, 1876-06-04

! The Turks have achieved reputation,
| which has made them abhor1ed through
| Christendom, for sanguinary cruelty, brutal
and bloody massacre, and odious persecution
Almost every one of their Sultans has char
acterized his reign with such sanguinary ex-
cesses that at last the people have risen and
rid themselves OF the monsters by assassina-
ton. The Turks themselves, as people,
have hardly been behind their rulers in this
respect. 1slamism has beon characterized by
gross intolerance, bigoted fanaticism, and
pitiless butchery of men, women, and chill
dren of other faiths. In their treatment of
the late Sultan ABDu1-Az1z, however, they
seem to have reached the very climax Of re-
fined cruelty. ABDU1-Az1z was no better
and no worse than his illrstrious predeces-
sors Of the House of OTHMAN. Many of
them, in fact, could count hundreds of
Christian scalps to his one. He started
out with glowing promises Of re-
forms, just as 8IuHAD ErrEsp1 has,
in reality the very same reforms he made
the heroic resolution for Turk to have but
one wife, and abolished his seraglio, and he
most undoubtedly would have kept his prom
ise had it not been for the orthodox Mus
snlmans themselves, who saw in this abolition
Of the harem m attack upon their religion
and suppression Of the breeding-pen for
future Sultans Of the legitimate stripe. The
worst that can be said of him is that he
was profigate man; but, as prodigacy is
characteristic Of all Turks, it is difficult to
see why he should have been punished in
such signal manner. As our readers will
have noticed in the dispatches, be was at first
subjected to all sorts of abuse and scurriity
from his undcrlings, the softas, wao we're
only the priests of the temple in which he
was the Chief. He was then ordered to step
down and out, and was placed in a cave of
gloom in some kiosk. Some accounts say
that he was bowstrang and pitched into the
Golden Horn, but the most reliable
version of the unfortunate ABnu1-Az1z's
denopement is to the effect that.
having stripped him Of all his money,
amounting to 500, ,00o,00 Of treasure, they
set him adrift with forty OF fifty boat-loads
Of his women. If the reader will stop to
think what man can do with forty OF fifty
boat-loads Of women, without cent of
money in his pocket, he will family realize
the exquisite refinement of this new sample
of Turkish cruelty. So long as AnDu1-Az1z
had these sir or eight hundred fair Circassian
girls in his harem at Constantinop1e, with
plenty of eunuchs to guard them and keep
them from scratching each others eyes ont
in their contests for his favor, with plenty OF
piastres to feed and clothe them, buy spring
hats and pullbacks, ndorn them with Jewell
~, and provide them with coffee and car
amels, the Mohammedan Chanticleer might
while his time away happily in his hen-coop;
but what is be going to do now without
a red cent in his pocket? How is he
going to feed and clothe them? What ]
are all these poor vomen out OF place |
going to do ? If the new Sultan abolishes the
seraglio, what are the unfortunate devils of |
sunuchs going to do for living? 1t may be
that Softas have baggsd them all aud given |
them to the fish in the Bosphorus but the
women and their lord and master are aaoat ]
Without money and without occupation. It
1as driven many man to despair that he
lad not. money enough to provide for the
colossal wants Of one average woman but
1ere ia an unfortunate ruler out of business
Flth about 500 Of them, above the average as
o wants, and not money enough in his
'ocket to buy one of them bit Of Centen-