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 of Moghan. But these considerations seem to have exercised no influence on the conduct of the Russian commander of the force which now invaded Persia; for, after having exposed his men to all the trials of a winter march through a hilly country destitute of roads and covered with snow, he retired as he had come, and allowed the Persians to recover from the consternation into which his approach had plunged them. The only fruit of his expedition was the seizure of some stores of wheat and rice, the property of Abbass Meerza. After the retreat of this predatory expedition, the Persian envoy found his opportunity of proceeding to Tiflis, and as a peace-offering, he took with him some hundred of Russian prisoners whom the Shah released without ransom. But at Tiflis he learned little which it would give satisfaction to the Shah to hear. The Russian authorities gave it to be understood that in order to secure peace, Persia must be prepared to relinquish the possession of the provinces of Erivan and Nakhtchivan, which lay between her former frontier and the Araxes, and further to defray the charges of the war. The envoy was then permitted to return to Tabreez with the assurance that the reply of Count Nesselrode to the letters from the Persian ministers, would be forwarded to Tehran. That reply, when received, was found to be couched in haughty terms, which showed that Russia did not as yet share the wishes of the Shah for the restoration of peace.

The Persian monarch at this juncture, which was one of the greatest importance as regarded the future destiny of his kingdom, did not act in such a manner