, 1877-04-04
RUSSIA AND TURKEY.
(From The Times Weekly Editton.)

The following is a remarkable article of
the St. Petersburg Go1os on the impend-
ing decomposition of the Turkish Empire
and the %temporiziug policy which should
be pursued by Russia with a view to fur
ther This end -
"The latest ConsfautipopIe events sup
ply matter for reflection. If outside Of
the Turkish editorial offices at Vienna,
Paris, Cologne, &C., there have been any
sanguine enough to believe in the con
tinued existence of the Turkish Empire,
they will now admit their mistake. "A
few days ago.the Russian Chancellor asked
the European Governments to declare
their intentions with reference to Oriental
affairs. The Porte has been the first to an
wer this question. The import OF the reply
given by the Porte is simply this The
Ottoman Empire is. asking for a respite,
that it may die a natural death. Decay
has already SET in. The seeming revival
under Midhat proves a mere spaSmodic
resuscitation preceding the struggle which
is to finish the SUITE rihgs of the incurabIe
patiei t. All we have to do is to wait for
the new institutions TO be realized in &C.
cordanco with the Sovereign will, when
decomposition will set in, and the corpse
will have to be carried to the grave.
The pause which has supervened in the
diplomatic negotiations affords a good
opportunity for the funeral of the Turkish
corpse. Provided certain police measures
are taken to watch the hopeless sufferer
in his final paroxysms, doctors NAV quietly
90 home, and leave everything to its
natural course. Indeed, it is desirable
that negotiations should not be speedily
resumed. The death struggle of this efete
organism is an event of unprecedented i'm
portance, and may give rise 10 unexpected
incidents. The anarchy which may daily
break GU IN the capital and the P yinces
ofthe Turkish Empire may email fearful
suftrings, no, only upon the inhabitants Of
Turkey, but also those of neighbourinr
States. 1t is, therefore, imperative that
Euiop an troops should be kept in readi.
ness to restore order on the Balkan Pepin.
sula, and to protect the Christian tribes
from determination and worse than Bulga-
rian horrors. The Russian troops on the
Turkish frontier may yet render excellent
service to the Rayah subjects of the Porte
and to Europeans civilization at large.
After what has happened, all honest OBJ
servers OF current events will agree that
the question whether Russia has been
authorized by the Powers to coerce
the Porte should be dropped as unmean-
ing. Before long all Europe will look
upon such coercion as q purely phiIan-
thropic proceeding. We have only to
wait g little longer to witness this result.
And to wait is easy, considering there is
no need to carry on actual war against a
State 10 the rotten condition of the Otto.
man Empire. No foreign enemy could
destroy Turkey with the rapidity she en-
ploys in destroying herself. But, without
actually declaring war, our Army may be
called upon to fulfil a task in Turkey such
has, as never been accomplished by Euro.
pean troops before. These considerations
should restrain our military ardour, and
teach the impatient friends of the
Turkish Christians that they have no
reason to be dissatisfied with our reserve.
We shall be on the spot 10 time to save our
co-religionists from the danger of being
crushed under the crumbling ruins Of the