XIII. 1821. more than the wall of Antoninus had that of repelling the CHAP. incursions of the Caledonians, or the rampart of Trajan those of the northern Germans. The chief incursions of the Tartars, which proved so frightful a scourge to Persia and Asia Minor, those of Genghis Khan and Timour, were effected by this pass, through which repeatedly three and four hundred thousand of these ruthless barbarians have 10, 15; Malte Brun, passed on horseback, carrying their forage at their saddle- vii. 62, 63. bows, bent on southern devastation and plunder.1 1 Fonton, of Asia ASIA MINOR, which, in every period of history, has 62. borne an important part alike in Asiatic and European Description annals, is a country of great extent, intersected with a Minor. variety of mountain-ranges, and in its valleys and plains abounding with all the choicest gifts of nature. The climate in the valleys of Georgia, which stretch to the south, is mild and temperate. Sheltered from the chilly blasts of the north by the huge rampart of the Caucasus, all the productions of the temperate zone come to maturity; and with them are blended, where the valleys approach the plain of Mesopotamia, the palm-trees, pomegranates, and dates of the tropical regions. It is on these sunny slopes that the Garden of Eden is placed by Scripture, and from thence that the human race set out in its pilgrimage through the globe. On the banks of the Kara, which descends through the rival chains of Elbruz and Ararat to the Caspian, the beauty of nature realises all that the imagination of Milton has conceived of the charms of Paradise; and it is rivalled by the surpassing loveliness of those of the Kuban, which forces its way through rocky precipices from the western shoulder of Elbruz to the Black Sea. Vines, olives, apricots, peaches, and all the more delicate fruits, are there found in profusion; while green pastures nourish innumerable flocks. on the mountain-sides; and the finest crops of wheat, maize, and barley, reward the labour of the husbandman at their feet. The beneficence of physical nature may be judged of by the extraordinary perfection of the ani XIII. 1821. CHAP. mals of all kinds which are found in that favoured region, and the exquisite beauty of the women, celebrated over all the world as combining all that is most perfect in the human figure. Tiflis is the capital of this beautiful region, Erzeroum that of the whole of Asia Minor. The latter 1 Remigg's stedt's Voy ages, i. 353, ton, 42; ste is a city containing a hundred thousand inhabitants ; the 359; Fon- seat of a pasha of three tails, or of the highest grade; and Malte Brun, of an importance second only to Constantinople in the government and defence of the empire.1 vii. 68, 69. 63. sources of Although Turkey has repeatedly been threatened by Military re- Russia from the side of Asia Minor, and the greatest Asia Minor. danger she has ever run, as will appear in the sequel, has arisen in that quarter, yet the military resources of that part of the Ottoman dominions are very great, and such as, if ably led and fully drawn forth, would seem capable of enabling it even to assume the offensive in that direction. The Pasha of Erzeroum has, in time of war, twenty thousand regular troops at his disposal, to which, when the strength of the Osmanlis is fully called forth, two hundred thousand hardy and brave irregulars may be added, all admirable horsemen, and, though undisciplined, thoroughly trained individually to the use of arms. The formidable nature of this force arises from the fact, that the Mussulmans in the Asiatic provinces of Turkey form a decided majority of the inhabitants; they compose twelve millions out of sixteen millions of its entire population. Though not capable of moving in masses under fire, or meeting the disciplined battalions of Russia in the open field, these hardy irregulars are most formidable in the defence of woody fastnesses or rocky heights, often 2 Fonton, extremely so in a swarm charge, and inferior to none in Ubicini, 25. the world in the tenacity with which they maintain walled towns.2 206, 207; The nature of the country in Asia Minor, especially between the Caucasus and its capital, Erzeroum, adds immensely to its defensible nature against a northern invader. Extremely mountainous, intersected in all direc XIII. 1821. 64. ous nature want of tions by ranges of hills, in general rugged and precipitous, CHAP. and yet so twisted and interwoven with each other that it is a matter of necessity often to cross over them, it is as impervious to regular European troops, burdened with Mountainartillery and chariots, as it is easy of passage to the of the counTurkish hordes, who are seldom troubled with any such try, and encumbrances. Fortresses strong, according to Oriental roads. ideas, and very difficult of reduction to an invader without artillery, guard the most important passes, or crown the overhanging cliffs. Few roads, and most of them practicable only for horses or foot-soldiers, traverse this rugged region. That by the coast stops at Trebizond. Only one road fit for carriages traverses the centre of the country by Kars to Erzeroum, and it is defended by several formidable forts. Altogether, Asia Minor presented the greatest possible difficulties to an invading army; and they were much augmented by the tyrannical nature of the Turkish government, which had rendered great part of the country a perfect desert, and in all so thinly inhabited as to be incapable of furnishing the supplies neces- 206, 209. sary for a large army.1 1 Fonton, sian tribes. The Caucasus has, from the earliest times, been the 65. abode of tribes inured to privations by necessity, stimu- The Caucalated to exertion by suffering. It is a mistake to suppose that the great migrations of the human species have descended from its snowy ridges. Mountaineers seldom emigrate, at least in inland situations, though they often plunder the vales beneath; it is the herdsmen of the plains who traverse the globe. The very rigour of their climate, the churlishness of the soil, the hardships of their situation, attach them the more strongly to their native land. "No product here the barren hills afford, But man and steel, the soldier and his sword; СНАР. 1821. Dear is that shed to which his soul conforms, " Much surprise has often been expressed in Western Europe at the inability of the Russians, after above a century of conflicts, thoroughly to subdue the inhabitants of the Caucasus; but the wonder will cease when it is recollected what difficulty the Romans, even with the strength of the Cæsars, had to subdue the inhabitants of the Alps, who guarded the very gates of Italy, and how long, in our own day, the naked Caffres, who never could bring six thousand men into the field, withstood the strength of Britain. The Caucasians have done no more with the Russians than they have done with all their neighbours for three thousand years. Plunder is to them the condition of existence; the spoil of the vales at their feet, their chief excitement in war, their main source of riches in peace; and the rugged inaccessible nature of their country enables them long to carry on their depredations with impunity. The common saying of the Circassian maidens, attested by Clarke, " He a lover! he never stole a Tcherrumonky cow," evinces, better than any laboured description, the predatory habits of the people. The Russian army of the Caucasus, generally thirty thousand strong, is inured to constant conflicts with the mountaineers; the great military roads through the range are 1 Fonton, only kept open by large bodies of men; strong forts are 207, 210; placed at every station, and the very lazarettos loopholed and guarded, to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy.1 Malte Brun, vii. 92, 97. 66. Russian policy of intervention. Based upon a correct appreciation of the immense advantages which they derive from their own unity, and the weakness to which their neighbours are exposed by their divisions, the Russian policy in regard to all of them has for a century and a half been directed to one object. This is to avoid direct conquest or flagrant usurpation, and never hazard an extension of territory till the circum * GOLDSMITH. 1 XIII. 1821. stances of the people, from whom it is to be wrested, have CHAP. 67. Examples of the applica principle. The situation of Russia, and the political and religious circumstances of the people by whom she is surrounded, have contributed no less than her internal unity and tion of this strength to the advantages she has derived from the prosecution of this policy. Placed midway between Europe and Asia, she touches on the one side the states torn by the social passions of Europe; on the other, those divided by the divisions of religion and race which distract Asia. United in ambition and feeling herself, she is surrounded by countries disturbed by every passion which can afflict or desolate the world. In Poland, the path of conquest had been prepared for her by the "insane ambition of a plebeian noblesse," as John Sobieski called it, and the |