The Times of Friday publishes a letter, dated May 29,
from "a person of rank " in Constantinople, which reads as if it were true, and explains the position of affairs there a fortnight ago very clearly. The writer says that the ex-Sultan Murad has really recovered, and is keenly aware of all that is going on ; that Redif Pacha, when assuring Sultan Hamid that all was going on well, was savagely attacked by the Sultan's brother, Noureddin Effendi, who told him to his face that he lied ; and that the Sultan would remove the Minister at War but for his fear that in such an event Murad would be restored. The Sultan is thoroughly alarmed, and as our readers are aware, has decreed since this letter was written the state of seige, thus making Redif Pasha absolute in the city, and has ordered the arrest of all Murad's partisans. At the same time Redif Pasha, quite aware that thetest-moment for his power will be the arrival of bad news, has prohibited the journals from publishing any information about the war not official, and has even withdrawn the Ambassadors' privilege of receiving telegrams in cypher from their Consuls, a measure of which Mr. Layard has formally complained. Mr. Layard, however, is never attended to by the Porte. Of course the news of severe defeat will get out; but if Redif has twelve hours' warning, he may place the Sultan out of the reach of the populace.
