d, and declared himself a partisan of the system
of reform commenced by that sovereign. Notwithstanding the custom,
rendered almost sacred by tradition, he renounced the turban and was
_crowned_ with the fez. Contrary to the usage of former Sultans, who on
their accession put to death or closely imprisoned all their brothers,
he allowed his brother Abdul Haziz not only his life, but full liberty.

The Hatti-sherif of Gulhanch, published on the 19th of November 1839,
and which has been viewed in so many and different lights, proved at
least the good intentions of this sovereign, called so young to support
so weighty a burden. At various times he has manifested a desire for
instruction, and has taken lessons in geography and in Italian; he has
also travelled over a part of his empire.

It is usual at Constantinople for the Sultan to proceed every Friday
(the Mussulman Sabbath) to pray in one of the mosques. The one chosen is
named in the morning, and he proceeds thither on horseback or in his
caick, according to the quarter in which it is situated. This weekly
ceremony is almost the sole occasion on which foreigners can see his
highness. During my stay at Constantinople, I had several opportunities
of gazing upon the descendant of the Prophet. He is a young man, of
slender frame, of grave physiognomy, and a most _distingue_ appearance.
A crowd of officers and eunuchs formed his suite, and all heads bowed
low at his approach. Abdul Medjid, who was the twentieth-born child of
his father Mahmood, was born at Constantinople on the 19th of April
1823. His black and stiff beard cause him to appear older than he is in
reality. His eye is very brilliant, and his features regular. His face
is somewhat marked with the smallpox; but this is not very apparent, as
the young sultan, according to the custom of the harem, has an
artificial complexion for days of ceremony. Naturally of a delicate
frame, excesses have much enfeebled his constitution; his continual
ill-health, his pallor, and his teeth already decayed, announce, that
though so young in years, he is expiating the pleasures of a Sultan by a
premature decrepitude. Abdul Medjid has several children, who are weak
and sickly like their father, and the state of their health inspires
constant anxiety.

Few sovereigns have been more diversely judged than Mahmood, the father
of the present Sultan. Lauded to the skies by some, lowered to the dust
by others, he died before Europe was