14 OCTOBER 1882, Page 3

The Sultan, for the third time in his reign, has

removed the Grand Shereef of Mecca, the second personage in Islam, and appointed a successor. This time, he has chosen a young man of about thirty-two, named Aou.n Refik, of course a descendant of the Prophet, but said to be "a man of enlightened, liberal views, free from all fanaticism," and resident for a long time in Constantinople. He is a younger brother of the man who was assassinated, and has always, been looked to by the Arab party as their future head, and we had rather hear his opinions described after he has reached Mecca than. before. Au educated Arab of the great race, who has resided in Constantinople, and has a blood feud with the Sultan, is not likely to believe very strongly in an Ottoman Khalif, and though men have heard for many centuries of "Liberal " Popes—Liberal, that is, as against the Papal claims—no one ever saw one. The new Shereef will hardly prove, because he is enlightened, a faithful vassal of the Turks.