Star.
London, England, 1826-09-29 00:00:00

FIRING OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

The French Papers of Wednesday have been received.
They are unusually important, as they communicate
intelligence from Constantinople •f a very alarming
nature to the domestic politics of the Porte. That ill-',
fated capital had scarcely ceased to witness revolution
and rebellion, with their usual train of•massacre, execu-
tions, and banishments, when a considerable portion of
it was doomed to become a prey to the flames. In
order to fill up the ranks of his new army, the S.lltan
had caused all the young Tut ks found in the streets or
the markets to be pressed. He continued to order exe-
cutions, which being made at night and not in the face
of day as before, seemed acts of individual enmity or
vengeance, and not of public justice. He had submitted,
, the cheeks for payments on the treasury to such a
ri-
gorous exanainatictn, that most of those who held them
feared to present them, lest a very summary way of
paying them should be adopted, in order to diminish
the amount of claims on the State. Beside all this, he
accumulated immense treasures, and spent compara-
tively but little. All these formed an union of griev-
ances which detached the people from his side, and
induced them to regret the old state of things. A degree
of apparent tranquillity, however, prevailed, which de-
ceived the Sultan. He conceived that the execution
of his plans of reform was sufficiently advanced to
al!ow the Standard of the Prophet to be safely returned
to the great Mosque, where it had lain for so many
ages. In vain did the Grand Vizier remonstrate against
the measure as premature and dangerous; preparations
were made for carrying it into effect, and nothing re-
mained but to throw open the gates of the Seraglio to
receive the sacred Palladium of the Turkish empire,
when the discontents of the people, no longer awed by
its presence, displayed themselves in the usual manner,
and a conflagration, the most tremendous ever witnessed
in that city of fires, bloke out suddenly, and spread with
so much violence, that it looked as if it bad sprung up
at once from a hundred different places. This was in
the morning of the 81st of August ; from that moment
doubt and consternation prevailed, and the Sultan

found himself in a most critical position. Notwith-
standing his personal: diens and those of the S:raskier
to stop the progress of the flames, they gained ground
on every side. All the troops were on foot, all the posts
had been reinforced, but water was wanting; the people
gave no aid, and a strong northern wind gave wings to
the conflagration. The palace of the Grand Vizier was
a heap of blazing ruins, and when the courier set off,
clouds of fire rolled over the Seraglio, which was
thrown open, however, as an asylum for all the autho-
rities, civil and military, who bad incurred popular
odium through their zeal in favour of the new system.
Several thousand houses were already reduced to-ashes,
and it seemed evident that the conflagration would
only cease when it would meet with no further objects
to destroy ; for when quenched in one place, it broke
out afresh in another. Many lives had already been
lost, and the people cried out that it was a punishment
inflicted by Heaven on account of the late innovations.
In fact, astrologers had publicly announced that on the
27th day of the Moon (the day fixed for returning the

Saudisk Motif to the Mosque) sweat altiOsgrAlibtij
would break our, whicb would be followed by a pnpu-
lar
reaction. Only the Writ part of this prophecy had
_been realited at the departure of the courier, the next
wit inform us whether any attempts were made to carry
the second into effect. This will entirely depend on the
firmness and activity displayed by the Sultan, and on
the fidelity of the new military force with which he has
surrounded himself. With respect to firmness, be has
given ample proof that he possesses that virtue in a'
transcendent degree.
BY EXPRESS:

FURTHER ,PARTICULARS, FROM THE ETOILE OF YkS•
TERDAY, RECEIVED BY EXPRESS THIS AFTERNOON.
From the Austrian Observer we have the following
from Constantinople, of the 31st August
41 Tnis day was destined for the solemn reestablish-
ment on the Mosque of the standard of the Prophet,
planted for these three months in the Court of the Se-
raglio, but unfortunately it was interrupted by a fire
which accidentally took place at a baker's shop near the
Baghdoche•Napoussi (garden gate), and extended with
such fury, that all assistance proved in vain, and a
great part of the town, from the port to the Mosque
of the Sultan's Amurat and Bdjasid, to the sea of Mar-
mara, with a number of grand Palaces and Markets,
fell a prey to the flames. The Sultan caused the gates
of the Seraglio to be thrown open, to receive the unfor-
tunate people. All the Ministers, the Vizier, and the
Seraskier at their bead, did everything in their power
to give assistance. All the troops were under arms, and
it is assured that great order prevailed. At twelve
o'clock at night they had not succeeded in extinguish-
ing the fire on all points."

The Porte received on the 25th several Tartars from
the Camp of REDSCHID PACHA, with an account of the
taking of Athens, which took place on the 15th August,
after an obstinate resistance from the Garrison, which
were most part massacred. GnURAS is shut up in
Acropolis, which is well provided with provisions
for a long time. The Porte attaches but little im-
portance to the taking of Athens, but more so to the
submission of thirty-two villages of Attica, who have
sent Deputies to the SERASKIER, and engaged to re-
main peaceable.

The Jamaica Papers of the Bth August have arrived.
By accounts from Guatemala, we learn that political
parties were beginning to exercise the most baneful in-
fluen:e among the Ministry in the Congress. The dis-
cussions appear more like a trial of strength between
the contending parties, than a wish to get through
public business. A motion was brought forward to
implicate the President, but did not meet with support.
A skirmish had taken place between the troops of Go-
vernment and the Militia, in which some lives were loat.
This appears to have cooled the ardour of the partizans
far the present.

Bogota Papers to the 7th July have been received
at the North and South American Coffee Hause. The
following are extracts:

" SIMON BOLIVAR. LIBERATOR, PRESIDENT OF THE

REPUBLIC.

." Mort MimicrySlß,
" I congratulate myself and Colombia on the assem-
bly of the General Congress, which the people looked for
to complete the improvements of their administration,
and to supply their legislative wants. I feel the greatest
pleasure in announcing to the Congress, that perfidious
Paste has again acknowledged the tutelary laws of
Colombia—that the departments of the South are in''
perfect tranquillity, and extremely attached to the
sacred law, which has given existence to the glorious
Republic of Colombia. The Liberating Army of
the South prosents, through me, to the General Con-
gress, the glorious laurels which it has gathered in the
field of battle of YAguacbi, Rembena, Riobamba, Pi.
chincha, and Pasto. On my part, faithful to my oath
to obey the fundamental law of the Republic, I reiterate
a second time to the Legislature of Colombia my first
promise, to die sword in hand at the head of the Army
of Colombia, before I will allow the bond of union to be
trampled on, which has presented to the world a nation
composed of Venezuela and New Grenada. The Con-
stitution of Colombia is sacred for ten years : it shall
not be violated with impunity, so long as blood runs in
my veins, and the Liberators are under my command.
Your Excellency will be good enough to transmit to
the Congress these sentiments of attachment to the
Constitution. et BOLIVAR.

" Head,quarters, at Tulean, December 31,1822."

FROM THE BOGOTA PAPERS OF JULY 6.

Communications have been received from the depart-
menu of Maturin, Zali, and Oronoco, which from the
nature of their contents, are deserving the attention of
the public, at a moment when the events of the 30th
April in Valencia, and what has subsequently taken
place in several towns of the provinces of the Caraccas
and Carabobo. The gallant General Bermudez, Com-
mandant General of the department of Maturin, in-
forms *the Secretary of State for the War Department,
in a despatch from Barcelona, dated I I th May, of what
had occurred at Valencia on the 30th April, and ob-
serves :—" I promise to the Government to act in these
circumstances, with all the activity and prudence which
such a state of things demands, to defend the Oronoco,
in case any attempts should be made on its fidelity, and
to do everything in the power of the armed force under
my command, towards reducing to obedience those
evil spirits who wish to introduce moments of sorrow
at the most prosperous period of the Republic."