otnote 98: Our ambassador at Constantinople, Sir Henry Elliott, asked
(May 9) that a squadron should be sent there to reassure the British
subjects in Turkey; but as the fleet was not ordered to proceed thither
until after a long interval, and was kept there in great strength and
for many months, it is fair to assume that the aim of our Government was
to encourage Turkey.] The Berlin Memorandum was, of course, not
presented to Turkey, and partly owing to the rapid changes which then
took place at Constantinople. To these we must now advert.

The Sultan, Abdul Aziz, during his fifteen years of rule had
increasingly shown himself to be apathetic, wasteful, and indifferent to
the claims of duty. In the month of April, when the State repudiated its
debts, and officials and soldiers were left unpaid, his life of
luxurious retirement went on unchanged. It has been reckoned that of the
total Turkish debt of LT200,000,000, as much as LT53,000,000 was due to
his private extravagance[99]. Discontent therefore became rife,
especially among the fanatical bands of theological students at
Constantinople. These Softas, as they are termed, numbering some 20,000
or more, determined to breathe new life into the Porte--an aim which the
patriotic "Young Turkey" party already had in view. On May 11 large
bands of Softas surrounded the buildings of the Grand Vizier and the
Sheik-ul-Islam, and with wild cries compelled them to give up their
powers in favour of more determined men. On the night of May 29-30 they
struck at the Sultan himself. The new Ministers were on their side: the
Sheik-ul-Islam, the chief of the Ulemas, who interpret Mohammedan
theology and law, now gave sentence that the Sultan might be dethroned
for mis-government; and this was done without the least show of
resistance. His nephew, Murad Effendi, was at once proclaimed Sultan as
Murad V.; a few days later the dethroned Sultan was secretly murdered,
though possibly his death may have been due to suicide[100].

[Footnote 99: Gallenga, _The Eastern Question_, vol. ii. p. 99.]

[Footnote 100: For the aims of the Young Turkey party, see the _Life of
Midhat Pasha_, by his son; also an article by Midhat in the _Nineteenth
Century_ for June 1878.]

We may add here that Murad soon showed himself to be a friend to reform;
and this, rather than any incapacity for ruling, was probably the cause
of the second palace revolution, which led to his deposition on August
31. Thereupon hi