at the Court of Constantinople. The tion to remove every cause of legitiquestion of race naturally enters largely mate discontent; but in the meantime into the situation, and in some territories circumstances were occurring which prehas produced so deep an effect that Mussul- cipitated a terrible collision. The Turkish man, Greek, and Catholic Slavs, have been forces, confident in their new strength, found to declare their resolution to discard gave themselves up to the ostentatious differences of creed in everything which display of their ancient and contemptuous concerned their common nationality. As hatred for the Giaours. The little rebetween the Turkish Government and the straint which their officers seem to have Christian populations, the difference of been able or willing to exercise over them creed is still the insurmountable obstacle. failed entirely at the affair of Griza. In A Government which can only cease to be consequence of a collision between some intolerant at the cost, in its own eyes, soldiery of the Nizam and the inhabitants of committing sacrilege; a Government of the little village of Griza, all the male which is more an Established Church than population of the hamlet were put to the an Established State, must find it practi- sword, and, more horrible still, fourteen cally impossible to reconcile its pretensions Albanian women were murdered with reas the True Belief with the independent volting barbarity. The bloody battle or rights of a great and growing Christian massacre of Skutari was the climax of the population. Recent events in Albania mutual_animosity and rage. A division have demonstrated this fact anew in a of the Turkish army, fully equipped with tragic manner. breech-loaders, artillery, and mitrailleuses, attacked a body of four thousand Christian Albanians. The battle was long and desperate. For five hours the fierce sons of the mountain, with their antiquated firelocks and rude hanjars or cutlasses, maintained the contest against troops supplied with the best appliances of European warfare. Swept down from afar by the volleys of unknown engines of destruction, their heroic daring only exposed them to useless slaughter. When at length they retreated to their hills, they left the ground cumbered with the corpses of a fourth of their number. On the side of the Turks not a hundred men had fallen. The complaints against Ismael Pasha, the Governor of Albania, had for a long time fruitlessly appealed to the attention of the Turkish authorities. It was not until numerous and powerful Albanian clans the Albanians are as clannish as their fellow-kilts in the Scottish highlands -announced their intention of taking the law into their own hands that some heed began to be given to their protestations. Unfortunately the sort of heed that was vouchsafed them was not of a character to tend to their satisfaction. The heads of three of the most influential tribes were thrown into prison, and matters promised to go on as before. The relatives of the The events at Skutari have only inflamed imprisoned chieftains had no mind, how- the courage of the mountaineers. On the ever, to let matters go on as before. They 26th of August, a week after the battle, took up arms, a proceeding considerably the Albanian chieftains met in council at facilitated by the fact that every bold Mellassija, and unanimously resolved to mountaineer habitually carries his arms continue the struggle. The soldiers of on his person. Frightened refugees to the Porte, as brave it must be confessed Skutari, bringing the news that all the as ferocious, may despise the resentment passes were beset by the insurgents, and of ill-armed and undisciplined hillsmen, that an attack on the city was meditated, and count on stamping out the insurrecrudely awakened the Divan to a perception in fire and blood. But it may well tion of the troubles which awaited the be that Albania does not stand alone. Turkish tenure of Albania. There fol- Already, it is with difficulty that the fearlowed some customary measures of con- less Montenegrins, the thirty thousand ciliation. Eighteen regiments of the Black Mountainers, are kept from turning Turkish regular army, or Nizam, were their new weapons, the modern rifles with despatched to Albania under Mehemed which the disinterested affection of Russia Aali Pasha; and, pending the arrival of has armed them, against the detested enethis immense reinforcement, the revolted mies of their faith and race. The HerzeAlbanians were assured of every consider- govina and Bosnia are in a ferment. The ation. We can hope that these assurances hundred thousand warriors of Servia have were made in good faith. Unfortunately, every sort of military armament and munievents did not cease from taking the worst direction. On his arrival, indeed, Mehemed Aali declared his resolu tion, from bayonets to forage, in perfect order and ready for instant service. A signal would be sufficient to throw Euro pean Turkey, from the mouths of the province, which may now be looked проп Danube to the gulf of Arta, into a blaze as a matter of certainty, the banner of the of universal insurrection. We have no Crescent has been advanced nearly a hesitation in saying that it is purely a thousand miles from the most southward matter of consideration whether the present or a little time hence is the favourable moment that will decide upon the giving or withholding of that signal. post of modern Turkey. It is probable that, within a very short period, the vedettes of Muchtar Pasha, the present Turkish commander in Yemen, will be In Asiatic Turkey there is hardly less visible from the walls of the British fortpeace, though there is less danger. The ress of Aden. It is a matter of regret that vigorous policy of the late Vizier, un- the climate and the fatigue have told so thwarted by any serious religious difficul- heavily on Redif Pasha, to whose zeal and ties, was here applied with more success. ability the victory of the Turkish arms is The rebels of Mesopotamia and of Arabia mainly owing, that he has been struck have alike had to acknowledge the mate- down by severe sickness, and that, aerial supremacy of the Father of the Faith-cording to the latest accounts, there is ful. In the case of the Arabian insur- hardly any hope of the gallant young gents, we suspect that some gentle pres- General's recovery. sure will be applied to make the spiritual headship of the Lord of a Thousand Wives a little more binding on the Wahabite Puritans than has hitherto been the case. Everywhere in the East, indeed, the iron resolution which Aali Pasha communicated to the subordinate officials has been exerted to draw tighter the bonds of allegiance, and, where only a nominal subjection hitherto existed, to convert it into a real one. In the Villajet of Haleb, the ancient Aleppo, the nomad Anezers had been accustomed to pay no more than a formal homage to the majesty of the Sultans. The first attempt to reduce them to a more dutiful condition provoked a general rising. Some detachments of Turkish troops were defeated with severe loss, and the bold horsemen of the tribe kept all the country in terror between Mussul and Diarbekir. The Anezers have .been taught by a severe lesson that the payment of taxes is the proper interpretation of the maxim of respect for the Vicar of the Prophet of God. The wild Schamras round about Bagdad had eluded, amid the wastes of Arabia Deserta, successive expeditions intended, indeed, for their souls' profit, but suspected of a tendency towards their bodies' discomfort. A strong force of regulars and irregulars at length succeeded in cornering the fugitives on the banks of the Tigris, and the Schamras have been brought to acknowledge that the mercy of the Sultan in leaving half of them alive can only be requited by an eternity of filial and pious fidelity — certain to last until the next opportunity for plunder and freedom. The firmness and good fortune which have signalized Turkish policy in the Asiatic dominions of the Sultan, together with the benefits which must accrue from bringing the Bedouin marauders into obedience, lead to reflections upon the contrast, in every way painful, which Turkish rule must continue to present in Europe. In Asia the Turks are immeasurably superior to the wild races who alone come into competition with them. Under such circumstances, there can come little but good from the assertion of their supremacy. The Turks, with all their sloth and prejudice, have many of the qualities of a governing race. Probably no other sick man ever took so long in dying as the chronic invalid of the Bosphorus, nor is he dead yet. On the other hand, Turkish supremacy is simply incompatible with the European nature and traditions, the Aryan pride of race, of the various Christian nationalities over whom the heir of Mohammed II. and Sultan Ilderim still exercise a mastery, which must inevitably be a tyranny. Sooner or later, most probably very soon, that tyranny must determine once for all. It would be a wise policy to prepare the way by extending the principle of autonomy with the greatest possible quickness to all the States of the Balkan and the Danube. Turkey might, then, profitably devote herself to the consolidation of her power in the climate to which she naturally belongs, and among the races which can be brought to feel some reverence for her. Turks themselves are conscious that they are only encamped in Europe. Massacres, Beyond all comparison, the most import- like those at Skutari and Griza, will not ant triumphs of the Turkish arms have convert that transient occupancy into been achieved in the re-conquest of Yemen, legitimate possession. The only result of the Happy Arabia of the poets. By the suppressing the independent aspirations settlement of this fertile and extensive of Albania, Bulgaria, and the rest, will be The From The Examiner. NEXT OF KIN. to hand them over one day or another, The limit, if any one be drawn, must be The strange fact that so many millions are without any recognized owner arises from a very doubtful rule of law. When a person dies leaving money, and without making a will, it descends to his next of kin ad infinitum. Not only his fifty-first but his hundred and first cousin may, in the absence of any nearer kin, succeed. Is it desirable that there should be no limit to the number of persons who may have a claim on the personal estate of dead men? The theory that is supposed to countenance this principle of distribution is that the law does for the deceased what he would have done for himself if he had made a will. The law makes a will for him. The ordinary testator leaves his property to his kindred; hence it may be inferred that a man who does not make a will is content that his property should go to his relatives. There is unquestionably some ground for this assumption, but it will not go far. Either the deceased had some wishes with regard to the disposition of his property, or he had not. If he had, and neglected to give effect to them, from superstitious feelings, or from procrastination or other cause, it is a pity that the intended objects of his bounty should suffer by his neglect, more especially if they have been taught to expect a legacy. But, perhaps and the case is not rare the deceased had no desire to leave his property to his relatives, or did not make a will simply because he had no wishes to carry out. In this last case the State would have a preferable claim; in the former, its claim would still be good, although, perhaps, it should be enforced with consideration. If perfect freedom of bequest is left with owners of property, and by their own lachess disappointment is created, upon them must the blame fall. Accordingly Mr. Mill has argued in favour of a very great restriction on the succes-ly ever extend beyond grandchildren; and sion of relatives, and his opinion has been it includes only those who are presumably endorsed by a lawyer whose acquaintance bound to support one another. The secwith the law of property is unsurpassed, ond rule would avoid a seeming hardship, Mr. Joshua Williams, Q.C. There are two but it is based on sentimental grounds, rules, either of which would accomplish and might be difficult to uphold. When the object in view. The first rule'would once we pass beyond those who are bound permit children, grandchildren, or descend-in distress to support each other, upon ants ad infinitum to succeed to the proper- whom therefore a legal duty rests of proty of their parents, or remoter ascendants; viding for one another, we get beyond but it would exclude brothers and sisters, firm ground. The succession of brothers and, of course, cousins; and remoter con- is properly only a matter of bounty, and nections of the same kind. The second so far their claims would not be greater rule would allow brothers and sisters to than those of remoter kindred. Either succeed to one another, but not cousins or rule, however, would rid us of the evils of aunts and nephews, and it would restrict the present system, would bring a little the succession among ascendants to grand-money into the Exchequer, and would parents or grandchildren. The advantages save thousands of poor people from a willof the first rule are plain; it proceeds on o'-the-wisp chase after fortunes that may the kind of relationship, and would scarce- not exist, or cannot be recovered. tains a very varied, if not very well digested, mass of classical and historical learning. We have Polycrates and Jason, Genseric and Gregory the Great, besides many other proper names, in little more than a single column; besides many passages sparkling with the beau Pall Mall Gazette. THE law-courts of some of the States of North America Indiana among others—are distinguished for the ease and readiness with which they grant divorces, but they would apparently have had to shorten their form of process if the Commune had not come to an untimely end last May. The following was the formula made use of by the Citizens Michel and Aubry, who acted as secretaries to a commissary of police in Paris under the Commune: THE proposed examination of the bed of the Tiber will doubtless bring to light many objects of interest, but we hardly dare to hope that the results of the search will equal the scholarly anticipations of the Daily Telegraph. Whatever may be thought of the probabilities of bringing to light the receipt-book of Esculapius, or ties peculiar to this journal. the missing scrolls of Livy," those curiosities, if found, would have little value compared with "the sword which Camillus flung into the scales to make up the price of Rome." Such a relic would have a peculiar interest for Brennus, King of the Gauls, who has hitherto been supposed to be the hero of this incident. We agree with the Telegraph that "some of Hannibal's African javelins may be there deep adown," and underneath them" spear-blades of the Fabii; " but we must withhold our opinions as to the chances of finding "the pot in which Tiberius cooked his great turbot"-and content ourselves with a hope that this vessel, if brought to light, will be distinguishable from the pot in which Domitian cooked his great turbot the only one with which we can claim to have an acquaintance. The art treasures which may be reclaimed from the bed of the river will doubtless be valuable, but whether they will contain, as the Telegraph expects, goddesses diviner even than Milo's Venus," our want of acquaintance with the works of that sculptor forbids us from hazarding a surmise. But a comparison of such goddesses with the "Venus of Milo,” or, in other words, "the Melian Ve- We regret to say that the Citizens Michel and nus,” will, perhaps, afford us almost as trust-Aubry were respectively condemned by M. Cazworthy a means of estimating their merit. On enave, the police magistrate, to twelve and six the whole, however, the article of the Telegraph months' imprisonment for usurpation of legal is deserving of high commendation, and con- functions. ing recognized that, owing to the incompatibility of their characters, life in common has become in supportable for them, have agreed to ask for a friendly (a l'aimable) separation, which has been granted them. In consequence, they are, and remain, separated, and are not to be troubled (inqui étés) by each other. Done, in a triple copy, at Paris floréal, year 78. The Citizen A-- and the Citizeness B- hav the Signed by the parties concerned, by the Commissary of Police, and witnesses. 4. FLEUR DE LYS: A STORY OF THE LATE WAR,. Cornhill Magazine, Blackwood's Magazine, . NEW CENSUS AND PATENT LAWS. New York: Munn & Co. Price 25 cents. NUMBERS OF THE LIVING AGE WANTED. The publishers are in want of Nos. 1179 and 1180 (dated respectively Jan. 5th and Jan. 12th, 1867) of THE LIVING AGE. To subscribers, or others, who will do us the favor to send us either or both of those numbers, we will return an equivalent, either in our publications or in cash, until our wants are supplied. PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY BY LITTELL & GAY, BOSTON. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. FOR EIGHT DOLLARS, remitted directly to the Publishers, the LIVING AGE will be punctually for. warded for a year, free of postage. 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