Abad, following on the defeat of the' Prince and Prime Minister, produced a great sensation in the Shah's camp at Khoé; and had General Paske vitch crossed the Arras, and made a demonstration of attacking the Shah, it would more than probably have put a period to the war. But no attempt was made to profit by the occasion, or to draw any advantage from the feelings which his successes and the defection of an important tribe had produced. Indeed, from the commence ment of the war, ignorance of the value of time, and of the advantage to be derived from following up success and profiting by moral depression, has been conspicuous in the operations of both parties, and almost to an equal extent. After leaving two thousand men in garrison at Abbas Abad, the Russian general retired to Nukhshivan, and from thence fell back upon his own frontier, with a view to refresh his troops, who were becoming sickly, by a residence of some weeks in the cool atmosphere of that elevated coun try which lies between Nukhshivan and Karabaugh. The force under General Pankratieff, which continued to occupy this latter province, had made no movement of any consequence since the attempt to cross the Arras in the beginning of May. A Russian corps of about 6000 men, which had intrenched itself at Bashaberan, remained inactive, and the garrisons which had been left in the convent of the three churches, and in Abbas Abad, were too weak to attempt anything beyond the walls of their respective fortifications. The Persian army, too, wanted repose, and was not in a condition to attack the Russian general, whose force was estimated at about twenty thousand men.

As it appeared probable that active operations would not be renewed for some weeks, the time was thought favourable for negotiation, and Meerza Sauleh was deputed by the Prince Royal to communicate with the Russian general, and endeavour to conclude an armistice which might admit of the mission of an Ambassador to the Russian capital. The Meerza was unable to accomplish his Royal High

ness's wishes, but he was accompa nied on his return by M. Eribiedoff, a young gentleman who had formerly been employed as secretary to the Russian mission at Tabreez, and who was then favourably known to the Prince. The arrival of this gentleman in the Persian camp, induced many persons to believe that Russia was now more favourably disposed; and as it was known that both the Shah and the Prince Royal were desirous to see peace concluded on any terms which did not compromise the honour of their coun try, sanguine hopes were entertained that the negotiation which had now been opened, would lead to an accommodation. But the Russian Envoy demanded, as preliminaries to any fur ther arrangement, that the Prince should agree, on the part of Persia, to cede Erivan and Nukhshivan to the Emperor, and to pay the expenses of the war, and stated his inability to enter any further on a negotiation, even for an armistice, until these points should be conceded. If his Royal Highness agreed to these terms, an ar mistice for six weeks would be granted, and it was considered not impossible that the Emperor might be disposed to conclude a peace on terms more favourable to Persia. But his Royal Highness was aware that Persia had suffered a severe disappointment on a former occasion, by relying too confidently on assurances of the liberality of a former Emperor. The peace of Goolistan had been concluded under an assurance from General Ritischeff, then Governor-General of Georgia, and Plenipotentiary, that the Emperor Alexander would restore some of the territory ceded by Persia in terms of the treaty; and as Russia had distinctly refused to pay any attention to this assurance, although it was given in writing, and urged by Persia, backed by the good offices of England; and as the Russian authorities had not only disregarded this solemn assu rance, but had grasped at every foot of land to which they could lay claim on the frontier, it could not be expected that Persia would again place much reliance on the magnanimity of the Russian Government. The attempts,

therefore, to negotiate even a temporary arrangement were fruitless, and Meerza Sauleh was again sent to General Paskevitch to endeavour to prevail upon his Excellency to grant an armistice, which should not bind Per sia to accept ruinous terms. This mission also failed, and preparations were made to renew active operations. Shortly after the Russian army had retired beyond Nukhshivan, his Majesty the Shah, having left Allee Nuckee Meerza with the Hassah Khan at Choors, moved from Khoé to Marand, and his Royal Highness, Abbas Meerza, after the failure of his negotiations, marched to Erivan, where he was joined by Hoossein Khan, Sirdar, with a considerable body of men who had become disposable after the siege of Erivan was raised. In the meantime, General Paskevitch remained in the high lands at a place called Karababa, where his troops were said to be suffering much from an epidemic which prevailed in his camp-and the Rus sian troops in the other stations at tempted nothing.

The Shah having remained a few days at Marand, moved about the middle of August to the Plain of Mher ban. Allee Nuckee Meerza and Has san Khan were still at Choors watch ing the movements of General Paske vitch and the Prince Royal; and Hoos sein Khan, having entrenched a posi tion on the road from Bashaberan to Eutchkeleeseah, proceeded to invest the latter place.

Towards the end of August, a Rus sian division, consisting of 4000 in fantry, 2000 cavalry, and 20 field pieces, marched from Aheran to relieve Eutchkeleeseah, which was now closely invested. In the evening they came in contact with the outposts of the Persian position, and finding that it was strongly entrenched, fell back for the night. Next morning they ad vanced, making a detour to avoid the entrenchment, and the Prince and Sirdar, drawing out their men, attack ed them on the line of march. The Russians had formed themselves into four solid squares, connected by lines of infantry, in such a manner as to form one great hollow square, with small solid squares at the angles, which the Persians not unaptly compared to a square fort with a bastion or tower at each corner. The Persian commanders, instead of bringing up their whole

force at once, contented themselves with harassing their enemy by desultory attacks, and keeping up an uninterrupted fire of artillery. Two battalions of the Persian regular infantry, as they are called, supported by the guns and by a body of light horse, were first opposed to the Rus sians, and were warinly engaged for nearly an hour, when they were with drawn, and replaced by two fresh bat talions. In this way, four or five brigades were successively brought into action, and the horsemen who ho vered about made frequent attacks, wherever the line appeared to be weak. The action had commenced at sunrise, and continued without intermission till near sunset, when the Russian troops, exhausted by long-continued exertion, and the heat of the weather, and parched with thirst, arrived at a stream. The men, abandoning their ranks, rushed to the water, and the Persian commanders, seeing their advantage, brought up two fresh batta lions, who charged without firing a shot. The Russians endeavoured to form and oppose them, but the forma tion was probably imperfect, and the opposition was certainly ineffectual. Their line was broken, and Persians and Russians mixed up together fought hand to hand. After a desperate strug gle of some minutes' duration, the Rus sians gave way, and the confusion be came general. The Persian horse, seeing the impression made by the in fantry, charged resolutely. The wea ried battalions, which had borne the brunt of the battle in the early part of the day, elated by the success of their comrades, dashed on to their support. The men were now so completely mingled together, that the fire of the artillery on both sides was suspended, and horse and foot, Persian and Russian, enveloped in an impenetrable cloud of dust, rolled on, one wild and roaring mass, towards the convent of the three churches, under the walls of which the Russians sought refuge.

In this action about twelve hundred Russians were left upon the field, and above three hundred were made pri soners. Between three and four thou sand stands of arms, and several wag. gons of ammunition, cloth, and other stores, fell into the hands of the Persians, whose total loss did not exceed three hundred men. The conduct of the Russian troops was spirited, and

MY DEAR NORTH,

It was a matter of no small selfgratulation to me, that the few gentle remarks which I ventured, in my former letter, to make upon the persons called Whigs, should so soon have been verified by the important events which have since taken place. The indignation of the country at the glaring incompetency of a Ministry, in which Whig principles predominated, became so apparent, that they were, as I supposed they would be, afraid to meet Parliament, and his Majesty felt himself under the necessity of putting into their places men capable of conducting the affairs of the country, which they manifestly were not. It was a great addition to the gratifi cation I felt on this occasion, that the Duke of Wellington was the person chosen by his Majesty to form the new administration, because I had endeavoured in my letter to do some justice to the character of the noble Duke, which it was the fashion at that time, amongst the Whigs, to visit with all the paltry and malignant vituperation with which they are accustomed to assail their superiors. Very far, indeed, did anything which I could say fall short of doing complete justice to a character, so splendid as that which I attempted to describe; but it had at least the effect of showing, however feebly, that of all men I thought him the most fit to be, that which he so soon afterwards wasPrime Minister of Great Britain. I intended to have sent you a letter very shortly after the Whigs were turned adrift, and had even written some pages, expressing, in terms not exactly of the mildest, my satisfaction at that event. In the moment of victory I felt inclined to imitate the British lancers at Waterloo, who dashed over the unhorsed cuirassiers, and pinned them to the earth as they lay sprawling. I was disposed to show you some of the Whigs wriggling in the agonies of death and defeat upon the point of my spear, but I was dissuaded from my purpose by a goodnatured remonstrance. I was in midcareer, brandishing aloft my weapon, when my cousin Bob, who comes westward of Charing Cross, I think about four times in the year, did me

that sort of man, in short, who gets quietly into reputation, becomes a Bank Director at fifty-six, and, having retired from business, dies at seventytwo, for want of something else to do, leaving a hundred and fifty thousand in the funds, besides some old houses in the City, a parcel of shares in insurance companies, and a villa at Hackney. As he is some twenty years my senior, and I have my expectations," I have a very profound respect for his judgment, which I do not fail to show upon every suitable occasion; and as I know he is a stout Tory at bottom, though, in general, he thinks it prudent to steer clear of political opinions, I gave him my flourish over the fallen Whigs to read, while 1 slashed on to finish the page I was inditing. Bob read on, as steadily as if it were a bill of lading, or a price current he was perusing; and at the conclusion I observed him lay one leg across the other, and rub his hand across the lower part of his face, which with him are always preparatory motions to the saying of something sage. I therefore turned, erectis auribus, towards him, to catch the wisdom which he might let fall. "I don't," said he, "that is-in my view of the case -I don't see the use of throwing water upon a drowned rat."

Critics, who are fastidious about elegance of illustration, might perhaps find something to cavil at in this laconic criticism of my cousin; but to me, who am careless about such things, it spoke volumes. Had Brougham made a seven-hours' speech on the subject, it is not likely that he would have said anything half so much to the purpose, as was contained in those few words. For what, indeed, is more like a Whig than a rat-a vicious detestable animal, hateful to the sight of all honest people, whose goods it is perpetually labouring to destroy? or what more like the present condition

of the Whigs than a drowned rat; when its career of mischief is closed, when, in its eagerness to steal some of the prime cheese which lay on the upper shelf, it climbed where it was unable to keep its proper balance, and tumbled down into the tub of water that lay beneath, and was then taken by the tail, and flung out on the dunghill to decay, amongst other out cast filth? The parallel is obvious, and needs not to be prosecuted farther. I shall not trouble you with the courteous speech, in which I admitted the extreme force of my cou sin's observation; suffice it to say, that when he was gone, I threw my pages in the fire, muttering, as they consumed before my eyes, "the man spoke like an oracle—it would indeed be superfluous to throw water upon a drowned rat, and I shall not write to my excellent friend North, until I have something else to comment upon than the wretched plight of the Whigs."

It was some time after this before anything occurred which offered any temptation for commentary, politics having been most uninvitingly dull for some time after the formation of the new Ministry, and even after the meeting of Parliament; but for the last three weeks there has been a little more animation, and it may not be an unprofitable task to take a rapid glance at some of the most striking views in the moving panorama of public events during that time. First in order, then, come the "explanations," so called, no doubt, according to the old rule, because nothing was therein explained. It is always an unpleasant thing, when persons, holding stations so high as those of Cabinet Ministers of Great Britain, should find it necessary to enter into a defence, or "explanation," as it has been termed, of their conduct as individuals. We feel, in spite of ourselves, the truth of the French proverb, "qui s'excuse s'accuse," and we are forced to dwell upon the exculpation of those, whom we would rather consider not only as above misconduct, but above suspicion. However strong this disagree. able feeling may be under the most favourable circumstances, it is unquestionably much heightened, when we find these defences to consist of long and intricate harangues, of which it is tedious to arrive at the end, and diffi

cult to arrive at the meaning. We fear that something is wrong, where so many words are necessary to explain that all was right. I do not think any one ever dreamt of calling upon such a man as the Duke of Wellington for an "explanation," in the sense in which it has been lately applied; and if such were by possibility asked for, does any one doubt, that in so many words as might be delivered in ten minutes by the House of Lords' clock, he would sweep away all matter of doubt and intricacy from the subject, by a bold straight-forward statement, which would leave neither necessity nor room for further questioning?

Such, certainly, was not the kind of explanation with which the members of the late Cabinet favoured Parliament and the public; nor can it ever come from those, who are either Whigs themselves, or have had the misfortune to be connected with Whigs, who involve everything in such a hodge-podge of petty management, intrigue, and insincerity, that even an honest man cannot make a plain story out of that with which they have had to do.

As to the first speech of "explanation" which was delivered by Mr Huskisson at Liverpool, I have a shrewd suspicion, my worthy friend Christopher, that, notwithstanding the rather hard knocks which you have, with something of Irish kindness, occasionally given to the Colonial Secretary, he had been previously to the delivery of it taking a lesson from you in the art of joke and banter, in which you are, above all men at present on the face of the earth, pre-eminently con spicuous. It is manifest that the speech was nothing but a most superb quiz from beginning to end. And the wonder is that even the Liverpool people should have intellects so cottony as not to have perceived it; for even if they had believed that the tears of the "Continental peasantry" for Mr Canning's death, was but a flourish of genuine rhetorical pathos, and that the honesty and consistency of the Whigs in joining those who professed Lord Liverpool's principles, was, however "strange, yet true," in the right honourable Secretary's opinion; how the deuce could they be so stupid as not to see the joke, when he began to talk about the "cordiality and har