AARIFI PASHA, who succeeded Savfet Pasha as Minister of Foreign Affairs in July, 1877, is considered one of the finest scholars and most able statesmen of Turkey. He possesses a thorough knowledge of French, and was for a long time interpreter to Abdul Medjid; he also possesses a knowledge of German. In October, 1872, he was appointed ambassador to Austria, but was recalled in 1873, and in 1874 was appointed to the ministry of foreign affairs. In the different ministries which succeeded each other in 1875 and 1876, he held at times the offices of Minister of Education and of Justice. In the beginning of 1877 he was again appointed ambassador in Vienna, and in July, 1877, was recalled to succeed Savfet Pasha as Minister of Foreign Affairs; but, before one month was past, was forced to resign. As a scholar he gained considerable reputation by his translation of Michaud's "History of the Crusades."

ABBOTT, JOHN STEVENS CABOT, died in Fair Haven, Conn., June 17, 1877. He was born in Brunswick, Me., September 18, 1805, and was educated at Bowdoin College and Andover Theological Seminary, graduating from the former in 1825. He was ordained to the ministry in the Congregational Church in 1830, and was settled successively at Worcester, Roxbury, and Nantucket, Mass. His first published work, "The Mother at Home," appeared in 1833, and was followed not long after by "The Child at Home." In 1844 he relinquished the pastorate, and devoted himself exclusively to literature, but occasionally resumed his ministerial labors for brief periods, and in 1866-'68 acted as stated supply in New Haven. With few exceptions his works have been professedly historical. The principal of them are: "Practical Christianity; Kings and Queens, or Life in the Palace; ""The French Revolution of 1789; " "The History of Napoleon Bonaparte" (2 vols.); "Napoleon at St. Helena; ""The VOL. XVII.-1 A

99.66

History of Napoleon III." (1868); 10 vols. of illustrated histories; "A History of the Civil War in America" (2 vols., 1863–'66); “Romance of Spanish History" (1870); and "The History of Frederick the Second, called Frederick the Great" (1871). Most of Mr. Abbott's works have had a large sale, and several of them have been translated into many languages.

na.

ABDUL KERIM PASHA, commander-inchief of the Turkish forces in Europe from April 17, to July, 1877, was born in 1807 at Tchirfa, in the district of Philippopolis, of a family descended from one of the Bulgarian chiefs who embraced Mohammedanism at the time of the Mussulman conquest. He entered the army in 1828, and was immediately sent by Mahmoud II. to the military academy of VienHere he acquired a knowledge of German, which he speaks quite fluently, reading also with decided predilection German newspapers. On his return to Constantinople he was rapidly promoted, and his efforts toward the reorganization of the imperial forces contributed greatly to the realization of the reforms contemplated by the Sultans Mahmoud and Abdul Medjid. He has been Mushir for more than twenty-five years, and has served in all the wars of Turkey of recent times. When Hussein Avni Pasha was assassinated in 1876, he was appointed Seraskier or Minister of War in his place, but resigned, when war became imminent, to assume the chief command. During the campaign against Servia in 1876 he gained great credit for the successful issue of the war, and owed to this his appointment as Serdar Ekrem, or commander-in-chief of the Turkish army. He was removed from this position on July 19, as his inactivity, which permitted the Russians to advance almost unopposed, met with disfavor in Constantinople. He hates Christians, in spite of his long intercourse with them, while his morose and misanthropic temperament has frequently gained

for him the disfavor of his sovereigns. But he was adored by his soldiers, always looking after their comfort and well-being.

ABYSSINIA, a country of Eastern Africa; area about 158,000 square miles; population variously estimated at from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000. The ruler of the country is King John. The news from Abyssinia during the year 1877 was of a very conflicting nature. It was several times reported that peace had been concluded with Egypt, and as often contradicted. No hostilities, however, seem to have taken place between the two countries. On October 27th an English correspondent wrote as follows:

Six months ago King John of Abyssinia made a convention with Colonel Gordon, which, though of an informal character, really amounted to a treaty of peace between Egypt and Abyssinia. He was then harassed by neighboring enemies, and the terms he accepted were favorable to Egypt. Since that time the relations of the two countries have been peaceful. But Colonel Gordon a few days ago telegraphed for a ship-of-war to go down the Red Sea. This looks very much as if King John, like some other people, considered treaties matters of imperfect obligation, to be set aside or respected according to circumstances. The King, however, has a great respect for Colonel Gordon, and it is to be hoped the difficulty may be arranged.

It is stated that the recent war between Egypt and Abyssinia was mainly due to a personal enmity between King Johannes and Munzinger Bey, the Egyptian governor of Massowah. Another cause was furnished by the inevitable raids which exist on the ill-defined borders, where the frontier tribes sometimes join one side, sometimes the other.

Abyssinia may roughly be stated to be divided into the provinces of Hamasen, Tigre,

ROYAL SEAT, AXUM.

Amhara, and Godjam. The King's authority was recognized fully in Hamasen, Tigre, and Amhara, but not entirely so in Godjam. Shoa was under a separate king. Wallo Galla never submitted to Johannes. Each province was

This rendered the people of Hamasen discontented with Abyssinian rule, and some of their chiefs who knew Munzinger made overtures to him, which led to the expedition of Arendrup. Walad Denkal was thereupon released by Johannes, and on his promise of fidelity was allowed to return to the Hamasen on the defeat of Arendrup. Then came the greater expedition in 1876, which resulted in a defeat of the Egyptians on the 18th of March, and of the Abyssinians on the 19th of March, the losses on both sides not much exceeding one another. Previously, however, to these battles, Walad Denkal came over with all his force into Egypt, and afterward he retired into Egyptian territory with the Egyptian troops. Since March, 1876, there have been no hostilities between Abyssinia and Egypt. The Abyssinian troops, being irregulars, and having no system, eat up the country if kept long together. Every man being a soldier, no one is left to till the fields in a lengthened campaign. Tribute is exacted twice, and even three times a year, and the tax-collectors take twice, and more than twice, the proper tribute. The result is constant revolts, brought about by the illegal levy of taxes by the King's semi-independent chiefs. Where Johannes is he is King, and only there. His position is very difficult; his independent chiefs oppose any standing army, and therefore will never let him form one; for they know it would be their death-knell. Till a standing army is formed, there can be no quiet in Abyssinia.

Between the frontier of Abyssinia and the Red Sea is the Mussulman tribe of Danakli. It is hostile to Johannes, and forces him to

proper, and on the northwestern frontier the Yusufzas, numbering altogether 73,000 fighting men; the Afridis, 20,000; and the Wuzeris, 30,000. The differences between the Indian Government and the Afridis, a tribe inhabiting the Kohat Pass, was definitely settled in March by the complete subjection of the latter, who furnished thirty hostages for their future good behavior. The Kohat Pass was formally opened on March 24. This was of great importance, as the Indian Government now hold all three passes leading to Afghanistan, the Bolan Pass, the Khyber Pass, and the Kohat Pass, and can at any moment send its troops across the frontier. On January 24, Sir Lewis Pelly arrived in Peshawer, as special envoy of the Indian Government, to meet and confer with the special envoy of the Amir of Cabool, Syyid Wur Mohammed Shah, the prime minister of Cabool. The result of the conferences remained a secret. In April, the envoy of the Amir died, and another was appointed in his place. But, before the latter arrived in Peshawer, Sir L. Pelly received orders to embark for Europe, and the conference therefore came to an end. H. Vambery, in an article in the Augsburg Gazette of May 12, after giving an account of the relations between Afghanistan and Russia and England, stating that the policy of the present Amir, Shere Ali Khan, had been to re

ceive money and arms from the British, and at the same time negotiate with the Russians, while lately he had committed several acts of discourtesy toward the British, describes the present relations of the Amir to the two powers as follows:

The British Munshi, accredited at Bula-Hissar, the citadel of Cabool, constantly complained of acts of discourtesy at the hands of the Amir; and, as the border difficulties in the Khyber Pass, together with the ever-increasing reports of Russian missions to Cabool, could no longer fail to interest the British, Lord Lytton in the beginning of this year arranged a conference at Peshawer for the purpose of settling all disputed points. The Amir sent one of his best diplomatists to the Conference, but, as the latter unfortunately died at Peshawer, and, on the other hand, the satisfactory conclusion of the British negotiations with the Khan of Kelat had not inclined the Amir to continue the diplomatic negotiations, the report arose of a serious breach between Cabool and Calcutta, while at the same time, and in connection with this report, the telegram announcing the outbreak of hostilities between the two countries was sent out, of course from Russian sources. We will not consider here

the justness of the claims of the Amir on Beloochistan, and only remark that Afghanistan has as many, or rather as few, claims on Kelat and Quetta as on Badakhshan and Roshan in the northeast. The tributary relations to Cabool of both points were always of a very doubtful character, and it is only due to a British-Russian agreement that Afghan tax-colleclat and Quetta, however, Afghan officers have never tors are at present established in Fyzabad. In Kebeen tolerated. If Shere Ali Khan should seriously regret the British successes in Beloochistan, he is acting under the impulse of Russian instigation, but, that the latter should succeed in fanning this dissat to doubt very strongly. For we must not overlook isfaction into a war against India, we are compelled that, during the past year, such factors have gained prominence in Cabool, India, and the other Mohammedan countries of Central Ásia, which make a cooperation with Russia impossible. We may ridicule Mecca, and Bagdad, have sent to their co-religionists the messages which the sheiks of Constantinople, in the far East, and may doubt the awakening of Pan

CABOOL.

Mohammedan ideas, yet it is still difficult to believe that the reports of the danger threatening Islam mund or the valleys of the Hindoo Koosh, and that were entirely disregarded on the shores of the Helan alliance with the Czar, the antichrist of the Mohammedan legend, was possible. I have never had great confidence in the religious zeal of the Afghan warriors, intent only on plunder; but neither can I see that the Government at Cabool would act on orders received from Tashkend or St. Petersburg, or that it would go to war with the Empress of India, who permits collections to be taken up on the Indus as well as on the Ganges for the soldiers of the Sultan, and who allows enthusiastic speeches for the Caliph to be made in English meetings.

Emil von Schlagintweit, the well-known German traveler, gives the following description of the state of affairs in Afghanistan: "In Afghanistan a disorder is brewing, which will soon be fully equal to that in Kelat before the advent of the British troops; but in this case a deadly hatred of the Amir against the British is clearly manifest. In May, the English mail was robbed, which, since 1874, had gone to Djellalabad, half-way between Peshawer and