The curious report about the conduct of the chief Moollah
or priest at Koniah is, in part, confirmed. It was stated in some telegrams that this personage, who gives to each Sultan a sort of consecration by girding on his sword, and who is the object among Mussulmans of much veneration, has declared the House- of Othman unworthy of the Khaliphate, and has deposed it. The• story seems incredible, but it is repeated in serious letters from Constantinople; and if it is true, it means that the House is shaking in Asia as well as in Europe. It has many enemies there, the Arabs and Greeks hating the Turks about equally, while the Syrians, whether Arab, Druse, Maronite, or Levantine, would' prefer almost any other dominion. As the Turks have been drawn away for the war, and have perished in unknown numbers, till we are told that in whole districts there are no Turks under sixty, it is not impossible that Asiatic Turkey may be the scene of universal revolt. That is the natural consequence in Asia of a defeat, and would in all probability finally upset the Ottoman dominion. The chance of the Turks is that they have still an army, and nobody else has, but they certainly will not be able to use it either in Bosnia or in the Greek provinces.
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