Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-04-15
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Forty-seven millions of dollars spent by
one man annually on the qualification Of his
appetites. We fancied, at first, that there
must be some mistake in the figures bat
no-they are gravely stated in the Union
French paper at the above amounts, rs
protessed!y copied from the imperial regis
ters themselves. This immense sum forms
only small portion of the budget Of Tur-
KEY, for there remain the estimates for the
army navy the administration of law, &C..
&c.--in fact, for all the public service Of the
empire. Well might Byron make his hero,
Sellm, say:
'"rRou know'st not what in our Divan
Can wealth procure for worse than man.
''Wouldst question whence: Survey the waste,
''And ask the squaid peasant how,
Ellis gains repay his brong brow"
Abdul Medjid, with his 81 wives. and $50
female slaves, must find his time pretty well
employed These ladies are kept in order by
the Kislar Aga, and his numerous assistants,
and then there is the body guard, 1000 strong,
to protect His Ilighness from the too ardent
attentions of the lovely creatures. What
happiness must be theirs to bask in the light
of the Sublime Porte with more than half
million Of dollars in their pockets, to spend
in jewelry. dress. and swectmeats, annually,
to say nothing of presents from other quar-
tiers. and private bills, about which His High
ness is supposed to know nothing.
The Sultan's liberality to his brothers and
sisters. and their husbands. is a new feature
in Turkish government. Formerly the male
relations OF the occupant of the throne were
immured in the harem, or bowstrung, kept
out Of sight at any price, to prevent their
aspiring to the succession and the females
were quartered upon the wealthy pachas.
who were forced to receive these ladies IA
their wives. noi,ntcS roienteS, on pain Of death
or deprivation. But times are changed,
thanks to the influence of European amhas
sailors, fleets, and armies, and now the pco-
pie pay for the support Of princes and prin-
cesses. who formerly would have been quietly
put out Of the way and cost nothing.
We perceive that the Sublime Porte loves
music. and provides twelve bands for the
soothing of his savage breast, and the anrusc-
ment of his seragio. We wonder if he
makes them all play a. the same time. 1t is
to be hoped he has better taste than his pre-
decessor and presumed father, Mahmoud II
we say presumed tdtter. for there runs
dark tradition or suspicion that the royal
line of Gilman expired with him. and that
the present Sultan was onl y his adopted son,
being in reality the son Of his mother, the
Sultana Ealide, "a French woman and Chris
tan lin secret We do not vOuch for the
accuracy of the statement, but we know that
fears have been frequently entertained that
some such fact might leak out, and cause a
universal revolt among the Musselman pop
ulation, who reverence the memory aud the
family Of the founder of their empire. Talk
ing of Sultan Mahmoud's taste for music here
is a specimen of it. 4 French man-of-war
having a splendid military band on board
once anchored not far from the Golden Horn
The captain. thinking the lmperia! ears might
be charmed by the performances of his band,
asked permission for them to play before His
IIighnes-, who readily acceded 10 the request.
The musician played several airs, and then
rested few minutes. The Captain inquired
which air the Sultan liked best, and was in
formed that he preferred the first they had
played. and desired TO hear it again. Ac
cordingly they played the first air over again
No: that was not it. They played the second.
No: that was not it, The third No. The
fourth. No, and 40 on until they had played
all through. No: it was Of no use. His
IIghness still called for the first. In de--
pair they began to hnr their instruments
previousl y to commencing de moro, when the
Sultan suddenly clapprd his hands in great
delight, ezclaiming, Allah be praised that
is it-that is it," The mystery was solved,
the band dismissed, and His Majesty's repu-
tation for musical taste stood-well, it stood
where il did.-PH. Amer7cnn.