We, therefore, do not believe that the Czar covets the possession of Constantinople, except as a precautionary measure to prevent it from becoming an instrument of danger to Russia, just as Cuba may become dangerous to the United States through the same causes. It does not appear probable that he wishes to extend his dominion over the vast congregation of bigoted Mussulmans, who could never be brought into either civil or religious harmony with the great mass of his subjects. Hitherto, the conquests of Russia in the Turkish dominions have been not so much of Turks as of Tartars, originally forced into subjection to the Crescent; and it will be observed by those who critically analyze her policy, that her efforts of late have been in a great measure directed toward the acquisition of territories in which the Christian greatly predominated over the Mussulman population. We may instance, in proof of this, the kingdom of Armenia, the province of Bessarabia, and the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, where the Christians outnumber the Mussulmans more than three to one. The motive alleged by the Czar, in justification of his present policy toward Turkey, is the protection of this population from the oppression and tyranny of the Ottoman government. We will not undertake to say that this is his sole object; but he is probably quite as sincere as the British government in its protectorate of the Musquito king, and his handful of mongrel savage subjects; or his imperial majesty of France, in his zeal, for the protection of the Holy Sepulchre.

It seems to us that the possession of Constantinople would be of no advantage to the Czar, except in so far as it would at all times insure a free passage to his fleets and his commerce from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. No one, we presume, believes, that he contemplates removing the seat of power from the shores of the Baltic to the borders of the Propontis, in imitation of the Roman emperor, Constantine; and thus establish an Eastern instead of a Western empire. He has already two capitals-one on the borders, the other in the interior of his vast domain; and it is not likely that he would be permitted, however despotic he may be, to abandon St. Petersburg and Moscow for Constantinople. That city would thus continue a sort of excrescence on the body of the empire, in the hands of a population of hundreds of thousands of disaffected people, estranged from all community. of feelings or principles with the rest of his subjects, disciples of a hostile, bigoted faith, and cherishing in their hearts the remembrance of ages of bloody rivalry. Such a possession we

should think not very desirable, provided the free passage of the Dardanelles could be equally secured for all future time by any other means. The Czar has repeatedly disclaimed all intention of taking forcible possession of Constantinople; and, for aught we know, his professions are as much to be relied on as those of his royal cotemporaries.

But, whatever may be the objects of the Czar, in his late negotiations with the Sultan and his Dry Nurses, we should bear in mind that the present war, which however and whensoever it may terminate, will cost oceans of blood, was begun by the Sultan, and that it was not the Emperor Nicholas, but the entente cordiale, that issued the first declaration of hostilities, which evidently took him by surprise. It should be recollected, too, that the joint military occupation of the Danubian Principalities by the Russians, had been conceded to that power by the treaty of Adrianople, and more than one subsequent convention. Yet this occupation was made the basis of a declaration of war by the Sultan, and the invasion of the Crimea by the Allied powers. It will aid us, too, in forming a more correct view of the present position of the Czar, and to decide whether he merits the imputations of treachery and want of faith so liberally bestowed on him by the British and French press, if we call to our recollection the notorious fact, that when the ministers of Russia, Austria, Prussia, France, and England had agreed on a basis for adjusting all difficulties between the different parties, including Turkey, the Czar promptly acceded to the terms of their joint-note, while the Sultan, instigated by the British ambassador, Lord Redcliffe, answered by a declaration of war against Russia. Well might the Czar complain that there were two British Cabinets-one at London, the other at Constantinople. Who, then, are the aggressors in this war-the Czar, or the Sultan and his protectors?

As to that insatiable ambition of which the Emperor Nicholas is accused, to us it seems nothing more than adopting and prosecuting a system of policy which, if successfully accomplished, will greatly contribute to the prosperity of the people he governs; and, in our opinion, this is one of the great objects of every wise ruler, and every good government. We despise "solidarity" from our souls, and are not among those who believe in the "community of nations," or in the possibility of combining their conflicting interests in one great common bond of union; nor are we disciples of the great apostle of the "higher law," who, while prating about the "general welfare

of the entire human race," and the community of interests which should unite them all in one great family, is pursuing a course which directly tends to dissolve all the fraternal bonds that link his countrymen together, and sever the Union into fragments. We believe that the first duty of a citizen, or a sovereign is to his country, and that though neither may violate the obligations of justice towards other nations, both should invariably incline towards their own. The soil of their country is their parent, to whom they owe the love and obedience of children. Community can not exist among nations. The dispersion at the Tower of Babel was a penalty for the presumption of mankind, and we see no reason to believe they will ever be united again.

The policy of the Czar is that of Russia. It is not the result of a craving and senseless ambition for the acquisition of territory, but of a proper regard to the great interests of the sixty millions of people he governs. It is emphatically a national policy based on unchangeable principles. It commenced with Peter the Great, whom it is no disgrace to imitate, at least in his public acts, and has been handed down as an heir-loom to all his successors. The Emperor Nicholas is acting in accordance with a great national sentiment, of which he is the organ and expositor. Whatever may be his ulterior views, it can not be denied that in all his late treaties with the Ottoman Porte, he has shown himself the friend and protector of the religion and rights of a race of millions of Christians, subjected for a period of five hundred years to the intolerable sway of a relentless, bigoted despotism which, not content with depriving them of every vestige of civil and religious rights, degraded them below the level of humanity, and called them "Christian dogs."

Despotic as is the Czar, he can not justly be called a tyrant, nor can he be accused of being the oppressor of his subjects. On the contrary, there is not among all his cotemporaries a monarch so fully and entirely possessed of the affections of his people. He is the great patriarch of his innumerable tribe. They look to him as a parent, and we have, every day, proofs that they stand ready to offer up their lives in his service. Their loyalty to his person is identified with their patriotism, and the love of their country inseparably intertwined with their devotion to the Czar. If the people of Russia are slaves, they are voluntary slaves, and adore their master. If they are content to be slaves, let them be slaves. It is no business of ours. The Czar does not reign over us, nor is there any reason to believe he will ever aspire to that distinction. For ourselves,

we frankly confess our sympathies as between himself and England and France, are all on the side of Russia. With respect to the Osmanlis, it is becoming every day more evident they are between hawk and buzzard, and that whatever may be the result of their present contest, their empire is doomed. The attempt to sustain it is like that of upholding a falling mountain. It must fall in spite of every effort, and it will be well if, in falling, it does not crush all beneath its ponderous ruins. And let it fall. For centuries it has been the oppressor of the East, the insuperable obstacle to the regeneration of Asia, if it is ever to be regenerated. Every dog has his day, and so has every nation. They must all take their turn. They "come like shadows, so depart," and if they continue to exist at all, it is only in the legends of tradition or the romance of history. Some last longer than others; but as sure as fate, they all die the death of sinners. The oppressors become in turn the oppressed; and the decree of Providence is thus vindicated in visiting the sins of the father on his posterity even unto the third and fourth generation. This awful and impressive truth has been exemplified in the history of nations from time immemorial. As the Osmanlis say, "It is Kismet "-destiny. In other words, it is the will of God, that the corruptions, crimes, and follies of nations should be punished by their final overthrow. But however this may be, if justice is due even to an enemy, we should at least accord it to a friend. The Czar now stands in that position towards the United States, and is associated with them, not only as presenting an insuperable obstacle to the great scheme of the entente cordiale for regulating the balance of power in the new as well as the old world, but as a party with them in maintaining the rights of neutrals, and the freedom of the seas. Let not then the people of the United States become the dupes of a foreign influence, reinforced by the Anglo-American press, and join in the hue and cry against Nicholas of Russia.

RAMBLES AND RECREATIONS IN SOUTHERN

MEXICO.

CHAPTER L-GOLDEN DREAMS.

A VAGABOND tradition had reached the "white settlements,' in one of our Southern States, that in a certain remote province of Mexico, treasures abounded that would load a ship. The quantities of gold and silver and jewels of price that were supposed to be entombed there in out-of-the-way receptacles, and to lie vagrant in water-courses and babbling streamlets, were estimated as sufficient to make the fortunes of any number of adventurers who might possess sufficient enterprise to go in search of them.

There were found those who had the faculty of hope in suf ficient development, and that of discretion correspondingly depressed, to undertake a wild expedition in search of the treasures of which so much had thus been heard and vaunted. The sequel to the expedition, in consequence undertaken, will be found in these rambling recreations.

How the idea got out that so much lucre was scattered about in the wilds of that far-off Aztec territory, and buried under the mountains, people may naturally inquire, without incurring the suspicion of overcharged curiosity. We will enlighten them.

An ancient Mexican-a biped venerable for years and redo lent of the fumes of a much-cherished weed-had wandered out to the "white settlements," in the Southern State aforesaid, and in doing so encountered us, who were afterwards to become his companions in this second Argonautic expedition in search of another golden fleece.

He was a garrulous old Aztec-that ancient wanderer-and delighted to hear the twang of his own peculiar larynx. The marvels he related fell like fairy tales on our maiden ima