The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-07-14

1t scarcely required the reminder of The Rus
sian Ambassador on a late occasion, to awaken
Chrisendom to a perception of the fact that the
Empire Of Turkey is very badly governed, and
that the Christian subjects of the Perte-the
Ravahs as they are called to distinguish them
from the Osmanlis, who constitute the ruling race
are in the remoter provinces still treated with
merciless severity. Fanatlcsm, which, at
Constantiuope, has yielded to indiferen,ism in
matters of religion, resists all modern innova-
t;ons. with undated zeal, at n distance from the
c,nitoI The massaCres which have been perpe-
tr,ied since the close of the Crmean war, at jed
dab, and JaIia, and on the mountains of Leba-
non indicate how little respect is shown to the
HI2i SchriG of the SULTAN, and how pertina-
cously the lower order of Turks and even many
Of the dignitaries of The Empire, are disposed to
resist any concessions that may be made in favsr
OF those whom the KORAN stigmatizes as Giaours,
and devotcs TO eternal nerdition. 1t is no fault of
Adu-l-Mejid's that the reforms he has attempted
TO institute have not been carried out Though
nominally absolute, the hereditary successor of
the prophet, he must take the KORAN for his guide
in all civil, religious, and political matters. Upon
final, the decision of the Assembly of the Ulemas
in which the Muft presdes-the latter being the
religious patriarch and high Chancellor of the
Empire No one who does not profess the Ma
homedan religion can hold any Office, whether
civil or military, under the government Even
the rank and file of the army consisted,
until recently, of Turks-Osmans only
Nearly all the public functionaries, support
ed by ignorant and bigoted soldiery, being
thus interested in maintaining the old order of
things, the SULTAN and the more enlightened of
his Ministers are necessarily powerless to intro
duce those radical changes by which alone the
condition of the Christian races could be amelio-
rated and the Empire saved from disinegration.
1t is the consciousness that this etete system gov
eminent, though it may linger hopelessly along
for u number of years yet TO come must
eventually fall to pieces, which has led Russia
TO scrutinize so eagerly every fresh symptom
of decay, and to eXasperate, wherever she could,
that spirit Of disailecton which the pride, and
folly, and fanaticism of the Turks themselves pre-
vent them from conciliating. With all her sea-
ports the Baltic closed by ice for more than six
months of each year, and with no ports of conse-
quence elsewhere, Russia, who aspires to become
maritime nation, has long Looked forward to
the possession of European Turkey, and, by estab
fishing her Southern Capital at Constantnople to
acquire permanent foothold on the shores of the
Mediterranean. 1t was the dream of PETER THE
GREAT; it was the ambition of CATHARINE H.,
and it has since become a part of the tradi-
tional policy of the House of RoMANoFF.
The late Gar NICHOLAS felt the pulse
of his Turkish patient, and decided that
the sick man was in crtremis. But the invalid has
continued to live on in the most contu-
macious and unjushfable manner in spite of
the diagnosis of the Imperial physician, and,
though certainly no better, cannot be said to be
much worse than lie was when, six years ago, his
speedy decease was confidently announced and the
proposition was made TO divide his effects These
old Empires, if left TO themselves are proverbially
long n dying. The process of decay in bodies
that have but feeble vitality is sometimes slow.
1t is only where the elements of combustion are in
excess that they are in danger of sudden destruc-
ton. In Asatc Turkey, with its seven hundred
thousand square miles Of territory, and its popu-
lation, including Kurds, Arabs and Tartars of
sixteen millions-chiehy protesting the Mahome-
dan religion-the government of the Porte, how
ever loosely administered, might readily survive
for many years, the shock of its election from Eu-
rope-for the Osmanls are fatalists, almost to
man, and accept whatever happens with quiet
resignation that cffectually precludes all idea of
resistance In Turkey in Europe the Christians
are, numerically, largely in excess of the domi-
nant race, and though classed as Greeks, Molda-
VANS, Wallachians, Servians, Bulgarians and Ar
Greek Church. of which tho Csor .Ioi,ns to l,u tho
spiritual head. 1t is upon this claim that Rus
STA bases her right o'nterfere in the administra-
ton of the internal affairs of Turkey, and
by continuing to assert it whenever fresh
instances of oppression occur she leads the Chris
tan populations to look up TO her as their protec-
tor, and prepares them TO accept her rule when
ever the Western Powers either become divided in
their councils or consent to relax their opposition
to her advance into the territory which she has
coveted so long. If we were to credit the rumors
that are now ahoat the recent protest of the Rus
sian Ambassador against the prosecutions endured
by Turkish Christians-supported, as it was, by
the representative of France-foreshadow a closer
alliance between the Gar and LOUIS NAPOLEON,
and the institution of u new programme in rela-
ton TO affairs in the East But any speculations
which might be based upon such light grounds,
would be scarcely worth the paper upon which
they were written. That, in the fulness of time,
this Turkish question must be met and adjusted
the present disorganized condition of that fine
country renders perfectly evident. But whatever
course of policy may be adopted by Russia and
france, it is clear that no satisfactory conclusions
can be reached unless they meet with the concur
renee of England and of Germany