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804 .. ___ ¦ THE LEADER. [No. 438, Augus...
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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS, o notice enn ...
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^s \ / - 't SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 1858.
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:• ¦¦ . -——¦ ^X I I* rift ¦ " ? / ^ttll lir 5lllllirS ^yu vm, Atmi-iv*! * ?
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m- rhere is nothing so revolutionary, be...
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CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE. The hop...
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ENGLAND ATffD. AMERICA. A dispute is alw...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
804 .. ___ ¦ The Leader. [No. 438, Augus...
804 .. ___ ¦ THE LEADER . [ No . 438 , August 14 ir « j-
Notices To Correspondents, O Notice Enn ...
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS , o notice enn bo taken of anonymous correspondence . Whatever is intended for insertion uiust be authenticated l ) y the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . , is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters wo receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the communication . Te cannot undertake to return rejected communications .
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^S \ / - 'T Saturday, August 14, 1858.
^ s \ / - 't SATURDAY , AUGUST 14 , 1858 .
:• ¦¦ . -——¦ ^X I I* Rift ¦ " ? / ^Ttll Lir 5lllllirs ^Yu Vm, Atmi-Iv*! * ?
—?—^ tihlir Affairs .
M- Rhere Is Nothing So Revolutionary, Be...
m- rhere is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . —Dr . Arnold .
Condition Of The Turkish Empire. The Hop...
CONDITION OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE . The hopes entertained by many at tlie close of the Crimean struggle , that the Turkish Empire was about to enter into a new phase of progress and regeneratibn , do not seem likely to De fulfilled . Could tlie promised change lu > ve been wrought by dint of diplomacy , or could the spell of evil habit have been broken by the magic of words spoken and written . ' at the Conferences of Paris , the Othman ( d ynasty would , undoubtedly , have been by this time in the enjoyment of the renewed lease of power and stability which the European Sanhedrim
decreed it . The Porte was solemnly declared to be admitted into the fraternity of Earopean . Governments . The integrity of the Moslem empire "was formally placed under the guarantee of Christendom . International relations were initiated upon the footing theretofore subsisting between the civilised nations of the world . No end of good advice was confidentially offered by France , England , and Austria , as to the best mode of hastening the renovation of their valetudinarian protege ; and even Russia , after a little , begau to be equally communicative of disinterested counsel to the sick man
¦ who had had ' so narrow an escape of her exclusive care . But as far as it has gone , the new system of competitive protection of the Sultan by his imperial neighbours does i \ ot work either satisfactorily or promisingly . Neither the moral or material interests of Turkey appear to thrive under it . "Whether it be that the sense of self-preservation as an active impulse has been weakened , or that the jealousy proverbially felt by the Weak for the intermeddling of the strong in its affairs lias become morbidly intense ; whether it be that the mischief lies in the apathy and indifference , confirmed , if not created , by being ; publicly taken in and done for the stock wisdom of whether
by joint- Europe ; or it be that all consistent policy at home or abroad is paralysed by the conflict of embassies at Constantinople , ana that in tlie multitude of counsellors there is danger , —certain it is , that things just now are going ill with our invalid ally on the banks of the JBosphorus , and that his condition , albeit he does not very loudl y complain , is one calculated to cause no small anxiety on his account . In truth , the very absence of complaint is one of the worst symptoms of disease in cases of the kind . There is , as we all know , what was called by Sheridan " unconscious dying at top . " A fracture , however complicated , may be set ; a fever , however high or delirious , may be overcome ; congestion of the vital
organs may be reduced by prompt and vigorous treatment ; and most other maladies may be wrestled with , and conquered . But no cure has yet been found for softoning of the brain , in cither the political or the bodily frame . The only recompense sought by the Western Powers for the sacrifices made by them during the Huaainn war , was that the Christian subjects of the Sultuii should bo placed in all respects on an equal footing with the Mahomedan population . This was unreservedly promised , and tuere is no reason to suspect the Porto of any wilful breach of faith regarding- it . But the resolution and energy necessary to carry it into effect were , and are wholly ,
wanting . The celebrated tanzimat , ordaining the future equality of all creeds in the eyes of the law , was promptly issued ; and great was the satisfaction expressed in speech and print throughout all Christian , countries . But it soon appeared that the tanzimat was likely to have little efficacy throughout the provinces of the empire . As a general rule , the Christian population were destitute of arms and organisation , while their hereditary oppressors in each locality exercised undiminisuea powers of exaction -without limit , and insult with impunity . Everywhere the Christians were led to expect that
their sufferings were about to terminate , and that France , England , and Sardinia had secured for them and for their children immunity from extortion , outrage , and humiliation on account of their attachment to the Cross . But two years have rolled by , and everywhere the hope has been belied . Wherever any effort has been made to take possession of the civil rights thus promised and guaranteed to them , a storm of indignant resistance lias burst forth on the part of the chagrined and jealous Turks . "With few exceptions , the local authorities have lent their countenance to the disloyal asserters of extinct
laws ; and in most cases they have overawed and suppressed aay ill-concerted efforts at resistance . In Candia and Bosnia matters have assumed a serious aspect . During the long and enlightened administration of Mehemet Pasha ( favourably known to the English public daring his residence here as ambassador ) , the Caiidiotes had been taught habits of mutual forbearance and respect unlike anything that had existed elsewhere . The Moslems had learned to appeal to the law instead of private vengeance in their quarrels with one another and with their misbelieving neighbours ;
while the Greeks , strong in their numbers , intelligence , and property , while tacitly permitted to retain the possession of arms , had been dissuaded to renounce all thoughts of using them in civil contentions , and to rely for protection on the justice of the Sultan's lieutenant and those acting under him . Their homes were secure , their churches splendid , their commerce flourished ; and Candia was pointed to continually by superficial travellers and politicians as a proof that the Turks could govern well . But from the reaction in Java of Islamism , which seems to have
commenced even before the conclusion of peace in 1856 , the Turks at Candia have unfortunately not been exempt . Petty squabbles , the origin and particulars of which are already lost in oblivion , and which at any other time might have borne no weighty fruits , have , under a timid and vacillating administration , led to a state of tilings the most fearful and revolting . Turks and Christians had alike appealed to the authorities in the island to espouse their cause . A recent decree of the Porte , at the instance of its foreign advisers , had separated the civil from the naval and military administration ; and the military governor in Candia ,
taking an opposite view of affairs to that avowed by the civil head of the executive , no timely agreement as to measures of repression could be come to , and the fanatical Turkish rabble terminated the dispute in their own brutal way . . Finding the authority of the Sultan fchus prostrate , the Christians turned for protection to the consuls of the European Powers , and made their public appeal to them in terms not likely soon to be forgotten . On receiving intelligence of tlie commotions in Candia , the Porte wisely resolved to send tliithcr once more Mehemet Pasha , armed with plenary powers to restore order ;
and for a season it is possible that , by dint of his personal influence , he may succeed in doing so . But it is plain enough that this is but to rely on a temporary expedient for the means of holding society together ; and that the mere fact of a majority of the population having been driven to appeal to the representatives of foreign states for protection to their altars , properties , and lives , is in itself the most comprehensive proof of their utter unbelief in the power of the Sultan ' s government to govern . 3 n Bosnia , under circumstances widely
dissimilar , results ominously identical Iiavo occurred , the main causes being ; the same . The- Turkish conquerors of tliat fertile and populous province bcoamo the territorial lords of the soil , and adopted and perpetuated the feudal tenures they found existing theco . The occupiers , as in Ireland , adhered to their ancient faith ; and the traditional enmities of race and creed were mingled with the conflicting interests of olass . On every side beyond their frontiers the Bo & niaca saw their Christian neighhours exempt from the hardships and mortifications they were forced to endure . In Scrvia and
Transylvania they beheld their feUowa secure in the peaceful enjoyment of the fruits of their industry and tl , rites of their national faith ; nor were the cxamnii of Wallachia and the Hcrzcgovine bstupS ? It was with difficulty they could be restraine d from rising m insurrection on various recent occasions but promises of redress were continually reiterat ^' and at the peace of 1856 they were more disposed to permanent submission to the Porte . Themis ? rable disappointment of the hopes then held forth to them has now alienated the Bosniacs more tin i ever : and whilo . \ vt » . writo vnm ™ n ., v ever ; and while we write rumours reach '
us that the state of smouldering civil war is such that Austria affects to consider it a sufficient justification for collecting large bodies of troons near the southern portion of Hungary , to be ready / doubtless , on the first pretence , to enter and take military occupation . Of what has happened lately at Jeddah , and what is too likely to ensue " in Moldavia aud Wallachia , should the people of those provinces learn that their interests and rights have been sacrificed to Turkish obstinacy aud Austrian intrigue , we have not space here to tell . On all sides weakness and disunion mark the
condition of the 1 urkish Empire . The old prestige of absolutism governing by the sword is gone , ° and tlie paper sceptre of an exotic legality seems to have already proved too heavy lor the effete hand into which it was thrust two short years ago . The Porte is daily beset more and more by the rival admonitions of the Austrian , French , and English embassies ; When Lord Stratford de Kedcliffe resigned , it was supposed tliat in this respect a different system would be inaugurated ; and that M . Thouvencl and Baron Pirpkesch would no longer find in the dandyism aud dilletantisin of liis
successor provocations or pretences for keeping up the dictatorial tone so . "bitterl y ¦ -. complained , ' of . But even this gleam of -amendment ,- equivocal as it -was , lias suddenly been withdrawn . Lord Stratford is about to proceed as Ambassador Extraordinary to Constantinople . The ostensible pretext ior " this singular step is that he may take leave of the sovereign whose ablest advisor he has been for more "than twenty years ; the real purpose , no doubti is that he may for a few months longer mainr ^» » «^ * # - . w % ^^ s- * s ^ ' 1 v 1 s ^ t li ^» « a s % j \^ - « rA mi ^ bw- * I % f \ I t f \ C * IviT Mi \ i ^ r A tainit possiblethe ascendancy he has hitherto
, , _ exercised in the councils of Stamboul . Sir Henry Bulwer , it is felt on all hands , has neither the force of character , knowledge , or ability to hold the Sultan on his tottering throne ; and he is therefore for the time to be superseded by his energetic predecessor . But what a picture of imperial decadence , decrepitude , and decay is here ? Lord Stratford may avert a catastrophe during his intended sojourn at Constantinople , but what will become of the desponding and distracted councils of the empire when he is gone ?
England Atffd. America. A Dispute Is Alw...
ENGLAND ATffD . AMERICA . A dispute is always in a bail way for settlement when the parties to it accuse cuoh other of bad faith . Unfortunately this sort of accusation is the constant attendant " on all our disputes with the United States , anil it is always we on this side of the Atlantic \ yho bring it into play . Reason g oes for nothing with an adversary who trill be right . It is of no use to-tell those who have set their
hearts , and to a certain extent staked their reputations , on the suppression of the slave-trade ^ ihat in censing to board American ship s on suspicion ol their being engaged in the prohibited trallic , we have not given up any right or privilege ; it is ol no use to tell them that high legal authorities , both in this country and in America , have determined that question boyoud the shadow of n reasonable doubt . The slave-trad o is to bo put down , an * America , whatever may be her wants or wishes , is " falso , perjured , and forsworn" if she docs not let us do what we want to do , ami , moreover , help us to do it . Like Brumston ' s num of taste , we suy to her , This is true taste ; ami whoso likes it not ,
Is blockhead , coxcomb , puppy , fool , and sot . Our contemporary , the Economist , is " earnestly protesting nguuist the suspension of the practice o boarding and searching American ships suspected of being engaged in the slavo , trade ; suoh an arrangement it considers to be " wholly uujustifiable . " " The practice once discontinued , « says , "it will become fur more difficult to resume it , without a quarrel , however notorious it may oocomo that tho American aearouing squadron per-
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 14, 1858, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14081858/page/12/
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