Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/421

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

BETWEEN THE CZAR AND THE SULTAN. 379 ancy of Lord Stratford this ardour was so well chat. guided that it was kept from breaking out in vain '__ tumult or outrage, and was brought to bear in all its might upon the defence of the State. 'A ' spirit of self-devotion/ wrote the Ambassador, ' unaccompanied with fanatical demonstrations, ' and showing itself among the highest function- ' aries of the State, bids fair to give an extra- ' ordinary impulse to any military enterprise ' which may be undertaken against Eussia by the ' Turkish Government, The corps of Ulema are ' preparing to advance a considerable sum in sup- ' port of the war. The Grand Vizier, the Minister ' for Foreign Affairs, and other leading members ' of the Administration, have resigned a large pro- ' portion of their horses fur the service of the ' artillery. Reinforcements continue to be directed ' towards the Danube and the Georgian frontier. ' If hostilities commence, they will be prosecuted 'in a manner to leave, on one side or on the ' other, deep and durable traces of a truly national ' struggle.' * But if the Turkish Empire was still the Caliph- Moderation 1 . of the Turk- ate, and if religion still gave the watchword which ish Govern- brought many races of men to crowd to the same standard, yet the Porte, chastened by the adver- sity of the latter century, and disciplined by the English Ambassador, had become so wise and politic that it governed the beating heart of the nation, and suffered no fanatic words to go out into Christendom. The duty of the Moslem, now

  • ' Eastern Papers,' pail ii. p. 1C7.