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PETER STREET, "WiTNKSb" rieople that are upon the face of the earth, and, nevertheless, is rotten to the core, so that from the sole of the feet, even unto the head, there is no soundness in it: a peasantry, ignorant and superstitious to the extreme, inspired by an unprincipled, corrupt and arrogant aristocracy : a debased priesthood, and an irresponsible Autocrat, styling himself the Vicar of Ciod upon earth, the Head of the only Catholic, Apos- tolic and Holy Church, supported by an immense army, most brave and stubborn, whose cradle songs speak to them of the fertile plains of Austria, Germany, Italy, France and England, as the future reward of their ortliotloxy ; such, said the paper, is the state of the northern patUnt, a thousand times more dangerous to the cause of civiUzation and true Christianity than tiie feeble Sultan of 'I'urkey, whose fate, however, is now decided. The paper, which was a very lengthy one, and written in French for the sake of greater precision, concluded thus : " For the sake of nearly 60,000,000 of our fellow-men, the Russian peasantry, so richly gifted, but so shamefully degraded by ignorance, superstition and fanaticism ; " For the sake of their political rights, trampled under foot by an arrogant nobility and an irresponsible autocrat ; " For the sake of the world's liberty and religion, threatened by the immense military power, yearly increasing with an alarm- ing rapidity, and concentrated in the hands of a crowned Pope, much, far more, to be dreaded than a Pio IX, or a Leo XIII ; " Finally, for the sake of the peace of Europe, constantly kept in jeopardy by a proud, powerful, subtle, deceitful and cruel nobility, highly cultivated, but as highly immoral and unprin- cipled ; a nobility which, to compass its ends, recoils from no crimes, and, 7vilh some rare exceptions, is the very essence of the worst Jesuitism, under a secular garb ; " We, in European Congress assembled, in the name of the God of truth, of justice, and of liberty, we dissolve the Empire of Russia, we depose the present Tzar, we assume in the name of God, all the religious, civil and military power and authority, thus far held by the Autocrat, by the Imperial Council, and by the Senate, and we will proceed at once to re-organize said Empire and the rest of Europe, in the way best calculated to secure the peace, the prosperity and the liberty of the nations we represent, or which we are anxious to benefit," i 6 The Congress was just going to send some of its members to read this manifesto to the Tzar, or, if necessary, to put him under arrest, when a telephonic despatch from the Chief of the Secret Police announced to the astounded meeting that the Tzar had suddenly left by a lightning express, that all the telephonic and telegraphic wires in the direction of Russia had been cut down, etc., etc. Alas! the Bear was gone, and it was soon found out that a young scapegrace of a Dane, secreted behind a kind of cup- board, had overheard the discussion and the reading of part of the paper, and had hastened to warn the Imperial Hear of the impending danger. It would be useless to rehearse now how Denmark was over- powered, and all her naval and military resources seized by Congress ; how Sweden and Norway, Turkey, Greece and China joined the coalition; how France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and the United States of America resolved to maintain a strict neutrality ; how fifty thousand Canadians joined the British arrny ; how an immense Australian contingent arrived too late for the fray, but were of great service in cooling doNvn the Irish ferment ; and how, in less than two months, the Congress had three great armies, numbering more than 3,000,000 men, marching upon Russia; all these have become hackneyed facts. The northern army, composed of 1,000,000 Germans, and 200,000 Scandinavians, and supported by an immense fleet of Scandinavian, German and English ships of all kinds, proceeded to occupy the Baltic provinces, the Duchy of Finland and Russian Poland. The southern army, 1,500,000 strong, composed of Austro- Hungarians, Germans, Italians, Greeks and Turks, and supported by another immense naval force of English, Italian, Turkish and t< t' Greek ships, marched on Southern ami Little Russia, the Provin- ces of Astrakan, Kasan and Caucasus. To the eastern army, nearly 1,000,000 strong, was assigned the task of occupying Central Asia, and all important and strategic points in Siberia and the Pacific Coast, and to check any aggres- sivc movements from Persia and Afghanistan. And as this army, with an enormous reserve, was composed of 500,000 Anglo- Indians, 300,000 Chinese and 200,000 exiles from Siberia, Turcomans, etc., they went con amore to the work, and did it very quickly too. To say that the Russian army fought most bravely, to describe the blowing up of Cronsiadt, the storming of St. Petersburgh, the death of Alexandrowitch, at the head of his nobility, upon the banks of the Dnieper, would only be repeating what everybody has read in the papers of the day, or may read in the illustrated books, published everywhere, and in every tongue. In less than two years, and with a loss of life and property far inferior to what might have been feared, Russia was overpowered, and the map of Europe recast in the following manner :— I. The German Empire, with a population of nearly 90,000,- 000, including all the German elements formerly contained in Russia and Austria- Hungary, besides Holland, with all her Colonial possessions. II. The Hungarian-Slavonic Empire, including all the non-Germanic population of the late Austria- Hungary, almost the whole of Poland, all the provinces that belonged to the Ottoman Empire in the time of Selim II, down to Greece, but with the exception of the Caucasian Provinces. This forms an Empire of 60,000,000 souls, with Constantinople as its chief city. The head of the Empire is called Emperor of Slavonia, and King- of Hungary and of Poland. 8 HI. The British Empire remains pretty much as it was before. New Guinea, and the divers Islands of the Northern Pacific have been ceded to it by Germany, who, with the former colonies of Holland, the whole of Borneo, and a good slice of territory in Africa, has enough to tax its immense resources. The frontiers of the British Empire in India are rectified according to its best interests. Persia, Afghanistan, Beloochistan, a part of Turkestan are placed under its Protectorate, and open to its emigration, its industry its commerce and its Christian civilization. IV. The Frr.vch Republic, now stronger than ever, with Freycinet as her President, has annexed Morocco, and has con- sented to make her Protectorate over Madagascar as limited as consistent with her dignity. And so anxious is Germany to gratify her susceptibilities, that a new scheme is said to be under consideration, by which Switzerland, Alsace-Lorraine, Luxem- bourg, and that portion of Belgium west of the IMeuse, with Antwerp as its chief sea-port, '■ ould become a new confederacy, under the title of the Helvetico-Alsatian Confederation, whose neutrality would be guaranteed by England, France, Germany, Italy and Hungary-Slavonia. The rest of Belgium would be annexed to France. Nice, the birth-place of the great Garibaldi, has become a little Republic under the Protectorate of England, France and Italy, to the immense joy of the Italians, who never cease to shout : Evviva la Francia ! V. Italy is now one of the great Powers of Europe. She has added to her territory all the Italian portions of Austria- Hungary, and of Turkey, and Tripoli ; she is the acknowledged Protector of Egypt, Nubia and the Soudan ; the Congo remains under the sway of the ex-King of the Belgians, and she can boast of a population of nearly 40,000 coo. 9 VI. Scandinavia has become a great second-rate power, comprising Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Lapland, Finland and the Baltic provinces, with a population of at least 20,000,000 and a constitution modelled upon that of the British Empire. VII. The new Kingdom of Greece is formed of all the territory belonging to ancient Greece, beginning at lat. 40° N., and bounded by a chain of mountains extending from the Tliermaic Gulf on the East, and terminating with the Acrocerau- nian promontory on the Adriatic, in the West, of all the islands formerly belonging to Turkey, with Cyprus, and even Malta. Greece has all the elements of prosperity ; her only continental neighbour, Hungary-Slavonia, is upon the best of terms with her. And if the Osmanlis should prove incompetent to keep and develop the new trust confided to them, Greece would certainly take their place. VIII. Spain and Portugal are jnst on the eve of cementing a union which, considering their own great resources, and the rich colonies they possess, may eventually raise the future Iberian Empire to the rank of a first-rate J'uropean Power. IX. And the Pope 1 The Pope } Well, the Congress, seeing that the Venerable Patriarch was unable to remain in the vicinity of the Quirinal, or to prevail upon Italy to give up Rome as her capital and retire to Naples, that he had lost almost all his influence over the Italian people, and was on the very brink of beggary, the Congress, with the Pope's consent, has removed him to the Island of Elba, erected into a sovereignty for him, and placed under the protection of the five (3reat Powers and of the new Iberian Empire. The King of Italy has kindly consented to transport into the Island and donate to the Western Patriarch a large share of the ecclesiastical, scientific and artistic treasures which for ages had accumulated in Rome, and he has guaranteed him an income 10 of twenty millions Italian francs. The Island of Elba is now connected with the continent by a map^nificent iron bridge, built at the expense of the (jreat Powers. Its original population of 30,000 is governed by a Council of twelve, elected by the people, and a civil, naval and military Governor, apj)ointed every four years by the Pope. Should any conflict arise between the Pope and the Council, the Ambassadors of the six Protecting Powt-rs, or their legal representatives, constitute a Supreme Court to dtMjide without appeal, the head of the Consistory being the President, t'x-(>tficio of such Supreme Court, with a casting vole. A military force of 2,000 men, and a small squadron mounted by fifty guns, is kept in the Island, at the expense of the Powers, all the able- bodied men in the Island are besides thoroughly drilletl as gunners and rillemeii, and fortifications, on a gigantic scale, havu been erected by French and German engineers, and have rendered the Island absolutely imp<-egnal)le, except by famine. And as all the Roman Catholic nations, and all the wealthy men in every land, vie with each other to cover the interior of Elba with palaces and churches, built on a most stupendous scale of magnificence, it will soon become the wonder of the world. Hut rumors of great changes to be made in the choice of the Cardinals and in the election of the future Pope, are freely circulated, some even go further, and broadly hint that a thorough reformation (jf the Church will coincide with the advent of a new Pope; that the (jreek, Latin and Anglican Churches will form a corporate union, with the I'ope as President and th(; Greek and Anglican patriarchs as Vice-Presidents. . . .but these are things loo deep for one who is not even a scullion in the service of his Holiness. X. After the Pope, it seems (juile natural to speak of the Padishah, the Commander of the Faithful in the Ivist, whc now reigns supreme over Turkey in Asia, Arabia and the Caucasian 11 Provinces, with a population of about 30,000,000, and a territory suflicient to support splendidly four times that number. An army of occupation of 1 00,000 men will remain in the new ICmpire until all things are perfectly organized, and the most ample protection is secured to all races and creeds. That army is furnished, in equal portions, by Germany, Hnngary-Slavonia, Italy, France and England, is paid by them, and is placed under the supreme command of a French general, assisted by a council composed of one general from each of the four other powers, and two Turkish generals. XI. Palestine, however, forms an Israelitic State, under the protection of all the great Powers, of Turkey, and of the United States of America. The Sons of Israel, all over the earth, are flocking to it, and immense preparations are made to rebuild the Temple of Solomon. XII. The Empire of the Tzars exists no more. The Muscovite Empire has taken its place. It comprises Great, Little and part of Western Russia, Kasan, Siberia, and such portions of Central Asia which China did not claim as her own, or which could be left to jMuscovy without any danger to the States placed under the Protectorate of Great Britain. Muscovy is thus shut up from the Baltic, the White Sea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoff, but a ZoUvercin just concluded with Scandinavia, Hungary-Slavonia and Germany, her three neighbors, give her free access to all these seas for all commercial purposes ; she has, besides, within her borders, access to the Caspian Sea, which puts her in contact with the Turkish and Persian Empires, and the Powers of Central Asia, and to the Pacific Ocean, which opens to her the trade of the whole world. It still possesses a population of nearly 50,000,000 and a territory large and rich enough to maintain 200,000,000. It is no longer considered as a European Power, but rather as a sort 12 of semi-barbaric state, such as Turkey, Persia, China and Japan. Germany, however, is very anxious to see Muscovy re-admitted into the Council of the Great Powers, and is strongly supported in her views by Scandinavia, France and Italy. It has finally been decided to re-admit her on the following conditions : 1. The abolition of the e.xile into Siberia for political or religious causes. 2. The abolition of the use of the knout for the men. and of the ivhip for the girls and women. 3. The separation of Church and State, and the establishment of a Constitutional Monarchy, securing to every Muscovite all the liberties that are enjoyed by a British subject. 4. Primary education made compulsory to all, in order that every Muscovite may soon learn that his is not the most intelli- gent, the most moral, the most religious and the most warlike nation upon the face of the earth. 5. The abolition of all the present hereditary and personal nobility, and the transportation, in a given time, of the whole lot (^the curse of old Russia !J upon the shores of the Amoor, with sufficient means to settle there as farmers, and earn their bread at the sweat of their face; the rest of their property to be confiscated for the benefit of the Exiles in Siberia, and the balance left, if any, to form a Primary Education Fund for the ample support of the teachers. Will Muscovy accept these conditions ? God only knows. PELISSANSKV January ist, 1892. '■ri