within a few-probably a very few-months, and with war the total collapse of the Turkish Empire, and the precipitation of several political problems which are hardly ripe for solution, and which a wise statesmanship should have striven to mature gradually. For all these conclusions the author believes that he. has furnished sound and stable reasons, based on evidence which hardly admits of refutation. Discarding theories and sentiment, he has appealed throughout to the stern logic of facts-many of them, as he believes, not otherwise accessible to English readers. The present is one of those crises which are sometimes a turning-point in a nation's history. For nations, as for individuals, which choose a wrong course from deliberate selfishness, there is sometimes 'no place of repentance, though sought carefully with tears.' Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide, Parts the goats upon the left hand and the sheep upon the right; A 'great cause' is now, humanly speaking, trembfing in the balance, and on England apparently is laid the responsibility of deciding its issue. How terrible that responsibility is, the facts recorded in the following pages abundantly show. If the men and women. of England could only be brought to realise the true condition, or even an approximation to the true condition, of the millions of human beings who are at this moment writhing in the agony of a bondage more cruel and debasing than any that the world has ever seen, they would certainly rise in their might and sweep away into space all the charlatanry of an effete diplomacy, that seeks to hide its impotence under the guise of childish Protocols, at which one might laugh, if the lives and honour of some fourteen millions of people, as noble and virtuous as any in the world, were not in question. The author trusts that the following pages will, with the blessing of a higher Power, help to dissipate a few at least of the dense clouds of ignorance that envelope the true bearings and issues of this great argument.' In his humble judgment it is not a question of religion, but of the elementary rights of humanity and the primary principles of natural justice; and his sympathy with the oppressed, as well as his indignation against a great and an intolerable wrong, would be none the less sincere and energetic if the Mussulmans were the victims and the Christians their tormentros. He has as little sympathy with some of the leading organs of public opinion when they advocate the divine right of Englishmen to tyrannise over Mussulmans in India, as when they advocate the indefeasible and eternal right of the Turk to torture, ravish, and slay defenceless Christians in Europeprovided only that British interests' are subserved by the anguish of the victims. The great nation of England is indeed become degenerate if it do not make short work of this brutal policy when its full iniquity has been brought home to its heart and conscience. CONTENTS. Independence of Turkey and British interests-Doctrine of the Pall Mall Gazette and its consequences-Territorial divisions of Turkey-Populations of Turkey: Races and Religions-Chris- tian Slaves and Mussulman Slaves: their sympathies and anti- ment PAGE Their condition discussed under the four heads of:-1. Security for life-2. Security for honour-3. Security for religious freedom Evidence of British Consuls-Syrian massacres: their cause and SECTION II. SECURITY FOR HONOUR. Virtue and beauty of the Bulgarian women-Daily outrages on Women-National character of the Slaves-The Lucretia of SECTION ΠΙ. SFCURITY FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. PAGE Intolerable wretchedness of the Rayah's lot-Rayahs and their Bishops-Armenians and their Patriarch-Causes of Bulgarian Schism-Religious intolerance of the Turks-Value of Turkish Promises-Illustrative cases-The Multeka-Sir G. Campbell's opinion controverted-Utopian Legislation-Code of the Mul- teka unrepealable-Islam essentially intolerant-Legal indig- nities put upon Christians-Turkish Toleration explained --In- SECTION IV. SECURITY FOR PROPEPTY. Land Laws of Turkey-Land tenure of Rayahs-Tithe farming- Taxation its amount and details-Condition of Rayah and Mussulman compared-Compulsory hospitality imposed on Rayahs-Irregular exactions-Turkish Police-Albania; its real condition very different from Sir P. Colquhoun's imaginative A plea on behalf of Turkey-The Turkish Government the Chief CONTENTS. xi Difference between Turk and Moor-Redeeming points in Moorish PAGE Dr. Badger's Letter to the Pall Mall Gazette-Dr. White's 'famous Futility of giving Turkey another chance, and why-Constitution of the Turkish Government examined and shown to be incapable of Reform-Infallibility of Islam and Ultramontanism com- pared and contrasted-Islam a crystallisation, not an organism -Principle of spontaneous dissolution in every Mussulman State The pattern man of Islam-Sketch of Mahomet's character-Influence of is character on his followers-His dealings with the Jews-His frightful cruelty and sen- suality-Bulgarian atrocities a legitimate outcome of Islam -Saint-Hilaire and Dr. Muir on Mahomet and Islam-Bul- garian atrocities and reign of terror in France compared- Difference between the atrocities of Turkey and those of other |