The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-10-30 00:00:00

MMNT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

qualities of the young adventurer, and patronised
him. He took the name of Omar, and in every-
thing-conformed himself to Turkish customs, and
.identified himself with Turkish nationality.
-Kl►osshrew Pasha made him his aide-de-camp,
and gave him in marriage his ward, a lady of
.personal attraction and of great wealth. Thus
Omar became a Turk to all intents and purposes.
:His military reputation rose steadily ; but it was
in 1848 that he was first appointed to an impor-
tant command, The army of the Danubian pro-
vinces was placed under his control, and with
very happy results : he repressed,sedition, and
caused the Sultan's authority to be respected ; he
gained the good-will of the inhabitants, with
whose religious prejudices his own religious
history had made him familiar, and the soldiers
under his command were subordinate. He then
acquired that local knowledge which he turned
to such good account in the campaign, the
history of which is here written ; and it is said
that he then becaMe acquainted with the pecu-
liarities of the Russian army, and studied atten-
tively its whole system. He had not previously
indicated any prejudice towards Russia, but rather
respected that power ; he then became averse to
Russia, and the determined enemy of its aggran-
disement and ambition.

In 1851, the Bosnian chiefs, at the instigation
of Austria, revolted against the " Tangimat," or
new constitution of the empire, and Omar Pasha
was commissioned by the Porte to suppress the
revolt. This he did with such energy and skill
as to acquire fresh military reputation, and yet
with such justice and forbearance to the people,
and such decisive discipline to his own soldiers,
especially the intractable Albanians, as rendered
important services to the people, the army, and
the government. He has the faculty of attaching
to him the brave and unfortunate ; and the Poles
and Hungarians regard him as a man, a soldier,
and a politician, with much devotion. It was
chiefly under his influence that the Sultan took
so decisive a stand, on the subject of the refugees,
against the reclamation of Austria and Russia at
the termination of the Hungarian war ; and that
circumstance, and the sagacity displayed by him
in suppressing the insurrection in Bosnia, have
made for him the deadly enmity of Austria and
Russia. A writer in the United Service Magazine
for June, 1855, not over anxious to commend
him, nevertheless admits that he is a brave and
skilful officer, worthy of success. " Military men
of the higher class are not usually very enthu-
siastic admirers of Omar Pasha. The renegade
general is not indeed one of those great soldier-
statesmen who have from time to time appeared
in history as chiefs of the Ottoman armies of
Constantinople. He is not an Achmet or an
Omar, a Payazid or an Orchan ; he is not a Bran-
denbergh or a Mehemet Pasha. But he is never-
theless a man of wonderful phlegm and perseve-
rance, always ready in time of danger, and of
very respectable abilities as a commander. It is
possible that under happier auspices he might
have done better, but it is by no means certain."
This sentence is quite in keeping with the jealous
and disparaging way in which military writers, at
heart unfavourable to the cause of Turkey, write
of its best general ; yet they cannot point out how
he could, in his circumstances, have more com-
pletely answered the great ends of his command.
The writer above quoted gives a very exact
description of the difficulties which the general
had to surmount. "He was assailed by every
art which could be devised by the most un-
generous and determined enmity. He was
reproached as a renegade and a Christian still at
heart. His careful conduct in public life, the
extreme caution and prudence which pervaded
the most private arrangements of his household,

155

were dwelt upon and envenomed. by slanderous
tongues as so many proofs of his hypocrisy. The
powerful ulemah, or priesthood, were against
him to a man; and every venal fanatic endeavoured
to push his own base fortunes at the expense of
the soldier who was already fighting a desperate
battle for their very existence. He was sys-
tematically left without money or supplies, with
a commissariat compared with the incapacity of
which the inefficiency of our own was perfect
excellence. It must have been something more
than good fortune which surmounted all these
difficulties, and Omar Pasha did surmount them.'
Such was the man who won for Turkey the first
month of combats on the- Danube, and who was
now withdrawing his troops from the advanced
positions they occupied, and concentrating them,
in order to provide a sure defence against the
increasing hosts advancing against him. In per-
son he is agreeable, although somewhat rough
of countenance and coarsely formed ; he is con-
siderably below the middle stature, of dark com-
plexion, grave expression, even to austerity ; but
his smile is sweet, and he has the address to con-
ciliate the affections of children little
daughter regards him with singular attachment.
He is a man of strong domestic feelings. Intel-
lectually, he is not so much distinguished for
brilliancy or rapidity of conception as for clear,
ness, consecutiveness, and patience of thought.
He is a shrewd politician, and is governed and
would govern by principle rather than by expe-
diency.