m its vivifying and soothing influence.

During the early part of the last century, the peasants of the
Moldo-Wallachian provinces were enfranchised, but have not yet obtained
the right of property legislation. Being contiguous to Poland and
Hungary, their attention is naturally called to all the noise of reform
and to all the social questions that agitate the two countries. Unless
concessions are made, unless the peasant is recognized as proprietor of
the soil of which to-day he is but the farmer, a revolution will take
place, in which the Sublime Porte will lose these provinces as
effectually as it did the pashalies. It is not absolutely necessary,
though it would be judicious, to give Moldavia and Wallachia the same
political organization as Servia enjoys. The question now, is not of
rulers, whether they shall be sent from the divan or chosen from the
people; but is of property legislation and municipal institutions.

In all his reforms, the sultan should remember that the material upon
which he is to operate lies in the peasantry.

The empire, however, cannot be thoroughly reformed merely by
enfranchising the peasants, by introducing European customs, by
organizing new armies, building barracks, and establishing custom
houses. These improvements are the sign of a vigorous national impulse
and prosperity; they are the result, not the rudiments of civilization.
The fact that the sultan wears French boots and supplies his seraglio
with the latest Parisian modes signifies nothing.

In its palmy days, Turkey relied for success on its courage and love of
military glory; now its welfare and very existence depend upon the
peaceful arts of civilized life. The prosperity of the people measures
the condition of the empire. But how can an ignorant people prosper? The
time has come when a reform in the educational system of Turkey is
emphatically demanded. There must be intelligence among the people, and
educated men in the cabinet as well as brave men in the field. The
innovating sultans of the last century have done much for the
reconstruction of the broken political fabric of the empire; they have
organized a new and powerful army and navy; they have facilitated
commercial intercourse, but have done scarcely anything for the
diffusion of knowledge among their subjects.

All the knowledge in the empire is concentrated in the ulemas and
lawyers. The members of the Sublime Porte and other state officers, with
but few except