ease, he died in the arms of the marquis, to
whom he left the whole of his immense fortune. Manuel d'Orsini abjured
Christianity, and entered the Ottoman service, in which his success was
brilliant and his rise rapid, thanks to the favor of the grand vizier.
The reader of Ottoman history will find the name of Mustapha Pasha
frequently mentioned with honor in the reign of Solyman the
Magnificent--and Mustapha Pasha, beglerbeg of the mighty province of
Anatolia, was once Manuel d'Orsini.

For nearly sixteen years did Ibrahim Pasha govern the Ottoman realms in
the name of the sultan: for nearly sixteen years did he hold the
imperial seals which had been intrusted to him at a period when the
colossal power of the empire seemed tottering to its fall. During that
interval he raised the Ottoman name to the highest pinnacle of
glory--extended the dominions of his master--and shook the proudest
thrones in Christendom to their foundation. Ferdinand, King of Hungary,
called him "brother," and the Emperor Charles the Fifth of Germany
styled him "cousin" in the epistolary communications which passed
between them. But a Greek who had long, long cherished a deadly hatred
against the puissant grand vizier, at last contrived to enter the
service of the sultan in the guise of a slave; and this man, succeeding
in gaining that monarch's ear, whispered mysterious warnings against the
ambition of Ibrahim. Solyman became alarmed; and, opening his eyes to
the real position of affairs, perceived that the vizier was indeed far
more powerful than himself. This was enough to insure the immediate
destruction of a Turkish minister.

Accordingly, one evening, Ibrahim was invited to dine with the sultan,
and to sleep at the imperial palace. Never had Solyman appeared more
attached to his favorite than on this occasion and Ibrahim retired to a
chamber prepared for him, with a heart elated by the caresses bestowed
upon him by his imperial master. But in the dead of night he was
awakened by the entrance of several persons into the room; and starting
up with terror, the grand vizier beheld _four black slaves_, headed by a
Greek, creep snake-like toward his couch. And that Greek's countenance,
sinister and menacing, was immediately recognized by the affrighted
Ibrahim--though more than fifteen years had elapsed since he had set
eyes upon those features. Short and ineffectual was the struggle against
the messengers of death; the accursed bowstring encircle