The constitution of 1876 is the work of Midhat Pasha, the first Grand Vizier of Abdul Hamid. It provides for personal liberty, freedom of speech and of the press, and equality of Moslems and Christians before the law. The Parliament consists of a Senate, whose members are appointed by the Sultan, and a Chamber of Deputies chosen by the people indirectly through electors. Under this constitution a parliament was chosen and opened in December by the Sultan in person. For a time all seemed to go well, but Abdul Hamid was plotting for the overthrow of the new régimé which had been forced upon him. The first sign of this was the appointment of two ministers suspected of being hostile to the progressive program. The Chamber of Deputies voted want of confidence in the ministry, and Hilmi Pasha was made Grand Vizier in accordance with the wish of the Young Turks, who thus imposed a new ministry upon the sovereign after the manner of the British House of Commons. But this did not end the matter. For months the Sultan’s money had been corrupting the army, and in April, 1909, the troops in Constantinople mutinied, declaring the Young Turks tyrants. Tewfik Pasha, a reactionary, was put at the head of the ministry. At the same time terrible massacres of Christians, believed to have been inspired by the Sultan, took place in Adana and vicinity. But this counter-revolution was short-lived. The Macedonian division of the army under Chevket Pasha soon marched upon Constantinople, took the city without serious opposition, occupied the royal palace (Yiediz Kiosk), and made the Sultan a prisoner. Abdul Hamid was formally deposed by decree of the Sheik-ul-Islam, the religious head of the Moslems, and the action was confirmed by the Parliament. A brother, who by Turkish law, was the heir apparent, was chosen in his place, and now rules as Mehmet V. Hilmi Pasha was restored as Grand Vizier. Many participants in the counter revolution were executed. The new Sultan, who was sixty-four at his accession, has lived the secluded life of a political prisoner.