• The death of Hassan Pasha, Admiral of the Turkish
Fleet, may turn out to be an event of considerable importance. He has held that position for twenty-three years, and ae he had allowed the Fleet to be ruined so thatlew of the ahips could leave harbour, and as he accumulated an enormous fortune, it was believed in Constantinople that he had some special knowledge about the Sultan which made the latter unwilling, or rather afraid, to remove him. Those whom the Sultan dreads, however, are apt to disappear; and there is, we believe, a more plausible explanation. The Sultan had convinced him- self of Hassan's fidelity, and trusted to him and his sailors to defend Yildiz Kiosk against any insurrection, either of his guards or of the populace, and to provide in the worst event the means of flight. This the Admiral could have done while his ships lay in the harbour; . and the Sultan, therefore, allowed him to ruin his Marine, and to make as much money as he pleased. It will be most difficult to replace him ; and it is quite possible that with his disappearance the revolutionary elements: in Constantinople may acquire a new audacity. - The entire absence of pronunciamientos in the capital has been one of the remarkable• features of this reign, and has often deceived observers into a belief that Abd-ul-Hamid is personally popular.
