The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-01-06
Looture ON Turkey.

The Hon. George p Marsh lectured upon this subject
last evening, In Clinton Hail. before average audience
The following is brief synopsis Of his remars-Be-
ginning with general description Of the eastern shores
Of the Mediterranean sea- he alluded to Constantnople
indeed the first seat Of the Christian religion but IS
Free virtuous and enlightened and down to the
time Of Its anal conquest in most complete state Of
decentralization The only hope Of Turkey is the
sion Of Its inhabitants to the Christian religion But In
reviewing the character Of the Ottoman people, must
be remembered that first opinions derived from
their national enemes-the Greeks. II Turkey has
sometimes wroDged the Christians she has also suffered
from them In turn. The Janissaries were undoubtedly
brutal soldery but they suppressed in 1925 The
Turkish soldier is calm and there
is capital in Europe free from crime the military
quarters at Stamboul while, the contrary there Is
no place where crime 10 committed to such extent
in the Christian suburbs OF Constantnope One of the
most charges against the Turks that OF ndo
lence but the vice is almost entirely confined to the
behind the age but In this also has been the dupe
OF Christian powers. There is agement to in
dustry any Of its branches but It to be hoped that
wit the Western Powers. But whatever may be her
wrongs Turkey for three hundred years has been an
asylum to European exiled patriots To Eastern Eu-
rope she has long been what England is to Western
rope The Turk naturally il courageous and devoted to
his religion But he has become that his social
organization cannot long exist in defiance Western
civilization and lackng political hope he has fallen into
the sin Of the enthusiastically and official corruption
To him the Koran is the Gospel of his religion the sta
tute Of his and he coie which governs him
in his social and political duties Christianity has how
ever recently been presented to the Moslem in purer
forms and the Bible is sold in the streets Of his capital
Reform in Turkey Is going with accelerat speed
under the present Sultan. Asa matter Of historical
truth ought to be recorded that these reforms ia the
first instance, owing to France and in conjunction
with her Great Britain has pressed reform upon the
European influences have been at work to counterfeit
and reform has had It's enemy no. in the obsnacy OF
the Turk, but in the intrgues of Christian Powers
10 vastly inferior. The Aimenians do not consti
tute more than twelfth Of the empire. The Greek
is the opposite Of the Turk in all that honest and
good. lie is, indeed, quick active and intelligent, but
the race in modern times degenerate He is false in
word, deed and thought The Greek is shamelessly
vena and corrupt and OF all the least capable OF
feeling patriotism Nationality presents itself to
him in other form than that Of ,tarianism Re.
people which created such sympathy few years since
the world and who ask for sympathy now viii III
they do not deserve. He he lecture did not believe
in the socalled regeneration of Turkey but the Eu
ropean powers would in good faith undertake the
formation Of Turkey, it would be better governed by
Ottoman rulers than by any OF those who now claim to
govern it,
The lecturer then went into heightened description
Of the ecity of Constantnople, called Stamboul He
like Rome on seven hiils-ts private residences and
public buildings including the bazaars and the mosques
The Arabic, Persian, and Turkish languages very
difficult to learn, there capital letters and
commas, and vowels seldom used. Thus, though
most Turks can read very few can do so with Auency
The currency chiefly In bills from ten to thousand
pastes and gold and silver CON- though is Of the
highest purity The lecturer, after speaking of the
celebrated one of Saint Sophia in particular The in
terest in the latter consists chiefly in Its associations
the first Christian cathedral and the Metropolitan
Church the last of the old empires An interesting
OF the mnarets seeples, from which the
esastc crer calls the Moslem to the worship OF the
only God with auson to the origin Of the crescent,
the sign II the Mahomedan faith closed the description
of the mosques OF Constantinople