The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-06-23

| they beat down their elder brothers the Seliuk's
| wrestling from their Eniir Al Orna the green
| banner of the prophet, and the cOnmanlership
| OF the faithful; how they crossed the BOs-
phufltS aud seized the city of Adrianople Q360;A
how in 1853 they stormed under Mallmond II.
the city of Constantinople over the dead body
| OF Constantine PalH0lOgus, and placed their
chie1tain on the throne Of the later Caesars;
and how they turned westward singly against
all ChriStend0m, raising along the Danube and
It's sFtuents, and all round the ridges and spurs
! OF the Eastern Alps, from the Carpathians
down to Chimarl, a storm OF battle which made
Europe tremble, and which has continued to
the present century with scarcely an ntermls-
sion OF single generation OF men. The race
which could perform such things, in the face of
such powerful military odds, does not exactly
deserve the feontempt of Mr., Gladstone and
the other diplomatists who desire to send it
back again to BrOussa, and set up the Greek
| Church Bulgarians instead of it.
For century and a-half after the seizure OF
Constantln0ple i'll 1853 the Turks, under their
Mahmouds, Baiazets, Mustaphas, Amuraths
SeilmS and SOlymans cOmbated and beat down
Servians, Wallachs. Albanans, Austrians Poles,
Greeks, Hup sarians Germans and VenetianS,
and had their grandest dominion i'll the middle
OF the seventeenth century. Then came an
ebb in the tide. III 1897, Prince Eusena, of
Savoy, defeated the army Of Mustapha H. an9
the Turks had no more splendid victories. Th0
| reason of this lay in the change of military
tactics, which the OttOmans did not adopt.
me European powers, which had previously
fought i'll the loose feudal style, raised standing
armies, trained i'll the scientific style of war,
while the Turks went on the old tulnutuary
way, relying mainly OH the 'dash" of the
JanizarieS, and on the natural fire of the Asiatic
| onset so etfectual i'll other times.
III the middle Of the last century the Rus
slams came INTO contact with the Ottomans on
the Danube, and got the better OF them
Empress Catherine took the Crimea. After
the Treaty of Kainardje Q770l the Turks could
| easily see they were behind hand with the
world; and Sultan Selim Gather OF Mahmond,
and grandfather OF Abdul Medd and Abdul
Asslz) began system of reform that has gone
on ever since. He began to form new army,
the Nlzam Diedid, thereby offending the Ulemas
and the Janizaries who therefore assassnated
mm Mllstapha coming next, and being
friend OF the old ways, was destroyed by his
brother Mahmoud, radical like Selim, his
father. MahmOud, who began to reign in 1808
was one Of the greatest refOrmers Of his age,
changing the entire face of Isamism. The
Janizaries opposing his measures, he massacred
and abolished those PraetOrians i'll 1926, and
then regulated his army on the European plan,
discarding the turban 1Or the fez, and dressing
the troops i'll uniforms like those Of France
and England.
After the death of Mahmoud, in 1889, his son
Abdul Medjd carried out the new system, with
his grand reform ediCts or katticherifs of
Guhane Q84O) and Houmayoun, QS56) which,
in variety of ways, changed the order OF
Turkish society and guaranteed the rights of
all classes, Mohammedan and Christian
COnstantinOplG began to look like q western
capital. The turban land loose trousers dis
appeared and the Turks began to sit ON chairs
instead OF sQuatting crOss-legged in the heroic
style OF the S0lymans and Bajazets. Knives
aud forks were used for fingers i'll respectable
society, and the old crowd OF dogs no longer
prOWled i'll the streets of the capital. Instead
of them came the pigs, once the adherence of
the OttOmans. /" After these the newspapers
exclaimed the disgusted ulemans; and the
newspapers came accordingly. M. Baque,
significantly enough, became director OF the
Government Gazette, that whGH the Czar
made an uproar in 1855, the Turks OF CONSTANT
nOple could read with much pleasure in their
cOtteehOuso3 how England France and Sardinia
had become the dutiful champions of the
Padishah Since that time the journalism and
general education CT the Turks have increased
Ill a very remarkable manner.
Turkey in Europe is " a country well worth
fighting for" The suzerainty of the porte
covers as much ground as France-over 100000
square miles. But il we exclude the "prO,
tectorates," as they are called, viz: ROumania
beyond the Danube with its 900 of pOpula-
tOn, nearly all belonging to the Greek Church,
and governed by Prince Charles OF H0henzo-
Hern; SerVia, under Prince Milan Obrenoyitch,
With its $4,000 square miles, and q population
OF over 100000, and the little hill country of
Montenegro, 1900 square miles i'll extent-the
Sutanate would still be much larger than Italy.
This area has the appearance OF being covered |
that almost defy statistics, they defy govern
ment. Yet at bottom there is sort OF unity
which may tend to simplify things.
Those ruling Turks are very much at home |
among the Serbs, Huns, Bulgarians and the
other SlaVs since they all came fourth original
ly from the same Asiatic latitudes, i'll the same
tribal style, and bearing i'll their names the |
common signiicatiOn of tribe" or people" |
Their languages have great deal in common. |
The SlaIonian speech, whether it is called the |
ROumanian, SerVian Or Bulgarian, is a curious |
medley of Slavon, Turkish, Persian, Albanian,
Hungarian. Italian, and German words. In |
truth all those tribes of Eastern Europe are of |
one famiiy-inCiuding both the Russians and |
Ottonans, those two races that seem TO stand |
off IN differences Sc mighty" Nestor, the |
Orientalst, had some perception of the truth |
when he said that the Russians, Poles and |
not explain in what way.
On the whole, the Dere-Alich-a term iuter- |
' The Gateway of the strait6--is worthy to |
take Its place ON the roll of chief monarchies |
While Its membership of the great kingly
ring is p guarantee that no slight or ordinary
shock or dlsaster can bring it to the ground It |
is falling into all the ways Of Christian pro |
gress, has heavy national debt of about |
Sl,O10O00,o0o, an army OF over 100000 men, and |
a navy OF fron-clads,' monitors" and frigates |
ranking next after those of England and |
France. All these things are hostage of |
fortune" which will compel the Ottoman
energies OF their people, as, indeed, they seem |
ant on doing, 1t is interesting to note how |
they eoIeIuer their old prejudices, and with |
what deXterity the Shelk-ulTslam and his |
ulemas can twist or stretch the texts of the |
Koran to meet the exigencies of the time |
Midhat Pasha's late " constitution was a |
allowed that the Turks are as revolutionary as
the FrenGhmen III 1890, though not half so |
savage and gesticulat0ry as the brave men of
the GirOnde and the Jacobin Club,
The city of the BOsphOpus, with it's many |
names-Byzantl1m, COnstantinople, Tarruk, |
Ethuse, or Czarigrad-is likely to become a |
capital worthy of a rich and prosperous en- |
pire Nature has made its site very beautiful, |
and it is the centre OF all the intercourse of
Europe, Asia and Africa, whether carried on
by ships or by railways. 1t may yet be the |
dynasty may possess it, The Holstein Rom
anotfs would be happy to do SO, But the pos |
session Of it would be as fatal to st. Peters |
burg and Moscow as it was to Rome ITSELF and |
for the rest, such grand transference Of power |
could only belong to the distant future, while % |
thousand unforeseen things may prevent it. !
worthy and capable Of progress as the Russian |
or any other, and the simplicity Of their reli- |
gion {When stripped of its popular summaries) |
@ eS 10 ~ 10 hetnr era
that, for a number of reasons, whether of race, |
creed or governing capacity, the continuance
of a reformed Islamism III Europe would seem |
to be no such misfortune as many persons are
dispQsed to imagine, '-.'