The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-14 00:00:00

to the donors and their descendants. A sum of 600,00 e
piastres was at last agreed upon as an indemnificatio►
on this head, but a new difficulty has lately arisen on
account of a claim on the part of the Porte for the in•
tercst on that sum during the interval in which Lb
Government has been in possession of thos,t
The appointment of rho Seraskier Mutt ►pha Pa►cha
to the Governorship of Syria, is the principal feature
which has occurred at the Porte since my last. Tapir,
Capitan Pacha, will officiate as his kaimakkanu, co
Lieutenant, locum tenors. By some this step is regarded
as a mere excuse to displace the Seraskier from hit
post ; but circumstances in no manner warrant such an
opinion. Mustapha Pacha, it may be remembered, ac•
quired formerly a considerable reputation as the sir-
kabtib, or private secretary, to Sultan Mahmond.
Among the Turks he is regarded as professing ton
liberal sentiments (implying a preponderating respect
for Eu'ropean institutions), but his business abilities
and general tact enabled hi rt, nevertheless, to maintain
a position of considerable influence. The nomination of
Mustapha Pacha to Syria,under existing circumstances,
cannot be looked upon but as judicious and satisfactory.
With respect to the anticipated Ministerial changes
here, nothing as yet has occurred tending in any way
towards enlightenment. It is probable an extensive and
deep game is being played (I now express the opinion of the
best informed), but the cards are still in hand, and no one
of them has yet appeared by which we can judge of its
its sequence. Constantinople is, of all other places, the
most busy and mysterious, and at the present moment
that rule more than ordinarily prevails. Every man
asks his neighbour the news, while all cciiiess their
ignorance.

TURKISH CHURCH PROPERTY.
Reports are in circulation among the Turks of a pro-
jected coup d'elat, which was originally conceived by
the late Sultan Mahmoud, and consists in a plan for
the appropriation of all wakoofs (religious founda-
tions and endowments) for the services of the State,
by selling them as moolk (freeholds), or letting them
on long leases, guaranteed in the most formal manner,
to purchasers or tenants, without distinction of creed
or condition.
The literal meaning of the word wakoof is a dona-
tion. But as these donations are generally made for
charitable purposes, or through devotional motives, the
term is taken in the sense of " something sacred," and
the property is considered as " appertaining to God ;"
an interpretation which enhances the difficulty of their
conversion to fiscal purposes.
These wakoofs are of three kinds, subdivided into
various categories, all under the guardianship of the
church. The first and most important class comprises
those belonging exclusively to the temples of Mecca
and Medina, to the Royal domains, and to all mosques.
The revenues derived by the latter are of great value,
though infinitely beneath their intrinsic worth. Thus
the imperial mosques of Santa Sofia, the Valideh, and
Shahzadeli, those of Sultans Achmet, Osman, Selim,
Mahomet, Bajozet, &c., draw from these sources in-
comes varying from 200,000 to 2,000,000 Turkish
piastres, and as the annual expenses of each, for repairs
and stipends to clergy, rarely exceed a third of the
receipts, the surplus forms reserve funds, either cx
pended in the purchase of additional property, which
forthwith becomes wakoof, or is pocketed by the nazis.
(inspector) or mootewelly (accountant). The former,
in most cases, is the kislar aghassy (chief black eunuch),
who, from this cause, bears the title of Inspector of the
Holy Cities. The latter is almost invariably some high
public functionary, originally appointed by the donor or
testator. In most cases these donations are made
(luring life, as the law forbids men
_to will away from
their direct heirs more than one-third of their property.
The second class embraces numerous public founda-
tions and charitable or pious institutions—such, for in-
stance, as tekehs (communities of dervishes), hospitals,
khans, colleges, schools, libraries, turbehs (tombs), foun
t ling, and establishments for distributing food to the
poor, besides pensions to founders' kin, and to priests,
whose daily duty it is to read appropriate chapters of
the Koran for the repose of the said founders' souls.
In this class are also included the military wakoofs,
consisting of property given by officers or others for
the repairs of fortresses and barracks. This, as well as
the third class, has also its inspectors and accountants,
who in most instances are the Kislar Aghassy, Grand
Vizir, Sheik ul Islam, or some other superior Magis-
trate of the capital or town where the institutions are
founded. In former times the Capon Aghassy (chief
of white eunuchs), who held the pest of master of the
Sultan's household, was intrusted with the inspector-
ship of the imperial wakoofs ; but the gross malversation
committed by these white personages became so flagrant,
that one of the Suit ans dispossessed them of their charge.
The third class is of more modern institution, and of a
more secular or private character than the two pre-
ceding. It may be likened to property left or placed
in trust under Chancery or the Church, with this
difference, that in default of issue, male or female, of
the first generation, the property devolves to the guar-
dian mosque, to the exclusion of all other heirs, direct
or collateral. It thus results that the greater part of
these wakoofs fan to the church, in the process of time,
unless repurchased by the tenant for life, on payment of
certain fines to the mosque, amounting to a moderate
per centage. But in most instances the Moslem church
displays greater liberality than, perhaps, would be exhi-
bited under similar circumstances by the see of Exeter,
or the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. That is to
say. supposing there be default of issue of the first gene-
ration, and that the property should legally devolve to
the Mosque, it frequently happens that the Imaums do
not insist upon the forfci ture, but permit the next heir
to repurchase the wakoof, on payment of the usual fine
of ten or fifteen per cent. on the capital. This conces-
sion, it need not be observed, is not without benefit to
the church, as, in the course of years, the wakoof being
unal:enable, it is sure to revert to the mosque, which in
the meantime enjoys a tenth or more of the total value,
and an annual ground-rent.
The two first classes are essentially established and
protected by religious legislation, confirmed by a con-
cession of fetwahs (rescripts); but the third class is
only founded upon usage, having no other sanction than
custom or sufferance, and no other authorization than
that of the reigning Sultan and Ullemalis. The pro-
perty assigned for the above purposes is not the less
sacred." It generally consists of lands or tenements,
and is disposed of according to the will of the donor,
edcitsopro) is
sitions, which are duly compelled in all cases to
followan d t hteh
eNfoa zuinr
d(eirn,ssp
regis-
tered in one of the three offices exclusively assigned to
these objects in the Finance Department. The re-
ceipts and disbursements of all wakoofs must be laid,
biannually, before the inspectors and accountants, by
the proprietors or life tenants, and the former decide
upon the mode in which the surplus is to be employed
or invested.

The causes for which these donations, especially those
of the third class, arc made, are as various as the manner

in which they arc regulated. Some persons wishing to
guard themselves from all risk of arbitrary confiscation,
and others when in debt, being eager to escape seizure
by creditors, stake over their property as wakoofs to
mosques, for themselves and heirs, and enjoy the re-
venues, on payment of a small ground rent. But if
they wish to sell or make over the life tenancy to
another, they must pay a fine of ten per cent. on the
capital, and without disengaging the wakoof, unless there
be a stipulated clause to that effect. Thus it generally
occurs that from deaths, losses, and changes, these
w;:knofs change hands ten times in a century, and the
original . capital is .gradually absor bed by the church.,

Other, persons in want of ready money, or perhaps from:
dovotionaboaatives, abandon their property to a mosque,
and are allowed the interest, or usufruct, for life, or for'
a stipnlateh period, receiving in return a sum not ex,:
ceedineforty' or fifty per cent. of the total value. A
portion of the Imperial domains and revenues of the

Sultan'S mother and aunts belongs to, and are derived
from wakoofs ; and are thus secured from the effects of
those arbitrary procecdings which often follow the deaths
or depositions of Ottoman sovereigns.
The latter wakoofs are likewise under the inspection
of the Kislar Aghassy, who, after payment of the an-
nual rents, with which these trusts are charged, takes
possession of the surp:us, and has frequently in his pos-
session vast sums arising from these sources. There

have been instances where the accumulations, kept in
the Seraglio treasury, have amounted to many m:llions,
and these have been employed either for private or
public purposes by the reigning Sultans. But as these
funds are declared " sacred," the monarch is bound or
supposed to replace them—a consummation, which, of
c ,urse, does not enter into the cycle of events.
It is, evident, therefore, that any attempt to disturb
this system must not only be inimical to popular pre-
judices, but directly hostile to the influence and per-
sonal interests of the whole clerical body, who, in lieu
of these advantages, would receive regular stipends, to
b.., paid by the Government (such is the plan) according
n fixed scale. The scheme promises immense pe-
cuniary resources to the Porte, purchasers and
tenants would readily ,come forward ; but it isfraught
eaunrdtocurte
with difficulties. There, as in Christendom, religious
fer,our dies not blind churchmen to self-interest. To
contemplate a measure tending to abridge the power,
13.g°t'cl' is consequently a bold conception; and to
carry it out curtailail
would h
rreevqeuniureeseonferagies superior to those
body so powerful and
exhibited by any previous Sultan or Turkish adminis-
tration. Mehemet Ali has certAinly effected this ob-
pet in Egypt ; but, in the unfortunate Pellahs, he has
a differe.nt class of subjects to deal with than has the
ruler of the 0 t,man empire. 13esides, he has merely
substituted his own all grasping monopoly for that of
.the church, an etil rather than a benefit, whilst the ob-
i et of the Sultan is to au anent the resources of the
people, whilst he improves the finances of the State.

No less than 168 rentionen have given the
attornies of the Court of Queen's
usual notices of their intention tor;ctji)licilhydtioiribnegrat(hlnt-iptrtte,d.
sent (llilary) Term. There are also thirteen notices
for re-admission to practice.
THE PRIESTS OPINION OE EACH OTHER.
—We have every reason to believe that the rumour of an
intention to withdraw Mr. Williams from the Oxford
contest is a mere stratagem. We have proof that the
party putting that gentleman forward arc capable of any
finesse,--Standard,