Year: 1877




The London Times discusses, in its
leading article, the Gladstone Resolu-
tions, and after showing that they called
for little more tGan Lord Derby had al
ready committed himself to, thus queries
and replies:


Why, then, it may be asked, could the
House not have asscnted to his propOs-
alsl How could the Government have
been embarrassed or the maintenance of
peace imperied by an assertion of the
fact that Turkey had behaved badly by
treating Lord Derby's dispatch with con-
temptI How could British interests have
been touched by declaration of the truth
that Turkey had forfeited all right to the
moral or the material support of this
country The answer to these questions
is that the two sides of the House would
have meant different things, even if they
had used the same words. In political
warfare, as in private life, verbal princi-
plies are Of less importance than sympa-
thies, and as the rival parties regard the
Eastern Question with profoundly differ
ent feelings, it would have been little
better than mockery for them to have
professed amity. The resolutions, even
If they had been accepted by the Govern
ment, would not have had the slightest
effect on its conduct. They were too
vague to indicate any line of policy. Yet
it was perfectly clear what Mr.. Gladstone
and most of the Liberals meant /; and, as
the Conservatives lean towards very diff
ferent purposes, they would scarcely have
acted with good faith if they had avoided
division. The real value of the resolu-
tions lay in the debate which they pro-
duced, and the emphatic popular decla-
ration in favor of neutrality by which
they were accompanied. 1t would not
be easy to rate too highly the service they
have done by calling forth such protests
as no government could despise against
the cries for the despatch of an English
fleet and army to COnstantinople, and
thus for another British war in defence
of government not only hopelessly bad,
but in state Of hopeless decay.


The same paper, in an article upon
1.-THE Collapse of the Turkish Empire"
speaks in this OutspOken manner:


One and all admit that Turkey is no
longer an Empire, or even State, in the
true sense of the words that she is ut
terly bad, some say from choice, some
from necessity that, whether or not she
can resist the arms OF Russia, she cannot
prevent Russian influence from estranging
her people, corrupting her functionsries,
and paralyzing her administration. She
can protect herself no better than she
can her Christian subjects, and is perish
ing alike in peace and in war. The best
thing that Mr.. Chaplin can say for his
client is that Russia twists Turkey around
her little finger, and can make her peo-
pie massacre one another whenever she
wishes. Whatever Turkey does, whether
she be stepped in her ancient poverty or
rich with fresh loans, whether left to her
self or strong in European alliances, she
is still sinking, depth below depth, and
falling to pieces. Some, indeed, hold out
hope that if left quite to herself she
might carry out reforms, but on one point
all are silent, and that is what all these
reforms are to end in, and what is to be
the reformed Turkish Empire of the fu-
ture. Ii is a castle in the air. The
Turks are incapable of representative in
stitutions and constitutional government.
Their pretence of it, whether honest or
not, is an illusion. They. have it neither
in their race nor in their creed, nor even
in their circumstances. 1t is the common
assumption of every speaker, on whatever
side, that Turkey is in this evil case.
Whether she be Oppressor or oppressed,
mistress of her actions or under evil pos
session, it all comes to the same thing
that the world is seeing the last of Tur-
key. Her visible and awful changes are
not those of development, but of disso-
luton.