Petersburg; and a firm and dignified attitude had effectually checked the Russian officer when he attempted to express those threats which formed the principal part of his instructions. There was something imposing in the quiet way in which Yakoob Beg asserted his equality in rank with the Czar of All the Russias. His invariable reply, when the great power of Russia was made use of as an argument to overcome his refusal to accede to the trade concessions demanded, was, "My brother, the White Czar, is a most powerful monarch, and rules over the greater portion of the earth, and I am only an insignificant prince in comparison to him. But none the less can I encounter the danger like a true man, and esteem it a happiness to die in defence of my country and my faith." To so courageous and so honourable a reply what rejoinder could be made by the abashed officers? It is impossible to refuse Yakoob Beg the highest admiration for his stanchness in his opposition to Russia. If for his own narrow interests it may have been imprudent to throw down the gage of battle so freely, all the more does that attitude claim respect when we see him trampling on purely selfish motives, and asserting his claim to leadership in that wider question of Asiatic against Muscovite, of Mahomedan against Greek. Had he only been consistent throughout his career, had he only been as firm in his convictions and as prompt in carrying them into practice as he generally was, when the occasion came for a great effort against Russia, how different might have been his own fate and the present aspect of affairs in Central Asia!