“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.”
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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.