gary, which led to the deposition of Mahomed IV. After this, the power of Turkey rapidly declined; and, in 1699, she had to cede Transylvania to Austria, Azof to Russia, and Morea to the Venetians, the last of which was subsequently recovered.

The reign of Achmet III. was the era of the conflict of Charles XII. of Sweden with Peter the Great; and Achmet having given an asylum to the former after his defeat at Pultowa, was drawn into a war with Russia in which Peter was worsted, he being only rescued from danger, as has been related in the preceding chapter, by the treaty of Pruth, which was negotiated by the impromptu diplomacy of his wife. Achmet was less successful in a war with Austria, by which he was compelled to relinquish Belgrade; and, being also defeated by Nádir Sháh in Persia, the Janizaries rose up against him and deposed him. In the reigns which followed, the wars between Russia and Turkey were frequently repeated, and the latter was gradually compelled to relinquish all her possessions on the north coast of the Black Sea. Russia also assumed the right to protect the Christian princes of Moldavia and Wallachia; and on the Persian frontier Georgia and Armenia were lost.

There was no renovation for Turkey in subsequent years. In the reign of Selim III. peace with Russia was purchased by great sacrifices of territory, and Egypt was invaded by the French, who had to be expelled from it by the English. In that of Mahmood II. the Greeks fought for their independence, and secured it in 1828, after the destruction of the Ottoman fleet by a combined action on the part of Britain, France, and Russia. Later, a war with Russia broke out, in which the Turkish armies were uniformly defeated, and large concessions had to be made to prevent the occupation of Constantinople. On the other hand, Máhmood was able to carry out military reforms within the empire, by which the power of the Janizaries was broken; and many other changes were effected which facilitated the acquisition of European civilisation by his people.

The last years of Máhmood II. were disturbed by the defection of Egypt, where the viceroy, Mehemet Áli, aspired to independent sovereignty. The dispute was terminated in the reign of Abdool Mejid, under the terms of a convention signed in London between England, Russia, Prussia, and Austria, by which the hereditary páshálic of Egypt was secured to the family of Mehemet Áli in subordination to the Porte. The tranquillity which followed this settlement was soon after disturbed by the desire of Russia to hasten the dissolution of the Turkish empire, on the pretext that some interference was necessary on behalf of its Christian population. This brought on the war of 1854, from which Turkey came out unscathed, on account of the support given to her by France, England, and Sardinia.

It must be conceded, however, that the sick man is really sick, and so sick as to be almost beyond all reasonable hopes of recovery. The vigour which led to the establishment of the empire has long ceased to exist. All the present strength of Turkey consists in the maintenance of armies and fleets commanded by European officers, but from which no lasting benefit can be derived in the absence of a strong backbone to rest upon. The government of the country is still an absolute despotism, which the influence of European civilisation has not modified to any considerable extent. Its religion is Mahomedanism according to the Sooni doctrines, and is yet bigotedly adhered to; and the fundamental laws of the empire are based on the Korán. Some reforms have certainly been made in the political organization of the state; but they have given it no vitality. No progress whatever has been made in the country in literature, the sciences, and the arts. The Russian dictum is therefore undoubtedly correct, that the existence of Turkey in Europe at this hour is an anomaly which ought to be rectified. The war of 1877 had almost effected this rectification after the manner desired by Russia. The end has been staved off for a time, but it is not the less certain to come.

CHAPTER IX.

THE INDEPENDENT STATES OF ASIA, AFRICA,
AND AMERICA.

THE principal states of Asia, Africa, and America, other than those which we have noticed in the preceding chapters, now require to be mentioned.

China.

Commencing with the states in Asia, we first notice. China, a country of the ancient world which has prolonged its existence to the present day. The territory appertaining to it is only inferior in geographical extent to that owned by Russia in Asia, while, on the other hand, it is much more productive and more thickly populated. Over a considerable portion of it, however, the supremacy of China is merely nominal, several places in Tartary being virtually independent, as also is Thibet.

The modern history of China commences properly with the conquest of the country by the successors of Chingez Khán, previous to which period it was not much known to the nations of the West, except by doubtful report. In the thirteenth century it was visited by Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, who repaired to it through Turkestán, and took service under Kublai Khán, the greatest monarch of his day. The first European nation to visit it by sea were the Portuguese, and Xavier sailed for it with the benevolent intention of converting it to Christianity, but died while off the coast, in 1552. In the commencement of the seventeenth century several Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, and Capuchins entered the country, and at first their success in conversion was not inconsiderable, though the heart of the country was not then, as it is not

even now, accessible to foreigners. All the attempts of the British government to open intercourse with China have been made mainly in connection with the opium-trade; and only recently, after much fighting and negotiation, have some twenty-four ports been opened to European traffic, and access given to Peking.

The population of China proper is estimated at above four hundred-millions, and has from time immemorial enjoyed a name for diligence. The cultivation of the earth is particularly prized, but no branch of art or industry is neglected. The consequence is that China produces everything that she requires for her own use; and it is wellknown that her manufactures are not much, if at all, inferior to those produced in Europe. In the construction and use of firearms, in printing and engraving, in the manufacture of silk, cotton-cloths, and earthenware, the Chinese have always taken the lead; and in the three last they do not yield the palm of superiority even now to any nation. But, unfortunately, Chinese civilisation is, or rather has hitherto been, stereotyped, and this has operated as a great bar to improvement. Set anything before a Chinese workman, and he will readily produce its exact duplicate, although the tools he uses are few and clumsy as compared with those used by European artificers. There is no reason therefore why China should not be able to follow in the wake of the nations of Europe if she chooses to do so. What China is now best known to European nations for is her tea, which, grown elsewhere, never acquires the same flavour and quality.

The condition of the Chinese people is very low, because the despotism which governs them is very rigid. The power of the emperor is supreme, superior even to the laws. He is also the sole proprietor of the soil, which is let out to landholders, and through them underlet to tenants. In former times the government was patriarchal; but that phase of it has long disappeared, every sort of oppression having since been gradually introduced. The mandarins, imitating the sovereign, are extremely tyrannical, and

arrogate as much power under him as he arrogates over them; and the example is followed step by step to the lowest grade of officialism. The general religion of the country is Buddhism; but it has been correctly asserted that the worship of the emperor is the real religion of his subjects. All this accounts for the present excessive demoralization of the people; but there is nevertheless no doubt that China is yet the strongest power in Asia, England and Russia excepted. She has now an army either commanded or guided by European officers, and armed with European rifles; has conquered the Panthays, or Mussulman insurgents on the south-west; is planning the conquest of Yárkand as a revolted province; and every now and then threatens a demonstration in the direction of Nepál, and is not unanxious to measure swords with Cashmere. In the arts of peace her superiority is still more marked and decisive. She anticipated Europe in many of the most important inventions, and the progress she made she has retained. Her conservatism also has since commenced to die out, for railways and telegraph cables have begun to be appreciated; and this promises a still further advance for her in the future.

Japan.

The next state to notice is the island empire of Japan, or Zipangu, supposed by some authorities to be an offshoot of China, and by others of Tartary, which was first brought to the notice of Europe by Marco Polo. The annals of the country fix the foundation of its monarchy at some seven hundred years before the Christian era. The government is hereditary and theocratical, the emperor or Mikado being both king and high-priest. The offices were separated in the sixteenth century, in the reign of Taiko Sama, who took to himself the title of Koboe, or lay emperor; and, for a long time after, Japan continued to have two emperors at one and the same time-namely, the Mikado, or ecclesiastical emperor, and the Tycoon, or secular emperor-the

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