7 DECEMBER 1878, Page 3

The Sultan has once more brushed his Ministry away. Safvet

Pasha has fallen, ostensibly because he was too submissive to foreign Powers, especially Austria, and Khyr-ed-in Pasha has be- come Grand Vizier. This man, a Circassian by birth, was formerly Prime Minister at Tunis, and has acquired a singular ascendency over the Sultan's mind. Ile is said to believe that Islam and Western reforms "are not incompatible," whatever that may mean, but he is undoubtedly a man of energy and strength of character. Karatheodori Pasha, the Greek who represented Turkey at the Berlin Congress, is appointed Foreign Minister, an appointment understood to be a pledge of decided resistance to Austrian demands ; and Osman Pasha, of I'levna, becomes Minister of War. Zuhdi Pasha, who is always trying experiments to withdraw paper-money, and always failing, remains Minister of Finance ; and Moollah Effendi is named Sheik-ul-Islam. The object of this change is to secure a Ministry whom the Sultan personally trusts as aids against revolution, but its general effect will probably be to create a Ministry determined to resist all concessions to Europe, and specially all concessions to Vienna where they are talking of the " neceasity " of going down to Salonica more freely than ever.