have greatly improved in physical aspect, partly by passing from nomad to settled life, partly by intermarriage with Circassians and others, yet they were originally of the Turanian race, and so much akin to the Tartars that it is difficult to say which was the precise distinction between the two. Indeed, some ethnologists have virtually abolished the term Tartar (or Tatar it should have been, for the r was intercalated in the middle ages, to support the hypothesis that the people of whose barbarities Europe was then afraid, came originally from Tartarus). When the term now spoken of is discarded, then, for Chinese Tartary on maps of Asia is substituted Chinese Turkestan, and for Independent Tartary Independent Turkestan. But whatever nomenclature be adopted, certain it is that hordes, in language and in physical peculiarities almost completely akin to the Turks, as they were when they first appeared in Europe, roam over all those regions; or, if more civilised, inhabit their few and scattered towns. Some believe that the old Scythians, spoken of by Herodotus and others, were of this race. The Burgundians, the Huns, the Chazars, the Avars, and other heathen tribes, which were at one period or another so troublesome to the Eastern Empire, are held on satisfactory evidence to have been of Turkish descent. The brilliant conquests of the Arabs, after Mahomed had woke up their ardour, temporarily drove back the Turkish pressure towards the west and south, and for a little the Saracens ruled both at Samarcand and at Bokhara. But ultimately the Turks did for the Arab-Mussulman empire in the East what the northern barbarians did for that of the Romans in the West, that is, they overthrew its political power; and then, discarding their heathenism, embraced the faith of those whom they had subdued. A superior has always a tendency to displace an inferior faith, and the Moslem religion triumphed in this case, because it was nearer the truth than the rude heathenism hitherto professed by the Turkish hordes. As first one, and then another, and another Turkish tribe gained the mastery, the tide of invasion rolled nearer and nearer to Europe. By the time that the tribe called Oghuzes had been succeeded by that termed Seljuks, the important province of Asia Minor was, to a large extent, lost to the Greek Empire; this was in the latter half of the 11th century. When, at the commencement of the 14th, the Seljuks were displaced by the Ottomans, a new and yet more ominous period for the Byzantine empire was commencing. From Othman, or Osman, who founded the Turkish empire, properly so called, and from whom the Turks are called VOL. XVII.-No. LXIII. C Osmanlis or Ottomans, that is, from the year A.D. 1288, on to the period of the Reformation, nay, even for half a century beyond it, there was scarcely a Turkish Sultan that was not an able man and a conqueror; and even down to a recent period, the public spirit among the now extinct Janissaries or Pretorians of the Turkish dominion was so great, that a sultan who was unsuccessful in war was almost sure to be deposed, if not imprisoned or assassinated. In 1354, the Turks for the first time managed to possess themselves of a fragment of territory in Europe. Seven years later, Adrianople was captured. The first siege of Constantinople by the Turks was in 1391; a great part of what is now called Turkey in Europe having before this fallen into their hands. During the next sixty years, they inflicted numerous and dreadful defeats on the Christian princes, either singly or combined, till at length, as is well known, in 1453, they gained the great prize-Constantinople. By about 1479, the conquest of Greece was complete. Between 1500 and 1517, most of Asiatic Turkey with Egypt were added, and pertinacious efforts began to push the Moslem conquests through Hungary and Austria into the very heart of Europe. Since the middle of the 16th century, the general course of the great Ottoman empire has been downward and in this respect it has but followed the course of every Mahomedan dominion in the world. For a little, a Moslem conqueror, or a series of Moslem conquerors, may put forth almost resistless power; but in a little their dominion begins to fall to pieces, and no possibility of reviving it can be found. And why? Because more than fighting is required to establish a durable empire. That high regard for justice, and for other virtues which is rarely seen in any force except in lands irradiated by the gospel, is one primary necessity: intellectual enlightenment, with a desire to help instead of hinder human progress is another. And how little of these have ever been apparent even in the best days of the Turkish dominion! The Ottoman power still met with much respect in Britain, on account of its martial prowess at the time when its administration of justice was so much of a byword that, as will be remembered, Shakespeare, referring to the accession of Henry V. of England, has the following: Enter King Henry the Fifth, attended. Chief-Justice. Good-morrow, and God save your majesty! Sits not so easy on me as you think. Brothers, you mix your sadness with some fear. This is the English, not the Turkish court, Not Amurath an Amurath succeeds, But Harry, Harry.—(Henry IV. Act V. Scene 2.) : The Turkish Character. 35 During the whole time of the Ottoman rule in Europe, the weak point about the Turks has been their proneness to tyrannise over the Christians under them; while, on the contrary, they have had this redeeming quality, if it can be called one, that they have always shewn a readiness to answer for their misdeeds on the field of battle; like those American editors, probably fabulous, who are said to commence their literary life by furnishing themselves with a revolver, and intimating that they are ready to give satisfaction () to all whom their writings may aggrieve. There is a significant narrative bearing on the subject in Sir Samuel's Baker's Albert Nyanza, sometime ago noticed in these pages. After that intrepid traveller had been oftener than once deceived by commercial parties about to ascend the Nile, who had promised to allow him to accompany them, he resolved no longer to suffer himself to be mocked, but simply to join the next party of traders, and go with them, whether they desired his presence or not. The caravan on which he ultimately inflicted his company, proved to be a Turkish one, which for some days threatened his life, but at last became half reconciled; so that night by night his camp, surmounted by the British flag, and the Turkish one, a red ensign with a white star and crescent, were pitched in close proximity to each other. The Turks misbehaved all along the road, and at last stirred up such excitement among the native Africans, that at a certain village unmistakeable symptoms appeared of a disposition to attack the travellers. On this Baker sent for the chief man of the village, convinced him that the Englishman at least had no sympathy with the perpetrators of outrage, and finally obtained from him a promise that every effort should be made to allay the excitement among his subjects. The chief, however, failed in his endeavour, and the negroes, whose intellect appears to have been none of the brightest, inaugurated their attempt to surprise the camp, while the defenders slept, by loudly beating their nogara or war-drum, to summon the villagers to arms. The moment the nogara ceased, the Turkish drum responded, and it was manifest to the assailing party that the time for surprising the camps was past. So the villagers, foiled in their project, gave vent to their mortification by beating the nogara at intervals during the night; but however frequently they might do it, they found that the moment it ceased, the Turkish drum answered the challenge, as it had done at the beginning; and thus the whole hours of darkness passed away. Here we have the Turkish character to the life, both on its bad and on its good side. On the one hand, we have a proneness to trample on the rights of others, and a remarkable indisposition to make apology, even when apology is clearly due; on the other hand, there is a willingness to take the full responsibility of its actions, and, at any peril to itself, attempt, by passing through the ordeal of battle, to meet the responsibility of the evil deeds. it has done. How like that scene in the valley of the Nile was the opening one of the great Russo-Turkish drama some fourteen years ago. There is no doubt that the Moslem oppression practised on Greek Christians, co-religionists of such a power as Russia, was not merely wicked, like all persecution, but it was to the last degree imprudent. If Turkey had been betrayed into such indefensible conduct, it should have made a humble apology, and promised amendment, long before the storm began to gather. But, as in the case of Baker's friends, proper apology there was none. But most characteristically, when, under the auspices of Prince Menshikoff, what may be called the Russian nogara began to beat loud and defiantly, the instant response of the Turkish drum brought on the struggle which nearly all the diplomatists of Europe were at the time doing their best to prevent. It will be remembered that it was not Russia which declared war against Turkey, it was Turkey that did so against Russia, and that notwithstanding advices to the contrary, on the part of its two western allies. The Turks constitute but a small portion of the ruling race in some provinces or dependencies of their empire; in Egypt for example, and in parts of Asiatic Turkey, the Mussulman population belongs in large measure to the Arab race. It is needful to pass next in review the subject of Christian nations or portions of nations. And first the Greeks, perhaps 200,000, of whom are believed to exist in Constantinople itself. It is a characteristic of the southern races to be precocious, that is, to reach maturity at an early period, an advantage attended by this very serious drawback, that the powers which ripen so soon, ere long begin to decay. It has been the same with the southern races as with the individuals of whom these consist. The most brilliant epoch in the development of each southern race has been at a comparatively early period of the world's history; and decay has set in soon, and has not again given place to rejuvenescence. Never does a family fall from the ranks of the aristocracy without a longing to resume its old position; and never does a nation sink, after an epoch of world-wide renown, without being for ever afterwards haunted by the remembrance of the departed period of splendour which it continually seeks The Greeks and their Aspirations. 37 to restore. But in this world, glory does not come simply for the wishing, and it is often found that, when degeneracy has proceeded to a certain length, the nation makes no vigorous effort to rise from the depths into which it has fallen, but allows the vision of a lost paradise to remain a So frequently is this melancholy vision and nothing more. phenomenon witnessed, that it is held by many as an unquestionable truth, that a nation which once lapses from high estate, falls for ever, unless assisted in its efforts to rise again by foreign aid. We are not disposed to take quite so unfavourable a view. The loss of the masculine virtues courage and its associated qualities, may be repaired, if a fallen race is driven to the mountains; while residence on the plain may so sap the vigour of the conquerors, that they may become unfit to reign, and finally be displaced by a descent of the older people banished for a season to the hills. Though the Italians have to a certain extent been aided from without in achieving their independence, yet the regeneration of Italy, so far as it has yet proceeded, has been mainly from within; and it is interesting to note that the spot whence the ripple-wave of liberty was set in motion was the mountain territory of Piedmont, not many miles from that region-the geological axis of the European continent, where alp towers on alp, and the gigantic Monte Rosa and Mont Blanc raise their heads amid eternal snows. Is Greece capable of rising in a similar manner? Somewhat less than half a century ago, the answer returned to the question was almost sure to be enthusiastically affirmative; though actual contact with the Greeks, even during the period of their life and death struggle for severance from Turkey, had a considerable effect in damping the ardour that had been felt before experience was gained. The revulsion of feeling in the mind of Byron, as all are aware, was such as to tinge the references to Greece in his poetry, as for instance in the following verses of exquisite beauty, put into the mouth of a native bard: ""Tis something in the dearth of fame, Though link'd among the fetter'd race, For Greeks a blush-for Greece a tear. "Must we but weep o'er days more blest? |