,,shall ,,turkey ,,live ,,or ,,die8     
,,thomas ,,carlyle1 ,esq4      ,advocate
      ,,london3      ,,thomas           
,,bosworth1 #bae ,,regent ,,street4     
,,mdcccliv4      ,,london3      ,printed
 by ,g4 ,barclay1 ,castle ,st4          
,leicester ,sq4          ,,shall        
,,turkey ,,live ,,or ,,die8      ,the   
,european war now impending differs from
 the last in every important            
feature1--in its theatre1 its origin1   
and its issues4 ,never was a  contest   
more mysterious and unexpected in its   
rise1 more unwelcome to  the majority of
 those engaged in it1 and more pregnant 
with grave yet  uncertain consequences4 
,there are three classes of men whose   
minds  it especially occupies4 ,while   
the religious eschatologist expects a   
new phase of predicted fulfilment1 and  
the speculative politician  a new       
distribution of territory and influence1
 the practical man  seeks a fuller      
explication and enforcement of existing 
interests and  obligations4 ,although   

they who see in all things the guiding  
hand of  ,god are warranted to expect   
that1 in the communion of the faithful1 
there shall be a divine presentiment of 
,his holy procedure1 yet the  attempt to
 map out the future is in too many very 
idle1 and in some  most presumptuous4   
,on the other hand1 those who try every 
fresh event  by the mere letter of      
protocols1 fail to apprehend its true   
moral  importance1 and would bind the   
,god of ,providence by the impotent will
  of man4 ,he that would rightly        
estimate or improve the present juncture
  must avoid both of these errors4 ,and 
while he regards it in its highest      
aspects1 he must not be hurried into    
foregone conclusions as to its  issues4 
8,destiny0 is the watchword of the day4 
,one horn of the ,crescent has  long    
rested on ,christendom by destiny4 ,a   
child of destiny now rules  for a second
 time in the ,west4 ,and scarcely has   
he1 by assuming1 in  professed zeal for 
divine reminiscences1 the protectorate  

of holy  places1 excited men's fears    
lest he should swell the number of those
  places and convert protectorate into  
possession1 when a new protector  of    
things sacred arises in the ,north1 also
 pleading the call of destiny4    ,why  
these two protectors have not yet come  
forth to assert their  rights in single 
combat2 and why the ,pope1 whose throne 
is upheld1  and whose claims are        
asserted by the former1 has acted in    
silence1  when he might have been       
expected to utter in encyclical letters 
the  ,jeremiad of insulted authority2   
are questions yet to be solved4 ,the    
religious and political champion of the 
,papacy is now allied to other  powers  
on grounds with which ,papal claims1    
religious or political1  have nothing   
ostensibly1 at least exclusively1 to do4
 ,and we now see  the northern protector
 opposed by all the great powers of     
,europe1--by  the open protest of those 
who will and can withstand him1--by the 
tacit  resistance of those who fear to  

be his friends1 yet dare not be his     
foes4    ,recent disclosures1 however1  
warrant the conclusion that the ,pope   
has1  although covertly1 been the prime 
mover in the present troubles4 ,using   
,france as a cat's-paw1 he has revived  
in a stronger form his almost  obsolete 
claims to such a protectorate of the    
,latin interest in the  ,holy ,places as
 shall1 at ,jerusalem as elsewhere1     
swallow up every  other4 ,and the       
aggression of ,russia against ,turkey   
derives considerable  excuse from the   
consideration that the ,czar1 in aiming 
a fleshly blow  at the ,sultan1 is      
really aiming a spiritual blow at the   
,pope4 ,if the  ,catholic ,church or the
 ,christian nations are not in a        
condition to lift  one united testimony 
against this new assertion of ,papal    
supremacy1  we are hardly entitled to   
complain that one champion throws down  
the  gauntlet of denial1 provided he    
does not at the same time assert a      
,grco-,sclavonic supremacy1 equally     

unjust1 and1 from its novelty1 more     
pregnant with danger4 ,while gentlemen  
on ',change or in ,downing ,street  have
 their minds filled with the merely     
material aspects of the affair1  the man
 who yields the first place to the      
interests of ,christ's kingdom  cannot  
fail to mark that we are apparently on  
the eve of that great  war of principles
 which ,canning foresaw1--of a religious
 and ,european  war1 the issues of which
 derive1 from their very doubtfulness1  
only  the greater solemnity4 ,while the 
subsistence of ,turkey apparently bars  
the fulfilment of many ,christian hopes1
 its destruction may1 by the  means     
which bring that to pass1 greatly       
endanger the true interests of          
,christendom1 and frustrate the grace of
 ,god4 ,and we may yet see the  day when
 the still blinded and impenitent ,jew  
may make greater profit  of this new    
crusade than he did of the former1 may  
step in between  the combatants--now on 
both sides1 alas6 ,christian2 and may   

settle the  dispute by establishing his 
own claim to the land of promise in a   
way  which1 although disowned of ,god   
till he confess our ,messiah1 may force1
  or1 as a pis-aller1 steal recognition 
from man4    ,leaving to others to      
decide with the pen those technical     
questions1  which the sword1 if drawn1  
will decide without regard to their     
paper  verdict1 let us contemplate the  
attitude of the chief actors in this    
opening drama4 ,and first of ,turkey4   
,we pray on ,good ,friday that ,god     
would 8have mercy upon all--,jews1      
,turks1 ,infidels1 and heretics 444 and 
fetch them home to ,his fold40  ,as     
,turks are herein classed with those who
 have been unfaithful under  a divine   
covenant--the old or the new--it has    
become customary to  regard them as     
apostates from the faith1 who deserve to
 be abhorred  and treated as such4 ,this
 is however a total misconception4 ,some
  apostates have indeed become          
,mahomedans2 and it is very questionable

  whether the talent or experience of   
such men justifies ,christian  men and  
,christian governments in using their   
services4 ,it may be  that the once     
frequent perversion of ,christians to   
,mahomedanism1  under the pressure of   
persecution1 in the days when our       
prayers were  composed1 may have        
dictated this petition4 ,but whatever   
ravages the  false religion of ,mahomet 
may have wrought among ,oriental        
churches  and blinded ,jews at the      
first1 that religion took its rise among
  heathen2 and the present ,turks1      
although converts to that faith which   
desolated ,eastern ,christendom1 are    
well known to have issued from a        
country where the ,christian faith was  
all but unknown4 ,the conquest  of a    
part of ,christendom by the ,turks1 was 
not an act of apostacy in  ,mahomedans1 
but the judgment of ,god1 religious and 
political1 on the  unfaithfulness of the
 ,christian ,church and ,state4 ,so     
that1 instead  of directing our         

abhorrence against the rod by which ,god
 then smote  ,his people1 we should     
rather humble ourselves because we      
provoked ,him  to use it4 ,although the 
superstitious and credulous reverence   
for the  theatre of ,christ's life on   
earth has too often1 like the blessing  
of  the womb that bare ,him1 been       
substituted for the hearing and keeping 
of ,his word1 yet no devout mind can    
fail to regard the scenes of ,his       
earthly sojourn with awful interest4    
,but the fact that our holy faith  went 
forth from ,jerusalem1 gave us no right 
to possess that city4 ,the  ,christian  
,church has1 as a ,church1 no possession
 on earth4 ,rights of  property belong  
to ,christian men1 not as ,christians1  
but as men4 ,the  ,jew1 not the         
,christian1 forfeited ,judea4 ,no people
 but the ,jews have  an original divine 
right to ,judea4 ,and while they remain 
impenitent  their right passes over1 not
 to us1 but to their conquerors4 ,it is1
  therefore1 more than questionable     

whether the ,crusaders had any  right to
 attempt the ejection of ,mahomedans    
from the ,holy ,land4 ,they  were more  
like usurpers than their opponents were4
 ,and their conduct  was1 alas6 often   
too good an argument against their      
cause4 ,on the  other hand1 there never 
was a nobler heathen than the leader of 
the  ,mahomedans against the ,crusaders4
 ,when the ,turks1 long after1 took     
,constantinople1 they did no more than  
many a heathen conqueror has done       
before1 and many a ,christian conqueror 
since4 ,a living tree was planted  where
 the tree of an effete government had   
withered away4 ,a ,christian  conqueror 
may use his conquest better1 just as he 
has more grace to  reign1 than a        
heathen4 ,but his right does not lie in 
his grace4 ,the  8good sword10 by which 
most ,christian kings have won and kept 
their  lands1 is in itself no better    
than the 8good scimitar0 of the ,turk4  
,and  the conduct of the conqueror of   
,byzantium towards the faith of his new 

subjects has often been regarded1       
especially when we consider the stem    
tenets which he held1 as a model of     
justice and moderation4 ,there has      
seldom been a conquest by a people whose
 religion was their political  charter1 
over a people of a different faith1     
which bore fewer marks of  cruelty4 ,we 
are1 indeed1 pointed to the subsequent  
history of ,turkish  rule as a proof of 
its unparalleled wickedness4 ,it is even
 argued that  the ,turk1 having been    
during four hundred years put to the    
proof if he  was fit to rule1 or capable
 of conveying any blessing to the       
conquered1  and having been found       
wanting1 has thus forfeited his right4  
,and it is  hence concluded1 that the   
time is come when he should be dismissed
  from office1 not even by the subjects 
whom he has oppressed1 but by  others   
who have none but a ,quixotic right to  
interfere4 ,men forget1  however1 that  
the form of ,turkish oppression has in  
great part arisen  from the             

circumstance1 that religious principle  
and secular law are1  in ,turkey1       
identified4 ,and1 as to those cruelties 
and wrongs which are  not the offspring 
of law1 but the fruits of its absence or
 breach1 a  comparison between ,turkish 
administration and that of many         
,christian  governors would not fall out
 much to the credit of the latter4 ,we  
need  look no farther than to the       
country which now acts the champion of  
,christian wrongs1 for a corruption of  
justice1 a cruelty of punishment1  and a
 smothering of true liberty1 which      
,turkey could hardly outdo4 ,and  it is 
well known that1 for many centuries1    
even down to the most recent  times1 in 
,egypt1 in ,syria1 nay in ,jerusalem    
itself1 while rival parties  of         
,christians have broken the peace of    
society1 and disgraced the name  of     
,christ1 by their bitter animosities1   
their dishonest intrigues1  and even    
their bloody strifes1 the disciple of   
the false prophet has  often so used his

 power to maintain good order1 so       
counselled to mutual  forbearance1 and1 
as an umpire1 so laboured to restore    
harmony by  the adjustment of           
differences1 as to make one blush at the
 relative  positions of the ,crescent   
and the ,cross4 ,while it cannot be     
denied that  the passions of the ,turk  
too often trample down all law1 the     
,christians  on whom he has trampled1   
either have not yet been tried with     
power1  or1 where they have1 have abused
 it almost as much against their own    
brethren4 ,at this very day1 the ,turk1 
bad as he is1 is a nobler animal  than  
either the treacherous ,greek or the    
busy ,armenian2 nay1 the  ,armenians are
 too often the most efficient           
instigators of ,mahomedan  injustice4   
,it will not1 therefore1 do for us1 like
 children1 to beat the object  on which 
we have wounded ourselves1 or bite the  
rod with which we are  chastised4 ,but1 
it may be asked1 ,are we to forget the  
zeal of ,sobieski1  and treat the ,turk1

 not as an enemy and a persecutor1 but  
as a brother8  ,the answer is plain4    
,not as a brother ,christian1 but as a  
brother  man4 ,the fact that ,god has   
used the ,turk to chastise ,christendom1
 and  suffered him to plant his temple  
of falsehood on the sites of the        
,jewish and the ,christian fanes1 ought1
 indeed1 to make us search into  the    
reason of the punishment1 but does not  
alter the position or rights  of the    
instrument employed4 ,we dare not treat 
the ,turk as an apostate  because he has
 been the scourge of backsliders1 or as 
a man without  rights because his power 
has been used against us4 ,we may lament
  the rise of a new heathen delusion2   
but we have no right to exclude  the    
deluded from the rights of man4 ,we may 
lament that a territory  redeemed from  
the ocean of paganism has been again    
submerged2 but if  the right of conquest
 is admitted in the law of ,christendom1
 we cannot  disown it in the law of the 
world4 ,the ,eastern ,empire itself     

gained  its place by conquest4 ,and1    
granting the validity of its territorial
  rights so acquired1 it alone was      
entitled1 and1 if it could rise  again1 
would be entitled1 to vindicate these4  
,supposing that the ,turk  had no title 
to ,turkey1 surely ,england1 ,france1   
,russia and ,austria1  have as little   
right to expel him as he to be there4   
,and the fact  that they are ,christian 
nations invests them with no new rights 
or  political privilege4 ,the providence
 of ,god has indeed so ordered that  a  
knot of states in one quarter of the    
globe have in common embraced           
,christianity1 and thereby risen to the 
head of the nations3 and in many  points
 of view1 ,christendom1 as a collective 
whole1 does form and can  act as a      
corporate unity1 or commonwealth4    ,it
 may well be questioned1 however1       
whether the boasted balance of  power in
 ,europe1 and even the ,holy ,alliance1 
have not tended to impair  national     
integrity by unwarranted interference4  

,each ,christian monarch  has none over 
him hut ,christ4 ,all others are but his
 brethren4 ,their  totality has no      
authority over him in his own kingdom4  
,and although  each nation may justly   
protest1 as each householder may1       
against those  acts of another which    
affect its just interests1 and ought to 
do its  best1 by remonstrance1 in the   
cause of truth2 yet no nation derives  a
 right from its imagined spirituality or
 orthodoxy to dictate the  internal     
administration of another2 and1 as with 
individuals1 so no  aggregate of nations
 has1 as a ,european ,peace ,society1 a 
right to  prescribe to any one nation   
terms which it shall observe on pain of 
war1 unless that nation has consented to
 such arbitration4 ,but be this  as it  
may1 if the ,christian commonwealth is  
to exhibit its corporate  action1 either
 by waging ,quixotic war on the heathen1
 or by the united  repulse of an inroad 
on that part of its sacred territory    
which any  one ,state may own and can   

forfeit1 or by creating itself a        
premature  arbiter over the possession  
of the earth1 or by so trampling on the 
integrity of heathen nations1 as to     
violate the rights of men in order  to  
maintain the integrity of the ,church   
and vindicate the rights of  ,god--it   
had better never have existed than      
perpetrate such a confusion  of things  
heavenly and earthly1 and thus build up 
religion on the ruins  of justice4      
,christ came not to destroy but to      
fulfil4 ,this applies  to the law of    
nature1 as truly as to the law of       
,moses4 ,fallen though  man be1 and     
prone to evil1 there is a conscience of 
right and wrong1  as between man and    
man1 in every clime and creed4 ,and the 
first duty  of those who would enlighten
 the consciences of men by heavenly     
truth1  is to see that they do not claim
 or take license to outrage the first   
principles of natural justice4 ,the     
rights of heathen men and states1  7nay1
 of apostates17 in things pertaining to 

this world1 are as sacred  as those of  
,christians4 ,faith in ,christ is 7save 
by special covenant7  the condition of  
no ,monarch's tenure1 of no ,state's    
existence4 ,and  if the ,turk1 as a man1
 has as good a right as a ,christian to 
breathe  the air1 ,turkey1 as a state1  
has as good a claim to subsist and be   
recognised by other states as ,england  
or ,china has4 ,its right would  not be 
strengthened by its conversion1 and is  
not impaired by its  infidelity4 ,the   
spiritual1 although superior to the     
natural1 does not  abolish or despise   
it4 ,the domination of ,turkey may      
injure ,christendom4  ,but the right way
 to be rid of this is not to deny or    
violate its  national rights1 but to    
confess and renounce the moral and      
spiritual  declension1 the heresy1      
schism1 demoralization1 and other sins  
in  the early ,eastern ,church1 of which
 that domination is the condign         
punishment4    ,in this light1 the      
,crusades1 by whatever zeal for ,god    

called forth1  exhibited1 apart from all
 their attendant moral evils1 an evident
  obliteration of moral duty by fancied 
religious obligation1 and a  trampling  
on natural rights in search of a        
spiritual object1 wrongly  apprehended  
and wrongly pursued4 ,the deliverances  
of ,europe by  ,martel on the one hand1 
and ,sobieski on the other1 from        
subjection  to ,mahomedan rule1 although
 they effected so signal a rescue for   
the  faith1 derived their justification1
 as political events1 not from the  fact
 that the oppressive power was          
,mahomedan1 but from the simple fact    
that it was an oppressive power4    ,the
 anomalous situation of the ,pope1 as   
being at once a claimant of  cumenic    
supremacy and one of the temporal heads 
of ,europe1 has shown  itself in the    
anomalous attitude which he has assumed 
towards the  ,turk4 ,as long as he was  
true to his own principles he never     
consented  to stand in diplomatic       
relations to the ,porte4 ,in assuming to

 act as  the sole spiritual and temporal
 head of all ,christendom1 he refused   
to acknowledge a heathen intruder into  
his supposed domain4 ,but the  wrong way
 in which he expressed this refusal was1
 by withholding1  as a temporal         
sovereign1 that diplomatic recognition  
to which the  ,sultan1 as another       
temporal sovereign1 no longer at war    
with him1 was  entitled4 ,and the       
recognition which he has lately given   
was the result1  not of true insight    
into the distinction between his own    
spiritual and  temporal characters1 but 
of decaying zeal for ,god4 ,his former  
motive  was a right one2 but the conduct
 which it dictated was mistaken4 ,with  
the failure of the motive his conduct   
has changed4 ,but his insight is  not   
improved4    ,the ,christian nations of 
,europe1 even those that acknowledge the
  supremacy of the ,pope1 withheld their
 diplomatic recognition of ,turkey1  not
 on purely religious grounds1 but       
because ,turkey remained1 as it  were1  

habitually a politically inimical power4
 ,gradually the enmity  subsided4 ,and1 
in consequence1 although the religious  
obligation1 if  true1 remains in its    
full force1 every ,christian government 
now finds  itself in diplomatic         
relations with the ,porte1 on the simple
 ground  of secular parity among        
civilized nations1 be they ,english1    
,russian1  ,chinese1 ,persians1 or      
,turks4    ,yet while the political     
recognition of ,turkey is right1 there  
may be  wrong grounds for doing a right 
thing--a right thing may be             
overdone--and  the diplomatic relations 
of a ,christian with a heathen nation   
ought1  from the nature of things1 never
 to be so intimate as those with a      
,christian government4 ,in these        
respects ,england does seem to have     
erred4 ,we cannot shut our eyes to the  
fact1 that the almost unbroken  amity of
 ,england with ,turkey has arisen from  
our commercial and  territorial jealousy
 of other powers--that self-interest has

 reconciled  us to intimate contact with
 those who count all ,christians        
8dogs0--and  that to talk continually of
 8our good friend and staunch ally1 the 
,turk10 argues either a blunting of our 
spiritual aversion to a  blasphemous    
form of ,paganism1 or a lulling of      
conscience for mammon's  sake4 ,nor is  
it an uninstructive example of the      
truth1 that brethren at  strife are the 
most irreconcileable of all men 7,prov4 
xviii4 #aj72 that  the same nation which
 shrinks with sacred horror and blind   
alarm from  diplomatic relations with   
,rome1 7not on the ground that ,rome    
should  not be1 or is not1 an ,european 
state1 but on the ground that the head  
of that state is at the same time       
usurping a false spiritual place17      
should1 without any qualm of conscience1
 give the hand of political  brotherhood
 to a government1 the whole code of     
which is based upon the  words of an    
impostor who has superseded ,christ4 ,at
 the same time we  cannot accuse        

,england of securing the favour of      
,turkey at the expense  of the          
,christians who are subjected to        
,mahomedan rule4 ,there never  was a    
more unjust reproach than that raised by
 certain religionists  against ,england1
 that she appears at the court of the   
,sultan as a  ,christian power taking   
the side of the oppressor against his   
,christian  subjects4 ,navarino is a    
witness to the reverse4    ,be the cause
 of the ,greek nation good or bad1 none 
have been its warmer  or more sincere   
supporters than the ,english4 ,so       
powerful an element in  our motives for 
the support of ,greece1 was the desire  
to emancipate  ,christianity from a     
,mahomedan yoke1 that1 in order to      
attain this end1  ,england ran the risk 
of weakening1 by the emancipation of    
,greece1 the  bulwark which she found in
 ,turkey against the advances of        
,russia4 ,and  for a long series of     
years no part of the policy of ,england 
has been  more unvarying than her       

resolution1 expressed by deeds1 to      
employ her  just influence at the ,porte
 in the most unwearied and enlightened  
disinterestedness1 by embracing--often  
at great sacrifices and risks1  and with
 singular success--every opportunity to 
plead the cause of the  ,christian      
population in the ,east1 although       
belonging to a different  section of the
 ,church from her own4 ,in this respect 
she may well bear  comparison with any  
other power1 especially with one which1 
although it  seeks to ,wind the pious by
 vaunting itself the protector of       
,oriental  ,christianity1 has done      
little or nothing for the               
co-religionists of its  own subjects1   
save to entice them1 through a proposed 
ecclesiastical  union1 into a political 
subjugation which they abhor4    ,but   
this leads us to speak of ,russia1 the  
new protector of ,oriental  ,christians4
 ,if the other ,european governments had
 in due time1  either independently or  
in concert with ,england1 lifted as     

constant  and sincere a protest as hers 
at the court of ,turkey against the     
wrongs of these ,christians1 and had    
required with one voice that  the       
government should administer its laws   
impartially to all its  subjects1       
irrespective of their creed1 we might   
have heard less of this  new            
protectorate1 and should1 by an act of  
justice and mercy1 have  foreclosed the 
present flimsy pretexts of ,russia4 ,but
 the weakness of  ,christian zeal1 our  
indifference between ,christ and        
,belial1 and the  absence of ,christian 
concord1 have prevented this4 ,and by   
our 8lches0  we have furnished the      
pretexts against which we now exclaim4  
,but let  us consider for a moment who  
the helper and helped are4 ,even        
granting  that the professions of       
,russia were true in the letter1 there  
is surely  no one so blindly charitable 
as to believe that1 however sincere the 
ill-informed masses in ,russia may be in
 the fanatical excitement to  which they

 have been goaded1 the ,czar or his     
advisers have either  tears of          
compassion on their eyelids or          
indignation in their hearts1 at  the    
wrongs of ,oriental ,christians4        
,without entering into the maze of      
diplomacy1 or attempting to interpret   
treaties intentionally ,delphic1  it may
 suffice to observe1 that the general   
plea now urged by ,russia  formed no    
part of her original demands1 but was   
resorted to lest those  should be       
satisfied4 ,the ,czar has two           
characters4 ,he is1 in the first  place1
 the spiritual head of the ,russian     
,church4 ,but he is not1 and  knows that
 he is not1 the spiritual head of the   
whole ,greek ,church2  still less of the
 ,armenians1 ,nestorians1 or any other  
,oriental body of  ,christians2 and     
least of all of those united to ,rome4  
,each ,oriental  ,church has its own    
proper patriarch or other supreme head4 
,and the  ,czar has no more right1 on   
any religious ground1 to throw down the 

gauntlet as the champion of those other 
,churches1 than the ,pope1 or the       
,archbishop of ,canterbury4 ,that they  
are neither ,romanist nor ,protestant   
is no ground1 provided they are not     
,russian4 ,that their faith or rites    
are more akin to1 nay1 even identical   
with his own1 is no ground4 ,he  has no 
authority1 human or divine1 for taking  
such3 a place as the  universal champion
 of the ,east4 ,he never pretends that  
members of the  ,russian ,church are    
among the persecuted1 save a few        
pilgrims2 yet he  does not limit his    
care to these4 ,he is1 indeed1 in the   
second place1  the ,autocrat of all the 
,russias4 ,but there is no pretence that
 any part  of his dominions has been    
seized or invaded4 ,therefore1 neither  
as  temporal nor as spiritual head has  
he a vestige of claim to interfere      
individually1 on the abstract ground of 
right4 ,all that he could do  would be  
to unite with other ,christian powers in
 representations to  the ,porte4 ,to the

 necessity of making these1 the other   
,christian  powers are now awakened2 too
 late1 indeed1 to prevent the solitary  
aggressions of ,russia1 but assuredly   
not too late to bring out the  utter    
groundlessness of her pretensions4      
,it has always been the artful endeavour
 of the ,czar to place his  opponents at
 a disadvantage1 by bringing them at    
each step into  a position in which they
 shall appear aggressors4 ,he crosses   
the  ,pruth1 professing not to declare  
war thereby1 but merely to take a       
precautionary pledge for the fulfilment 
of treaties4 ,and because ,turkey       
justly regarded his act as a declaration
 of war1 he calls ,turkey the           
aggressor4 ,he insists on fighting out  
with ,turkey alone a quarrel in  which  
all ,european powers have1 by his acts1 
become interested4 ,and  because they   
act on this conviction1 he calls them   
aggressors for  interfering in a private
 quarrel4 ,he has forced the fleets of  
,europe  to occupy the ,euxine1 as he   

the ,proviuces4 ,and1 after seeing them 
where  they would not be if neutral1 and
 being told how far their defence  of   
the weaker part would go1 he seeks by   
the question of a simpleton  to throw on
 us the stigma of being the first to    
declare war4 ,but the  cloven foot has  
been unmistakeably revealed1 by his     
rejection of the  proposal of the ,four 
,powers to insist on and obtain a       
protectorate for  all ,christians under 
,turkish sway4 ,and1 in assigning1 as   
the ground of  that rejection1 that he  
will not suffer any interference with   
his sole  right of protection1 he       
virtually arrogates to himself a right  
which  they who are its objects         
disallow1 which no treaty ever did or   
could  confer upon him1 and which the   
other powers of ,europe cannot permit   
him to plead4 ,in fact1 his claim of    
protectorate would cover almost  every  
class but the only one of which he is   
protector4 ,he cannot be  claiming from 
,turkey a right to protect the ,russian 

,church4 ,that right  is not interfered 
with by ,turkey1 or any one else4 ,and1 
of those whom  he does claim to protect1
 every class1 however hostile to        
,turkey1  would infinitely prefer the   
rule of ,turkey1 mollified by ,christian
  diplomacy1 to the temporal rule of the
 ,czar4 ,to this last his religious     
protectorate would infallibly lead4     
,for1 if the two characters of          
spiritual and temporal head are         
inseparable in his person in ,russia1   
who shall separate them in ,turkey1     
whenever he has the power to exhibit    
both8 ,moreover1 why rest in the mere   
protectorate of ,christians8 ,what  if  
the ,jew also should become an object of
 pity to the ,czar1 and he  should      
extort ,syria from the ,turk for the    
,jew1 who has certainly a  better claim 
to ,palestine than the ,greek to        
,turkey8    ,it may1 however1 be argued1
 that all speculations as to abstract   
rights  are superseded by treaties1 the 
terms of which must be kept1 and by     

which ,turkey and other powers have     
recognised the right of ,russia to      
insist in such as her present demands1  
and to occupy the ,provinces as  she    
does4    ,to this it must be replied1   
that one of the very questions at issue 
is whether such compacts as those       
alleged exist1 whether they are  capable
 of the interpretation put upon them by 
,russia1 and whether  they justify the  
occupation of the ,provinces8 ,as to the
 latter1 ,russia  pleads the precedent  
of her previous occupation1 unquestioned
 by the  ,european powers4 ,but1 instead
 of justifying the one by the other1 we 
should rather deny the justice of both4 
,on the former occasion the  cause of   
,russia may have been good4 ,but the    
goodness of the motive can  never       
legalise an illegal act4 ,the former    
occupation should not have  been        
allowed4 ,by not being awake1 we let in 
the wedge1 and we are now  suffering the
 penalty of having listened to the      
dangerous doctrine  that the end        

sanctifies the means4 ,let us disown so 
bad a precedent4  ,the thing which      
,russia seeks to do is1 single-handed1  
to extort from  ,turkey pledges1 or the 
fulfilment of alleged pledges1 as to her
 own  internal administration1 the      
giving or fulfilling of which would be a
  surrender of her national integrity1  
in order virtually1 though not  yet     
nominally1 to use her as a province and 
thoroughfare4 ,this must  not be4 ,if   
the administration of ,turkey becomes a 
public nuisance1 it  must be abated by  
the public verdict of nations2 but it   
may not be  corrected by a single nation
 which1 while it has no peculiar right  
to  interfere1 has a peculiar interest  
in spoiling the offender4 ,if ,russia   
has already injured ,turkey1 and stolen 
a march on ,europe by treaty1 now  is   
the time1 when the operation of treaties
 is suspended1 to see that  the evil is 
not repeated or prolonged1 but repaired4
 ,and if1 having  not yet done it1 she  
now attempts it1 every lover of fair    

play must  forbid her4 ,let us not      
forget1 while treaties are talked of    
7and1 in  so far as advantageous1 so    
religiously asserted71 that the position
 of  ,turkey in ,europe has the sanction
 of treaties without number1 framed  not
 in ignorance of what she was1 but      
knowing it well4 ,if the nations  of    
,europe had persisted in refusing to    
acknowledge such an intrusive  and      
persecuting power1 and had provided1 as 
the first condition of  conceding to it1
 by diplomatic recognition1 a place in  
the ,european  commonwealth1 that it    
should afford to its ,christian subjects
 the same  advantages as they should    
have enjoyed under ,christian rule1 or  
at  least that it should administer     
equal laws to ,christians and ,turks1   
the case would now be widely different4 
,but it was not so4 ,europe took        
,turkey as she found it4 ,and whatever  
immunities have since been granted  by  
,turkey to ,christians1 these have in so
 far been acts of free grace1  that they

 were no original conditions of the     
entrance of ,turkey into  the ,european 
federation4 ,in short1 it is far too    
late to put ,turkey on  her trial as a  
candidate for her place4 ,it was never  
said to the ,turk1  ,we shall take proof
 of you for a century or two by your    
conduct1 before  we admit you4 ,he has1 
on all secular grounds of public law1 as
 good a  right to his place as we have  
to ours4 ,we may1 indeed1 be bound by no
  treaty to maintain ,turkey1 but we are
 bound by justice to see that it  is    
fairly dealt with4 ,at all events1 let  
us do one thing or the other4  ,abolish 
,turkey with one consent1 if you will1  
provided you know what  next to do4 ,but
 if you deem its abolition undeserved1  
if you cannot  put ,greece in its place1
 or agree how to divide the spoil1      
defend it  from all thieves and robbers 
in the meantime4 ,here justice and      
interest  are at one4    ,we may regret 
that the ,turk is there2 but we dare not
 turn him out by  the shoulder in our   

indignation4 ,we must wait till that    
,higher ,power  which sent him shall    
withdraw him4    ,no ,european          
confederacy1 then1 still less any single
 nation1 can force  ,turkey out of      
,europe by resolving to impose new      
conditions on it1 which  it will not1 or
 cannot accept4 ,yet we do not counsel  
the folding of the  arms in a           
resignation which borders on fatalism4  
,it may come to pass  that ,turkey1 like
 any other nation1 may so change for the
 worse its  original character1 and may 
so sin against that common law of       
nations  which is more sacred than any  
statute or treaty1 that1 as madmen are  
put by their neighbours in a strait     
waistcoat1 and they who offend  against 
society are sent to ,coventry1 ,turkey  
may provoke surrounding  ,governments to
 vote it out of ,europe4#a 8,necessity  
has no law40 ,but  has ,turkey so acted8
 ,on the contrary1 however far its      
conduct towards  ,christians in the     
,east may fall short of that ideal      

standard by which  ,russia now takes a  
fancy to measure it1 has there not been 
for a long  time1 with occasional       
exceptions1 a marked and steadily       
progressive  improvement in the exercise
 of its now declining government1 as    
regards  them8 ,it would need some      
sudden and flagrant excess to justify   
the  arming of ,europe against it1 still
 more to warrant the zeal of such a     
solitary champion as the ,czar4    ,but 
is there no other power which threatens 
to become1 rather  than ,turkey1 a      
public offender8 ,are the instinctive   
and constant  apprehensions of all      
,europe on the side of ,russia pure     
hallucinations8  ,are they not so strong
 as to survive every fresh apprehension 
from  ,france8 ,is not every help which 
,russia has lent against revolutionary  
principles accepted with suspicion1 as  
insincere2 with a grudge1 as  dearly    
bought2 with dread1 as dangerous to     
,european liberty8 ,whatever  ties may  
bind the court of ,russia to others1 is 

it not notorious that  the hatred of the
 whole ,german people to ,russia is     
such1 that no ,german  monarch dare tax 
the loyalty or the pockets of his people
 in behalf of  ,russia1 and each may    
count upon both1 against her8    ,are we
 so blinded by the spirit of selfish    
reaction1 and so contracted  by the     
spirit of party1 as to see none but     
those proximate evils which  the brute  
can feel1 to apprehend danger from      
nothing but rebellion1 and  to see      
wickedness in none but the radicals of  
,western ,europe8 ,or are  we such      
devotees to the mere catchwords of      
,christianity1 and so given  up to      
believe the religious phrases which     
political craft takes up into  its      
mouth1 7in order to instigate its       
friends and paralyze its foes17  as to  
be blind to the realities of things1 and
 deaf to the claims both  of interest   
and of justice8 ,is our vision so filled
 with the ,antichrist  who denies ,god1 
that we have no corner for him who      

confesses ,him8 ,or  have we so pinned  
our faith to the ,antichrist of ,rome or
 republicanism  that we have no         
watchfulness left for the great         
,antichrist of the  ,north1 who has     
lifted his paw to appropriate the       
spiritual crown of  ,christ2 whose name 
stands parallel with that of ,god in the
 hearts of  his serfs1 and on the       
buildings of his realm2 and who1 at the 
time  dictated by ,scythian cunning1    
will mount his chariot1 to drive like  a
 modern ,jehu in his zeal for the ,lord8
 ,are we ,englishmen prepared1  after   
contesting it with those who have paved 
the way into the ,east  under cloud of  
night1 to look on when the journey is   
undertaken in  broad day8 ,are we       
prepared to hail the tyranny of the     
knout1 and the  treachery of the bribe1 
as a blessed substitute for the ,bash of
 the  scimitar and the grasp of the     
spoiler8 ,are we who1 when the fancy    
took  us to be suspicious1 could ,hardly
 listen to the pacific assurances of    

,france1 ready to swallow any assurance 
from a government1 which is  the        
impersonation of craft1 and the tallowy 
unmoved countenance of  which never yet 
betrayed its passions or projects8 ,do  
we believe that  those who bide their   
time in silence are less dangerous than 
those who  anticipate it with bluster8  
,do we dream that ,russia has become    
such an  unwieldy mass1 as to endanger  
us only by its fall8 ,or do we regard   
the  hordes of the ,north1 which have   
more than once overrun ,europe in savage
  disorder1 as being incapable of doing 
so again in imperial order8 ,if we  do1 
it is time that we thought otherwise4   
,now is the time4 ,war is a sad calamity
 everywhere1 and a shameful  thing among
 ,christian nations4 ,let us beware of  
being those to bring  it recklessly on4 
,but1 if it must come1 let us beware of 
avoiding it  by ruin to ourselves or    
others4 ,russia has1 by her own act1 set
 us  free from our own former relations 
to her4 ,let us see to it that our  new 

relations be more secure4 ,let her not  
make the ,black ,sea a 8mare  clausum40 
,let her not make the ,baltic a 8mare   
clausum40 ,let her not  make the ,danube
 a 8fluvium clausum10--a ,european pipe 
with a ,russian  plug4 ,let her not make
 ,bornholm a ,russian arsenal1 the      
,cattegat a  ,russian strait1           
,scandinavia a ,russian province1       
,denmark a ,russian  landing-place1 or  
,persia a ,russian highway4 ,rather let 
the ,caucasus be  secured against future
 butchery1 and ,courland1 ,liefland1 and
 ,finland be  restored to their natural 
owners4    ,meantime1 let none1 who must
 not1 meddle in the fray4 ,but let none1
 who  ought1 waver4 ,let them take the  
right side1 and do it heartily2 for     
while decision saves blood1 indecision  
may forfeit all4 ,we may push           
neutrality into self-contradiction4 ,and
 while we strike at a distance1  let us 
not lay ourselves bare at home4 ,there  
are such things as  political feints4   
,moreover1 if ,austria1 through poverty 

or gratitude1  or ,prussia1 through     
family ties1 shall be won or neutralized
 by ,russia1  let them remember that    
they do it at the almost certain risk of
  intestine rebellion1 and of being     
despoiled in ,italy and on the ,rhine   
by foreign conquest4    ,though we      
believe in the sure word of prophecy1 we
 must beware of its  private or         
premature interpretation4 ,and while we 
ought not1 on the one  hand1 to be      
paralysed in doing our duty by prophetic
 anticipations1  neither dare we1 on the
 other1 excite ourselves to any breach  
of duty  by a desire to see these       
realized4 ,god will remove all          
oppressive  powers which stand in ,his  
way4 ,but there are wicked powers enough
  in the earth to do ,his work of       
judgment1 whether on ,his ,church or  on
 her enemies4 ,we may not be our own    
saviours4 ,we may not arise1  in        
self-will1 to carry out ,god's counsels4
 ,it is our part to expect  ,his        
salvation in the way of strict duty4    

,men may speculate about the  drying up 
of the ,euphrates and the restoration of
 the ,jews to their  land1 as they      
please4 ,we shall best commend ourselves
 to ,god1 not by  skilful calculations  
as to the rate at which or the manner in
 which  the chariot of ,his ,church1 as 
the mystery of ,his ,coming ,kingdom1   
rolls  along the highways of ,his       
providence1 but rather by ourselves     
abiding  in the chariot1 and trusting to
 the goodness of its ,guide4 ,and the   
sole  true foundation on which we can   
build up the nobler superstructure  of  
holiness1 is scrupulous righteousness   
between nation and nation1  between man 
and man4 ,he only that has clean hands  
shall prosper in his  deed4    ,one word
 more3 ,the votaries of reaction insist 
that ,turkey shall be  blotted out as   
the gathering-place of all revolutionary
 spirits4 ,but  why is it so8 ,not      
because the policy of ,turkey is        
revolutionary1 but  because he who has  
been the fulcrum of reaction has1 by    

declaring  war against ,turkey1 opened  
,turkey for them as a door by which they
  can attack him1 and has justified     
,turkey in using them4 ,bad1 nay        
blasphemous1 as revolutionists may be1  
he who would hunt them out  of the      
earth1 must have an unclean conscience  
himself4 ,he must feel  that he has not 
been the ,shepherd of his people1 and   
that he has more  coveted the fleece    
than loved the flock4    #a ,see last   
paragraph1 page #ca4                    
,london3--,printed by ,g4 ,barclay1     
,castle ,st4 ,leicester ,sq4