all history, from its
earliest records, less generally known, or more striking to
the imagination, than the flight eastwards of a principal
Tartar nation across the boundless steppes of Asia in the 5
latter half of the last century. The _terminus a quo_ of this
flight and the _terminus ad quem_ are equally magnificent--the
mightiest of Christian thrones being the
one, the mightiest of pagan the other; and the grandeur of these
two terminal objects is harmoniously supported by the 10
romantic circumstances of the flight. In the abruptness
of its commencement and the fierce velocity of its execution
we read an expression of the wild, barbaric character
of the agents. In the unity of purpose connecting this
myriad of wills, and in the blind but unerring aim at a 15
mark so remote, there is something which recalls to the
mind those almighty instincts that propel the migrations of
the swallow and the leeming or the life-withering marches
of the locust. Then, again, in the gloomy vengeance of
Russia and her vast artillery, which hung upon the rear 20
and the skirts of the fugitive vassals, we are reminded of
Miltonic images--such, for instance, as that of the solitary
hand pursuing through desert spaces and through
ancient chaos a rebellious host, and overtaking with volleying
thunders those who believed themselves already
within the security of darkness and of distance.

I shall have occasion, farther on, to compare this event
with other great national catastrophes as to the magnitude 5
of the suffering. But it may also challenge a comparison
with similar events under another relation,--viz. as to its
dramatic capabilities. Few cases, perhaps, in romance
or history, can sustain a close collation with this as to the
_complexity_ of its separate interests. The great outline of 10
the enterprise, taken in connection with the operative
motives, hidden or avowed, and the religious sanctions
under which it was pursued, give to the case a triple
character: 1st, That of a _conspiracy_, with as close a unity
in the incidents, and as much of a personal interest in 15
the moving characters, with fine dramatic contrasts, as
belongs to "Venice Preserved" or to the "Fiesco" of
Schiller. 2dly, That of a great military expedition offering
the same romantic features of vast distances to be
traversed, vast reverses to be sustained, untried routes, 20