tion relatively to those
nations, which they would simply forfeit if they abandoned it. It would
require clear proof of the fact, to credit in their instance the report
of a change of mind, which antecedently is so improbable.

And next it must be borne in mind that, few as may be the Osmanlis, yet
the raw material of the Turkish nation, represented principally by the
Turcomans, extends over half Asia; and, if it is what it ever has been,
might under circumstances be combined or concentrated into a formidable
Power. It extends at this day from Asia Minor, in a continuous tract, to
the Lena, towards Kamtchatka, and from Siberia down to Khorasan, the
Hindu Cush, and China. The Nogays on the north-east of the Danube, the
inhabitants of the Crimea, the populations on each side of the Don and
Wolga, the wandering Turcomans who are found from the west of Asia,
along the Euxine, Caspian, and so through Persia into Bukharia, the
Kirghies on the Jaxartes, are said to speak one tongue, and to have one
faith.[92] Religion is a bond of union, and language is a medium of
intercourse; and, what is still more, they are all Sunnites, and
recognize in the Sultan the successor of Mahomet.

Without a head, indeed, to give them a formal unity, they are only one
in name. Nothing is less likely than a resuscitation of the effete
family of Othman; still, supposing the Ottomans driven into Asia, and a
Sultan of that race to mount the throne, such as Amurath, Mahomet, or
Selim, it is not easy to set bounds to the influence the Sovereign
Pontiff of Islam might exert, and to the successes he might attain, in
rallying round him the scattered members of a race, warlike, fanatical,
one in faith, in language, in habits, and in adversity. Nay, even
supposing the Turkish Caliph, like the Saracenic of old, still to
slumber in his seraglio, he might appoint a vicegerent, Emir-ul-Omra, or
Mayor of the Palace, such as Togrul Beg, to conquer with his authority
in his stead.

But, supposing great men to be wanting to the Turkish race, and the
despair, natural to barbarians, to rush upon them, and defeat,
humiliation, and flight to be their lot; supposing the rivalries and
dissensions of Pachas, in themselves arguing no disaffection to their
Sultan and Caliph, should practically lead to the success of their too
powerful foes, to the divulsion of their body politic, and the partition
of their territory; should this be the distant event to which the
present