intercourse is extended to her nearest female relatives, and the experienced matron is occasionally licensed to address her male kinsfolk. But the disease of garrulity has been tolerably reduced by this discipline of six years: and an Armenian lady has seldom the chance of becoming fluent in conversation, unless she attains the years of the sibyl or the treble-dated crow.'

During his first residence at Tiflis the Baron acquired a friend no less serviceable to him and of a higher grade than Peter Neu. It was, indeed, no slight advantage to our traveller that he frequently corrected and counteracted the influence of his Russian patrons by becoming acquainted with accomplished and intelligent natives of the provinces which he visited. Among these in the narrative before us an Armenian gentleman of an ancient house claims precedence.

Abovian was descended from the family of an hereditary village-chief. By some strange caprice of the Russian government, such families in Georgia and Immiretia are recognised as of princely rank in Armenia they are not accounted even as noble. Abovian's original destiny was to take monastic vows in the convent of Echmiadzin. Fortunately for himself and for his countrymen, he was dissuaded from so entombing himself by the traveller Parrot, who, having discovered his singular abilities, induced him to become a student at a German university. A residence of four years at Dorpat completely teutonised the Armenian; and he not only spoke and wrote German like a native, but took to himself a German helpmate, and established in Armenia a German household.

There was much matter in this convertite,' for he thoroughly understood his own countryman, and communicated much useful information respecting them to the Baron von Haxthausen. We have had some difficulty in extracting from his pages a clear and connected account of this worthy Armenian, since no sooner does he mention him than he passes on to some other topic. Of all the privileges accorded to travellers no one is so dear to the Baron, or so much abused by him, as that of digression.

We shall offer no apology to our readers for presenting them with the following portrait of Abovian's ancestors. The freshness and singularity of the incidents render it one of the most delightful passages in Haxthausen's work. We must premise that a custom prevails among the Armenians of celebrating the memory of their departed friends on the Monday after each of the five great festivals of the Church. On these occasions the less wealthy carry meat, bread, wine, and fruit to the graves of the deceased, which, after the benediction of the priest, are distributed among the poor; the opulent lay their

gifts before the altar; but they are the most happy who can afford a yearly pilgrimage to the cathedral of Echmiadzin. The pilgrims on their return home relate with deep emotion all the circumstances of their visit, and in the long nights of winter are never weary of repeating to the circle around the hearthhow they had seen the holy place, how the patriarch had laid his hands upon and blessed them, how they had kissed his knees, and partaken of the consecrated bread and wine.'

Every year Abovian's grandfather made a pilgrimage to Echmiadzin, accompanied by his wife and sons, and he gave the following account of this stately yet cheerful observance to his guest.

"The preparations for the pilgrimage were made in my grandfather's house, long before the time. My father was seven, and my uncle nine years of age, when they were first allowed to accompany their parents to Echmiadzin. On this occasion they were newly clothed in the finest cloth and silk dresses - one year of a brilliant scarlet, the next in bright green, then blue, then yellow, in short, every year of a different colour. Their shoes were of fine green leather, made of horse-hide, which is too expensive for any but the wealthy. The blooming boys had an angelic beauty, mounted on two brisk nags, with a dirk stuck in their belts, and a little sabre hung at their side. The grandfather, mounted on a magnificently caparisoned steed, rode in front with his wife, followed by a numerous cavalcade, and two or three beasts of burden laden with presents for the convent. In every village the people all collected to see them pass, and one said to another, "Here comes again the pious man upon his pilgrimage! there is no one like him for goodness.""

After describing the receptions of the pilgrims generally, the dress of the patriarch, the clerical ceremonies and the benediction, the special interview accorded to Abovian's ancestor is thus related:

'It was different with my grandfather: the patriarch welcomed him as a dear old friend. When he entered, all ceremony was at an end. "Dear, dear grandfather," exclaim the little boys; and breaking away from the hold of their parents, who try to restrain them, they run up to the Patriarch and throw their arms about his neck. The old man rises from his seat, and with outspread arms advances to meet his guests. "Welcome, my dear son," he says: "Thou light of my church, and tower of strength to our convent! And thou too, our dear mother, welcome, faithful daughter of my church! You have had us sinners in remembrance, may the springs of Eden richly water your dwellings! May the holy St. Gregory protect you, children of my heart! Ye innocent flowers of the spring, come to my heart! Long have I waited anxiously to see you, and now my eyes have received their light again. Come, seat yourselves near me, and let us be happy."

"The patriarch then sits down, with his guests close around him,

and caressing the children upon his knees; and whilst he converses thus with the parents on matters concerning their family, the commune, the nation, or the church, the little boys run about the room, jump on his knees, play with his beard and hands, draw the rings from his fingers and slip them on their own. Then the parents try to stop the fun : but the old man intercedes for his little friends, who emboldened by his kindness, run out of the room, and race through the palace of the convent and round the garden, continually stopped and caressed by the bishops and priests. The boys want to play with the fishes in the pond, and run to complain to the patriarch that the fishes will not let themselves be caught, and that one of the black men tries to stop their running about. "Never mind, little boys," replies the patriarch; "I will teach the naughty man better than to offend my children: and the disobedient fishes shall come of themselves to my table, as they would not let you catch them.” It may readily be imagined that this annual visit was an occasion of the greatest delight to the children, and of the highest honour to their parents: my father always spoke of it as the dearest recollection of his youth.'

Amidst this variety of races and institutions, the influence of one central power sagacious in discerning, and prompt or patient in following out its schemes of incorporation is necessarily great, and may be irresistible. The rulers of the Russian empire have not now to learn the value of the maxim divide ' et impera.' They have long been proficients in the Roman policy of breaking up national unity, by transporting, through the machinery of their army, the best and bravest of a race to alien and uncongenial climes. The youth of Britain and Gaul were employed by the politic Cæsars in garrisoning the cities of Syria and Egypt, and the Celtic capitals of York and Colchester were familiarised with the dark complexions of recruits drawn from Orontes and the Nile. With a similar policy, the Transcaucasian militia are removed to the plains of Poland and the fortresses of the Baltic, while their place is supplied in Tiflis and Erivan by the cerulea proles' of the North, or by Finns, Tatars, or an indiscriminate crowd levied in Upper Asia. The evils of such division are imperfectly apprehended by nations having in themselves no common bond of union, and no pressing motives for adhesion. Unity of creed, so powerful a tie where others are wanting, is of little avail as regards the Transcaucasian provinces, since besides the capital divisions of the crescent and the cross, there are infinite subdivisions of usage and belief. Affinity of government there is none, in theory or in practice among races enjoying either a rude freedom or contented for centuries with an unprogressive despotism. Fusion by commerce is necessarily imperfect and

6

remote among nations that are satisfied with their own produce and have not yet learnt to need the luxuries that render them dependent on others. Indeed, as we have already seen, the Transcaucasian races, in the nineteenth century, are nearly in the condition in which the Byzantine empire left them in the fourteenth. They have not receded into barbarism, they have not advanced materially in civilisation. To all appearances they lie a prey to the fowler: ready to be entrapped and absorbed by any power disposed or strong enough to appropriate them, and enterprising and sagacious enough to turn to account the position and the natural advantages which they have in all periods neglected to improve.

At the issue we do not presume to guess. The destiny of these provinces will probably be determined in one or two generations. With their vast material wealth, and with a population, which, though inert and degraded, is not without many germs of life and promise, they will undeniably be an important appanage to the empire that amalgamates them. Up to the present hour Russia, by its proximity, its intrigues, and its stealthy advances, would seem to have the fairest chance of succeeding to Persia and Turkey in this rich inheritance. Yet, now that the Western Powers have shaken off their long slumber, and measured by the force of its resistance the power of Russia in the East, the hour may not be far distant for the regeneration of Transcaucasia. Than a free and active commerce with the Isthmus there is no more efficient barrier against the progress of Russia. With the wants stimulated by trade will be imported the seeds of political freedom and without foregoing their mixed nationalityfor the borderland of two continents will always retain some of the features of each-the Mingrelian, Georgian, and Armenian may be engrafted upon the European stem, and become a barrier scarcely less impregnable than the Caucasus itself, against the advances of an empire which since the accession of the House of Romanoff, has barely veiled its purpose of reacting the part of Rome, a Gadibus usque ad Ganges.'

ART. X.-1. The History of the United States of America, By RICHARD HILDRETH. New York: 1849.

2. Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers of the Colony of Plymouth. By ALEXANDER YOUNG. Boston: 1844.

3. Chronicles of the first Planters of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. By ALEXANDER YOUNG. Boston: 1846.

4. Collections concerning the Early History of the Founders of New Plymouth, the First Colonists of New England. By JOSEPH HUNTER, F.S.A. London: 1849.

5. Felt's Salem. Salem: 1845.

6. Savage's Edition of Winthrop's Diary.

7. Charters of the Old English Colonies in America, with an Introduction and Notes. By SAMUEL LUCAS, M.A. London: 1850.

8. The Scarlet Letter. By NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.

A

MERICAN archæologists, especially of late years, have been smoothing the way for American historians. The work which stands first in the foregoing list has, therefore, some positive advantages over its predecessors. In a negative sense it is also acceptable, because it is not made the vehicle for any of those ambitious inferences and speculations which delight our American brethren. In this instance we encounter the muse of American History descended from her stump and recounting her narrative in a key adapted to our own ears. For the first time, we believe, we have here the story of the founders of our New England colonies recorded in an ample and explicit manner, with a consistent care to exclude errors and exaggerations. Mr. Hildreth is not only conscious of the spirit in which he has addressed himself to his task, but he has stated it frankly at the commencement of his preface. 'Of centennial sermons and Fourth of July orations, whether professedly such or in the I guise of history, there are more than enough. It is due to our fathers and ourselves, it is due to truth and philosophy, 'to present for once on the historic stage the founders of our American nation unbedaubed with patriotic rouge, wrapped ' up in no fine-spun cloaks of excuse and apology, without stilts, buskins, tinsel, or bedizzenment.' Animated by this spirit, Mr. Hildreth has availed himself, though hardly to the utmost, of his peculiar resources.

For we may add the resources for such a work are peculiar in a very obvious sense. The States of America, unlike the