The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-22 00:00:00

(Prom, the Times Correspondent.)
CONSTANTINOPLE, FEB. 11.
The Ambassadors are still waiting. for the official ac-
ceptance of their propositions with respect to the Fourth
Point. In the meantime they have received copies of
the fire-lan which contains all the concessions urged by
them in favour of the Mahomedane, subjects of the
Porte, and which the Turkish Ministers hope to have
sanctioned by the Sultan. Before, however, this can
be done,. these concessions must be submitted to and
approved by the great Council in one public sitting at
the least. It would be a great mistake to apply to i.ur
own ideas of despotic power to Turkey or to any other
Mahomedan country, and to believe that, in theory, at
any rate, the Sultan's power is so unlimited that every
one of his wishes is a command, and every one of his
words a law. In ail Mahomedan counttiec the form of
government may he called theocratic—that is, based on
religior. This is especially the case in Turkey, where
the Sultan is the head of the whole Mahomedan reli-
gion. This mixture of spiritual
.and temporal power,
while giving, on the one hand, to the Sovereigns that
unity of action which made them once so formidable to
their neighbours, limits, or, the other, their power in the
interior to the observance of the 'traditional rules and
usages laid down from the earliest times ; and, strange
to say, these rules and usages relate more to temporal
than sii:ritualaffa.'rs. As regards religious belief, Mahe-
medans are as free, if not freer, than the followers of
any religion ; every man is left to search after truth,
and toleration of dogmas is carried so far that the late
Sheikh-ul-Islani, by whose cooperations Malimoud car-
ried out his reforms. was well-known to disbelieve in
the Koran, and yet he remained up to his death in his
place without ever being molested. In the same way,
there is nothing in the Mahomedan religion which can
be called priesthood. Every man may read prayers
publicly and preach. The Ulemas are only doctors of
the Mahomedan law, inherited by the Turks from
the early Arab Celiphe, which it is their duty to
-explaissasnd over the observances of which they have to
watch. This law is composed of the decisions of the
most prominent Mahomedan doctors of all ages on every
matter connected with the external religious observances,
with civil and criminal jurisprudence, and the public law
of the state, but it has nothing whatever to do with
dogmas. It is thus rather what, in other countries, is
called the fundamental law of the state than a religious
code. One must well understand this position to be
able to judge of the nature of the influence which the
Ulemas exercise. They have a hind of control over the
power of the Sovereign. This control has been recog-
nised at all times, and, whenever the Sultans have taken
important •decisions, the Sheikh-ill-Islam, as the elected
bead of the expounders of the Mahornedan law, on
which the organisation of the state is founded, has been
always asked to investigate and decide whether the
meas ire proposed is not unlawful. The decision con-
sists in one single word affixed to the project, which is
"Pais "—that is, "allowed."
But in more important decisions the Fetva, or decision
of the Sheikh-ul-Islam, is not thought sufficient ; the
project must be submitted in a public sitting to a general
council, at which every one may attend and make his
observations. This is carried so fsr that even questions
the decision of which belongs in other countries 'exclu-
sively to the Government—for instance, the right of
peace and wai—are submitted to the scrutiny.of such
public assemblies. An example of this occurred at the
beginning of this very war. ,When the Government
had decided that the war with Russia was inevitable,
three such public councils were held, with the in-
terval of a week between each of them. In a ques-
tion of such importance as the enunciation of the
principle of perfect equality between all subjects,
ono or more of these assemblies cannot be lawfully
dispensed with, but unfortunately such seems to
be the intention of the Cabinet. They try to get
the firman signed .by the Sultan without any such pre-
liminary public council, for all the councils held hitherto
have been secret and only attended by members named
by the Government. Ia consequence of this, consider-
able fermentation exists among the Mahometlans in Con-
stantinople. The Ministry is pledged to the represen-
tatives of the allied Powers to have the measure carried,
and they fear not to be able to do so, and to lose their
places should they bring on a public discussion on such
a point,
This is the Cause of the delay in this matter. It is
impossible to say what will be the result—whether the
Sultan will consent to sign the firman without its being
submitted to a public sitting of the Council, or whether
the Ministry, unable to realise its promises, will have to
resign ; or, lastly, whether it will decide to proceed law-
fully in this question. Au opinion about this is even
more difficult, as there is a division in the Cabinet itself
—Aali Pasha, and several others being averse to violate
what they consider to be the law, while Fuad Pasha and
Mahmoud Rushdi Pasha seem not to be troubled by
these scruples. But the Grand Vizier embarks to-mor-.
row on board the Ajaceio for Marseilles, and so the
queetiou now is which side his Kaitnalcau, Mehmed
Kibrisli Pasha, will take on this subject.
Thus the matter rests. The conferences about the
percdifir--"lleare-tureittaA-agi—th
come likewise to a preliminary arrangement in sespect
to the future position of the Principalities before the
final conferences should begin in Paris, the conferences
on this latter point commenced on Friday last, the Bth
inst., and have been since that day held every afternoon
at the French palace. Unlike the conferences about
the fourth point, this thee the Turkish ministers come
forward themselves with,a proposal for the regulation of
the Principalities. The leading idea in these proposals
is to adopt the old firrnans and stiptilations between the
Porte and M ildavia and Wallachia as the bases of their
pobtical position. As regards the election of the princes
it is proposed to let the native assemblies elect three
candidate 4, out of whom the Parts is to name a prince
for life. In order to understand what these .bases pro-
posed for the future regulation of the Principalities, I
must say something about the stipulations.
In point of time the snbrnission of the two Principali-
ties to Turkey goes back fur many years, that of Wal-
lachia having Won place in 1392, under Sultan Bajazet
Ilderim, white that of McAdam:a took place in 1513 under
Selim. In the first case the auhnsiosien was compulsory;
in the second it was voluntary. Tbe Hatti-Scheriff given
by Sultan Bajazet 1. to the WallAch)oxis is as follows :
." Art. I. Actuated by our great clera;ncy, we con-
sent that the principality newly acquired b; our invin-
clhle power shall govern itself according to its os'un laws,
and thset the P.ince of Wallachia shall have the right
to make peace or war, and of life and death over h:s

euhjecte.
" Art. 2, No Christians, who having embraced the
Mahotnedan relik;ien, may pass lion countries sub-
jected to our power into Wallachia, and may become
again Christians, shall he reclaimed, or in any way
molested.
" Art. 3. All Wallitehhins who may emigrate into
any other part of our dominion shall ire exempt from
the Kharadj and all other taxes.
"Art. 4. The Christian princes will be elected by the
metropolitan and the boyarde.
"Art. 5. For this our clemency, and because we have
placed this rayah prince among the number of our other
subjects, ho will have to pay to our treasury every year
the sum of 3,000 gold piasters of the country, or 500
silver piasters of our money.
" Given at Nieopolis in the month of Flub ul Urrl of
the year 795, or 13923."
This firman, as well as a subsequent convention of the
year 1400, forms the basis of the connection between
Wallachia and the Turkish empire.
This convention confirms and explains all the rights
given to Wallachia iri the former, and the only alteration
is that the tribute is fixed at 10,000 piasters yearly.
Both these documents are existing in Wallachia, and
were printed. The original convention given to the
M.olelavians has been burnt, but it is probable that ano-
ther copy exists in the archives at Constantinople. It i,,
however, known that this convention is very similar to
that with Wallachia, or, if anything, it is rather more
favourable. The fact is mentioned, that Moldavia sub-
mitted to the Ottoman empire from her free will and
without any coercion, and that, in consideration of this,
all churches and religious rites shall be inviolable, and
that the laws shall be maintained in their full force.
The tribute a 4,000 gold pieces, 40 horses and 24 falcons
was only mentioned under the name of presents. The
election of the princes by their countrymen was not only
recognised, but all other prerogatives which Wallachia
enjoyed were inserted.
It was in 1583 that Soliman converted the donation
into a regular tribute.
The great principles recognised by these conventions
are that of autocracy in the internal administration of
the two Principalities, and the right of supremacy of the
Porte. This is not at all impaired by the right con-
ceded to the Princes of Moldavia and Wallachia to de-
clare peace or war, for all the governors of the frontier
provinces had it mentioned in their firmans until the new
reforMers divided the civil and military power.
The proposal of ithe Turkish Ministers to place the
Principalities in the position stipulated in their original
convention with the Turkish empire met in a great mea-
sure the views of the ambassadors, so that every hope
may be entertained of this question being settled to the
satisfaction of [all parties. If I say all parties, I include
the people of the Principalities themselves. All the more
disinterested part of it, that is all Those who aro not
compromised with Russia or Austria, will for an inti-
mate connexion with Turkey, provided their indepen-
dence in internal affairs be guaranteed.
A rather more doubtful question is, whether the pro-
posal of the Turkish Ministry about the election of the
Princes of Moldavia and Wallachia will be viewed with
so much favour by all parties. It is i whichdect cont
areradic-
never-
tion to the terms of the conventions,
theless assumed as the bases for the regulation of the
Principalities. According to these the right of nominat-
ing the princes belongs to the Metropolitan and the
Boyards, and this system was adhere
thed to ae,,long
these conventions were respected. All princes in
both countries were elected in this way up to the begin-
ning of the last century. The change which occurred
then was the work of Russia, and it was by the aboli-
tion of the elective system and the nomination of the
Fanariote Princes that Russia first established her in-
fluence in the Principalities. The Fanariote Princes,
bought their places from the ruling power at Constati•
-tinople, and the J.ll4lsSarieS looke4.at theii office only so