The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-11 00:00:00

selfislit notions about Christians, when the disciples
of our common Master cannot refrain from oppres-
sing their fellow-disciples.

The regeneration of Turkey must, in any case,
be the work of a long time. The truth is, the
Christian population is not, morally, one whit
better than the Mahometans. Look at the Greeks,
for whom we, with BYRON, were so ready to fight
—was ever any portion of the earth cursed with
a more venal crew than the Court of Athens ?
And throughout Turkey, and the East, what tra-
veller tells us of any superiority on the part of
the Greeks, except in cunning. If Pachas will
oppress, the Greeks will cheat—if Greeks are
astute, Turks are brave—if the former are liars,
the latter are remarkable for chivalrous honour.
Both races equally need elevating ; nor is the
prospect quite hopeless. Turkey is probably safe
from foreign inroad for some little time to come.
During that time enterprising men of business
from the West will have free access to the whole
country. The Franks, and Giaours, will be,
and must be, respected by the people they
have saved ; and the effect of Western intercourse
and commerce must be to modify for good the
views and habits of the natives. Give Turkey
time, aid keep Russia and Austria at home, and
she will gradually, perhaps rapidly, change her
social character.

One thing even the Greeks themselves must
now see—that the Allies are at least friends quite
equal to Russia. The latter never proposed any
reform so expansive in its principles as what has
just been suggested by the Allies to the Porte..
Indeed Russia could not. She would be afraid of
rendering the condition of Turkish Greeks envi-
able to Russian Greeks. It is not to be forgotten
that the liberality of the SVLTAN'S reforms was
one chief cause of the War. NICHOLA.S dreaded
liberty so near his despotism. He went to war,
as the Earl of SHAFTESBURY fully proved, to pre-
vent the contamination of Turkish liberalism from
infecting his own subjects.

We are gratified to perceive that the Maryle-
bone Vestry have appointed a committee to watch
the " Leases and Sales of Settled Estates Bill"
brought in by the Lord Chancellor, and set down
for commitment to-morrow. As most of our
readers are aware several insidious attempts have
been made to obtain powers from Parliament to
enclose that picturesque place of public recrea-
tion, Hampstead Heath—attempts which, owing
to the strenuous resistance of the public, have
hitherto proved unavailing. By the Bill in ques-
tion it would appear it is sought to confer on the
Court of Chancery the power to enable the owners
of property to "grant leases, effect rates, or do
what they please with what are technically
termed settled estates," so that if the Bill be
suffered to pass unaltered the public may be ex-
cluded at a moment's notice not only from the
above Heath, but also from every other place of
recreation coming under the same category.
This is a danger of too great magnitude
to be overlooked, and involves interests too
important not to render neglect criminal. We
therefore, trust, the example of the vestry will
be followed, and the most determined resistance
offered to the bill or the provisions conferring
such power. Were there more places of recrea-
tion than are called for by the exigencies of the
public health the attempt to limit them might
admit of a colourable excuse ; but the very oppo-
site of this is known by everybody to be the fact.
The half-suffocated poor of the smoky metro-
polis have far too few within reach where they
may inhale the pure invigorating breeze and re-
fresh their exhausted frames, and it were a mon-
strous outrage to rob them of any of the few
they have. Robbed, however, they are likely to
be, if the bill is suffered to pass without special
provisos to the contrary, for however well dis-
-1 posed the present Lord Chancellor and Chan-
cery Judges may be towards th 3 public
there is but too much sympathy extant with
the rights of property to leave much room
for any with the rights of the people. The con-
tinuance or non-continuance of no place of public
recreation shoßld be suffered to depend on the
breath of any individual, and by no process should
the public be made to suffer. As for Hampstead
Heath, there it stands, and stand, it must for the
recreation of the sickly masses, even though Go-
vernment have to purchase it. The sooner all
question about the matter is settled, the better.
We are not living in times when the alleged rights
of great people can prudently be set against the 1
rights of the masses, and vindicated to the
latter's wrong.