THE PORTE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 1896, 27 November 1877, Page 4

THE PORTE.

(The Mail.) Various causes contributed to the late Ministerial changes and modifications m the Cabinet, but the silent revolution waa more immediately the result of a letter from Prince Has3an, commanding the Egyptian contingent at Varna, m which the writer informed His Majesty that military affairs on the Danube were not as they should be, and that it would go ill with the Turkish arms it everything was left to the Minister of War and the Serdar Ekrem. The manner m which the Russians crossed the Danube, almost unopposed, confirmed the. misgivings which Prince Hassan's letter awakened, although for five days the Sultan was hoodwinked by the assurance that it was all part of a strategic plan, and that the intention was to defend the line of the Balkans. The utterly defenceless condition of the Balkan Passes, as shown by the Russian advance to Kezanlik and Yeni Saghra, defeated tbilast Bhiffcof the War Minister and '

convicted him of having systematically deceived his Sovereign. Namyk Pasha, m whom the whole Empire recognizes an able soldier and honest man, was sent to the Danube with Redif Pasha to report, but facts were eloquent enough themselves, and Redif was ordered into exile. With Redif fell the Serdar Ekrem, and the influence of Mahmoud over the Sultan has declined. Without any intrigue, then, without any Party struggle, but by the practical teaching of events alone has been destroyed the sway of the Reactionary Party over the Sultan's mind. In the whole State and hierarchy there is not a man so constitutional m his principles as the Sultan, and yet since the fall of Midhat the Sultan has been under the control of reactionary Ministers — I cannot say of a reactionary Cabinet, for both Edhem and Safvet were constitutional ; but he had allowed the country to fall into the hands of a military dictatorship, which, while it chafed the temper of the people by blocking the progress of the Constitution, was wholly without value as a military instrument. By the overthrow of this clique, for Party it wa3 not, the Palace gates were opened once more to truth and true men. Such counsellors as Reouf and Ali and Said will come to the front under Imperial favour. Said will not improbably be able to shake off rheumatism, and, leaving the sulphur springs of Mityleno, return to the capital m time to take the portfolio of Finance when peace is made. Nor is there anything to keep Midhat longeraway, although opinions are divided as to the expediency of his return. In any case, great and immediate is the advantage of the scales having fallen from the Sultan's eyeß, and it has a tranquillizing effect on the popular mind. The collapse of the Dictatorship, too, removes to a long distance the not ill-founded fears of popular disturbances m the capital, which for some time past have prevailed, and which it has been the sedulous endeavour of Russian agents to promote.