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68 lawful father was the Kislar Aga, so that he might well doubt whether he had any father at all. The whole account of his birth rests on the authority of this Persian convert, and it is of no consequence whether that be true or not: but as the war between Ibrahim and the Venetians, which ended in the loss of Candia, is attributed to the loss of the child, (for it is said he vented his resentment there, that being the most vulnerable part of Christendom) a little time has not been thrown away in thus explaining an error which has crept into history.

The accession of Ibrahim, P. Ottomano's imputed father, was marked by some impressive circumstances. During the reign of his brother Amurat, he had been spared from the usual family butchery, because he was supposed to have too little intellect to be dangerous; but he was closely confined, with only a black female mute