Decorated people are so numerous among the members of the Sultanic bureaucracy that it is hardly possible to meet any official, high or low, without one decoration or more. It is not surprising, then, that there is a class of persons, honest, educated, and of good birth, outside the circle of the Palace favourites, who boast, and very rightly too, that "they are honoured by being undecorated."
Decoration and promotion are not the only methods by which his Majesty imagines that he can gain attachment to himself. He takes a different way when it is the sympathy of foreigners he desires to win. It may, perhaps, be possible for the Sultan to induce foreign correspondents and the editors of some Continental journals to write nice things about him by offering them bakhsheesh or stars, or by giving them commercial, industrial, or other concessions in Turkey. But how is he to gain the golden opinions of the foreign rulers and statesmen interested in the Eastern Question? Is it possible to make an incorruptible British Minister, for example, speak favourably of his Majesty's rule, by conferring on him some order set with brilliants, or by quietly offering him a big bakhsheesh? Certainly not But the Sultan has an unshakable belief in the wisdom of an Arab proverb, which says, "Man is the slave of favours"; and so, if he cannot offer money or decorations, he will request the acceptance of some keepsake, with a hypocritical affability peculiar to himself.
The presents of the Sultan vary, of course, both in quality and quantity. Decorations set in brilliants, gold snuff-boxes, cigarette-cases and holders, watches initialled and ornamented with precious stones, magnificent Arab horses, richly worked Oriental swords, daggers, and pistols from the imperial Treasury, which was most sacredly preserved intact by all the former Sultans of the House of Osman: such things form the greater part of the gifts sent to European potentates and notabilities. Others are made in the imperial factories.
Among the great personages who get presents from the Sultan, the German Emperor is the most highly favoured. Besides having received numerous and valuable keepsakes during his two visits to the Ottoman capital, the Kaiser gets from time to time Arab horses and objects of the rarest Eastern skill and art The Emperor of Russia also receives presents from the Sultan every now and then, but his Russian Majesty is generous in sending presents to the Sultan in return. A summer mansion on the Bosphorus was given by the Sultan to the Prince of Montenegro about ten years ago, and a steam-yacht, which was built in the State dockyards on the Golden Horn, was recently sent to the Adriatic for the use of the same petty ruler. Lord Salisbury received some two years ago a very large and magnificent vase, which was brought to England by a special aide-de-camp of the Sultan, and was presented to the Prime Minister by the late Turkish Ambassador.
AN OLD SERAGLIO.
Whether these various devices had any real effect or no, the Sultan has certainly succeeded in attaining the object he desired; he still remains on his throne, and his power is absolute. This alone, when one reflects upon the history of the reign of the present Sultan, makes one fully admit that he is a man of vast ability. His ability has, however, been productive solely of evil. If he were a good as well as an able man, his country would be powerful and prosperous. His indifference to insults and hatred, his calmness in dealing with difficulties of the most perplexing kind, and his tenacity of purpose are remarkable. Unlike many of his predecessors, he is not much under the influence of women; nor does he care for their company, though he still maintains m his palace the old system of the harem, with its numerous inmates and slaves, possibly only for the purpose of impressing the uncultivated section of his subjects with the sight of barbaric splendour. His phenomenal shrewdness is shown by his making the Mussulmans believe that the misfortunes endured by Turkey under his caliphate are entirely due to the hostile interference of grasping Europe with Turkish affairs. To Europeans, on the other hand, he often succeeds in conveying the impression that the people in whose name he rules are incapable of appreciating the value of progressive and constitutional government, and in order to justify this, he puts every obstacle in the way of their making progress in industry, science and literature. Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid, although he has played so notable a rôle in the preservation of his own personal sovereignty, is a man of but poor educational attainments. It is said by those who know him well that before his accession he was considered far inferior to the other royal princes of his house in attainments and culture. In spite of this drawback, he has for over twenty-six years shown himself superior to all opposition, rivalry, and attack.
There is no doubt that he works harder than any man in Turkey, and that he reads and makes his secretaries read to him a great deal; but what he reads principally consists of the reports of his spies and agents, which pour in in hundreds every day. Besides these, his favourite literature, which is translated from many languages and read aloud to him, is composed of biographies and historical sketches of the despotic sovereigns of the world and their doings, and also of their enemies, so that he is interested in accounts of the organisation of secret societies and conspiracies. He is also passionately fond of all kinds of detective stories.