Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1877-04-26

tHO oiitlci Sr!rplfe III IHula IIlHOe III
seem important 10 one nation at
least that the ket TO the passage
between Europe and ASIA should
remain in the hands of a weak neu-
tral power Moreover, Turkey had
been keeping quiet, and having
comparatively few masaeres, and
little further on she gained some
undeserved credit in the West as
defender of the oppressed by fctus
, ing the surrender of the Hungarian
and Polish refugees. All these
things made it possible, when the
next war with Russia broke ont in
1853 for her to obtain assistance
from England ami France, who
, helped her to secure the promise
from Rnssia tl,at the safety of the
Ottoman Empire should not again
be Threatened except by the general
consent Of Europe. The treaty OF
Paris put Turkey under the joint
, guardianship CT the European pow.
ers. Individually, they were no
to disturb her; collectively, they
were to keep her in order, to insist
f upon the protection of her Christian
subjects, and to preserve and defend
her neutrality. Under this measure
of security affairs in Turkey have
gone on from bad to worse. Having
gained sort of recognition as a
, civilized power, the Sultan's gov
, crnment began to make proof its
civilization hy borrowing money
abroad to increase the costly luxu.
les of the court and 0efanltins oo
the interest. But the borrowed
money did not Tighten the burdens
Of the people. The tax gatherer
went his rounds with increasing
, frequency, seizing whatever he
could lay his hatds on, and those
who resented the robbery were shot
: or stabbed and their houses given
5 to the flames. One outbreak after
5 another, of Greeks or cf Sclavs, IN
$ Crete, in the Herzegovina, in Dial.
t malta. in Bulgaria, was suppressed
9 with most horrid cruelty, until the
. civilized world could no longer
hold its peace. Then Russia in
sisted that the treaty OF Paris
, should either bc enforced or abro
, gated; that the powers should keep
| Turkey i'll order or leave Russia
$ free TO deal with tile question her
, self.
1t is not necessary to suppose
/ that Russia's concern for the Chris
t tians subjects of the Porte is purely
t disntcrestcd, nor are we obliged to
ilnpugn her motives because she
+ may entertain the hope OF future
! conquest. Russia is the representa-
. tive OF the oi1hod, TX Greek faith,
, and the Gar as the temporal head
/ of the great Russian Church must
t be the patron and protector of his
co rcligiulrists every where. RUSSIA,
e moreover, is the great Sclavonic
empire, and the Sclavonic tribes in
Turkey look for protection to the
Gar. There are Sclavs who are
s not Greek Christians and Greek
5 Christians WHO are not Sclavs, but
O these two strongest ties of religion
d and race bind Russia in an obliga,
ton telt by no ether power to de
!; fend the oppressed subjects of the
;. Sultan. Of course under all this
i lies the dream Of empire. Russia
u or the Rnssias, was but an agsre
y CATION of halt-barbarous principaIi-
# lies ut the time of the fall of Con-
stantinople. The future empire was
{ then but crystalizing out of a mass
G of unsettled tribes. II WAS not til
the close of tho fifteenth century
# that Ivan the Great assumed the
q title of autocrat of all the Russias
G and nearly two centuries more were
Y required to perfect, under Peter the
!. GREAT, the organization of pow
|. c;tul Empire. But the double
: headed eagle that Ivan placed upon
: his escutcheon, by right OF consan-
: yuinity with the ovcrthrown
e imperial house oe Constantinoplc,
proclaimed him the heir of the
II Byzantine Empire, and every ono
Of his successors has looked for
O ward to the time when that eagle
V standard should be planted again
upon the Bosphorus, and chris
= rian emperor he crowned again be-
fore the restored altar of CoDstan-
: tines grand cathedral. The Russian
IS clai,;. upoE Byzantium may be far
fetched and sentimental, but that il
has been. in one form or another
r persistently held, is an easily
;, Ineligible tact. OF late yeals
however, race has become more
}. important factor than religion in
d the Eastern problem, and tho
u scheme of Sciavonic empire has
@ grown in favor as the German
!. empire has grown. Birmark's llsr
d for preserving the balance of thing.
n was to strengthen Russia on til.
1 %