"Oh! my master! Allah hath appointed certain days for rejoicing, and
certain other days for mourning, and 'tis not well to confuse the one
with the other. Just now there is no occasion for rejoicing, but all the
more occasion for mourning. Woeful tidings, like dark clouds presaging a
storm, are coming in from every corner of the Empire--conflagrations,
pestilences, earthquakes, inundations, hurricanes--alarm and agitate the
people. Only this very week the fairest part of Stambul, close to the
Chojabasha, was burnt to the ground; and only a few weeks ago the same
fate befell the suburb of Ejub along the whole length of the sea-front,
and that, too, at the very time when the other part of the city was
illuminated in honour of the birthday of Prince Murad. In Gallipoli a
thunder-bolt struck the powder-magazine, and five hundred workmen were
blown into the air. The Kiagadehane brook, in a single night, swelled to
such an extent as to inundate the whole valley of Sweet Waters, and a
whole park of artillery was swept away by the flood. And know also, oh
Padishah, that, but the other day, a new island rose up from the sea
beside the island of Santorin, and this new island has grown larger and
larger during three successive months, and all the time it was growing,
the ground beneath Stambul quaked and trembled. These are no good omens,
oh, my master! and if thou wilt lend thine ears to the counsel of thy
faithful servant, thou wilt proclaim a day of penance and fasting
instead of a feast-day, for evil days are coming upon Stambul. The voice
of the enemy can be heard on all our borders, from the banks of the
Danube as well as from beside the waters of the Pruth, from among the
mountains of Erivan as well as from beyond the islands of the
Archipelago; and if every Mussulman had ten hands and every one of the
ten held a sword, we should still have enough to do to defend thy
Empire. Bear, oh Padishah! with my grey hairs, and pardon my temerity. I
see Stambul in the midst of flames every time it is illuminated for a