The Buyuk Hanoum led us across the outer saloon to a spacious staircase, then across an upper hall, through a short gallery, and finally to the door of the Pasha’s apartment. As I crossed the threshold, I was actually dazzled with light: the room was large; and was raised one step at the upper end, round which ran the sofa. Two tables, bearing trays of candles, were placed near the entrance; and a silver branch holding others was in the arched recess between them. The curtains and the covering of the sofa were of crimson satin, the latter fringed with gold a foot in depth, and furnished with cushions of gold tissue embroidered with coloured silk. At the extremity of the dais a pile of cushions were heaped upon the floor; and at the upper end of the sofa squatted the Pasha, with a negro slave on each side of him, busied in arranging his pipe which had been just replenished. A capacious mangal, heavy with perfume, occupied the centre of the floor.
Mustapha Pasha is still in the prime of life; of the middle size, with an agreeable and sensible expression of face, and a slight cast in one of his eyes. He received us very courteously, and ordered chairs for my friend and myself near his own seat, while he motioned the Buyuk Hanoum to be seated also; an intimation which she obeyed by placing herself on the extreme edge of the sofa. The next ceremony was to cause pipes to be presented to my companion and myself; the greatest honour that can be conferred on a female in Turkey being an invitation to smoke in the presence of the other sex.
This was indeed a dilemma, for smoking had formed no part of my education; and I knew that, did I even raise the pipe to my lips, I should infallibly be ill; but the Pasha fortunately remarked the slight shudder and the gesture of repugnance with which I took it from the hand of the slave; and he immediately requested me to refuse it, if I found it disagreeable, as he merely sought to pay me a compliment by offering it.
I need not say how gladly I availed myself of the permission, much to the amusement of the Pasha; who, after he had inhaled a few whiffs of his own chibouk, sent a second message to the harem, which was answered by the speedy appearance of Heyminè Hanoum and the favourite Odalique. A motion of his hand invited both to take their places upon the cushions already alluded to; and then I remarked the ascendency of the latter over the spirit of the Pasha—an ascendency due probably as much to her being the mother of his two sons, as to her natural shrewdness of intellect. Be that as it may, however, it was easy to perceive that she was a woman of great natural talent, and wonderful quickness of perception; and very likely to retain the supremacy that she had gained.
The Pasha understood a little French, but did not attempt to speak it; though it is probable that he will soon do so, as he is studying the language with unwearying perseverance. He has already formed a very respectable library, where he has collected together the works of Voltaire, Racine, Boileau, Molière, and many other standard authors; and he has done so thus prematurely, he says, in order that the sight of the volumes may stimulate him to industry; as he never looks towards them without reflecting on the riches that are hidden from him by his ignorance of the language, and which may one day be within his grasp.
I was astonished at many of the questions that he asked me; they were so unlike the generality of those to which I had already become accustomed in the country. He was very inquisitive on the subject of the Thames Tunnel—inquired as to its probable expense—the period at which it was likely to be completed—the width of the river at that precise spot—the amount of the toll to be paid by passengers—the mode in which the money had been obtained for its construction—in what manner it would be lighted—in short, he entered into every particular connected with the undertaking so earnestly, that I had reason to congratulate myself on being able to satisfy his curiosity.
He next asked a number of questions relatively to the Fire Insurance Companies of London, of which he had heard vaguely; and, when I had explained to him the whole of the system, he expressed his regret that no institution of the kind had been established in Constantinople; a want to which he was the more sensible as he had lately lost a house filled with valuable furniture and effects, of which he had been unable to save the smallest portion. He inquired if I thought that one of our Companies would consent to accept an insurance for his palace; as in the event of their being willing to do so, he would immediately take steps to make the arrangement. I explained to him the difficulty of inducing them to run so great a risk, aware as they must be of the frequency of fires in Stamboul, and the exorbitant interest they would require in the event of their consenting to his wish: when he at once allowed the objection to be perfectly reasonable, although he much regretted the necessity of abandoning the idea.
In the course of conversation, some allusion having been made to the philosophy with which he supported his reverses, his reply was so characteristic that it deserves record. “The chariot of my fortunes,” he said, “had, for so long a time, run smoothly over the highways of life, that I ought rather to feel surprise at its even pace during so many years, than wonder that its wheels should fail at last.”
To comment on such an answer would be idle.
It was not without regret that I took leave of the Pasha, whose courteous manners and intelligent conversation rendered him a most agreeable companion; and, had I been able to converse with him in his own language, I have no doubt that I should have been still more impressed in his favour. Before we quitted him, he invited us to spend a few days with the Buyuk Hanoum, and his daughter, during the marriage festivities of the Princess Mihirmàh, at a house which he had taken at the “Sweet Waters;” and, as we re-entered the harem, I could not refrain from expressing to the fair Heyminè my admiration of the intelligence and information of her father. But all praise of the Pasha to his daughter was “gilding refined gold, painting the lily, and throwing a perfume o’er the violet;” human commendations could not exalt him higher in her esteem.