e
south, Bulgarians in the east, and Servians in the north-east. Most of
the Albanians forsook Christianity and are among the most fanatical and
warlike upholders of Islam; but in their turbulent clan-life they often
defy the authority of the Sultan, and uphold it only in order to keep
their supremacy over the hated and despised Greeks and Bulgars on their
outskirts. Last among the non-Turkish races of the Balkan Peninsula are
a few Wallachs in Central Macedonia, and Greeks; these last inhabit
Thessaly and the seaboard of Macedonia and of part of Roumelia. It is
well said that Greek influence in the Balkans extends no further inland
than that of the sea breezes.

Such is the medley of races that complicates the Eastern Question. It
may be said that Turkish rule in Europe survives owing to the racial
divisions and jealousies of the Christians. The Sultan puts in force the
old Roman motto, _Divide et impera_, and has hitherto done so, in the
main, with success. That is the reason why Islam dominates Christianity
in the south-east of Europe.

This brief explanation will show what are the evils that affect Turkey
as a whole and her Christian subjects in particular. They are due to the
collision of two irreconcilable creeds and civilisations, the Christian
and the Mohammedan. Both of them are gifted with vitality and
propagandist power (witness the spread of the latter in Africa and
Central Asia in our own day); and, while no comparison can be made
between them on ideal grounds and in their ethical and civic results, it
still remains true that Islam inspires its votaries with fanatical
bravery in war. There is the weakness of the Christians of south-eastern
Europe. Superior in all that makes for home life, civilisation, and
civic excellence, they have in time past generally failed as soldiers
when pitted against an equal number of Moslems. But the latter show no
constructive powers in time of peace, and have very rarely assimilated
the conquered races. Putting the matter baldly, we may say that it is a
question of the survival of the fittest between beavers and bears. And
in the Nineteenth Century the advantage has been increasingly with
the former.

These facts will appear if we take a brief glance at the salient
features of the European history of Turkey. After capturing
Constantinople, the capital of the old Eastern Empire, in the year 1453,
the Turks for a time rapidly extended their power over the neighbouring
Chris