RECENT EVENTS.
During the last few years the Imam has kept the Czar well at bay. Since the capture of Dargo, the Russians have made few incursions, and reported no more victories. And on the other hand, the mountaineers making only now and then a razzia, or storming a krepost, have been contented to allow the enemy the quiet enjoyment of his prison-houses along the line, on the condition of his not leaving them. Schamyl seems to be well aware that his best ramparts are the rocks, and his palisades the primitive forests. To leave these for the sake of attacking fortified places bristling with cannon, and which if captured he could not hold, would be a useless waste of blood too precious to be spilled without cause. And, besides, he must know that he is contending not only against superior numbers, but also a more perfect knowledge of the art of war, and that therefore his only hope of ultimate success can rest on the interposition of that Providence which guides the world's destiny.
At length that heavenly power seems to be coming to his relief. For nearly half a century he has been holding in his hand the keys of the great pathway from southern Russia to the East, despite the utmost efforts of the czar to wrest them from him. In vain did the emperor Nicholas visit the Caucasus to cheer on his troops; in vain did the grand-duke Alexander, the present emperor, take part in the campaign of 1850; or Prince Baratinksky in 1852 attempt by his bravery to overawe Tchetchenia. From Jermoloff to Woronzoff and Mouravieff the emperor has sent to the Caucasus his best generals, who have devised or put into execution every possible system of both attack and defence for the sake of destroying this nest of mountaineers; the banks of the Kuban and the Terek have been covered with Cossacks until their lances stand as thick as the river-reeds; ten thousand times in the year, it has been estimated, does the cannon roar through these valleys, and ten hundred thousand times does the musket ring; but the mountains stand firm; the hills are not shaken; the flag of freedom, though but a rag tied to a spear, still floats from the summits of Andi and the Solo-Tau; and Schamyl still holds the mountain path which leads from Russia to the valleys of Persia and the plains of Hindoostan.
England, comprehending at last that the progress of Russia eastward, if not checked, would at no very distant day threaten the security of her own dominion in Asia, has in concert with France commenced a war which, if carried to a successful and true issue, will bring about the evacuation of the Caucasus by the Russian arms, and shut on them, at least during the present generation, this gate of the Orient. Should the war stop short of this result, the subjugation of this strong-hold of liberty will not probably be postponed long beyond the decease of its present heroic defender; and the student of history will search in vain to discover the purposes of Providence to accomplish which this child of genius and of nature was raised up.
It is not strange, however, that Schamyl should not fully comprehend, as he appears not to do, the nature of the deliverance which would seem to be preparing for him. Attempts are said to have been made to induce him to adapt his policy to the peculiar state of the relations of eastern and western Europe, and to coöperate with the enemies of Russia by attacking her lines in the Caucasus now that they are beginning to be weakened from the suspension of the usual reinforcement. France has sent presents of muskets to the Caucasus, and England has despatched diplomatic agents. But hitherto the Imam has not departed from the line of policy which was traced out previously to the breaking out of the war in Europe, and with sole reference to the posture of affairs in the Caucasus. It is said, and probably with truth, that he distrusts the overtures of alliance made to him. For since the government of Great Britain refused to demand redress for the capture by the Russians of the "Vixen," an English vessel trading on the coast of Circassia in contravention, as was alleged, of their laws of blockade, and thereby virtually declined to acknowledge the rights and independence of the Circassians, the latter have lost all faith in that intervention of England in their favor which for a time they had been encouraged in entertaining. For the name of the great Napoleon, the sultan of the west,—for into what parts of the earth has his name not gone forth?—they cherish the most profound admiration; but they do not know his nephew, nor have they ever been brought into any relations whether of trade or diplomacy with France. Moreover, the words, "ally," and "protector," have become almost words of ill-omen in the Caucasus, from the fact that the Russians, like the Persians and the Turks before them, have always used these terms to mask their designs of interference and ultimate conquest. The wily Imam therefore distrusts the Franks though dona ferentes, and dreads lest they who should come into the mountains as allies might remain there as masters. He prefers to continue trusting in himself and Allah, and to let the unbelievers fight their own battles. Nor, indeed, is it quite certain that herein he does not act wisely.
It has been supposed by some, though without sufficient reason, that the recent restoration to Schamyl of one of his sons who had been taken away in his boyhood to Russia and there educated, has had some influence in rendering him more disposed to be on terms with his enemies. This interesting event occurred, however, in the course of a regular exchange of prisoners, and in the manner following.
His son, together with a ransom of forty thousand silver roubles, was demanded by Schamyl in return for the deliverance from captivity of two Russian princesses, the princess Tschattchavadse, and the princess Orbelian, with the children of the latter, all of whom had some months before fallen into the hands of some of his followers. This was finally agreed to, and the interchange was effected by Schamyl in person. Distrustful, however, to the last moment, he came to the appointed place of rendezvous on the banks of the frontier river Mitschik accompanied by a force of some six thousand warriors and several field-pieces. Then having taken up his position on the right bank while the Russians occupied the left, he sent forward another of his sons, Khasi-Mahomet, with thirty murids to escort the captives. At the same time a party of riflemen commanded by Major-general Von Nikolai advanced from the other side, having in charge Jamal Eddin, the son who was to be exchanged, and a carriage containing the ransom money. When then Jamal Eddin came down to the ford, the thousands of his countrymen who covered the neighboring heights set up a shout of thanksgiving, and chanted the Estaphir Allah. Then having crossed the river, he put on a Circassian dress, and in company with his brother and the Russian officers climbed the hill where, surrounded by his murids, and having a large parasol held over his head, sat the Imam. When the son who had been lost and was found approached, the heart of the venerable father was deeply moved; and stretching out his hand for the young man to kiss, he then embraced him, and wept.
The report of the interview, published in Tiflis, states that Schamyl at the close of it, after having bowed courteously to the officers and thanked Baron Nikolai for the kindness with which he had treated his son, exclaimed, as if involuntarily, "Now I believe in the honor of the Russians." This however, is doubtful.
The interview, it may be added, was memorable also from the circumstance that it was the first time since the year 1839 that any Russian is known to have seen the face of Schamyl. All present were struck with it expressiveness as they also were favorably impressed by his noble and prepossessing manners.