The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-22 00:00:00

verner of tl-e forteese. he aeked if I would like to see
the general, who had arrived froiu Constantinople. The
occasion was gladly embraced. The preliminaries. were
strong coffee, in the smallest imaginable cups, holding,
say a dozen thimble-fulls or less, and administered by
l .a
black slave. Half a dozenithout white
sugar or servantsmilk., i were s
blackd,
a so tp
and full of the pounded aromati o
c Mcha itself, an
attendance. The coffee,
w
would shock our good European housewives. Tsa
European ; for here, though still within the geographies
boundaries of you" kind of civilisation, we have left all
S tl
the S ave and the Danube. At rn in tere
that upon the opposite Lank of the river, or rather, the
two rivers,
e little cups of strong, m e
uddy, but very good
are no little pupS of strong, iuddy. but very good
coffee; no glass dish of sweetmeats with a spoon by the
itie taste and then a tumbler of
water ; no
, side for yotuontoe ttankrbeatt;
not a black slave ; no slippers
left at the curtained door, no isist?ls, sabre, knife, and
what not sticking out of the belt os some grave and tall
Turk, who looks ready, as they say, "1,0 come with a
long nose and eat up the world in the presence of the gon-
zools" (we are all consuls in the Bedouin sense) ; and
though here and there some Austrian, dressed in our
miserably stiff and uepicturesque fashion, probably the
ugliest which the sons of Adam have hitherto been able
to invent, and trebly mean-looking by the side of the
Serbians and Orientals, endeavours to smoke a tremen-
dously long pipe, of say four or five feet, filled with Tur-
kish tobacco, yet you still feel it is only European
" civilisation" after all, and turn back to Belgrade,
where the cry " La Allah, ill Allah !" is rolling out from
half-a-dozen mosques, and you sink quietly and luxuri-
ously down upon the sobs, with a kind of contagious sa-
tisfactory feeling that the best thing in the world to do
is what you are Just now doing, that is nothing at all;
and that since cruel old Time is obstinate and remorse-
less, and will.go en, in spite of Sultans and Cmsars,
mowing down men and monarchs, and sapping the
foundations of states themselves, the ruins of dead dy-
nasties lying all around you to prove--why, then, let
him wag, and pay him as little attention as possible.
BUt here comes the great man of the day in Serbia, and
towards whom not a few European eyes are now di
rected, Etam Pacha—a tall, dark, or olive complexioned,
handsome gesseral, in the epauletted blue frock-coat and
fez of the Turkish officers. His face would be Italian,
if it were not too energetic, and the nose such
as Bonaparte would have chosen, as it is large
enough to give him room to breathe and keep his
brains cool. He is exceedingly polite, easy, and in
every sense appeared a well-bred gentleman, whom one
would never suspect of being a Turk, in the old sense.
He converses in French with the utmost fluency, and is
at ease himself, and therefore makes you feel at home
in his presence. We had an boar's conversation, in
which, however, the firman that he bad brought fr out
the Sultan bore but a small share. The contents of this
' document are already well known, and that it simply
confirms the rights and privileges of Serbia, which had
before been given under guarantee of the treaty with
Russia. The latter power had the right of protection
should the Sultan violate his engagements. But; since
the interpretation necessarily belonged to the strongest,
it was evident that Russia could always find a pretext
for interference. As the treaties between the Sultan
and the Czar are set aside by the state of war, the for-
mer voluntarily, and, as the sovereign of Serbia, renews
and confirms the ancient compact. You will perceive
that Russia is' thus left entirely out of the question, and
that this "act of grace" from the Sultan rests upon
his promise alone. I stated this to Etam Pacha, and
remarked that his miss on seemed, therefore, to be a
blow against Russia. He gave a smile of evident satis-
faction and assent, though he did not reply to this ob-
servation in words.
Mark one thing well. The Czar has only to succeed
in order to raise the whole Greek population, and win
them over to his side. Men usuallygo, but most especially
Greeks, with the strongest; and if Europe suffer him to ad-
vance beyond Adrianople the game will be up. Nay,
there is one contingency that may bring him to Con-
stantinople at once. It would doubtless create only a
smile should I suggest that the defeat of the English
and French fleet by the Russians is certainly within the
compass of possibilities. With the Dardanelles in his
power, and the Greek population celebrating a jubilee
that the holy church of their father, St. Sophia, has
been once more purified, and the crescent been displaced
by the cross—if this possible event should happen, who
will then dislodge the Constantinopolitan Autocrat ? In
a war so fearful as this, and where the stake of England
is life or death, she ought to be almost mathematically
sure of the defeat of the Russians, and trust nothing to
chance or delays ; far less undervalue the power of op-
position that Russia may develope. Who knows yet how
well the Russians can fight at sea? And who is sure
that England can now repeat, under a Dundee, the vic-
tories of Nelson ? No one can doubt which side lam
on, body, heart, and soul ; and it is for this reason—
because Russia must be beaten—that I ask questions
which ought to leave not even the shadow of a doubt
in the answers. The sole protection, at this moment,
of the key of the Mediterranean, and of three-quarters
of the world, is the fleet in the Black Sea. This is,
indeed, a mighty tower of defence ; but since it is ca-
pable of being destroyed by the enemy and by the
elements, it ought not to be the sole dependence. The
English and French troops should close np. Though
the affair at Sinope was not a battle, yet the execu-
tion done in a single hour shows that, whenever the
-fleets meet, the loss upon both sides will be terrible.
And both the Russians and the combined fleets should
be essentially disabled, will not the distance of England
and _France from the scene of action give the Czar ad-
vantages in Pushing forward upon the land ?
Upon the whole there seems to be no way so sure of
defeating his mad designs as by an invasion of Poland
from the west ; for that alone can divide and distract his
forces. The recovery of the conquered provinces for
Sweden would, by and bye, be another able diversion ;
and when the worst comes, if no other course be left,
Austria must be simply compelled (and she might wel-
come such compulsion) to take the right side. There
might then be some hope of hei being yet saved ; for the
declaration, under guarantees, of the rights of Loni-
bardy, Hungary, and Austrian Poland might bring the
powerful aid of the revolutionary elements to her help
against the common enemy. Difficult as this may
seem, it is the only course now left for the almost
dismembered empire. Deeply in debt, refusing to
receive her own paper at par, disgraced with the
world by her subserviency to Russia, and trampling
with difficulty, and by the help of the finest army in
Europe, half a million of soldiers, upon her own strug-
gling populations, she might even yet save herself, by
granting the just desires of these subjects, and leading
them against the common enemy pf Europe. But should
she take the opposite course, her knell is sounded. And
even neutrality, if persisted in, would not save her long.
Three mighty populations, two of them containing whole
armies of warriors and patriots whom the world cannot
surpass—and it is doubtful if the Polish soldiers can be
equalled—stand ready to thunder at her portals in the
day of her calamity, and demand the rights of man, the
rights of nations, of which she has robbed them. Let
us hope that wiser counsels will guide her hereafter than
those which have plunged a once powerful state into
almost inextricable difficulties.
To return to Etam Pacha. He is very intelligent, and
spoke with enthusiasm of the great mission of Turkey in
this war for European civilisation and liberty. He
alluded, with a becoming dignity and pride, to the early
Arabian Mahommedans, as the preservers of light and
science, in the times of European darkness and anarchy.
He had read and approved the traveller Spencer's
views on this point, which, I think, he said he had
seen in the Revue des deux Monde (?). IN described,. in
glowing terms and with patriotic energy, the enthusiasm
of the whole population, Moslem and Christian, of Con-
stantinople. There was only one feeling, and all was
full of hope in the righteous defence of the Ottoman
empire. The same was the case upon his journey
hither. At Adrianople, two sons of the Archimandrite
(the next spiritual dignitary below the bishop), had
voluntarily enrolled themselves in the new Christian regi-
ment. The soldiers, he said, were well paid, well fed,
and well clothed, and only desired to be led against the
enemies of their country and their faith. He gave a
good report of the quantity of provisions and all ne-
cessaries of life in Bulgaria. ."The price of an oka
(211b5.) of bread," he twice repeated with astonishment,
" was only fifteen paras," and then calling my attention
again said, " Think of it, only two sous for-an oka of
bread." He made many inquiries about Austria, and the
state of Hungary, and it is evident whither the eyes of
the friends of Turkey would.be directed;should Austria
now make one of her grand but not unusual mistakes.
I am ready to hear of any folly in the Government of
Vienna. Political Saxon children of fifteen could manage
affairs more wisely, at least in the conquered neigh-
bouring kingdom.