The Lyttelton Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 1909. A FALLEN STAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXX, Issue 14981, 29 April 1909, Page 6

The Lyttelton Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 1909. A FALLEN STAR.

The dethronement of Abd-ul-Hainid removes a picturesque figure from the. stage of European politics. Sultans have the. same human fallibOity for rising and falling as is supposed to be the divine right of kings, and although "sire transmits to son the unquestion'd crown " with singular regularity, there comes a time when the monarch who .fights his people learns that he is fighting himself. The deposed Sultan, old in years and grey with an aggressiveness that is part experience and part instinct, comes of a line of rulers which has always sought to make the diplomacy of cunning go harid-in-hand with the arbiter of force. The House of Othman is brare by heredity, and whatever the faults, and failings of Abd-ul-Hamid may be, no" charge of cowardice can be legitimately laid at' his door. There isi ample proof of this in the vivid history of the war which Russia declared against the Porte in 1877. The arsenals of the Sultan were empty, his treasury was bankrupt, and the rifles for his legions had to bo brought in hot haste from across tho Atlantic. Even Britain, tho sworn ally of his family, had deserted him, and he was face to face with a position that was never more than a. forlorn hope. The terrible year that followed covers one of the world's historical tragedies, but from the ignominy of complete defeat the Sultan, mainly by the strength of his own personality, plucked a tiny meed of compensation. He was compelled to cede territory in both Europe jand Asia to Russia, but by the promise of reform he was allowed, under the Treaty of Berlin, to retain country and power which he had obviously forfeited. His record since has been, one of broken promises and shifty evasions. Living in fear of assassination, surrounded by spies and traitors, bowing the knee alternately to Russia, to Britain and to Germany, he steered a course between Scylla and Charybdis which would have appalled a more modern adventurer. In tho heart of civilisation he strove to establish tho seat of barbarianism. His excesses were wanton, his cruelties extravagant, his'deepisal of humanity supreme, and his indifference to the demands of the national entente absolutely unique. In a word, he was Eastern. He was splendidly barbaric, but hopelessly atavistic in ah age- of progress. Though his rule has descended to a close Wood relative, there, is every reason to hope that his deposition will, make for the greater peace of Europe. "We may deplore the passing of the picturesque, but in the comity of nations which is essential to tho progress of the world there is little room for the high lights which Turkey has provided for so many years.