territory is taken into consideration. To guard against this anomalous state of things, the council of state, in the course of 1850, introduced a law by which all the Christian subjects of the empire were summoned to enrol themselves under the Turkish banners, and the Kharadj was abolished. Still this decision, which immediately received the sanction of the Porte, was greeted with but slight favour by the Christian population of Turkey. In consequence, the Porte felt itself compelled to defer the introduction of this measure; but a step in this direction has been taken by permitting many non-Mussulmans not only to serve in the Turkish army, but several of the European leaders have been allowed to retain their religion.

As we have seen, the Ottoman army has an effective strength of about 150,000 men, which can be momentarily doubled by summoning the reserve under arms. To this body we must now add the irregular troops who could be collected within a given time, and the contingents furnished by the tributary provinces and certain territories not yet subject to the law of recruiting, but bound to furnish the Porte assistance in the event of war. These provinces are-Servia, Bosnia, the Herzegovine, Upper Albania, and Egypt. In consequence of the late occupation of the Danubian Principalities by the Russians, the Porte could not expect much assistance from that quarter. Several guerilla bands have, however, been formed, which may be estimated at about 8500 men. Bosnia, the Herzegovine, and Upper Albania, being almost exclusively inhabited by Mussulmans, would furnish from 50,000 to 60,000 men, and if Servia eventually gives up her neutral policy, she could send a detachment of at least 30,000 men to the aid of the Porte. Egypt, according to the terms of the treaty of 1840, is bound to furnish assistance to the Porte both by land and sea, and has hitherto fulfilled her engagements to the injury of the Russians. The whole amount of the contingent she can furnish, after deducting the troops required for her own defence, may be estimated at 24,000 or 25,000 men. The whole of the military forces of Turkey would, therefore, according to these data, amount to—

Such is the condition of the Turkish army, according to Ubicini, and other writers who appear to have examined the subject carefully. Of course, it cannot be assumed that such a body can be brought into the field at once, nor would the condition of the Turkish finances allow the government to maintain it for any length of time. Our only object is to show that the Turkish army, were it well officered, might be made available in the field, and furnish our scanty forces much valuable assistance. The subject has been recently mooted that English officers should take a subsidiary force into their hands, and train them after the fashion of the Indian sepoys. We cannot doubt that the result would be highly favourable, for the Turks indubitably possess bravery, and it is very doubtful whether their behaviour at Balaklava has not been greatly misJan.-VOL. CIII. NO. CCCCIX.

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represented; for instance, the correspondent of the Morning Post writes: Eye-witnesses say that the Turks did all that men could do, except die at their posts. The raw material is in readiness, and slight labour will bring it into shape; but we must not pursue this subject further, as most probably the question will be fully discussed in Parliament ere this article appears.

Of the Turkish navy it is not necessary to say anything, as, in point of fact, it is worse than useless, and Captain Slade has already fully pointed out its defects, which are the same now as at the period when he

wrote.

Hitherto we have devoted our attention exclusively to the Turks, and have said nothing of the Raïahs, who form an immense item in the population, and who have been the subject of so many speculations. We cannot do better than complete our sketch of Turkey in Europe, by quoting from Ubicini a few passages, which will suffice to explain the present position of the Raïahs, on whom depends the very existence of the Turkish Empire, whether it shall henceforth remain an undivided power or be parcelled into a variety of separate states, to become the prey of each bold assailant.

The Raïahs, or non-Mussulman subjects, are divided into five bodies, governed, under the surveillance of the Porte, by their respective patriarchs, and by the grand rabbi of the Jews. They are as follows:

1. The Greek nation, or community, composed of all the Ottoman subjects professing the religion called the orthodox Greek, and in number about six millions.

2. The Armenian nation, or community, 2,325,000.

3. The united Armenian nation, which separated from the former in 1829, and composed of Armenian Catholics, whose number does not exceed 75,000.

4. The Latin community, composed of all the Ottoman subjects professing the Latin ritual, with the exception of the Armenians, in number about 800,000.

The Greek race is scattered through the whole Turkish Empire, though in unequal proportions. In Turkey in Europe it forms about an eleventh part of the whole population in Asia Minor, it hardly forms one twentyfifth part in the islands it may be estimated fairly at three-fourths. The European Greeks in Turkey, in number about 1,000,000, are scattered over Constantinople, Thrace, Thessaly, and a few other provinces. The Greeks of Asia Minor and Syria are disseminated through the entire extent of the scales, from Trebizonde as far as Jaffa and St. Jean d'Acre. The islands are divided into two Greek Eyalets: Crete and the Archipelago.

Of the Armenians, only about 400,000 reside in Europe, of whom more than one-half may be found in Constantinople; the others are scattered in Thrace and Bulgaria, which form the three bishopricks of Rodosto, Adrianople, and Varna. On the other hand, Turkey in Asia contains not less than 2,000,000 Armenians, the majority of whom continue to inhabit their ancient country in the vicinity of Mount Ararat. In the three Eyalets of Erzrum, Diarbekr, and Kurdistan, they have retained, in spite of their frequent migrations, a numerical superiority

over the Turkish and Turcoman races, and towns are found exclusively inhabited by Armenians.

The Catholic Armenian community does not exceed 38,000 to 40,000 through the whole extent of the empire. Of this number about 17,000 are found in Constantinople; 9000 in Angora; 4000 in Erzrum; 2500 in Trebizonde; 1500 at Artwin; and 1000 at Brussa.

The Latin or Catholic community contains all the Catholic subjects of the Porte, regardless of their origin, with the exception of the united Armenians. They are divided into several groups or nations, who, though differing in their mode of worship and ecclesiastical organisation, are governed secularly by one chief, or Vekil, who represents them at the Porte. These nations are five in number: the Latins, the united Greeks or Melchites, the Syrians, the united Chaldæans, and the Maronites.

The Jews in Turkey originally came from Spain and Portugal, whence they emigrated at various intervals in consequence of religious persecutions. At the present moment, their chief residences are Constantinople, Salonichi, Smyrna, Brussa, and Jerusalem.

Of these nations it will be only necessary to say a few words about the Greeks and Armenians, who alone, from their numbers and position, are enabled to cause any apprehension as to the future existence of the Muhammadan rule in Europe. The Greeks of Constantinople and Turkey must not be confounded with the Hellenes. At the outset the misconception may be easily made; for in both are found the same distinctive features of race, vanity, readiness of intellect, cunning joined to credulity, and constantly-excited curiosity. In this respect, the Greeks have remained what they were two thousand years ago. But in other respects, the Romaïcs can no more be compared with the Hellenes, than the latter with the ancient Greeks. We need only refer to the War of Independence. The Hetaria had calculated on a general rising of the Greek provinces: Attica alone and the adjoining islands, a portion of Thessaly and Epirus, responded to the summons which reached them from the Morea. Thrace, Constantinople, the flourishing cities of the Asiatic littoral, remained motionless, and in an attitude of attention. apathy was not produced by the immediate presence of the Turks, for the Greek population at Smyrna, in Chios and Candia, was three times the number of the Mussulman. But this population was Greek only by name: no spark of patriotism animated them. Enriched by commerce and trade, more attached to enjoyment than ashamed of servitude, finding their chief glory in duping the masters who used them while they despised them, they less resembled the ancient heroes of Sparta and Athens than the bastard Greeks of imperial Rome.

This

Politically speaking, Turkish Greece is divided into two parties: the one attached to Turkey and the maintenance of the present system, and the party of change, who wish, or rather dream of, the liberation of the nation, though without agreeing among themselves as to the period or the definitive object of the movement. The former is the less numerous, and is generally recruited among the remnants of the ancient nobility of the Fanar, the higher clergy, and the great lay dignitaries, and the merchants who have remained subjects of the Porte. They are selfish, and though detesting the Turks, fear for their own safety too much to allow

themselves to try the dangerous game of insurrection. The party opposed to Turkey agrees only in one point: that of expelling the Turks from Europe. But, once expelled, the agreement would be at an end. Some dream of a restoration of an independent Romaïc state; others would see gladly the imperial throne of Byzantium re-erected for the advantage of the Tsar, or a member of his family; while others simply desire annexation to Greece.

On this subject Ubicini remarks: "The Greek or Sclavonic population in Turkey is instinctively hostile to the Porte; but it will do nothing of its own will to try and escape from a government which possesses nothing oppressive or humiliating; which, while allowing abuses to exist, offers no barrier to progress; which favours rather than represses the development of nationalities, less through good-will and calculation, than through neglect and carelessness of the future. For this reason, then, spite of the doubts and inquietude expressed so frequently on the subject, the Russians have never obtained any active co-operation from the Greeks. In the first place, it would be dubious whether they would gain anything by the change; and then, once liberated from the Turks, who knows whether they would not regret them, were it only from the annoyance felt at not being able any longer to revile them ?"

Nor can any greater apprehensions be entertained as to the Armenian subjects of the Porte. Their safety depends on the continuance of the Ottoman Empire, and they have already had a bitter experience of Russian faith. During several years, from 1813 to 1829, the Armenians appeared to believe in the dawn of their liberation. Russia, who wished them to make a diversion against the Mussulman forces, flattered them with the expectation of the erection of an independent principality, under the suzerainty of the Tsar. They believed in these promises, and for more than six weeks they checked the advance of a body of 80,000 Persians, who menaced the Russian flank. They were badly rewarded for their devotion. Not only were the promises not kept which had been made them, but, a certain agitation being noticed in the country, their archbishop was exiled to Bessarabia, while their principal chiefs were, some of them, carried into Russia, whence nothing was ever heard of them again; and the others dispersed through various countries. From this period the Armenians of Turkey, who formerly emigrated into Russia in bodies of 10,000 or 15,000, have insensibly drawn nearer to the Osmanli, with whom they possess much greater affinity than with the Russians, and whose government has always weighed less heavily on them than it did on the Greeks. The Armenians are, in addition, those who have the most interest of all the subjected nations of Turkey, in the common welfare, and will gain the most by its maintenance. Nearly the whole of the commerce and industry is in their hands, and hence they would be the last to desire a change. "The Armenians, therefore, fear the presence of the Russians at Constantinople as much as do the Turks themselves; but, if a Russian army assaulted it, they would not join the Turks in its defence, because they are even fonder of life than of fortune, and have a greater horror of fighting than of slavery."

No

Sufficient proof has by this time been afforded that Ubicini's views on the subject of the Raïah population of Turkey are perfectly correct. movement in favour of the Russians has taken place, in spite of all the

efforts made to superinduce them. The reason is very simple: their hatred of the Turkish government cannot be compared with that which they entertain for each other; and rather than unite, in order to ensure the predominance of the Christian element over the Mussulman, Greeks, Armenians, and natives, would a thousand times sooner be condemned to eternal slavery, and would not hesitate, if necessary, to join the Turks, in order to prevent the triumph of their rival. Still, for all that, it cannot be asserted that the sympathies of the Raïahs have been gained by Turkey; the tolerance, the equity which the Porte has displayed during the past years have not yet effaced the memory of past injustice and humiliation, for the evils are too old, and the remedy too fresh. Besides, although the Sultan has behaved equitably to his Raïah subjects in Constantinople and the large commercial cities, this is not always the case in the interior, where ancient prejudices have not yet been rooted out, and where the government has less resources at its command to cause the acceptance of the reforms.

Such, then, is the present condition of the Turkish Empire; and the only question that remains to be solved is, does it possess that vitality which will enable it to withstand all the rude shocks to which war must inevitably expose it? After the events which have hitherto occurred, we incline to the belief that it does. Since the commencement of the present war, how many of our prejudices on this subject have been dispelled! Some absolutely denied the military strength of Turkey, and yet for nine months, she, unaided, held in check the formidable power of Russia. Others went so far as to allow the existence of this strength; but, according to them, it was to be found solely in the fanaticism of what was called "Old Turkey," so that, in point of fact, the reawakening of the Ottoman nationality would be the signal for the massacre of the Christian populations. And yet the Christians never enjoyed such tolerance and security as they do at this moment in Turkey. Never did a nation respond to the call to arms with greater unanimity and calmness. Nor can this be attributed solely to the diplomatists at Pera, to the presence of the squadrons in the Bosphorus, or to the necessity the Turks felt of not inconsiderately restoring the support of the Western Powers. Reschid Pacha and his colleagues may have entertained such ideas: but the masses do not look so far: they only follow their instincts. Besides, this did not occur solely in European Turkey, where the Osmanli are in a minority, but through the whole extent of the empire, in the heart of Anatolia, where the Osmanli form four-fifths of the population, and have retained a greater portion of the roughness and fanaticism of their ancestors, the same order was maintained. If tranquillity was thus desired-if the Raïah were on no occasion rendered responsible for the unjust aggression of the Muscovite-it arose from the fact that the Turks are no longer what they were thirty years ago; they have progressed equally with other nations.

A gentleman who traversed a great portion of Asia Minor at the commencement of 1854, and who detailed to M. Ubicini the chief incidents of his travels, returned all amazed and delighted at the spectacle he had seen. "Everywhere the roads were thronged with Redifs, who were thronging to the head-quarters of their order, with Bashi-Bazouks armed