partisan--Hadjii Murad--for many years a fatal thorn in the side of
the independent party.[6] This and other difficulties, among which was
the unpopularity of the Murids under Hamsad Beg, were removed by new
alliances and precautions, while all that eloquence and skill could
perform was applied to restore the credit of the religious system,
before Schamyl could hazard a direct attack of the Russian enemy,
who meanwhile had taken advantage of the delay and disunion to gain
ground in many parts of Daghestan. From the year 1839, however, the
tide rapidly turned; and the result, from that date until the period
at which the account closes (1845)--when Woronzow was appointed to
command in the Caucasus, with nearly unlimited powers,--has been,
that the Russians, in spite of tremendous sacrifices, were constantly
losing ground and influence, while Schamyl gained both in equal
proportion. The details of the campaigns during this interval are
highly interesting; and we regret that conditions of space forbid
us to translate some of the exciting episodes recorded by Herr
Bodenstedt. We may, however, extract the following account of the
Caucasian hero,--whose portrait, we believe, has never before been so
fully exhibited to European readers;--

[Footnote 6: It is worth noting--as a characteristic of Russian
misrule and of its consequences--that this chieftain, after having
been a devoted soldier of the Emperor for seven years, was goaded by
the ill treatment of his officers into abjuring the service; make the
offer of his sword to Schamyl, against whom he had fought with the
utmost animosity; was heartily welcomed by that prudent leader, and
became one of his principal lieutenants.]

"Schamyl is of middle stature; he has light hair, gray eyes, shaded
by bushy and well-arched eyebrows,--a nose finely moulded, and a small
mouth. His features are distinguished from those of his race by a
peculiar fairness of complexion and delicacy of skin: the elegant form
of his hands and feet is not less remarkable. The apparent stiffness
of his arms, when he walks, is a sign of his stern and impenetrable
character. His address is thoroughly noble and dignified. Of himself
he is completely master; and he exerts a tacit supremacy over all who
approach him. An immovable stony calmness, which never forsakes him,
even in moments of the utmost danger, broods over his countenance.
He passes a sentence of death with the same composure with which
he distr