The Press.
London, England, 1853-07-16 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

tical supremacy to the race whose sympathies
are—by no fault of theirs, but from the very
nature of the case—anti-national and Russian,
appears but au imliffereixt mode of strengthen-
ing an empire against attack. Nor are we dis-
posed to think quite so favourably of the ad-
ministrative capacities of the Greek race us
does our author. They are, he says,
- - - -

eminently a commercial people, and, as such, fond of
novelty, and movement, and liberty. They require much
space to breathe in—a lofty firmament above them—
and would stifle under the low leaden sky of Russian
despotism.
History might tell him that a people " emi-
nently commercial," is not on that account
more disposed to risk wealth, and commerce,
and life, in a struggle for national freedom ;
and that the races which have left on record
the most, desperate struggles in that cause
have generally been poor, turbulent, averse
to trade, and irregularly governed. Spain,
Scotland, Switzerland, Afghanistan, are cases
in point. Thu development of American com-
merce dates subsequently to the war of inde-
pendence. A purely mercantile community
will value a government which imposes no re-
strictions on its trade; but it loves order bet-
ter than freedom, and puts up with much pro-
vocation before it draws the sword. And as
regards the modern Greeks in particular, it
must be remembered that the most enlight-
ened of English liberals look with no sanguine
eye on their future prospects. We should
like on this point to contrast the practical ex-
perience of Mr. Wyse and Sir H. Ward—both
Whigs, and something more—with the visions
in which Mr. St. John indulges.
- -

- -
We now turn to our author's estimate of the
Turks, and though it must be borne in mind
that he is writing in support of a theory, and
therefore not impartial, we cannot deny tho
painful reality of the picture which he paints.
Modern reforms, awkwardly and apishly copied
from foreign models, have produced a sem-
blance of change, which only disguises the
unaltered barbarism of the ruling race. Sen-
sual, rapacious, and bigoted, they have for-
gotten their old virtues without acquiring
those of Europe. The character of the Go-
vernment fairly represents that of the go-
verned :
- • •

Every department, judicial and administrative, has in-
creased in venality and corruption. There may be less
violence, but there is more fraud. At Constantinople the
state of things is bad enough. The evil grows in propor-
tion to the distance from the centre. It would seem as if
the Turks believed that the old prophecy is about to be ac-
complished, which gives the empire four hundred years of
life. They are subjecting, thorefore, the provinces from
which they must be driven to hurried plunder—the old
habit of a hostile corps about to decamp from en occupied
city at news of the approach of a superior force. The Turks
have failed, indeed, to assimilate even with the country
and climate, much less with the people and the man-
ners, amidst which they have intruded. They have never
colonised, hnt have been for four hundred years billeted
upon the finest portion of Europe.
Offices are notoriously bought and sold, the
capital invested in the purchase being subse-
quently replaced by plunder. No interview,
no request for justice, can be granted without
a fee. The state of the finances verges on
bankruptcy. An instance is cited in which, of
400,000 piastres, the nomimal revenue of a dis-
trict, only 38,000 found their way to Constanti-
nople. Officers of comparatively humble rank
maintain a crowd of followers three times as
great as their legal salary enables them to
support. Police, strictly speaking, there is
none. Every provincial governor is a despot ;
justice between man and man does not exist ;
the sole remedy against oppression is by re-
volt; and revolt, when nut too powerful, is put
down with an iron hand. Here arc two sam•
pies of Turkish administration :

Even if the Turks were not naturally brutal, the system
of administration adopted in the empire, by which every
official is made a sultan over those below him, would
mite them to cruelty. The possession of arbitrary
power scents to degrade man to a level with the beast.
t.:mperors and slavedrivers, who may have smiled the
smile of angels on their mother's bosom, 604111 degenerate
into ferocity when the sceptre or the lash is put into their
hands. Why should we wonder, then, that a brill-necked,
lowbrowed Turk, invested with the koorbash and scimitar,
and specially charged with the task of acting as a kind of
chronic Verret; to his province, should succeed in galling
everlastingly the feelings of the people placed under him ?
remember nn instance of the extent to which a push„,
quite iiihonattire in his dealings with most peoplu, was led
by a momentary impulse of avarice. 'nitre was in one of
the movincial capitals a man whose reputation for probity
t/11,1 CAtlbliallA vu IVII6 CIP‘III3WV, ttlid who IffaSearUsitcd

SATURDAY,

lay werchauds, ladies, and others' with jewels fur sale,
without receipt of any kind. This fact came to the yap,
of the governor,—the amiable functionary 1 have alluded
to,—aud as the jeweldealer was passing beneath his
window one day he beckoned him iu, and salted him what
he had with him. It happened that he had only a few
coral necklaces and a large pearl. This was not worth
while. lie was told to come next day ; and in the mean-
time he went from house to house antongst people %hum
he knew, gathering a good stock. Every one could prove
the delivery of the jewels, and every ewe was sure of the
honesty of the agent. lie disappetued, however, and the
report soon spread through the city that he had been mar-
tiered. Presently one, and then another, person, and so
on, came forward to say that he had been seen to enter the
PRAIA'S palace; and indeed his corpse was found tilt the
banks of the river, a few yards below. Of the jewels, how-
ever, there was no news. Public opinion accursed the
kasha; and the European representatives took up the
matter. Their interference was effectual in one respect—
the murderer restored some of the jewels with a shrug ;
but there was MI proper inquiry, and of course no
went.
The inhabitants of Wallachia will lung remember the
presence of the Turkish agsa before their past retreat.
Scarcely a morning cams fat some young boy, Or girl,
was not found slanghter•4l outside the gates ; and it. is
difficult to explain the reason to any one who is not inti-
mately acquainted with the abominable character and pre.
judices of the worst class of Turks. When the army re•
treated, the bodies of several hundred Christian women
were found in a wood on their line of intuch. They had
taken them away as temporary mistresses, and had
deliberately cut their throats, that they might not return to
the embraces of Giaours.

Of the domestic manners of the Moslem
Mr. St. John tells us a good deal ; but these
arc matters on which no foreign traveller, or
even resident, can possibly become a valid au-
thority, especially among a people who, 113 he
himself repeatedly lanais, look down upon
strangers and infidels, maintaining the pride
of conquerors even iu the depth of their na-
tional decrepitude.
The most practical measure of reform—per-
haps we might say of revolution—which he
suggests is that of granting political equality
to the Christian races—an idea often enter-
tained, and which, while maintaining the terri-
torial integrity of Turkey, would, in fact,
change the whole character of the administra-
tion. Municipal self-government does in
reality exist to a very considerable extent, the
conquerors being content, for the most part,
to levy tribute, while the apportionment of the
relative quotas is left to those who have to
pay. This state of things arises, not from the
forbearance, but the numerical weakness, of
the Turks proper, who now number less than
one-fifteenth of the population of their Euro-
pean empire. Herein we sec the germ of a
new empire ; but it is one thing to look
forward to its future existence, and another to
anticipate nature by trying to force it into pre-
mature life.
We have been more careful to criticise the
substance than the style of this work ; but in
parting with Mr. St. John we would suggest to
him that, if he desires to popularise his theory
with men of various parties, he would do well
to avoid obtruding certain political opinions—
we will not call them prejudices—on readers
to many of whom they are probably distaste-
ful. When he goes out of his way to liken
the slaughter of the Janissaries by Sultan
Mahmoud to the weakening of the landed in-
terest by the repeal of the corn laws, both
being, according to him, necessary measures
for the removal of obstructive bodies—when he
ranks the principle of aristocracy among the
" errors and crimes" of human nature,•—when
he sneers at "men of Conservative minds,
who cannot conceive the idea of improvement"
—above all, when he lays it down as an axiom
that the true policy of England is to "call on
the revolutionary party in every country, and
thus to levy an army of allies"—he is only da-
maging his cause with the public by appeals
to popular passion, and creating a needless
antagonism. There is also an offhand and
somewhat dogmatical tone about his profes-
sions of political faith which rather provokes
than disarms criticism. The book, however,
is worth reading.

Sty Iludeott Loteib Papers,con tattling the History
14. Napolane at St. Helena. Edited ley William
Forsyth. Loudon : Murray
pocond Notice I
OUR former notice gave the prologue of this
tragedy or farce (so closely do extremes meet,
owl su iuuTow 16 the Rubicon, loam:cu. Lilo

JULY 16, 1853.

sublime and the ridiculous); explained the
progress of the plot, and introduced the dra-
mati►r persoNfe, from the ex-Caesar to his man
cook ; with prefatory lucubrations I►ased on
Mr. Kean's bill of the play Son/ono/a
anal we HOW suggest to him this melodrama
of a modern Prometheus. chained to a rock,
as a substitute for The tiorsiran Brothers. The
never-to-be-satiated eagle anal at rich vein of
residetta runs through both pieces, like gold
in granite. We shall now summon up in our
Paolo() glass some of the chief actors on the
St. 114..1ena scenes, allowing c►tclt to tell his
story in his own words. Napoleon naturally
comes first, who performs his difficult part as
becomes at pupil of the great Tatum, shifting
in at momentfrom the lofty, the Learand Corio-
hams, to the low, the Shylock and Sir (files
Overreach :

" I passed," says Sir Hudson Lowe, describing an inter-
view with him, thrintgh his outer dining-room into his
drawing-room. He was alone, standing with hat under
his arsa, in the manner he usually presents himself
when he assumes his imperial dignity." After some
silence "he commenced, but spoke with such rapidity,
such intemperance, and KO much warmth, that it is
difficult to repeat every word he used. Without appa-
rently having lent an ear to what l had said, he began, ' I
cannot understand the conduct of your tiuvernment to-
wards me. 1)o they want to kill me ? Are you come here
to be my executioner—my gaoler? Posterity will judge of
the way in which I have been treated ; the sufferings I ex-
perience will recoil upon your nation. No, air, I will
never allow any one to enter the interior of my house, to
penetrate into my bedchamber, as you have ordered to be
done. When I heard of your arrival in this island I
thought that, as an officer of the army, I should find you
possessed of politer manners tlum the admiral, who, as a
naval officer, might have had a rougher bearing. I have
no fault to find with his heart. But how do you treat ate?
It is an insult to invite me to 'limier, and to call me Ge-
nend Itoetaparte. I tun the Emperor Napoleon. Are you
come here to he my executioner—my gaoler ?' Whilst
speaking in this manner his tight arm moved backwatsls
and forwards, his person stood fixed, his eyes and Clllll4e.
111111C11 exhibiting everything which could be supposed in a
iierson who Meant to intimidate or to irritate. I suffered
him to proceed, though not without a strong feeling of re-
straint upon myself, until he was nearly Out 14 h 11•1411,
on his stopping, 1 said, ' Sir, I have not como here
to be insulted, but to trent of an affair which concerns you
more than it does me. If you KM not disposed to speak
tilsott. it I will retire." I had no intention to insult you,
sir ; bid how have you treated me? lids it been in a way
becoming a soldier?" Sir, I am a soldier to perfOrm the
duties I owe to my country in conformity with its customs,
:rod 1114 according to the mode of other e toles. Be-
sides, if you think you have any cause to complain, you
have only to write, and I will transmit your representa-
tions to Engboal by the Nest opportunity.' "
All this bullying and bluster, this tearing
passion to rags, failed, as in the similar scene
with Imrd Whitworth, for the governor kept
what his prisoner lost—his temper. This
phlegm and forbearance dealt the worst cut of
all, according to Las Cases:—

Atter dinner the Emperor reverted to the interview.
" behaved very ill lo hiss, no doubt, and nothing but my
present situation Omuta excuse no ; lint I was out of
humour, and could not help it. I should blush for it in
any other situation : hunt such a Weill' taken place ;it. the
Tuileries, l should have lilt myself bounsl in eillitiekilett to
make some atonement. Never during the period of my
power did I speak harshly to tuly one without afterwards
saying ttttt thing to make amends lot it ; but here I at-
terell not a syllable of coueiliation, and 1 had no wish to
do SII. However, the governor proved himself very insen-
sible to my severity his delicacy dill nut seem wounded
by it. I should have likeil,frr his sake, to have seen him
evince a little anger, or pull the door violently atter him
when he went away. This would at least have shown that
there was some spring, some elasticity about him ; but I
found nothing of the kind."

It was, however, impossible to please the
ex-Emperor and his petty court, who perverted
the best-intentioned acts into studied injuries,
and returned courtesy with contumely. One
exception may be cited. Sir Hudson, who was
always thinking of the creature comforts of
his captives, whose body-and-soul consolations
centered in the kitchen, sent some coffee to the
" a ieneral" to the horror of his Polonium lord
of the bedchamber, who hesitated to notify the '
fact, fearing the imperial answer would
require it to be thrown on the fire,
when, to his great astonishment, Napo-
leon said, "Cause the case to be carried
to the pantry ; good (4)&0 is a precious thing.
This horrible place!" Montholon Was thought
mad by the maitre (Motel fin• the mere men-
tion of this " poisoned gift," and the imperial
orders were obliged to be rel,eaate►l before the
chief cook, who suspected death in the pot,
would roast and boil the berries. Finally, the
aromatic fumes dispelled the blue devils of
the court above and below stair . The id-