The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-02-28
Il TURKISH TRAGEDY.
why Abdul Aziz was Deposcd--A Woman,
ana Not tho People, at the Bottom of tho
Affair.


disguised narrative OF the origin and
methods Of that peculiar revolution
which in May, 1876, put one Sultan
aside and put another in hrs place
without any apparent reason that the
public could comprehend at the time.
We showed then that the will of the
people, which was assigned in the bull
lctins as the authority for the dcposi-
ton, could have less relation to events
ofthat nature III Turkey than in any
other country in the world, and, in
short, that this was merely a name
given by an abuse common enough in
all history to a very narrow intrigue.
"Will Of the people" is q convenient
phrase. 1t can consccratc the wretch
Ell trickcry Of our own thimblerigging
politicians in conventions and return.
ing boards, and why should it not
give dignity to the revenge Of Mos
lem lover?
HUssEIN AVN PACIrA,
the Grand Vizicr, loved the third wife
of the Sultan Abdul Aziz, and was
favored by her. But she was also
loved by 1lassan Bcy, one of the Sui
tan's aidcs-dc-camp, who was also the
Sultan's brothcr-in-law, since Hassan's
sister was the Sultan's fourth wife.
liassan, because Of this near relation
to rival wife, was not to be trusted
by tho fair Mrs. Blucbcard of the
story, and SO was made an cnragcd
and not happy lover. Jealous Of the
success Of his rival, Hassan told the
story OF the intrigue to his sister, in
formed her that the third wife was
unfaithful to the Sultan, and that it
was her duty to communicate this un-
pleasant news to his savage Majesty.
She told the Sultan and he killed his
third witcAbcat her to death in the
palace, rs hitherto related. Thereby
the Sultan set in motion the machinery
that was to end in his own ruin, for
how could Hussein Avni Pacla, who
heard within an hour Of what had
happened to the fair partner of his
guilt, imagine that the Sultan, know
Ing of her offence, should not know of
his? lie understood consequently
that 1T was necessary to provide for
his own safety. lii duel q la m,ortc,
therefore, modern Sultan, his will
cntanglcd in all the confusion of the
apparatus of authority, is 10 match for
tho practiscd head of the government,
used to man9uvring that apparatus.
So it was here, and before the Sultan
could lift finger he was dcthroncd
by the contrivancc Of the Vizicr.
For the moment, therefore,
lie was even more than safc-hc was
the great effective moving force of the
hour in the Empire. He was. q king
ma ker. Inspired by his apprchcnsions
he had been by them thrust forward
and found himself not merely making
provision for his own life, but PLAYING
with the great pieces in the game upon
which the attention of the world was
concentrated ut that moment. Hus-
scln, III mere rcsolutc rush for self
protection, seemed for Il moment to
ontplay all Europe in great game of
statccrntt and tooverthrUw at q single
stroke those manHuvrcs in the Moslem
capital upon which the diploma
flncsso OF Russia and England had
been concentrated for months togeth-
er. AS easily rs Hussein removed one
Sultan he mad dc another, and rs easily
as he madea n Sultan the OmnipOtent
man OF the moment made a Ministry.
Ii it had pleased him to imagine him
self to be of the blood of Othman lie
might have mounted the throne him
self as easily as he raised Murad to
that slippery elevation, and this would
have been continuation so much in
the original vein Of Ottoman history
that it also would have commended
itself to the "will of the nation" But
Hussein was not picking himself out
throne just then. In fact, it may
have occurred to him as an inference
from the circumstances that a throne
is about tho
LAST PIECE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY
that any sensible man in tho world
need want. Hussein was therefore
satisfied to 60 on as q man likely to
restore tho glories Of the dccaying
office of Grand Vizicr. He modestly
added few more offices to those he
already possessed with the calm dig
nifty with which a Ute might put q
couple of scalps in his belt; conferred
officially from time to time with such
overrated creatures of circumstance
as Midhat Pacha, and lapscd into true
Turkish indifference as to the where
abouts and activity of the other persons
CONCERNED In the tragic story.
No steps were taken, apparently, to
ascertain how his secret had reached
the Sultan, for tho wife who had told
of the evil was untouched in the pal
ace, and tIassan, her brother, lay
tipsily about in half the cafes of Con-
stantinople. Had these two been cir
cumspcct they would have saved their
owr lives, though not the life of the
dcthroned Sultan, for Abdul Aziz
made such effective attempts to escape
that Hussein was forced to recognize
that there was but one place of earth
ly deposit in which he would prove
absolutely innocuous. Hence those
scissors. Our narrative fully iustifics
the suspicion with which from the
first the whole civilized world regard
ca tho report Of the Sultan's suicide.
1assan's sister endeavored to enligllt-
on Sultan Murad on the history of the
recent events and upon the death of
his uncle, but as the imperial house,
hold was keon1v raUnloto6 hv Iyneoo;,;