Prince Gortschakoff has also addressed a Circular to the Powers,
in which he points out that the Cabinets, though they had con- sidered what should be done if Turkey failed to make the reforms mentioned in the Protocol, had not considered the contingency of the rejection of the Protocol itself. In presence of the attitude of Turkey, hopes of conciliation were obviously vain, and the Emperor had therefore himself undertaken the work to which he had invited the Great Powers. "The peaceful development of Itussia is seriously impeded by the permanent disorder of the East," and the Emperor therefore has ordered his armies to cross the Prath. The Sultan, on his side, answered both manifesto and circular in a proclamation accepting war, declaring that Russia had but one object, to destroy " our " rights and independence, and calling on his soldiers to defend the rights and independence, not of Turkey, or even of the Sultan, but of "the Osmanlis." He promised, if need were, to carry to his armies the sacred banner <:of the Kaliphate and the Sultanet, and to assume the supreme command himself.. The address is meant exclusively for the Mahommedans, and so high has religious fervour risen in the Turkish capital, that the police have ordered all Mussulmans to prayer when the call sounds from the minarets, and all Mussul- man women to resume the practice of wearing a thick veil.
