The Sun.
London, England, 1822-01-15 00:00:00

THE OTTOMAN DYNASTY.

Supposing the tragical events said to have oc-
curred at Constantinople had really happened,
though there is now no doubt of the falsehOod.of
the report, into whose hands Would the sceptre
of the Ottoman pass? We shall not examine
here the consequences of such an event on the
politics of Europe, but coutcut ourselves with
tracing its immediate probable results.
If, as was said, the Sultan and his son had.pe.
rished, the Ottoman. race being extinct ita-thgit
persons, the ()mantis would be obliged to have
recourse to the family of the Khans who reigned.
formerly i❑ the Crimea, and who, upon the ces-
sion of that kingdom to Russia, retired into Tur-
key. The members of this faptilyare still theret,
and several of its Princes are dispersed in diffe-
rent provinces of the Empire, in which they have
acquired, by gift or purchase, very considerable
property.

The family of the Khans has a right to the
succession of the Ottoman Throne, because it de-
rives its origin from the same Tartar tribe as the
Ottoman family„—the tribe of the Oguzians. to
consequence of this acknowledged parentage, a
fundamental law Was established by the Ottoman
Sultans. " In case the family Ali-Othman should
be extinct," says this law, " a Prince of the. fa-
mily • Ali-Jenghiziatie (Genghis Khan) shall.be
chosen.' This law,which has never been abolished,
is now in full force, and is so considered by the
Niussulmans ; for in 1701, the Janissaries and
inhabitants of Constantinople, having revolted
against Mustapha If., they debated at an assem-
bly held in the Ilippodromus, who should be pro-
claimed Sultan in his place. As Mustapha kept
all the Princes of the blood at Adrianople in cus-
tody, and well watched, some of the leaders pro-
posed as the heir of the Throne the only son of
the Princess Saphia, daughter of Sultan Mourad,
who was then at Constantinople ; but all the
Test of the Assembly opposed it vehemently, de-
claring, that the Ottoman empire should never
descend to the progeny of the female branch ;
upon which the Mufti, accompanied by the whole
body of the Ulemas, stepped forward and said
thatthe Ottoman empire ought not to be govern-
ed but according to its laws, that the Empire
could never descend to the offspring of a female,
and that if Mustapha were to put to death all
the Princes of his blood, the State could only
belong to the family Ali-Jenghiziane, whiCh
springs from the same stock as the Ottoman
family. •
But if even this resource should fail, a Mufti,
with his enlarged and almost unlimited powers
of interpreting the law, would, not find much
difficulty in cutting the Gordian knot, whichle
could not untie. A fethwa promulgated to
sanction a measure, even contrary to the ordinary
course, would quiet the most scrupulous con-
' sciences, and silence all murmurs.
The measure would be the more easy, because
the Mussulman law is silent respecting the strc-
cession of the Throne, and neither the Caliphs,
nor the other Mahometan Princes, have passed
any fixed or formal decree touching the order of
succession. Under the first four Caliphs, succes-
sors of Mahotnet, the monarchy was elective.
The Ommiades and the A bassides declared it
hereditary, without determining a constant order
of succession.

Among the Ottomans, the first fourteen sove-
reigns reigned from father to son ; because the,'
took the cruel precaution of making away With
the princes of the blood who-might aspire to the
supreme dignity. Othman I. the founder of this
empire, set the example of those crimes by k? -
ling with his own hands his uncle DundarXiti ;
Buyasid I. caused his only brother to be -put', to
death Mourad 11. immolated four of his. bro-
thers; Selim I. five of his brothers and nephow§,:
Mourad lII.' his five younger brothers; and., ou
the very day he ascended the throne, Mahomet
caused the blood of nineteen of his brothers
to 'he shed : but at the death. of .Ahmed 11c the
order of succession was changed. in the Ottoman
fan►ily.. As his' children were under. age, 'the
Niufti,Esad-Effendi, in an assembly of the DiVah,
proclaimed Sultan, by a fethwa; MuStapha,• the
brother of the deceased.
• The Ottoman Law in this respect resembles the Salic
Law.

YSTERIOUS STORY.—Statements have lately
appeared in the German papers, relative to an act of violence
committed on a lady at Bonn. The following acoount of. this
athtir.is given in the Hamburgh Correspondent of Jan.:24,7-
" A lady of distinguished ranst2 the mother of Princes, and
whose fate and situation are sufficient to excite interest and com-
mand respect, arrived at Bonn, under the name of Mad. Von —.
That city, to which she wads attracted on account of her health,
pleased her so much, that she determined to take up her resi-
dence in it until spring. She them laid aside the incognito which
she had assumed, and her rank p.. h talped for ]ter fronethe au-
thorities of the -city that. protection and cm yideratio4 ,wtuah
was her due. Nothing; was obscry'd either in her mnduct 'or
her conversation which Zev iated from tbestrictestcircunispectiOn.
tier numerous domestics were foreigners. Among the pc:ions
who formed her society was observed the daughter of President
Von liagen, of the government of Cologne,. and Protias.or
.Ennemcntsicr„ a physician, who attended on her and pos-
sessed her full confidence • while another medical pettnn
who belonged
.to her establishment, and had also the title
of physirian, appeared to be no favourite with her. The
latter left the town, and it was soon after rpataritett that a
stranger had locale his appearance at Bonn, .who appeared
to occupy himself much about the I rincess and her eft:tn.
On the;nd of November, before day-break, there was heatd, iu
the rtrnenta of this Lady, a. nonte similar to went might hP.Ve
been expected from the breaking in of a
,band of robbers. Ht r
cries awakened Dr. Ennemosseis, who slept in the upper stay.
lie came down in haste, andsaw this Princess, who is neat €;H
ears of age, struggling against her own. servants, who carried
rby main force to a carnage prepared for ber removal. The
aggressor fi did not allow her time to dress herself properly. The
Doctor wished to oppose this.viclence, but he was overpowered.
and the carriage drove off so:rapidly that even the sentinel
posted at the entrance could not stop it. The carriage pro-
v:T4ed on the road to Coblentz : the gate of Bonn on the side
of that town being readily opened to the carriage. The partici-
pators in the plot, who remained in Bonn ;kept the door of the
Princeis's hotel fast for two hours to allow their accomplices
time to secure their priz'. Those who stayed behindhave bet n
.arrested, anti an investigation is commenced-by the Royal Cri:.
urinal court."