The Press. — London, England, 1857-12-19 00:00:00

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 19,1857. received by the weaker portion of those who fell. The Printers (;havchavadzey, who had let her child slip from her arms, saw one of the mountaineers tread upon it with his heavy foot. As soon as they had recovered from the fall, the marauders proceeded to take possession of their prisoners, whom for a time they had necessarily relinquished. They made them descend the next staircase in a different manner. This time the robbers neither pulled nor carried, but rolled them down stairs. Having reached the next floor, comparatively without injury, the Princesses heard the word " Khancha" uttered several times by the robbers. 'lmmediately afterwards their long shashkas were flashing above the head of the Princess Chavcbavadzey, whom they recognised as the head of the house ; and, after being made the object of a severe contest between the different mem bers of the band, the unfortunate lady fell into the power of the man who had first taken possession of her in the belvedere. . _ _ Here the captives were divided into several parties, each of which met with a separate series of adventures on their road to Shamil's camp. These occurrences took place on the 4th of July, and from that time till their arrival at Shamil's residence at Dargi Verdenno, twenty six days afterwards, they endured a series of hardships and insults which, if true (which we doubt), has strangely altered our opinion of these brave mountaineers. On their arrival at Shamil's seraglio, a different thing from a harem, their position was in some respects improved, though the closeness of the ono room into which they and their servants were all huddled together was for a long time very oppressive. It appeared subsequently, however, that Shamil himself was not responsible for their treatment, but one of his wives, named Zaidette, who acted as his housekeeper, and who had conceived a violent towards the Georgian pri soners. The Caucasian chief had three wives—Zai dette, already mentioned ; Shouanette, ahand some woman of two or three and thirty ; and Aminette, a very pretty girl of seventeen, who used to play with the children, and by her liveliness and gaiety did much to lighten the weary hours of the prisoners' room. She " became particularly intimate with the Prin• " eess Baratoff (the young beauty of eighteen), " and sometimes the two young girls were so " merry that for a time they made the captives " forget their misfortunes." Aminette, how ever, had her own little troubles to contend with. On one occasion that teterrima causa " a new dress" produced a violent commotion in the seraglio. Some presents had been sent to Shamil's wives, and among them three " lovely" pieces of satin. But "that" ill-natured Zaidette refused to allow the youngest of the trio to receive one of them, on the plea that it was too handsome for her, and took it away to her own apartments. Poor Aminette came to the Princesses in a state of great indigna tion. " I will go away," she said, " I will not " continue to live here. They have all dresses " and fine things ; I alone have nothing." Poor Aminette ! how pretty she must have looked in a passion ! The matronly Shoua nate, however, did not seem to think that any of the wives were very well off in this parti cular, and confessed to the Princesses, with a little hesitation, that she was very happy but for one thing, which was that Shamil would not allow his wives to dress better. In the meantime negotiations for their ran som were proceeding. This was first fixed at five millions of roubles, or between 800,0001 and 000,0001., and Shamil had the greatest difficulty in persuading his council, to whom Hi this matter he is obliged to defer, to accept a smaller sum. Finally, however, they agreed to take 40,0001., and to receive Shamil's son. who had been at St. Petersburg sixteen years, in exchange. This was the great object which Shamil had in view throughout, and his de light at the issue of this affair was propor tionably great. It may be questioned, how ever, whether the young man's satisfaction was equally warm. Removed from his native land when almost an infant ; liberally educated and brought. up with all the tastes of civilised and luxurious life ; a cornet in the Russian Guards, and extremely popular with his com rades—he could not have looked forward to life in the Caucasus as other than a perpetual exile, however sweetened by reunion with a father whom he had well nigh forgotten, and relations whom lie had never seen. The ceremony of exchanging the prisoners and receiving the mousy is thus described : In the meanwhile Gramoff approached Shamil and found him sitting on the grass beneath a large black Nankeen parasol which was held above his head by one of his Merida. Sometimes he went upon his knees in order to get a better view through his telescope which was resting on a three-legged stool and pointed in the direction of the Russians. On the right of Shamil eat Daniel-Sultan ; and behilid them, in perfect silence, stood the cavalry to the number of five thousand. By the aide of the cavalry were the arbas, in which sat the captives beneath their veils. Gramotf dismounted when he was within a few paces of Shamil, and his horse was instantly taken from him by the Iman's attendants. Gramoff approached with a salute, and said,— " Iman, what further order.... 11112 I to receive from your highness ?" Take with you, and lead to about a quarter of a mile on the other side of the Alichik, thirty-five men from my army, the captives, and my eons Kati-Afachniat and Alachmat•Shabi ; and from your side let some one come to meet them with my son Djemmal•Eddin, the money, and thirty-five soldiers." " You have no further orders 7" " No ; but do not forget, when all is terminated, to come back to me." Gramoff set off with the arbas, sixteen Georgian men, and thirty-five chosen Murids, with Kazi-Msclimat at their head. Having reached the appointed place, nazi-Machinat and the blurids stopped with the arbas while Gramoff galloped off to the Russian detachment, from which Prince Chavchavadzey, Baron Nicolai, and Djemtual-Eddin now adv'anced with thirty-five carbiueers, two carts containing the money, and sixteen Lesgbian prisoners. As the Prince gradually approached be perceived the arba in which his faintly were seated, and heard the voices of his daughters, who exclaimed— " Look.manima! there is papa on a whito horse." In the meanwhile liazi-Machnitat and his nurids had advanced and concealed the arbas from the Prince's view ; and at the same time one of the party—it was the benevo• lent Moulla—took little Alexander in his arms and carried him to his father. In a few seconds the rest of the children were brought to him. • • • In the meanwhile Djetnnaal -Kadin was embracing his brother, and taking farewell of the Russian officers. Baron Nicolai presented him with his own sabre, and said, with asulle,— " Don't cut at any of our people with it." " Neither yours nor ours," answered the young man as he accepted it, nearly overcome by emotion. Then Djemmal•Eddin, Kazi-Maehmat, the ➢furids, the exchanged Lesghians, the arbas with the money, Gratnoff, two Russian officers, and two Younkers, directed their steps towards the Michik, and were Boon afterwards lost sight of in the crowd of mountaineers; while Prince Chavchavadzey, Baron Nicolai, and the liberated captives remained at the place of exchange. The Princesses threw off their veils, and at that solemn moment neither they nor the Prince could find words to express their feelings, A kind of stupor had been produced, and they now stood in presence of one another as if they had parted only the day before, instead of having been separated by a terrible captivity of eight months' duration. After the most ordinary salutations had been exchanged, the Prince gave one arm to his wife and the other to the Princess Orbeliani, and led them to the carriages. On the road, and even after their arrival in Kouriusk, the same species of stupor continued on each side for some time ; that is to say, until after they had all joined iu thanks givings, when the Prince and his family were left by them selves, and could give expression, unobserved, to all their rapture. We do not pretend to describe this scene. We may, however, mention one or two points connected with the Princesses' restoration to happiness. At the termination of the thanksgiving service in the church cf the fortress the captives received the holy bread, an 9 were deeply affected, so long had they been precluded from taking any part in the ceremonies of their religion. At dinner the Princesses absolutely cried when they observed with what foresight all their wants were anti cipated by the I'rince, and the others who were present, —so little had they been accustomed of late to attention of any kind. The papiroases which were lighted after dinner, threw them into ecstacies, so new and so delightful did each, even the most trifling, habit of their former life appear to them. The interview between father and son is told in an equally graphic style. We regret that we cannot convey a better impression of this work to our readers than is possible within our limited columns. It is throughout exceedingly interesting, and told with an air of painful truthfulness. Of Mr. Edwards's merits as a translator we caunct speak, as we have not the happiness to under stand the Russian language, in which the original work was composed. But we are unwilling to believe he has performed his task otherwise thau well, when his English narra tive is so simple, graphic, and vigorous. 1)cli 1233 offered to the educated public than a series of lectures on the subject Dr. Daubeny has chosen. And we arc fortunate in being able to add that the elegance with which they are executed is commensurate with the happiness of the design. The Professor's pages present an admixture of tasteful literary criticism and sound scientific exposition. The subject is so treated as at once to render farming attractive to the scholar, and scholarship attractive to the farmer; and every English gentleman who would wish to combine a revival of Etonian reminiscences with some hints for practical improvements, should possess a copy of this volume. The prose classics on agriculture, says Dr. Dauben), are Cato, Varro, C o l ume ll a , Pala dius, and Pliny His reason for confining himself principally to the treatise of Columella is, that, in the absence of chemical discoveries, few radical changes could take place in Roman agriculture, and that in Columella is to be found the best embodiment of the national knowledge upon the subject. Palladius is but a reproduction of Columella; and Pliny, though the most valuable portion of his Natural History is devoted to the subjects of botany (woodcraft) and agriculture, is the author of no professed treatise upon agriculture. Of Cato the Censor, who died B.C. I t!), aged eighty-five, and his successor Varro, who flou rished between n c. l:20 and s.c. 30, the Doctor has given us a brief but sufficient account, too well as of the contents of their works. His remarks upon the character of the former, and the consequences to the world had Car thage continued to exist as a rival power to Rome, seem especially deserving of attention. This is the substance of his first lecture. In the second ho proceeds to Columella, ob. A.D. 42 : Of this writer we know nothing, except what may bo gleaned from his own works, and from the mention made of him by the elder Pliny. From thence it appears, that he wrote about the time of Seneca and Celsus, both of whom he names as his cotemporaries ; that he resided at Rome, but had an estate called Ceretanum, which some ccinmen tators place in S irdinia, others in Spain; that his birth place was (lades in Spain; and that he appears to have died at Tarentum, from an inscription found in that place. It cannot be expected that we should follow Dr. Daubeny through every stage of this ex tensive subject. We may state that his second lecture contains some interesting information on the subjects of labour and tenancy among :he Romans of the Republic and the Empire, and some valuable calculations on the sub ject of slavery which may be profitably compared with certain passages on the " Agriculture of North America," and Mr. Stirling's " Letters from the Slave States," both recently reviewed in these columns. In illustration of Dr. Daubeny's remarks, we may point out that both Virgil (Georg. iv. 112) and Juvenal (Sat iii. 223) speak of agricultural labour performed by citizens in a tune which indicates the contempt into which it had fallen, and a sense, at least in the first case, of its superiority to that of slaves. But although the Romans were thus averse to actual manual toil, it may be presumed that the national love of rural occupations had not been without its fruit in the shape of con siderable practical knowledge. And probably one of the most interesting passages in the volume to classical scholars will be that in which many of the precepts laid down in the first Georgic aid shown to be those by which scientific agriculturists are still guided. After noticing the soundness of Virgil's classifica tion of soils, the Doctor proceeds as fol lows : Colnmella and the other prose authors on husbandry scarcely allude to the practice of improving the soil by burning, which Virgil has so graphically described, point ing out in his subsequent lines the three principal causes, upon which the advantage of paring and burning is sup posed by modern farmers to depend:— SLepe edam steriles inceudere profuit ogres, Atque levem stipulsm erepitautibus urero thumnis: Sire inde ()mikes vires et pabuls terra) l'inguis ooncipiunt ; sive illus omne per ignem Exooquitur vitium, sum °sama iuutilia humor; plur- 'lle vies little h for one not all, In t: 80111 'A at five and 9( difficul in this a %mid to take who hi in excl light a tionab: ever, was eq land w and br, and lu li uard rade3— in the I howev i whoin whom The and ra x with his coin- Lectures on Roma Husbandry. Delivered s - e7pro Ws . cL a r"lii,Mati -- t;i -- c;c - a - ieVaL - t - - ' ad forward to life Spiramenta, novas venlat qua euccus hi herbas ; er etual exile, before the University of Oxford. By at o durat meals, et venas *Marini t hiantea, p p in with a father Charles Dauberty, M.A. London :J. H. lie tenues pluvue rapidive potentia Bolls Acrior, cut Burma peuetrabile (rips adurat en, and relations and J. Parker. (Grotto. I. 84.) Whether, that is, it communicates rich juices to the CLASSICAL literature and a country life are land, or corrects bad ones; opens the pores of the soil Le ig the prisoners both so popular with Englishuien that perhaps allow the nutritiousjuices aims' to the young plants, or as described : few wore acceptable works could have boon rower. it wow compact; op So to prevent itii being injured