The Bee-Hive. — 1876-06-24 (London, England)

TURKEY. The assassinations in Constantinople, by which two of the Sultan Murad's Ministers have been got rid of, a third being wounded, have tended to shake belief in the story of his predecessor's suicide. These deplorable crimes are casting a deep shade Qt suspicion upon the surviving colleague, in whose house and Presence they were perpetrated. But. it is somewhat difficult to  separate between reports of facts, exaggerated or authentic, and mere speculations upon facts and rumours of facts. In Berlin, for example, you are asked to regard Midhat Pacha as having procured the removal of Hussein Avni, as a prejudiced obstacle to constitutional change, thus inaugurating an era of reform by the unpromising process of vulgsr assassination. In the same city, however, are others who regard the murders accomplished as the imperfect fulfilment of a design which comprehended all the Ministers in council, Midhat himself not excepted. The assassin must be presumed to have known what he had to do, if not why; but good care was taken to put him also as speedily as possible in the state to which the proverb has reference, that " dead men tell no tales." Meanwhile, what next ? The city of Jerusalem, for one place, is reported to be in a state of alarm from the actual excesses of the Turkish authorities, and an apprehended rising of the Fellahs. The Christians had closed their shops, barricaded their dwellings, armed themselves, and watched through the night; and the German Consul had applied to the Government for armed aid from Berlin, where, it seems, a general rising in Constantinople _ _  itself was deemed by no means improbable.  But surely suoli  apprehensions tally ill with the belief that the Turks at howlquarters are relying witb confidenc3 upon England for even moral support.  To return to the facts so far as we can depend on the authority stating them. The mother of the dead Sultan yet lives; but she is tired of life, and all the younger ladies of the harem are being dispersed. That source of intrigue, therefore, is out of the way. But still in the way is the threefold insurrection outside, the national debt inside, and a general situation of affairs unaltered, as yet, by all that has befallen. There are also aniong princes, priests, and politicians, the materials for reaction, with military and naval officers enough for tools to do the work when duly prepared for them. Moreover, as any man may be made a paella whom the Padishaw may delight to honour, there is a motive for zeal which will make its impulse felt in every class of Moslem society, however high, however low.  But the Sultan or his Vizier, who moans to lead a quiet life, must make the people feel that they also share the privilege, and are not made shuttlecocks of betwixt taxgatherers and soldiery. And, now at least, the time is come when the nominal Christians must be counted an element in the calculation. No sentiment among them, indeed, amounts to what in the West we style "public opinion ; " but, at the lowest, they are animals who, though bullocks accustomed to the yoke, are still galled by it, and would never be loth to cast it off, if any man or anything could give them the opportunity. On the other side of the account, there perhaps remains no longer that precise form of unreasoning but ready public opinion of wl4ich, at one era, the janissaries were the depositaries. That was an active force, if appealed to; the force now residing among the Softas is force of another kind, yet, as we have seen, force too. And how ?By reason of their organization. For four centuries the Turk has ruled in Constantinople; and, as we are reminded, in that time ten Sultans have been deposed, and half the number got rid of by the bowstring. "Uneasy," therefore, "lies the head that wears a crown." How will those who have put one on the head of Murad enable him to sleep secure ? The Softas are believed to include in their scheme some form of limited monarchy, which, however beneficial to a people when it is more than a name, is quite as good for the ruler who has the good sense to understand his own interest. If to this the Softas are willing and able to banish religion from the sphere of politics so far as to live on terms of tolerance and social fraternity with the Christians, there is a further ground of hope. If, in short, the well-meaning among the Turks would learn from our example, instead of misinterpreting our movements, and imagining that the appearance of our ships in their waters implies some sort of connection with their irregular and indefensible goings on, there might be a chance of political regeneration; though, to be sure, that is small in the absence or but very partial presence of any sound social element.  In fine, the settled opinion of dispassionate and capable observers and inquirers on the spot seems to turn to one point, namely, that