The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-19 00:00:00

STATE OF TURKEY.

The following letter, of recent of date, from Con-
stantinople, may be found interesting. It contains
extracts from a memorandum* or report addressed
to the French Government by a person who has an
intimate personal knowledge of the places he de-
scribes, and who, for aught I know, may have been
employed there on a special mission.- The letter
in question is from a French source, which will
sufficiently account for the manner in which the
writer speaks of the impoitant part France is called
on to play in the East :

" CONSTANTINOPLE, Fee. 9.
" Nothing but complaints against Lord" Redcliffe among
the diplomatic corps I His impatient temper, his arrogant
tone, and his constant interference with the internal affairs
of Turkey ; the ascendant which he has acquired in the
councils of the empire, and which he abuses to such a de-
gree as to impose ou the Sultan the choice of his High-
ness's Ministers—all these things aggravate the ill-will against
him. The late war, we hear it said on all sides, was under-
taken with the object of relieving Turkey from the absorb-
ing pressure of Russia. The object was attained ; but has
Turkey, though delivered from the Muscovite yoke, there-
fore recovered her independence and her liberty of action ?
Has she not rather changed her protector and her tyrant ?
The position which Prince Mensehikeff aimed at occupying in
Constantinople, is it not the same now held by Lord Bed-
ell& ? Yes, it is indeed Lord Bedell& who reigns and go-
verns on the shores of the Bosphorus. It is through his in-
fluence that England has been enabled to turn to her own
profit the advantages acquired to Turkey by her aimissien
into tke European family, which was meant to be for the
advantage of all. We have only to look at what passes in
the States of the Sultan and in the Black Sea to be
convinced of the fact. For many months back England bas
acted in that sea absolutely as if her intention was to esta-
blish herself there permanently, or at least to take possession
of it at a future period. All • the bays, all the ports, every
corner and nook, have been visited ind minutely inspected.
The British flag has appeared in every part successively of
the coasts of Asia Minor and Turkey in Europe, on the sea-
board of Russia,. and in the mouths of the Danube, and
wherever it floats, England seems as if she, and she alone,
were mistress.
" In the meantime Constantinople has undergone an
invasion of another kind. A crowd of English agents
has flocked hither, ardent and indefatigable in the demand
for concessions. Turkey hai been covered by them with
industrial and commercial establishments which place her
in complete dependence on Great Britain. The Turks are
accustomed to see English ships of war everywhere, English
shipbuilders and engineers, English capitalists and traders.
Whether from weakness or calculation, the Turkish Govern-
ment itself encourages this invasion of its territory, this
absorption of its material resources. From this to complete
submission there is bat a step. Such is the language oue
hears in this city among the diplomatic corps, and such
are the complaints frequently uttered. I have reason to
believe that they:have 'formed the subject of a collective note
addressed to certain Cabinets, and thdt they are the real
cause of the departure for Paris of the First Secretary of the
French Embassy. M. Thouvenel has, it is said, demanded
fresh instructions from his Government. God forbid that
I should undertake the defence of Lord Stratford de Red-
cliffe, or that I should attempt to justify his irrascible cha-
racter and his more than haughty manners, which snit
rather the minister of some Eastern despot than the repre-
sentative of a great nation like England. But, after all,
are we really justified in reproaching him with his exertions
to forward the interests of his country ? If those exertions
affect other parties, they are all the more bound to redouble
their efforts to establish their influence also. Nothing can
be more just. But, to speak frankly, France has taken no
part in the great enterprises which are destined to completely
change the face of Turkey, and from which she may obtain
immense advantages. Who is in fault? Is it not to the
apathy of her children that she owes it rather than to the in-
trigues of Lord Stratford ? The French in general are
distinguished by a certain promptitude of mind and a
power of initiation, but execution is . not their
strong point; in this they do not shine. They do not
possess the spirit of association, nor the boldness nor
speculative genius of the English. They who are
so brave, so brilliant in the field of battle, and who seem to
derive fresh energy from the ardour of combat, are soon
discouraged by the obstacles inherent in every great enter-
prise, and they no longer know how to advance. It is
amusing to hear the French talk about these things. Ac-
cording to them their failures are attributable to foreign
intrigues, and also to .the want of support from their own
Government. The French Government is invariably
made responsible for every misfortune that occurs, and,
according to them they are never sufficiently pro-
tected. The Government does nothing to support
them against foreign competition, nothing to open
new marts to their trade ; in a word, nothing ef what it
ought to do. The French are, it appears, like the Pope,
infallible by their nature ; every one is blamed for their
failures except themselves, who, in fairness, ought to bear
exclusively the blame. As for me, who have been an eye-
witness of these things; I can assure you that the French
Government is far from meriting these commonplace accu-
sations. On the contrary, it employs all its efforts to give
the greatest possible development to its marine and its com-
merce, to extend its relations and its influence on every
point of the globe ; and nothing that can contribute to it
escapes its attention. You have heard, for instance, of the
French frigate the Sibylle going to Muscat and the Persian
Gulf. The Sibylle has orders to explore the whole of that
gulf, and after leaving she will proceed, it is said, to the Red
Sea. It appears that the Emperor intends to obtain from
the Shah of Persia the concessions of divers points on the
coasts of that Sovereign's States, and that negotiations have
been already opened on that subject with the Persian Am-
bassador. These points are Bunder-Abbas and Mohanamerah.
Abbas, which is admirably situate to connect commercial
operations with the Isle of Bourbon, is under the domination
of the Imaum of Muscat.- The Shah lets it to him at a yearly
rent ; it will therefore be easy for the French Government to
take his place on the same conditions.
" As to Mohammerah, it is in a position possessing im-
portance of a far different kind. Lying at the entrance of
the Karun, which is navigable as far as Shuster, one of
the most flourishing spots of the empire, the little town of
Mohammerah has drawn to itself all the advantages which
Busserah formerly enjoyed, and that to which it owes those
advantages is the application, unique in those countries, of
free trade. What would it not become if it were in the
hands of a great European nation ? It would be one of the
most active and 'richest entrepots of the East, a new Ormuz,
.which would soon supplant Bagdad and Bussorah. It is not
without reason that the French Government has turned its
attention to that quarter. Its attention was principally at-
tracted by a memorandum,.or report, addressed to it by a
person who has traversed and profoundly studied Africa, and
in which are indicated the points which it will be most isoful
to take and to occupy. Here is an extract :
" The bay from Diego-Sauriez to Madagascar, a port
near Jubb, Cape Guardafui, the entrance to the straits of
Babelmandeb, and a creek in the Red Sea near Massonah,
in Abyssinia—such are the points which appear to me suit-
able to form the chain of our colonies in the western part
of the Indian Ocean. The taking possession of them would
not be attended with any great difficulty on the part of
the natives. It would admirably promote the plan of con-
necting our colony of Bourbon with the isthmus of Suez by
a line of steamers. The points indicated would furnish
coal,- iron, timber for shipbuilding, and provisions in
abundance ; and they are, moreover, situate in a healthy
c;imato. The Bay of Diego-Sauriez, independently of the
advantages it offers to .the extension of the French navy,
would secure our line of defence. If we consider the situa-
tion of the Isle of Bourbon, it will be seen how exposed is
that colony in its isolation, Bourbon, which is so distant
from our possessions in India, which are so trifling in them-
selves, is everywhere surrounded by the English possessions:
—Mauritius, the Cape, Mahe, and the Seychelles, and Port
Natal. Bourbon is alone' and distant in the midst' of these
seas, which are under • Indo-Britannic domination. It
has not even a port to shelter our ships which go to
Port Louis for repairs in sight of the British flag. The
Treaties of 1814 have reduced us to this humiliating ne-
cessity. It is urgent to remedy this state of things, and,
in the meantime, to insure to our colony resources to
make it respected, and at the same time to our marine
a harbour of refuge, in which it may repair its da-
mages under the protection of French batteries. The
occupation of the Bay of Diego Salaries would at once realise
those conditions. But this would not be the only one ; for
that bay would become the cntrepot of the trade of Western
Africa ; it would be the point for our ships to tench at and
take in provisions, and whither would come the Portuguese
and Dutch ships as well as the American whalers. Another
Singapore would arise in those places, which would be the
centre of a colony, the development of which would be faci-
litated by the divisions in the island, and the impatience of
the "Suclavas under the Hove domination. The fertility of
the Malagash territory, the exuberant vegetation of the soil,
which produces all the tropical plants, the low price of
manual labour, the character of the inhabitants, would tri-
umph over all difficulties which' the colonial system en-
counters elsewhere. If an objection be founded en our
unsuccessful attempts on the shores of Madagascar, it dis-
appears when we take into consideration the nature ef the
place. It was, in fact, on the eastern side ef the island,
between the Bay of Antogil and Port Dauphin that France
had her first establishments. - Now the unhealthiness of these
coasts contrasts with the climates of northern regions, to
which all our naval medical men,render the most satisfactory
testimony.

" regard to tho point which I have indicated at
the entrance of the Red Sea its advantages are not less evident.
In point of fact the Strait of Babelmandeb may be henceforth
' regarded as the principal port of the Indian Ocean. It is by
that the trade of Europe must pass when it shall resume the
path of Suez. It is therefore of importance to maintain the
freedom of that passage, and not to allow the keys of it to fall
into the hands of England. Once posted at the mouth of the
Arabian Gulf, nothing can pass without our permission. We
may have the Gibraltar of the East, and we can, when we
please, obstruct the communications of England with her In-
dian colonies.
" As an entrepot the establishment now proposed would
attract to it the trade of Choa, of the Adds, and of the
Gallas, which would descend by the Hawash into We lake of
Houssa, and would then be little more than 72 leagues from
the sea.

" The investigations carried on in Abyssinia and all the in-
formation furnished by the natives, demonstrate that the
countries which approach the most • southern sources of the
Nile, evou to the Indian Sea, aro extremely rich in tropical
products of every. kind. There, at tho foot of the Mountains
of the Moon, known, though imperfectly, for a long
time, is the real country of the plant which gives us
coffee. It is there of a larger size and a finer growth, and
its prbducts ar superior to that of Yemen, which is Sfo
famous. There, also, is produced the plant known as the
Kat, or Tchat, of which the leaves afford a tea which
may one day surpass that of China. Rico, indigo, cotton,
gums, spices, ivory, and dyeing woods abound, and supply
material of easy and lucrative exportation, and all these pro-
ducts may be acquired at a price much inferior to what they
. _

cost in India.
" All these districts, the ports of Djedda, Mokha,
Ho-
deida, comprised in Yemen, contain more than 20,000,000 of
consumers, with whom we should have to apprehend no other
competition than that of the Arabs and the I3anians. At the
present moment that trade produces a movement of more than
80,000,000, of which the articles manufactured in Europe
form the greatest part. Such a market would become ex-
tremely valuable after the opening of the Isthmus of Suez,
<< is then of the last importance to be beforehand with
other nations, and to occupy positions which may enable us
to maintain, with advantage and security, extensive coin_
morciai relations. These positions would be of extreme importance in the event of A war with England, They would ,