"THE CAPITAL OF TURKEY IS THE CROWN OF THE WAR."

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 259, 19 April 1878, Page 17

"THE CAPITAL OF TURKEY IS THE CROWN OF THE WAR."

Ihk reasons why a temporary occupation of Constantinople should be an indispensable condition of peace were recently stated by the Novee Vremya, an influential Russian paper, thus : " Russia does not at present require the permanent possession of Constantinople, and if we took the city we certainly should not keep it ; but it is necessary for the Russian army as a temporary restingplace, and to the Russian soldier as a reward for his labours. For the people who supplied the material of the victorious army it is necessary as the crown and nimbus of the war, and as the seal of the document by which the conditions of existence of European Turkey are to be altered. Our past is essentially connected with Czargrad (the Imperial city), whence we received our religion. In the popular imagination Czargrad was a well-marked physiognomy, and is closely bound lip with the solution of the Eastern Question. Tirnova Sofia, Philippopolis, Adrianople — these are foreign words which convey nothing to the Russian mind and the Russian heart. Adrianople was the first Turkish capital in the Balkan Peninsula, but the people do not know what that city is for the Turks, and a peace concluded there would be no novelty for them or for us. What we reqnire is a peace that will- enter the popular consciousness as something great and glorious, and become a popular legend connecting the past with the present and the future. Czargrad alone can give its name to such a peace. That city stands as the goal, the crown the nhnhm |of Russian glory, as the complete victory of Orthodoxy over Islam, and of the Slavonic over the Turkish race. All the

prestige of Maliomedan force will disappear a3 soon as the Russian troops enter Czargrad as conquerors, and dictate there the conditions of peace. Stamboul will disappear from the popular consciousness; of Mahomedaus as the centre of Islam, theinviolable sanctuary before which all must bow down, and which is protected by Allah and his' J prophet. At the same time, in the consciousness of the Russian people, Czargrad will grow up as a symbol of Slavonic union attained by religion, civilisation, and sacrifice. A standard always and everywhere plays a great part by uniting, animating, and encouraging, and the standard of Czargrad is the best possible one for that glorious peace which would crown the brilliant exploit of the Russian people and their Czar."