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 province of Erivan, whom the governor of that place had persuaded to cross the border.

As this officer was returning, after having successfully accomplished the object of his expedition, he suddenly found himself confronted by the troops of General Seeseeanoff. His forces were in no condition to withstand the artillery of the Russian army, and he therefore avoided an encounter. By rapidly retiring by alternate squadrons he covered the march of the tribes; thus defied the efforts of the enemy to overtake him; and was enabled to make good his junction with the forces of the crown-prince. General Seeseeanoff then advanced to the neighbourhood of the celebrated monastery of Etchmiadzeen, the residence of the Patriarch of the Armenian church, where he encountered the Persian army ready to oppose him. Abbass Meerza, the crown-prince, drew up his forces in three divisions, of the central one of which he took command in person, being attended in the battle which followed by the son of the deposed Czar of Georgia. The conflict lasted for three days, and the Persians assert that though they suffered much from the Russian guns, they were not defeated. General Seeseeanoff then marched to Erivan, the governor of which town now refused to fulfil the compact into which he had entered. This personage was consistent in wishing throughout to be on the side of the strongest, but when he saw that the Russian troops could not drive the Persians before them, his estimate of the strength of the invaders at once went down, and he sent his confidential agent to the prince's camp, offering to return to his duty to the Shah, provided he were assured of pardon. Having been satisfied on this point, he informed