obtained from Bulgaria and Wallachia are formed into rafts, and floated down the Danube into the Black Sea during the fine season. The ropes and canvas were in great measure obtained from Russia, which annually furnished from 12,000 to 15,000 quintals. Turkey also possesses other building docks, though not of such extent, at Sinope and Heraclia, on the Black Sea, and in the islands of Rhodes and Mytilene. The condition of the Turkish navy does not seem to have made commensurate progress with that of the other branches of the service. There are several reasons which may be assigned for this, but the principal one is the aversion existing among the Turks for the sea. Through this many abuses have crept in. The sailors are not regularly exercised, and the fleet is almost entirely kept in the waters of Constantinople. During the winter the vessels are snugly moored in the inner harbour: during the summer they make a magnificent excursion as far as the outer one. Once a year a vessel of war sails to the Archipelago, to collect the taxes, and the "Journal de Constantinople" announces this event as a most important State affair. In addition to this, the crews are not particularly inclined for any lengthened voyage, for, as soon as the ship has left port their usually abundant rations are very greatly diminished, from which the officers and Naval Board derive no inconsiderable profit. VOL. II. A A Fortunately, the Allied Powers are of themselves sufficiently strong by sea to be able to dispense with any assistance from the Osmanli, whose navy has in addition been fearfully crippled by the massacre at Sinope. Still, as a praiseworthy sign of the activity at present prevailing in all branches of the administration, it is a noteworthy fact that the Turks have already collected the débris of their fleet, and are employed in the Black Sea, in carrying troops and stores to the Circassian coast. With this summary of the military and naval strength of the Turks our task may be said to be ended. We have examined in detail into every branch of the service, and we may venture to say that the result has been highly satisfactory. Let us hope that the Turks, encouraged by their past success, may not cease their exertions, until all their reforms are settled on a firm and satisfactory basis, such as no partizan cry or covert insinuation can overthrow. In the concluding section of our work we propose briefly to touch upon those points which are regarded as the great stumbling-blocks of Turkey, and in the eyes of many writers render all hope of future permanent regeneration futile. We allude to polygamy and predestination, two fearful obstacles we must confess, but we trust we shall be able to show that they are not absolutely incurable, but that we have rather been accustomed to regard them too much from an European standpoint, instead of making those allowances which the spirit of Islamism seems to demand. PREDESTINATION. WHEN a nation is engaged in the path of regeneration it is not sufficient, in order to anticipate the issue of the crisis, to estimate the amount of its soldiers and vassals, the value of its commerce, and the resources of its budget; the advantages and vices of its social condition, the degree of morality it displays, the manner in which it regards and applies the fundamental principles of all society, are subjects which must also be taken into consideration. If it were true, as many writers have asserted, that in Turkey there is neither property, law of succession, nor a civil code; if polygamy had destroyed all family life, if slavery, which corrupts both master and slave, had destroyed the feeling of human dignity; if despotism had so brutalized the minds of the nation that all desire of a change in the system had died away; then, not only could nothing be explained as to the future of Turkey, but we should feel astonished that |