THE WAR IN EUROPE.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2608, 18 May 1877, Page 3

THE WAR IN EUROPE.

Cfeoh the pbotestant advocate.) The bright streak that a fortnight ago relieved the mirky darkness of the cloud hanging over Eastern Europe disappeared on the rejection by Turkey of the proposals embodied in the Protocol, presented to her by Hussia, with the conditional sanction of England; and midnight gloom, ■oon, however, to be reddened with the flames.of war, again settled over the land. Turkey.is once more face to face with her hereditary, foe. What will be the final issue of the conflict, which nothing short of a direct interposition of Providence can now avert; is of course beyond the power of mortal ken, but a prophet would run little short of being contradicted by events were he to predict a series of defeats for the Russian forces on land and water. Notwithstanding the disorganisa- h tion of her administration, Turkey is still a formidable military power, capable of ; prolonging indefinitely the struggle even against such a powerful, enemy as the Colossus of the North. As regards the moral'character of the belligerents, there is scarcely a pin's point of difference between them. The balance, if any, is in favor of the Turk. He gives way, it is true; to periodical attacks of fury, and wh.en he does so, he consents atrocities that make the heart sick even to read of; but he does not, like his Russian foe, violate, murder, burn, and destroy in the name of Christ. A tolerably correct idea of what'would happen to members of other churches than the Eusso-Grreek in the Balkan provinces were the Russians masters of the country may be formed from the way in which the Jews are treated in Seryja and Koumania, and both Jew* andso^called heretic Christians in Russia. In RussiJj,,?Jews and dissenters from the" Orthodox " are regarded as being outside the pale of humanity, and are iaurdered, cuffed; kicked, robbed, and otherwise. ; maltreated at; the caprice of every official in the empire, from the Chief of a Bureau, down tq ;the policeman, •while; in- Sefvia and Roumauia outrages•rivkHingin.atrocitythose committed by Bashi-jEtazpulcs m Bulgaria are perpetrated by';SO:C,alled Christians upon, unoffending Israeli tV?s .Of course, the commital of atrpcities.-ljy Christians, does Inofc-lesseD the.guilt of outrages perpetrated by the Turks,in Bulgaria. But the^poVer that rolantarily undertakes to punish Turkey for her crimes against humanity, should have itolerably clean hands. 'Those of Suasia are of the dirtiest. " '

- With regard to the means of carrying on-a defensive war, Turkey,is, we are assWod'T)^ "those who profea'i to be well acquainted with the subject^ tolerably well provided. She has between three and four hundred thousand troops available to defend the strong position of the Balkans, and the almost equally strong line of the Danube. The pastes through the! .Balkan range are little' more than footpaths, and the roads through. Bulgaria are few and bad, while the Danube on the Russian side is approached only by a long.coast of muddy and marshy land, the balks on the Turkish sise being' for many miles 'high and precipitous and easily defended. ' ».,-.,'. Afloat, Turkey posses'seV^-a* powerful iroff-clad fleet, which, under command of Hobffrt~Pasha t an Englishman and a firstclass" sailor, is more than a> quitch for anything that Russia can bring against it. There are,also fifteen ve«Ml*of the monitor "class on th&Danube tiAftkke Scutari. The "fifteen ironclads-—ooatprise seven frigate*vand eight corvetttWiall heavily armed,, with AnnstronfcSigttns. Each frigate ha*,a crew ~6f.iJ40, stnd each corvette a^crew 0f'219 me»y-aU*old. In additionAto* this iron-elsd <$&l of 33,618 horse-power, and 130 Runis^Turkey posaesses three screw "Vessels^fef the line for transport service, witn/^i 1 guns; five screw- frigates ■ in'"'* jsßfi', condition, mounting- 1 238 guns jijjjfcvfin screw corvettes/fit for service," f lflfSth 100 guns ; four schooners, with IQ.-ganSt and six yachts, and eleven. dispatch vessels, mounting 63 guns. There, are also four paddlewheel corvettes with 16 guns; three large cruisers mounting 8 guns, and twenty-two aviso's,- some of which are, however, very old, With a total of 64 guns. In addition to tHe regular pendant carriers, the Turkish Government has at command 29 vessel*' belonging to various steam navigation companies, some of which are rery powerful ships. Turkey is therefore well prepared to meet her foe, either on land or sea, and,.will, without doubt, give the Muscovite invaders a warm reception. But even should Russia overcome the Turkish fleet and armies, sue will be as far off as ever from the attainment of her real object in going to war with Turkey— -the possession of Constantinople. England will never allow the Russian standards to float in triumph over the Queen City of the East. We are} however, persuaded that Turkey is able, single-handed, to prevent her capital falling into the hands of Russia. The southern entrance to the Bosphorous can be easily defended by torpedos, and the northern entrance by earthworks, mounted with heavy artillery, and these defences, with the powerful Turkish fleet, are sufficient to defeat a Russian attack on Constantinople by sea. It remains only to fortify the narrow strip of land by which the Bosphorous is approached from the north, to make the city jAfitically impregnable. Able engineery say this could easily be accomplished by running a line of earthworks across from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmora, a distance of twenty-three miles. If this were done, Constantinople would be, humanly speaking, secure.