The civil list of the Sultan is variously reported at from one to two millions sterling. To the Imperial family belong a great number of crown domains, the income from which contributes to the revenue. The amount charged to the Budget of 1897-98 was £T882 550.

Constitution and Government.

The fundamental laws of the empire are based on the precepts of the Koran. The will of the Sultan is absolute, in so far as it is not in opposition to the accepted truths of the Mahometan religion as laid down in the sacred book of the Prophet. Next to the Koran, the laws of the Multeka,' a code formed of the supposed sayings and opinions of Mahomet, and the sentences and decisions of his immediate successors, are binding upon the Sovereign as well as his subjects. Another code of laws, the 'Cahon nameh,' formed by Sultan Solyman the Magnificent, from a collection of hatti-sheriffs,' or decrees, issued by him and his predecessors, is held in general obedience, but merely as an emanation of human authority.

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The legislative and executive authority is exercised, under the supreme direction of the Sultan, by two high dignitaries, the Sadr-azam,' or Grand Vizier, the head of the temporal Government, and the 'Sheïk-ul-Islam,' the head of the Church. Both are appointed by the Sovereign, the latter with the nominal concurrence of the 'Ulema,' a body comprising the clergy and chief functionaries of the law, over which the 'Sheïk-ul-Islam' presides, although he himself does not exercise priestly functions. Connected with the Ulema' are the 'Mufti,' the interpreters of

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the Koran. The Ulema comprise all the great judges, theologians, and jurists, and the great teachers of literature and science who may be summoned by the Mufti. The principal civic functionaries bear the titles of Effendi, Bey, or Pasha.

Forms of constitution, after the model of the West European States, were drawn up at various periods by successive Ottoman Governments, the first of them embodied in the 'Hatti-Humáyoun' of Sultan Abdul-Medjid, proclaimed February 18, 1856, and the most recent in a decree of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II., of November, 1876. But the carrying out of these projects of reform appears entirely impossible in the present condition of the Ottoman Empire.

The Grand Vizier, as head of the Government and representative of the Sovereign, is assisted by the Medjliss-i-Hass, or Privy Council, which corresponds to the British Cabinet. The Medjliss-i-Hass consists of the following members:-1. The Grand Vizier; 2. The Sheïk-ul-Islam; 3. The Minister of the Interior; 4. The Minister of War; 5. The Minister of Evkaf (Worship); 6. The Minister of Public Instruction; 7. The Minister of Public Works; 8. President of Council of State; 9. Minister of Foreign Affairs; 10. Minister of Finance; 11. Minister of Marine; 12. Minister of Justice; 13. Minister of Civil List.

The whole of the empire is divided into thirty Vilayets, or governments, and subdivided into Sanjaks, or provinces, Kazas, or districts, Nahiés, or subdistricts, and Kariés, or communities. A Vali, or governor-general, who is held to represent the Sultan, and is assisted by a provincial council, is placed at the head of each Vilayet. The provinces, districts, &c., are subjected to inferior authorities (Mutesarifs, Caïmakams, Mudirs and Muktars) under the superintendence of the principal governor. The division of the country into Vilayets has been frequently modified of late for political reasons. For similar reasons six of the Sanjaks of the empire are governed by Mutesarifs appointed directly by the Sultan, and are known as Mutessarifats. All subjects, however humble their origin, are eligible to, and may fill, the highest offices in the State.

Under the capitulations foreigners residing in Turkey are under the laws of their respective countries, and are amenable for trial (in cases in which Turkish subjects are not concerned) to a tribunal presided over by their consul. Foreigners who own real property are amenable to the Ottoman civil courts in questions relative to their landed property. Cases between foreign and Turkish subjects are tried in the Ottoman courts, a drago

man of the foreign consulate being present to see that the trial be according to the law; the carrying out of the sentence, if against the foreigner, to be through his consulate. Cases between two foreign subjects of different nationalities are tried in the court of the defendant.

Grand Vizier.-Khalil Rifaat Pasha, appointed November 7, 1895.

Sheïk-ul-Islam.-Jemalledin Effendi, appointed September,

1891.

Minister of Interior.-Memduh Pasha.

Minister for Foreign Affairs.-Tewfik Pasha, appointed November 7, 1895.

Minister for War.-Riza Pasha.

Minister of Marine.-Hassan Pasha.
Minister of Finance.-Reshad Bey.

Minister of Justice.-Abdurrahman Pasha, appointed November 7, 1895.

Public Works and Commerce.-Zihni Pasha (ad interim).
Public Instruction.-Zuhdi Pasha.

President of the Council of State.-Saïd Pasha, appointed November 7, 1895.

Area and Population.

The total area of the Ottoman Empire (including States nominally subject) may be estimated at 1,576,700 square miles, and its total population at about 38,791,000, viz. :—

The area and population by Vilayets, according to recent

estimates, are as follows:

Accurate ethnological statistics of the population do not exist. In the European provinces under immediate Turkish rule, Turks (of Finno-Tataric race), Greeks, and Albanians are almost equally numerous, and constitute 70 per cent. of the population. Other races represented are Serbs, Bulgarians, Roumanians, Armenians, Magyars, Gipsies, Jews, Circassians. In Asiatic Turkey there is a large Turkish element, with some four million Arabs, besides Greeks, Syrians, Kurds, Circassians, Armenians, Jews, and numerous other races.

In 1885 the population of Constantinople was 873,565. The estimated populations of the other largest towns are as follows:-Salonica, 150,000; Adrianople, 70,886; Monastir, 45,000; Scutari, 30,000; Janina, 20,000; Smyrna, 200,000; Damascus, 150,000; Bagdad, 145,000; Aleppo, 127,000; Beyrout, 120,000; Erzeroum, 60,000; Kaisarieh, 72,000; Kerbela, 65,000; Mossul, 61,000; Arta, 55,000; Sivas, 43,000; Mecca, 60,000; Trebizond, 35,000; Adana, 45,000; Diarbekir, 35,000; Broussa, 76,000; Angora, 28,000; Van, 30,000; Jedda, 30,000; Jerusalem, 41,000; Konieh, 45,000; Bitlis, 39,000; Tripoli, 30,000.

The Lebanon is governed by a Mutessarif (Christian), and has a special government. Its population is reckoned at 245,000 or about 111 per square mile.

Religion and Education.

Mahometans form the vast majority of the population in Asiatic Turkey, but only one-half of the population in European