The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1878-02-15

suppose the conditions OF peace m n.
fairl, reported, what will be left II thu
Ottoman power? How does the ext.n,
81 the Sultan's authority compare with
that ~ earlier members Of his dynasf,
whose resources We're danger 10 E.i.
rope? The truth is that the present
ruler, as regards breadth Of donlinons.
VIII remain more formidable poten.
tate than Bajazet or Mohammed III
and may fairly vie with any of his house
prior "a the reign Of Solynan the Mag
niicent
II is worth while to trace the success
si,r strokes by which the Turkish en-
pre- has been curtailcd since the acme
OF It's greatness under Solyman and his
son, Sclim H., in the sixteenth century.
Let ~ bear in mind that at the latter
epoch, besides all his present domnions
except Crete--thc Sultan controlled
almost the whole Of Hungary, a large
part Of Poland, all the southern PROV
inces Of Russia skirting the Black Sea.
together with Austrian Creoiia, the So
called military frontiers, and independ-
ent Seryia on the west and Russian
Georgia on the east. The first signs Of
decadence in the aggressive power Of
Turkey were the double defeats Of Soly-
man before Vienna in lj29 and 1889.
aud his repeated repul e. by the Hun
garan> AT the fortress Of Sziget. one nf
which cost the Sultan his life The next
blow was struck at Lepanto, in 1871,
where the Turkish fleets lost the pres
tlge and dominance which, since the
downfall 81 Rhodes, they had maintain
ed throughout the Mediterranean About
century later, under the impulse Of a
remarkable family Of statesmen. the OF
toman armies undertook to renew ar-
gre~sive movements, but they were routed
before Vienna by the heroic Pole. John
Sobie~ki. In the subsequent war against
Austria, whose troops were command 4
ed by The famous generals, Prince Eu. K
gene and Loui, of Baden. the Turkish
strength on the middle Danube was de-
strUycd. With the loss ~ fortre~seS IN
This quarter. The hope III Ottoman az
grandiNt lncnt north Of the river seems
10 haze been abandoned and AT the
peace 81 Carlowliz. in 1893, Mnslapha
H. surrendered nearly all his Hungarian
possessions 10 Austria. Azov 10 Peter he
Great. Podolia, and the Ukraine 10 Po-
land. and the Morea 10 Venice No
terms which al the present juncture
Russia could hope 70 see ratified b. the
European powers could possibly ap-
preach in.Scvcrity the conditions OF the
peace Of Carlowitz.
During the whole ~ the last century
Turkey was al war, now with Russia.
now with Austria Notwithstanding
some partial successes. such a. tue re-
conquest Of the Morea in l1l5. The zen
eral result of this long contest was al
astrolI~ 70 the Ottoman sovereign. He
lost. for instance, the Crimea and a,l hi
outlying possessions north 81 the Black
Sea, aud by the treaty concluded with
Russia. AZ Ja~sy, III 1892. the Dniester
was made the frontier between the two
Empires. The present century haS Wit
messed a series Of rebellions usually fol
lowed by the concession II partial indie !
pendence 10 provincial governors.
Thus, IN ls05 Servia rose under
the leadership of Czerny George. and
subsequently achieved notable meas
ure VI >elf-government. The insurrec-
ton of Ali Pasha AZ .Janna in lS22 was
crushed, but the Greek revolution which y
followed was succe- sfui Weshould re- 4
mark. however. that ii was not until the h
Iurkish-Egyptian fleet had been destroy /.
81 Al Navarino. and the Russian armies. =
under Diebitsh, had crossed the Balkans b
and arrived AZ Adrianoplc, that the n
Porte would acknowledge the independ- h
encc Of Greece. "A
Three years after the treaty Of Adrian q
ople, namely, in 1892. began the peril h
Gus contest 81 the Sultan with his too n
vassal, Mehemet Ali, the Vice y
roy Of Egypt. In this struggle Nah b,
Inond II was repeatedly defeated, and 4
The quarrel was only ended after a lapse g
"a several years, and when the loss Of IA
the Sultan's Asiatic dominions seemed CO
inevitable, by the direct Intervention If Ii
England aud her allies on behalf of the n
Forte. This action constitutes an epoch Il
. European diplomacy. The official br
admission 81 Turkey into the political tn
y stem Of Europe dates no further back sis
han the treaties Of 1910 aud ls4l. 10 no
he same principle must be referred The lol
acceptance Of the integrity Of Turkey As ca
cardinal principle Of international op
'olicy on the part Of the Western pow or
-. Thirteen years after its adoption LAT
his principle led to the Crimean war. ms
fslch resulted in the discomfiture Of w
iussia and the apparent rehabilitation OF
I the Ottoman power. But il has been ms
Isayowed and set at naught by the at me
tude Of England since Ru.sia's resets hu
ION Of the treaty Of Paris, and through we
W the present conflict. 81;
II Is now five centuries and a half no
nee the crescent appeared in Eastern ~
urope. Two centuries remain 10 be
pmpletcd, II the Turks are To exhibit
hacily equal % that shown hy the
|p>lcm cUnqueTors in Spain. What al /
icr may be- the terms ~ the present VIII