The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-10-19
THE NEW SULTAN.
Interesting Services of the InVestiture
of the saber of fOsman-The Procession
TO the Mosque of Eyoob and the Cere-
monies There.


Interesting Services of the Investiture
of the saber of Osman-The Procession
TO the Mosque of Eyoob and the Cere-
monies There.
THERAPIA, Sept. 81 went yester-
day to see as much as | could see of the
famous ceremony of the Saber. That
ceremony, as you have often been told,
corresponds to the coronation or conse-
Grafton of Western monarchs, and is
intended to confer on the Sultan the
command of the land and sea forces of
the Empire. Abdul Hamid H. is num-
bered as the thirty-fourth reigning
Sovereign of the dynasty of Osman,
the warrior chief from whom the Turks
take that name of Osmanls by which
they prefer to designate themselves.
Osman's sword, or scimiter-as sacred
a relic as the oil vial at Rheims or the
iron crown at Monza,-has followed
the destinies of the Sultan5 from
Konieh, the ancient Iconium, the first
stage in their career of greatness, to
their subsequent seats of government
at Broussa, Adrianople, and CONSTANT
nople. There lives at Konieh an old
Sheriff of Imam, the descendant of an
ancient sovereign race who waive their
rights to the throne in favor of the
house of Osman, just as the Dukes of
Medina Coeli renounce their claims in
favor of the successors of Charles V.
THE MOSQUE OF EYOoB,
where this conservation is held, rises
in the center of the village of the same
name, a struggling suburb of Constan-
tinople, near the upper end of the Col
den Horn, outside the Adrianople Gate.
The spot was uninhabited in ancient
times, and here the garrison of the
Capital of the Eastern Empire had their
place d'GrmeS, or parade ground, out
side the walls, called Campo, where
every new Sovereign upon his elevation
was proclaimed Emperor by the sol
diers. In the early incursions of the
Arabs of Mahomet these c)nquerors re-
peatedly pushed as far as Constantine
pie and laid siege to the city, and it was
in one of these encounters that Eyoob
of Fob, companion-in-arms of the
Prophet, and his staHdard-bearer, lost
their lives, in the year of our era 668.
Seven hundred and eighty-five years
later, when Mahomet II. took Constan-
tinople and chose it as the seat of his
empire, he looked for the grave of the
old Arab hero and saint, and, on a spot
revealed to him in a dream, built a
mosque of white marble, where all his
successors, except those who, like
Murad ", met with q prema-
ture death or deposition, received the
This solemnity, without which the
Sulan can scarcely be said to be legally
installed or acknowledged, invariably
precedes the introduction of the repre-
sentatives of the foreign powers to the
sovereign. The investiture is purely a
religious and military ceremony, and
only the pIiestly and warrior castles of
the conquering race are allowed to wit
ness it. Eyoob Mosque is forbidden
ground to the non-Mussulmans at all
times, and especially on this solemn oc-
casion; but some European Christians
are said to have smuggled themselves
in more than once, their curiosity max
ing them reckless of the danger to their
lives. 1t is a striking evidence of the
little account in which quite one-half of
the Ottoman subjects are held that the
presence of any of them at the conse-
Grafton of their sovereign would be re-
sented as a contamination and Sacri-
lege.
Public curiosity, raised by the oftre-
peated announcement of the investiture
of Murad ", and baffled in the end by
the lingering illness and the eventual
deposition of that unfortunate prince,
might be expected to revive on the ac-
cession of his successor. Early in the
morning l went down the BosphoTus in
caique with an English gentleman, and
we were
THE ONLY TWO EUROPEANS
privileged to await the Sultan's arrival
at the landing place of Eyoob. On the
landing-place were drawn up the Sui
tan's halberdiers, in flaming scarlet
coats, and wearing casques surmounted
by enormous plumes, some of them
with fan-like, teathery appendages at
the back, so heavy that they could only
with the greatest difficulty be balanced
on the wearers' heads. The Sultan's
charger, a superb Arab, more than fif-
teen hands high, milk white, and ex-
ceedingly well broken, was being walk
ed to and fro. Both sides of the street
were lined with troops, the post of hon
or being assigned to the very fine men
of Count Szechenyi's Fire Brigade.
Further on were cavalry and mounted
zaptichs. In the middle of the swarm
ing, passing and repassing before a
dingy little shop, the Ministers were
gradually assembling, and sitting on
the hard villainous square stools with
which frequenters of Turkish cafes and
coasting steamers become only too soon
acquainted to their cost, for the art of
sitting is still in its infancy in this
country, and your true OsmanH
STILL PREFERS sQUATTING.
Among the Ministers noticed Ahmed
Kaisserh, of the Marine; Redif Pasha,
of the War Office; and presently Mid
hat. The Grand Vizier was absent
throughout the day, owing to indispo-
sition. Round the Minister'S circle in
that dark hole of shop, barely nine
feet by six feet, stood certain strapping
ragamutfins, most of them in their
shirtsleeves, listening to, if not actually
joining in, the great mems converse
ton. A telegraphic message was hand
ed to the Seraskier, who, after opening
it and reading it, passed it over to Mid
hat, the two exchanging glances and
smiles which struck US as mutual con-
gratulations on good news received.
The waiting was long, and the Pashas,
tired of the delay, proceeded to indulge
in small Jokes and even mild "chaff, "
neither more nor less than if they had
been European schoolboys.
At last, about half-past u, the troops
fell in their ranks; the halberdiers gave
last tap to their rebellious caiques
the band struck up lively march, and
the Sultan's caiques, unannounced by
the cannon, probably owing to contra
ry winds, hove in sight. Six caiques,
were rowed by their white-clad crews
of stalwart Albanians, two of them
surmounted by gorgeous golden can
opy, from the last of which
THE SULTAN ALIGHTED,
and was soon in the saddle, pacing leis-
urely before us on his way to the mosque.
IL t,fvr ho,