It may be objected that Turkey has been represented "en couleur de rose." If that roseate hue has been given, the odorous flower has been presented with all its thorns, divested of the verdure which might have concealed their bristling points.
But the sweetest rose may preserve its pure essence and odor, even while growing amid wild and poisonous roots; and if the noxious weeds can be uprooted, Turkey may, with the requisite culture, become one of the fairest gardens which adorn our beautiful planet.
It is to be hoped, that the morning twilight is already casting its softening beams over this land of the Orient; and that the noon-tide glory of the sun of peace and regeneration, will, ere long, irradiate with its glorious effulgence, this ancient and interesting Empire!
[1] Some historians attribute the origin of the janissaries to Orkhan; at the same time all agree that they were blessed by Hadji Bektash--forgetting that the said sheikh was only contemporary with Mourad, and not Orkhan.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Sultan and his People, by C. Oscanyan