base of the terrace on which the church is built, affording an abundant supply of excellent water for domestic purposes, for artificial irrigation, and for turning a mill. A grove of poplars and willows occupies the sloping ground between the outer walls and this stream, forming a grateful retreat in the mid-day heats of summer, and in winter sheltering to some degree the sacred edifice from the storms that often prevail in these regions.

From the most cursory examination it is evident that, in choosing the site of this establishment, its founders carefully availed themselves of every local advantage. Close behind it a spur from the southern mountains rises abruptly to the height of about twelve hundred feet, presenting an effectual barrier to the west against clemental violence. The valley in front has all the appearance of great fertility; and as there is no village for leagues around, nor any residents on the spot but the priests and their dependents, all these broad acres are the sole property of the Church.

We observed some goodly herds on the pastures. Flocks of sheep and goats were nipping the sweet grass at the base and on the slopes of the heights. Several choice horses were in the stables, and mares with foals at their sides were grazing in the fields, or straying familiarly about the premises. A well stocked orchard gave promise of an ample yield; while in a kitchen garden of fair dimensions, cabbages, onions, pumpkins, cucumbers, and other vegetables of the country were growing in abundance. Farther off the meadows and corn fields, now ripe for the scythe and sickle, were waving heavily in the breeze. In fact, judging by appearances, there was at Uchkilissa a profusion of rough wealth and prosperity which strongly contrasted with the general condition of the country. It was therefore with surprise, not unmingled with suspicion, that we listened to the piteous accounts which our reverend friends gave of their poverty and distress. The Turks, said they, had reduced them to beggary and starvation in the early part of 1855, when Veli Pasha with his division occupied the place. The horses of the Moslem were then

picketed within the sacred enclosure; all their hay and corn was consumed or wasted, while their sheep and oxen were slaughtered by scores for the troops. As to payment or indemnification, such things are beneath a pasha's notice; and prudence forbade even a hint on the subject, as it might have been replied to by a twitch of the beard, or perhaps a summary infliction of the kurbash (leather whip). There was therefore no alternative but to bear their losses with Christian meekness, and pray for the conversion of their hard-hearted rulers. Far different, they added, was the treatment they received from the Russians who took possession of the place when Veli Pasha fell back towards Erzeroum. Fair play and moderation characterized all their dealings; and as Russians and Armenians derive their religion from a common source, the respect attaching to the priestly character secured to our friends the courteous consideration of all ranks of the Russian force.

The conversation in which these accounts were embodied was carried on in a moderate-sized apartment, to which was given the ostentatious name of divan. The walls had once been white, but were now begrimed with dirt. The ceiling of panelled deal, though blackened by smoke, still retained the delicate carving of its mouldings and cornices. The floor was covered with Persian carpets; and several large down cushions lay along the walls, wooing the occupant to repose. We placed ourselves on one side of the room, while our hosts took up a position opposite to us. There were three of them; the Presbyter, a venerable man of about seventy, and two of his assistants, who were still in the prime of life. They wore the sombre undress of Armenian priests, which accorded well with their long bushy beards, thoughtful countenances, and grave deportment. Well informed in all that relates to the history of their race and church, it was evident that the bias of their feelings and politics was strongly in favour of Russia. This of course was but natural, considering what is the policy of Turkey towards her Christian subjects. And who can tell what words of hope and comfort may be whispered to them by

Russia-what exhortations, dictated from St. Petersburg, may reach them under the hallowed seal of Uchmiadzin ? But even without these we may well understand the feelings of an intelligent Armenian when he contrasts the degradation to which he is doomed under Turkish rule, with the rank and honours and high position to which many of his countrymen attain in every department of the Russian service. Considerations of this nature are no doubt constantly at work within him. And he would be other than human, either in the purity of his loyalty or the intensity of his degradation, if he were impervious to the seductive influences that reach him from the north.

Uchkilissa is an important strategic point, commanding as it does the direct road between Persia and Armenia. Veli Pasha strengthened it with lines and batteries, which are judiciously planned and well executed. It would have been well for his country if he could have held them against the enemy, but this was too much for the force he commanded. Acting on superior orders he fell back on Kuprikyui; and some credit is due to him for the manner in which he conducted the retreat.

By this move the Russians became masters of the whole plains of Alishkurd and of the direct communication between Kars and Bayazid by way of Toprakala.

A few days subsequent to the visit now spoken of, on returning from Bayazid and Mount Ararat, we again paid our respects to the good fathers of Uchkilissa, when we were entertained in a manner creditable alike to their hospitality and their cuisine. Ample provision was made for every comfort, as well for ourselves as our servants and horses; and a Sybarite might envy us as we lay nestled at night amid piles of minders' (cushions), with a profusion of quilted yorgans' (coverlets).

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At first dawn we were awoke by the call to matins. This call was made in a manner so truly primitive that we may well suppose it to have been in use long before the Muezzin's voice was heard from the minaret, or a bell had pealed from

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Christian steeple. Close to the church door an elm plank, seven feet long, fifteen inches wide, and three inches thick, was suspended, edge downward, at a height of about seven feet from the ground, by repeatedly striking which with a baton somewhat similar to a drumstick, a subdued rolling sound was produced, that in the stillness of the morning reverberated to a considerable distance.

Anxious to see how the service was performed, and perhaps with some leaven of a higher feeling inspired by the name of Christian church in a land of alien faith, some of our party rose to prayers. The old building was dimly lit by a few lamps. Candles were burning on the altar, where two priests were officiating in a low tone, scarcely audible to the handful of aged men that formed the congregation. Every whisper and sound was plaintively echoed through the empty aisles, and all the circumstances, both of time and place, combined to produce a solemn and imposing effect. The sacred occasion itself, the partial and struggling light, the silence of the hour, the small band of Christians, the local associations of antiquity and isolation,-all this told strongly on the senses and feelings; but there was nothing in it that appealed to the understanding or awoke the higher emotions of religion in the soul. We stayed until the conclusion of the service, and, whether edified or not, none of us were disposed on retiring to become converts to the Armenian ritual.

But to return to the occasion of our first visit to Uchkilissa. After a halt of a few hours we were again in the saddle, and ere sunset reached Diadin, distant three hours, or about fourteen miles. The intervening country is fertile and undulating, but utterly without inhabitants. Such desolation, where Nature has been profuse in her gifts, is perfectly frightful, and becomes a subject of curious and interesting reflection when it is remembered that, according to common belief, the Garden of Eden must have been somewhere in these parts, and that they were in former times amongst the most prosperous and densely populated of the earth.

THE event which we confidently

predicted in our last number has taken place. The Derby Government is resolved into its elements; and the party which was organized with more vigour than decency or discretion will probably be disintegrated even before the brief remnant of the session is brought to a close. The general election of 1852 gave Lord Derby, according to his own statement in the House of Lords when he resigned office at the end of the year, three hundred and ten supporters in the House of Commons. Before the Aberdeen Administration had been in office three months, this formidable following was dispersed, and a large propor tion of them were among the steady supporters of his rivals in power. The late dissolution rallied three hundred and two on the muster roll of the old (or new) Conservative standard; and if Lord Palmerston's Cabinet can show a firm and united front for the next few weeks, there is little doubt that at least fifty of these will be found among the rank and file which ordinarily support her Majesty's Government.

But will the new Administration hold together? This is a question upon which the boldest political prescience would hardly venture to give a decided opinion. Certainly, since the time of Chatham, so strange an experiment in cabinet making has not been tried. Indeed, the new Administration suggests at once the celebrated passage in which Burke describes the administration formed by Lord Chatham in 1766:- An Administration so checkered and speckled, a piece of joinery so crossly indented and whimsically dovetailed; a cabinet so variously inlaid; such a piece of diversified mosaic; such a tesselated pavement without cement; here a bit of black stone, and there a bit of white; patriots and courtiers; king's friends and republicans: Whigs and Tories; treacherous friends and open enemies-that it was indeed a very curious show; but utterly unsafe to touch, and unsure to stand upon.'* Absit omen. Circumstances are very

different now from what they were nearly a century ago. The public had then a very vague and imperfect knowledge of what passed within the walls of Parliament, and public opinion had no means of acting regularly on that assembly. Party

and faction had it all their own way. Half the House of Commons was held a hundred years ago by a few great proprietors, and many of the seats were openly marketed.

If the composition of the new Government is to be fairly canvassed, it should be premised that the difficulties which have been encountered in putting it together have been so numerous and so novel, that probably any other living statesman than Lord Palmerston would have thrown up the task in despair or disgust. We have not been sparing in our criticisms from time to time on the political career of that noble lord, but we never questioned his possession of some of the most rare and valuable quali ties of a public man. His great and varied experience, his personal influence and following-unquestionably superior to those of any other leader of the Liberal party-his courage, tact, and temper, preeminently qualified him for the difficult and delicate task of combining discordant materials in one harmonious whole, of reconciling rival pretensions, of resisting clamorous and presumptuous claims, of providing for new allies without ungraciously dropping old friends. The latter duty, which those who know the Premier are well aware he would not consider the least important part of the arrangements, Lord Palmerston has acquitted with singular success. Eight members of his late Cabinet, and fourteen subordinate officials, have been omitted from the new Administration; yet it would be difficult to point out one of these gentlemen who has any just cause of complaint. We may go through the list. Lord Cranworth notoriously failed to fulfil the high expectations which had been somewhat gratuitously formed, when he was promoted to

1859.]

the Great Seal. His restoration to the woolsack would therefore have been an improper appointment; but he was offered one of the chief seats in the Common Law Courts, where all his reputation had been acquired. Lord Clarendon was offered, but declined, a seat in the Cabinet; and considering that his lordship's acknowledged omission to answer a despatch which called for a prompt and decisive reply, was the immediate cause of the downfall of the Palmerston Administration, Lord Clarendon could hardly have felt aggrieved had he been omitted altogether. Lord Panmure it was well known had long sought an opportunity to be finally relieved from office. Of Lord Clanricarde, we can only say that his weight would have borne down any Cabinet into which he was admitted. Lord Stanley of Alderley perhaps may claim a grievance, since there can be no doubt that he was willing, and it might be hard to say that he was not of sufficient ability, to resume his seat in the Cabinet. Public opinion would readily have acquiesced in the exclusion of Mr. Vernon Smith, but the Prime Minister has generously mitigated the fall of the unfortunate Indian statesman by a peerage. We could have been content had a similar compliment been paid to Mr. Labouchere, one of the most honourable and upright gentlemen who ever engaged in the public service. Mr. Baines has, we fear, finally withdrawn from public life as well as from Parliament. These were the former colleagues of Lord Palmerston, and we may hazard an opinion, that on the whole their successors will bring greater popularity, as well as ensure more stability, to the Cabinet. Among those for whom no place has been found in the new arrangements are to be named Lords Shelburne, Monck, and Duncan; Sir B. Hall, Sir J. Ramsden, Sir W. Hayter, Mr. Bouverie, Mr. Villiers, Mr. Cowper, Mr. F. Peel, Mr. Bernal Osborne, Mr. D. Seymour, and Mr. Grey. Of this list, we have reason to believe that at least half retired with their own consent. Lord Monck and Mr. Osborne having unfortunately lost their seats in the House of Com

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mons, were not eligible for office. Of the few that remain, we are credibly informed that none were desirous, by an unseasonable pressure of personal claims, to add to the difficulties by which the eminent person condemned to dispense this vast patronage was encompassed.

The first remark which seems to occur to everybody is the undue preponderance of the Peelite element in the new Administration. But it will be found on examination that there is really nothing in this charge. The Peelite party is a myth. There are some four or five statesmen and orators of conspicuous ability in both Houses who held office under Sir Robert Peel; but these gentlemen are far from being in unison on many important questions which divide public opinion. Take, for example, the two most eminent names in this. small circle-Sir James Graham and Mr. Gladstone. On the prominent question of Parliamentary Reform, the one goes the whole length of the advanced Reformers (as the Radicals now style themselves), and contends for household suffrage, and almost for the ballot. Mr. Gladstone, on the contrary, takes the High Conservative view of this question. He would be very sparing in the extension of the franchise; and so far from assenting to that which is the great aim of Radical reformers - the re-distribution of seats-the Chancellor of the Exchequer comes forth as the champion of nomination boroughs. The Duke of Newcastle is probably quite as good a Liberal as the Duke of Argyll; and if there be any essential difference of opinion between Mr. Sidney Herbert and Lord John Russell, or between Mr. Cardwell and Lord Palmerston, we have failed to discover it. The independent' party may indeed complain that the nomination of Mr. Milner Gibson. and Mr. Cobden to the Cabinet is but a halfpennyworth of bread to an intolerable deal of sack; but we doubt whether the country or the House of Commons would have desired a stronger infusion of the Manchester mixture. For the rest, the Cabinet comprises almost every name of note in the

great Liberal party. We admit, indeed, that it includes those who have passed a great part of their public lives in office; but we submit that experience is, after all, not an absolute disqualification for employment in the highest branches of the public service; and therefore we think that the re-instatement of Sir Charles Wood, Sir George Grey, and especially of Sir George Cornewall Lewis-the three baronets,' as they have been contumeliously termed-in important departments of administration is not a sufficient reason for withdrawing confidence from the Government. We venture to suggest to the sagacious individuals who urge this notable objection, that the Government of this country is not a corpus vile for tyros in statesmanship to experiment upon, and that every independent' member of Parliament has not a vested right in the privileges and emoluments of high political office.

We have frequently reprobated, in common with other journals, the close Whig system of nominations to office; but there is a difference between a liberal and fair selection of members who show some aptitude for public employment, and an indiscriminate distribution of offices among that numerous and increasing class of honourable members who daily and nightly interrupt the progress of business by noisy advertisements of their own merits. Nothing would be more calculated to lower the character of the House of Commons and to deteriorate the public service than a practice of preferring to official station the tribe of flippant and fluent speakers with whom the House has been infested since the passing of the Reform Act. Parliamentary oratory, Heaven knows, requires no stimulus; but we think there is still room for the further development of good sense, sound information, and habits of business in a certain assembly which we will not more particularly name. Minister who would give the preference to those less showy and less obtrusive qualities in his choice of recruits for the public service might not perhaps satisfy the vulgar clamour of the day, but he would do much to recommend his Government

A

to the confidence of the country, and to raise the tone of political morality.

The present Administration is supposed to be founded on the principle of ignoring the exclusive claims of the great families. We think that this principle has been fairly inaugurated; it does not demand the proscription of every person connected with those families; such an extravagance would be unjust and absurd. Men of rank and fortune must needs take a prominent and a leading part in public affairs. Men deeply engaged in the pursuits of commerce are precluded from taking part in the Administration. It would be mockery to offer undersecretaryships and lordships of the Treasury to the Barings, the Glyns, the Heywoods, and the Rathbones. Few eminent bankers, merchants, and manufacturers, can be induced to undertake even the less onerous duties of Parliament until they have retired from active business and attained a time of life at which they are disqualified, even if they are willing, from entering upon a noveland arduous career. Of professional men there is, indeed, an abundance ready and willing to undertake political duties; but lawyers and soldiers do not generally command the confidence of the country; and political adventurers of every description are regarded with just suspicion. The affairs of the nation cannot be satis. factorily conducted by mere mercenary service; we must therefore look mainly to the class which has a stake in the country, as well as ample leisure. It is plain, therefore, that the landed aristocracy must continue, as they have heretofore been, the principal nursery of our statesmen. The aristocracy have their faults, but if they are not the best, as their designation implies, they are assuredly not the worst class in the community; and we hold it to be no part of a sound Liberal creed to decry an order of men who, upon the whole, are desirous of fulfilling the duties imposed upon them, and cannot fairly be said to have brought discredit upon the English name.

The apparent strength of the new Government consists in the combination of able men representing