HOBART PASHA ON THE WAR.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 939, 28 June 1877, Page 3

HOBART PASHA ON THE WAR.

The following letter from Hobart Pasha appears in the Timex of May 2nd : Sir- So at last the farce is played out ; diplomacy retires on its laurels, and Russia, forsooth, is to have the task of teaching the Turks how to rule their peoples. No sooner had the Turks seriously taken in hand Ihe work of reform, when they had promulgated new laws, when they had elected to their newly formed Parliament representatives of all denominations and religions, when they had dethroned two Sultans as incapable, when they had dismissed many high officials for corruption, chosen their best men to govern in the provinces, commenced a system of gendarmerie, invited foreigners to join their naval and military schools, etc., than Russia, fearful lest she might forfeit her long and sadly-abused influence over her neighbour, puts her hand round her throat crying, “ Stop! No bad example, Mr Turk; we shall have our people next asking for a constitution and reform. Your are going too fast; we are going to force you to reform in our own way, not in yours. AVe arc going to do so by making you throw all your energies and spend all your means, not in the path of reform, but in self-defence. After that you are ruined, after your people are driven to desperation and excited to madness, then we will show you what to do. It may be that you will lose a province or so, but that matters not; never mind treaties. No answer! Fight you must. Every one lias deserted you, so come on. We will place you in such a position that you cannot go ahead in the eyes of expectant Europe in carrying out your good intentions.” Sir, this is the true position of affairs ; and cleverly has Europe been hoodwinked, cleverly has her persistent enemy played her game. Now we shall see what an oppressed nation of 15,000,000 can do against a powerful (if a somewhat divided) nation of 80,000,000 when it has to do battle for its very existence ; now we shall see Roles, Circassians, Georgians, and the brave Hungarians setting aside all questions of religious differences, and rallying round the Turk, thinking only of revenge for past injuries inflicted on them by this wouldbe instructor in the art of governing; and we shall probably see enough blood flow to satisfy even the most rabid humanitarian. Let us have no more ravings about fanaticism and Turkish misrule. The war now so imminent (if not actually declared while I write) will be a war waged on one side for aggression and spoliation, based on Catherine’s dream and Peter the Great’s will; on the other, by a nation which is not actuated by fanatical reasons, but which will fight —aye, and fight hard—for the hearths and homes of its people and its honor as a nation. It is a grand sight to see an army and navy such as the Turkish without pay for months—aye, you might say for years—sacrificing all for their country ; no tobacco, often short rations, but happy as children and brave as lions. However, thank goodness! they are well armed and clothed, and ready for anything in the way of hard work. Sir, I have been accused of espousing the cause of the Turks with too great warmth. No man has more openly condemned or more deeply regretted the sad events in Bulgaria. No one has censured the bad system of government existing heretofore more than myself. But I find in history many parallel cases during civil wars, and, as I know that there is so much real good in the Turks, I have always urged that they should have a chance given to them, in which case I foresee happy times and a great future for this country. The lessons they have received have not been thrown away ; but I prophesy fearful results if this war—supposing it to have been declared while I write —is allowed to go on. The ! Turks ask, with reason, “ What docs' Russia want ? Is it guarantees of reform p” “Can we,” they say, “begin a strict regime of Government by accepting at the outset humiliation in the eyes of those we are to govern ? The only r guarantee wo can offer is immediate action, and this we cannot put into practice till wo are free, not only from war, but from intrigue.” I fear that no guarantee would satisfy Russia. Let Europe guess what she wants, and look to her own interests, while she (Europe) stands gravely by and secs a brave nation dismembered. But we have not come to that yet. Turkey will prove a hard, a very hard nut to crack. One hears (reports are always magnified) of disturbances here and there even now in the provinces. How can you expect anything else while every subject of Turkey has to give almost his last farthing in support of the Army and Navy F Your obedient servant, Ho uaht Pasha. Silistria, Danube, April 26th.