Should Russia ever become involved in a great war, Georgia would undoubtedly declare her independence, and endeavour to seize the Dariel Road; the Armenians and Lesghians would also revolt, each in their own way. It is idle to speculate as to the result of such a movement, but it may interest the reader to know that it took an army of more than a quarter of a million men to conquer the Lesghians alone, in the time of Shamil. The Russians put so little confidence in the loyalty of their Caucasian army, that they took care to send a large part of it to Poland in January last, when there seemed to be a prospect of war with Austria. This was a prudent measure; but, after all, it does not matter so very much whether Georgian soldiers mutiny in Georgia or Poland, Poles in Poland or Georgia, the essential point at which diplomats hostile to Russia would aim is, of course, to bring about perfectly simultaneous action on the part of all the enemies of that power, both at home and abroad. It is superfluous to add that the Georgian troops are the flower of the Russian army; every schoolboy can ride and shoot like a trained man; their officers are especially good, and there are at present many generals who are worthy successors of Andronikov, Bagration and Loris Melikov. The sympathy with which the Armenian national movement has been regarded in Western Europe encourages the Georgians to hope that a like feeling will be manifested towards them when the time is ripe for action. It is especially upon England that their hopes are fixed, for they are well aware of the fact that the existence of a strong, independent state between the Black Sea and the Caspian would be an enormous advantage to our country. The possibility of Armenians, Georgians and Lesghians consenting to combine into one homogeneous state is not to be thought of; but there is no reason why the descendants of the three sons of Targamos, great-great-grandson of Noah, should not, if they were free, form a defensive alliance for the protection of common interests; the Lesghians have, in past times, done good service against both Persians and Turks. In any case, Georgia has a frontier which she is quite able to defend, and she could always count upon the assistance of the mountaineers on the northern side of the Caucasus. The Cherkesses (Circassians), whose hatred of Russia is well known, have almost all migrated to Asia Minor. It is sincerely to be hoped that the present good feeling between the Georgian and Russian peoples may continue. If they were kindly treated, and trusted with some measure of local government, I am sure that the Christian peoples of the Caucasus would never cause the Tsar's ministers any trouble; but if an attempt be made to crush the national spirit, the descendants of the men who fought under Irakli will, at least, show despots how men can die. APPENDIX. BIBLIOGRAPHY.