According to all the accounts received from Constantinople, the action
of Murad V. in the Revolution was not of the most digni- fied kind. Bred up in seclusion, closely watched by his uncle, and aware that his life was in danger, he at first refused to believe that he was Khalif, and. it was only when Hussein Avni Pasha produced a pistol, and either threatened him with it, or offered to be shot by it if he intended treachery, that he consented to go to the Ministry of War, where he was recognised as Sultan. It is now admitted by correspondents that he is not a cultivated man, though placable and sensible, and it begins to be whispered that he has debts which will absorb part of Abdul Axis's hoarded treasure. The estimates of this treasure vary from 12,000,000 in Turkish Consolides, worth less than /300,000, to 230,000,000. No Oriental treasure ever realises expectation, and the jewels, &c., of the Palace cannot be touched; but it is probable that the late Sultan had a considerable amount —it was said before his death, £.8,000,000—in Turkish bonds, which have been made nearly worthless by his own mismanage- ment. Some money, it is clear, has been found somewhere, for the troops and officials, who had been irritated by want of pay, have received a considerable portion of their arrears. It is still too early to form even an opinion on the financial position of the new Government ; but, as they pay nobody, and receive about £15,000,000 a year, they ought not to be in want of funds.
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