when you found yourself subjected to the steady scrutinizing gaze of his cold gray eye, and had time to analyze the practical good sense and logical force of his observations. At times, too, when certain political topics were introduced, it became evident that there was no latent deficiency of energy in his character. He would forget for the moment the severe discipline of his usual manner, and give way to a burst of vehement declamation that carried every thing before it. When in these moods, it became difficult to identify the fierce, thrilling demagogue before you with the cold, self-possessed, passionless being whose monotonous accents had been falling so listlessly upon your ear.

In the first of the personages thus briefly sketched, we have introduced to our readers Leo, Prince of Armenia; and in the second, Ivan Golovin, Prince of Howra, an ardent republican despite of his origin; both men in whose persons the most sacred rights have been violated by the Russian despot. Before entering, however, upon the chapter of Prince Leo's wrongs, it will be necessary for us to quote the document above referred to, and then to take a rapid review of the historical evidence upon which his claims are founded:

To the

"Leo, by the grace of God, Sovereign Prince of Armenia, Prince of Korinos, Prince de Lusignan, Prince of Georgia, Prince of Gassan, Duke of Tyr, Count d'Almarie, and Defender of the Armenian Faith. Armenians in Turkey:-Beloved brothers and faithful countrymen :-Our will and our ardent wish is that you should defend, to the last drop of your blood, your country and the Sultan against the tyrant of the north. Remember, my brothers, that in Turkey there are no knouts; they do not tear your nostrils, and your women are not flogged secretly or in public. Under the reign of the Sultan there is humanity, while under the tyrant of the north there are nothing but atrocities. Therefore, place yourselves under the protection of God, and fight bravely for the liberty of your country and your present sovereign. Pull down your houses to make barricades, and if you have no other arms, break your furniture and defend yourselves with it. May Heaven guide you on your path to glory! My blessings and prayers shall attend you wherever you go. My only happiness will be to fight in the midst of you against the oppressor of your country and our creed. May God incline the Sultan's heart to sanction my demand, because under his reign our religion remains in its pure form, while under the northern tyrant it will be altered. Remember, at least, brothers, that the blood that runs in the veins of him who now addresses you is the blood of twenty kings; it is the blood of

Neros, Lusignans, and defenders of our faith; and we say to you, let us defend our creed and its purity from invasion until our last drop of blood."

The country formerly subject to the rule of the Armenian monarchs, although its limits have varied from time to time, may be described generally as lying between the Kur on the north, and the Khurdistan mountains on the south, having the Euphrates from the ridge of Mount Taurus or Erzingan on the west, and approaching to near the Caspian Sea on the east. The soil is in general fertile, and where irrigation is practised, the produce is varied and abundant. In addition to the Armenians, or native inhabitants, the population is composed of Turks, Persians, Russians and pastoral hordes of Turkomans and Kurds. After being long governed either by independent princes or vassals of the Assyrian and Persian empire, Armenia became the theatre of fierce and protracted struggles between the Persians and Romans. Its monarchs were engaged in perpetual contests to preserve the independence and integrity of their territories, and although their reigns present scarcely any thing but a long list of disasters, they exercised an important influence upon the destinies of Western Asia. Leo the First, who ascended the throne in 1123, at the death of Theodore his eldest brother, became so formidable that the Emperor John Comnenus was compelled to raise a powerful army against him. Leo was taken prisoner, with his wife and two sons, and died in captivity at the end of four years. Thoros, or Theodore II., his eldest son, succeeded in effect-. ing his escape, and ascended the throne in 1144. Leo II., surnamed the Great, and grandson of the preceding monarch, succeeded to Rhoupen, his eldest brother, in 1183. He waged a successful war with the Turkoman emir Roustan, added considerably to his dominions, and obtained from Pope Celestin III., and the Emperor Henry VI., permission to assume the title of king. He was crowned by Conrad, Archbishop of Mayence, and anointed by the patriarch Gregory in 1198. He espoused, immediately after, the sister of Guy de Lusignan, King of Cyprus, and distinguished himself by his victories over the Sultan of Iconium, and the Mussulmen of Syria and Asia Minor. Leon III. succeeded in 1269 to his father, Heythorn I., who retired into a monastery. Leo IV., son of Theodore III., succeeded to his uncle Heythorn II., who abdicated in his favor. He was massacred in cold blood by Bilarghou, a Mogul general, who surprised him in his capital. Leo V., son of Öschin and nephew of Heythorn II., succeeded to

his father in 1320. The Mamelukes, Tartars, and Turkomans, successively invaded and ravaged his kingdom; whilst a fugitive and confined a prisoner in inaccessible mountains, he vainly implored succor from the Sultan of Persia and the Pope. He died in 1342 without posterity.

Jean de Lusignan was then elected to the throne, and took the title of Leo VI. He was of the same house of Lusignan of Cyprus, a daughter of which had espoused Leo the Great. The history of this monarch presented some features of romantic interest, which would have formed a fertile theme for the novelist. Immediately after his accession to the throne, Cilicia was invaded by Shahar Ogli, a Mameluke general, who ravaged the country with fire and sword, and forced the king to take to the mountains, where he remained concealed for nearly two years. In 1375 Leo returned to Tarsus, just as his wife Marie, believing him to be dead, was on the point of wedding Otho, Duke of Brunswick. Having re-assumed the crown, he endeavored to negotiate a peace with the Sultan of Egypt, who would not listen to his propositions. War again broke out, and after a fierce, but ineffectual struggle, Leo again lost his kingdom and his liberty, the latter of which he only recovered by the mediation of the King of Castile, John I. He then tried to engage the kings of France and England to interfere in his favor, but those princes confined themselves to granting him a pension for life. He retired to Paris, where he fixed his residence, and died there in 1393.

With the efforts made by this last monarch, every trace of the independence of Armenia disappeared, and she was effaced from the list of nations. The people began to seek an asylum in other countries, and were soon widely diffused over Persia, Turkey, Russia and India. Until a comparatively recent period, Armenia was divided between Persia and Turkey, but the latter ceded to Russia, by the treaty of Adrianople, a considerable portion of the Armenian territories; and in 1827 Russia acquired the entire province of Erivan.

Notwithstanding the allegations contained in the proclamation above quoted, and which may be in some degree attributed to a keen sense of personal injustice, there are grounds for believing that the occupation of part of Armenia by the Russians is considered advantageous by the inhabitants. Whatever dissatisfaction may exist on the score of religion, there can be no doubt that life and property are infinitely more secure than they were

under any other government which they have had for the last three centuries. Colonel Monteith says: "You may now travel in perfect security with post-horses from the mouths of the Phasis to the Kur, and the Caspian, through countries where, in 1815, the roads were all but impracticable, and exposed to the unrestrained attacks of robbers and other banditti." The consequence of this improved state of things has been an extensive emigration of Armenians from the Turkish and Persian provinces to those of Russia.

Owing to its migratory character, it is difficult to estimate accurately the present population of Armenia, but it is supposed to amount to upwards of 2,000,000, of whom two-thirds are under the Ottoman rule. The Armenian religion differs little from the Greek, although, as may be seen from the vehement appeal made on this subject by Prince Leo to his countrymen, the difference is sufficient to embitter their relations with Russia. The Armenians reject the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon, and admit only of a Divine nature in Christ. In general they do not acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope, but since 1441 they have recognized as their spiritual superior the Patriarch of Echmiadzin, who resides at the famous convent of the Three Churches, near Erivan, now in possession of Russia.

The descendants of the Jean de Lusignan above mentioned, although stripped of the greater portion of their hereditary possessions in the successive wars and invasions to which their unhappy country was subjected, yet continued to preserve that consideration and respect to which their ancient lineage entitled them. The Armenians could not forget that with the history of this unfortunate family were identified some of the most glorious passages in their annals, and the hope was long ardently cherished, that in the revolutions to which the Ottoman empire seemed destined, the scattered elements of nationality might be again re-united, and the descendants of this long line of warrior monarchs replaced upon the throne. The cession, however, of one of their fairest provinces to Russia, and the certainty that where that formidable power had once obtained a foothold, she would endeavor to extend her sway, crushed the last aspira-, tions for freedom that had animated their breasts. Even in the minds of the dethroned family all hope was now extinguished, and several members of it entered the civil and military services of Russia.

Prince Leo, the head of the family, and the subject of the present sketch, entered the Russian army at an early age. His

natural vivacity of character, amiable manners and ancient lineage, soon procured for him the notice of all the distinguished families in St. Petersburg. With the ardent temperament of youth, of high spirit, and the opportunities that noble birth and ample means afforded him, it is not to be wondered at that he plunged eagerly into that vortex of gayety and dissipation which renders the Russian capital so attractive to the provincial noblesse. There is no more dangerous ordeal, perhaps, for a youth to pass through, than that of Russian society. Ground down under the iron heel of a despotism which fetters not only the free expression of opinion, but which watches with the most jealous surveillance even the social intimacies of those whose antecedents afford any room for doubt, an entire abandonment to all the pleasures of the capital seems in St. Petersburg to be the only mode of disarming the lynxeyed vigilance of the authorities. Whether from a conviction of this fact, or from the natural liveliness of his disposition. Prince Leo seemed for several years to forget that there was any other purpose in life than that of enjoyment. His time appeared to be passed in one unvarying round of military duty and dissipation, and he was the last amongst the gay and volatile youths of the capital to whom a suspicion of any political leanings could apparently be attached.

This Sybarite career was, however, destined to be suddenly cut short. Jealous of such an uninterrupted course of good fortune, Fate rudely severed at a blow the silken tissue of this butterfly existence.

At a late hour one night in the depth of winter, as the prince lay buried in sleep, a rough hand was laid on his shoulder, and he was summoned, in peremptory tones, to arise. He started to his feet, and found himself in the presence of the Chief of Police.

Pointing to some clothing that lay beside his bed, and which had been substituted for the full dress costume he had worn in the evening, the stern official ordered him to put it on, and to prepare for his instant departure. An earnest entreaty to know the grounds of this harsh proceeding, or at all events the place of his destination, was met by the usual reply of the Russian police, that it was their business to execute, and not to discuss the motives and intentions of the Emperor. Feeling that it would be useless to remonstrate further, the Prince at once attired himself and made hasty preparations for his journey. His heart sank within him at the terrible idea that VOL. II.-13

occurred to his mind, and which is the 'first to suggest itself to persons in his position. It was vain, however, to speculate, and he knew too well the nature of the decree of which he was the object to hope that any thing that he could say or do would alter his destiny. Seals having been placed upon his effects, including hereditary jewels to an immense amount, he was informed that he would only be permitted to take with him the few thousand roubles that he happened to have in his escritoire. He was then hurried to a drotsky that stood at the gate, and driven off rapidly on a route which relieved his mind from the apprehensions with which it had been at first assailed. On reaching the German frontiers he was liberated, and laconically informed that the Emperor had decreed his banishment from the Russian dominions, and that he ought to feel grateful to his majesty's clemency for not sending him to Siberia.

We must here pause in our narrative to reply to the obvious inquiry that arises in the minds of our readers, as to the motives that dictated this cruel and summary measure. To this day it remains without an explanation. We believe that the Prince himself is ignorant of the slightest grounds on which suspicion could be attached to his conduct. He mixed himself up with no political intrigues, and avoided as much as possible being seen in the company of men who were thought to be suspectes. Like all

the caprices of that inscrutable policy which affects not only the omnipotence, but the mysterious attributes of the Deity himself, the question seems destined to remain for ever unsolved.

Making his way to Berlin the exiled prince contrived to interest the Prince of Prussia in his favor, and an intimation was conveyed to him that the King had it in contemplation to bestow a pension upon him. He was beginning to get reconciled to his destiny, and to indulge even a hope that through the interference of the Prussian government his property in Russia might be restored to him, when the sun of his favor at court suddenly became overcast. He heard no more of his promised pension, and it was finally hinted to him by the Prince that his further stay in Berlin might be productive of inconvenience. On pressing for an explanation. he learned that the Russian ambassador had been making strong representations to the King as to the displeasure with which any interest testified in him would be held at the court of St. Petersburg. Feeling it useless to struggle against such powerful influences, he decided upon retiring either to England or the United

States, countries in which the iron hand of the despot could no longer reach him.

In London, in which for the present he ultimately resolved on fixing his residence, he found, if not the ease and courtly patronage which had been promised him at Berlin, at least the security and freedom which had been denied him in other countries. Living a retired life, owing to his straitened circumstances, and mixing but little with the fashionable circles of the metropolis, but little is known of his history and misfortunes, beyond the circle of his immediate acquaintances. To his credit be it said, that no one can bear with more equanimity those petty annoyances with which fortune delights in harassing her quondam favorites.

Such is a brief sketch of the history of this descendant of a long line of warrior kings, who displayed, by the by, a greater average amount of virtue and patriotism than is to be found recorded of any other dynasty. Although the passionate energy of his appeal to feelings long since dormant, if not wholly extinct, in the Armenian breast may excite a smile in some, it is impossible not to feel moved at the recital of his misfortunes. There are some points of analogy, too, between his position and that formerly held by the present ruler of France, which remind us that however remote seem the chances of the political future, there are elements at work that may bring about the most improbable events. After all, why should hot our Bond-street acquaintance find his Strasbourg and Boulogne on the shores of the Caspian? The man who invaded France with a live eagle and a dozen of champagne, eventually planted the one on the arc de Triomphe, and hob-nobbed the other in the halls of the Tuileries. We do not despair of seeing our little pretendant yet realizing the idea of the London manager, and astonishing the world under the title of Leo the Terrible.

Ivan Golovin, Prince of Howra, is the descendant of an ancient family, whose possessions, although not large, still placed them in a respectable position amongst the Russian nobility. More than usual pains were taken with his education, and his own habits of application and reflective turn of mind effectually seconded the views of those who directed it. Having early acquired a thorough knowledge of the classics, he applied himself to the study of the French, Italian, and German languages. As soon as he had mastered them, he solicited and obtained permission from the Emperor to travel. The results of his observations in other countries soon

convinced him, if indeed he had not previously arrived at that conclusion, that the whole system of government in Russia was based on a wicked and monstrous delusion. The comparison of the free institutions of England, with the debasing and iron despotism of his native land, so thoroughly disgusted him that he began to weigh the possibility of his returning to live under such a system. The fruits of his reflections were committed to writing almost without a purpose; he exhausted the whole question, and his new views appeared so conclusive to him, that he ultimately resolved upon committing them to the press. On announcing for publication his "Russia under Nicholas I.,” a peremptory order was conveyed to him from St. Petersburg to withdraw the manuscript from the hands of the printer, and return home. The high-spirited young man returned a haughty refusal, and the consequence was the immediate and entire confiscation of his estates.

From that hour Ivan Golovin openly proclaimed his attachment to republican principles. He entered warmly into the theories that were beginning to sap the foundations of Louis Philippe's power, distinguished himself by a series of publications, directed principally against the iniquities of the Russian government, and formed personal intimacies with all the leading political characters who contributed to bring about the revolution of '48. Clear-sighted, sagacious, and moderate in his views, however, he shrank from the consequences that followed upon that catastrophe. Confining himself to literary pursuits, he ceased to take any active interest in the events that were passing around him. On the accession of Louis Napoleon to the throne, he felt that Paris was no longer a safe residence for him, and accordingly withdrew to Turin, where he established a journal advocating his peculiar views, and waging unceasing hostilities with the Russian Government. Owing to the medium in which it was published, (French,) the paper did not meet with sufficient support to justify its continuance. Its failure was the more to be regretted, as it displayed evidences of an earnestness and ability that might have rendered important services to the cause of popular freedom in Italy.

For the last year M. Golovin has been residing almost entirely in London, occupied in the preparation of a work, entitled L'Europe Despotique et Cossaque. For the consideration of the questions which its title implies, few men are better adapted, his enlarged views and varied acquirements rendering him fully competent to the task. Although a firm republican, he