"In Asia, the Islam nations and governments daily decline, whilst the Christian elements daily assume greater weight; these are not yet strong enough to found a dominion of their own; but, as auxiliaries to a conquering European power, they would be of high importance. When, after the triumphant entrance of Paskewitch's army into the capital of Aderbidjan, Feth Ali Shah trembled on his throne, and submissively subscribed the conditions of peace dictated to him by the Russian general, many thought that Russia had been extraordinarily generous to her humbled foe: she might just as easily have kept the conquered district of Aderbidjan for herself, or have compelled the Persian king to give up the beautiful provinces of Gilan and Masendran. The portion of Armenia with which she contented herself is no very enticing possession, either for its size or for its fertility, but it includes within its limits the Gregorian mother-church; and its temporal ruler disposes of the spiritual weapons of the Catholicos and of the synod, whose religious influence extends whithersoever Armenians dwell. In its last treaty of peace with Turkey and Persia, the Russian government tacitly but fully recognised the value of this territory, so sacred to all Armenians. It was also prudent enough to annex to the country on the left bank of the Araxes, where Eshmiadzini is situated, a portion of the territory on the right bank of that stream, and to secure a part of Ararat itself--the north side of the mountain, viewed with such holy reverence by the Armenian people, with the convent of St Jacob, since overwhelmed by the eruption of 1840. These districts compose the really classic ground of the Armenian-Gregorian church history. No spot in the entire Orient is more attractive and hallowed to the religious feelings of the Armenians--not even the grave of the Redeemer at Jerusalem, or the renowned convent of John the Baptist on the eastern Euphrates. The annual number of pilgrims to Eshmiadzini, although not so great as when Tavernier and Chardin explored that neighbourhood, is still very considerable; and at Easter it is by no means rare to find collected there pious travellers from the Ganges, the Indus, the Don, the Jordan, and the Nile. Both the Shah and the Porte well know the importance of Russian occupation of that territory, as the point where all the religious sympathies of the Armenians concentrate. As viceroy of Aderbidjan, Abbas Mirza always made much of the Catholicos and the synod, and sought to win them to the Persian interest. And long did the warlike prince urge his royal father rather once more to try the fortune of arms, than to suffer a territory to be wrenched from him, less