knew not whither, smiting each other, trampled Such, in brief, was the origin of the Turkish upon by squadrons of their own cavalry frenzied empire in Europe, with its encroachments and with the panic, while from carefully-selected its repulses. Only two hundred years ago Buspoints the infantry and artillery of Prince Eu- bequius, the Austrian Embassador at the Ottogene were showering upon their ranks a storm man Porte, wrote to the Emperor Ferdinand II. : of bullets and cannon-balls. The morning succeeding this dreadful night dawned upon a field red with blood and covered with the mangled bodies of the dead. The Turkish army was destroyed, and their camp, with all its treasures, fell into the hands of the conquerors. From this defeat the Turks never recovered to make any decisive aggressive movement, and from this hour commenced their slow decline. "When I compare the power of the Turks with our own, I confess the consideration fills me with anxiety and dismay, and a strong conviction forces itself upon my mind that we can not long resist the destruction which awaits us. They possess immense wealth, strength unbroken, a perfect knowledge of the art of war, patience under every difficulty, union, order, frugality, and a constant state of preparation. On our side there are exhausted finances and universal northern power which now threatens the very existence of Turkey, and whose growing greatness excites the alarm of all Europe. The Czar of Russia has nearly ninety millions of the human family subject to his sway. With a standing army of a million of men, two hundred thousand of whom are cavalry, he possesses power unequaled in many respects by that of any kingdom on the globe. In the late bloody struggle at Sevastopol all the energies of England, France, and Turkey were expended against Russia alone, and yet it was long doubtful whose banners would prove victorious. luxury. Our national spirit is broken by repeated defeats. Mutinous soldiers, mercenary officers, licentiousness, intemperance, and a total contempt of military discipline fill up the dismal catalogue. Is it possible to doubt how such an unequal conflict must terminate? The enemy's forces being at present directed against Persia only suspends our fate. After subduing that Power, the all-conquering Mussulman will rush with undivided strength and overwhelm at once Europe as well as Germany." Such were the fears of all thinking men two hundred years ago. The Turks had overrun all Western Asia, had obtained a firm foothold in Europe, and the danger was appalling that all Europe was to be swept by their bloody march. But another gigantic empire gradually arose in the north of Europe, which began to press resistlessly down upon the Turkish frontiers. It was a leading object in the ambition of Peter the Great of Russia to secure a maritime port for his majestic realms. He at first attempted to establish a naval dépôt at the mouth of the Don, on the Sea of Azof. But the jealous Turk attacked him, battered down his fortresses, and drove him back into his northern wilds. Thus foiled, the Czar reared St. Petersburg on the marshes of the Baltic, where, for five months of the year, the harbor is blocked up with ice. Upon the accession of Anna to the throne of Russia, about one hundred and thirty years ago, she revived the original project of Peter the Great, and entering into an alliance with Austria, attacked the Turks, drove them from the shores of the Sea of Azof, and took possession of the whole of the Crimea. Let us take a brief retrospect of that gigantic The territory of Russia now comprises about one-seventh of the habitable globe, extending from the Baltic Sea across the whole breadth of Europe and of Asia to Behring's Straits, and from the eternal ices of the north pole almost down to the sunny shores of the Mediterranean. For many years this gigantic power has been advancing on the march of her "manifest destiny" with strides which have not been surpassed even on this side of the Atlantic. Poland was to Russia what Mexico is to us. Russia coveted it. Without any hypocritical attempt to justify the deed, the Czar, with the unblushing effrontery of a highway robber, poured into the doomed kingdom his resistless armies. With the rush of the tornado they swept Poland, and after a brief struggle a population of twenty millions were brought into subjection to the Czar. On the eastern shores of the Black Sea lies Circassia, a region of wild crags and gloomy ravines, the cradle of the Caucasian race, where for ages an indomitable people had bid defiance to all foes. Russia, having annexed all the territory on the eastern and northern shores of the Euxine, led her armies into the defiles of in the world. the Caucasus. For ten years a Russian force | be armed with guns of the largest calibre of any of one hundred thousand men were kept there in almost incessant battle. The brave Circassians, struggling for independence, cut up army after army of the invaders, but still fresh hordes were poured into the doomed country, and now the Russian flag floats from almost every pinnacle among those mountain ranges. Russian fortresses frown over every defile, and Circassia is fettered hand and foot. The Russian flag now girdles the Euxine Sea, and, notwithstanding the recent check at Sevastopol, Russia is resistlessly pressing on toward Constantinople, the great object of her ambition. Through the serpentine navigation of these straits, with fortresses frowning upon every headland, one ascends to the Sea of Marmora, a vast inland body of water, one hundred and eighty miles in length, and sixty in breadth. Crossing this sea to the northern shore, you enter the beautiful straits of the Bosphorus. Just at the mouth of the straits, upon the western shore, sits enthroned upon the hills, in peerless beauty, the imperial city of Constantine, with its majestic domes, arrowy minarets, and palaces of snowwhite marble. A glance at the geography of that region will The straits of the Bosphorus, which connect show how vital to Russia is the possession of the Marmora with the Black Sea, are but fifteen Constantinople. The straits which connect the miles long, and of an average width of but about Mediterranean with the Marmora, called the one-fourth of a mile. In natural scenery and Dardanelles or the Hellespont, are about thirty artistic embellishment this is probably by far miles long, occasionally expanding into a width the most beautiful reach of water upon the globe. of five miles, and again contracting into a nar- It is the uncontradicted testimony of all tourists row channel less than half a mile across. At that the scenery of the Bosphorus, in its highlythe mouth of these straits, as they enter the Med- cultivated shores, in the fairy-like beauty of its iterranean, are four strong Turkish forts, two architecture, in the transparency of its atmoson the European and two on the Asiatic side. phere, in the picturesque attire of the multiThese forts, called the Dardanelles, are said to tudes gathered from all the nations of the East and of the West, in the air of mystery which envelops latticed windows and secluded harems, in the variety of water-craft which crowds the straits, from the mammoth ship of war to the fragile and gayly-bannered caïque, which like a bubble skims the wave, in all these combinations of picturesque beauty the Bosphorus stands preeminent and unrivaled. Opposite to Constantinople, on the Asiatic shore, is situated the rural city of Scutari, embowered in the foliage of the cypress-trees. Scutari is to Constantinople what Brooklyn is to New York. An arm of the sea, wide and deep, reaches around the northern portion of the imperial city as with an affectionate embrace, thus constituting one of the finest harbors in the world. This tranquil bay is appropriately called the Golden Horn, and there flows into it, wind ing down from the distant interior, a rivulet whose lovely banks, often expanding into delightful meadows, have received the name of the Valley of Sweet Waters. Until within a few years no embassador from any of the Christian powers was permitted to dwell in the Moslem city, his presence being deemed a pollution. The residence of all such was assigned to the little suburb of Pera, on the opposite side of the Golden Horn-which suburb, on that account, was called by the insolent Turk the "Swine's Quarter." Passing through the Bosphorus, a distance of fifteen miles, there expands before you the Euxine or Black Sea. This inland ocean, with but this one narrow outlet, receives into its bosom the Danube, the Dneister, the Don, and the Cuban. These majestic streams roll their floods through uncounted leagues of Russian territory, opening these wide realms to the commerce of the world, through the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmora, and the Dardanelles. On the northern shore of the Black Sea, at the southern extremity of the great peninsula of the Crimea, is situated Sevastopol, the principal naval dépôt of the Russian empire. This world-renowned fortress is about three hundred miles from the entrance of the Bosphorus. This brief sketch reveals the infinite importance to Russia of the possession of Constantinople and its straits. Through these straits lies Russia's only pathway to the commerce of the world. A proud and powerful nation, containing three times the population of the United States, is shut up in its northern wilds, with no passage-way of its own for maritime intercourse with the rest of mankind except for a few months in the year. Russia touches the Baltic only far away amidst the ices of the north, where winter rears its impassable barriers for five months of every year. Not a Russian ship can pass by Constantinople into the Mediterranean without striking its flag in homage to the crescent of the Turk. And at any moment, upon any sudden freak, the Ottoman Porte can close her impregnable gates, so that no ship can enter or leave. Thus, unless Russia can secure a gate-way through the Dardanelles, she seems to be shut up to barbarism. Although we of the United States have thousands of leagues of Atlantic coast, fringed with magnificent harbors, opening all oceans to our ships, still it causes us great uneasiness to have even the island of Cuba in the hands of a foreign power, lest, in case of war, our commerce through the Gulf should be embarrassed. And we are ready to spend millions of money, and to deluge the whole continent in blood, rather than have any other flag than the stars and the stripes float over the mouths of the Mississippi. Were the Atlantic States to become an independent confederacy, and were the great Northwest organized into one powerful nation of ninety millions of people, how long would they be willing that a few millions of degenerate Spaniards or Mexicans should hold the mouths of the Mississippi, their only outlet to the world, or that any other flag than their own should float over its fortresses? Yet such is now the condition of Russia. She can not send a boat-load of corn into the Mediterranean without bowing her flag to all the Turkish forts which frown along her pathway. It is but about thirty years since the Greeks rose in the desperate attempt to throw off the yoke of the Ottoman. The sympathies of the world were with them. Alexander Ypsilanti, who first unfurled the banner of revolt, had been an officer in the Russian army. He assured the Greeks that the Czar Nicholas had secretly pledged his word to aid them in their struggle for emancipation. The ferocity of the Turk was signally displayed in this conflict. Contemplate for a moment the massacre of Scio. This island was one of the largest and most beautiful of the Grecian Archipelago. It was the home of a refined and cultivated people, enriched by commerce. Its chief city, sheltered by a beautiful and spacious harbor, held twenty thousand inhabitants, while a population of more than one hundred thousand were clustered in the villages which were spread over its hills and vales. The ladies of the island were renowned through Europe for their beauty. Many of its wealthy families had traveled extensively on the Continent, and had mingled with the polished circles of Brussels, Berlin, and Paris. Above all the other islands of the East Scio was famed for its intelligent and fascinating society. Schools flourished. The college of Scio attracted students from a distance; and music was almost a universal accomplishment. The tourist, exploring the beautiful island, was ever charmed with the tones of the voice, blending with the harp or the guitar, in harmony which evidenced the highest artistic skill. The young men of Scio eagerly joined in the struggle to emancipate themselves from the thralldom of the Turk. Sultan Mahmoud resolved upon vengeance which should make Scio a warning to all Greece. He issued a proclamation to the desperadoes of the Bosphorus, declaring that the inhabitants of Scio were outlawed, and that they all, male and female, old and young, were to be surrendered to the vengeance of the adventurers who would embark for their destruction. Moslem hate combined with semi-barbaric depravity to raise the ferocity of fanaticism to its highest pitch. All the lewd fellows of the baser sort, who crowded the dens of Constantinople, or who prowled about the shores of the Bosphorus, rushed to join the enterprise. All were welcome-the more beastly and demoniac the better. An army of fifteen thousand men was thus collected, who in character were as near to demons as earth has ever furnished. As the fleet dropped down the bay on its dreadful mission salvos of artillery from all the fortresses which lined the shores of Europe and Asia uttered the Moslem benedictions. It was a lovely afternoon in the month of April, 1822, when the fleet anchored in the defenseless bay, and vomited upon the doomed island its murderous hordes. The scene which ensued no imagination can conceive. A general massacre, with all the concomitants of cruelty and lust, swept the island for six days and nights, and then nothing remained but a blackened, bloody, smouldering pile of ruins. Forty thousand perished by the sword, bullet, or in the flames, and many were put to death after having first experienced the most horrible tortures. Forty-one thousand of the youth of both sexes were reserved to be sold as slaves. The young men from the university, refined in manners and of cultured minds, were consigned to hopeless bondage. The young ladies, torn from the parlors of their opulent parents-ladies who had visited in the polished circles of London and of Paris-became the property of the most ferocious |