“HATTI HUMAYUN.
“On ascending the Throne.
“My illustrious Vizier, Mehemet Rushdi Pasha,—
“By the Divine will my elder brother, Sultan Murad V., vacated the throne, and according to the law of succession We have mounted the throne of our Ancestors.
“Appreciating your great qualities, your ability and experience in the affairs of State, We confirm you in the functions of Grand Vizier and of President of the Council of Ministers (avec le titre de Premier Ministre), and direct all Our Ministers to keep their respective posts. Confident in the assistance of the Almighty, We will pursue Our object of strengthening Our Empire, and of making all Our subjects, without exception, participate in the blessings of liberty, peace, and justice; We trust that Our Ministers will help us in the realisation of Our wishes (for Turkey ranks among the great Powers, and in order to attain this object and to march on a footing of equality with its neighbours in the progress of the sciences, she must needs follow the same methods; and as the Constitutional system is one of the principal causes of the progress of Nations, We hereby declare this system of Government to be adopted by Us, whilst holding strict account of the laws of the Cheri and the customs of Our people.) No one who casts a glance at the causes of the critical condition of affairs to‐day, can fail to recognise among the various and numerous factors two principal ones, viz. the non‐observance of the strict laws of the Cheri, and the capricious and wilful actions of men. If the disorganisation that has for some time reigned in the affairs of State has latterly greatly increased; if our financial operations no longer inspire confidence; if our Courts of Justice no longer command respect, if Our Empire, with its vast capacities for commerce, industries and agriculture, and of every kind of progress, has profited by none of these things—if, in fine, all the efforts that have been made to insure liberty and peace for Our subjects have remained fruitless, this comes from the non‐observance of the laws and regulations; hence the necessity, whilst pursuing the noble object of assuring the happiness of Our subjects of commencing in the first place by the strict observation of existing laws, and of those which shall be elaborated and proclaimed in strict accordance with the laws of the Cheri and the wants of Our subjects, and by keeping a strict eye on the expenditure and revenues of the State, in order so to gain public confidence. (Each administrative department, therefore, must act prudently and abstain from useless expenses; and likewise with respect to the Household and other expenses of the Imperial Palaces, these shall be diminished and reduced to what is strictly necessary; and the Civil list of the Princes of the Imperial family shall also be reduced, and their amount shall be paid directly by the Minister of the Finances; and We make over to this same Minister, as reduction from our Own Civil list, the sum of £300,000, and We hereby fix the expenses of our Palace at the sum of £30,000 per month).
“The necessity of convoking a general assembly compatible with the habits and customs and capacity of Our population being more and more recognised and felt, Our Ministers will carefully and minutely study this question and submit their report on the subject to Our sanction. (In order to elaborate the Constitutional laws in conformity with the needs of Our population and their customs and usages and the law of the Cheri, We command our Ministers of State, the learned doctors of the law, and all those whose knowledge and experience can contribute to the perfection of the common work to unite in Council to express their opinions on the subject, and that on their report being approved by the Council of Ministers, it shall be submitted for Our approbation.) Further, the confusion in the affairs of State, resulting as it does from the incapacity of certain functionaries in their posts, and from the frequent and unnecessary changes in the personnel, it is Our desire that from the present time, according to their different ranks, all office‐holders shall be chosen according to their merit and capacity, and shall be irremovable without serious reason, and that each of these shall be responsible for the proper execution of his allotted duties. Moreover, Our attention is directed to the question of public instruction, and seeing that European nations have acquired the prosperity that they enjoy by means of public instruction, We desire that all Our subjects, without distinction of classes, shall be able to profit by the benefits of knowledge, each according to his personal capacity; (and in order that the progress of the country may produce the happiness of all its subjects alike, and in order to inculcate these ideas, We decree the foundation of schools in which instruction and education shall be common to all), and with this object We desire that the credits allotted to public education shall be increased, in order that without loss of time we may endeavour to realise this programme. In order, too, that the civil and financial administration of the Provinces may be restored to their normal condition, We must without loss of time endeavour to institute an organisation in the Provinces resembling as much as possible the Central organisation.
“(It is also absolutely necessary that the laws regulating the levying of tithes, taxes and indirect contributions shall be placed on a just and equitable basis, and all Our efforts will be directed to prevent any derogation or abuse in the execution of these laws. The buying and selling of slaves being contrary to the prescriptions of the Sacred Law (Cheri), We hereby enfranchise the slaves and eunuchs of Our Palace, and declare that henceforth all trade in slaves, whether purchase or sale, is hereby formally forbidden in Our Empire, and a date will be fixed for the gradual emancipation of all existing slaves, and special measures will be adopted to prevent any return of slavery.)
“Since last year, owing to malevolent instigations, Bosnia and Herzegovnia have been in a state of insurrection, and the revolt of Servia is now added as an outcome of this insurrection, so that the blood of the children of our common country is being spilt. The continuation of such a state of things is a subject of profound sorrow to Us, and Our most sincere desire is to put an end to it by the employment of the most energetic measures.
“Our treaties with foreign Powers having been renewed and recognised by Us, it will be Our aim to cultivate still further the friendly relations already existing with them.
“May the Almighty, our common Ruler and Master, grant through His mercy and goodness, success to our efforts.
“Saturday, 22 Chaban, 1292, Hegira.”
xxxxxx(9th September 1876.)
The points of contention between the Palace, or the Sultan (which now become synonymous expressions), and Midhat were all contained in germ in the foregoing variations in the first speech from the throne.
(1) In the very first sentence of the Hatti Humayun of inauguration the Sultan had cut out a passage which would have introduced a change to which Midhat attached some importance—“my Grand Vizier with the title of Prime Minister.” Midhat desired to abolish the title of Grand Vizier and to substitute for it that of Prime Minister, a change which would have entailed as a consequence the collective, instead of the individual, responsibility of Ministers. What the first Minister would lose in dignity and personal influence would be acquired by the Ministry collectively, and would thus consolidate the component parts of the Constitution. Midhat was well aware that this post of Prime Minister would require strengthening and developing for some time in Turkey, in view of the power and influence which the Throne derived from the very nature of the traditions and sentiments of the Ottomans, and the position of Islam in the world.
The purport and tendency of the proposal did not escape the new sovereign, and, faithful to his own views and interests, he simply cancelled the sentence and rejected the proposal.
(2) Midhat had placed in the mouth of the Sultan the following phrase: “As the Constitutional system is one of the principal causes of the progress of nations, we hereby declare this system of government to be adopted by Us, whilst holding, etc.”—instead of which, after some colourless commonplace sentences about the non‐observance of laws and regulations and pursuing the noble object of assuring the happiness of our subjects, he speaks of the necessity of convoking “a general Assembly compatible with the habits and customs and capacity of our population” (which might mean anything or nothing according to the estimate of their capacity), and he orders his Ministers carefully and minutely to study this question (which they had done for a year past), and submit the report to his sanction.
(3) In connection with the same important subject Midhat had proposed, for the purpose of elaborating the Constitutional laws, the convention of a Grand Council composed of the Ministers of State, the Doctors of the Law, and all those whose knowledge and experience entitled them to a voice in the country, to express their opinion on the subject, and that on their report being revised by the Council of Ministers it should be submitted to the approbation of the Sultan.
This proposal evidently meant business, and would not only have fixed a limit of time for the inauguration of the new Constitution, but would have given it the imprimatur of all that was enlightened and worthy of respect and attention in the empire. The Sultan rejected the sentence in toto.
(4) Midhat, who was deeply concerned by the actual condition of Turkish Finances, and thoroughly convinced that the first step in setting this right must be the exercise of rigid economy in all branches of the administration, and who, moreover, had experience of all that had taken place in the reign of Abdul Aziz, did not hesitate to propound to Abdul Hamid what his predecessor Murad had unhesitatingly accepted, viz., that the expenses of the household and of the Imperial Palace should be diminished and reduced to what was strictly necessary, and the Civil list of the princes of the Imperial family should be in like manner reduced, and their amount paid directly by the Minister of Finance, and he left it to the sovereign to make over a sum that he should fix himself for the monthly expenses of the Palace.
The Sultan omitted the whole paragraph.
(5) Midhat attached the greatest importance to the question of mixed schools in the provinces where Christians and Mussulmans lived together. The reader will recollect (p. 40) that when Governor of the provinces of the Danube he desired to establish this system in Bulgaria, and it was this very proposal which excited the anxiety and stirred the energies of the vigilant Ignatieff to defeat the proposal and obtain the dismissal of the Vali.
The Governor of Bulgaria—who now became for the second time the Grand Vizier of the empire—desired to make this cherished scheme general in all the provinces of the empire, and in the inaugural speech he had placed in the Sultan’s mouth words that signified the adoption of this measure and its inauguration in the empire, “in order that the progress of the country may produce the happiness of all its subjects alike; and in order to inculcate these ideas, We decree the foundation of these schools, in which instruction and education shall be common to all.”
Instead of this categorical declaration the Sultan substituted the colourless proposal: “We desire that all Our subjects, without distinction of classes, shall be able to profit by the benefits of knowledge, each according to his personal capacity,” which will bear the exact sense that anybody may choose to attribute to it.
We shall very shortly see what practical sense the Sultan himself attributed to it.
(6) Midhat desired to abolish the slave trade, which he considered a scandal and a disgrace to the empire, and incompatible with its pretensions to a high place in the ranks of civilised nations. He proposed, therefore, in this inaugural speech to proclaim its abolition, and that the Sultan should inaugurate the change by enfranchising all the slaves in the Palace. The Sultan cut out the whole paragraph.
With such a radical difference in the whole point of view from which the Palace clique and the new Grand Vizier regarded the situation, it was clear that occasions for serious conflict would not be wanting, nor would be long in manifesting themselves. They arose indeed at once, and it will be seen that each subject of contention was implicitly contained in the divergence of views manifested with reference to the speech from the throne that has just been analysed.
The question of the Constitution naturally occupied the foreground in these disputes. The Sultan, as has been seen, refused to submit its provisions to a Grand Council to be summoned ad hoc, lest it should receive, as it undoubtedly would have received, this important sanction. He preferred that Ministers should be its sole sponsors, which would leave him free to deny subsequently that its details had been stamped with the seal of national approval. From the very first days of his accession he had shown the greatest anxiety on this subject of the Constitution, and no wonder: it was what the Magna Charta was to John of England—the curb and limit of arbitrary power and exaction.
Knowing that Midhat was its chief champion, it was with him that he entered into negotiations on the subject, even before the actual resignation of Mehemet Rushdi Pasha. The following significant letter signed with his own name (instead of through the usual vehicle of the First Secretary’s signature) was the warning shot fired across the enemy’s bows:—
Letter addressed by the Sultan to Midhat Pasha on the eve of his Grand Vizierate.[12]
“To my illustrious Vizier, Midhat Pasha.
“We have made ourselves acquainted with the Constitution which you unofficially forwarded to us, and we have noticed in it passages incompatible with the habits and aptitudes of the nation. Our desire is to assure the future of the country by just administration, and we cannot but appreciate all efforts towards that end. And one of the objects to which we attach much importance is that of safeguarding the Sovereign rights by a new organisation drawn up with regard to the needs of the people. We desire therefore that the Constitution should be discussed by the Council of Ministers, and should be revised in the manner referred to above. Communicate our greetings to our Grand Vizier and show him this order. In any case we expect from your patriotism that your efforts shall tend towards the object we have in view, and demand that this Irade shall be kept secret between our Grand Vizier and yourself.
“Abdul Hamid
“9 Zilkade, 1293, Hegira.”
(25th November 1876.)
Reply.
To the First Secretary of His Majesty.[12]
“Excellency,—As it was impossible for me to thank His Majesty for the favours and the many proofs of goodwill with which he overwhelms me every day and every moment, I am entirely unable to testify my gratitude for the signal honour, so disproportionate to my deserts, which I have received in the reply of an autograph letter from His Majesty, inviting me to furnish certain explanations of the text of the Constitution unofficially forwarded to His Majesty. As to the contents of the report which has been submitted, I myself also recognise that the majority of the articles require to be modified and changed, and I think it is not necessary to say that if this text has been submitted to His Majesty as an incomplete rough draft, it was simply with the intention of correcting it later according to the views and wishes of His Majesty. This report has been drawn up and completed by the Commission convened for the purpose by Imperial command, and, as the time has come when the text should be studied by the Council of Ministers, the terms of the Imperial Irade have been communicated to His Highness the Grand Vizier. Now, urged by fidelity to my Sovereign and my love for my country, I feel it incumbent upon me, and have the courage to be of opinion that there are two methods of extrication from our present position. The first consists in putting into execution, before the meeting of the Conference, the reforms for our home government that were promised and proclaimed to all the Powers, and the time needed for so doing would be three or four days at the outside. The second method is to accept the proposals formulated by the Powers, and to make up our minds to live henceforth and for ever under their tutelage. If the first method is not adopted, or even if its promulgation is delayed and retarded until after the meeting of the Conference, the second becomes inevitable. My attachment to my Sovereign and my love for my country force me to give utterance to these ideas.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx“I am....
“Midhat.
“11 Zilkade, 1293, Hegira.”
(27th November 1876.)
The inner meaning of the words “safeguarding the Sovereign rights” contained the pith and kernel of the conspirators’ views and intentions. It had direct reference to a clause which the Sultan desired to have inserted in the text of the Constitution, or rather (and the difference is very material) to a rider which he desired to be added to a clause (the 113th), referring to the declaration of a state of siege in disturbed districts. The purport and intention of the clause would naturally govern its different branches. It could not possibly be supposed to apply to Ministers themselves, inasmuch as the Constitution specially and elaborately provided for their trial and punishment in clauses 31, 32, and 34 of the text. In spite, however, of the provisions and safeguards which were to hedge and limit the exercise of this prerogative, Midhat had long combated the insertion of this rider to the 113th article. Anxious above all things, however, to get the Constitution promulgated not later than the first sitting of the Conference, and not as yet fully grasping the character of the man he was dealing with, he listened to the explanations and glosses offered with reference to this rider, and finally, though reluctantly, consented to its insertion in the text of the Constitution.
It is easy to see now that this was the second error of tactics committed by Midhat. “Put not your trust in princes” is an especially wise injunction when you do not know the character of the princes you are dealing with. If Midhat had forced the Sultan Hamid—as he might have done, if he had been less trustful and more strenuous—to observe strictly the terms of the treaty of Muslou‐Oglou that Prince Hamid had agreed to as a condition of his mounting on the throne at all, Midhat would never have been banished, and the Constitution would never have been strangled. Good men are rarely as determined and strenuous as bad men. It is a pity, for half the political ills of the world come from this weakness on their part.
CHAPTER V
SECOND GRAND VIZIERATE OF MIDHAT PASHA
On 19th December 1876, three months after the accession of Abdul Hamid to the throne, Midhat was appointed Grand Vizier. His nomination to this post was again welcomed with great rejoicing in Turkey, and gave Europe generally hopes of the accomplishment of some reforms. Sir Henry Elliot addressed the following despatch to Lord Derby:—
“Sir H. Elliot to the Earl of Derby.
“Constantinople, 19th December 1876.
“My Lord,—Midhat Pasha has been appointed Grand Vizier in the place of Mehemet Rushdi Pasha. The importance of this appointment at this moment is very great. Midhat Pasha is beyond question the most energetic and liberal of the Turkish statesmen, and a man of action, although his decisions are sometimes hasty.
“He has always advocated the equality of Mussulmans and Christians, and wishes for a constitutional control over the power of the Grand Vizier as well as of the Sultan. He is opposed to centralisation, and in favour of giving the provincial populations much control over their local affairs.
“He has at times spoken strongly to me against the grant of special institution in the Slav Provinces; but he is a man who listens to argument, and may, perhaps, be brought to see the necessity of it under the present circumstances.
“He is disliked by the old Mussulman party, but is regarded as the hope of the Mussulman reformers and of the Christians.
“He used formerly always to wish to follow the advice of Her Majesty’s Government, but I am not aware what his feelings towards England are at this moment.[13]
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx“I have....
“Henry Elliot.”
Midhat pointed out to the Sultan, in a letter addressed to Saïd, the danger of the delay and procrastination that would be caused by too prolonged discussion on the text of the Constitution; further, that the text which had been submitted to the Sultan was such as had been decided upon by the Commission appointed by His Majesty himself, and that that text, after having been submitted to His Majesty as it came from the hands of the Commission, was now, together with His Majesty’s observations on it, being considered by the Ministers as a final stage, requiring at most three or four days’ deliberation, and that any longer delay before its actual promulgation would assuredly raise in the minds of the friendly Powers a doubt as to the sincerity of the Turkish Government in the work of the reform; and he insisted, finally, that, in order to convince them of this sincerity, it was essentially desirable that the promulgation of the Constitution should take place before the date fixed for the assembly of the Conference.
At the very first Ministerial Council under Midhat’s presidency as Grand Vizier, held at the house of Mahmoud Damad—a significant circumstance in itself—the conspirators showed their hand. When the subject of the Constitution and its promulgation came under discussion, Djevdet Pasha, Minister for Justice, and Mahmoud’s man, who had hitherto been “lying low” awaiting developments, suddenly sprang upon his colleagues the proposal that the whole question of the Constitution should be indefinitely adjourned, on the pretext that with the change that had taken place in the occupancy of the throne it was no longer necessary. The indignation and wrath of Midhat can easily be imagined at the audacity and perversity of this audacious proposition; he apostrophised his colleague in no sparing terms, and pointed out to him that the sole ground and justification of the solemn act of deposition to which they had lent their countenance was the necessity of having the Constitution promulgated; and he made Djevdet and Mahmoud, and any other weak‐kneed colleague who might be inclined to support their views, very clearly understand that he would throw up his office and retire into private life if the slightest hesitation was shown on their part with respect to this essential matter. By this uncompromising firmness he dispelled any illusion that might have been harboured that a frontal attack on the Constitution, with Midhat at the helm, could be of any avail, and the opposition feigned acquiescence in the Grand Vizier’s views. The incident, however, was not the less significant, and ought to have warned Midhat of what was secretly preparing in the councils of the conspirators.
It has been said, among other equally groundless and disingenuous criticisms, that “Midhat’s Constitution,” as it has been called, was a simple device to defeat the Conference that was about to assemble. One single fact, vouched for on an authority that will not be disputed, absolutely disposes of this calumny. Sir Henry Elliot, referring to these very matters, distinctly says that Midhat Pasha and his friends had informed him that they were working for the promulgation of a Constitution, and explained their views fully to him, twelve months before there was any question of a conference at all: “This was more than a year before its promulgation, when it was declared to have been invented to defeat the Conference then sitting at Constantinople!”[14]
That Midhat and his friends used the fact of the promulgation as a weapon to oppose the decisions of the Conference is likely enough; but this was perfectly fair dealing, and a legitimate weapon to make use of. Another proposition which is not true, and is proved to have been false, is that the Constitution was invented for the purpose of defeating the Conference. It is abundantly evident that if there had been no Conference at all, the Constitution would none the less have been elaborated and its promulgation insisted on.
Another disingenuous and captious criticism passed on the Constitution by its enemies is the implication contained in the expression “Midhat’s Constitution,” as if it was a “one‐man’s” Constitution, and not the work of what may be called the national mind—that is, the majority of the best minds in it. That Midhat had a great deal to say in its elaboration, and still more in its promulgation, in spite of the unconcealed opposition of the Sultan, and the Palace, and the whole phalanx of reaction behind them, there can of course be no doubt whatever, and to his eternal honour be it said; but that it was a “one‐man’s” work, in the sense that it was not the expression of the wants and wishes of the nation, is disproved by all the circumstances connected with it. Chakir Effendi, one of its warmest partisans, was one of the most learned, distinguished and highly esteemed Ulema at Constantinople; it was he who headed a deputation of Ulemas and doctors of the law, to congratulate Midhat immediately after the ceremony of promulgation was over. The most enthusiastic champions of both Midhat and the Constitution were the Softas, or body of students, numbering several thousands, of all the medresses (schools and universities) in Constantinople, the future generation of the educated mind of the nation. The provinces, without exception, were in favour of it. The important city of Adrianople sent a congratulatory address to Midhat, which the Sultan would not allow to be published in the papers. The instinct of the masses looked upon it as the one resource in the dire straits of the nation. The very fact that, with an opposing Sultan clinging to his “sovereign rights,” and a bitterly hostile and determined Palace clique, and in spite of all the means at the disposal of Turkey’s nearest and most powerful neighbour unscrupulously put into action, the Constitution ever saw the daylight, and actually lived for a twelvemonth in such an environment, is the very strongest evidence that can possibly be adduced of its inherent vitality, and an undeniable proof that it was something more than a “one‐man’s” Constitution.
The Constitution, although the principal, was not the only subject of contention between the new Sultan and his Vizier. There were questions of persons, questions of money, questions of education that divided them irreconcilably. The Sultan, who had no doubt fixed on Edhem Pasha as the pliable instrument that he would need after the Conference was over, and when the work of getting rid of Midhat had to be gone through, desired to elevate one who, in his opinion, “was not quite the person for a very high position,” to a post whence subsequent promotion to the very highest position would seem a little less incongruous. He accordingly selected Edhem Pasha for the post of President of the Council of State, the important office concerned with the elaboration of the laws of the country. Midhat’s candidate was Sadik Pasha, whose competency was beyond dispute. Damad Mahmoud Djelaleddin wished to have Djevdet Pasha, his faithful henchman—whom we have already seen at work—nominated to this post, but even the Sultan thought his knowledge and intellectual capacity altogether too circumscribed. The accompanying letter shows the strong insistence of the Sultan on his own intention. He had the great advantage over Midhat which conspirators always have, viz., of having his plan of campaign with a distinct aim already settled, and knowing therefore beforehand the strong position which it was necessary to occupy on the field of battle.
Midhat, ignorant of the game that was being played, sacrificed point after point in it, considering their importance with reference to public affairs secondary to that of having the Constitution promulgated as soon as possible.
The following letter makes these points clear:—
To Midhat Pasha, Grand Vizier.
“Highness,—After you had left the Palace, His Majesty sent for me and questioned me as to the cause of the delay in the nomination of Edhem Pasha as President of the Council of State. I told His Majesty that the Irade (order) relative to that appointment had been communicated to your Highness yesterday, and that probably the visit of the French Envoy to your Highness was the cause of the delay in my receiving an answer to the communication, and I told His Majesty that the only motive of your opposition to the appointment was the incapacity of Edhem Pasha to fulfil the duties of a post to which were confided the constitutional functions of elaborating the laws; that as for Sadik Pasha, whom you proposed for that post, there could be no doubt that his nomination would add a useful person to the Ministerial Councils. At that moment Damad Mahmoud Djelaleddin was called in, and he expressed the same opinion, but proposed that Djevdet Pasha should be appointed President of the Council, and that Edhem Pasha, whose incompetency you objected to, might fill the post of Minister of Justice. On this His Majesty made the following declaration: ‘I am not acquainted with Edhem Pasha, in spite of his services to my father, but I have now learned to appreciate his abilities; I intend therefore to profit by everybody’s capacities, and although Edhem Pasha is not quite the person to occupy a very high position, I think nevertheless he is capable of performing the duties of President of the Council of State. The knowledge and learning of Djevdet Pasha are very limited, whereas the accomplishments and capacity of Edhem Pasha are great in comparison with his. In a word, I shall be glad if His Highness the Grand Vizier will acquiesce in my wishes, and will to‐morrow propose his nomination to me. Write and tell him so.’ This is the reason why I have written at length to you on the subject.—I have the honour to be,
“(Signed) Saïd.
“6 Zilhidje, 1293, 1 o’clock, Hegira.”
xxxx(22nd December 1876.)
Another and still more serious difference of opinion, relative to persons, arose concerning Zia Bey. This person, one of the most distinguished litterateurs and poets Turkey possessed, who had been appointed private Secretary of the Sultan Murad, and whose nomination to the same post by the present Sultan had been made an article of the treaty between Midhat and Prince Hamid at Muslou‐Oglou, was suspected of inspiring certain articles in the Turkish paper Istikbal which threw doubts on the Sultan’s sincerity with reference to the Constitution. These articles gave great offence at the Palace, and were considered of dangerous tendency. The Sultan determined not only to proceed against the paper, but also to remove Zia Bey, at any price, from the capital.
The accompanying letter will show the feelings of the Sultan on the subject:
To Midhat Pasha.
“Highness,—The Imperial Irade (written order) relative to the nomination of Zia Bey to the post of Ambassador at Berlin, was communicated to your Highness yesterday evening, and His Majesty has just asked me if the proposed nomination had arrived, and on my reply in the negative His Majesty ordered me to insist upon it, adding the following observation: ‘Zia Bey is very ambitious, and if he had known how to profit by this quality with a view to his advancement and his future, he would have succeeded in obtaining a post here suited to his capacity; but this person has never yet shown any stability of character or fixity of purpose, and when anything occurs contrary to his views and wishes, he is in the habit of weaving intrigues in the matter, which is not favourable to his prolonged sojourn in Constantinople. His removal, moreover, from the capital cannot but facilitate for the Grand Vizier the exercise of his functions in freeing him from this kind of obstacle. These observations of mine are no exaggerations; but if on the one hand Zia Bey’s individual merit is only mediocre, the people are naturally attracted by these critics and attend to their criticisms, and in this way lend an importance to these polemics which they do not intrinsically deserve. As for the despatch of Zia Bey to Berlin, the Government is resolved to take the same steps at Berlin as it has determined to take at Paris, London, and Vienna, and to endeavour to gain the sympathies of Prince Bismark (sic), and if Zia Bey succeed in this, he will have shown his savoir faire, earned the gratitude of the State, and by the fact itself shown his aptitude for foreign affairs, and then his further promotion will be justified. Moreover, his selection will provoke no opposition on the part of the Court of Berlin.’ On account of these considerations His Majesty orders this nomination to be submitted to him as soon as possible. It is, moreover, by Imperial command that I have written to you at such length on the subject, and have repeated what has already been said; and His Majesty desires that you will carry out these injunctions by to‐morrow at the audience you will have with His Majesty.
“I have the honour to be,
“(Signed) Saïd.
“12 Zilhidje, 1293, Hegira.”
xxx(28th December 1876.)
In the meantime the population of Constantinople, who have been represented by interested critics as indifferent about the Constitution and reform, hearing of the proposed exile of this champion of the Constitution and reform, determined to prevent his departure from the capital by electing him as one of their representatives in the new Parliament. Consternation is not too strong a term to describe the feelings that this proposal excited in the Palace. Zia Bey had an influence among the people of the capital. What if his presence among them in the Parliament should checkmate all the plans of a carefully hatched conspiracy? The following letter clearly reveals this consternation:—
To Midhat Pasha, Grand Vizier.
“Highness,—His Majesty has just read in the paper Istikbal that the population of Constantinople have decided to elect Zia Bey as their representative, and that a petition signed by several thousand persons will be addressed to the Palace with a view of retaining Zia Bey in the capital. Thereupon His Majesty declared categorically that the candidature of Zia Bey as deputy was not acceptable; that numerous acts proved the participation of Zia Bey in acts against his Sovereign; that the constitution forbade the entry into Parliament of individuals compromised in any way.[15]
“‘It is to be observed that this person has had recourse to various methods, including the intervention of the Press and other contrivances, to gain popularity for himself. Although these proceedings have constituted no claim on his part for favourable consideration from the Government, the rank of Vizier has been conferred upon him, and the post of Governor‐General in one of the most important vilayets, viz., Syria, simply in order to comply with the request of the Grand Vizier. But Zia Bey, far from exhibiting any gratitude, has sought more than ever to exercise an influence in the Capital, through his position as Vizier, by announcing in the Istikbal that he is one of the originators of the Constitution, which was, in fact, promulgated by our desire with the co‐operation of a few patriots. We have consequently directed the Grand Vizier to proceed against Zia Bey in such matter as may seem proper to him.’ Such was the declaration of His Majesty. His Majesty further criticised the action of the Istikbal, which, without reason, has just published the famous letter of Mustafa Fazil Pasha, and calls your attention to the fact of that paper, though suspended indefinitely, having reappeared. His Majesty considers it urgent to find means to put an end to such doings in the Press.
“I have the honour to be
“(Signed) Saïd.
“24 Zilhidje, 1293, Hegira.”
xxx(9th January 1877.)
As the concluding passage of this letter shows, the Sultan, whilst banishing Zia Bey, determined, pour encourager les autres, to proceed with all possible vigour against the Press. There was to be no faltering in so grave a matter. For this purpose the Istikbal was to be suspended, and a Draconian law against the Press prepared “within three or four days,” although by Article 12 of the Constitution this matter ought to have been left to be dealt with by the Parliament.
The following letters speak for themselves:—
To Midhat Pasha, Grand Vizier.
“Highness,—His Majesty, after having made the remark to me that the contents of the article ‘The Future of Islam,’ published by the Vakit, and especially the words underlined, were calculated to lead astray public opinion, and referring to an interview with your Highness yesterday evening on the subject of the Press, orders your Highness to inform him of the measures you intend to take against the Editor of this particular paper, for having published facts calculated to make a bad impression, and, moreover, to propose to him a competent person ... as Director of the Bureau of the Press, in the place of the present functionary, who has been guilty of inattention and negligence, and must be nominated to some other post.
“As the Press, basing its pretensions on the liberty it enjoys under the Constitution, does not cease to publish all sorts of things, His Majesty, with a view to putting an end to abuses, and placing a curb on the license of the newspapers, commands your Highness to give the necessary orders in the proper quarter to complete within the delay of three or four days, the law on the Press, referred to in the Constitution.
“I have the honour to be
“(Signed) Saïd.
“15 Zilhidje, 1293, Hegira.”
xxx(31st December 1876.)
To Midhat Pasha, Grand Vizier.
“Highness,—With reference to the measures to be taken against the Editor of the Vakit, I presented to His Majesty the note sent by your Honour last night on this subject. Whilst accepting the spirit of your observations, and even granting that the article in that paper was not in itself seditious, it is not the less a fact that that paper published, without any plausible justification, a statement to the effect that the Fetva of Sheik‐ul‐Islam is sufficient to depose a Sultan, a declaration calculated to prompt the people to a seditious movement, and to nullify the conditions and safeguards on which the promulgation of the Fetva depends, teaching the people that all power is attached to the individual will of the functionary who issues the Fetva. If such acts are tolerated, the papers will not fail to profit by the license, and to abuse it, and His Majesty orders that the Imperial Irade issued against the Vakit and its Editor shall be executed as soon as possible by way of example; the present law with respect to the Press being sufficient for this purpose. Further, the journal Istikbal, in its number of last Tuesday, published a long article to the effect that the delay in the promulgation of the Constitution, which was elaborated and ready for promulgation in his reign, had caused all kinds of ills, and this article corroborates the facts above referred to; and it is with a view to preventing the Press, either from ignorance or evil intention, from adopting a line of reasoning in contradiction to the views and intentions of His Majesty, that His Majesty commands me, with a view of emphasising his views on the subject, to send you a copy of the incriminated article.
“I have the honour to be,
“(Signed) Saïd.
“18 Zilkidje, 1293, Hegira.”
xxx(2nd January 1877.)
Two other subjects of grave difference were the cause of a good deal of fencing between Midhat and the Palace. The one was the position of Galib Pasha, Minister of Finance, whom Midhat was determined to remove from the post of Minister of Finance; the other had reference to mixed education in the State schools, a subject on which Midhat had always held very strong views. But as the foreign envoys in the capital were now demanding the convocation of the official meeting of the Conference, it was determined to postpone the final resolution on these subjects till after the Conference was over.
The preliminary difficulties being at last overcome, or at least their discussion postponed till after the Conference was over, the date for the proclamation of the Constitution, with the Sultan’s famous rider inserted in the text, like the fatal gift of the evil fairy in the fable, was finally determined on.
On the morning of the 23rd December, 1876, in the big open space in front of the Sublime Porte, facing the apartments reserved for the Sultan, a large platform was erected, profusely decorated with Turkish flags. Hither all the notabilities and Ulemas and Ministers were convoked to hear the promulgation of the new Constitution which, in the view of its promoters and supporters, was to inaugurate a new era for the sorely tried empire of the Osmanli. It might indeed have been a day marked in red, the greatest date in Turkish history. As it was, it was only the first act of a stupendous comedy.
The notabilities were now assembled, and in spite of a downpour of rain, an immense crowd of people came to witness and applaud the ceremony. The troops lined the road between Sirkedji and the Sublime Porte, and along it, at mid‐day. Saïd Pasha, the first Secretary to the Sultan, in full uniform, preceded by a military band, arrived at the Sublime Porte, bearing the Sultan’s letter (Hatti Humayun) of promulgation, addressed to the Grand Vizier Midhat Pasha, and the text of the Constitution. The letter ran as follows:—
Rescript (Hatti Humayun) of the Sultan promulgating the Ottoman Constitution.
“My Illustrious Grand Vizier, Midhat Pasha,—The power of Our Empire was lately declining. Foreign affairs were not the cause of this, but men had strayed from the right path in the administration of home affairs, and the bonds that attached Our subjects to the Government had been relaxed. My august Father, the late Sultan, Abdul Medjid, granted a Charter of Reform, the Tanzimat, which guaranteed, in accordance with the sacred law of the Cheri, life, property, and honour to all.
“It has been in consequence of the salutary effect of the Tanzimat that the State has, up to the present time, been able to maintain itself in security, and that We have been enabled to found and proclaim this day the Constitution which is the result of ideas and opinions fully expressed.
“On this auspicious occasion I desire to recall with a feeling of special devotion the memory of My late august Father, who has been rightly considered the regenerator of his country. I doubt not that he would have himself inaugurated the Constitutional era that we are about to enter this day, if the period of the promulgation of the Tanzimat had been adapted to the necessities of our own times. But it has been to Our reign that Providence has reserved the task to accomplish this happy transformation, which is the supreme guarantee of the welfare of Our peoples. I thank Heaven for allowing me to be its instrument.
“It is evident that the principle of our Government had become incompatible with the successive modifications introduced into our internal organisation, and the increasing development of our foreign relations. Our most earnest desire is to cause the disappearance of all obstacles to the full enjoyment by the nation of all the natural resources it possesses, and, in a word, to see Our subjects put into the possession of rights which appertain to all civilised society, and to be united together in a common bond of progress, union, and concord.
“In order to attain this object it was necessary to adopt a salutary regular organisation, to safeguard the inalienable rights of the Governing body by the abolition of faults and abuses of all kinds, which result from illegality—that is to say, from the arbitrary power of one or more individuals: to accord the same rights and to prescribe the same duties to all the members of the several communities composing our Society, and to enable them all to profit, without distinction, by the blessings of liberty, justice and equality—these being the only possible methods of guaranteeing and protecting the interests of all.
“From these essential principles flows the necessity of another eminently useful work: viz., that of connecting Public Right with a deliberative and constitutional System. That is the reason why in the Hatt that We promulgated on Our accession to the Throne We declared the urgency of creating a Parliament.
“A special Commission composed of the highest dignitaries, Ulemas and functionaries of the State, has carefully elaborated the basis of a Constitution, and this again has been studied and approved by Our Council of Ministers.
“This fundamental Charter confirms the prerogatives of the Sovereign; the civil and political equality of Ottomans before the law; the responsibilities and duties of Ministers and Officials; the complete independence of the Tribunals; the efficient balancing of the Budget, and lastly, the decentralisation of provincial administration, whilst preserving the decisive action and the powers of the Central Government.
“All these principles, in strict conformity with the dispositions of the Cheri, as well as to Our aptitude and aspirations, are equally in harmony with Our generous desire to assure the happiness and prosperity of all Our subjects, which is Our Supreme wish.
“Confiding in the Divine Grace and in the intercession of the Prophet, I am now placing in your hand this Constitution after having invested it with My Imperial sanction. With the assistance of God, it will immediately be applied to all portions of Our Empire.
“Therefore, it is My decided will that you shall publish it, and shall see that it shall be executed, from this day forth.
“You must, moreover, take the promptest and most efficacious measures to proceed with the study and elaboration of the laws and regulations mentioned in this instrument.
“May the Almighty deign to accord success to all those who work for the salvation of the Empire and the Nation.
“Given this 7th of Zilhidje 1293, Hegira.”
(23rd December 1876.)
The reading of the Hatti Humayun concluded, the First Secretary ceremoniously handed the Grand Vizier the text of the Constitution, after reverently raising it to his lips. The Grand Vizier received it with the like ceremony, and then handed it to the Grand Referendary,[16] Mahmoud Bey, who read it to the assembled people, while thousands of fly‐leaves bearing the text of the Constitution were distributed in all directions.
After the text was read, Midhat made a speech, expressing gratitude to the Sultan for the graciousness of this act in promulgating the Constitution, the immense importance of which he proceeded to point out to the people. When he had concluded, the Mufti of Adrianople offered up a prayer, and all the people cried “Amen,” and a salute of 101 guns from the Seraskierate announced to the whole city that “the Constitution” was proclaimed.
The Ulemas with the Sheik‐ul‐Islam (Hairullah Effendi) at their head; the Christian clergy with their patriarchs; the Ministers; the learned and distinguished Chakir Effendi, followed by the Softas and students; the representatives of all the corporations, and the populace of the capital, with flags bearing the inscription “Liberty,” came to congratulate Midhat, at his own residence, on the new era of liberty. In the evening the mosques were illuminated, and the people, carrying torches, paraded the streets, crying, “Long live the Sultan and Midhat Pasha!” Telegrams of congratulation were received from all the provinces of the Empire, expressing the joy felt at this great event. In short, the whole populace was in a state of rejoicing; the Palace of Bechiktashe was the only place not illuminated. The Sultan was indisposed.
Although it was contrary to custom for a Grand Vizier to pay an official visit to the religious communities, Midhat Pasha went the following day to the Greek and Armenian Patriarchs and to the Jewish Chief Rabbi, to thank them for their expressions of rejoicing at the new Constitution. He was received with enthusiasm by the patriarchs, and the Christian populace threw flowers in his way. The Grand Vizier made speeches in which he declared that he recognised no distinctions between Mussulmans and Christians, as they were all children of the same country, urging that all should work together as brothers to promote the progress of their country, under one flag, and by the aid of the new liberty pronounced by His Majesty the Sultan.
CHAPTER VI
THE CONFERENCE AND MIDHAT’S EXILE
The day fixed for the first plenary meeting of the Conference of Constantinople was the same as that chosen for the promulgation of the Constitution. That there was a purpose in the simultaneous occurrence of the two events admits of no doubt; but to conclude from that fact, as has been disingenuously argued, that the Constitution was a mere device to defeat the ends of the Conference, is, of course, absurd, and has been conclusively disproved.
On the 23rd December (1876), accordingly, the envoys and plenipotentiaries of the Great Powers met in the handsome building of the Admiralty on the Golden Horn, in the large hall that had been prepared for their reception, to discuss with the Turkish envoys the condition of the Christian provinces of the empire. There were present, Count Zichy and Baron Calice representing Austro‐Hungary; Count Chaudordy and Count Bourgoing representing France; Baron Werther representing Germany; Lord Salisbury and Sir Henry Elliot representing Great Britain; General Ignatieff representing Russia, and Edhem Pasha and Safvet Pasha representing the Empire that was to be placed on the dissecting table.
Scarcely had the preliminary formalities been concluded, when from across the Bosphorus, at the Seraskierate, was heard the booming of the first gun that announced the proclamation of the new Constitution. Thereupon a somewhat dramatic scene—that, no doubt, had been arranged beforehand—was enacted. Safvet Pasha arose in his place, and, addressing the assembled plenipotentiaries, said: “Gentlemen, the cannon that you hear across the Bosphorus notifies the commencement of the promulgation by His Majesty the Sultan of a Constitution guaranteeing equal rights and constitutional liberties to all the subjects of the Empire alike; and in the presence of this great event, I think our labours become superfluous.”
This little speech of the Turkish Envoy was received by the assembly in chilling silence. The somewhat theatrical coup had evidently missed its effect. After a few moments’ dead silence, General Ignatieff moved that the Conference should proceed with the business of the day. The proceedings themselves were not lengthy. The envoys of the Great Powers had been a whole month in Constantinople holding unofficial meetings among themselves, from which the Turkish delegates were studiously excluded; and the programme to be followed and the policy to be enforced had all been arranged before the official meeting took place. The object of this somewhat unusual proceeding was clear. Turkey was to be given to understand that it had to do with a veritable Concert of Europe, which, however much it might minimise the demands made by one of the Powers interested, would insist unanimously on substantial concessions from the Porte, and that the latter must in consequence dismiss any hope or expectation of dissensions or jealousies breaking out between the Powers.
The achievement of this unanimity was intended as the master‐stroke of Lord Salisbury’s policy. He did not imagine then, though he probably has realised it since, that the rôle he was playing at Constantinople had been carefully prepared for him at Vienna, and that the success of his efforts was simply the triumph of Count Andrassy’s policy. What remained for the Conference to do was, not to discuss measures, but to formulate decisions. There was, at any rate, this advantage in such a summary method: the agony would not be prolonged. The business of the Conference began, like a Dutch auction, with a maximum opening bid on the part of the Russian envoy. He proposed the autonomy of the province of Bulgaria, the appointment of a Christian Vali, the formation of a national militia, and the confinement of Turkish troops within the limits of certain fixed fortresses. The Turkish envoys having declared these proposals entirely inadmissible and beyond the sphere of discussion, the proposal was modified to what General Ignatieff designated “un minimum extrême et irreductible,” viz., that Bulgaria should be endowed with a special privileged government, and with an international commission to watch the administration, and that the appointment of its Governor should be submitted to the approval of the Great Powers. To this proposal, again, the Turkish envoys demurred, pointing out that the examples of Servia and Roumania, to which special privileged governments had been conceded with the other special arrangements now proposed for Bulgaria, were not encouraging precedents for a repetition of a similar experiment in Bulgaria: that the Mahomedan population in the above‐named States had not been treated with the equality and liberality promised and stipulated for, but had found themselves under the necessity of emigrating en masse from those countries, and that even the extreme concessions made to these States, removing all shadow of pretext for complaint, had not deterred them from joining the enemies of the Empire, or intriguing against it whenever the opportunity occurred.
Eventually, after a heated and rather academical passage of arms between Edhem Pasha and Count Chaudordy, a further modification was made in the proposals, but not without a protest from General Ignatieff, who said: “You are plucking all my feathers out of me,” to which Count Chaudordy replied, with pregnant truth, “You will always have plenty left, General.” The finally irreducible minimum proposed was to the effect that a Consular Commission should be appointed to aid the local authorities, and that the Valis of the three provinces, Bulgaria, Herzegovina and Bosnia, should be appointed subject to the assent of the Great Powers, during the first five years.
The Turkish envoys, however, could not agree to this proposal either. They pointed out that the appointment of the Consular Commission was an infringement of the sovereign rights of the nation, which it was beyond their competence to acquiesce in, and that over and above this difficulty the proposal was open to the practical objection that an exceptional situation created for those provinces would cause discontent in all the other provinces of the empire, and lead to unrest, and probably disturbance, in some of them; and they again pointed out that the moment seemed singularly ill‐chosen for insisting on special privileges for a portion of the Empire, when the Sultan had just promulgated a charter containing the largest possible measure of liberty and equal rights to all his subjects without distinction throughout every portion of the Empire.
This declaration of non possumus on the part of the Turkish delegates was followed by a most violent speech from General Ignatieff, immediately after which the assembly broke up without even listening to the protest that the Ottoman delegates were prepared to make to the speech of the Russian envoy.
The last modified proposal was embodied in an Ultimatum delivered to the Porte by the envoys collectively, to which an answer was required within a week. At the expiration of that time, if the answer was not satisfactory, they declared their intention of quitting Constantinople.
On the news of what had occurred becoming known, the conduct of the Turkish delegates was generally approved of throughout the Empire. Christians and Mahomedans vied with each other in sending patriotic addresses to the capital, and a battalion of Christian volunteers was raised, at their own expense, and marched to the Servian frontier, where they distinguished themselves greatly, let it be said in passing, by their courage and devotion.
Midhat, in the meantime, by the Sultan’s order, had convened a Grand Council of 237 persons, composed of all nationalities and notabilities, to whom the final propositions of the Conference were submitted.
Midhat made a speech to the notabilities, in which he pointed out the consequences of the rejection of the terms in question, and told them clearly that unless they were prepared to face this ultima ratio, they had no alternative but to accept the terms of the Conference. After listening attentively to this speech, the Grand Council, by a practically unanimous vote, amidst very considerable enthusiasm decided on the rejection of the Ultimatum. The foreign envoys accordingly left the capital on 20th January (1877). So ended the Conference of Constantinople.
It is necessary here to recall the fact that Midhat during the Conference sent the patriot Odian Effendi to London to communicate to Lord Derby the occurrence which had recently taken place in his country, and to add that as the Powers had not insisted on the carrying out of the proposals formulated by Russia, which were found to be impracticable in the present condition of Turkey, it was hoped that the Powers would take the new Constitution under their protection, and see to its execution in practice. The following despatch from Lord Derby to Lord Salisbury and Sir H. Elliot shows the result of this step:—
The Earl of Derby to the Marquis of Salisbury and Sir H. Elliot.
“Foreign Office,xxx
xxx“10th January 1877.
“My Lord and Sir,—Odian Effendi called upon me this afternoon by appointment, and spoke to me again of the impossibility which his Government felt of accepting the proposals made to them in the Conference.
“There might, he said, be concessions on both sides in regard to the reforms, but the question of the guarantees would still remain, and offered insuperable difficulties.
“Under these circumstances he was anxious to make a personal suggestion, which he thought might offer a mode of arrangement, and which he understood that Midhat Pasha was ready to adopt. It was that the Constitution recently decreed by the Sultan should be brought to the cognizance of the Powers in a form which should make its execution a matter of international obligation between the Porte and them, and that the organisation of the provincial administrations to be drawn up by the Turkish Ministers should, after receiving the approval of the Powers, be made a portion of the general plan, and embodied in the same agreement.
“The whole system of reforms granted by the Sultan to his subjects would thus be placed under the guarantee of the Powers, who would have a right to watch over the manner in which it was carried out.
“Odian Effendi wished to know whether this proposal would be favourably received by Her Majesty’s Government, and whether I thought there would be any use in the Porte bringing it forward in the Conference.
“I told Odian Effendi in reply that there was a manifest inconvenience in discussing here the questions which at the same time were in process of negotiation at Constantinople. I must therefore refrain from expressing an opinion upon the plan which he had mentioned to me.
“If it was to be proposed by the Turkish Government, this must be done by them at Constantinople, and upon their own responsibility.[17]
“I am, etc.,
“(Signed) Derby.”
Hardly had the foreign envoys departed from the capital, and the doors of the great hall at the Admiralty been shut behind them, when the Palace proposed to put the match to the mine that had been carefully laid for the reformers.
Within a fortnight of the departure of the Plenipotentiaries, matters were brought to a climax. Two subjects of contention between Midhat and the Sultan had been reserved for further discussion when the Conference should be over: the position of Galib Pasha and the question of mixed schools. Either would serve for a casus belli.
Midhat had resolved on the dismissal of the complaisant Minister of Finance, who had, proprio motu, doubled the amount appropriated to the Civil list by the simple device of paying it in gold; there were other counts, too, against the Minister which necessitated this measure. One was the specific charge of irregularities in the accounts of the Treasury, which, although Midhat did not attribute them to malversation on his part, were nevertheless, in his opinion, proofs of great negligence in the supervision of the business of his office. The other was a general charge of incapacity as Minister of Finance, especially revealed in his tactless method of issuing Treasury bonds, thereby causing an excessive and alarming depreciation in the paper of the State. The Sultan had agreed to the dismissal of Galib, but he desired to have him forthwith appointed Senator, whereas Midhat insisted on a preliminary examination of the accounts of his office. It will be perceived at once that there was a great deal more in this dispute than met the eye, and that it accounted for the bitterness of the feelings entertained against Midhat at the Palace. The following letter, if read between the lines, will throw some light on the questions at issue:—
To the First Secretary of His Majesty Saïd Pasha.
“Excellency,—By an Irade of our august Master, the nomination of his Excellency Galib Pasha as member of the Senate has just been adjourned. The delay on my part in making you acquainted with the motives which have determined me to remove Galib Pasha from the Ministry of Finance, whilst abstaining from any reflection whatever on his personal integrity, only emphasises the responsibility of Galib Pasha in the matter of finance. It is manifest that that faithful servant of the State, in conformity with the orders of our august Master, would not hesitate to admit his share of responsibility, and in order to put an end to a discussion which has no precedent, he should certainly claim an investigation, and submit to its consequences, whatever sacrifices it might entail; but since explanations are demanded of me, I hasten to give them as shortly as I can. In order to judge whether or not Galib Pasha is competent to administer the Finances of the State, it seems to me sufficient to refer to the fall in the value of paper money.
“The paper of the State, fifteen years ago, amounted to twenty millions (£T), and yet its depreciation never reached more than 50 to 60 per cent, compared to gold, although its circulation was then limited to the radius of the town of Constantinople, and it was not received in payment of taxes. At the present time, although the amount issued does not amount to four millions, and there is no limit imposed to its circulation in the Empire, and it is accepted in payment of taxes, the depreciation amounts to 70 per cent. This state of things is the result of the carelessness and neglect on the part of the ministers of Finance. The depreciation, moreover, has given rise to venality and corruption on the part of functionaries in the Provinces, and to excitement and unrest, in consequence, in public opinion.
“We have no accusation to make against the probity and honesty of Galib Pasha, nor any complaint on the score of the obligation under which we lie, of issuing bonds to realise the sum necessary, in gold, for exportation to Europe for war purposes. But seeing that an issue of paper money, to an amount necessary for the realisation of £T100,000 only, is sufficient to cause a still further depreciation of the paper and rise in gold, the Minister of Finance is in duty bound to take such steps and employ such means as shall, as much as possible, prevent or mitigate this consequence. For instance, he should take a portion of the sum required from the receipts of the Treasury, in gold, and issue the remainder of the sum in paper, with such prudence and precaution as to avoid financial panic by all means in his power. But Galib Pasha seems incapable of appreciating such measures, and the finances of the State have suffered in consequence.
“Such a state of things implies a grave responsibility, and as it is somebody’s duty to fix this responsibility, the functionary on whom devolves these particular duties would necessarily be the person to assume it. But it is also the duty of the person who happens to be Grand Vizier to superintend the general march of affairs, and to take steps to prevent all maladministration.
“In the report made by Galib Pasha, which was read before the Council of Ministers, he declares himself incapable of finding a remedy for this state of things. And when an official makes such a declaration, it is impossible to keep him in the exercise of those functions without sharing the responsibility with him. It is on these grounds that we have based our opinion as to the necessity of replacing him.
“The day after the issue of the Imperial Irade approving this decision, His Excellency Damad Mahmoud Djelaleddin Pasha advised us to recommend Galib Pasha for some other post; but it so happens that not only are the accounts in the treasury with reference to this paper money defective, but whereas we thought that only one million of paper money out of the proposed seven millions had actually been issued, we now find that two millions have in point of fact been issued.
“I thought it therefore proper, as I informed you in my letter of the 14 Moharem, 1294, to keep Galib Pasha in the office of Finance until all his accounts were put into proper order. In the discussion on these matters in the Council of Ministers, on the 6th day of Moharem, Galib Pasha informed us that he had made arrangements with some private bankers for the purchase of £T90,000 in gold against £T210,000 paper. This enormous depreciation, which could be accepted only in the event of the extremest urgency, seemed to us beyond all limits of reason.
“Whatever may be the personal honesty of an official, yet when such irregularities take place in his Office, it would seem more proper to request him first to put his accounts in order before appointing him off‐hand to another position of trust, such as the Senate.
“On consideration of the whole matter, we are convinced that just as Galib Pasha’s incompetence involves no reflection on his honesty and probity, so the matter of the £T90,000 which I have just mentioned is far from revealing any desire on his part to conceal the real situation of affairs.
“Hence the only reasons why we have requested a delay in the nomination of Galib Pasha to the Senate are founded on his own declarations last Wednesday before the Council of Ministers.
“Although this little matter is scarcely worthy of so lengthy an explanation, I have made it simply on the demand addressed to me to furnish explanations on the subject, and in order to comply with the Imperial commands.
“I will only, in conclusion, beg you very particularly to be good enough to bring these details to the notice of His Majesty, if he should express his desire to be made acquainted with them.
“Receive, Excellency, etc.,—
“Midhat.
“9 Moharem 1293, Hegira.”
xxx(25th January 1877.)
The other question held in reserve was that of the mixed schools, a measure to which, as we have seen on several occasions, Midhat attached the greatest importance, as a means of welding together the different elements of the nation. He desired to make a beginning by applying it to the military academies of the Empire. The eve, possibly, of a great war, in which the nation might require the service of all her sons, seemed to him the most opportune moment conceivable for the application of this most important reform. He accordingly pressed it on the Sultan. He was met by the ordinary Fabian tactics of the Palace—procrastination, promises, delay. The Sultan demurred, temporised, first gave and then withdrew his consent, and a long discussion ensued between them on the subject. The dispute culminated in the following Memorandum, addressed by Midhat in the name of the Ministry, to the Sultan, through the usual channel:—
To the First Secretary of His Majesty Saïd Pasha.[18]
“Your Excellency,—All sincere friends of Turkey continue to urge us—as did Mr Thiers quite lately—in the actual condition of affairs, to give proofs to Europe of our sincerity and good intentions. This very day a despatch from Musurus Pasha informs us that Lord Derby congratulates the Imperial Government on the dissolution of the Conference, which he considers as a success for Turkey. At the same time Lord Derby urges us to conclude peace with Servia as soon as possible, and to make a beginning in carrying out those articles of the Constitution, and those propositions of the Conference, that are susceptible of immediate application. And whilst we, taking these friendly counsels into very serious consideration, are working with a view of putting into operation without delay the Firmans concerning reforms, an Imperial Irade, promulgated yesterday, prohibits the admission of Christians into the military schools, which a preceding Irade had authorised. Now, such a prohibition is calculated seriously to compromise, from the very beginning, an important reform that the whole world expects from the Constitution, and it is natural that obstacles of this kind should discourage and paralyse the efforts that we are constantly making to serve our country with devotion. We therefore regret sincerely that of all the questions which are now placed on the order of the day to be studied by the Council, this important one alone remains in suspense, and we regret it all the more inasmuch as the explanations that we addressed to His Majesty on the subject yesterday morning have remained unanswered. I therefore appeal to the Imperial goodwill, and beseech His Majesty to bring to bear on this question all the forethought and attention that it deserves.
“(Signed) Midhat.
“8 Moharem 1294, Hegira.”
xxx(24th January 1877).
Worn out by these tactics, Midhat determined to bring the matter to an issue, and make it what would be called a Cabinet question, and addressed to the Sultan the following letter:—
“Sire,—The object of promulgating the Constitution was to abolish Absolutism, to indicate Your Majesty’s rights and duties, to define and establish those of Ministers; in a word, to secure to the nation complete and entire liberty, and thus by a common effort to raise the condition and position of the country.
“Contrary to what had occurred in the case of former Hatti Humayuns promulgated thirty years back, the new charter was to subsist and receive its full application after the present political crisis should be at an end; for our object in promulgating that Constitution was certainly not merely to find a solution of the so‐called Eastern Question, nor to seek thereby to make a demonstration that should conciliate the sympathies of Europe which had been estranged from us.
“Allow me, Sire, to offer a few observations on this subject. In the first place, Your Majesty, who is responsible before the nation for your acts, is bound to be acquainted with your duties as well as with your rights and prerogatives. It is, moreover, indispensable that Ministers should have the certain conviction of being able to accomplish their tasks, and that we should be able to free ourselves from that habit of servile flattery which has debased our people and ruined the country during the last four centuries.
“I am animated by a profound respect for the person of Your Majesty. But basing my conduct on the ordinances of the Cheri (sacred law), I am bound to withhold obedience to the commands of Your Majesty whenever they are not in conformity with the interests of the nation; otherwise the weight of my responsibility would be too heavy for me to bear. The dictates of my conscience that command me to conform my acts to the salvation and prosperity of my country impose an imperative obligation on me; and the judgment of my country, which is what I respect and cherish most, forbids me to act otherwise.
“I desire earnestly that no shadow of a suspicion should cross the mind of Your Majesty, and I dread, as I have already said, to find later on that I have sinned against my own conscience and deserved the malediction of my countrymen. It is this very apprehension that forces me to submit those considerations to Your Majesty. It is indispensable, Sire, that the Ottoman nation should have the power to reform and administer their country, according to the law. It is unnecessary for me to point out or explain to Your Majesty all that is contained in this phrase. I humbly pray and beseech Your Majesty to have confidence in me and my colleagues in the accomplishment of our difficult task, in which patriotism and love of our country are our only motives and inspiration.
“I trust that I have not as yet committed any act compromising the responsibility that I feel, and I desire that the nation should be imbued with the sense of our responsibility towards it, otherwise no satisfactory result can ever be attained.
“It is now nine days, Sire, since you have abstained from giving a favourable answer to my petition. You thereby refuse to sanction laws indispensable to the welfare of the country, and without which our whole previous work will be rendered futile. Whilst Your Majesty’s Ministers are engaged in endeavouring to restore the governmental edifice which has with so much difficulty escaped total ruin, surely Your Majesty would not willingly add to the work of destruction.
“If Your Majesty should in consequence of the above named opinions consider it your duty to relieve me of my functions as Grand Vizier, I would pray Your Majesty to confide them into such strong hands as shall be able to reconcile the principles and ideas of Your Majesty with the necessities of the country and the gravity of the situation in which the Empire finds itself placed to‐day.—I am, Sire, Your Majesty’s humble servant,
“Midhat.
“18th January 1293, O.S.”
xxx(30th January 1877.)
For three days he abstained from going to the Palace.
The Sultan, who was now prepared for extremities, sent Safvet Pasha to him to inform him that all he demanded would be granted and to request him to come to the Palace. Safvet Pasha, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and one of the Turkish delegates at the Conference, was not what would be called a strong Minister. He was prone to conciliation and compromise rather than energetic measures and resolutions; but he was essentially an honest man: duplicity and treachery were absolutely foreign to his nature. If on this occasion he was intended as an instrument of duplicity, it was practised at his own expense, and he was merely an unconscious tool. Midhat, however, demurred to the invitation, and required the necessary Irades to be issued on the matters pending with the Palace, before he resumed his functions as Grand Vizier. Thereupon the Sultan sent his first aide‐de‐camp, Saïd (Ingless) Pasha, to him, to assure him that the Irades were ready, if he would, on the Sultan’s order, accompany him to the Palace. Midhat went. He perceived on his way an unwonted display of troops in the district of Tavshan Tashi, where his Konak was situated, but he was not aware then, on the night of the 4th‐5th February, that the Imperial Yacht Izzeddine was moored close to the marble steps leading up to the terrace of the Palace of Dolma‐Bagtche. If he had perceived it and guessed its purpose, it was too late to retreat, or to escape the snare laid for him. On his arrival at the Palace he was shown into a small ante‐chamber and told to await the Sultan’s orders.
The first aide‐de‐camp soon returned with the Sultan’s order to deliver up his seal of office, and to accompany him.
He then conducted him on board the Izzeddine, which, with steam already up, immediately weighed anchor and steamed off in the direction of the Sea of Marmora with Midhat on board. The Captain of the Izzeddine had sealed orders, which he was only to open in the Sea of Marmora. These orders were, that he should wait for twenty‐four hours in the Bay of Tchekmedje, and if he received no telegram within that space of time, he was to conduct Midhat to any European port on the Mediterranean that the ex‐Grand Vizier might select. No despatch arriving, he proceeded on his course to Brindisi, where he landed Midhat.
That the forcible banishment of the Grand Vizier was a violation of the letter as well as the spirit of the Constitution promulgated and sworn to by the Sultan, has never been seriously denied. The “reason of State” urged would obviously cover any act of arbitrary power whatever. It was for the express purpose of putting an end to such an arbitrary régime that the Constitution was framed and insisted on. The flimsy pretext put forward, that it was in accordance with the 113th Article of the Constitution, will not bear the most superficial examination. The power therein conceded to the Sultan was in a rider to a clause declaring a state of siege when the safety of the State required it, and the purport and limits of the clause must necessarily govern the subsidiary provisions of the clause itself. Not only could a rider of this description not bear the interpretation sought to be placed upon it, but other substantial clauses of the Constitution directly forbade the exercise of any such arbitrary power, and provided for the elementary right that no man should be punished except after due trial. But further: clauses 31, 32, and 34 contained special and minute provisions for the arrest and trial of Ministers guilty of treason or malversation, so that both positively and negatively, in its substantial provisions and in its omissions, the banishment of Midhat, with its attendant circumstances, was as clear a violation of the Constitution as the coup d’état of the 2nd December 1852 in France.
But political morality and good faith and patriotism apart, it must be allowed that the tactics pursued by the Palace were, qua tactics, very cleverly devised. If the Sultan had struck at the Constitution as well as the champion of it; at reform at the same time as the reformer, he would undoubtedly have raised a storm in the country which would have immediately endangered his throne; but by striking down the father and pillar of the Reformers he practically killed reform, and put the Constitution at his mercy as certainly as if he had suppressed it then and there; and whilst pretending himself to champion both reform and the Constitution, he managed to play the rôle of Wat Tyler successfully, and to take the sting out of the blow, and conceal the full meaning of the act that he had just committed. There was a party in Constantinople, to which personal ambition was not a stranger, who imagined that Midhat was not essential to the cause of the Constitution, and that Abdul Hamid II. was sincere in his protestations of reforming ardour. Some were of good faith, and some were simply moved by ambition. Both very soon discovered their mistake, and in various distant provinces found leisure to reflect and repent of their confiding innocence.
The Palace, although they had hazarded this great coup, did not feel at all secure as to the effect it might produce on the population of Constantinople, in spite of all the measures of precaution that had been taken; and the order given to the captain of the Izzeddine to remain twenty‐four hours at anchor in the bay of Tchekmedje, was with a view, in case of a serious rising in the capital, of recalling Midhat and persuading him to resume his functions—until a more convenient opportunity arose. The Palace was playing for safety.
Stunned by the suddenness of the blow, entirely unprepared for any concerted action, and distracted by reports industriously spread, the people did not rise, and the Palace breathed freely. It had gained a complete victory.
* * * * *
Between the breaking up of the Conference and the breaking out of the war, the sequence of diplomatic action can be very briefly narrated. On the 19th January 1877 Prince Gortchakoff issued a Circular to the Powers, which can be summed up in the question, “What are you going to do about it?” One particular phrase, however, in this document must be noted. He says that the agreement in the Berlin Memorandum not being unanimous, and the crisis being aggravated, among other causes, by the revolution in Constantinople, the Cabinets recommenced negotiations, and, on the initiative of England, agreed upon a basis and guarantees to be discussed at a Conference at Constantinople. There is very little doubt that this revolution in Constantinople—which had the avowed object of checking absolutism and giving the Turkish people guarantees for good government—was in the eyes of Russia an aggravation of the crisis, and justified, and even necessitated, in her opinion, hostile action against Turkey. That Russia, who had undertaken the championship of liberty and progress among the inhabitants of a neighbouring empire, should be confronted by the establishment of institutions far more liberal and advanced than anything her own people were allowed to dream of; and that there should be sitting at Constantinople a Parliament, the very name of which was a terror and nightmare at St Petersburg, was without question an intolerable grievance.
À propos of this, the famous despatch of Count Pozzo di Borgo, of November 1828, to M. de Nesselrode, may be read with profit:
“When the Imperial Cabinet examines the question as to whether the moment had arrived to take up arms against the Porte, some doubts as to the urgency of this measure might exist in the minds of those who had not sufficiently meditated on the effects of the sanguinary reforms that the Ottoman Chief had just executed with terrible energy. But now the experience that we have just had ought to unite everybody in favour of the line then adopted. The Emperor has put the Turkish system to the proof, and His Majesty has found in it a commencement of material and moral organisation which hitherto it has never possessed. If the Sultan has been enabled to oppose to us a more lively and sustained resistance whilst he had scarcely collected the elements of his new plans of reform and improvement, how much more formidable should we have found him if he had had time to give them more consistency and solidity?...”
The whole policy of Russia towards Turkey is contained in the above despatch. The Cabinets of the Powers did not immediately answer Prince Gortchakoff’s Circular of the 19th January. General Ignatieff took a circular journey round Europe and felt the pulses of its Governments. On the 13th March, Count Schouvaloff handed to Lord Derby the draft Protocol which it was proposed to submit to the signature of the Great Powers, so as “to terminate the incident.” In this interview, the Russian Ambassador urged in favour of this course the unfortunate result that would ensue if shades of difference of opinion were to manifest themselves in the replies of the various Cabinets to the Russian Circular, which might be a determining cause to induce Russia to seek for a solution either by means of a direct understanding with the Porte, or by force of arms.
Lord Derby does not seem to have requested the Russian Ambassador to explain the above oracular utterance. There was more in it than he perhaps imagined. Another remarkable expression fell from Count Schouvaloff at this interview, and one which shows that he did not give himself the trouble, in his interview with the English Minister, to maintain even the appearance of consistency. “As a period of some months would not be sufficient to accomplish these reforms, it would be preferable,” etc. But this was Mr Disraeli’s and Lord Derby’s contention, though not sustained, for postponing diplomatic action, and the Turkish Ministers were never tired of urging it as a good and valid reason for deferring the Conference altogether.
The Protocol that was signed at London on the 31st March 1877 was certainly, as compared with the Protocol of the Conference, a very colourless document. After recapitulating certain recent diplomatic acts and taking cognisance of certain others, in view of certain indications, “the Powers propose to watch carefully by means of their Representatives at Constantinople, and their local agents, the manner in which the promises of the Ottoman Government are carried into effect.” It concluded by saying: “If their hopes should once more be disappointed, and if the conditions of the Christian subjects of the Sultan should not be improved in a manner to prevent the return of the complications which periodically disturb the peace of the East, they think it right to declare that such a state of things would be incompatible with their interests and those of Europe in general. In such case, they reserve to themselves the right to consider, in common, the means which they may deem best fitted to secure the well‐being of the Christian population and the interests of the general peace.”
This Protocol was accompanied by two remarkable declarations, annexed to the Minutes of the Meeting at the Foreign Office at which the Protocol was signed—the one on the part of the Russian Ambassador, the other on that of the English Minister.
The latter was to the effect that, in the event of the object for which the Protocol had been signed, viz., reciprocal disarmament and peace, not being attained, the Protocol in question should be regarded as null and void.
The declaration by the Russian Ambassador was in the following terms:—
“If peace with Montenegro is concluded, and the Porte accepts the advice of Europe and shows itself ready to replace its forces on a peace footing, and seriously to undertake the reforms mentioned in the Protocol, let it send to St Petersburg a special envoy to treat of disarmament, to which his Majesty the Emperor would also, on his part, consent. If massacres similar to those which have occurred in Bulgaria take place, this would necessarily put a stop to the measures of demobilization.”
The Porte thought fit, perhaps unnecessarily, inasmuch as its adhesion to the Protocol was not required, to make on the 9th April 1877 a most elaborate and spirited answer to the position taken up by the signatories of that document.
It pointed out that the efforts of the Powers were exclusively directed to what they considered the well‐being of one portion only of the Sultan’s subjects, whereas the reforms which the new Constitution aimed at introducing did not bear a special or exclusive character in regard to province, race, creed or language. That the small account which the Powers seemed to have taken both of the great principles of equality and justice which the Turkish Government sought to introduce into the internal administration, and of its rights of independence and sovereignty, was deeply to be regretted. That Turkey as an independent State could not submit “to be placed under any surveillance, whether collective or not.” That the Treaty of Paris explicitly declared the principle of non‐intervention. That Treaty which binds the other high contracting parties as well as Turkey, cannot be abolished by a Protocol in which Turkey has taken no part. And as for the last clause, the Government of the Sultan saw in it “a proceeding of intimidation calculated to deprive their action of all merit of spontaneity, and a source of grave complication for the present as well as for the future.”
With reference to the declaration of the Russian Ambassador annexed to the Protocol, the Porte very pointedly remarked that “as regards the disorders which might break out in Turkey and arrest the demobilization of the Russian army, the Sultan’s Government, while resenting the offensive terms in which this idea has been expressed, believes that Europe is convinced that the disorders which have disturbed the tranquillity of the provinces were due to external agitation; that the Imperial Government cannot be held responsible for them, and that consequently the Russian Government will not be justified in making the demobilization of its armies depend on such contingencies.”
This last paragraph pointed out a serious practical difficulty that confronted the Ottoman Government with reference to the proposal for demobilization. Russia was supposed to be able to mobilise her armies in eight days: at any rate, it was a question of days with her. Turkey, on account of her geographical position, and the nature of her organisation, required several months to effect this object. If, therefore, after making the greatest sacrifices in order to collect her forces, she were now to dismiss them to their distant homes, and Russia were allowed, on a pretext indicated by herself, to remobilise her own army, Turkey would be caught at the greatest possible disadvantage, and would then be completely at the mercy of her unscrupulous opponent. And nothing would be easier than for Russia, employing the means at which she had shown herself an adept, to excite troubles which would give her the very justification which she sought for a systematic attack on the now defenceless Ottoman Empire. The Porte had had experience of this very same line of action and of argument in respect to Servia. On the 2nd November 1876, Sir H. Elliot writes to Lord Derby that “General Ignatieff told me this morning that he has been directed by his Government to inform the Porte that they would consider any excesses committed by the Turkish troops as a violation of the armistice; and one of the secretaries of the Russian Embassy was desired this afternoon to tell me, further, that the General had orders at once to leave Constantinople upon any violation of it occurring,” and he adds, “a ready pretext for a rupture appears thus to be prepared.”[19]
On the 19th April 1877, Prince Gortchakoff issued another Circular announcing a declaration of war against the Ottoman Empire, and concluding with the following most remarkable sentence: “In assuming this task, our august Master fulfils a duty imposed upon him by the interests of Russia, whose peaceful development is hindered by the permanent disturbances of the East.”
Commentary would spoil this choice bit. The lamb was troubling the stream.
On the 1st May, Lord Derby made a most caustic and merciless reply to the Russian Circular.
After pointing out that the Porte had never wavered “in affirming its intention of carrying out the reforms already promised,” which was the avowed object of the Powers, and that by patience and moderation on both sides these objects might still have been attained, and that it was the presence of large Russian forces on the frontiers of Turkey, “menacing its safety, rendering disarmament impossible, and exciting a feeling of apprehension and fanaticism among the Mussulman population,” that constituted a material obstacle to internal pacification and reform. It went on to say, that the course on which the Russian Government had entered involved graver and more serious considerations. It was in contravention of the stipulation of the Treaty of Paris of 30th March, 1856, by which Russia and the other signatory Powers engaged, each on its own part, to respect the independence and the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire, and further, that they had, as late as 1871, signed a declaration at the Conference of London, affirming it to be “an essential principle of the law of nations that no Power can liberate itself from the engagements of a Treaty, nor modify the stipulations thereof, unless with the consent of the Contracting Parties by means of an amicable arrangement.” It concluded by saying, in reference to the pretension that Russia was acting in the interest of Great Britain and of the other Powers, that it felt bound to state in a manner equally formal and public that the decision of the Russian Government was not one that could have their concurrence or approval.
Nothing could be more logical or reasonable, but it was not logic or reason that could keep the Russian armies on their side of the Pruth.
CHAPTER VII
MIDHAT PASHA IN EUROPE
The exile of Midhat Pasha to Europe, after his sensational downfall from power on 5th February 1877, caused very much excitement in Europe. The Emperor of Austria is reported to have exclaimed, “Good Heavens! these Turks are incorrigible!”; while M. Thiers said, “Turkey’s most inveterate enemy could hardly have devised such a diabolical piece of advice to give to the Sultan.” The Cabinets lost all hope of seeing reforms introduced into Turkey. The English, as well as the greater part of the European Press, showed their sympathy towards the ex‐Grand Vizier and their discontent with the Sultan. Amongst the Russian newspapers the Golos of St Petersburg, 9th February 1877, whilst clearly showing the interest that Russia had in the disgrace of Midhat Pasha, yet expressed its opinions in the following manner:—
“The end of the Turkish Empire in Europe has come. All that is now wanted is patience, and waiting is not difficult, since war is impossible with a State which will perish more quickly by the effect of its internal crisis than through a foreign army. Russia will have time enough to save the Christians from the misfortune that might befall them through the fall of Turkey. It is now more to the advantage of Russia, as well as of the Christians, to wait and see how the course of Turkish decay will shape itself than to prolong the process of dissolution by interference.”[20]
The exile of Midhat, and the consequent change in the Ministry, also caused the very greatest commotion throughout the greater part of the Turkish population.[21] But the Sultan had taken every precaution against the possibility of any insurrection on the part of the people in favour of the exiled Grand Vizier, and he hastened to assemble Parliament, in order that he might gain the credit of being considered even more liberal than his Grand Vizier; and to show that the downfall of Midhat by no means involved the abolition of the recently promulgated Constitution, he opened Parliament.
The opening of the new Parliament had been fixed for the 1st March, but owing to the fact that many of the deputies from the more distant provinces had not arrived in the capital, the ceremony was adjourned till the 4th March. On that day Parliament was opened with great ceremony by the Sultan in the Palace of Dolma‐Bagtche.
On the right of the throne stood the Ministers and high functionaries, the Chiefs of the Christian communities, and members of the Council of State; on the left, the Ulema, and Cadi, and Heads of the High Courts of Justice, with the Generals of Division; behind these the pages of the Court. Behind the throne were the Foreign Representatives, and interspersed between the groups on the right and left of the throne were the Senators and Representatives in the Parliament. The Sultan entered, dressed in black, and stood by the throne with his hand on his sword, whilst his First Secretary read the following Opening Speech:—
The Sultan’s Speech.
“Senators and Deputies,—Gentlemen,—The difficulties and dangers which our general situation presents cannot be compared to any of the crises through which the Empire has hitherto passed. I was obliged, first of all, in order to guard the rights of the Empire, to augment the effective force of our armies at various points, and to call under arms 700,000 combatants. Next I considered it a duty to try, by means of essential reforms, to put an end, with God’s help, to the disorder of the situation, and thus to insure our future in a permanent fashion. It is evident that, thanks to the resources with which Providence has endowed our country, and the aptitudes of our subjects, a good administration would enable us in a short time to make considerable progress. If we have not reached the level of progress of other parts of the civilised world, the cause of this must be traced to the instability of the institutions necessary to the State, and of the laws and regulations issuing therefrom. This instability proceeded from everything, being in the hands of an absolute Government, which disregarded the salutary principle of common deliberation. The progress effected by civilised States, the security and wealth they enjoy, are the fruit of the participation of all in the enactment of laws and in the administration of public affairs. This is why we thought it necessary to seek in that course the means of arriving at progress, and of enacting and enforcing laws adopted by the common consent of the population. For this purpose I have granted and promulgated the Constitution. By the promulgation of the Constitution, I have not simply designed to invite the population to share in the direction of public affairs; I have had the firm resolution of employing the deliberative system as an effective means for the amelioration of the administrative system of the country, to preserve it from maladministration and absolutism. Irrespective of these fundamental advantages, the Constitution guarantees the unity of the governed, and confirms the principle of the welfare and fraternal solidarity of the population; for our illustrious ancestors, having, by God’s grace, extended their possessions and aggrandised the Empire, have combined under their rule a large number of peoples. These peoples being of various nationalities and religions, it was desirable that a uniform law should unite and protect them all. I give thanks to Divine Providence for this legitimate aspiration being at length realised. Henceforth all my subjects will be considered children of the same country, and will be placed under the protection of one law. They will be designated by the name borne by the illustrious race of the Founders of the Empire—a name associated with the glorious annals of a history of 600 years. I have a firm conviction that from this moment all my subjects will unite their efforts to make the name Osmanli retain the force and power hitherto surrounding it. I am therefore resolved, in view of this ideal and these reasons, not to deviate from the course which I have just adopted, and ever to adhere closely to it. I expect from you a real and intelligent co‐operation, in order to derive legitimate benefit from the Constitution, which is based on justice and the public security. I have deemed it necessary to insure to all the advantages of liberty and equality, to abolish the system of arbitrariness, to enact and execute laws adopted in common accord with the population, and, lastly, to found our administrative system on constitutional and liberal principles. It is in order to realise this sincere desire that I have created and convoked your body, composed of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. It now devolves on you faithfully and honestly to fulfil the legislative duties intrusted to your patriotism. In this task you should not be influenced by any personal considerations, but have in view only the faithful maintenance of the safety and welfare of the State and country. The improvements which we now need, and the reforms in all the public services, are of the highest importance. The gradual application of these measures depends on the accord which shall prevail among you. The Council of State is engaged in framing Bills which will be submitted to you. In the present Session you will have before you Bills on the Standing Orders of the Chamber, the Electoral Law, the General Law respecting the Vilayets and the Government of the Communes, the Municipal Law, the Civil Code of Procedure; the laws relative to the re‐organisation of the Tribunal and the mode of promoting and superannuating Judges, the Law concerning the functions and retiring pensions of all public functionaries in general, the Law of the Press, that respecting the Court of Accounts, and, lastly, the Budget Law. I desire that these different Bills be successively studied and discussed. You will have especially to occupy yourselves with the re‐organisation of the Tribunals, the only safeguard for the rights of everyone, and with the formation of the gendarmerie. In order to attain this end, it will be necessary to augment the amount of special grants for these two branches of the Service. As you will see from the Budget which will be submitted to the Chamber, our finances are in an extremely difficult situation. I recommend you, above all, to adopt common measures adapted to meet the difficulties of the situation and to restore our credit. You will have moreover, to take measures to insure the supply of funds required for urgent reforms. One of the greatest wants of our Empire and of our subjects is the development of agriculture and industry, and the progress of civilisation and of public wealth. This result can only be obtained by means of the development of public instruction. Measures with the object of improving educational establishments, and of fixing the programme of studies, will be submitted to the Chambers in the Session of next year. The Imperial Government attaches the greatest importance to the choice and appointment of the functionaries who will be called upon to apply and execute the above‐mentioned laws and those which will be ultimately promulgated for the working of the Constitution. Since my accession to the Throne I have given particular attention to this question. It is for this reason that I have decided on instituting, at my own expense, a special school for the education of administrative officials. As stated by the published organic regulations of that school, they will be admitted to the highest administrative and political posts. The pupils will be selected without distinction of religion, from all classes of my subjects. Their promotion will be according to the degree of their capacity. For nearly two years we have had to face internal complications. During this period, especially during the hostilities with Servia and Montenegro, our faithful subjects have given proofs of patriotism, and our troops have done, at the price of great suffering, acts of courage and bravery which I profoundly appreciate. In all questions we have only had the defence of our rights in view. The efforts we have made for this purpose have had the result of restoring peace with Servia. As to the decision we shall take in the negotiations with Montenegro, it will be referred to your deliberations at their first sitting. I advise you to be prompt in deciding. Our relations with friendly Powers are still marked by that courtesy and deference which are among the most precious rules for our State. Several months ago the Government of England proposed the meeting of a Conference in our capital for the consideration of the present questions. The bases proposed being also supported by the other Great Powers, our Sublime Porte consented to the meeting of the Conference. Though a definite understanding was not obtained in that Conference, we have given proofs of our sincere desire to defer to the wishes and counsels of friendly Powers. As to the causes of the non‐agreement of the Conference, these lay rather in the form and the mode of execution than in the substance. I thoroughly appreciate the imperative necessity of continuing the efforts for progress, by which so much has already been achieved, from the origin of the Tanzimat till this time, in all branches of the administration, and in the general condition of my Empire. All our efforts still tend towards that object. But on this occasion I considered it my duty to preserve the country from all attacks on its honour and independence. Time will prove the sincerity of our intentions. Our desire being in all cases to maintain our rights and independence, we adopt also for the future the same line of conduct. I rejoice to think that the proofs of moderation and sincerity furnished by our State, before and after the Conference, will have served to strengthen the bonds of friendship and sympathy which unite my Empire to the Concert of European Powers. May the Almighty deign to grant success to our common efforts!”
Thus, against his will, the Sultan had been obliged to keep his word and to open the Chamber of Deputies, but he now left no means untried in order to deprive the people of the privilege which he had just granted them. It so happened that events occurred which furnished him with certain opportunities, of which he took advantage with the greatest astuteness, and which were very much to the detriment of the nation.
The refusal of the Porte and of the Grand Council to accept the propositions formulated at the Conference had placed Turkey in an exceedingly critical position, although the whole civilised world, with the exception of Russia and the Sultan Abdul Hamid, were convinced that this refusal was of no great importance, since the solemnly proclaimed Constitution had assured the Empire that the necessary reforms should be made, and that the maladministration should be brought to an end. Nevertheless, the fall of Midhat, of the very man to whom the empire owed this Constitution, gave rise to doubt as to the execution of the promised reforms. On 19th April, Prince Gortchakoff sent out his Circular to the Powers, and on the 24th of April hostilities were begun by Russia.
Public opinion in Turkey was thus entirely engrossed by the danger with which the empire was threatened from outside, and was no longer able to concentrate itself on the changes that were taking place in the internal government. All minds were excited at the near approach of Russia, and were unable to occupy themselves in the maintenance of those rights which had been conferred by the new charter. The Sultan was thus able to attain his object, and finding no longer any obstacle to his will, he closed the Parliament and exiled the few deputies who dared to raise their voice in protest.
The war declared by Russia was the necessary result of the policy which Abdul Hamid had proposed to follow. Having exiled Midhat Pasha, and closed Parliament without having executed a single reform, he was equally obliged to crush every liberal tendency in order that he might monopolise the supreme power, and spared no effort to rid himself of every force that was capable of thwarting his designs. He now began to get secret information as to the opinions of all the principal Ministers and Generals, and took care at once to deprive of all power those whom he feared might be dangerous to him. The contradictory instructions that he gave to the Generals, the absurd military orders that he issued from his Palace of Yildiz, were transmitted after reports which attributed revolutionary designs to certain of his Generals—designs which they were far from cherishing—had reached him.
It was in consequence of these suspicions on the part of the Sultan that the Commander‐in‐Chief Abdul Kerim and the Marshal Suleiman Pasha were brought before a Council of War and condemned, not on account of faults committed, but simply because one of these two chief officers had participated in the deposition of the Sultan Abdul Aziz, and the other was known to have liberal opinions.
The Sultan’s efforts were crowned by the Treaty of San Stefano. The Circular of Prince Gortchakoff, which had appeared in the Official Journal of St Petersburg on the 9th April 1877, showed that what Russia had wished to obtain from Turkey by the Conference of Constantinople, differed but very little from the conditions which she imposed on the Porte in the Treaty of San Stefano, a fact to which Lord Salisbury rendered due justice in his despatch of 1st April.
Although the Cabinet of Great Britain had firmly stated its intentions of not entering into the quarrel, the general interests of Europe and the special interests of England were so deeply involved in the dispute, that it was impossible for that Power not to be obliged sooner or later to take some share in the proceedings. The intervention of England, although unhappily it came rather late in the day, led to the Congress of Berlin, which blotted out the Treaty of San Stefano.
As Midhat Pasha, however, played no part in the Russo‐Turkish War, nor in the events that followed, we will pass over them, and relate the vicissitudes of his journey in Europe, including the interviews which he had with the heads of States and celebrated politicians.
Midhat arrived at Brindisi, 11th February, 1877, and after a few days’ rest left for Naples, where he had at first wished to live, withdrawn from the world and its capitals. The following statement, which we reprint from the Neue Freie Presse of Vienna, was made by him on the future of the Constitution:—
“It is not despotism which, by my banishment, has reacted against the constitutional régime. That is not at all the case. Montesquieu has taught us that the creation of a constitution is very difficult and takes much time. A sovereign prince, accustomed to absolute power, can only be persuaded little by little to abandon his prerogatives, that being necessary to the constitutional régime. It is a difficult task, frequently interrupted by contrary currents, but for all that one need never despair of reaching the goal, for with time, patience and perseverance success is attainable. It is not in the person of the Sultan, nor yet through his present Ministers, that I see danger for the Constitution, but rather in the want of character and of courage so often to be found in those who are the Sovereign’s Councillors, and who, instead of acting according to their convictions, seek their own advantage in hiding the truth. I have never hesitated about giving my opinion to the Sultan, whoever he might be, whenever it happened to differ from his; I have always done so with the greatest respect, but also without the least reticence. Many a misfortune might have been avoided in this world of ours if there had not been a great lack of men, capable of placing the whole truth before their Sovereign.
“The danger to the Constitution lies, not in the lack of goodwill, but in the ignorance as to how to manage the mechanism. The Governmental form of despotism reminds me somewhat of a primitive mill, which may be turned by the force of water, or may equally be turned by its wheel. Constitutional Government also resembles a mill—but one that is put in movement by a complicated and artistically constructed mechanism. A knowledge as to how to work this machine and to keep it in movement is absolutely necessary. Thus, we must hope that the men of experience who find themselves at the head of affairs at Constantinople will not put the machinery of the new mill in motion, in accordance with the ideas and routine of the primitive mill. Constitutional Government cannot have the customs and the men of the Despotic system as its motive power. Reshid Pasha, our great reformer, was one day reproached for employing young men who had only just left college; he replied that it was right that it should be so, as neither one man alone, nor yet ten, could possibly do everything, and that it was therefore necessary to prepare a fresh staff of administrators. This has always been my idea, and whenever I have seen many rivals around me, I have delighted in the thought that it was to the profit of my country.
“If a man would render real and genuine services to his Sovereign and his Nation, he must be patriotic, and very much depends upon the way in which each person interprets this word. As for me, I consider that man to be a true patriot who, renouncing his own private interests, devotes himself morally and physically to one supreme aim—the welfare of his country. One must be willing to renounce everything—to be ready at a moment’s notice to sacrifice happiness, family, and life itself for what one realises to be the good of the Fatherland.
“I have frequently been in a position in which I might have remained Minister, or have acquired vast wealth, and so have been able to end my days in the midst of luxury and covered with honours. But such is not my idea of patriotism.
“The esteem, love and sympathy of my nation have been always valued by me far above all other favours and all the splendours of this world. I could not remain a Minister when my Sovereign refused to allow me to act as I thought necessary for the honour and welfare of my country, and I prefer poverty and exile to the swords of honour, the diamonds and highest favours; and to be held in esteem by my compatriots is to me the proudest and keenest satisfaction.”
Events in the East having now begun to assume a more and more threatening aspect, Midhat felt he could not possibly remain in inactivity at Naples, in the face of all the troubles that assailed his country. He went to Paris, and thence he crossed to London. He was the subject of the warmest welcome in each of the two capitals. Although an exile, he worked his hardest to find some favourable issue, and to deliver his country from the risk she ran in the Russian War. His friendly relations with Lord Beaconsfield and with the other English statesmen did not fail to produce some good effects in helping to save his country from an unjust war. When he had seen that the English Government were disposed to offer their good office for the promotion of an honourable peace, he left London for Vienna, where he was granted an audience by the Emperor Francis Joseph. On receiving news of the resistance offered by the Turkish army to the Russians, he addressed the following telegram to the Sultan Abdul Hamid:—
To H.M. First Secretary, Saïd Pasha.
“During my stay in London, I have tried to employ all my feeble efforts in favour of the Empire’s cause, and to obtain an honourable peace. I flatter myself that I have achieved some results. Now that I am at Vienna I am desirous of acting in the same way, subject of course to the approval of His Imperial Majesty, but it naturally goes without saying that in order that my efforts may be crowned with any measure of success, I must be to some extent acquainted with His Majesty’s plans, so that guided by the intentions of the Government, I may, to the best of my ability, render those services which are necessary in the crisis through which we are passing.—I am, etc.,
Midhat.”
(1877.)
The Sultan informed him in reply that he would never accept peace, and he would refuse to listen to any pourparlers on this subject, and that he did not hesitate to declare that any man who should contemplate such a step was far from being a true patriot.
Midhat Pasha, seeing that peace was impossible, returned to London, where he never wearied of striving by every means in his power to be of assistance to his country. The Sultan, on his side, was doing his best to vilify Midhat’s name in his own capital, and it is this that elicited the following letter from him to the Grand Master of Ceremonies, Kiamil Bey.
To Kiamil Bey, Grand Master of Ceremonies.
“Dear Sir,—I am thoroughly aware of how anxious you must be to avoid a correspondence with me in my present disgrace, but I must ask your indulgence for the few lines that I find myself obliged to address to you.
“It has been brought to my knowledge that the publication of a letter in one of the newspapers of Constantinople has given rise to various attacks directed against me. I know very well that if an exile, instead of seeking for indulgence and pity, dares to make use of the language of criticism as to the acts of the Government, in such a way as to provoke the enmity of certain personages, he will not even be able to avoid hurting his friends. But as these observations only relate to the defence of my own personality, it would be better to pass them over in silence, for there is no greater crime than to be occupied with one’s own individuality whilst the State is in the midst of such serious dangers. I believe that no one who has studied my letter can deny that it only contains the absolute truth. If there is a certain crudeness to be found therein, it comes from the truth of the words. If I have been able to remain indifferent to the attacks of my enemies, who for more than a year have done their best to injure me in the eyes of His Majesty by inserting articles and pamphlets against me in the newspapers, it is also in my power to bear with patience the vexatious attacks against my character. But no one must be surprised that the right of nationality which I possess in common with thirty‐six million fellow‐countrymen prevents me from keeping silence whilst our country is in the midst of such terrible vicissitudes, and our Ministers are involved in such great difficulties. Yet time presses, and the perilous situation, which has been dreaded for more than forty years, draws nearer and nearer. It is therefore the duty of every child of the country to let his complaint be heard and to lay his fears before his Sovereign. Those to whom the door of access to the Sovereign is closed must naturally employ every possible means by which their words may reach him. It is high time to realise that to place the truth before a Sovereign is an act of fidelity, and to hide it is a felony. Recent events have successively shown us the faults of those who are opposed to the wise measures which had been recognised by our Sovereign as necessary to save the Nation and the Government, and, putting aside all personal enmity, I am tempted to believe that they will profit by the goodwill of our august Sovereign and devote all their efforts to the good of the country. I end this letter with a request to you to be indulgent towards my expressions, which are free from all adulatory emphasis.—I am, etc.,
“Midhat.
“27 Zilhidje 1294, Hegira.”
xxx(November 1877.)
The Sultan, beginning to fear lest his former Grand Vizier’s sojourn in Europe should prove a danger to him, decided to recall him. We publish the following correspondence which passed between the Grand Master of Ceremonies and Midhat Pasha on this subject, and which resulted in the return of the latter to Turkey and his tragic death. Midhat committed a great error in accepting the reversal of his exile, an error which has cost the Party of Reform at the very least twenty years of progress.
Letter from Kiamil Bey, Grand Master of Ceremonies, to Midhat Pasha, in exile.
“Your Highness,—His Majesty having questioned me some time ago on Your Highness’ situation, I replied that you were wandering, sad and dispirited. As to your means of subsistence, I stated that you were living on what you borrowed. His Majesty, on whom these facts made the deepest impression, and who was much touched, shed tears and wished to send Your Highness at once the sum of £T1000, to provide for your absolute necessities. But I took the liberty of saying that it was first of all necessary to ask how the money should be sent, and also if you would wish to appoint someone to draw it—and then to act accordingly. What I have just related to you is only known to His Majesty, Your Highness, and to me, and must be kept secret. His Majesty even went so far as to say—‘The poor man was deceived.’ As to Your Highness’ present situation, it may come to a happy termination through a correspondence with your humble servant, according to the Imperial desire. I shall await with impatience the immediate reply of Your Highness to this letter, as well as a letter of thanks for the favour which Your Highness has received from His Majesty.
“I am, etc.,xxxx
“Kiamil.xx
“13th‐25th November 1293 (1877.)
“P.S.—His Majesty repeatedly enjoined that all that I have just told you should be kept secret.”
Letter from Midhat Pasha in reply to Kiamil Bey, Grand Master of Ceremonies.
“My very dear Sir,—I have received your letter of November 13th. I was at first surprised and astonished to find that a friend, who ever since my departure from Constantinople had taken care not to send me even a simple greeting, should now have the courage to write me a letter with his own hand; but after having read it I understood the motive. Thank you for having wished to attract the Imperial kindness towards me, and for having replied—‘He wanders, sad and dispirited’ to the question that His Majesty kindly put to you. But at the same time I must point out to you that these words are used for the unhappy and the bewildered. If His Majesty has sent me away from Constantinople and exiled me to Europe, it was in order to put an end to the calumnies which were spread against me in Constantinople, where my presence caused a certain amount of anxiety. As it is neither in keeping with the dignity of the State nor yet with the Imperial will that a man who has occupied the highest rank in the Government, and who has so frequently received the public proofs of the Imperial favour, should be treated as one who wanders bewildered through foreign countries, I think you would have been nearer the truth and also have better pleased His Majesty had you said, ‘Midhat Pasha has retired to Naples, where he is praying for the happiness of the Sultan.’
“As to the rest of your letter, I must beg you to excuse me before I begin to comment on it. You know that I am the son of Hadji Echref Effendi, and that I have no other protector than God. I have worked very hard to acquire knowledge and virtue, but I have not succeeded. I own that my capacities and accomplishments are inferior to those of my colleagues. Now, if under these circumstances I have still been able to reach a rank so much above my merits, it can only be thanks to my plain dealing; and all the difficulties that I have met with during my life, are entirely due to my having spoken the truth.... What has happened, and to what is it due that I have been deceived? It was necessary that there should be a Sovereign at the head of the State after the Sultan Abdul Aziz, and, in accordance with the law, he was succeeded by the Sultan Murad. He became ill—was deposed—and, still in accordance with the law, the Sultan Abdul Hamid ascended the throne. It has been recognised that he manifested a sincere desire and also the necessary capacity to lead the State into the paths of progress; he showed much esteem for everyone, and his esteem and benevolence for me were prodigious. In the report which the late Mustapha Fazil Pasha laid before the Sultan Abdul Aziz, it is stated that the truth is always the last to gain admittance into the palace of Sovereigns, and indeed this is the case. But the more dangerous the word of truth, the more profitable is the result when it is spoken to the Sovereign in the hope of serving the State. This is the reason why, subordinating my private opinions to the public interests, I have never failed to speak the truth, and have never hesitated to point out clearly which was the way of salvation, and which path would lead to the destruction of our country. Men of evil intention have, I know, made use of this as a weapon against me, but all the events of to‐day are proving one by one how just were my words. Unhappily, there are certain personages who, instead of trying by every means to save their country in the present dangerous situation, think only of their own private interest, and desiring to preserve their prestige, have committed serious faults, which are incompatible with humane feeling and quite impossible to correct. And by these acts not only have they created a bad name for themselves, but they have been the principal cause of the destruction of the empire. I can, however, only be grateful to His Majesty, and ever since my departure from Constantinople, wherever I have been, I have never ceased to repeat with fervour how good are His Majesty’s intentions. Those who know the constancy of my words and deeds will realise that there is no other course possible to me. My most ardent desire at present is to see my country delivered from the horrors of war—my own personal consideration can only hold a secondary place in my thoughts.—I am, dear Sir, etc.,
“Midhat.
“28th November 1293, O.S.”
xxx(10th December 1877.)
Letter from Kiamil Bey, in reply to Midhat Pasha.
“Your Highness,—I hope that Your Highness has perfectly recognised from the tone of my letter from what source it came. I was expecting to hear some expressions of gratitude from Your Highness, but your reply has in no way fulfilled this expectation, and you have ruthlessly exposed the real state of affairs without giving the least consideration to the shades of meaning in my expressions. This has been a great grief to me, and has diminished the hope I had of seeing you aiding the course of progress. In certain circles it is suggested that Your Highness may be waiting for a change in the Khalifat. I have been in Egypt for some months for change of air, and if you should wish to answer me, I would beg you to address your letters to me in Egypt.—I am, etc.,
“Kiamil.
“24th December 1293, O.S.”
xxx(6th January 1878).
CHAPTER VIII
THE RETURN OF MIDHAT PASHA TO TURKEY
After having received the most sympathetic welcome in Europe, and above all, in London, during a period of seventeen months, Midhat Pasha yielded to the Sultan Abdul Hamid’s invitation and returned to Turkey, thereby disregarding the wise advice given him by his friends both at home and abroad, but declaring that he would sooner die in his own country than in a foreign land. He refused to accept any office, and only desired to be allowed to live quietly with his family, far from all politics and public affairs. He fixed upon Crete as his place of residence. During his exile in Europe he had seen the Sultan Abdul Hamid enter into the paths of despotism—giving power to those men who had done nothing in the past, and banishing from the capital all those who were his partisans and who had striven to establish a rule of justice and of progress. He had seen his country menaced by every danger, and had observed the manœuvres of those ambitious statesmen who only sought for their own personal interests in the Sultan’s despotism and in their country’s decadence. He had seen the destruction of all he had worked for, had seen the Constitution he had done so much to establish deprived of every authority, and become only a name in the official records.
The position that Midhat occupied after his return to Turkey, may be considered as an exile imposed upon him by the Sultan. Abdul Hamid was anxious to keep him in Turkey, but at the same time did not dare to keep him there in inactivity, fearing lest the leader of the Liberal Party should once more begin to occupy himself in obtaining the necessary measures for opening the Chamber of Deputies. He was well aware that Midhat, as the Governor of a province, would devote himself entirely to its re‐organisation, and would therefore have no time in which to concern himself with central administration. Thus, in accepting the Governor‐Generalship of Syria and of Smyrna, it will be seen that Midhat played no political rôle. Forced as he had been to accept these posts, he occupied himself completely in their administration and in the good management of their current affairs, thoroughly realising his position as an exile.
Before returning to Turkey, Midhat Pasha went to the Island of Crete, as his future residence. The Sultan granted his request, and sent a cruiser of the Turkish Fleet to Syria, which landed him at Candia on 11th September 1878; the Imperial yacht Fuad was also commanded to transport his family to the island.
The Cretan population, Mussulmans and Christians alike, gave him the warmest and most cordial of welcomes; the foreign fleets which were in the bay fired salutes when he disembarked.
This enthusiastic reception, this spontaneous manifestation on the part of the foreign fleets, made the very worst of impressions on Abdul Hamid, whose fears were, moreover, increased by the continual intrigues of Midhat’s enemies. At one time there was some question at Constantinople of nominating Midhat Pasha as Governor‐General of the Island of Crete. One of his friends (an English subject, whose name we may not divulge) sent him the following letter, written at the invitation of the British Ambassador, Sir Henry Layard:—
“Constantinople, 3rd October 1878.
“Your Highness,—I have had an interview with our Ambassador this morning. His Excellency assures me that for the last four months he has tried by every means in his power to act on the Sultan’s mind, in order to persuade His Majesty to believe in your fidelity and devotion to his throne. Sir Henry Layard has assured me that he has incontestable proofs, that whilst Your Highness was in power, a certain individual, who dined every evening at your table, was in the pay of General Ignatieff, and repeated to the General every day all that you had said the night before. His Excellency has asked me to tell you that His Majesty is always surrounded by Russian emissaries, who do all in their power to influence him against you, and therefore he is obliged to use the greatest prudence in speaking to His Majesty of Your Highness. The Ambassador expressed to me his very great regret that you had refused to accept the thousand pounds that the Sultan had offered you. He also wished me to tell you, in strictest confidence, that there had been some question of nominating you Governor‐General of Crete, and that he prevented this nomination, being convinced that you would do no good in the Island, and that the insurrection instead of diminishing will only increase later on. Besides this, he told me that his desire is that Your Highness should occupy a higher post, where you would render very great services to the Government. He said that he was very anxious to meet you somewhere and to speak with you, but that at the present moment he sees no possibility of such an interview; in the meanwhile, if Your Highness would put yourself into correspondence with him, there is nothing that would give him greater pleasure than to receive news of you.
“Such, Your Highness, is the résumé of our conversation. I left with the conviction that the Ambassador sees the immense difficulty of introducing any reforms into the country without Your Highness’ co‐operation. Your opinion on the policy of England, and on the manner of introducing reforms into this country, would, I am sure, be very much appreciated by his Excellency, and therefore, if you see fit to write to the Embassy, you may count on my honour that no one in the world will know that you are in correspondence with Sir Henry Layard.—I am, etc.”
No event worthy of record took place during the short time that Midhat passed in the island of Crete. As he had wished, he lived peacefully in the midst of his family, not occupying himself directly with the affairs of State.
At the end of a month, Midhat Pasha received a telegram from the Palace, which nominated him Governor‐General of the vilayet of Syria. He was compelled to accept this new post, and embarked with his family on board the Imperial yacht Fevayid for Beyrout.
CHAPTER IX
MIDHAT PASHA, GOVERNOR‐GENERAL OF SYRIA
The arrival of Midhat Pasha in Syria was greeted by the population with as much enthusiasm and sympathy as in Crete. Compelled to accept this new position, Midhat, without losing hope of obtaining better results, and without taking into consideration that this post of Governor‐Generalship was a distinct loss of position after the high posts which he had occupied, began at once to study the general situation of the country, and the improvement which it would be possible to introduce there, as he had already done in the other vilayets. He introduced the most urgent reforms in the administration, which he discovered to be in a state of complete anarchy. He founded a School of Arts and Crafts, and an Orphanage, he increased the public safety, constructed high‐roads, which diminished the long distances that separated the capital of the vilayet from the outlying districts, and contributed to the construction of a line of tramways which connected the town of Tripoli, in Syria, to the port of Mina.
However, the population of Syria, composed as it is of people of diverse races and religions, who are always at enmity with each other, had preserved their ancient manners and customs. The overwhelmingly difficult task of creating a complete union between all these jarring elements, and of strengthening the Ottoman Supremacy in the country—where the minds of the populace were excited by foreign influences—consisted at first in the re‐organisation of the administration, in Judicial and Financial Reforms, and, finally, in insisting upon the absolute integrity of the officials.
Meanwhile, the Sultan Abdul Hamid allowed his original bitterness against Midhat Pasha to increase, and although addressing the most flattering words to him, he refused to sanction every single scheme of reform brought forward by him. The more the people showed their very great sympathy towards the Governor‐General, so much the more furious was the Sultan at his growing popularity. In order to prevent Midhat from gaining the friendship of the people by introducing the required improvements, Abdul Hamid took care to appoint as officials in Syria those men who would be capable of opposing his projects on every side. Such was the hostile conduct of the Marshal Ahmed Eyoub Pasha, who was in command of the Fifth Army Corps, and also of General Djémil Pasha.
The absence of harmony which existed between the officials of the province, and the Sultan’s delay in sanctioning his schemes, finally obliged Midhat to tender his resignation in the following telegrams, to which the Sultan replied in the most hypocritical language.
To Ali Fuad Bey, H.M. First Secretary.
“Worn out, physically and mentally, by a service to the State which extends over nearly forty years, and taking into consideration my old age, which renders me incapable of serving any longer, I beg His Majesty, as a favour, graciously to accept my resignation of the Governorship of Syria, and to allow me to return, as soon as possible, to my house at Constantinople, or to Metelin, or else to some habitable district of the Syrian coast, where I may settle down with my family and spend my remaining years.—I am, etc.,
“(Signed) Midhat.
“7th October 1295, O.S.”
xxx(19th October 1879.)
To the Grand Vizier, Saïd Pasha.[22]
“Having reached a condition, when mentally and physically I can render no further services to the State, I had some weeks ago prepared my resignation and was going to send it in, for urgent reasons, when your nomination to the Grand‐Vizierat retarded my action. But the appointment of Mahmoud Nedim Pasha[23] to the Ministry of the Interior has decided me to present it at the Palace. I inform you of this in advance, so that my resignation, following on your appointment as Prime Minister, may not be misinterpreted. I beg you will support my petition, and be my intermediary in helping me to get permission to end my days in some suitable place, with my family.—I am, etc.,
“(Signed) Midhat.”
Reply from H.M. First Secretary.
“Your Highness,—His Majesty has taken note of Your Highness’ resignation of the Governorship of Syria.
“The success which has attended Your Highness in the vilayet of Syria has been reported to His Majesty by Sir Henry Layard, who has just returned from his travels in Syria. His Majesty was on the point of sending you his congratulations, and of asking you what measures should be taken for the application of those reforms in which you encounter some obstacles. The arrival of your resignation has caused regret to His Majesty. You declare that the principal reason of your resignation is your advanced age, but as Your Highness is well aware, the longer an official has served, so much the greater will be his experience and his competency. Now, just at the moment when the State is on the point of reaping the fruits of Your Highness’ long experience and high efficiency, your decision to withdraw from public affairs cannot agree with the sentiments of your well‐known patriotism, and His Majesty would not, at present, be able to reconcile himself to placing on the unattached list, a servant as capable and experienced as Your Highness. Consequently, the reasons of your resignation are not admissible. His Majesty orders me to beg that you will address yourself directly to the Palace, if you have complaints to formulate.—I am, etc.,
“(Signed) Ali Fuad.
“10th October 1295, O.S.”
xxx(22nd October, 1879.)
Reply.
To Ali Fuad Bey, H.M. First Secretary.
“Excellency,—I have received the cipher telegram of the 10th October, 1295, and I humbly thank His Majesty for the questions which he has deigned to address to me; my request is occasioned by the weakness of my body and by the responsibility imposed upon me by the state of the vilayet. All the services of the vilayet are in disorder; the localities, as well as the population on the coast, are almost entirely under foreign influences, and the interior of the country, ever since the war, has been undermined by insurrections, which paralyse all the efforts of the State to bear on the abolition of the dissensions and revolts, in order to secure to the population a measure of repose and justice under the ægis of the State, by taking into consideration the exigencies of the localities and the requirements of the inhabitants. While this state of affairs exists, the enforced application in this vilayet of such reforms as those imposed in the vilayets of Konia and of Angora has only succeeded in alienating still further the population from the Government, and caused it to sympathise still more strongly with the foreigners. Moreover, even the power to assure the security of the Province is in the hands of the Military Administration, yet the responsibility thereof has been assumed by the Vali, which is not in the least in agreement with any known rule, and the disputes which may arise from this system can only add to the other mismanagements, and as the vilayet cannot go on for more than six months or a year in this manner, I find myself obliged to resign my functions. I am proud of sacrificing my life for His Majesty, in any service or in any country whatsoever. There exists only one means to effect the improvement of the state of the Province, and that is the appointment of a capable and honest Vali, to whom would be accorded full power to apply all the administrative and financial reforms, as well as the works of public utility according to the exigencies of the locality and of the populace, and according to what was done in the vilayet of Bagdad, the military force must be placed in the hands of the Vali in order to concentrate all the converging powers to this sole aim. I only venture to make these proposals on the strength of the invitation given me by the Imperial command.—I am, etc.,
“(Signed) Midhat.
“11th October 1295, O.S.”
xxx(23rd October 1879.)
Telegram in reply, from H.M. First Secretary.
“Your Highness,—Your reply telegram, which has only just arrived, has been submitted to His Majesty, who was much gratified to hear that you declare yourself proud to be able to sacrifice your life in His Majesty’s service. I have been ordered to communicate the imperial compliments to you, and to inform you that in two or three days someone from the Palace will start for Syria, charged to furnish you with the instructions and Irades relating to the contents of Your Highness’ telegram.—I am, etc.,
“(Signed) Ali Fuad.
“12th October 1295, O.S.”
xxx(24th October 1879.)
Thus it is seen that Abdul Hamid refused to accept the resignation of Midhat Pasha, but Midhat gave him the choice between his resignation and the desired reforms, and sent the Grand Vizier long schemes for the general re‐organisation of the province.
To the Grand Vizier, Saïd Pasha.
“Your Highness,—Exhausted after a continuous service of the State of nearly forty years, and further weakened by my age which is nearly sixty, my sole desire, prior to my return from Europe, was to withdraw myself from all public affairs. The permission, which I obtained from His Majesty, to live in the island of Crete with my family, was the favour which I most desired. But His Majesty, recollecting my former services and deigning to believe that I should be able once more to devote myself to the work, was graciously pleased to appoint me to the Governorship of Syria. Although worn out both mentally and physically, I could but bow in gratitude before the imperial will, and trusting in Divine support I took up my duties.
“Thirty years ago I had already filled the office of Secretary in this vilayet, and twenty‐seven years ago I had been there on a temporary mission. Thus I had a certain knowledge of the manners of the inhabitants. Judge therefore what was my surprise, on my return there, to discover a complete change in the Administrative and Political Government of this province. As France was protecting the Lebanese, England found herself obliged to protect the Druses; the Americans were founding schools etc., in the Djebel Noussairi, in order to create there a sphere of influence for themselves. Whilst the Germans, under the name of Colonies, were peopling Palestine with German emigrants, the Spaniards, who cherished analogous schemes, had constructed a school and a church at Jaffa, in order that they might have their share. All these influences produced the very worst effect on the country, for one party of the Christians cherish a dream of union with Lebanon, whilst another party are seeking foreign protection, and meanwhile the Mussulmans can only marvel at the disorder. Now, although it is incumbent upon the State to reassure public opinion and to put an end to all these exterior influences, yet, on account of the exigencies of the war, the only orders sent from the Central Authority consist of demands for money, and for men for the Army. This state of things has opened the door to every abuse under the sun, and both law and order have been completely neglected. The officials of every rank, with some few exceptions, only seek their own personal interests, and the result of this, on the manners of the inhabitants, is so disastrous, that murders and robbery are the order of the day, and there is no security to property. To go no further than Tripoli, in Syria, during the last four years I myself have seen no fewer than ninety cases of murder, theft and pillage in the districts of Akiar and Safna alone; and not one single case has ever been brought to judgment. The thieves and brigands remain unpunished or are released, whilst innocent people are detained, without being previously tried, and are subjected to penalties varying from eight to ten years. I have myself, this time, liberated several prisoners of this category, and I abstain from mentioning the administration of the districts dependent on the Kaimakam of Dehle.
“As to the financial state of the province, it is most deplorable, and, as I have already had the honour of showing you, in a previous letter, the public revenues are reduced to one half; the country has been ruined by the tithes, and the depredations of the Army have desolated that which remained. The disastrous effect of the paper money having been to reduce the revenues by one half, one is appalled at the acknowledged deficit. This enumeration is a faithful résumé of the state of the vilayet, a state of which foreigners are the first to complain, whilst at the same time, they are just those who have the greatest political profits to gain from the continuance of these disorders. It is quite certain, that if this condition of affairs is not brought to an end, the Great Powers will place the administration of the vilayet of Anatolia in the hands of foreign officials, under the pretext of the introduction of reforms. And, as the schemes of foreigners for Syria are well‐known, to accept their conditions, based upon the maladministration denounced by the European newspapers, would only increase public opinion in their favour, and cause their pretensions to be sustained by the Cabinets of Europe.
“Ever since my arrival, I have done all in my power to bring some order into the affairs of the vilayet and to avoid the dangers I have detailed above. With your support, the question of the central district might be arranged, but the improvement of the province is not even then accomplished. There still remains the great difficulty of establishing the financial condition of the vilayet on an equitable base, of improving the Tribunals, and, above all, of putting an end to the extortions of the officials, who, in addition to the loss they occasion to the Treasury, do still more to discredit the Government in the eyes of both the natives and of the foreigners. In a word, it would be necessary, at all costs, to reassure public opinion by the application of existing laws.
“The actual state of things having reached this point, the laws, which are at present being deliberated upon in the Council of Ministers, should be elaborated and applied in all the provinces of the Empire, taking into consideration the manners and customs of each province.
“It would be a complete mistake to believe that this state of things can continue, and it is quite insupportable to me to know the remedy for the evil and yet not to be able to apply it, and above all to acquiesce wittingly in the harm caused by the present administration.
“I feel myself obliged once more to submit the above observations to Your Highness.—I am, etc.,
“Midhat.
“17th March 1295, O.S.”
xxx(29th March 1879.)
Abdul Hamid, however, although he promised Midhat to apply these measures of amelioration, which he considered indispensable, refrained from giving his sanction to them, and the troubles which broke out, in the middle of all this, between the Druses and the Arabs of Hauran, obliged Midhat to keep his office in order to prevent the conflict from taking a turn which might have led to foreign intervention. The causes of these troubles and the attitude of the Palace and of the Government are shown in the following correspondence with Midhat Pasha.
Telegram sent to the Grand Vizier, by Midhat Pasha.
“Your Highness,—It is necessary to give Your Highness details of the affair of Hauran, for which you ask in your telegram of the 3rd October. The Djébéli Druse (Druse Mountain) and the valley of Ledja are inhabited entirely by the Druses. Since the events in Egypt these people have completely lost all respect for the Government, to which they no longer furnish any troops, or taxes, but all the crimes and misdeeds committed in the neighbourhood arise from their insubordination and opposition to authority. Last year they captured the English post, and those people who attacked the caravan at Iki‐kapoulu this year, and killed two men, are also Druses. Some of the stolen cattle have been found at Djébéli Druse, but it has been impossible to punish the authors of the crime. This district being exempt from all taxation, it has become the haunt of brigands, and of all those who wish to live as such; those who have committed a crime, deserters, or good‐for‐nothing Druses from Lebanon, all have sought refuge here for the last five or six years, until the mountain is crowded with them. It is they who attacked Hauran, put the inhabitants to flight, and up to the present moment they have conquered seventeen villages. They provoke quarrels and massacres for the most trivial causes, in order that they may be able to lay hands on other villages in succession. The Arabs of Hauran, having now adopted the Druse tactics, had entered into alliance, at the beginning of the present occurrence, with the inhabitants of Adjloun, of Kounitara, as well as with other Arab tribes, and were prepared to march against the Druses. The officials who were sent to the place were able to prevail upon the Hauranians, by their counsels, to abandon their plans and to obey the orders of the Government, but they insisted on those Druses who had been guilty of acts of brigandage being brought to justice and punished. The Druses, meanwhile, will listen to no representations, and remain with a force of several thousand armed men, in the face of the Hauranians. Although we learn that the Commandant of the troops which were sent, has been in communication with the Druses, in order to bring them back under control, we are not sufficiently well acquainted with the result, and for further details you should apply to the Marshal Ahmed Eyoub Pasha.—I am, etc.,
“Midhat.
“6th October 1295, O.S.”
xxx(18th October 1879).
Cipher Telegram from the Grand Vizier to Midhat Pasha.
“Your Highness,—The English Ambassador has just been to see us, on account of the events which are taking place among the Druses, which he deeply regrets, and he has made the same communications to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It is of course a well‐known fact that England offers a moral protection to the Druses, whilst France does the same to the Maronites. Whilst the English, on one hand, are scarcely pleased with the measures which have been adopted against the Druses, yet on the other side there are the representations made to Your Highness by the British Consul, to the effect that France would have to bring a formal complaint if the increasing looting by the Druses continues, as it is very hard on the Maronites. In short, although the Druses are behaving abominably, it is not in keeping with the justice of the State to leave them unpunished, and yet, although their system of brigandage dates from time immemorial, an opportune moment in which to teach them a lesson has never been found. Supposing that the troops sent to safeguard the security of the Empire were sufficient to end the whole affair, it is certain that the continuation of the conflict between the Druses and Hauranians could have no good result to the Empire. Consequently the best means, in our opinion, by which to put an end to this affair, consist in postponing the subjection of the Druses until the period of the complete re‐organisation of the vilayet, and we must resign ourselves to acting solely as arbitrators between the Druses and Hauranians, to bring about an amicable arrangement. Your Highness tells us that the Hauranians would refuse to accept the indemnity that the Druses offer them. This may at first sight seem a difficulty in the way of mediation by the Government, yet it is necessary to induce the Hauranians to accept this indemnity, in order to prevent the shedding of blood, and to avoid the multiplication of vexatious incidents which might bring on political complications.
“If by chance the above arrangement cannot be brought about, Your Highness is then authorised to suggest to the Hauranians the total payment of the indemnity demanded by the State, informing the public that it is among the pacific intentions of the Government to have recourse to this solution of the matter, in the sole aim of abolishing the enmity which exists between its two subject races.
“Necessary instructions as to the departure of the required troops have been given to the War Office. I think it is my duty to add, that in case the affair cannot be amicably arranged, it would be well to have recourse to the influence of the leading men on either side, this being a method, the efficacy of which has been already proved, and if it were necessary Your Highness might go in person to the scene of conflict.
“In short, we beg that Your Highness will employ every means for conciliation, and we anxiously await the news of the closure of this incident, without having to seek the intervention of coercion.—I am, etc.,
“Saïd,xxx
“Grand Vizier.”
“13th October 1295, O.S.”
xxx(25th October 1879).
Reply from Midhat Pasha to the Telegram from the Grand Vizier.
“Your Highness,—In reply to your telegram of 13th October, it has been shown in my previous communications that the incident of Hauran was caused by a quarrel between the inhabitants of two villages, on account of a girl, and this quarrel spread until it attained its present serious proportions. Since it is quite impossible to remain a passive spectator in face of a force of between three and four thousand individuals, all armed and ready to kill each other, we first of all sent officials, then gendarmes, and finally regular troops, in order to prevent a collision between the two parties, and we ended by calling in the Sheiks—proposing that they should come to some amicable arrangement. The Hauranians thereupon insisted that those Druses who were guilty of having killed some of their tribe unjustly should be brought up to justice, or else, since they are the more numerous, that the State should permit them to march against the Druses. On the other hand the Druses declare that it is contrary to their customs to be given up to justice, and fearing lest they may thereby create a precedent, they refuse to surrender the culprits; at the same time they have taken up their position in front of the troops, and cut off the water‐supply that was used by the Army. They are thus prepared to offer a strong resistance, and at the same time are pillaging the villages which are inhabited by both Mussulmans and Christians. Yesterday they devastated four villages, killed two of the inhabitants, and after having wounded several others, they slew four more whom they met on the road. We have sent many special envoys to them, trying to impress upon them the necessity of surrendering at any rate some of the twenty‐five criminals to the Government, and they have at last consented to pay an indemnity, which was intended to go to the families of those men who had been assassinated. The Hauranians, however, will not hear of any such solution. One thing is certain: it is quite impossible for us, after what has already occurred, to leave the Hauranians at the mercy of the Druses, without running the risk of creating very grave political and administrative dangers. Consequently, if Your Highness can succeed in finding any other method than that of the employment of an armed force, we shall do all in our power to execute it successfully.—I am, etc.,
“Midhat.
“14th October 1295, O.S.”
xxx(26th October 1876.)
Telegram from the Grand Vizier to Midhat Pasha.
“Your Highness,—Since your advice coincides with ours that the Druse question should be amicably settled, it is necessary to take immediate steps towards obtaining a good result and preventing any recurrence of these incidents, and this without having recourse to military assistance. It would be very helpful to have the co‐operation of those who by their influence would be able to quiet down the minds of the people. Your Highness’ presence in these districts would create a good impression. We therefore beg that Your Highness will let us hear of your departure and of the means you intend to adopt. From the telegram from the Marshal to the Minister of War, it appears that the Druses have fired on the gendarmes whom General Djémil Pasha had sent to that district in order to try and re‐establish peace, and that on a Captain being killed, the gendarmes retaliated, and that a battle took place. As this is not at all expedient, Your Highness is particularly requested to put an end to all reprisals.
“The Minister for War has stated that two battalions of regular troops, and three battalions of reserve (with munitions of war) are just starting for Beyrout, on the steamer Mevridi‐Nousret.—I am, etc.,
“Saïd,xxx
“Grand Vizier.”
“16th October 1295, O.S.”
xxx(28th October 1879.)
Reply to the Grand Vizier from Midhat Pasha.
Your Highness,—The troops were not sent to Hauran with the intention of fighting with the Druses, but, as my last telegram explained, more than four thousand men, from one part and another, had armed themselves and were prepared to attack, and as, under these circumstances, the Government was obliged to interfere, it was simply to prevent bloodshed and to procure justice for those who had been injured. Your Highness is not unaware that those officials, who were punished in 1276 (1860), owed their disgrace to having failed to execute their duty conscientiously.
“Although the re‐establishment of order at Djébéli‐Druse might be obtained as the natural result of our action, yet for the moment, this would be of only a secondary interest; and since Your Highness recommends us not to force it to this point, it may be possibly obtained in the future.
“It is as Your Highness remarks: the Druses having always lived in a state of brigandage, have been treated differently from others, and, until now, I have tried to manage them with due recognition of this fact. Some of the Druse Chieftains who were at Damascus have been sent to the disturbed districts on a mission of peace. But they only joined the others, and have committed criminal acts. Without taking into consideration the treachery of these men, our one aim has been always to find some means of ending this conflict without calling in the aid of the Military, and we were awaiting the reception of the Druse Chieftains from Mount Lebanon, who, through the negotiations of Rustem Pasha, had offered themselves as mediators between the belligerents. But yesterday, at a distance of only three‐quarters of an hour from the camp of the Imperial Army, the inhabitants of Hauran began once more to fight with those of Ledja. As soon as this news reached the camp, a company of gendarmes and two companies of regular troops were sent to the spot to try and separate them. But the Druses immediately fired upon the Imperial troops, killing two gendarmes and wounding an officer. On that, General Djémil Pasha joining them, with two companies of regular troops, the Druses killed a captain and fifteen soldiers, and the battle lasted until midnight. From a telegram that the Marshal Ahmed Eyoub Pasha received this morning, it appears that Djémil Pasha has returned to the camp, with all his troops.
“After this incident the Marshal Ahmed Eyoub Pasha gave the necessary orders to concentrate the remaining military troops. Holo Pasha will be sent, with a member of the Administrative Council of the vilayet, to try and persuade the belligerents to lay down their arms. But to bring this business to an end, with moderation, one will be obliged to drive the Druses from their positions in Hauran. The arrival of the promised troops is quite indispensable.—I am, etc.,
“Midhat.
“17th October 1295, O.S.”
xxx(29th October 1879.)
The Grand Vizier to Midhat Pasha.
“Your Highness,—The report of the Minister for War, and the telegrams which have been exchanged relating to the question of the Hauran Druses, have been read at the Council of Ministers. After some deliberation it has been decided to settle this question in a pacific manner, and to invite Your Highness to go in person to the affected districts, to hasten the departure of the troops which have been demanded, and that the Minister for War should give Marshal Ahmed Eyoub Pasha the necessary orders, so that he may be in agreement with the ideas of Your Highness. The importance of the Question and the wishes of the Sublime Porte being settled by the correspondence which has passed up to the present, Your Highness is requested to go to the camp and to bring this matter to a peaceful close.—I am, etc.,
“Saïd,xxx
“Grand Vizier.”
“22nd October 1295, O.S.”
xxx(4th November 1879.)
Reply from Midhat Pasha to the Telegram from the Grand Vizier.
“Your Highness,—Since the Druse Question must, in conformity with His Majesty’s orders, be brought to a pacific termination, may I beg that you will leave to me the choice of means to be employed, and wait patiently for a few days longer. You may have every reliance that the matter will be ended without having recourse to arms, and in a manner worthy of the prestige of the State and of the Army.—I am, etc.,
“Midhat.
“23rd October 1295, O.S.”
xxx(5th November 1879.)
From Midhat Pasha to H.M. First Secretary.
“Your Excellency,—The Druse Question has at last come to an end, with the arrival of the Sheiks yesterday at Damascus. They are anxious to solicit the protection of our august master. The Government having insisted on the extradition of those individuals who were implicated in the assassinations of Basr‐el‐Houreiri, the four men who survived the skirmishes have been accordingly delivered up to the authorities, and they are now in prison, waiting to be brought before the tribunals. This fact is full of promise for the future, for, hitherto, the Druses have never been accustomed to deliver to the authorities those criminals who have sought refuge in their midst. I must now devote myself to the consideration of the future condition of the Druses, which is of great importance.
“As there is now no further need for the battalions of Reserve, recently sent, they have been sent back, and we have decided, with the Marshal Ahmed Eyoub Pasha, that the battalions now at Hauran and at Damascus shall be returned.—I am, etc.,
“Midhat.
“29th October 1295, O.S.”
xxx(11th November 1879.)
Midhat Pasha, who had withdrawn his resignation, with the express purpose of not leaving the province in a state of turmoil, and in order to bring the Druse Question to a suitable and lawful termination, succeeded thus in re‐establishing peace, in a manner that was honourable to the Government, in spite of the unjustifiable conduct of the Sublime Porte and of the Palace. But Midhat, perceiving the impossibility of working satisfactorily with the Government, once more sent in his resignation, in the following telegrams:—
Telegram sent to the First Secretary, enclosing the Resignation of Midhat Pasha.
“With respect to my proffered resignation of October last, His Majesty condescended to issue an Irade, which made me decide to wait patiently for some time longer. Now that the question of the Druses, which was the reason of the refusal of my request, has been settled, and the conditions of the vilayet are absolutely normal, I humbly beg that my resignation may be accepted by His Majesty, on account of the reasons which render my position untenable.—I am, etc.,
“Midhat.
“18th May 1296, O.S.”
xxx (30th May 1880.)
H.M. First Secretary to Midhat Pasha.
“Your Highness,—Your telegram, dated 18th May 1296, has been presented to His Majesty. If there has been any delay as to the departure of the personage who was charged to communicate the Imperial instructions to Your Highness, and to receive your exact replies, it has been occasioned entirely by the difficulty he has experienced in quitting his post. And it is very difficult to find any one who possesses the same qualities, to replace him. You must not attribute the non‐execution of the Imperial promise to any other cause. In your telegram you say that your resignation arises from causes which are not unknown to His Majesty. In one of your later telegrams these causes resolve themselves into two principal ones: of which the first consists in Your Highness’s advanced age, and the other in the difficulties you encounter in the Administration of the Province. The first reason cannot be accounted as valid, by a servant who is devoted to his country and Sovereign, and whose chief desire should be never to renounce the honour of serving the State. As to the extension of power, a special order will soon be published on the duties of Governor‐Generals, so that this second reason of your resignation will no longer have any force. His Majesty expresses a desire to know positively if Your Highness wishes to resign from any other cause, independent of those already cited.
“Ali Fuad.
“19th May 1296, O.S.”
xxx (31st May 1880.)
Telegram from Midhat Pasha in reply to H.M. First Secretary, Ali Fuad Bey.
“Your Excellency,—Besides those causes cited in your telegram replying to my request for permission to retire, I may also mention the difficulties presented by the application of the new laws, and the insults to which I am exposed on all sides, on account of which I find myself obliged once more to entreat His Majesty for his indulgence. As I said six months ago in one of my letters, I am firmly resolved to sacrifice my life in the service of His Majesty, and as my life is nearing its end, the few years that remain are of but little importance. But there is something that is dearer and still more sacred than life—that is honour.
“It is quite possible that there may be some reason of which I am not aware, for the formalities which have occurred, and for the present situation, but, from my humble point of view, and from my most inward conviction, everything seems to combine to wound my honour, as much in what concerns the administration of the vilayet which has been confided to my care, as in my private capacity. Now, as it is pardonable that I should desire not to tarnish my honour, which I have preserved unspotted during a service of more than forty‐five years, I have decided to protest no longer, but to retire. I, therefore, take the liberty of once more referring this subject to our magnanimous sovereign.—I am, etc.,
“Midhat.
“21st May 1296, O.S.”
xxx (3rd June 1880.)
To Midhat Pasha, from the First Secretary, Ali Fuad Bey.
[Confidential.]
“Your Highness’ telegram of 21st May, 1296, has been submitted to His Majesty. All the world knows how highly His Majesty has always regarded your honour, and Your Highness, from the Humanitarian point of view, can only recognize and approve the justice of this observation. For many years Your Highness has rendered the greatest services to the State, you occupy the highest rank in the Vizierat, and are one of the greatest dignitaries and Statesmen of the Empire, and His Majesty informs you that he will guarantee your honour and consideration, as well as your reputation.
“If the difficulties, which you declare you have encountered in the application of the new laws, refer to the judicial laws, that must arise from the incapacity of the officials in the Judicial Department. Without criticising the fundamental significance of the laws, Sir Henry Layard has also represented to His Majesty, in a report, the difficulty that would be encountered in applying these laws, for want of competent officials, and, although every one recognises the necessity of the adoption and promulgation of these laws and regulations, yet the rumour of Your Highness’ resignation has immediately given rise to criticisms, which were delivered here yesterday evening by several personages. As you know, one of the very first reforms, the execution of which is to be desired, and even the principal reform to be executed, is the re‐organisation of the Courts of Justice. But the difficulties involved in carrying out these reforms place the Government in a very awkward position. Your Highness is begged to draw up a note stating the changes that are necessary, in the opinion of Your Highness, who has so great an experience both in Civil Administration and also in judicial laws, and to place this note in the hands of a capable official—one who possesses your full confidence—that it may be presented to His Majesty. You will also make use of this capable official, possessing your confidence, in your correspondence with the Palace. As our principal aim must be always to serve the State and our Sovereign with all fidelity and devotion, Your Highness is requested not to pay any attention to tale‐bearing, which is unworthy of any consideration, and not to allow yourself to be affected by it. His Majesty appreciates your actions, and sends you his friendliest Imperial greetings.
“I am, etc.,
“Ali Fuad.
“23rd May 1296, O.S.”
xxx (5th June 1880.)
Midhat Pasha to Ali Fuad Bey.
“The most precious and the most welcome part of your telegram of 23rd May being the expression of the Imperial goodwill towards me, I must first of all offer you my humble thanks. As to the other matters, your Excellency is not unaware that not only do I recognise in principle the necessity and the benefit of the new laws, but I am, above all, one of the chief advocates of judicial reform. As was mentioned in the Imperial telegram conferring the Governorship of Syria upon me, the local manners and customs must be taken into consideration with regard to the new organisations. But the new laws, instead of embodying these recommendations, have been drawn up on exactly the old lines, and when I suggest that with a slight modification these laws might be ameliorated, my observations are systematically ignored. This state of things has produced a result quite the opposite of that intended, and the greater part of the new laws, as well as the older ones, remain in disuse. The general situation is therefore most strange and peculiar.
“To this disorder must be added the difference which exists between the civil and military authorities, which have ended by becoming hostile to each other. A country such as Syria, which is full of troubles and intrigues, both internal and external, is in crying need of a military force, yet every time that we demand an armed force we meet with a deliberate refusal, or the troops which have been sent are withdrawn without reason, or else our official letters remain unanswered. Now, although it is possible that this results from the inimical system which has been adopted against me personally, yet, undoubtedly, the Government and the country are the principal sufferers from it; and when it comes to six months passing without the governor and the marshal of a vilayet meeting, one can imagine the state of affairs in the province. Again, the grant for the gendarmes and the salaries of the officials having been reduced, these measures have struck a blow at the security of the country, and have driven the officials to corruption, whilst the judicial system which has been adopted by the tribunals towards criminals has weakened public confidence. This state of things being well known, the orders which arrive daily never fail to put all the responsibility on the Governor. Now, it is impossible to accept this situation, nor can I, in a telegram, give an explanation of all these difficulties, but, in conformity with the Imperial Irade, a confidential official is on the point of starting, commissioned to give you the amplest information. I shall strive for patience until his return.—I am, etc.,
“Midhat.
“25th May 1296, O.S.”
xxx (7th June 1880).
Quite apart from all this question, the Sultan Abdul Hamid was far from being satisfied with Midhat Pasha’s sojourn in Syria. The Syrians, realising the good that he had done to the country, were loud in their expressions of gratitude, which gave offence to the Sultan. The cries of “Long live Midhat Pasha!” in the streets, and the interviews of the British Ambassador, Sir Henry Layard, with the Governor‐General during his travels in Syria, all augmented the fears of the Palace. Midhat’s enemies then put into circulation the rumour that Syria would soon become an autonomous principality, and that Midhat Pasha would receive the title of Khedive.
Abdul Hamid then informed Midhat that he declined to accept his resignation, that he wished to see him continue his services to the State, and that he appointed him Governor‐General of the vilayet of Smyrna. The Syrians addressed a petition to the Palace, begging that Midhat might remain at Damascus, but the Sultan paid absolutely no attention to this act on the part of the Syrian population, and Midhat found himself compelled to start off for his new post on board the Imperial yacht Izzeddine, which had been sent for that purpose.
CHAPTER X
MIDHAT, GOVERNOR‐GENERAL OF SMYRNA
The vilayet and town of Smyrna were then, like other provinces of the Empire, in a state of lamentable disorder. It is quite certain that the Sultan, who had refused to apply the necessary reforms in Syria, had never sent Midhat to Smyrna with the intention of putting a stop to the administrative anarchy existing in that part of his dominions. Midhat, although well aware that the aim of all these machinations was only to paralyse his activity, could not forget the duties and responsibilities which the Governor‐Generalship placed on his shoulders.
There were a quantity of liberated convicts of every foreign nationality in Smyrna, who daily committed all manner of theft and crime; the sense of terror in the province was so great that no one dared venture abroad in the streets after night‐fall. Midhat Pasha formed a corps of police, in imitation of the European police, a force which at that time did not exist in Turkey apart from the gendarmerie. He showed the same activity here as in the other vilayets, and succeeded, after several arrests, in establishing public security. He widened the streets of the city, and founded a School of Arts and Crafts, as well as an orphanage, which still exists under the name of “Islahané.”
On the other hand, the Sultan never renounced his aim of ridding himself of Midhat, and four or five months after his arrival in Smyrna, Abdul Hamid decided to strike a mortal blow at him, in once more raising the question of the sudden death of his uncle, the ex‐Sultan Abdul Aziz, whose suicide in the Palace we have already related (see p. 89). This suicide had not only been verified by eye‐witnesses, but also by the report of all the doctors of the foreign embassies at Constantinople, and above all by the statement of Dr Dickson, doctor at the British Embassy, a fact which has been confirmed by Sir Henry Elliot, who was the then English Ambassador, and who wrote an account of the deposition and suicide of Abdul Aziz, which appeared in the February number of the Nineteenth Century in 1888. Now, after a lapse of four years, the Sultan asserted that his uncle had not committed suicide, but that he had been assassinated, and that the murder had been perpetrated by Hussein Avni Pasha, the Minister for War (who was himself murdered in Midhat’s house, in 1876, by Cherkess Hassan), and by his two brothers‐in‐law, Mahmoud Djelaleddin and Nouri Pashas, and that other personages of high rank (an allusion to Midhat, Mehemet Rushdi Pashas, and to the Sheik‐ul‐Islam—Haïroullah Effendi) were implicated in the affair. In fact the two brothers‐in‐law, Mahmoud Djelaleddin and Nouri Pashas, were arrested in Constantinople, and the news of a fresh trial of the assassins of Abdul Aziz was noised abroad by the European Press.[24]
The Turkish Press, inspired from the Palace, addressed praises to the Sultan, and some newspapers—amongst others the Terdjumani Hakikat—actually went so far as to advise Abdul Hamid to arrest every one who had played any part in the affair of Abdul Aziz.
By this time the Sublime Porte had lost all authority, and the enemies of the Constitutional Party had increased very considerably. Mehemet Rushdi Pasha, the former Grand Vizier, and colleague of Midhat, had been condemned to pass his remaining years on his estates near Manissa; the Sheik‐ul‐Islam, Hairoullah Effendi, a follower of Midhat, had been exiled to Mecca. The few Liberals who remained in the capital had all been sent away into the provinces, either as officials or as exiles. Only the partisans of Abdul Hamid and those who had changed their opinions and who now ranged themselves on the side of despotism—such as Ahmed Midhat Effendi—were to be found in Constantinople. Ahmed Midhat Effendi, who had been one of Midhat Pasha’s most ardent followers, now heaped all the lowest slanders upon him, through the pages of the Terdjumani Hakikat, asserting that Abdul Aziz had been murdered, and that the culprits must be arrested.
Midhat Pasha was in receipt of the most alarming news from his friends at Constantinople, and also from abroad; he was told that his life was in great danger. His only reply was: “I have no reason to be alarmed nor to fly from Turkey. I have laboured for the good of my country, and I have nothing with which to reproach myself; if others see reason to blame me, I am always ready to reply before a tribunal.” He took no further steps than to write a letter to the Grand Vizier, protesting against the baseness of Ahmed Midhat Effendi, Editor of the Terdjumani Hakikat. The letter is as follows:—
From Midhat Pasha to the Grand Vizier.
“Your Highness,—The number of the Terdjumani Hakikat, dated 5th December, 1296, after stating that the Editor of a newspaper, published at Athens, and directed against the Imperial Government, is Essad Effendi, who was exiled to Damascus, but who has since sought refuge in Greece, goes on to insinuate that in producing this paper he has my moral and pecuniary support. The same week, explanations are given in the Messenger, both in French and English, of these calumnies, and this is done in the most peculiar manner, my name being mentioned. The baseness of the Editor of the Terdjumani Hakikat is well known to the whole world. As to Essad Effendi, all who have seen him at Damascus will be able to estimate these erroneous publications at their true value. I think there is no more for me to add on this subject, for if I said anything, it would be according to the rules to bring an action. But these publications are not only hostile to me personally. It is beyond all question that the publication, in a foreign land, of a newspaper, directed against the Imperial Government, with the material and moral aid that I am reported to have furnished, constitutes a crime; consequently, how can you leave such a man at the head of so important and vast a vilayet as that of Smyrna? Such a state of things does much to destroy the prestige of the State, and all the more so, because of the confirmation of these slanders by the newspapers of Constantinople, which are under the orders and surveillance of the Sublime Porte. It seems to me wiser to send in my resignation, than to give rise to such a state of affairs, so that the honour and consideration of the State may be preserved intact. This course is, moreover, in keeping with the decision, reached by me some time ago. Nevertheless, I feel it my duty that I should first of all seek Your Highness’ advice on the subject.—I am, etc.,
“Midhat.
“25th December 1296, O.S.”
xxx (7th January 1881.)
However, the Sultan, who wished to put an end to Midhat, decided finally to arrest both him and Mehemet Rushdi Pasha, who was then at Manissa. The arrival in Smyrna of the aides‐de‐camp, General Hilmi Pasha and Colonel Riza Bey (at present Minister of War), with their suites, gave the first warning to the Governor‐General, who ordered his men to watch the acts and movements of these aides‐de‐camp, and very soon reached the conviction that these emissaries had come with an order to arrest him.
Among the men who had been charged by Midhat to get the aides‐de‐camp to talk about the manner in which the arrest was to be made, was a police agent, an extremely intelligent man, who, disguised as a rich merchant, was lodging in the same hotel as Hilmi Pasha, chief of the mission. Hilmi Pasha, at the end of a good dinner, had allowed to the pretended merchant that he had come to Smyrna by the Imperial command, and that his object was to arrest the Governor‐General, but that he was waiting for further instructions before carrying out his instructions. Midhat, in order to be prepared for any occurrence, had ordered a secret door to be made, and one of the steamers of the Compagnie Joly was retained in the harbour, ready to carry him off abroad. One evening the above‐mentioned agent came and warned him that Hilmi Pasha had been called to the Telegraph Office, and that, after a long conversation with the Palace, he had re‐entered the hotel, had put on his uniform, and gone straight to the barracks. It was asserted that among the orders he had received, he had been instructed to kill Midhat and to massacre his family. Indeed, one of Midhat’s servants, named Nezir, had been bribed, and it was arranged that before the Governor’s house was occupied, he should fire off a revolver on the troops, and thus give the signal for the massacre. In support of this theory, it is interesting to note that after Midhat Pasha’s exile the said Nezir entered into the service of the Yildiz Kiosk, and received a considerable salary. Besides this, one of the chamberlains of the Sultan Abdul Hamid, Bessim Bey, who died some time ago in disgrace, whilst still in the service of the Palace, assured a member of Midhat’s family that Hilmi Pasha was not only entrusted with the arrest of Midhat, but that the Sultan had given him a positive order to have him killed in the tumult which was to be adroitly brought about, and to massacre his whole family, men, women and children. It was on this account that General Hilmi had bribed Nezir, so that the public might believe that Midhat had refused to obey, and that he had fired upon the soldiers.
On the receipt of this news from his agent, Midhat Pasha, without losing his sang‐froid, sought out his family and acquainted them with the position of affairs. He advised them to be resigned, and informed them of his intention of quitting Turkish soil from the moment that his life had been threatened. As midnight struck, three cannon‐shots rang out from the barracks (in Turkey this is the method employed for giving the alarm of fire), but Midhat understood only too well that it was done with the express purpose of distracting the attention of the mob. At the same moment he left his house by the secret door, accompanied by his secretary, and stole down to the quay; but perceiving that the quays were blocked by sentinels, he hailed a carriage, and recollecting that the English Consul, Mr Dennis, was not in the town, he told them to drive to the French Consulate, and there begged for protection. Meanwhile, the soldiers, who had forced their way at the point of their bayonets up to the doors of the first floor, now demanded to speak with Midhat Pasha, and were informed that he had just left. This reply being absolutely unexpected, they were convinced that he was hiding in one of the rooms. Hilmi Pasha gave orders that the house should be searched, and that all the servants should be thrown into prison. The troops entered, breaking down the doors, and recommending the ladies not to move, they made an exhaustive search, even tearing up the flooring. At this moment, by way of fulfilling his cowardly promise and giving reason for a massacre, Nezir, hiding himself behind a mattress, tried to fire off his revolver, but one of the servants, realising the peril, tore the weapon from his hand.
After a minute search that lasted for several hours, and during which no trace of either Midhat nor yet of his papers had been discovered, Madame Midhat, seeing that the officers and soldiers had no intention of withdrawing, sent for General Hilmi and informed him that in the case of the troops remaining in the house, she would open the windows and call in the help of the people. This terrified the General, for he had received orders not to give rise to a revolution, and he dismissed the soldiers, only remaining himself with one or two officers. A few hours later the police informed General Hilmi that Midhat was at the French Consulate, and he thereupon went thither, and had it surrounded on every side. The French Consul‐General, Monsieur Pélissier, had sent a telegram to the French Ambassador at Constantinople, informing him of all that had taken place. On seeking refuge at the French Consulate, Midhat had invited the consuls of all the Great Powers to attend; had acquainted them with the danger from which he had escaped, and had begged them to insist on a guarantee that he should be judged by a High Court. Meanwhile, he received a telegram from Constantinople begging him to surrender, and assuring him that no injustice should be done him, but that if he refused to do so, then he would be considered guilty.
There are two versions given of this memorable occurrence of the spring of 1881; and these two versions are so much the more important, because they affect the truth of the fact whether the Government of the French Republic delivered up Midhat Pasha, who had sought refuge in the French Consulate, to the Sultan, or whether he surrendered of his own accord on receiving the telegram from Constantinople. The fact that he had caused a secret door to be constructed in a hidden corner of his house, and that a steamer had been kept in readiness in the harbour, all proves that Midhat had intended flight. Not having succeeded in his design of reaching the sea, he had sought refuge at the French Consulate, and he had implored the assistance that France might easily have rendered him. It is to be presumed that the ambassador, after having asked for instructions from Paris, and having explained to the Government the Sultan’s insistence, may have informed Midhat that he could not effectually protect him. Not having any definite proof on this subject, it is impossible for us to certify anything. The opinions of the European Press were very divergent. We reprint the telegrams sent by the correspondent of the Times from Constantinople, dated 19th May and 21st May, 1881, which give the fullest details.[25]
Midhat Pasha had been perfectly well aware of what would happen. He knew the plots that had been formed against him, and when his friends had invited him to leave Turkey, by the boat which had been got ready to take him aboard, he replied, “I shall never give way before the insinuations of the Sultan. I shall never allow the world to say that I fled because I was guilty and that I feared the Sultan. I shall resist until the last moment, and if I then see that my life is in danger, I may perhaps have recourse to the means you offer.” It was this same state of mind which led him to think of embarking, when the soldiers, under the command of General Hilmi Pasha, surrounded his house, and by their attitude showed plainly the danger in which both he and his family were placed. On realising the impossibility of carrying out this plan, he had taken refuge at the French Consulate, and had asked the Consuls of all the Powers that their respective Governments should demand a public trial, and had declared “that he gave himself up to judgment, trusting to the good faith of the telegram which he had received from Constantinople.”
For the honour of France, we are inclined to believe that Midhat surrendered to the Ottoman authorities of his own accord. It is scarcely credible that France would have delivered Midhat Pasha to the Sultan, the more so because Gambetta, who was then in power, had been a great friend of his.
The Sultan had been anxious to have Midhat arrested when he was still Governor‐General of Syria, but so great was his popularity in that Province, that Abdul Hamid was reluctantly obliged to relinquish his design, for fear of provoking a revolution.
The day following the arrest found the town of Smyrna still strictly guarded by the troops, and no one was permitted to go about the streets for fear of any demonstration. The terrified inhabitants closed their shops, and all business was suspended for twenty‐four hours. Midhat was retained as a prisoner in the barracks, until the arrival of the Imperial yacht, which brought over the new Governor‐General, the high judicial dignitaries, and also the Minister Djevdet Pasha. He embarked quietly in the midst of the general emotion, and duly arrived at Constantinople. Whilst waiting for the assembling of the High Court, the little pavilion in the “Yildiz Park” called “Malta Kiosk,” was assigned to him as his place of residence by the Sultan.
CHAPTER XI
THE TRIAL OF MIDHAT PASHA
As we have already stated, Midhat Pasha arrived at Constantinople in one of the Imperial yachts, accompanied by the Minister and the high judicial dignitaries. He was kept in the pavilion of the “Malta Kiosk,” which is situated within the park of Yildiz. In accordance with his desire that he might be given a public trial, and that the conditions on which he had surrendered to the Ottoman authorities from the French Consulate should be observed, a High Court was formed by the Sultan Abdul Hamid. But the tickets of admission to the meetings were issued in such a manner that the Turks who wished to be present at the trial had to renounce their intention, for fear of attracting the ill‐will of the Sultan, or else, those who were followers of Midhat, had to pose as his adversaries in order to be able to hear and understand the manner in which he was to be condemned. The Diplomatic Corps was present, but many foreigners found difficulty in obtaining admittance. Only a few correspondents of the foreign newspapers were admitted, and amongst the representatives of the Turkish Press only those who were faithful adherents of the Sultan.
We possess no special information on the subject of the trial, and that which we have been able to collect from those persons who were present at the debates gives us no further details than those which the Times correspondent (present at the Trial) sent to his newspaper. We publish, therefore, by permission of the proprietors of the Times the most interesting portions of their reports, together with some extracts from the debates in the Houses of Parliament on this subject, in order to give the reader some idea of this most memorable mock trial.
“Constantinople, 28th June.—The great State trial which began yesterday, and of which I have already forwarded you a summary of the proceedings, presented an interesting and picturesque spectacle. Around the Malta guard‐house, situated in a large open space immediately outside the Imperial park of Yildiz Kiosk, a goodly number of soldiers were posted at short distances from each other, and all persons not provided with a ticket of admission were prevented from approaching the building. The few who had been fortunate enough to obtain tickets, found on approaching the Guard‐House a large green oval tent, and adjoining it a considerable space enclosed by a canvas screen and covered by an awning. One side of this tent was occupied by a bench, on which sat the judges, three Mussulmans and two Christians, in black frock‐coats à la Turque and red fezes, presided over by a grey‐bearded Ulema called Sourouri Effendi, in a black robe and white turban. To the right and left of the judges sat the Public Prosecutor, the secretaries, and the subordinate judicial functionaries, and behind them stood several Imperial aides‐de‐camp and Palace servants. Below the bench, in a trench cut for the purpose, sat on cane chairs the ten prisoners, Mahmoud and Nouri Pashas (both brothers‐in‐law of the Sultan), two ex‐functionaries of the Palace, three officers of the Guard, two professional wrestlers, and a Palace watchman. Behind each of the prisoners stood a common soldier. The side of the tent facing the bench was left open, so that the spectators, seated on rows of chairs under an awning, immediately behind the prisoners, could witness the proceedings. Among the audience, comprising about one hundred and twenty people, were the Persian Ambassador and other members of the Diplomatic Body, several high officials in and out of office, a score of Imperial aides‐de‐camp, a few officers of the Palace, several Ulema in flowing robes and white or green turbans, and the representatives of the Press to a limited number. The spectators might have been considerably increased, for behind them were more than a hundred chairs unoccupied.
“The first formality was the proving of the prisoners’ identity, and immediately thereafter the indictment was read by three of the prosecutors, which may be briefly stated as follows:—A few days after the dethronement of Abdul Aziz, Mahmoud Damad, and Nouri Damad, engaged two professional wrestlers and a Palace watchman to assassinate their ex‐Sovereign, promising them £100 each and a monthly pension of three pounds, as appears from the accounts of the Civil Lists. The crime was committed with the assistance of the Chamberlain, Fahri Bey, while Ali and Nedjib Beys, who had introduced the assassins into the Palace, mounted guard with drawn swords at the door of the room. As there was at that time a Supreme Commission, composed of Mehmed Ruchdi, Midhat, Hussein Avni, the Sheik‐ul‐Islam, and Mahmoud Damad, and as no important orders could be given without the concurrence of this Commission, it may be assumed that all its members must have been cognizant of Mahmoud and Nouri’s criminal proceedings, and it is for this reason that Midhat is among the accused.
“When the indictment setting forth this theory had been read, the President, in a quiet and dignified manner, began to question the prisoners. The first called upon to state what he knew, was Mustapha, the wrestler, a man of ordinary size and not presenting any signs of abnormal muscular development. His face was of a common type and betrayed no symptoms of emotion as he related, in plain, unvarnished terms, how he had cut open the ex‐Sultan’s veins with a knife given to him for the purpose by Mahmoud Damad. His description, accompanied by slight and significant gestures, was brutally graphic, and made a strong impression on the spectators, more than one of the older men in the audience giving vent to their feelings of horror by audible exclamations. Mustapha’s account was fully confirmed by Hadji Mehmed Pasha, who declared that together with the Chamberlain Fahri Bey and Djezairli, he had hold of Abdul Aziz whilst the crime was being perpetrated. Djezairli, who had made a full confession in his preliminary examination, was then questioned, and retracted what he had previously said. Fahri Bey, a young man, with long fair moustache, delicately‐cut effeminate features, and of tall and slender build, was next examined, and denied the statements of the wrestler and his companion. In a tremulous tone, which gathered firmness as he proceeded, he described, from his personal observation, the mental condition of Abdul Aziz after his dethronement, and obstinately insisted that the dethroned monarch had committed suicide. The other prisoners, without endeavouring to explain how the Sultan’s death occurred, successively maintained their own innocence, and found more or less plausible answers for all the questions put to them by the judges. Mahmoud Damad Pasha, a tall stout man, with regular and handsome features and large dark eyes, found most difficulty in replying, and his deep gruff voice showed more than once signs of great emotion; but he denied emphatically and indignantly the accusations brought against him by the wrestlers and others. About two o’clock Midhat was introduced and took his seat by Mahmoud Damad’s side. His hair and beard had become much whiter since I last saw him, four years ago, and his complexion was still as morbidly florid as before, but he seemed well, and sought to conceal his emotion by stroking his beard, and arranging his notes, from which he was preparing to speak. Starting up suddenly and leaning on the back of his chair, he made a short speech, in which he declared himself happy to have been cited before the public tribunal, and he rendered justice to His Majesty’s sentiments of equity in causing the affair to be carefully examined. To all the questions about the Supreme Commission, of which he was a member, and which must have had cognizance of the intended assassination, he replied emphatically that such a Commission existed nowhere except in the imagination of his accusers, and that all matters of State were considered by the regular Council of Ministers. When reproached by the presiding judge for not having immediately ordered a searching inquiry, he admitted that he had been guilty of this sin of omission; but at the same time he maintained that all the other Ministers were in this respect equally guilty. On the subject of his having sought refuge in the French Consulate his answers, though extremely ingenious, were not so satisfactory. Unlike the other prisoners, Midhat withdrew from the Court as soon as he finished what he had to say, and after his departure a number of witnesses were called for the Prosecution. The chief of these were three young men who had seen the crime perpetrated in the way the wrestlers described, and the wife of a certain Ali Bey, who, being at that time one of the ladies of Abdul Aziz’ harem, had witnessed some of the incidents connected with the assassination. One of the most interesting witnesses was a frail, white‐bearded Mussulman, in an old‐fashioned costume, who related in a faltering voice, that he had washed the body of Abdul Aziz, and noticed a small wound in the region of the heart. The Court rose about half‐past seven o’clock without the witnesses having been cross‐examined. The proceedings will be continued, and possibly terminated, to‐day.”
“Constantinople, 28th June.—The trial of the persons charged with the assassination of Abdul Aziz was resumed to‐day. After the counsel for the prisoners had concluded their addresses, the judges decided that the two prisoners Mustapha (the one a gardener and the other an athlete), Fahri Bey and Hadji Mehmed, were guilty of the murder, and that Ali Bey, Nedjib Bey, Midhat Pasha, Nouri Pasha and Mahoud Damad Pasha were accomplices, being privy to the crime. Sentence will be passed to‐morrow.”
“Times,” 30th June 1881.—“Constantinople, 28th June.—The second day’s hearing of the case against the persons accused of the murder of Abdul Aziz, the ex‐Sultan, lasted for eight hours. Several additional witnesses appeared for the prosecution. Among them was Ibrahim Edhem Effendi, who acted as intermediary between the Ministers and the ex‐Sultan, and who described the harsh treatment to which the latter was subjected.
“The case for the defence was then opened. Four advocates appointed by the judicial authorities spoke very feebly on behalf of the prisoners. Mahmoud Damad was justly dissatisfied with his counsel, and defended himself, and, notwithstanding evident signs of illness, refuted some of the accusations brought against him. Midhat Pasha was then called, and the President Sourouri Effendi, after remarking that Midhat had accused him of personal enmity, retired from the bench, leaving his colleague, Christoforides Effendi, to direct the proceedings. The ex‐Grand Vizier, who had taken such a prominent part in the dethronement, defended himself for more than an hour against the charge of complicity in the assassination. Thoroughly conversant with the new laws of judicial procedure, he pointed out several mistakes which had been committed, and demanded permission to cross‐question the witnesses as well as the prisoners who had made confessions; but all his demands were refused by the Court. Finding himself thus fettered, he took his stand on the solemnity of the law, and declined to defend himself any further.
“The President, after three times vainly inviting him to proceed, declared the hearing closed, and retired with the other judges to deliberate. Their verdict was, as had been foreseen from the beginning, that all the prisoners were guilty, but in different degrees. Four were declared guilty of premeditated assassination; five, including Midhat and the Sultan’s two brothers‐in‐law, were condemned as accomplices; and the two remaining prisoners were placed in the category of aiders and abettors.
“The Court will re‐assemble to‐morrow morning to pass sentence. According to the Ottoman code, premeditated assassination entails capital punishment, while the lesser degrees of crime are punished by various terms of penal servitude.”
29th June.—“The remarks and the bearing of Midhat Pasha at the trial yesterday produced, on the whole, a very favourable impression on the public, and it was not difficult to perceive that he still enjoys a certain popularity even among good Mussulmans. As numerous Palace spies were present, the Ottoman officials carefully endeavoured to hide any latent sympathy with the accused, but some of them did not altogether succeed. More than once Midhat replied very appositely in a half‐ironical tone, which was much appreciated by the audience. All the details were at once transmitted to the Sultan, and Sourouri Effendi doubtless congratulated himself on having removed the Imperial displeasure from his own shoulders to those of his colleagues. As yet no evidence has been produced proving Midhat’s complicity, but it is not likely that he will be acquitted. Considering that the trial has been prepared, and is being conducted under the immediate influence of the Palace, which is filled with Midhat’s enemies, it would be absurd to expect impartiality and independence in the judges. I happen to know many curious facts tending to show how absurd such an expectation would be, and I may mention one by way of illustration. Yesterday morning, immediately before the trial began, Sourouri Effendi had a long private audience with the Sultan, and received from His Majesty certain instructions as to how the proceedings should be conducted. The most interesting part of the proceedings at the State trial yesterday was the incident which terminated in Midhat Pasha’s refusal to continue his defence. The facts are briefly as follows:—The President invited the accused not to continue his defence and to intrust that duty to his counsel. Midhat replied that he would defend himself, because he had not been allowed to confer freely with the counsel officially appointed. He justified his flight to the French Consulate at Smyrna, pointed out numerous errors in the procedure, expressed astonishment at such grave accusations being founded on such insufficient evidence, reproached the Public Prosecutor with having accepted the testimony of the eunuchs, who, professing to have seen the crime committed without denouncing it, should be themselves in the dock, and ridiculed the testimony of Marco Pasha, the chief physician of the Palace at that time, who professed to have seen from the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus what took place at the Palace on the European shore, and yet could not see a wound said to have been inflicted on the body of Abdul Aziz in the region of the heart. He then demanded that the Court should examine the prisoners and witnesses in his presence, as he was not present at the previous examination, and requested that the Embassy doctors who examined the body should be summoned, offering to defray the necessary expenses at his own cost, in order to compare their report with that of Marco Pasha. On the demand of the Public Prosecutor, the Court retired to consider Midhat’s request, and decided to grant it on condition that the prisoners should not be interrogated separately. To this reply Midhat opposed the text of the Code of Criminal procedure, and demanded its application, declaring that he must question those who had given evidence, in order to prove that they had committed perjury. The President answered that the article in question in the Code referred to witnesses, and not to the accused, and declared that if any person had committed perjury it would be for the Court to punish them hereafter.
“Midhat maintained that the prisoners who accused him should be regarded as witnesses against him, and considering, therefore, the decision of the tribunal as a miscarriage of justice, he declined to defend himself further, adding in a bitter tone, that he would derive little practical advantage from the punishment of a false witness after he was in his grave. The Court again retired for deliberation, and on returning after a few minutes, the President declared that Midhat’s request could not be granted. The prisoner, having three times declined to continue his defence, the President declared the proceedings at an end, and the Court retired to deliberate, returning after about an hour with a verdict of ‘Guilty’ against all the accused. The Court will meet again this morning at eleven o’clock to pronounce judgment, when this extraordinary, sensational trial, conducted as I reported, will come to a close.”
Later.—“Judgment was delivered this morning in the cases of the persons convicted of the murder of ex‐Sultan Abdul Aziz. Nine of the accused, including the Sultan’s two brothers‐in‐law and Midhat Pasha, were condemned to death. The remaining two accused were condemned to penal servitude.
“All the prisoners gave notice of appeal.”
Reuter’s Telegram.—“Constantinople, 29th June.—The Court pronounced judgment and delivered sentence of death upon Midhat Pasha, Mahmoud Damad Pasha, Nouri Pasha, Ali Bey, Nedjib Bey, Fahri Bey, Hadji Mehmed, Mustapha the Wrestler, and Mustapha the Gardener.
“Izzet and Sayd are each sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude. The prisoners have eight days allowed them to give notice of Appeal, and the indictment and document connected with the trial will be sent to the Court which will try the Appeal.”
“Times,” 4th July 1881.—“Constantinople, 1st July.”—In telegraphing about the recent State Trial, I have been hitherto working under serious restrictions, which I was not allowed to mention in my telegrams. All telegraphic despatches on the subject had to be submitted to the authorities, who naturally prevented the transmission of anything that might be disagreeable to the Palace. In the circumstances, it was, of course, impossible to criticise the proceedings, or even to give a full account of what took place. I have now, fortunately, an opportunity of communicating with you freely, and I hasten to declare that the trial was little better than a parody of European judicial procedure, which has justly roused the indignation, not only of foreign observers, but also of many Turks, who have an elementary conception of justice and fair play. In a trial in which the political element was so prominent, the first condition to be observed was complete neutrality of the Palace, and this condition was most grossly violated. It was at the Palace that the preliminary investigation was made, under the immediate personal direction of the Sultan, who is an interested party. It was at the Palace that the prisoners were confined, judges chosen, and even the counsel for the defence appointed, without the prisoners themselves being consulted. It was at the Palace that the accused were examined and various unjustifiable means were employed to extort confessions from them—as, for example, when the Grand Eunuch, one of the three highest official personages of the Empire, struck with his fists and otherwise maltreated the Chamberlain, Fahri Bey, when under examination, in the presence of His Majesty. It was in the Palace, and under the immediate influence of the Sultan, that the amount of the punishment for the accused was considered and decided. It was in the Palace that Sourouri Effendi, the President of the Tribunal, had a private audience with the Sultan, immediately before the opening of the proceedings, while a Palace dignitary appealed to the counsel for the defence in a cajoling, half‐plaintive tone, to refrain, in the fulfilment of their duty, from adding to the Sultan’s already numerous embarrassments! Lastly, it was in the immediate vicinity of the Palace that the trial was held. Soldiers of the Palace garrison surrounded the Court, aides‐de‐camp and other Palace officials were present, while eunuchs and other confidential messengers were constantly passing to and fro between the Palace and the tribunal. A certain amount of publicity was allowed with regard to the trial, for a few tickets were distributed among the Diplomatic Corps and leading representatives of the Press, but there were at the same time serious restrictions and difficulties. The date of the trial was kept strictly secret until a few hours before the proceedings began, and newspaper correspondents, nearly all of whom are imperfectly acquainted with, or entirely ignorant of, the Turkish language and judicial procedure, were not allowed to take a dragoman with them, though three‐fourths of the space reserved for the public remained all the time unoccupied. I made personal representations on this subject to some influential officials, but they all declared positively that no more tickets could be given. To the few who were admitted, I must say the greatest courtesy and consideration were shown by the Imperial aides‐de‐camp and the masters of the ceremonies, but the powers of these gentlemen were very limited. With regard to the restrictions placed on telegraphing I have already spoken above.
“It is hardly necessary to say, that with the all‐pervading influence of the Palace, there could be no independence or impartiality on the part of the judicial functionaries, and no zeal in the counsel for the defence; but there was something worse than this. The ardent desire of nearly all concerned to gain the Imperial favour by securing the condemnation of the prisoners in general, and of Midhat in particular, caused certain gross violations of the guarantees provided by the Criminal Code. I may mention a few facts by way of illustration. Sourouri Effendi, who had in the secret preliminary inquiry directed the case for the Prosecution, and who is well known to be one of Midhat’s bitter personal enemies, appeared at the trial as President of the Tribunal. He says, privately, by way of exculpating himself, that in the preliminary inquiry he never signed any official documents, and that during the trial of Midhat he ceded his presidency to one of the other judges; but these specious arguments increase rather than diminish his moral guilt. He refrained from signing official documents simply in order to avoid giving occasion for an appeal en cassation, and his making a distinction between Midhat and the other prisoners entailed new violations of judicial procedure, for it prevented Midhat from being present during a great part of the trial. Besides this, the distinction was more specious than real, for by procuring the condemnation of the other prisoners, he impliedly secured Midhat’s condemnation likewise; and though he did not sit on the bench when Midhat was present, he joined his colleagues in the consulting‐room when the ex‐Grand Vizier’s demand for permission to cross‐question the witnesses was considered and rejected. Not content with having a devoted adherent like Sourouri in the President’s chair, the Palace further controlled the proceedings by Raghib Bey, one of the Sultan’s private secretaries, and Djevdet Pasha, the obsequious Minister of Justice, who is one of Midhat’s personal enemies. These two personages sat behind the judges on a bench, and secretly gave directions in moments of hesitation and difficulty. I can state this without fear of contradiction, for during one of the sittings I was myself on the bench, and carefully observed what was invisible to the audience. The conduct of the Public Prosecutor was naturally in keeping with that of the chief judge. I am assured by eye‐witnesses that he entered the consultation‐room when the judges had retired to consider their verdict, but as I did not see this with my own eyes, I refrain from drawing any conclusion. Another act of his, however, may be commented on, because it took place in public. Midhat’s attitude during the preliminary investigation seemed to indicate that he would seek to obtain the Imperial clemency by raising no difficulties, and by making no serious attempt to defend himself at the trial; and as none of the other prisoners were sufficiently conversant with the law to embarrass the Prosecution, it was hoped that the proceedings might be hurried through in a single sitting. These plans were prevented by Midhat’s energetic action on the first day of the trial, and it was then considered necessary to find some means of effectually crushing him. A convenient instrument was at hand in the person of a certain Rifat Effendi, who professed to have heard Midhat say one day in Damascus that it was necessary to put Aziz out of the way, because otherwise he might have returned to power and have strangled the Minister who had deposed him. As Rifat was not in the list of witnesses, he could not be called without due notice having been given to the Court; but the Public Prosecutor overlooked this little formality and called him next day. When Midhat heard this new and unexpected piece of evidence, he very soon disposed of it, and was at no pains to conceal what he thought of Rifat’s character, conduct and motive.
“A few words now to show how the prisoners were treated. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure the accused has a right to choose his own advocate, and to have free communication with him. In the present trial the advocate was chosen by some anonymous personage in the Palace, without the accused having been consulted as to the choice, and free communication was not allowed. On this subject Midhat asserts that he saw his counsel only twice. On the first occasion they had only time to read about an eighth part of the indictment, and on the second they were favoured with the presence of Raghib Bey, one of the Sultan’s private secretaries, who listened to all that was said. Worse than this, with prodigious ingenuity each advocate was entrusted with the duty of defending prisoners belonging to different categories and employing mutually contradictory modes of defence. Refik Effendi, for example, was ordered to defend on the one hand Mustapha the Wrestler—who confessed his own guilt, and accused Fahri of having taken an active part in the assassination—and on the other hand the said Fahri, who maintained that Abdul Aziz committed suicide. In like manner Shukri Effendi had to defend on the one hand Midhat, and on the other hand Nouri Pasha, who endeavoured to exculpate himself at Midhat’s expense. The idea of crippling the defence in this ingenious way is exquisitely Oriental, and rendered almost superfluous the half‐pathetic, half‐menacing exhortation made to the advocates at the Palace that they should refrain from adding to the Sultan’s numerous embarrassments and trust to His Majesty’s clemency. Equally Oriental and characteristic is the fact that the learned gentlemen who undertook the so‐called defence on such conditions, showed no signs of being ashamed of themselves. It is hardly necessary to say that they carefully abstained from cross‐questioning the witnesses and sifting the evidence, and did not object when the President and the Public Prosecutor assumed important facts without proving them.
“With regard to the way in which Midhat was threatened, it is difficult to speak without using strong terms of indignation. Not a particle of carefully sifted evidence against him was produced, and he was refused means of defending himself against the unsubstantiated assertions of his accusers, though he proved from the Code that he was asking no more than he had a right to demand. If his sentence is carried out, his execution will be simply a judicial murder, perpetrated from motives of political vengeance and personal enmity. As for the other prisoners, I cannot pretend to say whether they really committed the crime with which they are charged, but I can unhesitatingly assert that their guilt was not legally proved.
“The judicial inquiry, which has thus been brought to a close, was instituted, as I informed you at the time, for the purpose of removing and frightening possible conspirators, and thereby preventing a revolution for the future; but it may be doubted whether in the long run it will have the desired effect, for I noticed that even among Ottoman subjects, surrounded by Palace spies, the feelings of indignation were sometimes stronger than those of fear.”
“Times,” 7th July 1881.—“Constantinople, 5th July—The appeal of the prisoners condemned for the assassination of Abdul Aziz will shortly be considered by the Court of Review, and it is almost certain that in spite of the gross irregularities and flagrant illegality of the proceedings the sentence will be confirmed. Immediately after the close of the trial on Wednesday, the judges of this Higher Court were summoned to the Palace and received their instructions, which will, of course, be followed, irrespective of all considerations of justice and equity. The possibility, therefore, that the judgment may be annulled and a new trial ordered, may be left out of account, and the only practical question that remains is whether the Sultan will have the sentence carried out. For some days the general opinion at the Palace was that the nine who had been condemned to death would be all executed, but I have now very good reason to believe, as I informed you on Sunday, that those who did not actually take part in the assassination will have their sentence commuted to imprisonment for life at Taïf, near Mecca. This unexpected clemency is to be attributed, at least in part, to the excitement and indignation which the mode of conducting the trial has produced both in Pera and Stamboul. The Sultan learned that the Embassy Dragomans had unanimously condemned the proceedings as irregular; that the Ambassadors had telegraphed in this sense to their respective Governments; that the newspaper correspondents had unsparingly described and criticised the way in which the proceedings had been conducted, and that even in Stamboul, among good Mussulmans, the trial had produced an impression very different from what was intended. In these circumstances His Majesty perceived that it would be dangerous to have the sentence carried out, and he determined to commute it. At the same time, in order to counteract the conviction that the whole story of the assassination was an invention, rumours were propagated, through the local Press and other channels, that nearly all the accused had made partial confessions. The Vakyt, for example, published yesterday mutual recriminations between Mahmoud and Nouri, and to‐day those of Midhat and Mehemed Rushdi. All such stories must be accepted with great reserve, for they are certainly told, and possibly invented, for the purpose of prejudicing public opinion against the prisoners. In spite of these efforts to supplement defective legal evidence, many people, and among them the mother of Abdul Aziz, and some of the doctors who examined his body, still hold to the conviction that there was no assassination and that Abdul Aziz committed suicide. Without endorsing this opinion, I can confidently assert that the trial has by no means cleared up the mystery. The semi‐official announcements that the Valide Sultana has thanked the Sultan for having brought the assassins to justice are untrue, for she has all through the inquiry obstinately maintained that her son perished by his own hand, and that she was partly to blame for having given him the famous scissors.”
“I am now in a position to explain why the prosecution showed such anxiety to get Midhat condemned, and employed such unjustifiable means for this purpose. It may be remembered that some months ago the Sultan was greatly alarmed by a revolutionary propaganda, of which the chief instigator was believed to be the ex‐Khedive. A judicial functionary, who has since taken a prominent part in the trial, was ordered to make an inquiry, and came to the conclusion that Midhat was implicated in the propaganda. The conclusion was probably erroneous, but it made a strong impression on the Sultan’s mind, and from that moment Midhat’s fate was decided. As no legal proofs of his complicity in the seditious agitation could be produced, other means had to be employed for getting rid of him, and the regicide inquiry was used for this purpose.”
“Times,” 11th July 1881.—“Constantinople, 10th July.—During the last few days representations have been twice made to the Sultan by the British Ambassador concerning the State trial. It is believed at the Palace that Lord Dufferin acted on the first occasion spontaneously, and on the second occasion by the express orders of Lord Granville. The later communication is said to be couched in strong terms, urging His Majesty for his own sake to refrain from carrying out the sentence of the tribunal. The Sultan has received also a telegram from the Ottoman Embassy in London, in which Musurus Pasha describes the unfavourable impression produced by the trial in England, and implores His Majesty to prevent at least the capital punishment being inflicted.”
“Times,” 28th July 1881.—“Constantinople, 26th July.—Since the judgment was pronounced at the State trial considerable hesitation and embarrassment have harassed the Sultan and given rise to numberless exaggerated and contradictory rumours, which I have thought it undesirable to report at the time of their production, because they were in some cases manifestly without foundation and in others largely improbable. During the last few days, however, an attempt has been made on the part of the Sultan to lessen his responsibility in the matter, through the instrumentality of a Grand Council, comprising the highest dignitaries of the State both in and out of office. The Council contained twenty‐seven members, of whom five were ex‐Grand Viziers, fourteen were Ministers in and out of office, and eight were Ulemas. We now hear that in that solemn assembly, which sat at the Palace for three days, opinions were divided, and finally an important minority courageously voted against carrying out the extreme penalty of the law, especially in the case of those of the accused who had not confessed, and against whom no positive proof of guilt had been elicited at the trial. This minority is said to have included most of the more prominent members, viz.:—four Grand Viziers and the present Prime Minister, three Ministers in the Cabinet, one of the most influential high ecclesiastics, and one former Minister. The majority is said to have voted in the sense of a confirmation of the judgment given at the trial, subject, of course, to the exercise of the Imperial clemency. It included ten Ministers in office, most of them specially antagonistic to Midhat Pasha, and seven Ulemas. The Sultan has chosen to adopt the opinion of the minority and to decide that the accused shall be banished for life. It is not quite clear why, in the circumstances, His Majesty should have chosen this course; for it was supposed that the Council had been called together with a view to make it share the responsibility of the signature of the death‐warrants, which His Majesty hesitated to sign without the direct sanction of the great officers of State. The repugnance of the Sultan to have criminals executed is well known, and since his accession he is said never to have sanctioned a single capital sentence. While securing the removal of the criminals to some distant and safe locality, where they will be powerless to work harm, he avoids at the same time the issuing of the fatal decree, so repugnant to his feelings. Much must be attributed to the action of our own Government. Brilliant, indeed, has been the commencement of the mission of Lord Dufferin, who has already gained much favour in public opinion here both native and foreign. Considering the popularity and prominent personal value of at least one of the accused Pashas, the impression that his life has been saved through the intervention of the British Ambassador tends to remove much of the popular clamour which had lately become so loud against British influence, and it is a significant sign of the times that one of the semi‐official Turkish organs publishes to‐day an article advocating a close alliance between England and Turkey. A few months ago this same officially inspired print loudly proclaimed that England’s friendship was more hurtful to Turkey than the enmity of any other Power.”
“Times,” 1st August 1881.—“Constantinople, 30th July.—The Sultan is greatly disappointed with the result of the State trial. He expected that the proceedings would have received the approval of public opinion, both in Turkey and in Western Europe, and he finds that the reverse has been the case. The Court of Appeal, as I ventured to predict, confirmed the sentence; but the Ulemas, who are the custodians and expounders of the Sacred Law, made an evasive reply to the questions addressed to them, and in the Grand Council, composed of Ministers and other great personages, there was a large and influential section of members who recommended that the capital sentence should not be carried out. Both in the Assembly of Ulemas and in the Grand Council the proceedings were very curious, as showing that, even under the present reign of terror, there are a few men who have the courage to maintain openly opinions which they know to be unpalatable in the highest quarters. The obsequious Sheik‐ul‐Islam, for example, who wished to cover the illegal proceedings by art, encountered a determined resistance from the Mufti Emini, whose duty it is to give a written decision to any legal questions which may be addressed to him. The old man said in a calm decided tone: ‘During my long life, I have never willingly given an unjust decision, and now, when I have one foot in the grave, I shall certainly not begin to deviate knowingly from the path of right. The accused have been tried and condemned by a Civil tribunal, according to laws and a procedure with which we have no professional acquaintance. If we are to give a decision, the case must be tried again from the commencement, according to the procedure prescribed by the Sacred Law. To the question as it at present stands, the Sacred Law provides no answer, and consequently no fetva can be issued.’
“Similar courage was shown by some of the civil functionaries, especially Haireddin Pasha, who, with his usual frankness and fearlessness, condemned the proceedings of the Criminal Tribunal in no measured terms. The ex‐Grand Vizier, Safvet and Kadri, spoke more cautiously in the same sense. Osman, Mahmoud Nedim, and Djevdet, Minister of Justice, were in favour of having the sentence executed. Soubhi Pasha tried to find a middle course. He admitted that irregularities might have been committed by the Tribunal, but at the same time maintained that the Council had no power to reverse the decision. This argument was tersely refuted by Haireddin, who reminded his colleagues that they were called upon, not to reverse the decision, but simply to give advice regarding the exercise of the Imperial clemency. The Sultan, as you have heard, has commuted the capital sentence as far as his two brothers‐in‐law are concerned, on the ground that these personages acted according to stringent superior orders. In this way one of the objects for which the trial was instituted is attained more completely than by executing the accused, for the ex‐Sultan Murad, who is supposed still to have adherents, is thereby represented as being the real culprit.”
* * * * *
Parliamentary Debates, 1st July 1881.—“Mr M’Coan asked the Under‐Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any other report than that published at the time had been received from Dr Dickson (page 90), physician to Her Majesty’s Embassy at Constantinople, and a member of the Medical Commission, who examined the body of the late Sultan Abdul Aziz immediately after his death, of the result of such examination, and, if there be, whether he will lay it upon the table of the House; and also, whether in the interests of justice and humanity, and in view of the report made at the time by such Medical Commission, it is the intention of Her Majesty’s Government to interpose its friendly good offices at the Porte, or directly with the Sultan, to save Midhat Pasha, and any or all of the other persons convicted with him yesterday of complicity in the alleged murder of Abdul Aziz, from execution of the sentences severally passed upon them. He desired to express, before the question was answered, his absolute distrust of the capacity and probity of the members of the Turkish court which conducted the recent trial; and, from his own personal knowledge, he accepted all the responsibility of stating that they were persons not entitled to the respect of Europe, or of that House.
“Sir Charles W. Dilke—Sir, the substance of a report by Dr Dickson was laid before Parliament (Turkey, No. 3, 1876), and no further report has been received. Lord Granville is in communication with Lord Dufferin with regard to the recent State trial; but it would be premature to make any announcement at present.”
4th July 1881.—“Earl de la Warr asked the noble Earl the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any information could be given with reference to the trial of Midhat Pasha, which was now proceeding at Constantinople. He was quite aware that this was a question of great delicacy as regarded interference on the part of Her Majesty’s Government; but it could not be otherwise than a matter of deep interest to their Lordships, and to the country generally, to know that all that was possible was being done to insure a just trial, as upon the issue of the trial might depend the life of a great and distinguished statesman.
“Earl Granville—My Lords, I have been in communication with Lord Dufferin on this subject, which is exciting great interest in Europe. Of the trial I have received no authentic report, and it would clearly not be right for me to express any official opinion upon it. I am not, at the present moment, able to give your Lordships any further information on the subject.”
7th July 1881.—“Mr Staveley Hill asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he had any information from Constantinople, with regard to the fate of Midhat Pasha.
“Sir Charles W. Dilke—I can give no information upon this subject. The telegrams which have passed, up to the present time, do not show what are Lord Dufferin’s views; but representations are being made.”
11th July 1881.—“Viscount Folkestone (for Mr Staveley Hill) asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Her Majesty’s Ambassador at Constantinople has been instructed to call the attention of the advisers of the Sultan to the allegations of the grave irregularities in the trial of Midhat Pasha, and to urge upon His Majesty that the execution of that distinguished statesman upon the result of such a trial may be regarded as a judicial murder brought about by political rivals.
“Mr M’Coan asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Christoferides Effendi who presided at the recent trial of Midhat Pasha is identical with the person of the same name who, in May 1871, was an employé of the Turkish Ministry of Police.
“Sir Charles W. Dilke—Sir, with regard to the first question, I have to say that this is a somewhat delicate matter. I have already said that communications are passing. Looking to the object which the hon. Member has in view, it would not be wise that I should make any public statement at the present time. The second question I must answer in the affirmative.”
21st July 1881.—“Mr M’Coan asked if there was any truth in the newspaper report of that day that Midhat Pasha was to be sent in exile to a place near Mecca.
“Sir Charles Dilke said that up to four o’clock that afternoon no telegram had reached the Foreign Office to that effect.”
22nd July 1881.—“Mr M’Coan asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he had received any information with regard to the execution of the sentence passed on Midhat Pasha.
“Sir Charles W. Dilke said that within the last forty‐eight hours they had received no further information from Lord Dufferin on the subject.
“Mr M’Coan said in view of a telegram of peculiar significance published that morning, and which seemed to point to an almost immediate decision in regard to the sentence passed at the recent State trial at Constantinople, he must plead the urgency and gravity of the case if he trespassed upon the time of the House for a few moments, and would, if necessary, conclude with a motion. The case was, shortly, this:—One of the most noted figures in European politics, a statesman of the highest antecedents and reputation (‘No!’), at least, for an Eastern statesman, had been tried in a way notorious to the House, and his life at that moment was trembling in the balance. He did not say that Her Majesty’s Government could bring any more pressure to bear on the Porte than they had done with reference to the subject. He was aware of the delicacy and difficulty, probably the impracticability, of any Government putting pressure upon the Sultan, except in the way of friendly intercession, which so far, had had no effect. He therefore now wished to elicit from the House its opinion in reference to the recent trial and the action of the Turkish Government with respect to it, and he had reason to believe that such expression of opinion would have the best possible effect at Constantinople. Midhat Pasha, after passing a distinguished official career, became Governor of Bulgaria, which he found overrun with brigandage, and in such a state that the revenue could not be collected. In a few months he put down brigandage, caused the revenue to be collected, and, under his rule, Bulgaria became one of the most prosperous provinces of the Turkish Empire. One of his most persistent opponents was the Russian Ambassador. Midhat was doing everything to revive European confidence in Turkey, and as that did not suit Russian views, General Ignatieff became his most persistent enemy, and intrigued against him.
“Mr Newdegate rose to order. He submitted that the Honourable and learned member was asking the House to give an expression of opinion upon a motion for adjournment, which was placing the House in a false position, because it was precluded by its own forms from giving an opinion on that subject on a motion of adjournment.
“Mr Speaker said that, as the House was aware, the only question on which the judgment of the House could be taken on the motion for adjournment was whether the House should or should not adjourn.
“Mr M’Coan said he would make his observations very brief. Subsequently Midhat Pasha became Governor of Bagdad. It was said by some that Midhat Pasha was a poor man, and therefore, presumably, an honest man; by others that he was a rich man, and therefore, presumably, a corrupt man; and he was sorry to say that a very high authority—the Prime Minister—had given expression to the latter opinion in an article he published. This, however, he knew: that though the revenues of the provinces he governed, passed through Midhat Pasha’s hands, he returned from each of them a poor man—in one case not having sufficient funds to pay his own and his retinue’s travelling expenses, and in another not being possessed of £500. Afterwards he became Grand Vizier, and his famous Constitution elicited from Liberal politicians everywhere praise and admiration, and it was no fault of his that that admirable scheme did not become an organic law of Turkey. He failed in his efforts to reform the Administration, and to turn corrupt misrule into good government. Subsequently, both in Syria and Smyrna, he carried out the same principles of administrative reform. He was undoubtedly a party to the deposition of the Sultan; but it was widely believed that he was no party to his death, if he did not die by suicide. The Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs had admitted that the Report of the Medical Commission was in favour of the opinion that the death was caused by suicide. Dr Dickson, the physician to the English Embassy at Constantinople, joined in that opinion, and had assured him (Mr M’Coan) that after the most careful examination of the body he was clearly of opinion that it was a case of suicide. But what happened at the so‐called trial? Why, that two of the doctors, who had as Commissioners certified that it was a case of suicide—Marco Pasha and Dr Castro—actually at the trial gave evidence to the effect that, in their opinion, death had been caused by murder. Such evidence was worthy of the tribunal before which it had been given. In a reply to a question put by him, the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs had stated that the President at the trial had been formerly an employé of the Municipal Police at Constantinople, and that he had himself positive knowledge of the corruption of the man when he held a judicial position. He had also evidence, though not so direct, that this same person had continued to be one of the most corrupt judicial functionaries in the service of the Porte; and also evidence, less direct still, that the other members of the Court which tried the State prisoners were of no whit better character. No European community, therefore, would hang a dog upon the finding of such a tribunal. He knew that Her Majesty’s Government could not interfere directly, and that an unofficial or indirect appeal on the part of Her Majesty’s Ambassador might have no effect, but he was proud to know that no other opinion in Europe could have such an effect upon the Porte, or in the Palace, as that of the House of Commons, because it was thoroughly understood there that such opinion reflected that of the country, and so influenced the action of the Government. He begged to move the adjournment of the House, in the hope that such opinion would be expressed on behalf of an innocent, distinguished, and falsely condemned statesman.
“The O’Donoghue seconded the motion.
“Motion made and question proposed.—‘That this House do now adjourn’—(Mr M’Coan).
“Sir H. Drummond‐Wolff said he would not follow the last speaker in criticising the trial that had taken place at Constantinople, a trial which he thought would not be considered satisfactory in this country. He would not make an appeal to the right honourable gentleman at the Head of the Government to interfere in regard to the trial; but he would remind him that upon more than one occasion the interference of the British Government had saved the lives of men who had been condemned to death in Turkey. He trusted that the Premier would see his way to take some steps to bring the influence of Her Majesty’s Government to bear upon the Porte, with a view of, at any rate, reducing the sentence passed on Midhat Pasha. He was a man of what was called a very liberal mind, and had discharged his duties in a remarkably impartial manner, and with much enlightenment, considering the difficulties under which he had had to labour. He ventured to suggest that the Premier would be doing a graceful act in using his great influence on behalf of this unfortunate man.
“Mr Ashmead Bartlett said it was remarkable to notice the intense interest taken in Turkish Pashas by the honourable gentleman, who had lost no opportunity hitherto of denouncing them. The trial had by no means been so unfair as was represented, and the evidence against most of the accused was very strong. Everyone sympathised with Midhat Pasha, who was a great statesman and patriot, and it would be a most unfortunate thing if the trial resulted in his death. He doubted, however, if there was any danger of that. The present Sultan was a most humane and kind‐hearted man—and neither Midhat Pasha nor the other two Ministers who were condemned with him were in danger of execution. He thought the question might be safely left to the discretion of Her Majesty’s Government without any formal expression of opinion by the House. It would be most unfortunate if any representations were made on behalf of the other condemned Ministers, Mahmoud Damad and Nouri Pashas, who were openly corrupt, and were guilty of almost every possible offence against the interests of their country and of civilisation. It would be a matter of rejoicing if they could be brought to justice. It would be better if representations were made diplomatically by the Government without the direct interference of the House; and although the influence of the British Government was much less than it used to be, he had no doubt they would have due effect.
“Mr Gladstone—I do not know that much advantage would be gained by a prolongation of the discussion. In answer to the appeals made, especially by the honourable Member for Portsmouth (Sir H. Drummond‐Wolff), I think I can state very briefly what is a very simple matter—namely, the limits of action laid down for us, and the fact that we have not scrupled to act within them. Those limits were necessarily narrow. I was sorry to hear the honourable gentleman who made this motion introduce statements of so pointed a character respecting the individuals who have been called upon to conduct the inquiry. He may be quite warranted in all he says; but it is perfectly impossible that we can know that, and it is perfectly impossible, in justice to those individuals, to go in this House into the circumstances of which he speaks. If the trial be bad, an attempt to re‐try the case in an Assembly of this kind, with the view to an expression of opinion on the definitive merits of the case, would likewise, be open to much objection.
“The real state of the case is this—Have we a right of intervention in a matter of this kind? Clearly we have none. I use the words ‘right of intervention.’ But there are considerations of policy and humanity which have, on various occasions, led to representations, more or less formal, which are in the nature of interference with private affairs, but which are grounded on a sincere and dispassionate anxiety, in the first place, for the general principles of humanity and justice, and, in the second place, for the interests of the great Power in whose counsels you appear to intervene. Unquestionably, though we have no power to pass a final sentence on the nature of the proceedings in Constantinople, there has been a public opinion in regard to these proceedings, both in Constantinople and Europe generally, such as to make us believe that it would be greatly for the interest of the Sultan of Turkey were he moved to pursue a humane and liberal course. Recognising these facts, we have not scrupled to act upon them. So early as 4th July instructions were sent to Lord Dufferin to use the least obtrusive, but, at the same time, the most confidential, direct and effective means to make the kind of representations which we desired to be made. Lord Dufferin has, I think, with as much tact and delicacy as are in the possession of any man, and with, at the same time, as much good feeling and zeal, acted readily upon these instructions, and has, to the best of his power, made representations in the general sense I have described. We have no doubt whatever that a lenient and a considerate course will give satisfaction to the enlightened opinion of Europe, and will be greatly for the interests and peace of Turkey. Having said that, I think I had better add no more. I see no advantage in implicating or attempting to pass judgment on anyone. We have stood on the purely general consideration I have described; and I believe the House will be disposed to think, on the general statement I have made, that without any special merit on our part, we have discharged our duty.
“Mr J. Cowen said he was sure the House had listened with satisfaction to the humane and generous observations of the Prime Minister. He trusted his hon. friend, the Member for Wicklow, having elicited such an expression of opinion, would be content, and not push his motion to a division. He entirely sympathised with him in the course he had pursued. It was desirable that the British Parliament should have an opportunity of recording its opinion of the very exceptional proceedings under the name of law that had recently taken place at Constantinople. Midhat Pasha was a distinguished Turkish Pasha. He had served his country ably and honourably in the highest offices the Sultan could confer. He had proved himself to be a friend of England and of progressive principles. He (Mr Cowen) had the privilege of his acquaintance, and he could confirm the high character that the hon. Member for Wicklow had given him. He recognised the delicacy of the position, and he could appreciate the difficulties that the Premier had referred to. To interfere with the action of the Turkish Courts, however they were constituted, might be regarded as trenching upon the freedom of an independent State. If representations were made in a too emphatic way, they might be resented by the Sultan, and have the very opposite effect than was designed. This was a possibility which they should all bear in mind, and of which the Government, no doubt, were conscious. They should remember also that it was impossible for the House to review the proceedings of the Constantinople tribunal. They might have their opinions; but they were not, and could not, be informed of all the details. But still, admitting all this, the English Government had on other occasions interceded with foreign rulers on behalf of fallen statesmen or popular leaders. There were many instances in history where there had been such friendly interference; and they had, therefore, the warrant of precedent for doing what was now suggested. He trusted that the Government would—with all the energy that they felt themselves justified in using, but at the same time, with the necessary friendliness—intercede on behalf of Midhat Pasha. The Prime Minister had said that instructions to that effect would be sent to Lord Dufferin, and the House and the country would feel satisfied that any appeal by him would be supported by a man of great ability, high character, and of generous spirit. Having called attention to the subject and made this representation, he would advise that the matter be allowed to rest in the hands of Her Majesty’s Government.
“Mr M’Coan asked leave to withdraw the motion.”
29th July 1881.—“Lord Stratheden and Campbell, in rising to ask the Government whether their influence at Constantinople is being exercised to arrest proceedings in the case of Midhat Pasha, said he hoped that in the absence—which he regretted—of the noble earl the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, some member of the Government would be able to give an answer to his question. No doubt all the members of the Government knew what answer to give, because the Prime Minister really decided these matters, and his colleagues must be in possession of his views. The fate of Midhat Pasha was a question in which the people of this country took great interest. There was no doubt that he had not had a fair trial, and obstacles were put in the way of his defending himself. There was little doubt that Abdul Aziz had put an end to his own life; and he thought that the public law of Europe, about which so much had been said of late years, should be put in motion on his behalf. It might be said that public law would be an obstacle to exercising influence to arrest proceedings in the case; but if that were so, public law had been set at nought by every ambassador whom the Queen had employed at Constantinople recently.
“Lord Stanley of Alderley said he regretted the course which the noble lord had taken as damaging to his consistency, since he usually respected the law of nations; but now he asked the Government to do something which was quite contrary to it. He was not only asking them to obtain a commutation of the sentence passed on Midhat Pasha, but to arrest proceedings. A month ago the noble lord intimated that the Foreign Secretary had not the control of the Foreign Office, but that the Prime Minister had; and the Prime Minister had stated in ‘another place’ that this was a case in which the Government had no right to interfere. The noble lord should have been satisfied with that answer. When Midhat Pasha was Grand Vizier he was responsible for what was going on at Constantinople; and after the time that Sultan Abdul Aziz Khan’s death took place, he did not institute any enquiry into any of the circumstances that had surrounded it. No doubt, it was unfortunate that in the recent trial the Ottoman Government had adopted European forms, and it would have been better if the Turkish Government had followed their own forms of trial in this case. However, he had no doubt that substantial justice had been done to Midhat Pasha. The present question was, moreover, unnecessary, because the sentence had already been commuted, and Midhat Pasha was going into a healthy climate, where there need be no fear on account of his health. Midhat Pasha was a good administrator in Bulgaria, but he had been too much praised for what he had done, and, on the whole, he was an ignorant, rather than a learned man. However, in Midhat Pasha’s present situation, he would rather not make further observations upon his administration of affairs. There was no ground for any alarm in regard to the country to which he was banished.
“The Earl of Kimberley said he was sorry that his noble friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was not present to answer the question of the noble lord. As to the actual form of the question, he agreed with his noble friend opposite (Lord Stanley of Alderley) that it would be an extraordinary interference on the part of one Government to exercise its influence upon another, in order to arrest proceedings which the latter had thought it necessary to take in regard to an accusation against a subject of that Government. But probably his noble friend desired to know what course had been taken by Her Majesty’s Government in the whole matter; and what he had to say was that in a question of so much delicacy, involving the internal Government of the Porte, and touching the Sultan himself, Her Majesty’s Government had not thought that it would be desirable to exercise any direct advice or interference; but feeling, as they did, an interest in this matter, they had been able, through Lord Dufferin, in a perfectly private and unofficial manner, to express their wish that it might be the pleasure of the Sultan to deal with this matter in a merciful spirit. He was not in a position to state that it had been officially notified that the sentence passed upon the incriminated Pashas had been commuted; but he had good reason to believe that the statement in the newspapers alluded to, that the sentence had been commuted to banishment to Arabia, was true.”
The result of the humanitarian intervention on the part of the English Government was that the death sentence on Midhat Pasha was changed to one of imprisonment for life.
The Sultan Abdul Hamid knew far better than any one else that Midhat was innocent, and that Abdul Aziz had committed suicide, as was fully proved by the Medical report; if Abdul Hamid had had genuine proof on which to accuse Midhat before the eyes of Europe and the law, nothing could have prevented the death penalty from being executed, since he had sworn to put an end to Midhat Pasha. Although the Sultan was thus foiled in his attempt to put away Midhat by form of law, he did not relinquish his intention, but sought other clandestine means to attain it. How this was accomplished, will be proved by documents in the following pages.
CHAPTER XII
EXILE OF MIDHAT PASHA
The Sultan, yielding to the humane intervention of England and Europe, named the town of Taïf, in Arabia, as the place of exile for Midhat Pasha. Taïf is a town situated to the south of Mecca, and is renowned for its verdure and for its surrounding fortress. Midhat Pasha, Damad Mahmoud Djelaleddin and Nouri Pashas, with the other prisoners, were taken by a special steamer and landed at Djeddah, and reached Taïf by way of Mecca. The Sheik‐ul‐Islam, Haïroullah Effendi, who had been on a pilgrimage to Mecca when he was accused of being an accomplice in the alleged murder of Abdul Aziz, had been imprisoned at Taïf, where Midhat found him on his arrival.
After the banishment of Midhat, his family were detained in exile in Smyrna, and his son and daughter sought refuge from any possible contingency at the British Consulate, where they remained for three months, returning to their mother when the storm of these events had passed. Two years after his exile, Midhat sent his family the most alarming information in his letters, of which we give a translation. These letters were carried to Smyrna by men who were the devoted friends of the family, and who made the journey for that express purpose.
Translation of an Autograph Letter from Midhat Pasha (from the Prison of Taïf) to his Family.
“My Dear Family,—Nearly a month ago I sent you a letter through Saïd Bey—the last that I was able to write before this—in which I gave you the list of the numbered letters which I had previously sent you. A week after, I became ill with an abscess on the right shoulder‐blade. Later on, this was diagnosed as being anthrax. It caused me very great suffering. The only doctor here is quite a young man, without any experience. My companions in exile,[26] seeing my condition, became very uneasy, and, without consulting me, took upon themselves to address a letter to the Governor of Mecca, asking that a doctor might be sent here. But they did not receive any reply from this personage, who, however, had just received through an aide‐de‐camp sent from Constantinople the firman bestowing on him the rank of marshal, and also strict secret orders that we must perish, either by starvation or by some other means.
“To this end the Vali chose Major Bekir Effendi, who was charged with our surveillance and with the execution of this mission. As soon as he arrived, Bekir dismissed our servants and cooks and reduced our rations. I was in bed, suffering from the pain of this abscess, when Bekir came and told me the orders he had received, which he did in a severe voice, with a rough tone and without the least touch of feeling. He told us that we must be contented with a little soup and with vegetables, which would be served to us in one of those bowls used by the soldiers, and that we were strictly forbidden to procure other food than that which was provided for us. At the same time he forbade us to have our linen washed, a task which each one of us must perform for himself. Besides this, he took away the inkstand, pen and paper that was at our disposition, and everything necessary for correspondence. Luckily, I had burned your letters, although they contained nothing compromising, but complications might have arisen from them if they had fallen into their hands.
“This part of his mission accomplished, Major Bekir had the wife and child of Haïroullah Effendi, who were occupying a separate house, sent off to Mecca that very night. Our servants and cooks followed very soon afterwards.
“The treatment to which we are submitted is one means of many to get rid of us. For my companions have always been accustomed to luxury and ease, and even though hunger may oblige them to eat the poor food given to the soldiers, their health cannot endure such a regimen, and they will certainly end by succumbing, but only after how much suffering and misery! I cannot give you an idea of the melancholy into which they are plunged. They are constantly praying Heaven for their deliverance. As to me, what I find the most painful, is being deprived of my servant, whom they removed by force, and whose attentions were more than ever necessary to me at a moment when my state of health has got so much worse.
“The refusal of the Governor‐General of Mecca to send a doctor, and the speech and most unjustifiable conduct of Bekir, contributed not a little to the aggravation of my condition. I had no other consolation than the hope of quitting this life and of at last succumbing to the sufferings that I endured. But it cannot be helped; the supreme hour has not yet come, and I must still suffer. I had lost all hope, although Heaven in its mercy often reserves consolations for the unhappy, and relief for their sorrows.
“I was thus in despair of ever getting well, when, thanks to the care of my companions, who applied a poultice, the abscess burst and continued suppurating for a fortnight. Since then the pain has diminished and the wound is beginning to heal. At the moment when Haïroullah Effendi’s wife and child, and our servants also, were embarking at Djeddah for Constantinople, a telegraphic order caused them to return to Taïf in company with Major Bekir. Thus, when on the point of becoming free, these unhappy beings were once more cast into prison.
“This is a brief statement of our situation, and if no change takes place in the conditions of our existence, it will be very difficult for me to send letters as hitherto. The linen, food and money that you wish to send me will never reach me. Perhaps you could find some one who might be able to send me my false teeth. Give up any idea of sending me money, for we are now forbidden to buy any really nourishing food, such as meat, vegetables, rice, etc., and as to coffee, coal, and soap, I have plenty of money to buy those. I embrace you all affectionately.
“(Signed) Midhat.
“8th Djemazi‐ul‐Ahir, 1301” (1883).
xxx (Year of the Hegira.)
“P.S.—Every morning they bring a bowl of soup for eight people, a dish of radish leaves or something of that nature; in the evening we all assemble round these bowls and those who are very hungry are obliged to eat from them; the others content themselves with a piece of bread kept back from the day before. Those who have money buy soap and coal, and heat water for washing their linen. Those who are without the necessary means use water mixed with cinders. As to me, who have no teeth, I live on bread‐soup. The abscess is nearly cured, but my weakness is very great. As I have already told you, all these means are taken with the sole aim of destroying us. Time will show who will be the first to give me the coup de grâce.”
Another Autograph Letter from Midhat Pasha.
“My dear Wife, my beloved Daughters, my dear Son Ali Haidar,—This letter is perhaps the last that I shall ever write you; for, as I told you in my two preceding letters, it is now proved that in modifying our regimen and in depriving us of all means of correspondence, they have no other aim than that of getting rid of us. Besides which they have tried to poison us.
“Ten days ago, my servant Arif, whom I had ordered to buy some milk through one of the officers, discovered when he was boiling it that it was poisoned. Four days after this, Arif, having bought some meat, prepared it in the evening and placed it in his room. In the morning we perceived that the metal of the saucepan bore traces of poison. Several days afterwards they poisoned the water in the jug from which we drink. All these attempts have been foiled by the attention and watchfulness of the servant. Seeing this want of success, they will try other means. We are surrounded by very dangerous people; especially Major Tcherkesse Bekir, one of the college companions of the famous Tcherkesse Hassan,[27] who was sent two years ago from Constantinople to keep watch over us. This Tcherkesse Bekir has, as accomplices, three non‐commissioned officers, who lodge with us. Every day the most sinister orders are transmitted to the Vali, Osman Pasha (Governor of Mecca), who in return for his services has received a Marshal’s bâton. Yesterday there arrived Colonel Tcherkesse Mehemet Lutfi, always with the same orders. We are face to face with very great danger and are threatened with the blackest designs; I believe that there is little hope that we shall escape. Perhaps even before receiving this letter you will learn the news of my death. In this case it is useless to suffer great affliction. May the merciful God pardon us our sins! And if we are destined to succumb, there can be no greater happiness than to be martyrs in a holy cause.
“My supreme desire is that you should live in peace, united around the family hearth. May the Almighty God have you in His Holy keeping!
“(Signed) Midhat.
“10 Redjeb 1301, O.S.”
xxx (24th September 1883).
Madame Midhat had these facts brought to the knowledge of Lord Dufferin, at Constantinople. At the same time the Duke of Sutherland, who was going to Constantinople, passed through Smyrna and went to see Midhat’s family, assuring them that he would do all in his power to persuade the Sultan to give Midhat Pasha his liberty. Lord Dufferin made representations to the Ottoman Government, and charged the Dragoman belonging to the British Consulate at Djeddah to procure news of Midhat’s health from the Grand Shereef of Mecca. The Grand Shereef, Abdul Mutalib Pasha, assured the Dragoman that Midhat was perfectly well.[28] But the Sultan, terrified at the relations between the Grand Shereef Abdul Mutalib and the English Dragoman, accused the former of holding secret relations with England, with a view to saving Midhat and combining with him against his person; he therefore disgraced him, throwing him into the fortress of Taïf. It was on this account that Midhat, without knowing the real reason, wrote the following letter to his family on the arrest of the Grand Shereef:—
Another Letter from Midhat Pasha to his Family.
“My Dear Family,—Two days ago a very strange event occurred. During the night of 30th August, at midnight, the house of the Emir of Mecca, Shereef Abdul Mutalib (who was then in residence at Taïf), was suddenly surrounded by four battalions of Infantry and four guns. At daybreak he was torn from his bed and conducted to the fortress where we are imprisoned. He has been replaced in his office by the Shereef Abdullah Pasha. It is believed that Abdul Mutalib will be sent to Constantinople or elsewhere. He is accused of having kept up a correspondence with the English. The fact that this personage, who, in his anxiety to please in a high quarter, caused us so much suffering, is now thrown into a wretched hole of a prison, is a very great example. However, we can only pity his fate, when we think of his great age—he is a hundred—and that he is a descendant of the Prophet.
“(Signed) Midhat.
“2nd September 1299, O.S.”
xxx (14th September 1882.)
Whilst the Sultan was assuring England of his good intentions, he was at the same time maturing his tyrannical plan of execution. Damad Nouri Pasha had already died—mad; but it was extremely difficult to put a Sheik‐ul‐Islam to death on a false accusation, and above all before the “Softa” (Theological Students and Ulemas, of whom he is the Supreme Head); for this reason, Haïroullah Effendi was placed on one side. The Vali of Hedjaz—Marshal Osman Nouri Pasha—received an order by special envoys to see to the execution of the murder. On the 26th of April, 1883, they entered Midhat’s room during the night, and by means of a cord they strangled him in his bed without the least resistance. Damad Mahmoud Djelaleddin Pasha attempted to defend himself, but was overcome by brute force. An eye‐witness of the crime, Haïroullah Effendi, sent a letter of condolence to the family of Midhat Pasha, of which we publish a translation.
To the Honourable Family of Midhat Pasha.
“I humbly present my most respectful homage to Madame and Mesdemoiselles Midhat Pasha, and also to his son Ali Haydar Bey, with the expression of my profound regret and sympathy on the occasion of the death of our beloved master, Midhat Pasha. May the Almighty grant them as great a measure of happiness as there are grains of dust in the earth that covers his martyred remains.
“You will have heard of his tragic death and of the circumstances under which it occurred. His Highness did not succumb, as has been announced in the newspapers, to the illness from which he was suffering. It is true that he had anthrax, but it was not bubonic. The truth is that in the same night and at the same moment both Midhat Pasha and Damad Mahmoud Pasha were strangled. May the Divine clemency and blessing be upon them.
“There are many things that I ought to tell you, but I dare not write more fully, as I am in dread of our persecutors. Kindly let me hear that you have received this letter, and do not divulge the name of him who sent it. If you have anything that you wish to ask me you can write to me.
“Half of the Pasha’s possessions have been stolen by the employés, the rest has been sent to Constantinople.
“The servant, who so faithfully served our lamented Midhat Pasha, is well worthy of being helped. The Pasha, shortly before his death, left him £T100. He gave me a note signed to this effect, which I enclose to you, begging that you will send the poor man the money.
“I beg you, Madame and Mesdemoiselles, to accept the expression of my respectful affection.
“Hassan Haïroullah.
(ex‐Sheik‐ul‐Islam.)
“Taïf, 15th Zilkade, 1301” (1883).
Wishing to render a last service to his country, the Sheik‐ul‐Islam, Haïroullah Effendi, also sent to the Reform Party a record of the details of this assassination, which is contained in the following chapter.