everj- one, and a joke or box on the ear for a favourite vieux moustache, passes along through the haze, and fills out tiny cups of cognac to the thirsty soldiers. Pipes of every con- ceivable variety of shape are lighted, and a hum and bustle rise up from the animated scene, so rich in ever-shifting combinations of form and colour that Maclisc might look on it W'ith wonder and despair. Regiment after regiment comes up on the flanks of the Zouaves, halts, and repeats tlie process, the only remarkable corps being the Indigenes, or native Zouaves, who are dressed extictly the same as the French, except that jackets, trousers, and vest, are of a bright powder blue, trimmed with leather, and their turbans or the fold of linen round the fez are of pure white. Iu an hour or so the crest of the hill on which we stand, and which extends in undulating folds for two or three miles, is covered by battalions of infantry, and they may be seen toiling up the opposite ridge, till before us there is nothing visible from its one extremity to the other but the bi-oken lines of these stalwart battalions. There M^as a read}-, dash- ing, serviceable look about the men that jus- tified the remark of one of the captains — ' We are read)' as we stand to go on to St. Peters- burg this instant.' There was a vivacity, so to speak, about the appearance of the troojjs which caught the eye at once. The air of reality about this review distinguished it from sham fights and field-days, and all holiday de- monstrations of the kind. Ere twelve o'clock, there were about 22,000 troops on the op- posing ridges of hills — an excellently appointed train of artillery of nine- pounder guns, with appointments complete, being stationed in the vallej- below. Tlie columns taken lineally ex- tended upwards of eight miles. Shortly before twelve o'clock a brilliant stafi' — it did indeed literally blaze in gold and silver, brass and polished steel, as the hot sun played on rich uniforms and accoutrements — was visible com- ing up the valley from the direction of the town. They were preceded by four videttes, French Dragoons Avith brazen helmets and leopard-skin mountings ; the various staff officers in advance ; then Prince Xapoleon in. the uniform of a lieutenant-general, and Ge- neral Canrobert, in full dress and covered with orders, on one side, and Sir George Brown on the other, both somewhat in the rear. The eftect of the cortege as it swept past, the vision of prancing horses and gorgeous capai'isons, of dancing plumes, of gold and silver lace, of Hussar, Dragoon, Artillery, Rifle, Zouave, Spahi, Lancer, of officers of all arms, dressed with that eye to eflect which in F'rance is very just as long as men are on horseback, was wonderful. It flashed by like some grand pro- cession of the stage, if one can so degrade its power and reality by the comparison. As the videttes came in view, the drums of each regi- ment rolled, the trumpets and bugles sounded, and all the men who had been scattered all over the ground in disorderly multitudes came running in from all sides, and dressed up, unpiled arms, and with great celerity fell into lines three deeji, witli bands, virandicrcs, mules, and smoking fires hastil)' extinguished, in the rear. As General Canrobert came up to the first regiment he raised his cocked hat, and shouted lustily, ' Vive V Empcrcur.^ The offi- cers repeated the cry, and three times it ran along the line of the regiment. The band struck up, the men presented arms, and the prince rode past bowing and raising his hat in acknowledgment, and again the band, out of compliment to the English general, played cc 19-< HlSTOllY OF THE WAIl AGAI^\ST EUSSIA. [C'nAP. sviir. ' God Save the Queen.' Then there -was pro- found silence as the prince approached the next regiment, till coming in front of its lead- ing files the salutes were repeated. In this way the staff passed along tlie ridge of one hill till they came to the extremity of the lines, then descending, they passed the artil- lery in the valley, spurred up the opposite hill, and in like manner passed in front of the columns which crowned it. The inspection lasted two hours." Having presented our readers with a French review, we shall, by the same able pen, place also in review before them, the troops of Britain : — "On Saturday, the 7th, Sir George Brown had a similar inspection of the regiments under his command before his departure for Scutari. Soon after daybreak the tents of the rifle bri- gade, of the 50th regiment, and of the 93rd re- giment, forming the working brigade at the camp of Bulari, were struck, and the whole en- campment Avas broken up. At the same time the 4th, 28th, and 44th regiments struck their tents at the Soulari encampment, about two miles from the town of Gallipoli, and proceeded on their march towards Bulari, there to take up the quarters vacated by the other brigade. Let us climb up one of the hills, near the scene of the French review, and watch the march of our regiments. They came on solid and com- pact as blocks of marble, the sun dancing on their polished bayonets and scarlet coats with congenial fierceness. The gallant ' — th' halt close by — all the men are as red in the face as turkeycocks — they seem gasping for breath — they are indeed soi'ely distressed, for a rigid band of leather, rendered quite relentless by fibres and buckles of brass, is fixed tightly round their throats, and their knapsacks are filled to the pitch of mortal endurance, so that it requires the aid of a comrade for each man to get his on his back ; while the Frenchman, unassisted, puts his knapsack on in an instant. The coat is buttoned tightly up also to aid the work of suffocation, and belts and buckles compress the unhappy soldier where most he requires ease and the unrestricted play of the muscle. Begiment after regiment reaches the parade-ground, and falls into its place with ad- mirable precision. The lines of these red and blue blocks seem regulated by plummet, and scarce a bayonet wavers in the long streaks of light above the shakos. The Eifies, too, stand compact and steady as a piece of iron. Thus they stand under the rays of the morning sim, till at nine o'clock Sir George Brown and staff, accompanied by the French general, and a number of officers, Mr. Calvert, our consul, &c., ride along the lines, and, after a brief inspec- tion, dismiss them. The llilles and 93rd regi- ment continue their march to the shore, where they are to embark for Scutari. The 50th fol- low to their ne\v camp at Soulari, and if one follows them, he will see how men drop out, exhausted and half-smothered, and at what a vast amount of physical inconvenience all this solidity and rigidity of aspect are acquired. Take one fact : — In a single company which left Bulari forty-five file strong — ninety men — so many men fell out on the march to Soulari, a distance of six miles or thereabouts, that the captain reached the camping-gi'ound with only twenty men — the rest straggled in during the forenoon. The halts were frequent for so short a march, and the rush to every well and fountain showed how the men suffered from thirst. On arriving at the beach they found all their troubles cease, for the French admiral had, with the greatest promptitude, sent the launches and boats of the fleet to the piers, and in about one hour the whole of the two regiments, consisting of about 2000 men were embarked." The following, from the same pen, presents the British army in its loyalty and discipline, after its arrival at Scutari : — " The queen's birthday was kept yesterday with all honour, and was celebrated by a splen- did military spectacle. At a quarter to eleven o'clock all the regiments in barrack and camp were paraded separately, and afterwards marched to the ridge which bounds one side of the shallow but broad ravine of which I have already spoken, as separating the camp of the brigade of Guards from the camp of the other brigades. The total force on the ground consisted of about 15,000 men, and for weight, stature, and strength, could not be matched probably by a like number of any troops in Europe. As they marched from camps and barracks in dense columns, converging on the ridge, the eye refused to believe that they could be condensed into so small a space as that they were ordered to occupy. " The continued apathy of the Turks, which becomes absolutely disgusting to any more ex- citable race, was astonishing on this occasion. There were present some three or four gentle- men on horseback, with their pipe-bearers, and two or three native carriages full of veiled women ; but though Scutari, with its popula- tion of 100,000 souls, was within a mile and a half, it did not appear tliat half a dozen people liad been added to the usual crowd of camp- followers who attend on such occasions. The Greeks were more numerous, and Pera sent over a fair share of foreigners all dressed in the newest Paris fashions ; so that one might fancy himself at a fashionable field-day in England, but for the cypress groves, and the tall minarets glancing above in the distance. At twelve o'clock. Lord Ptaglan, attended by Sir George Brown, the Duke of Cambridge, Sir De Lacy Chap. XYIII."] HlSTOEr OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. 195 Evans, tlie Earl of Lucan, the Generals of Rrigaue — Bentinck, Sir- C. Campbell, Penne- fether, Airey, Adams, Buller, their aides-de- camp and majors of brigade, and Lieutenant- colonel de Lagondie and Chef d'Escadron Vico, to the number of thirty or forty, appeared on the ground in a perfect blaze of gold lace and scarlet and white plumes. They were received by the bands of all the regiments striking up ' God save the Queen,' but not with that una- nimity which would be desirable in order to give a perfect effect to the noble strains of our national anthem. Lord Raglan having ridden slowly along a portion of the lines, wheeled round and took his post in front of the centre regiment. After a short pause, just as the guns of the Niger were heard thundering out a royal salute from the Bosphorus, the bands struck up the national air again, and down at once fell the colours of every regiment droop- ing to the ground. The thing was well done, and the effect of these thirty-two masses of richly-dyed silk, encrusted with the names of great victories, falling so suddenly to the earth as if struck down by one blow, was strange and inex^n'essible. In another minute a shout of * God save the Queen,' ran from the Rifles on the left to the Guards on the right, and three tremendous cheers, gathering force as they rolled on with the accumulated strength of a thousand throats from regiment after regiment, made the very air ring, the ears tingle, and the heart throb. Some of the regiments pulled oft' their shakos, and waved them in the air in ac- companiment to the shouts ; others remained motionless, but made not less noise than their fellows. After the cheering had died away, leaving, however, a strange sensation in many an English bosom, as we thought how soon their voice might be silenced for ever, the march past began in quick time. The Guards, who were in great good humour, possibly be- cause their necks were free and all prisoners had been let out as an act of grace, marched magnificently. The Highlanders were scarcely a whit inferior, and their pipes and dress created a sensation among the Greeks,' who are fond of calling tliem Scotch Albanians, and compare them to the Klephtic tribes, among whom pipes and kilts still flourish. Some of the other re- giments did well, others not so well, and on leaving the ground all marched oft' to their re- spective camps, and the proceedings of the day were brought to a close, so far as the authorities were concerned. The Guards, however, had their games — racing in sacks, leaping, running, &c., in the afternoon, and the regiments played cricket, and indulged in other manly sports, in spite of the heat of the day. In tlie evening, a handsome obelisk, erected in the Guards' camp, was crowned with laurel, and surrounded with fireworks." The complaints of neglect, especially where the sick were concerned, which reached Eng- land by the correspondents of the London daily press, and from officers and soldiers in their private letters, agitated the public mind, and led to repeated discussions in both Houses of Parliament. The defence offered by the go- vernment was, that nearly all these representa- tions were false, and such as were not wholly so were exaggerated. The Duke of I^ewcastle, in the House of Peers, and Mr. Sidney Her- bert, in the Commons, adopted an indignant and injured tone of reply to the interrogatives addressed to them. Mr. Herbert betrayed great bitterness, and by both the plausible duke and the tart commoner, warm denunciations were uttered against all who put such complaints into circulation. Subsequent events proved that neither of these directors of the war de- partment adopted proper precautions in the arrangements they professed to superintend; and that, with the exception of the duke him- self, but little industry was exercised by any one connected with any branch of the war ofiiee, whether superior or subordinate. The complaints were reiterated, and, for a time, stores of all kinds arrived in great abundance in the East, although the management of dis- tribution there continued disorderly and ineffi- cient. In fact, however censurable the neglect of the government, they were imposed upon by the ofiicials in whom they confided. The reports were "cooked" as effectively as rail- way accounts when dishonest managers have had to encounter meetings of shareholders. There was little honesty on the part of many entrusted with the charge of most responsible affairs. As was said long afterv^-ards by Mr. Layard, in reference to this fraternity, " what we want is more truth in every department." _. During the encampments on the Bosphorus the officers did not always possess unobjection- able quarters. Even the chiefs of the alKed armies, although in so great a capital, were not lodged in palaces. The habitation of the British commander-in-chief was very homely. It was of wood, situated on the beach, about three- quarters of a mile from the barracks. In front of it was a pretty wooded knoll, covered with rich grass, above which might be seen the tops of grave-stones. Before this knoll, and nearer to the sea, was a group of pine trees, surrounding a Turkish fountain. It did not appear to be a health y situation, as the waters on the shore, nearly stagnant, were loaded with dead dogs and olial, and the stench that ascended thence, and filled the neighbourhood, was such as must injure the health of any who might frequently be brought within its influence. IS'ear the beach, also, were slaughter-houses, which sent out their reeking abominations, tainting atmosphere to a great distance the 1% HISTORY OF Tlir: AVAK AGAINST RUSSIA. [Chap. XVIII. Before the troops loft the shores of the Ros- phorus for Varna, the commanders-in-chief, and several ministers of the Porte, visited Omar Pasha at Shumla, and held a consultation with liim, which lasted three days. In must not be supposed that the wholo time of the army was spent in camp and barracks, or that a monotonous resort to mosques and mi- narets, bazaars and baths, consumed their leisure. Pleasant excursions to the surrounding country, and delightful boating parties on the Bosphorus, had all the enjoyments which such trips possess at home, and all the additional interest belong- ing to places consecrated by the genius of his- tory, and having the indescribable charm of scenes amidst which great enterprises had com- menced. The Valley of the Sweet "Waters, already described by us, was the frequent resort of the officers of every rank, and often under the bright moonlight, or during the soft and fading light of evening, parties of officers and civilians, with their Ladies, wives, and daugh- ters, would row about in the gliding caiques, enjoying the balmy air, and the ever-changing scenery. The lady of an officer, already quoted by us, thus recalls her impressions of such seasons of pleasure, the zest for which not even the reports of battle from the Danube, nor the incessant preparations for participating in the strife, could repress in our people : — " On the evening of the 11th the minareis of the mosques were illuminated ; and the effect of these rings of light, rising above the dark cypress trees of Seraglio Point, was excessively beautiful. The Turkish vessels in harbour had also each a lamp at the mast-head ; a three- decker had wreathed all her masts with lamps ; and the result told so weU in the darkness of night on the broad waters, that it was proposed to row about among the Turkish craft, fully to enjoy the illumination. But the men on watch challenged so angrilj', and it was so very trou- blesome to be constantly repeating verses of the national anthem, to persuade the Moslems that we were ^ Englese,^ that we gave up our marine stroll by mutual consent; and were content to observe from our own deck, how beautifully these lines and circles of light marked all the leading features of tlie Moslem cit}^ On the following morning (Friday), the sultan went to the mosque in his gilded caique with the crimson awning, three other caiques following ; but this is a religious pageant which has been described so often, that I feel it would be mere impertinence to say another word about it. The reader may be disposed, how- ever, to accompany me to the ' Sweet Waters of Europe,' which has ever been a favourite resort of the Turks on this their holidaj- ; and though also often described, Avill now be seen under a different aspect. Objecting very much to mingling with a crowd, to be jostled about on the waters of the Golden Horn in these canoe- like cai(jues, — which draw only about twc inches of water, and that little more than in the centre, — we consented to the bathos of the washerman's boat — a broad, slow, ugly tub of an affair, promising great safety and immense delay. We had sofa-cushions and coverlets laid in the bottom of it ; and hanging a few shawls over the stern, to look as festal as we could, reposed ourselves therein after the Turkish fashion. Having passed the two bridges over the Golden Horn, we soon found ourselves among a fleet of gay caiques, and were continually passing little garden cafes, where on high stools were seated lines of solemn, smoking Turks, apart from the ladies, who, clustered together, with their children, M'cre — Tiukish, Armenian, Greek, and Jewish — all laughing and gossiping gaily, under the shade of innumerable blue and pink parasols. "Our friend the washerman seemed desirous of persuading us that one of these was the spot we were in search of; but seeing caiques, not only with fezzes and parasols still passing us, but with the shakos of field officers, we insisted on proceeding, and were eventually floated tlirough a swampy creek, and landed at a cool, shaded nook, which we, with much simplicity, believed to be the celebrated ' Sweet Waters.' Under a fine group of trees were a few gilded arabas — the large white bullocks, in all their glory of crimson housings and innumerable tassels, quietly chewing the cud by the side of them, and looking, with their wise ej-es, as if they thought the rural pleasure of the scene by no means increased by that party of noisy fiddlers, or by the shrieking sachi (water- carrier), who appeared to consider it every- body's duty to be thirsty. We strolled up a stony, winding road, not very unlike the high- street of Pera, as affected its convenience for traffic, and met several verj- fine gilded arabas, bumping and jolting over the stones, to the in- tense amusement and refreshment, as it seemed, of the veiled ladies within, who, half-smothered in piles of soft cushions, shrieked with laughter at every new jolt. Our presence appeared not by any means to be a restraint to the ladies, for they clambered in and out of their carriages, with their slippers in their hands, displayed their j-ellow boots, chatted with their slaves, played with their children, and were in no way disconcerted by our presence in their suburban retreat. It was quite evident, however, that this was not the spot we were in search of; and, walking round the creek, we were soon repaid, by the most beautiful and attractive scene imaginable. It was like a dream from Boccaccio, and one that Finden would have gloried to depict. How then can I describe it ^ The reader must be good enough to assist me : and, with the full force of poetic fancy, fill up Chap. XVJII.] HISTOHY OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. 19: xhe very cold, bald outline that I am capable of tracing. " The sun was shining most brilliantly; and the air, soft and delicious, was fragrant with sweet odours, and vocal with the notes of larks innumerable. The narrow waters of the Gol- den Horn, here a mere streamlet, flowing gently between flowery meadows, were covered with caiques, filled Avith festive groups, mummers, and musicians. On the banks, under fine trees, were spread carpets and cushions of everj' hue, on which reposed groups of Turkish ladies, surrounded by their slaves and children ; while beyond them passed trains of splendid arabas, and parties of Turkish nobles, their spirited steeds trapped with the most gorgeous Mame- luke array. "It will readily be supposed, that to the offi- cers of the allied force this was a scene full of attraction, and I fancy there Avere few who were not present. The Duke of Cambridge, with Lady Errol and his staff, passed on in the Austrian ambassador's boat; and then, taking horse, rode back to Stamboul. White plumes Avere gleaming, staff uniforms flashing, in all directions ; and knots of young officers waited impatiently for a glimpse of the sultan's harem. Many soon had that gratification. I was standing on a little grassy knoll by the Avay- sido, when the araba containing the sister and two of the AviA'es of his Imperial Majesty Sultan Medjid, followed by five carriages filled with the ladies of the harem, stopped for their fair occupants to admire the varied scene. Some of the ladies wore the yashmack of material so slight that it only served to give additional de- licacy to their semi-Circassian complexions. Evidentlj-, the Stamboul ladies have great re- course to art for the supposed improvement of the charms by which they seek to retain posi- tion. The eyebrows, carefully arched, were sometimes united in the centre, and a slight dark line pencilled within them ; the large almond-shaped cj'cs owed an expression of ad- ditional softness to the darkening of the lashes Avith soormai ; and the rouge of the check, sometimes rather too strong, gave to many com- plexions the effect of Avhat has been described as like a bunch of fresh roses dipped in cream. '•' The general impression, however, I believe was, that tlie beauty of the Turkish women has been exaggei'ated very much, and that the mystery of their position has tended to give them an undue interest. The lack of exercise and fresh air, the abundant use of sAvcctmeats, and the habit of perpetual smoking, must tend to injure beauty, even the mere beauty of form and colour; and where intellect is dormant, and the feelings rendered passive by the inthi- ences of Moslem tyranny, fine as the almond- shaped eyes of the fair daughters of the prophet usually are, they would be found deficient in attraction, I think, if compared with those of an educated, kind-hearted sensitive English- woman, Avhose blush mounts from her heart, and whose eyes sparkle with the love of purity, and the hope of conferring happiness on all around her. " It was remarkable, in this scene, to ob- serve how completely Mohammedan etiquette had power to prevent any vulgar expression of natural curiosity or surprise on the part of these fair dames. They sat like veiled statues, these ladies of high degree ; and even when the duke with his brilliant cortege passed their carriages, the eyes of the ladies remained fixed on the perspective of the distance. Their horses walked or stopped ; red coats or white plumes dashed by ; English ladies in strange Parisian fashions pressed near, yet the ladies of the sul- tan and the pashas noted nothing of all this, but preserA'cd the same unchanging aspect, which I had always considered a sort of trick peculiar to I>.dian fakirs, to aid in the persua- sion of a crowd of noisy worshippers that their power of religious abstraction was complete. Such, however, is the result of Tui'kish eti- quette ; and I have heard it said of the sultan, that were a pistol fired at his ear, this ' cousin of the sun and moon ' would not appear con- scious of the sound. " I am sorry however to say, that this self- restraint Avas not effectually imitated by our- selves. We all certainly suftered curiosity to overcome courtesy, and gazed upon the ladies and their attendants with much ill-bred perti- nacity. One ofiicer, indeed, after looking long into the carriage of the sultan's sister, at length took oft' his cap, next bowed, then smiled, and gradually commenced a respectful advance, still smiling and bowing ; on Avhich a particularly unprepossessing -looking African gentleman opened the carriage-door, took a jcAvellcd knife from beneath the seat, flourished it in the fiice of our somewhat alarmed courtier, directed the coachman to proceed, and, with a most ter- rific scowl, adding clouds to his anything but sunny countenance, took his place in front of the araba." During the occupation of camp and quarters during April, May, and June, by the allied armies in the neighbourhood of Scutari and Gallipoli, their conduct was such as to merit the highest commendations. It is true that both French and British committed some ex- cesses. Some Zouaves actually forced their way into certain harems, and paid a terrible penalty. The British soldiers did not always respect the sacred things of the Turks, and perhaps oftener committed offences than the French ; this may be explained by the fact that, generally, our array is recruited from a less respectable class ; but the unnecessarily severe punishment had a tendency to dete- 198 HISTORY OF TKE WAIl AGAINST IIUSSIA. [Cu.vr. XIX. riorate the moral as well as physical condi- tion of the men. Flogging in the army had been greatly mitigated, in consequence of a strong public opinion in England, and much against the will of the officers, who cling generally to all old customs, until the ridicule or the anger of civilians, or the power of par- liament, forces an alteration. As soon as this spirit pervading the officers as a class had full scope, flogging was resorted to and practised with fierce pertinacity. Some of the men were hardene.d by it ; some felt degraded ; and all were discontented with the debasing instru- mentality of punishment. It was adminis- tered upon occasions when the offence was so trivial, that were the like to occur at home there would have been " agitation " from one end of the country to the other. Sir De Lacy Evans so directed the discipline of his division, all through its service under his command, as to exclude flogging except in cases where any civilian would have inflicted it. A very excellent proclamation by Lord Eaglan, soon after he landed in Turkey, had a very good efi^ect upon the conduct of the soldiery, especially as at that time the com- mander-in-chief was exceedingly popular : — " The queen having been graciously pleased to appoint General Lord Eaglan, G. C.B., ge- neral commander of the forces to be employed in Turkey in support of her ally his imperial majesty the sultan, all reports are to be made to him, through the channels prescribed by her majesty's regulations. " The commander of the forces avails him- self of the earliest opportunity to impress upon the army the necessity of maintaining the strictest discipline; of respecting persons and property, and the laws and usages of the country they have been sent to aid and de- fend, particularly avoiding to enter mosques, churches, and the private dwellings of a people whose habits are peculiar and unlike those of other nations of Europe. Lord Kaglan fully relies on the generals and other officers of the army to afford him their support in suppres- sion of disorders ; and he confidently hopes that the troops themselves, anxious to support the character they have acquired elsewhere, will endeavour to become the examples of obe- dience to order and of attention to discipline, without which success is impossible, and there would be evil instead of advantage to those whose cause their sovereign has deemed it proper to espouse. The army will, for the first time, be associated with an ally to whom it has been the lot of the British nation to be opposed in the field for many centuries. The gallantry and high military qualities of the French army are matters of history ; and the alliance which has now been formed will, the commander of the forces trusts, be of long duration, as well as productive of the most important and the happiest results. Lord Eaglan is aware, from personal communication with the distinguished general who is ap- pointed to command the French army, Marshal St. Arnaud, and .many of the superior offi- cers, that every disposition exists through their ranks to cultivate the best imderstanding with the British army, and to co-operate most warmly with it. He entertains no doubt that her majesty's troops are animated with the same spirit, and that the just ambition of each army will be to acquire the confidence and good opinion of each other." The date of this order was the 30 th of April, 1854. CHAPTEE XIX. JiMBAEKATIOX OF TEE ALLIED ARMIES, AND LAXDIXG AT V.YRNA.— OCCUPATION OF YAEXA.— INACTION OF THE ALLIED GENERALS.— PESTILENCE IN THE CAMP.— GREAT CONFLAGRA- TION, SUPPOSED TO BE CREATED BY GREEK PARTIZANS OF RUSSIA. " Where'er we gaze — around, ubove, below, What rainbow tints, wliat magic charms are found ! Rock, rivei-, forest, mountains, all abound, And bluest sides that harmonise the whole." — Byron. MrcH discussion has been maintained as to the origin of the movement to Yarna. The Moniteur of Paris contended in several ela- borate articles that the landing of the expedi- tion at Yarna was part of the general plan of the Emperor Xapoleon, contained in the instructions given to Marshal St. Arnaud on assuming the command of the French expedi- tionary army. The United Service Gazette attributes to Major-general Macintosh the ideas of first landing at Gallipoli, afterwards at Yarna, and finally in the Crimea, south of Sebastopol. It is probable that the emperor, upon perusing the work to which the United Service calls attention, formed his plans to a certain extent in conformity with its sugges- tions. In his instructions to the marshal dated 12th April, 1854, the emperor indicated Gallipoli as the best point at which, in the first instance, to disembark, and as suitable CnAP. XIX."! HISTOPtY OF THE WAR AGAIXST RUSSIA. 199 for a grand depot for the army. He also re- commended what was carried into elfcct promptly by the generals — the occupation of the large barracks near the water at Con- stantinople, but that he would prefer acting towards Adrianople from Gallipoli to making Constantinople his base. He, however, notices that it is by the Black Sea that infantry and materiel must be conveyed to the neighbour- hood of the Balkans. Proceeding in his direc- tions upon the principle that the Turkish capital and the Dardanelles were to be de- fended against a powerful Russian invasion, he points out that if the French army was obliged to retreat from the Balkans upon Adrianople, it might, if that place were un- tenable, divide into two forces, one retreating upon Gallipoli, the other upon Constanti- nople. Twenty thousand men the emperor considered sufficient to hold the entrenched camp at Gallipoli, and the remaining 40,000 (estimating the French auxiliary army at 60,000) might join in defending the line of the Carassou, in front of Constantinople, and which he had proposed to be left in posses- sion of the Turkish troops, the French force operating more actively to secure the position. His majesty finally recommended the marshal to confer with Omar Pasha and Lord Raglan, whether to march through the Balkans and confront the Russians in Bulgaria, or to con- quer Odessa, making it a basis of operation in the Russian rear; or if they fell back across the Danube and the Pruth, a basis of operation against the left wing of their army ; or to pro- ceed as soon as the defence of Constantinople was thought secure to the Crimea. The enterprising but prudent marshal did not fail to submit these recommendations or instructions to the British and Turkish chiefs, and, as we noticed in our last chapter, while the latter was defending the Dobrudscha, or rather keeping the Russians shut up in its mo- rasses. Marshal St. Arnaud and Lord Raglan, with the Turkish ministers visited Shumla, the head- quarters of the Turkish general, who accompanied them to Varna, and urged upon them the occupation of that place. His de- sire was that the allied armies should occupy the whole country between Varna and Shumla, and to advance gradually as they were re- inforced, menacing the Russians from Cher- naveda to Kustendje ; in this waj' to co- operate with him in pushing the Russians back upon "NVallachia, and to act upon the offensive along the whole line of the Danube. It was Omar's opinion that aided by the fleets, and with Varna as a basis of operation, the allied troops would prove invincible, provided a cau- tious, vigilant, and yet vigorous course of action were maintained. Accordingly, the allied troops were embarked early in June for that destination. The voyage from Constantinople to Varna is one of deep interest to the lover of the picturesque. The passage into the Black Sea through the Bos- phorus is, in times of peace, one of trauquU and soothing loveliness; but the first detach- ments of the British army were not destined to see much of its beauty. The light division was first moved, and struck their tents with order, ease, and rapidity. Their embarkation was effected with admirable care and skiU. Amidst fog, mist, and darkness, they sailed into the Black Sea, and without encountering accidents or Russians, reached the bay of Varnu in safety. The division was landed with the same skill with which it had been embarked, and thanks to the admirable foresight and tact of Omar Pasha, arabas drawn by bullocks, ana sometimes hy horses, were ready, in consider- able if not sufficient numbers, to aid the first movements of the troops. The Turkish general had dispatched detachments of cavalry from Shumla, who prepared the country people along their line of route to send provisions to the new camp, which in consequence soon became well stocked, and good food was abundant, and consequently moderate in price. Such of the troops as remained on board the first day, were delighted with the band on board the ship of Lord G. Paulet, which, in compliment to Gene- ral Brown, who was his lordship's guest, performed national melodies and pieces from our best composers. Amongst no class is the influence of music more beneficial than amongst soldiers. The strains of military music fire their patriotism, and their rcational and profes- sional pride, and inspire them with eagerness to meet the enemies of their country on the field. The privations of camp life are forgotten, and the gloomy bivouac, the dreary and fatiguing march, leave no unpleasant memories of their inconveniences and pain, when the sweet melo- dies wliich call up the images of home and country, joyously yet softly, are wafted over the plain or the waters where their tents are pitched, or their barks repose. An impression very unfavourable to the loyalty of tluir •Turkish allies was produced among the British soldiery in this part of the expedition. As they embarked, there were no kind farewells, no blessing from Allah, pro- nounced upon them. The smokers smoked, the children played heedlessly, the boatmen leaned listlessly on their oars, no cheers rang upon their ears, except such as were raised by their own brethren in arms, so soon to become sharers in their dangers and their sufferings. When about to land at Varna, as they neared. the shore, they hailed the Turkish troops with warm British cheers, but met with no response ; the Turkish soldiers watched them — if the glances they occasiouallv directed towards them 200 HISTOIIY OF THE WAR AGAINST RIJSSIA. [CiiAP. XIX. could be so described — witb quiet indifference. Some of these troops were Egyptians, but they miglit as well have been Egyptian mummies, for any sympathy with their newly-arrived allies which they appeared to feel. Perhaps the long delay of tlie arrival of these troops might account for this. The Turkish armies had fallen back from the Danube upon the Wall of Trajan, Silistria was beleaguered and sorely pressed, and yet the allies lingered on the verdant shores of the Bosphorus, or of the Sea of Marmora. This caused probably much of the coolness evinced towards the troops by even Turks of distinction throughout the whole month of May. One Turkish gentleman, having been present at a review of the British at the lines of Gallipoli, after witnessing their cele- rity and precision of movement, quietly asked, " Do they like this?" — "Yes, certainly," it was replied, "they like it." — "Ah," said the dignitary, with quiet sarcasm, " I suppose they do, for the Turks are fighting the Kus- sians." The unaccountable inaction of the army filled it with shame in presence of the men whose cause they came to defend. It was not then understood by the troops that the war was directed by a ministry whose sympathies were with the enemy, against whom they made a reluctant declaratioa of war, which war they carried on as if the defeat and destruction of the army they sent forth to wage it, would be the surest element of good policy and success. The cool reception which the light division met with at Varna did not slake their thirst for glory, nor repress their ardour in the cause. Never was an army animated by a finer spirit, never did soldiers confide more in their officers, never did officers lead men more prepared to follow them wherever they might lead. Immediately after the landing of the light division. General Canrobert and his staff ar- rived, and were followed by small detachments of the Erench army. His arrival was the signal for every cordial demonstration which the British officers and soldiers could present of respect, esteem, and confidence. This oflBcer was from the first peculiarly popular with the British; his open, frank, manlj-, honest ap- pearance, language, and bearing, won him, at all events so far as the British were concerned, " golden opinions from all sorts of men." Detachments of British cavalry, the 8th and 1 7th Light Dragoons, and some guns, were lauded with the light division, or immediately after. Before we notice the further proceed- ings of the troops, we require to give some notice of the place selected as their base of operations. Varna is one of the largest towns on the European shores of the Black Sea; it stands Avhere the Dwina and its lakes empty them- selves into the sea in a broad open valley gently undulating, and covered with orchards and vineyards ; it contains about four thousand houses, and the popiylation is variously esti- mated at from fifteen to twenty-five thousand persons. The Greeks have here a bishop, and the Turks a pasha. In the Russian invasion of 1820, desperate efforts were made for its conquest under the direction of Prince Men- schikoff, the same whose haughty demands at Constantinople produced the present war. He was wounded, and resigned the command to Prince "Woronzoft", who succeeded in bribing the Turkish pasha in command of the garrison. Until treason constrained surrender, the defence was most obstinate, and is memorable in this respect in the annals of sieges. Colonel Chesney, a British officer of distinc- tion, thus describes it as a fortified place : — " The circumference of the city is about three miles, and before the removal of the guns from the sea-face for the defence of Silistria, there were 162 pieces of mounted cannon of A'orious calibres. Inside the works the ground rises to som-e height, both at the western and eastern quarters of the town. The hills thus form a slope towards the sea, near which stands a Byzantine castle, defended by high square turrets. The castle serves as a maga- zine, as well as a kind of keep or citadel. Since the siege of 1828 these works have been increased, and the Avhole has, in 1854, re- ceived the advantage of the skill of European engineers." Baron Moltke gives a more full and detailed account of this celebrated place. He describes the northern side of the valley, in which the town is situated, as rising above 1000°, and having exactly the same formation as the mountains of Shumla. It falls sud- denly with a rocky precipice from the flat Bulgarian plane, and then gradually slopes down to the level ground. The distance of these hills from Varna is about three miles ; the southern edge of the valley is nearer, rises more abruptlj-, and displays the pointed hill - tops and fine forests of the I'eal Balkan. The heights nearest to the fortress, and overlooking it, ai-e above 3000 paces distant. The place therefore is not commanded on any side within some distance, but neither docs it fully com- mand the surrounding ground within range. From the above descriptions by Colonel Chesney and Baron von Moltke, it is pJain that the eloquent correspondent of the Imes, Mr. Russell, errs in saying, " the hills at the back completely command the place, and moke it a poor military position." The light division under the command of its general, Sir George Brown, proceeded from Varna to the neighbourhood of a village called Alwyn, about nine and a half miles distant, where they encamped on a plain close to a fresh- water lake. The cavalry, which con- 21304 CENTRAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY University of California, Saji Diego DATE DUE APR 01 1976 *WP22 RECT CI 39 UCSD LibT. Jjffiy jjjmLTMff FMiimHIIiTfll mPff^MMWrnSSw iflH^^^^^^I i^l o^^W ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hi