FROM the prophecies of Daniel 11 and Revelation 9 and 16, we are fully warranted in believing that the Ottoman Empire, growing weaker and weaker through disintegration, will finally remove its capital from Constantinople to Jerusalem, and then, left without friend or helper, "he shall come to his end." Not alone the remote possibility, but the likely probability, that Turkey must soon do this, is the unwilling acknowledgment of the Turkish press, as well as the expectancy of practically all Europe. The attitude of the Russian people, and for that matter the large majority of Europe, is well expressed by the Zaprosy Zhizni, a leading paper of St. Petersburg, as quoted in the Literary Digest for Dec. 21, 1912:—
"There has been revealed the complete impotence of the Turkish Empire. Turkey has really proved to be the 'sick man' that Montesquieu nicknamed in his 'Persian Letters.' True, Turkey has managed to keep up for almost two centuries after the death sentence pronounced by the great French jurist; sick people sometimes live long, but how is it to live with them! Therefore one can't help being glad that the Balkans will be liberated from the rule of the 'sick man on the Bosporus,' and one can't help sympathizing with the demand that he should go, forever, from Europe. 'The Balkans for the Balkan people' has now become the watchword of all Europe; even the Germans, who are hostile toward the Slavs, have adopted it, because it has another, a wider meaning, signifying also 'Europe for Europeans.'"
Recognizing this unfriendly sentiment, "the Sublime Porte," says the Literary Digest of December 28, "seems to be trembling at the prospect of a hostile peace commission gathered in London. Will anything be left us in Europe, Asia, or Africa? is asked by the Turkish press." The Ikdam, the leading newspaper of Constantinople, considers that all Europe is arrayed against Turkey, and that it is a conspiracy to rob her of her European possessions. We quote:—
"The whole movement shows that these conditions were known to the powers before they were presented to us. That nothing was said concerning the offer to the Ottoman government of such conditions as these certainly merits most careful consideration. It seems to me, also, as I find it expressed in some Budapest papers that I have read to-day that after this nothing is left us in Europe. The time is not remote when the word will be spoken by each of those great powers concerning our territory in Asia and Africa also. The effort to make us accept the above-mentioned conditions relating to European Turkey is not a good sign."
This paper feels that not only Turkey's European possessions are endangered by this threatening attitude of all Europe, but its Asiatic possessions as well. It says:—
"If Constantinople and its environs alone are left to us, we can no longer defend them. What remains will in a few years slip out of our hands. . . . After this Bulgaria and Servia will possess navies. Greece will strengthen and increase her navy, and the Ottoman state will not only be unable to defend Constantinople and its environs, but it will be impossible to defend the coast of Anatolia on the Mediterranean and Black Seas. We must hereafter have a navy equal to that of France in order to be able to defend our coast lines against two rivals. Is this possible?"
No; it will not be possible for Turkey to long withstand the strong tide which has set in against her. Her days are numbered. This feeling expressed by the Turkish editor seems to possess many of the minds of his countrymen. Despatches tell us that during the last few weeks thousands of the Turkish population have crossed the Bosporus and are finding permanent homes in Asia. This exodus is but the prelude of the more general exodus from Europe which will come in the near future.
Let us prepare our hearts for the things that are soon coming upon the earth, and let us in this day of opportunity bring to the attention of our fellows the relation which these thrilling events sustain to the prophecy of the Word. As mentioned last week, two good tracts have been prepared for this purpose, "Turkey and His End," by Elder E. E. Andross, and "The Eastern Question in the Light of Prophecy," by L. A. Smith. These may be obtained from the tract societies.