THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE, OF TURKEY. 



197 



earliest times she has desired to exercise over the 

 Christians under the pretext that they were op- 

 pressed by the Mussulmans. 



This is the proposition which she has upheld 

 in the face of Europe, and which she has used 

 as a weapon against us. What has caused the 

 change of opinion is that the Christian element 

 in the south of Europe, worked upon by political 

 influences and by the destructive and injurious 

 action of the committees, did not always confine 

 itself within the law, and had recourse to violent 

 means, not for the purpose of ridding itself of 

 Turkish oppression, as has been alleged, but in 

 point of fact in order to realize the idea of Pan- 

 slavism. I do not say that administrative abuses 

 did not furnish them with the pretext for a rising, 

 but recent events have proved that these revolts 

 were not raised in order to put an end to those 

 abuses, but with the view, really, of conquering 

 their independence and autonomy ; with the ex- 

 ception perhaps of the Bulgarians, who have been 

 a blind tool in the hands of those to whom they 

 trusted themselves. What was desired and what 

 was vigorously pursued, was the crumbling to 

 pieces of the forces of the empire for the benefit 

 of Panslavism, and the influence and action of a 

 mighty power which should stretch from the 

 Pruth to the Bosporus and from the Black Sea 

 to the Adriatic. It seems to me that the Chris- 

 •tian interest is vanishing entirely from sight, or 

 is undergoing at least a striking diminution in 

 value in the face of that huge political interest 

 which discloses a system of universal domination 

 that has terrified Europe ; this is proved by the 

 marks of friendship which were lavished upon 

 us by Russia after the signature of the Treaty 

 of San Stefano. We know with what eagerness 

 she sought our alliance against Europe, whom 

 she had, nevertheless, induced to believe that this 

 war was undertaken for her sake alone, and out 

 of love for the Christians. 



But it is not enough to utter recriminations 

 against the past and the present; it is further- 

 more and above all necessary to turn our thoughts 

 to the future. 



How to remedy the existing state of things ? 

 And what, under the circumstances, is the best 

 means to employ ? 



At the present moment solutions are presented 

 in abundance ; there is a flood of schemes and 

 suggestions — a phenomenon explained by the 

 perplexities of the situation, and by the urgent 

 and legitimate need which is felt for making an 

 end of a question which is the source of the gen- 

 eral uneasiness from which Europe is suffering. 



For my own part, I do not presume to pro- 

 pound one ; but, as I governed for several years 

 the provinces of the Danube, it will not be thought 

 presumptuous in me to desire to throw out some 

 considerations regarding Roumelia and Bulgaria, 

 followed by a few general suggestions to which I 

 make bold to call the attention of those who at 

 the present moment concern themselves, in what- 

 ever capacity, with the destinies of Turkey. 



And, firstly, it should be borne in mind that 

 among the Bulgarians, for whom so keen an in- 

 terest is being evinced, there are more than a 

 million Mussulmans. In this number neither the 

 Tartars nor the Circassians are included. These 

 Mussulmans did not come from Asia to settle in 

 Bulgaria, as is commonly believed : they are the 

 descendants of the Bulgarians who have been 

 converted to Islamism at the time of the conquest 

 and in the following years. They are children of 

 one and the same land, one and the same race, 

 sprung from the same stock. There are among 

 them some who speak no tongue save the Bulga 

 rian. 



To desire to tear this million of inhabitants 

 from their firesides, and to condemn them to be 

 driven out of their country, constitutes, in my 

 eyes, the most inhuman act that could be com- 

 mitted. 



By virtue of what right, in the name of what 

 religion, could men so act ? I do not believe that 

 the Christian religion allows it, and I know that 

 civilization has its code, that humanity has its 

 laws for which the nineteenth century professes 

 great respect. Besides, we no longer live in times 

 in which it could be. said to the Mussulmans, 

 "Become Christians, if you wish to remain in 

 Europe." 



It is not out of place, moreover, to mention 

 that the Bulgarians, in intellectual respects, are 

 very backward ; what I have said of the progress 

 made by the Christian races does not affect them ; 

 it is the condition of the Greeks, Armenians, and 

 others. 



Of the Bulgarians it is estimated that fifty per 

 cent, are laboring men, and not less than forty per 

 cent, shepherds, herdsmen, mowers, etc. As for 

 the Mussulman Bulgarians, thanks to the instruc- 

 tion imbibed in the course of their religious teach- 

 ing, and to the experience consequent on long 

 practice in the art of government, they have in 

 the course of time acquired a more marked devel- 

 opment of their intellectual faculties, which makes 

 them superior to the others, a fact recognized by 

 the Bulgarians themselves. 



To desire to-day that those who for four cen- 



