Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1849-11-10
sz CONDITION or TURKEY.
;sPSbtX altatsskh n sf1rKSy wsrc eSeatly I'M

proved DYt036s03A AVSGuI WI ASs ohsss~~~-j
arch ofno ordinary. ability and decisior' O
character. .so By his exterminaticr Of the ia.
nisaries, he rid the empire Of an infamous
pretoriar, cohort that had always regarded
the imperial purple as vestment ct their owr
and had ever used its weareruss q slave oi
their owr, base purposes. He Introduced ma.
nvpeforms in the civil administration, land
by hisfovsign policy, he broke down the bar.
rier of imperious bigotry and hatred that had
solong held Turkey aloof from the other ma
lions Of the world. The same liberal tenden-
cies'are manifested BY the present Sultan,
under his enlightened Grand vizier, Reschid
Pasha; and aided and sustained as they are
BY foreign influence and especially by that Of
the admirable English Ambassador, Sir Strait
ford Canning they will, doubtless, result in
much substantial improvement. But public
corruption and oppression still remain in the
ascendant throughout the Turkish empire
The administration of justice is extremely
defective. There are no lawyers, no jurors
no legal precedents, and no written common
law, except that contained in the Koran.
Everything depends on the conscience and
will OF the Judge. 7, Full scope consequently
is given to bribery and Intimidation, and in
important cases these agencies ARE generally
employed without stint oriscruple. | have
been told that the PRESENT vizier contemplates
che substitution Of civil code for the canonical
law. But sneh measure would go so far
towards dissolving the present identity of the
church with that state, and is so inconsistent
with the whole genius Of Mahometap govern.
ment, that csanot believ that it is serious
" designed; or if designed, that it is prac-
ticable. The Pashas of the different provinces
.praciice vast deal of exaciion and oppression
They first acquire their Offices by purchase,
and afterwards idemnify themselves dozen
times over by farming the revenues, and by
unjns, levies on their subjects.
Physical power rather than social amelora-
tion is the ptme end of the present Govern.
ment. The army and navy are its grea,
pride and constant. attention. The regular
army consists of about 100, 900 men, but il is
now rapidly increasing BY large conscriptions
made all over the country TO resist the threat
ened aggressions Of Russia. The pay of the
soldiers is about ninety cents month; their
uniform is no longer Turkish, bu, consists of
red Fee cap blue jacket, and blue or white
pantaoons. The men are generally older
than other European soldiers, but yet appear
like stout hardy fellows. Though they have
many European officers, their field discipline
is very imperfect, aud their march anything
bu. soldierly. They are well clothed, well
equipped, and particularly well lodged; BET
ter barracks have seen nowhere. The ar
tillery is exceedingly well appointed; its
stock of field pieces is immense and con-
stantly increasing The very day OF my ar
rival, every shore was ringing with the frs,
trials Of $50 new brass cannon. The Turkish
navy contains the finest and largest three
deekers in the world; and its strength is at
every short interval reinforced by the launch
ing Of some splendid war steamer. But all
the vessels are poorly manned; their crews
ARE made up chiefly of raw conscripts from
the couatry, who hardly know a rudder from
"a plough-,aii. r.-aa. 10.
After ali, these efforts of Turkey to get up
a aEmarssal and swashing outsideo remind one
of aa ihapoteat old dotard creeping into fine
arr1or and strutting under borrowed plumes.
The Ottoman Empire has lost IFS vitality, and
does not contain within itself a single ele-
snent Of National greatness nor a solitary
germ Of social regeneration Its carcass is
only upheld by the rival jealousies Of the
three great powers Of Europe; when that
sustaiping force ceases 10 act, in consequence |
ofopen war or secret compromise, the earthly
tabernacle Of the Ottoman Sultans will fall to |
The ground forever Tue Turks themselves
have a presentemenl that their days are we'll
nighnumbered; and account Of this they |
bury thsn dead on rAe Asia,ie ssdej Of the
Bosphorus. A beck which they, regard as
canonical and holy, predicts fihe downfall of
the Western Empire 400 years after IFS esiab- |
hishment, which period, reckoning in lunar I
years, the Makomeaan mode Of compu,ing |
time, will expire in 1858. '.a lara ''.s' if
Abdel Merschid, the present Sultan, is 2s |
years of age; dresses, with the exception Of
"a ,Fez cap,- in the European style; and, save |
that his face is unusually. pale sad deeply !,
pitted by the small pox, has nothing very !
snoticeable in his reFsoaah appearance. He |
inheri,s little of tae intellectual sigor of his
father Mahmoud, but his hear is amiable 10
"a degree borderng.on weakness His sens'
S6ili.ies are such that he never signs death
warrants except in cases Of the most urgent
'neGessity He takes scarcely any personal
opart.in the administration, the governments
. choosing to leave everything 10 ,hecontrolVf
his vizier. and pivan.i He has FIVE or six
wives and a large Harem. The latter is
regularly increased by, the annual preseuta-
-tion Of two, beautiful and accomplished Cir
.cassian virgins, one by his mother, The Sui
tana yalede, the other BY his Grand vizier.
70 The old custom Of sackng the unfaitiful
yand throwing them into the Bosphorus, has
VA fsfl a - =