1853.] Scene between Emily and her Father. You remember me now, Sir ?' Remember you? Forgive me for speaking harshly to you, my poor boy. How often have I thought of you, of late-longed for you to be here with me, to talk to me-and read to me. Why did you not write to me?' and the old man shed tears which fell upon the cuffs of Flower's shooting coat; and Flower, too, wept and loved the old man for his warm greeting. You will stay with me?' said Mr. Orford. You will never leave me, George? I am all alone here, with no one but these servants about me. Sit down, and tell me all that has happened to you.' Flower obeyed Mr. Orford. He told him of his career in the colony, and of his circumstances-that he had returned with 50,000Z., and more, and how he made it. But Flower did not touch upon Emily. I wish I could tell you something,' said the old man. 'Do so, Sir.' 669 Emily for several years past-up to this very hour.' How-her protector? Where?' In New South Wales. I have been to her a brother, though she is of gentle blood, and I am not.' Emily lives? Where is she? Conduct me to my child. the carriage.' Order 'Let me bring her here, Sir.' Then haste-haste,' said the old man. What a strange world is this! To-night, George, you shall know the truth.' CHAPTER XXXVII. FLOWER hastened in the carriage to the roadside inn, where he found Emily in sore distress. She had gleaned that her mother was numbered with the dead. So great was her grief, that the glad tidings of her father's forgiveness did not stay her tears. As soon as Flower left Orford Hall, Mr. Orford ordered the servants not to come near him until they were called, so that when Flower returned with Emily, there was not a soul to be seen. The poor penitent was conducted to the library, and there the meeting with her father took place. She knelt to the old man, and with upraised hands craved his pardon; and he forgave her from his heart, and placed his aged palms upon her aching head, and blessed her, and sanctified the blessing with pious tears. And Emily was once more under her own roof, and was installed the mistress of that ancient abode. And that night she slept in, or rather wandered about the room which from childhood up to the unhappy date of her error had been hers. And Emily heard from her father's lips that her mother had, in her dying moments, forgiven her, and prayed for her salvation in the world to come. And that night Mr. Orford divulged to George the secret to which, in the morning, the old man had so mysteriously alluded. He told George that when he, Mr. Orford, was a very young man, he was wicked enough to engage the affections of a young girl whom his parents would not permit him to marry-that had he married her he would have been disinherited ;-that the fruit of this connexion were two children, a boy and a girl— that Lord Waldane's gamekeeper, Edward Flower, had married the mother of these two children, receiving with his wife a marriage portion of several hundred poundsthat he, George Flower, was the son, and Bessy, whose wrongs he had avenged, the daughter; and hence that remarkable likeness which not only Bessy' but George Flower himself bore to Emily! A few months passed away, and Flower began to feel lonely and miserable. He no longer cared for shooting and fishing. These sports had lost their charm with him. He fancied that he was looked upon with suspicion by persons with whom he made acquaintance; and it became tedious to him to explain to everybody who heard that he was an expiree,' that he was not transported for thieving, or anything mean or low, but for justifiable murder.' Flower engaged a passage for himself and Sheriff, and re-sought those shores whereon he had achieved so much renown, and where he was 'as well known as the Governor or the Chief Justice, and quite as much respected by honest men and feared by rogues." He kept up a AT regular correspondence with Emily and her father, and frequently sent them Australian curiosities and other presents, such as kangaroos, emus, flying squirrels, parrots, and cockatoos, and in return he used to receive saddlery and cutlery, and other matters precious in his sight. Mr. Orford died, and Emily succeeded to his estate. Some time afterwards, she was sitting in the drawing-room, all alone, when a card was put into her hand. 'Sir Charles Everest.' How Emily blushed. What scenes, painful and other, did the sight of that name recall! Sir Charles took Emily's hand, and said to her, I will not release this till you promise to be mine. I have never ceased to love you, Emily, dearest, and I never shall cease to do so.' Emily held down her head, and gave no reply-but she suffered him to retain her hand in his, and play with its small fingers. Presently, he raised it to his lips, and kissed it fervently. She accepted his proposal on the condition that he would never remind her or allude to the dark past. After a few weeks Emily became Lady Everest. And the evening of her life was tranquil and happy. THE INTERNAL RESOURCES OF TURKEY. T the present time, when so much interest is excited by the contest between Russia and Turkey, a brief summary of the internal resources of the latter state may not be found uninteresting. One of the distinguishing features of the administrative system of modern Europe is the regular preparation and publication of accurate statistical information on the internal condition of the various States. In this kind of information (which, by the way, is often most delusive when seemingly most perfect) Oriental Governments are, for the most part, deficient. Even in Europe it is only of recent introduction; and, in the State which especially aims at the conquest of Turkey, it is either altogether withheld from the world at large, or rendered subsidiary by the Government to purposes of mystification and misrepresentation. Of one thing we may rest assured, that whatever statistical information on Turkey may be derived from that country will err rather on the side of omission, and that the Turkish Government is guiltless of that gigantic imposture which was first used for political purposes by Napoleon the elder, and which has since been systematized by the Russian Government. The detractors of Turkey have made a skilful use of this politicostatistic vacuum. The simple suppressio veri has been enough, without more than a very slight and 1853.] Turkey and Austria compared. occasional use of the suggestio falsi. Tell the world that France or Belgium is in a state of decay, and forth come the statistics to prove the contrary; in fact, no one dares hazard such a statement, because the refutation is ready to the hand. But tell the world—at least the English world-the same thing with regard to Turkey, and the mere absence of positive statistical information at once endorses the imputation, and helps it to pass current. Fortunately, however, the materials do exist for an approximation to a true estimate of the real condition of Turkey; and the éclat attending the bold stand made by Omer Pasha on the Danube may obtain for a few words on the subject a hearing which might have been sought in vain a few weeks ago. Those who write in this country for the purpose of proving that Turkey is in a state of utter decay, rely for the reception of their statements on a species of tacit comparison with European States, which naturally takes place in the reader's mind. Half the difficulty of proof is thus got over. But if we would wish to arrive at a just and correct conclusion, we must either avoid such comparison, or reflect that the great bulk of the population of the Ottoman Empire is essentially Oriental; there being about twenty millions and a half of Mahometans to something less than fifteen millions of Greeks and others professing creeds foreign to that of the empire. We must also bear in mind that the more recent Sultans have been engaged in adopting European forms of administration, and that as yet these changes have not resulted in the perfecting of the new system. Obviously, therefore, it is as disadvantageous to the Turks to have their semi-European development compared with the greater perfection attained by England or France, as it would be altogether to ignore their existence in the politico-economic world, on the ground of their being Orientals. Left to produce its own natural effect, the Ottoman Empire would stand forth a grand fact, imposing to the imagination: tried by the standard of the so-called civilization of Europe, it appears neither good Eastern nor good 671 Western, but prominently displays all the evils inherent in the political systems of both Continents. On the other hand, it is quite fair to compare reformed Turkey, not with States that have attained to the pitch of civilization enjoyed by France and England, but with those on her frontiers in Europe and Asia, in whose interests her demerits are chiefly proclaimed. Difficult as it is to ascertain the truth with respect to the actual condition of the Russian serfs, no candid inquirer will fail to see that the class in Turkey corresponding with those in the social scale are, at least, no worse off; and if, in Turkey, it be an evil that the dependencies of the empire, and the various provincial governments, are administered by extortionate officers, surely that delegation of power is no worse than the centralization prevailing in the Russian Empire, which, with the universal corruption of officials, the venality of the judgment-seat, and the abject state of the lower classes, renders the attainment of justice almost an impossibility. We are told, too, of the disorganized state of the Turkish Monarchy, composed, as it is, of so many nations not amalgamated as one nation, and insubordinate to the sovereign authority of the Sultan. Russia, it is true, is not exposed to this particular evil; but look at Austria. The detractors of Turkey are accustomed to point to the solitary instance of the threatened subdivision of the Ottoman Power by Mehemet Ali. That would, at least, have been but the substitution of one monarch for another, according to the custom of the East. Turn to Austria. What was the condition of Austria five years ago? Has anything happened to Turkey, within the last century, at all approaching, in evidence of decay, to the Hungarian insurrection, the Italian rising, the threatened destruction of the capital by the Hungarian army, the flight of the Emperor, and the proclamation of a Republic? Is not the whole of the vast Austrian Empire only a congeries of States and races, often antagonistic to each other, and always in repulsion towards the central (and to them the foreign) German governing Duchy? the rest of the empire, although the causes of irritation have been, for the time, skinned over, the sources must be deep that could have produced the scenes which, from 1848 forward, agitated with one common instinct of rebellion Moravia, Bohemia, Lombardy, Venice, and nearly every other constituent State of the Austrian dominions. One hundredth part of the chronic animosity to Austrian rule existing among those States, if manifested in Bulgaria, Wallachia, Moldavia, Bosnia, Syria, or any of the multitudinous members of the Turkish Empire, would have furnished the abettors of aggressive designs with a theme for a dismemberment policy enough to carry conviction with the English people, who seem to be losing the faculty of thinking for themselves, as well as that sense of justice, which commands that both sides of a question shall be examined before a judgment be formed. In endeavouring to arrive at a correct estimate of the position and resources of Turkey, we must steadily keep in view the fact that everything is systematically said against her, and little in her favour, and also the natural disposition of Englishmen to hold in contempt all that falls short of their own standard of excellence. Agriculture is of course the basis of a nation's strength, and in agriculture Turkey is stated to be grossly deficient. To arrive at any clear perception of the truth we must use an Oriental, not an European standard. All Orientals are more or less disinclined to the cultivation of the soil, partly because its natural fecundity renders manual labour less necessary than in cold climates; partly because the wants of an Oriental are more easily satisfied than those of the inhabitant of the west. The soil of Turkey is singularly fruitful, and it yields a vast variety of products. Whether more would be extracted from it were it in the hands of the Russians is at least problematical As it is, it more than suffices for the wants of the population, and leaves a considerable quantity of produce for exportation. The Turkish peasantry are charged with an ignorant obstinacy in refusing to adopt European scientific improvements. This is no doubt true, especially as by the vast majority they have never been heard of. Go into the southern parts of Belgium, or into provincial France, and you will find a less pardonable ignorance, and quite as obstinate a refusal on the part of the peasantry to depart from the ways of their fathers. Of the actual agricultural produce of Turkey there are no accurate accounts. Even in England we are reduced to something very little better than guess work in order to arrive even at an approximation to the real production; and in Ireland matters are still worse. The natural fruitfulness of the soil excepted, the Turkish agriculturist labours under every disadvantage, of which the chief are want of capital and want of knowledge. He lives under a system of government unfavourable to the development of his industrial energies, in so far as they would tend to prospective cultivation. He produces for the present only. If he can satisfy the demands of the tax-gatherer, and produce enough for his subsistence, he is satisfied. His want of capital places him in the hands of usurers, who really absorb the best fruits of his labour. In these respects, how ever, he is not much worse off than his fellow cultivator in many Christian countries enjoying a good reputation for agriculture-for instance, Ireland and Belgium. The state of the former is notorious; in the latter, more especially in the south, the cultivation of the soil is lamentably impeded by the very causes that operate so prejudicially in Turkey. Turkey, too, is in a desperate condition as to roads. Except in the near vicinity of the sea, and of the great ports, there are no effectual means of communication, so that even if the farmer had the necessary capital, enterprise, and knowledge, he would not be able to find a market at any distance from his own home. Still, notwithstanding these disadvantages, the agricul ture of Turkey produces enough for the consumption of the five and thirty millions of the population; and yet there are considerable exports of various articles of produce which are not of prime necessity as food. Among these are tobacco, of which there was exported from the single port of Samsoom on the Black Sea, in 1850, to the value of 17,000l. in British steam-vessels alone beans, lentils, yellow berries (value from Samsoom 49067. in 1851); fruit of various kinds-gall nuts, butter, caviar, nuts, potatoes, honey, wheat, Indian corn, and a number of minor articles. The cultivation of the silkworm forms a prominent branch of industry in connexion with this part of the subject. The exportation of silk proves a considerable item of Turkish commerce, although it is, of late years, on the decline. From the port of Trebizond, alone, upwards of 3000 bales were exported in the year 1851. In the year 1850 there were exported, from the port of Constantinople to Great Britain, in British vessels, 1848 bales, 1693 cases, and 1167 ballots of silk; of wheat, 38,448 quarters; of maize, 79,283 quarters; of sheep's wool, 813 bales; of goats' wool, 11,301 bales. To these must be added the exports in vessels of other nations, as well as in those of Turkey. If we turn to Egypt, which is still a part of the dominions of the Ottoman Sultan, we find in the exports from Alexandria proofs of agricultural productiveness. Of raw cotton the total value exported from thence, in the year 1851, was 611,2401. The three countries to which the bulk of this cotton was exported, are Great Britain, Austria, and France. Of the above value we ourselves took 275,7407., Austria, 247,1807., and France, 86,700l. Of flax the value exported, in the same year, was 191,934., of which 141,9401. was shipped as for England. Of wheat, in the same year, there was exported, in value, to Great Britain, (and Malta,) 535,9497. The total value of wheat, barley, maize, beans, peas, lentils, and lupins, exported from Alexandria, in that year, was considerably over a million sterling. To these must be added gums, to the value of 348,4347. We are not pretending that 673 Turkish agriculture is in a healthy condition. On the contrary, the universal testimony of travellers establishes the fact, that, while the soil is fruitful to prodigal abundance, the indolence and ignorance of man lead to its neglect. It is scarcely fair, however, towards Turkey, to isolate her case from that of other countries, which have the benefit of European science and civilization. Again we suggest to the reader to compare her condition not with that of England or France, but of other countries, not so far advanced. In the European tributary provinces of Turkey, there is a large production and exportation: in Servia of swine, (of which the annual export amounts, in value, to upwards of 200,0007.,) in Moldavia and Wallachia, whence are exported horses and cattle, in immense quantities; and in Bosnia, whence are exported cattle also. In the European provinces actually under the sway of Turkey, extending from the Adriatic to the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora, the soil teems with the richest products— with rice, tobacco, cotton, silk, and all varieties of fruits. When these are exported it is chiefly through Salonica, but the export trade from thence has declined. In 1847 the total exports amounted to about 800,000l., in 1851 they had diminished to little more than one-fourth. The former year, however, was one of great abundance and activity. On the other hand, the imports to the provinces to which Salonica is the inlet, have steadily increased. The production in cereals of Asia Minor population about 10,000,000) is estimated at about 800,000,000 French kilogrammes, and the value at about 3,500,000l. sterling. If this result is arrived at with the minimum of labour and knowledge, we may conceive what would be the production under more favourable circumstances. At present the cultivator is oppressed and impeded by every conceivable obstruction to his industry. The Government, however, is in the way of reform, and, should it survive the storm raised by Russia for the purpose of arresting its progress, we may hope that as great results will be produced in Turkey as have arrived even in Christian countries where a good has been substituted |