Religion Duke of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volhynia, Podolia, and Finland, ART. 62. The established and ruling faith of the Russian ART. 64. The Tsar as Christian ruler is the supreme defender and upholder of the doctrines of the ruling faith, the protector of the true belief, and of every ordinance in the holy Church. ART. 65. In the administration of the Church the autocratic power acts through the Holy Directorial Synod, which it has created. ART. 66. All those subjects of the Russian State who do not belong to the ruling Church, natives as well as the inhabitants of annexed districts, foreigners in the Russian service, or temporary sojourners in Russia, enjoy the free exercise of their respective faiths and religious services according to their particular usages. ART. 67. Religious freedom is granted not only to Christians of foreign faiths, but to Jews, Mohammedans, and heathen. May all the people residing in Russia praise God Almighty in their various tongues according to the law and faith of their forefathers, while they glorify the rule of the Russian monarch and pray to the Creator of the Universe for an increase of the public welfare and a strengthening of the power of the Tsar. ART. 70. The defense of the throne and of the fatherland is ----.-1 Aute of ororu Pussion subiect The male population. without distinction of class, is subject to military service accord- Rights an ing to the provisions of the law. ART. 71. Russian subjects are in duty bound to pay the imposts and taxes legally imposed, and to fulfill all additional obligations according to the provisions of the law. ART. 72. No one can be prosecuted for an offense except according to the process established by law. ART. 73. No one shall be arrested except in the cases determined by law. ART. 74. No one shall be brought into court or punished for an offense which was not a crime according to the law when committed. ART. 75. The dwelling of every one is inviolable. ART. 76. Every Russian subject is entitled freely to choose his residence and occupation. ART. 77. Property is inviolable. Property shall be taken only for public use and after just compensation. ART. 78. Russian subjects are entitled to meet peaceably and without arms for such purposes as are not contrary to law. ART. 79. Within the limits fixed by law every one may express his thoughts by word or writing and circulate them by means of the press or otherwise. duties of sian citize ART. 84. The Russian Empire shall be governed by laws Method of passed according to a fixed and regular proceeding. legislation ART. 86. No new law shall go into force without the sanction of both the Council of the Empire and the Duma and the ratification of the Tsar. ART. 98. The Council of the Empire and the Duma shall be convoked annually by imperial decree. ART. 99. The length of the annual sessions of the Council of the Empire and the Duma, and the limits of the recesses during the year, shall be determined by imperial decrees. ART. 100. The Council of the Empire shall be composed The Coun of persons appointed by his Majesty the Tsar, and elected of the Em and the D 342. How Sobieski defeated the CHAPTER XXIX TURKEY AND THE EASTERN QUESTION Section 97. The Greek War of Independence It was in the latter half of the seventeenth century that the Turks made their last serious invasion into cen tral Europe. In 1683 the grand vizier, Kara-Moustafa, determined to march straight upon Vienna, to which he laid siege with an immense army. The town was upon the point of falling into the enemy's hands, when the king of Poland, John Sobieski, accompanied by some of the German princes, arrived. In the following letter, dated September 13, Sobieski describes to his wife the memorable defeat of the Turks, which was the beginning of their rapid expulsion from their western conquests. Praised be our Lord God forever for granting our nation such a victory and such glory as was never heard of in all times Turks before past! The whole camp of the enemy, with their artillery and Vienna (1683) untold treasure, has fallen into our hands. They are now retreating in great confusion, and the approaches to the town, the camp, and the open fields are covered with their corpses. The camels and other beasts of burden, the cattle, and the sheep belonging to the enemy were captured to-day by our troops and the captive Turkish shepherds driven off. . . ... What the Turks lost in powder and ammunition alone is worth a million. Some of our camp followers foolishly set off the powder in several places, and it made a fearful noise, but there was no further harm done. The grand vizier lost all his but the coat on his back, and I have become his heir and successor. It all came about in this way. Having forced my way into the enemy's camp, I was pressing forward in pursuit of the vizier when one of his chamberlains surrendered to me and afterwards showed me his leader's tent, which was so large it might have contained within its circumference the city of Warsaw or of Lemberg. The standard that the grand vizier always had carried before him with great ceremony fell into my hands, along with the Mohammedan banner presented to him by the Sultan for this campaign, which I have sent by post to his Apostolic Holiness in Rome. There are quantities of the most beautiful gold-mounted sabers and other rare Turkish accouterments to be seen in our army. valiant! The coming on of night prevented us from continuing the The T pursuit. It cannot be denied that they defended themselves fought bravely, especially the companies of janizaries who guarded the approaches to the camp and so bore the brunt of the battle. The daring and courage of these people were such that while part of them fought with us in the field the rest undertook to storm the fortifications, which with their great numbers they were well prepared to do. I estimate the number of the besieging army at three hundred thousand, not counting the Tartars; others believe there were three hundred thousand tents and reckon three men to a tent; but that would make the number too great to be believed. However, there must have been at least one hundred thousand tents, and from these the conquerors take away what they like. The townspeople, too, are rushing out to get their share. I believe that it will take them a week to gather in all the booty. A number of Austrian people - women folk especially whom the Turkish army had taken captive, but could not carry away with them in their hasty flight, they cut down with their sabers; but many of them can be healed of their wounds. This morning I went into the town and found that it could bieski vior of enna about in heaps by the enemy's mines, and the imperial castle is riddled with holes and ruined by their cannon balls. . . . The governor of Vienna, accompanied by a great crowd of eted as the people of both high and low degree, came out to greet me, all kissing and petting me and calling me their savior. Later I visited two churches, where again I found crowds of people who tried to kiss my hands, and even my feet and clothing; most of them had to content themselves with touching my coat. All around one heard them crying, "Let us through to kiss the valorous hand! 3. Procla ation of dependence reek There is a huge pile of captured flags and tents; in short, the enemy has departed with nothing whatever but his life. Let Christendom rejoice and thank the Lord our God that he has not permitted the heathen to hold us up to scorn and derision and to ask, "Where, now, is your God?" It was apparent to the statesmen who refashioned the map of Europe at the Congress of Vienna that the power of the Sultan over his European dominions was steadily declining, and they had grave apprehensions of the serious troubles which were bound to arise in those regions. Within two years the Servians, who had long been in revolt against the Turks, secured their practical independence by establishing themselves as a tributary principality, and in 1821 the Greeks began an insurrection in Morea. On January 27, 1822, the Greek National Assembly issued the following proclamation of independence. We, descendants of the wise and noble peoples of Hellas, we who are the contemporaries of the enlightened and civisued by the lized nations of Europe, we who behold the advantages which they enjoy under the protection of the impenetrable ægis of the law, find it no longer possible to suffer without cowardice and self-contempt the cruel yoke of the Ottoman power which has weighed upon us for more than four centuries, a power which does not listen to reason and knows no other law than. ational ssembly anuary 27, 22) |