One other remark may be necessary. Such a work at the present moment, when we are on the point of undertaking a great war in behalf of the Turks, may seem without meaning, unless it conducts the reader to some definite conclusions, as to what is to be wished, what to be done, in the present state of the East; but a minister of religion may fairly protest against being made a politician. Political questions are mainly decided by political expediency, and only indirectly and under circumstances fall into the province of theology. Much less can such a question be asked of the priests of that Church, whose voice in this matter has been for five centuries unheeded by the Powers of Europe. As they have sown, so must they reap: had the advice of the Holy See been followed, there would have been no Turks in Europe for the Russians to turn out of it. All that need be said here in behalf of the Sultan is, that the Christian Powers are bound to keep such lawful promises as they have made to him. All that need be said in favour of the Czar is, that he is attacking an infamous Power, the enemy of God and man. And all that need be said by way of warning to the Catholic is, that he should beware of strengthening the Czar's cause by denying or ignoring its strong point. It is difficult to understand how a reader of history can side with the Spanish people in past centuries in their struggle with the Moors, without wishing Godspeed, in mere consistency, to any Christian Power, which aims at delivering the East of Europe from the Turkish yoke. THE TURKS. I. THE MOTHER COUNTRY OF THE TURKS. LECT. PAGE 1. The Tribes of the North 1 2. The Tartars 19 II. THE DESCENT OF THE TURKS. 3. The Tartar and the Turk 48 4. The Turk and the Saracen 74 III. THE CONQUESTS OF THE TURKS. 5. The Turk and the Christian 104 6. The Pope and the Turk 131 IV. THE PROSPECTS OF THE TURKS. 7. Barbarism and Civilization 159 8. The Past and Present of the Ottomans 183 9. The Future of the Ottomans 207 Note 230 Chronological Tables 235 * * * * * I. THE MOTHER COUNTRY OF THE TURKS. * * * * * LECTURE 1. _The Tribes of the North._ 1.