The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-30 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TlsiEs.—Such speeches as that of Mr. Gregory
last night on the affairs of Turkey aro not likely to
be wanting in future years. There are some evils
which the wise man sees to be irremovable by any
OfTiettelhat his contemporaries can make. That
they will be removed, that their foundations are
already loosened, and their fabric tottering, he can
well see, and he is as certain as he be of anything
future that the time will come when they will have
passed away. But to accelerate the tree's growth
or the glacier's progression would be as easy as to
force on the political development which is some-
times necessary to the peace and wellbeing of a
country. Mr. Gregory last evening told the house
the melancholy tale of Turkish tyranny and desola-
tion. From the despatches of Ambassadors, the
reports of Consuls, the testimony of travellers, he
showed that in every region, from the Danube to
the Euphrates, the Turkish Administration is, as it
has always been, feeble, capricious; and corrupt.
Bosnia and Bulgaria, as well as Syria and the Le-
banon, are, exposed to all that grasping Governors
and intriguing underlings can effect. These things
are so generally reported by all whom business -or
official functions have established in the East that
we should be refusing human testimony its due
rights if we declined to admit their truth. Nor can
any reflecting man require much evidence to con-
vince him that Turkish authority is still a cruel
wrong to the populations it rules, and to the noble
regions they inhabit. In this matter there is a
common basis of history which is admitted both by
the defenders and the eccusere of the Turk. No one
can:doubt that for four centuries the European pro-
vinces have been subjected to a rule which has de-
graded the Christian population, destroyed every
industry but the commonest agriculture, andchecked
even this by imposts and exactions, by the insecu-
rity of property and the impossibility of obtaining
justice at the tribunals. If this has been the
state of things from time immemorial, is it likely
that it has totally changed during the last
20 years, or whatever may be the term during which
Turkish amendment has, according to its admirers,-
been in progress P It certainly rests vpint those
who assert that a complete revolution has, taken,
place in the Mussulman character to give same sa,
tisfactory proof of this wonderful change, for the,
presumption is that the instincts and habits of 1,200
years remain what they were, and 'have 'not' 'l;sen
eradicated either by the lecturing 'of European
statesmen or by the liberal manifesteestf the Porte.
For our own part we are quite prepared to learn
that in spite of the exertions ofiEuropean Powers,
in spite of the elaborate machinery of consuls and
viceeconsuls, who exercise such extraordinary func-
tions in Turkey, the situation of the Rayahs has
been little altered for the better. Of course, to a
certain extent they suffer with their Mahomedan
fellow subjects. Whatever there is oppressive in
cthe vexatious imposts of the country is felt both by
Christian and Mahomedan, and there is_.probtOly
little to choose between the lot of the believing and
unbelieving peasants so far as regards the extor-
tions of his masters. But socially and legally the
position of the Christian is still undoubtedly most
unfortunate. Whatever Europeans may do, and
however much he may be advised of his rights, he
has neither the power nor the courage to place him-
self on an equality with the Mussulman. His evi-
dence, in spite of repeated declarations by the Porte,
is rejected by the courts in many parts of the coune
try, and everywhere it is of little use to him to be
able to give evidence if the judge makes it a prac-
tice never to believe him. The right of acquiring
land is useless to men whose position before the
courts of law is one of inferiority; and it is said the
attempts of the Christians to become more gene-
rally possessors of the soil have in some parts
aroused the strong jealousy of the Turkish popula-
tion. From the manner in which the subject was
treated in the House it is evident that the theory
of Turkish regeneration, which was so popular
10 years ago, has been shaken. On this theory
the whole foreign policy of England has been built,
for the last quarter of a century. It has been up-
held with wonderful consistency by Liberal Minis-
ters, even after they have been relieved from their
traditional terror of the Russian Autocrat. Rely-
ing on it, we not only went to war for the indepen-
dence and integrity of the Ottoman Empire, but
we have supported its Government both then and
since by loans which give the public an interest in
keeping up the present order of things. The fancy
by which Englishmen reconciled this Mussulman
partisanship to their consciences was that the Turks
had been humbled by a knowledge of the strength
of the Christian Powers, and enlightened by their
teaching. The Sultan was a well-disposed man ;
the Councils of the Porte were directed by in-
structed and travelled Ministers ; the Turks gene-
rally were willing to admit the Christians to equal
rights, and if there was any ignorant opposition in
the more remote provinces it might be overcome
through the watchfulness of the Consuls, who
would bring any violation of the Sultan's new
statutes under the notice of the Christian Ambas-
sadors, and thus obtain a remedy. Those who re-
lied on this view of the future forgot the invete-
racy of habit and the powerlessness of mere paper
proclamations to change the policy of an Empire.
All the progress which the Christians have made is
to be ascribed rather to the decay than to the re-
generation of the Turks,—to their weakness rather
than their justice. The gradual elevation of the
Rayah population is the work of deeper causes
than are contained in any Hatti-Sherif. Just as
the progress of the Christians in wealth and in-
dustry has been used by philo-Turkish politicians
as a statistical proof of the advance of their fa-
vourites, so now the struggles of the Christians
towards something better in spite of the disadvan-
tages under which they live are given as proofs
that the present domination encourages their
progress. But the truth is that except by wasting
away, and thus losing their hold on the Christians,
the Turks have in no way contributed to any im-
provement in the condition of their Rayahs. It is
to the continuance of this process that we must look
for real progress, and not to any nominal reform of
laws which are to be administered by Turkish
judges and officials under the Government of a
Turkish Pasha. As long as two populations, Mas-
sulman and Christian, are intermingled, with the
one essentially dominant over the other, the idea of
equal justice or social equality is the wildest of
dreams. Equality between the whites and blacks of
America is not more impossible than between the
conquering religion and those who are tribu-
taries to it.
DAILY NEWS.—Whatever may be the results, to-
morrow and on Monday, of the electoral campaign
in France, it is tolerably certain that the operations
of the last three weeks will be found to have openo
a breach in the Imperial system of government. A
tide that rises so suddenly, and to so unexpected a
height, will not recede without leaving traces
n f it
overflow. The battle of the constituetfluo
fought this time with legal and
peaceful
aenwchole army of
weapons be
by a few free skirmishers against_ents.
Thevictory
functionaries, flatterers, and depeend
cannot be doubtful •, but thierearner t Nh-iecteolrc!
larsa ldivsaics:
trolls as defeats, and of s.uc
g y is condemned to win
tortes which M. de
late without a smile the
It is impossible to.
tcPhoaentrtseimipj
devoted Minister to preserve
uneasy attempts of
toan ddoi ft
their
an attitude of contentuiotsusadaysseuraraanricees,
Second Empire invite
little worst, while he is b uyin.g
.off
.the Opposition
he cannot intimidate, and intimidating that which
ho cannot buy. To gullible constituencies bo offers
candidates who are likely to obtain the favours of
the central Government—grants of 11101;ey, conces-
sions,klocal public works, To appal the timid and
selfish instincts of the bourgeoisie he calls up the
spectre of revolution which only the Second Empire
could exorcise. At the same time his prefects and