There are sonmtinres pleasant thiin gs
to be fAind in unexpected places;
certainly I may he said to have picked
out my wife in the ears."
The question of the suiccess.ioun ~
the throne of the Sultan has been a
source of cabinet and diplomatic dis
quietude in Constantinople dui ing
the past two years. Under the law
which has regulated the heirship dur
ing the last five hundred years the
crown always passes to the eldest
male of the imperial Turkish fanmily
whose fiather was on the throne at
the time of his birth, so as a rule the
sultans have been suncedeed not by
their sons, but by their brothers. It
was in accordance with this law that
the present Sultan, Abdul Aziz, as
cended the throne on the death of his
brother, Abdol Medjid (25th of June,
1861), though the latter left seven
sons, the eldest of whom, Youssouf
Izedin, was born on the 9th of Octo
ber, 1857, and is, consequently, under
the above law, disqualified for the
crown, intee at the time he was born
his father was not as yet Sultan. The
lawful heir in the eyes of the people,
is the eldest son of Abdul Medjid,
Murad Effendi, who was born during
his father's reign-on the 21st of Sep
tember, 184(1--but a strong party at
court urges the Sultan just at present
to introduce the European system of
succession and declare his eldest son
his heir. The old Mohammedan
party is strongly opposed to such a
course, which it considers would in
volve a departure from the precepts
of the Kdran, and as underthe Koran
a Mohammedan is only bound to obey 1
his sovereign in so far as he keeps
within its restrictions, this opposition
may lead to very serious results if the
Sultan should adopt the proposal to
alter the plan of succession. 