For the last twenty years there have been journals published at Constantinople, and in the pay of the government, the business of whose editors is, from time to time, to put forth to the world certain state propositions, the offspring of their own fancy alone, and represent them as matters, not merely in contemplation, but already carried into execution, and bearing fruit to the manifest advantage of all concerned.

The indignation of European residents has repeatedly been roused by such false announcements, and their friends at home have been well acquainted with the real fact, without, however, any success against the influence of the press. A remarkable fatality, moreover, seems to have attended all efforts to propound the truth. The pro-Turkey prejudice, so rife amongst us, has stamped the candid authors of such communications as calumniators of a young "rising government," and thrown them aside in disgrace.

You may dress the Turk in any other than his national costume; you may substitute the wide trousers for the wider sharwals; you may lead him into the vortex of what are essentially European vices, such as gambling and drinking, where he will willingly learn anything that is new to him in the way of evil; you may thus divest him of the only good qualities he ever possessed: but to change his real nature is an attempt utterly beyond the ingenuity or power of man. It is universally acknowledged, that under the wide heaven there is no greater fanatic, as to his hatred of Europeans,-no man more entirely without the pale of anything like order, than a pasha who has been to Europe for his education. Unconverted as respects Christianity, he has learnt enough to lead him to laugh at the so-called faith of his fatherland; his moral senses have suffered a total wreck, and a boldly-acknowledged infidelity sweeps away the last barrier of restraint which even superstition might have served to maintain. If you could by any means really civilise the Turk, his very identity would be destroyed; he has never yet mingled with those whom he has conquered; he and his are a separate class from all others on the same soil, and regard the latter but as the slaves of their indolence or pleasure. Though mixing daily with those who are more advanced than himself, he is what he ever was-a Tartar to the last. His mind is that of the mere wanderer, and we are from experience convinced, that at the present moment any Turk in Constantinople could, at an hour's notice, if circumstances should invite, mount his horse, and, with his few chattels bound on a mule's back, and his family on foot bringing up the rear, proceed to the plains of Tartary, as though he had but lately left them. To those same plains we would gladly give him a ticket of perpetual leave with the least possible delay, and bid him seek, beneath a Russian rod, an education with which we would promise never to interfere!

Having demonstrated that under Osmanli domination no living thing, except jackals and hyænas, can thrive, our author proceeds to argue that the Christians in Turkey are so debased, by continued sufferings under Turkish despotism, that they are utterly incompetent for the task of selfgovernment. "At best," he says, "the exalted slave would be but a tyrant in his turn; and, while liberty itself would at first be a strange possession in their hands, the idea of legislation could be only an unanswerable enigma."

Turn the matter over which way we will, we can but plainly see that Turkey is falling: yes! whether we will or no, this empire of cruelty and superstition must see its end. Why, then, attempt to delay an event so much to be desired, at all events, per se, by every nation of Christendom? The power of the Porte, as we have already argued, is not, and cannot be, independent it is thus useless to us under any circumstances: while, if it were to have any success against its Northern foe, that success must be through our instrumentality. A war between Turkey and Russia is, after all, only an underhand and unbecoming resistance offered by England and France to the designs

of the Czar. If we must oppose him, let us honestly tell him the quarrel is our own, quite apart from Türk and Sultan; let us show ourselves the sole agents in the matter, and bid him understand that he is to retire before us at once, and that south of the Pruth we intend, as two united nations, to hold full sway. Away with the nonsense of a puppet swinging in mid-air, supported by two giants, who would gladly be supposed to have nothing to do with its various antics! Any plain, straightforward course, would be better than nailing to our own honoured mast-heads the hideous crescent-flag of the superstition of the false prophet! And, moreover, what moral right connects itself with this Moslem rule, about which we see and hear so much pretended squeamishness? How came the Turk to the throne of Constantinople? Simply borne on the arms of an unjust and barbarous invasion. For 400 years he has defiled the seat to which he never had a lawful claim against improvement he has almost uniformly set his face: not one of his Christian subjects, the chief of his population, has he rightly treated. It is perfectly sickening, to those who know the merits of the case, to hear of its being maintained by any rational Englishman, that the Christians of Turkey are satisfied, or have any just reason for being satisfied, with their present rulers, or tyrants.

The question which next proposes itself is :

Are we to prevent the consummation of the emperor's plans, seriously resolved to enter into a tremendous and doubtful war-a war involving we know not what and how many interests ere it end-and one, too, on the side of the Infidel versus Christianity? Are we really willing to appear in the arena with such an ally as Turkey, or rather, with such a tin-kettle tied to our tail, making all the noise, while unable to inflict any great damage on the foe? Will our one idea of jealousy with respect to Russia serve to carry us through campaign after campaign, merely to retrieve the cause of a helpless tyrant, and prop up his already ruined towers? If, indeed, England has lost her selfrespect sufficiently for this, be it so! What then? As it is, we know something of taxation. In spite of extensive emigration, the rapid increase of our population has brought each senator to his wits' ends, as to how we are to answer the demands on the public purse. Are we, under such circumstances, determined to add million upon million to our national debt, simply on behalf of this thrice troublesome Ottoman Empire? The question really comes to this: for, as we have already said, and as we think our readers must have allowed, the idea of Turkey, under its present rulers, forming any independent breakwater to stem the ocean-swell of Russian progress, is a fiction beyond the necessity of explanation. Let us, then, be wise in time, and keep our money for a better purpose.

This "better purpose" is to unite with others in raising a real barrier against encroachment on the part of Russia, and such is, according to our author, only to be effected by the partition of Turkey. We believe it could be effected by establishing the independence of the Christian nationalities, under civilised and adequate guarantees, as in the instance of the Hellenic Greeks, at the time of their emancipation, as debased as Syrian, or Bulgarian, or Thracian Greeks, but we quite agree with the author that the Turks can never be made to form a permanent barrier. However, the difference between real and protected states is very slight; and where such important interests are at stake as the welfare of so many Christians, not worth disputing about. Providence will probably decide the question, as it must now come to a solution, one way or the other.

"Let the Ottoman Empire be divided," writes our sanguine partitionist, "and the equilibrium of Europe will be no more disturbed than

it was by the unfurling of the tricolor on the plains of Algeria, or the planting of the union-jack on the citadel of Lahore. We have just taken to ourselves, without a word of argument, half the dominions of the King of Burmah; why, then, make a fuss about a slice of Turkey?" Premising, then, that Russia in the Mediterranean could never affect a transit commerce, the author takes knife in hand to cut up the said Turkey, and that after the following fashion. Let those who take a pride in their carving, read attentively:

First of all, having handed over to the Emperor Nicholas the whole of Moldavia, for the further increase of his share we draw a line from the southwestern extremity of that province, through Bucharest, Kopotzani, and Rustchuk, to Ianboli on the river Moritza; from which point we take the course of this river as our boundary, till it falls into the Gulf of Enos. Hence, to the south and east, we naturally allow the sea-coast to mark the limit of the Czar's additional authority, till we reach the southernmost mouth of the Danube, and join the new link to his present chain. Here he will, as we firmly believe, have fully gained his point, and will be able to throw his sheltering ægis over millions of Christians now ground down beneath an Infidel sway.

In the second place, we would assign to Austria the provinces of Bosnia, Servia, Croatia, Herzagovina, and Montenegro, as also those parts of Wallachia and Bulgaria which lie west of the line we have already drawn.

In order to give Greece its proper influence, we would throw into its scale Albania, Macedonia, and Thessaly, together with the portion of Rumilia that we have left untouched by Russia.

We have now done with Turkey in Europe, and turn our eye eastward across the Hellespont. And here we would suggest the desideratum, over the non-existence of which our politicians have been so long lamenting. As a real barrier between ourselves and Russia we place a province of an independent kingdom, by putting France in possession of Asia Minor. The large number of Roman Catholics in Anatolia would find a congenial form of government beneath the eagles of the Gallic Empire; and the exertions of our enterprising neighbours would have full scope for display in the cultivation and improvement of this fertile country. Here, at Scutari in Asia, on the Dardanelles, France would look Russia calmly in the face, and with her immense army ever at her beck, tell the Czar-were there any necessity"You shall come no further!" Should she, moreover, be at all disposed to grumble over her allotted share—which, by the way, would be no mean acquisition, being as vast as France, and much more fertile-let the Governor of Algeria set the matter at rest by extending his conquests, right and left, over Morocco, Tunis, Tripoli, and Barca. In such deeds of war he would surely satisfy the desire of his restless fellow-countrymen after martial glory, and enlarge the dominions of his imperial master to a gigantic size.

We have, last of all, to survey the portion that remains for England; and contend, that she will here find what will more than counterbalance the amount of territory that we have supposed to be assigned to her associates in occupation. Syria, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, are lands of promise, stretching before us in the distance, and worthy of cultivation at the hands of the AngloSaxon race. Under our mild rule, Palestine might once more "flow with milk and honey;" its resources would be developed; its ancient owners, the Jews, might be encouraged to return to the home of their forefathers, and mingle the wealth gathered in those pecuniary transactions for which they are so celebrated with the agricultural labours of the native landholder and British emigrant while, further, with regard to a point that has lately been a vexation with certain diplomatists, "the holy places" would be in safe and quiet keeping in our Protestant hands. Of the advantages to be gained from the

possession of Egypt we feel no description need be added. To say nothing of the immense fertility of the regions of the Nile, we should have our way definitely cleared to our Indian territories, unconnected with flimsy engagements, the whims of a despotic governor, and the peace or commotion of a badlygoverned state. Should we again be practically inclined to change our route, we should have, in Syria and Mesopotamia, the very localities for the already proposed railway to the valley of the Euphrates. In neither of these provinces should we find a hostile spirit on the part of the inhabitants with which to contend,—a fact, this, which is amply demonstrated in Mr. Layard's works. In the former of the two, indeed, we should meet with a people in no small degree disposed to accept the Protestant creed; while in the latter, we should have but little difficulty in subduing and gaining the confidence of the Arab tribes. Let us only assist them in procuring grass and water for their flocks and horses, and place them under a strong and conciliatory government, and such a change in their condition will in itself serve to win them over to our side.

In further proof of what is stated by this partitionist advocate, of the predisposition of the natives of Syria and Mesopotamia to English rule, it may be mentioned that at the time of the expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, some of the more peaceful and industrious Arab tribes, wearied by the extortions of the Turks, who levy taxes yet give no security to property, expressed their most earnest wishes that the commander of the expedition would take possession of their territory and give them a real protection.

The Rev. S. Lyde, in his recent work on the Ansyreeh and Ismaeleeh, bears his testimony to the same feeling existing among the mountaineers of North Syria:

The two European powers of which they know most are the English and the Russians. Of the power of the latter they have a high opinion, but it is to the English that they look with respect and hope. They imagine that the English are a part of themselves, or of the same race; and they ask continually about the Beni Asfar and the Melek-il-Mudaffer, whom they suppose to be of the inhabitants of England. They declare that their books prophesy of the coming of the English very shortly. They are acquainted with the power of the English from the fact that in a very short time they expelled Ibrahim Pasha from the country; and in Syria every commodity which lays claim to be of a superior quality is called English.

The Turks they detest and curse for their pride and oppression; from the Franks, especially the English, they look for justice and protection, and therefore, as they told me over and over again, they wish to become English.

Colonel Churchill gives still stronger evidence in his work on the Lebanon of the existence of the same anxious desire being entertained by the most warlike and independent populations that now remain in the country. All travellers from the interior, not those of European ports and the corrupted outskirts of the regions of Muhammadanism, concur in the same, giving similar opinions to which at the same time it is almost needless to remark that success in arms, on the part of the Turks, and that unaided by any European power, will tend very much to revive the fanaticism of religion and the old Mussulman spirit. Already has a Vienna correspondent sounded the tocsin of alarm as to the real position in which Turkey and its allies are likely to be placed by any unaided successes obtained by the Mussulmans. "Should any permanent suc

cesses," says the writer in question, "be obtained by Turkey unaided, a change of policy with regard to Christians generally may be anticipated, since this question with Russia has much exasperated the Mussulmans, and thoroughly aroused their olden fanaticism. The fact is, that such successes will be fatal to the few advantages gained by long exertions of European diplomacy to the poor Christian_rayah in Turkey; nor will it advance the influence of Great Britain or France, or strengthen the imaginary cordiality that is supposed to exist between the acknowledged head of the Muhammadan faith and the two Christian powers.

Among other works to which the crisis of the moment imparts a peculiar interest, Mr. Oliphant's "Russian Shores of the Black Sea”* deserves particular mention. The author travelled by rail from St. Petersburg for Nijni Novgorod-only one train starting daily, and that only after interminable delays and formalities, every one in military garb having preference of seats, and no extra carriages if there are too many. There he attended the great fair, of which he favours us with a pretty pen-and-pencil sketch. He next descended the Volga in the Samson steamer, with a Dutch, not a Russian, captain, four drunken pilots, and a shrivelled old woman for cook, stewardess, and waiteress. This descent of the Volga by steam is a new and interesting feature in travel; the steamer was continually sticking on banks called pericartes, which the first steamer that navigated the Euphrates did not do half a dozen times in an untried navigation of 1700 miles. The Euphrates is therefore superior to the Volga in point of navigability. What with grounding, wooding, tugging, and other delays, there was no end almost to the journey from Nijni to Astrakan, so our traveller, attacked with ague, gave it up at Dubovka.

Mr. Oliphant, however, sums up concerning this great river:

Few towns in Russia are better worth a visit than Kazan, while the Jigoulee offers the finest scenery I had as yet seen in the country. Saratov vies with Nijni in beauty-the latter owing, perhaps, all to its lofty position; the former to its gay and handsome churches and buildings; but the cities on its banks, or those banks themselves, rocky or wooded, fail to inspire feelings equal to those suggested by this monarch of European rivers itself.

A sense of grandeur and magnificence seemed to grow upon one daily; and now, though our experience had extended over more than a thousand miles of its winding course, I gazed with unabated wonder and admiration on its broad, rapid current, which swept away from us the Samson and its barges, and a feeling of desolation was induced, which reminded us that our recent home having departed from us, it was time to seek another.

After all the désagréments du voyage, Mr. Oliphant regretted his "affable captain" and "the good-natured old woman" of the Samson, when on board the Boreas on the Danube. Matters seem to have altered much for the worse on the Danube steamers; the Austrian officers were haughty to the English wayfarer, the waiters contemptuous, the boats crowded, sleeping places a matter of nightly struggle, provisions wretched, gendarmes on board, espionage rife, and the whole terminating in an arrest at Orsova. How sadly despotism interferes with the progress of

* The Russian Shores of the Black Sea, in the Autumn of 1852, with a Voyage down the Volga, and a Tour through the Country of the Don Cossacks. By Lawrence Oliphant. William Blackwood and Sons.