State rights and democratic union. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1839-18??, 1839-10-16
YAzoO CITY, WEDNESDAY,, OCTOBER Is 1889

sovereignty, Mahmoud ordered the murde
OF his brother Mustapha, as that brother haC
befote ordered the murder Of Selim Thus
was the domestic tragedy completed. Frat
cldes are common in Turkish history. and are
deemed so necessary policy, that the people
annexed no moral tuipitude to such murders
IN the Seraglio.
Tn the day that Mahmoud assembled the
throne, thirtf.three heads were exposed al
the gate OF the Seraglio, among which the
hideous deformity of the chief of the black
eunuchs shone conspicuously on a silver
dish, allotted TO him on account of the dgni.
~ of his Office. The leaders OF the revolu.
ton that had dettroned Sslim were stranglei
and thrown into the Bosph1rus; and such Of
the women of the Seragllo as had rtjoiced at
SeIlm's death, were sown up in sacks and
drowned at the tower of Kiz-Koulesi, oppo
site the Seraglio point.
The destruction of Mahmoud's oppressive
Grand Vizier was one Of the earliest events
OF his reign; and, compared to the horrors then
committed for three days in ConstantinopIe,
the revolutions which dethroned Selim and
Mustapha sink Tito familiar and insignificant
tragedies.-The city was the scene of ter
rIflc civil war-the massacre was indiscrim.
mate, and helpless women and children were
butcheted by the soldiery; houses were fred
! 10 every direction, arms were discharged from
| the windows, and stones and boiling oil were
thrown upon the troops in the streets, where
the flames aud t,ppling ruins, respecting nei-
thcT party, frequently interrupted their com.
bats, consuming both, or burying them under
| smoking ruins. No one attempted to stay
the conhagration; and soon the most popu.
lous quarter # Constantinople was covered
with sheet of fire; whilst the cries, the
groans of women, and old men and children,
excited no pity amid the general crash and
clamor. Mahmoud beheld the awful specta-
Gle from one Of the lofty towers of the Sc
iaglio; but not 'like another Nero" as some
have uniustly asserted-the flames were not
of his kinding, and he would fain have ex
tihguished them, had not the fire been so in.
tense as not to be arrested by throwing to the
ground whole stacks of houses The mob
mistOok the Sultan's cOmm:seTation and mer.
cy, for weakness and fear, and, amidst their
cries for vengeance, were suggestions that il
was time to dispose of Mahmoud as Selm
had been disposed of. Those voices were
Mustapha's death warrant. FoI three days
his fate had been hanging by a thread; and
Mahmoud now listened to those who depict.
ed the ferocity and reVengeful disposition of
his brother, in a manner to show that the hour
of his becoming fratricide had at length ar
rived. As the Ominous voices clam0red at
the Seragio gate, the Sultan gave the horrible
command for brothers. murder. by some
who are inclined to take the most favorable
of oh Aofo 10 fhaI fho ardc
died on his ips-that he twice reverted from
his officers and courtieTs, who expected the
order with impotence, and walked to the
loophole or window, whence he could observe
the multitude; and that when at last he con.
strained himself to utter the words, Let it be
done and quickly he covered his face with
the shawl of his turban, and, shiVering from
head TO foot, threw himself into the corner of
sofa. Others, however, assert that on hear,
ing the cries of the people. he became fur-
Gus, and rushed himself, with the Kislar.agha
and the Capdji bashi, to the prison of his
brother, and presided at the murder.-The
facts are buried in the mysteries of the Sc
raglio; but whatever was the mode of execu-
ton, or the feelings of nature, the last shrek
of the cowardly Mustapha soon echoed thro'
that bloody recess, and Mahmoud felt the Sc
curity of his unity-the inviolablity Of the
sole male relct Of the Osman race, and might
say with horrid triumph, & am alone-and
there is none but me-
From this dreadful moment, Mahmoud
may be said to have borne charmed life; ne
felt this, and strong in the peculiarly of his
situation, undertook and accomplished mca.
sures which none of his predecessors dared
contemplate. The birth of sons did not i'm
medately endanger his safety, fol the Turks
count their princes as naught until they
| reach manhood; yet the sudden death of his
eldest son, ION whom the eyes OF the party
adverse to reform and innovation were fxed,)
in the tenth year OF his age. is by many at
trlbuted to poison, administered by jealous
and unnatural father; though such crime
would have been premature, and It seems
more probable that the child died Of the
small pox.
The death of Mahmoud's brother broke the
shield and spear of the rebellious psrty; and
when it was ascertained that the dreaded
Vizier, Mustapha Bairactar, had perlshed IN
the flames of the revolution which he, ana
/ not the Sultan, had provoked; and when the
multitude bad dragged the corpse to the open!
souale of the Etmeidan, the great resort OF
/ the Janissaries, and had there impaied Il,
they listened to their Sultan, the civil war
ceased, and every thing returned to It's ac'
customcd order. Mahm0ud did not, h0wev.
er. spare the friends Of the Bairactar; ne nao
one of their chiefs put TO death without any
l,emnrse and eynosed his head at the gate OF