to have the right of a house to dwell in, or a single foot of soil in that land.  In all the domestic concerns of the province—­which for centuries has had a charter, by which the self-government of Wallachia and Moldavia was ensured—­it is worthy to mention that the Turk has never broken his oath.  Whereas in the European continent there is scarcely a single dynasty, whether king, prince, duke, or emperor, which has not broken faith before God and man.  Now, the existence of this Turkey, great as the present power of Europe is, is indispensable to the security of Europe.  You know that in the Crimea, in the time of Catherine, Potemkin wrote the words, “Here passes the way to Constantinople.”  The policy indicated by him at that time is always the policy of St. Petersburg; and it is of Constantinople that Napoleon rightly said, that the power which has it in command, if it is willing, is able, to rule three-quarters of the world.  Now, it is the intention, it is the consistent policy of the Russian cabinet, to lay hold of Constantinople; and therefore to protect the independent existence of Turkey is necessary to Europe:  for if Turkey be crushed, Russia becomes not only entirely predominant, as she already is, but becomes the single mistress of Asia and of Europe.  And to uphold this independence of Turkey, gentlemen, nothing is wanted but some encouragement from such a place as the United States.  Since Turkey has lost the possession of Buda in Hungary, its power is declining.  But why?  Because from that time European diplomatists began to succeed in persuading Turkey that she had no strength to stand by herself; and by and bye it became the rule in Constantinople that every petty interior question needed European diplomacy.  Now I say, Turkey has vitality such as not many nations have.  It has a power that not many have.  Turkey wants nothing but a consciousness of its own powers and encouragement to stand upon its own feet; and this encouragement, if it comes as counsel, as kind advice, out of such a place as the United States, I am confident will not only be thankfully heard, but also very joyfully followed.  That is the only thing which is wanted there.

And besides this political consideration that the existence of Turkey, as it is, is necessary to the future of Europe, there are also high commercial considerations proper to interest and attract the United States.  The freedom of commerce on the Danube is a law of nations guaranteed by treaties; and yet there exists no freedom.  It is in the hands of Russia.  Turkey, to be sure, is very anxious to re-establish freedom; but there is nobody to back her in her demands.  Turkey can also present to the manufacturing industry of such a country as the United States a far larger and more important market than all China, with her two hundred and fifty millions of inhabitants.