Life of Abdulhamid II

HANDBOUND
AT THE
<fa.
UNIVERSITY OF
TORONTO PRESS
'
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
Richard Stanley & Co. Photc:
ABDUL HAMID
b<h\y
MAKERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Edited by Basil Williams
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
BY
SIR
EDWIN PEARS
LONDON
CONSTABLE & COMPANY LTD
1917
CV
Printed in Great Britain
GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE

For, in a world where cruel deeds abound,
are legion ; with such souls
The merely damned

Is
crammed
not each hollow and cranny of Tophet
Thou with
the brightest of Hell's aureoles
Dost shine supreme, incomparably crowned,

Immortally, beyond all mortals, damned.
Thus wrote Mr. William Watson
in
a sonnet apolo-
gising to the late Sultan for having once called
him
"
Abdul the Damned."

word of apology on my part may, perhaps, be expected for having included this sorry creature, Abdul
Hamid, among the Makers of the Nineteenth Century.
simply
It will
by one
life
be seen by those who read this volume, written

who has spent most of the working years of his
among
who saw and made others see

them, and who has always lifted up
the Turks,
what was good
in
his voice against the
cowardly oppression of their rulers,

from gaining as a personality from intimate
that, far
knowledge, Abdul Hamid loses even the little credit

he had with those who judged him from afar as, at any
an astute and able ruler. All this is true enough,

and yet as an influence on the political thought and
rate,
action of Europe in the last quarter of the nineteenth

century, as one who has handed down that evil influence
to the
Europe of
this century,
Abdul Hamid may
justly
lay claim to be included among those who have helped

in large measure to make or mar the world into which
we were
born.
During
his reign
Abdul Hamid was an
evil
nightmare
vi
a
brooding over Europe, the kind of nightmare which
did he but
sleeper could shake of! at any moment,
remains
still
choose
and
he
cannot
but
choose to move,
and so the nightmare abides.

fixed and motionless
Abdul Hamid traded on his own weakness and on the
:
for he knew that though all

his country
abhorred him, no country would take the lead against
weakness of
him
most outrageous crimes, lest

instead of abasing him it should be set upon by the
others and itself abased. Thus it could be said of Europe
during Abdul Hamid's reign that she
in retribution for his
must hearken
Whose
and
all
to the wail
the turbaned crew,
tenderest mercy was the sword that slew
women martyred by
Of
the time
She
sees, she hears,
And
with soul unstirred
no hand and speaks no word,

But vaunts a brow like theirs who deem
Men's wrongs a phrase, men's rights a dream.
lifts
This apathy of Europe, and Abdul Hamid's crafty

calculations on this apathy explain his success in crime
:
his treacherous murders, his policy of
and
Armenian mas-
the corrupting methods of government,

which he has handed down to those who turned him
sacres,
all
out and succeeded him.
How empty was his
appearance
of strength may be seen from his immediate surrender

to England, Russia or France, or any power that momentarily chose to insist
interests,
on the
He
and from
first
fell.
allowed in
on a point that concerned their
his collapse like a pricked bladder
by a few determined subjects.

But he still lives, and perchance, if he be
his prison to hear news of the world, where
assault
he played so ignominious a part, he
melancholy
satisfaction in
may
still
have a
knowing that his ignominy
vii
being perpetuated by his successors. They were men

who rebelled against a hateful rule and a hateful tyrant,
is
but by their hideous massacres in Armenia they have

almost washed out the remembrance of the
less
complete
massacres, of which he set the example, and have erected

into a policy of extermination the scheme of secret and
He saw
spasmodic outrages, at which he connived.
more of the Turkish Empire disappear than any one
of his ancestors since the Turks came to Europe
since
his deposition his successors have not only lost provinces,
:
including the
Holy Places, the very basis of the Sultan's

and
power
prestige, but, whereas Abdul Hamid played
one power against another so well that he never gave
national independence, they have placed
their country completely under the tutelage of one toopowerful neighbour. In all this they are carrying out
up a
tittle of
and indeed improving on the methods of Abdul, whose

title to fame is that he was the maker of ruin for his
country and the man, to whose action and example
Europe
may
be able to trace back her redemption from
a cruel and oppressive burden, since the better part of

her has at last risen to redress those and other wrongs.
BASIL WILLIAMS.
Chelsea,
January, 19 17.
CONTENTS
General Editor's Preface
Preliminary
.....
PAGE
........
v
i
CHAP.
I.
II.
III.
Parentage, etc., of Abdul Hamid.

Turkish Law of Succession
Birth,
...
Condition of Turkey on Accession
34.
Abdul Hamid Endeavours to Strengthen

own Position. Story of Midhat
.
V.
The Pacification of
Bulgaria
at San Stefano and Berlin

VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
his
.
4.7
Settled
as
...
Questions arising from Berlin Congress
60
81
....
107
Abdul Hamid's Relations with Foreign States
115
Abdul Hamid's Daily Life
Abdul Hamid's Relations with Egypt

Internal Administration of Empire
Part
Part
Part
Part
.124
Railways
.152
Turkish Public Debt
167
Army, Navy, Gendarmery
.183
IV.
Attack on
Churches
I.
II.
III.
Press
Espionage
L.A.H.
16
Revolution which places Abdul Hamid on
Throne
IV.
Christian
194
CONTENTS
CHAP.
XI.
XII.
Abdul Hamid's Treatment of Subject Races

Part
I.
Part
II.
Part
III.
In Crete
In Armenia
In Macedonia
Committee of Union and Progress.

tion.
Power
.....
.....
....
:
214
269
Revolu-
.......
Abdul Hamid deprived of Political
XIII.
Dethronement of Abdul Hamid
XIV.
Estimate of the Character of Abdul Hamid
Chronological Table
Index
205
.......
.
283
295
331
35 1
355
LIFE OF ABDUL
HAMID
PRELIMINARY
In what sense can Abdul Hamid be considered as
one of the Makers of the Nineteenth Century ?
His
work was destructive rather than constructive, but
destruction must often precede construction.
At the beginning of the last century Turkey
remained an armed camp.
still
The Moslem population
treated the Christians as rayahs, or cattle, who were not

and never could be entitled to the privileges of Believers.
Turkey's rulers knew
little of and cared little for Western

The
only opinion which they regarded
public opinion.
was that of the Moslems of the Empire, and especially
of the Capital.
Nevertheless there were already signs
of improvement in the public administration.
There
were fewer of the grosser forms of oppression and less

brutality during the first half of the nineteenth century
than in any period of the same length since the conquest
of Constantinople in 1453.
The history of the internal
development of Turkey
records changes during that period which were in the

direction of progress. The destruction of the Janissaries
by Mahmud II. in 1826 was the elimination of an element
which had prevented any kind of reform

during at least a century. The efforts of our Ambassador,
Mr. Canning, afterwards Lord Stratford de RedclifTe,
which continued during nearly forty years, were largely
directed to the regeneration of the Empire. A man of
clear insight, great pertinacity and statesman-like mind,
he saw that the great object to be accomplished for
making a homogeneous people of the various races under
Turkish rule was the substitution of religious equality
of disorder
L.A.H.
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
dominancy of the Turkish Moslems. After long

and quite extraordinary persistency he extorted from
the Sultan the Hatti-huma-yun which has often been
for the
Turkish people.
were constantly
violated throughout the Empire and even in the Capital
itself, but the placing of such a document on the Statute
Book led slowly but certainly in the direction of
obedience to its provisions. It was as sure a sign of
had been
progress as the granting of the Great Charter
to England. It was mainly due to Canning's influence
that, always with the idea of regenerating Turkey, the
Empire after the Crimean War was allowed to take rank
among the Great European Powers. In the years which
described as the
Magna Carta
of the
Its provisions regarding religious liberty
immediately followed, a series of able Ministers, of whom

Ali, Reshad, and Fuad Pashas were the most notable,
seemed to justify Canning's efforts and hopes. The
country was governed with a fair amount of success
The
on what may be called reformed Asiatic lines.
Sultans rarely interfered with their Ministers so long
as their wants and those of their harems were complied
with. The Ministers were the real rulers of the country.
Life and property were fairly safe. Turkey was indeed
Certain wellblundering her way out of barbarism.
marked steps towards improvement in Turkish administration had been taken during the first seventy years of
the nineteenth century.
Reform was in every one's
thoughts.
Even
made.
in reference to foreign affairs progress had been

Sobieski in 1683 relieved Vienna,
When John
the Turkish Empire had reached its zenith.

Every
succeeding generation from that date had seen a loss
of territory, and such diminution continued steadily
down to the accession of Abdul Hamid in 1876. It
must be noted, however, that during this period it was
the Moslem population, every member of which was a
soldier, which was the element which counted most and
indeed was the only element which counted in what
the world spoke of as the Turkish Empire. That element
had been even strengthened by
its
loss
of territory,
PRELIMINARY
by the elimination
of
what
to the Turkish military party
A dissatisfied Greece had

become independent. After the events in Bulgaria in
1
876, for which of course Abdul Hamid is not responsible,
Mr. Disraeli, speaking of them and of the Turkish
Provinces which were separated from the rule of the
were sources of weakness.
Sultan by the Congress of Berlin, boldly claimed that,

"
Turkey had gained an advantage by this consolidation."
Naturallv the word itself was much criticised at the
time and was often taken to have been used satirically
but it had an element of truth. Rumanians, Bulgarians,
Serbians, and other Christians were always, and justly,
The Turkish
a. dissatisfied portion of the population.
then
and
was
and
inferior
in
education
now,
population,
to
the
Christian.
It
was
inevitable
that
intelligence
such inferiority would bring about revolt and ultimately
One could well understand therefore
independence.
a friend of the Turkish people being satisfied with the
lopping off of the disaffected Provinces. It was by the
Moslems, and the Moslems alone including in the term
the Janissaries who, though of Christian birth, had
become Moslems that the Empire had come to its
greatest extent in 1683. The Moslem population after
1876 was larger in proportion to the total number of
Turkish subjects than before.
Moslem rulers were
therefore in a better situation to work out the salvation
of the country upon their own lines.
Then came Abdul Hamid, the greatest of the
destroyers of the Turkish Empire. One of the earliest
evils which he inflicted upon his country and race was
the destruction of government by Ministers.
Under
him the rule of the country became personal. He aimed
at making himself the sole ruler of the Empire.
From
the first he was jealous of any Minister who was either
;
eager in
making reforms,
or, indeed,
taking any steps
which had not previously met with his approval. Yet

in comparison with him many of his Ministers were
educated men according to the standard of European
culture.
According to such standard Abdul Hamid
himself was an uneducated man.
He endeavoured to
E 2
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
govern the country on what he considered were the

lines of the greatest of his predecessors and succeeded
In one of the worst
in copying only their barbarism.
his reign, one of the ablest of his Ministers
of
periods
remarked that if Abdul Hamid could be removed
better government could be secured for the Empire.
In reply to the question whether such a change would
be anything more than the substitution of one Sultan
for another the answer of the Minister was to claim that
the Ministers were superior in knowledge, experience and
and would probably get back

the government by Ministers instead of personal governThe contention could not be rightly disputed.
ment.
Even in the early portion of his reign Abdul Hamid's
attitude of suspicion made him distrust his own
Ministers. To hold different opinions from the Minister
was a recommendation in the Sultan's eyes for the
appointment of a man to the post of Assistant Minister.
Each of the two would act as a check, that is as a spy,
upon the other. In the later portion of his reign he
sought throughout to appoint creatures who had
proved their subserviency. Independent Ministers like
Edhem, Kiamil, and Kutchuk Said never held office
long. He indeed commenced his reign by destroying the
remarkable party of reformers who were headed by
Midhat Pasha, and, as will hereafter be shown, he pursued
the great reformer himself to death.
By destroying
government by Ministers and crushing out all attempts
at reform, he was weakening the strength of the Empire.
The Turks have never succeeded in the art of ruling
subject races. But no man less understood the statesmanlike way of treating them than did Abdul Hamid.
intelligence to their master,
Greeks and Armenians with occasionally Bulgarians

had sometimes risen previous to his reign to the highest
offices in the State, but at all times during the two
centuries previous to his accession Armenians and Greeks
had been largely employed in subordinate offices.
Turkish foreign affairs usually having to deal with
European, that is Christian, countries, the chief
employees under the Foreign Secretary had nearly
PRELIMINARY
Abdul Hamid
always been Greeks or Armenians.
endeavoured to supply their places with Moslems. Some
of these were good men of respectable ability and even
exceptional knowledge, but no one, who knows the
country, would venture to dispute the statement that the
mass of such employees could not compare in intelligence
and education with Christians in the same position.
When we pass from the official class to the treatment
of the masses of his Christian subjects, we meet with
Abdul Hamid's strange and almost inexplicable dislike
for all of them, which showed itself at times in a readiness
to deprive them of their liberty or even of their lives,
and at all times in an inaptitude to render them justice.
Such an attitude of mind was not altogether wanting
in some of his predecessors. Cantimer tells an interesting
story of an ignorant Sultan who wished to take from the
Christians of the Capital all the churches which they had
built after 1453, and to force upon them the alternative
of Islam or death.
The Grand Vizier at the time and
the Sheik-ul-Islam recognised that such act would be

hugely detrimental to the interest of the country. They
called the Orthodox Patriarch and with him concocted
a plan by which in presence of the Sultan they declared
"
that such acts were in violation of the

Sacred Law,"
and thus prevented the execution of the Sultan's foolish
Abdul Hamid, however, though he showed
designs.
hostility enough to the Christians to have entertained
a like design, had arrayed against him the common
sense and religious principles of the Ulema class. That
class could not save the Greeks and Armenians from
persecution, but they recognised the mischief of such
persecution and gradually ceased to support his designs,
and finally hailed the party of the Young Turks as
delivering the country from the rule of an unjust and
incompetent Sultan, under whom Turkey had lost all

moral power amongst the nations of the world, and had
seen the Empire which they inhabited largely diminished
in extent. Probably it. is safe to say that he had actually
destroyed the Turkish Empire in Europe and had
greatly imperilled its existence even in Asia Minor.
CHAPTER
BIRTH, PARENTAGE, ETC., OF
ABDUL HAMID
TURKISH
LAW OF SUCCESSION
Birth
of
Abdul Hamid
education
his
youth,
early
influences
and
digression on the Government of the Turks
the growth of the rule of succession to the
Ottoman throne
murder in Imperial family illustration

advantages and disadvantages of such rule.
child
of its results
Hamid II. was born on September 22,

and
was the second son of Abdul Mejid, who
1842,
Abdul
commenced
I ^6i.
Abdul
his reign in 1839, anc^ died
his elder brother Murad, who was
Hamid succeeded
dethroned on account of mental incapacity after a short

Abdul Hamid's mother was an
reign of a tew weeks.
Armenian who had become a Moslem and had been
a professional dancer in the service of Esme Sultana,
sister of Abdul Mejid.
By Ottoman law as applicable
to the Imperial family the son of any woman by the
reigning Sultan is regarded as legitimately born and
The popular
scandal amongst a section of the Turks that Abdul
Hamid's father was an Armenian in Abdul Mejid's
palace and other stories relating to his birth, may be
dismissed as probably apocryphal and largely due to
the fact that Abdul Hamid had an Armenian type of
face.
It is fair also to add that Abdul Hamid himself
always denied that his mother was of Armenian origin,
and that nothing offended him more than the suggestion
that he had Armenian blood in his veins. The story
was told of fourteen young men in the military school
entitled to be in the line of succession.
who were
exiled in 1906 or 1907 for having
composed
or joined in a song in which the Sultan was spoken of

as Bedros, the Armenian form of Petros or Peter. When
BIRTH AND YOUTH
Abdul Hamid's mother died
in 1849, he was entrusted

an elderly slave woman of the Imperial harem.
Upon her death shortly afterwards Peresto Hanum, the
fourth wife of Abdul Mejid, who had no child of her own,
undertook the charge of Abdul Hamid as the second son
of her husband. From all accounts she was an excellent
mother, and when Abdul Aziz was girt with the sword of
Osman in succession to her husband Abdul Mejid, the
widow devoted herself to the education of Prince Hamid.
to
Peresto Hanum bore the title of Valid a Sultana (the

Sultan Mother). Though of course never appearing in
society or visible to European men, she had a good
It was
reputation both in and out of the palace.
this
that
and
her
lady
adopted son,
currently reported
adoption being a practice legally recognised in Turkish

law, failed after a few months to get on well together.
We may disregard the court scandals on the subject
with the remark that before long she lost her influence
over Abdul Hamid and preferred to live at Nishantash
Abdul
rather than at Yildiz, his favourite residence.
Hamid has quite enough to answer for as a Sultan without credence being given to this kind of palace scandal.
His
Little is known of Abdul Hamid's childhood.
Abdul Mejid, who was of a kindly disposition, is

have stated that while he was at ease in reference
to his other children he saw little traces of anything good
in Abdul Hamid.
Armenius Vambery, the famous
traveller
who
knew him in the period of his
Hungarian
as
describes
him
youth,
pale, silent and melancholy,
of
the
being distrustful and cunning.
having
appearance
Little importance can be attached to the stories of an
Oriental palace, but such as exist suggest that he was not
fond of the companionship of other boys, and that
as he grew older his tendency to care nothing for companions increased until it developed into sulkiness and
largely estranged him from the other members of his
He had various teachers,
family, including his father.
whom
Kemal
Pasha was the most
amongst
probably
was a diligent
His
elder
brother
Murad
important.
scholar and eager to learn. Abdul Hamid was too selffather
said to
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
His teachers of French, Edhem Pasha,

afterwards Grand Vizier, Namyk Pasha and M. Gardet,
are said to have complained constantly of their pupil,
willed to learn.
who writes as Georges

Abdul Hamid remained
that
Dorys, says
he never acquired
which
own
his
of
language,
ignorant
with anything like accuracy. The same writer says
that the Valida Sultana of Abdul Aziz, named Pertevalla
Kadina, a fanatical old lady who was superstitious,
ambitious and an intriguante, liked the boy because
and an ex-employee
well
it is
of his
at Yildiz,
known
tendency to superstition, and because he already
enemy of the Christians

father and his elder brother Murad
This lady was fond of
liked to surround themselves.
witches and soothsayers and initiated Abdul Hamid
showed himself
with
whom
as the bitter
his
into the mysteries of magic and of astrology. One may

that he
readily believe the story that their predictions
would come to the throne of the Padishahs and would
have a
reign had an influence in the formation of
long
his character.
When
to Paris he took
in 1867 Sultan Abdul Aziz went

with him his two nephews and pro-
Murad and Abdul Hamid. The Sultan

was always accompanied by an interpreter, and Abdul
spective successors
Hamid pretended to be entirely ignorant of French,

while Murad joined in the conversation as far as his
knowledge of that language would allow him. It is
said that Napoleon the Third was much impressed by
the difference between the two brothers, that he was
charmed by the affable manners of Murad, and remarked
upon the
one
difference to
of the
most
Fuad Pasha, the Grand
intelligent
Vizier,
Turkish Ministers of his
generation.
Abdul Hamid during the lifetime of Abdul Aziz had

an allowance of 840 per month, and offended him by
The Sultan granted
piteously begging for a larger sum.
his request, but expressed himself with something like
The love of money, however,

disgust at the appeal.
it the tendency to extravagance, were always
characteristic of Abdul Hamid. On the other hand, he
was orderly and methodical in his payments and for a
and with
TURKISH LAW OF SUCCESSION
Before he came to the

prince made his money go far.
throne he carefully examined the accounts of expenditure,
sought out the best investments, and checked all tendency to waste in his gardens and farms. It is known
also that he speculated on the Exchange in Galata,
but although he had the means of knowing something
what was going on
in the Turkish financial world

were not large, though usually successful.
This was largely due to a well-known broker in Galata
who, after Abdul came to the throne, was often invited
of
his speculations
to the official dinners at Yildiz, to the disgust of foreign
ambassadors who would not have extended such an

honour to him in their own embassies.
The natural character of Abdul Hamid in his youth

did not give much promise that if he ever came to the
throne he would make a successful ruler. Never given
to study, distrustful of those around him, self-willed,
caring nothing for sport or anything else which required
out-of-door exercise, he went his own way.
Such
education as he received was of little value. He was
unfortunate in his training, but that was largely the fault
of the Turkish law of succession.
He was never permitted to take any part in public functions. He never
had the opportunity of royal princes in Christian
countries of becoming acquainted with public men.
It has rarely been the fashion in Turkey for those near
the throne to make themselves acquainted with the
Even the
history and politics of foreign countries.
of
Turkish
so
far
it can be
as
knowledge
history
acquired
from Turkish books is fragmentary and often misleading,
and Abdul Hamid had intelligence enough if he read
them to recognise their practical worthlessness. While
still a young man he
appears to have looked forward
to occupying the throne.
Only one life, that of his
elder brother Murad, stood between him and its possession after the death of Abdul Aziz, and without attaching importance to the many stories of intrigue by him
to be appointed Sultan, he probably recognised that
the health and habits of his elder brother would in the
natural course of events soon render the throne vacant.
io
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
Before continuing the story of Abdul Hamid's life

expedient to speak of the government of the Turks
and of the rule of succession to the Turkish throne.
The government of the Ottomans has always been a
military despotism. Upon their entry into Asia Minor
it is
Even if
they formed groups under military leaders.
their previous history had not led these groups to assume
a military character, their situation in Asia Minor
compelled them to such organisation. The Ottoman
They were
groups were in the midst of enemies.
for
and
settlement
amongst peoples
pasturage
struggling
who were quiet agriculturists or occupied in commerce,
and the new-comers were constantly engaged in the
attempt to seize the property of their neighbours.
Whether such groups are spoken of as bands of robbers
or as the founders of a nation matters little. In either
case necessity required that they should have a strong
or perish.
It is true that in their earlier
of
the group elected their chieftain,
the
members
stages
but as the group grew larger the practice became common
to establish or accept a rule of succession to the chieftainship. As for military purposes the group could not
tolerate that the succession should pass to a child or a
woman, the rule of succession became established among
the Ottomans, as indeed amongst most other Eastern
races, that the eldest male member of the family of the
founder chieftain should be the chief, or, as he soon
came to be called, the Sultan. That rule prevails to
the present day. It is easy to see that among a primitive
But from
fighting race it has much to recommend it.
its first establishment there were many
disadvantages
The Ottomans having accepted the
attending it.
religion of Mahomet, polygamy became lawful even if
the practice had not existed before the adoption of
The natural instinct of each wife led her to
Islam.
desire that her son should occupy the throne of his
father. It led her to intrigue in order to remove out of
the way of his succession all who had right by reason
chieftain,
of priority of birth.
familv became a
Hence
common
child
murder
occurrence.
in the
Imperial
before 1453, when Mahomet II. captured Constantinople, the practice in the Imperial family of killing
But Mahomet
off younger brothers had become general.
It conthe Conqueror himself legalised the practice.
tinued during the next two centuries. Turkish history
Even
from that day to a period within living
memory
is full
of
palace intrigues whose object was to get rid of claimants

to the throne, of struggles between brothers, of younger
brothers hidden away by their mothers, of cold-blooded
murders when they were caught, and of infanticide.

Infanticide indeed in the Imperial family was regarded
as a necessity.
By Turkish law all sons inherit
equally, and all sons of Moslem fathers, no matter what
the condition of the mother, are legitimate.
Every
mother whose child was living resented the birth of
possible competitors by other mothers. The result was
that infanticide in Turkish families where the husband
The fewer the children

amount to be divided
children.
Even now in Moslem Turkey
of infanticide is appallingly common.
It
was a polygamist was general.

of
the father, the larger the
amongst
his
the practice
was
in
consequence of popular opinion on the subject
that the law of
Mahomet
II. legalising
infanticide in the
Imperial family was regarded with favour
or
with
indifference.
One or two examples will serve as illustrations. On

the south side of Saint Sophia are three large mausoleums. In the middle one lies Sultan Murad III., who
died in 1 594. He left eighteen sons. The eldest ascended
the throne as Mahomet III.
At his accession all his
seventeen brothers were bowstrung. Their bodies lie
in the same mausoleum.
In 1 61 7 Sultan Ahmed died leaving several young
children.
Thereupon the Council of State formulated
the law of succession as it now exists. Up to that time,
though the practice was much as it is at the present,
more attention appears to have been paid to the wishes
of the deceased. The brother of Ahmed was proclaimed
Sultan under the name of Mustafa. From that time to
the present only two Sultans have succeeded their
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
12
IV. and the other Abdul

and of the present
Hamid
Abdul
Mejid, the father of
The
V.
practice of killing
reigning Sultan, Mahomet
fathers, one being
Mahomet
the memory of living

younger brothers ceased within
an excellent book
of
author
the
man. Colonel White,
in
Years
"Three
on Turkey called
Constantinople/'
notes that it was still in force during 1844, one of his
The incident which
years of residence in that capital.
the
to
an
end
to
Abdul
led
practice is pathetic.
put
Mejid
"
the
of
as
Mahmud II., spoken
Reformer," and one of
of
was
ever
who
Sultans
ablest
the
girt with the sword
off
Osman, was strongly attached to his daughter named

Mihr. She, knowing the existence of the terrible rule
by which her child would be killed, submitted herself
to an improper operation from which both she and her
unborn child died. Mahmud understood why she had
so submitted herself and was not only deeply grieved
but determined to make an end of the cruel practice.
Nevertheless the law remained unchanged. He died in
The incident
1839 and was succeeded by Abdul Mejid.
of the death of the Princess Mihr and of the grief of
Mahmud had become known in western Europe and to
Then
the various ambassadors in Constantinople.
another incident occurred which ended in the abolition
of the almost inexorable rule to kill off younger sons.
One of the sons of Abdul Me j id's sister, Ateya Sultana,
had been killed in conformity with the palace law.
When she was again pregnant her husband spent large
sums to buy off the hostility of the mothers of other
But when a son was born the jealousy of the
princes.
all
mothers of other princes of the new arrival was too
Abdul Mejid's permission was

strong to be resisted.
obtained, and the child was killed. The poor mother
went mad and in less than three months was buried
The incident created considerable
near her child.
interest in
England and France, and though rumour,
probably correct, speaks of other Imperial children who

have been murdered, their deaths have generally been
concealed.
The tendency
to keep the Sultan of
Turkey absolute
13
was probably
Janissaries.
intensified by the institution of the

Formed about the year 1355 by Sultan
Orchan, they had carried the Turkish
flag to victory in
hundred
fights.
They had become the great striking
force, the spear head of the Turkish Army.
They
"
soon constituted an
Imperium in Imperio" They
made and unmade Sultans. Though every man amongst
them was the son of Christian parents and though from
first to last
they rigorously excluded Moslems from their
ranks, their allegiance was always due to their Com-
mander-in-Chief, the Sultan himself.

They deposed
such commander when they found him incompetent,
but they would never allow any other body in the State
to do so.
They and he were absolute. They were an
army almost constantly in the field with the Commander
at their head.
A child Sultan would not have suited
them, and therefore when by tradition the succession
had to remain in a certain family the rule of succession
was as good as any that could have been formulated.
As soldiers they of course knew nothing of election, and
would not have tolerated it unless the election of their
Chief was left exclusively to them.
Whatever may have been the merits during an almost
constant period of warfare of the rule of Turkish succession, the demerits of such a system stand conspicuously forward in time of peace and are well illustrated
in the case of Abdul Hamid. It is not too much to say
that during the whole of the nineteenth century the
treatment by the reigning Sultan of the immediate or
second heir in succession to the throne was of a character
to prevent such successors from becoming good rulers.
The influence of Western public opinion after 1800
was not without a salutary effect on the Imperial family.
In former centuries the mistrusted heir would probably
have been killed. Respect for European opinion and
for that of the Ulema class had condemned this mode of
treating dangerous aspirants. Instead of murder, more
Murad was
or less strict internment was substituted.
He
had
no educaAbdul
Aziz.
secluded
Sultan
kept
by
tion in the Western sense of the word, nor any intellectual
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
amusement, and fell a prey to habits

and sensual luxury. Two months after his
accession he was deposed, and Abdul Hamid, his brother,
became Sultan. Murad was kept a prisoner by him in
the Cheragan Palace on the Bosporus, almost adjoining
interest or even
of idleness
the residence of his brother. He continued to live in

obscurity during the reign of Abdul Hamid until 1904.
The heir to the throne on Hamid's death was Reshad
All the three had been
Efrendi, the present Sultan.
debarred from intercourse with the outside world, and
their intelligence was in consequence cramped. Murad
was never allowed to leave his palace, was never permitted to receive visitors, and his residence was strictly
guarded on all sides by soldiers and spies. Reshad
experienced virtually similar treatment, and Abdul
Hamid had suffered from the same limitations.
If such treatment be compared with that which is
accorded to the heir to the throne of any European

country the contrast will show the folly of the Turkish
method and how inadequate it is to modern requireThe education of Edward VII. and of
ments.
V.
when each was Prince of Wales and
George
of the present Prince of Wales is one which tended to
fit them as much as human
training can fit a man to
the
the realm. Nor does the
in
occupy
highest position
of
the
heirs to the throne of
corresponding training
and
other
Austria
Russia, Germany,
European countries
differ.
Edward VII. had relieved the Royal Mother at
public functions for many years before her death.
In others he had been associated with her. He, like
his successor, had been at the universities.
Both had
met
with
statesmen,
constantly
foreign ambassadors,
and the best literary society that the empire afforded.
many
Both
travelled far from
England and had had oppor-
tunities of seeing foreign peoples and institutions. The

most careful preparation had been made by the reigning
Sovereign in question to give the most suitable education

to the heir to the throne.
Under such a system, the
longer the reigning Sovereign lived the better capacitated
did the heir become for the succession.
In Turkey, on
15
the contrary, the longer the reigning Sovereign lived the

more incapacitated was the Crown Prince.
It was under such a system that Abdul Hamid had
been trained. In earlier days it had led to much child
But it produced and continues to produce
murder.
other evil results. It is probably the worst plan which
could be devised for securing a competent Sultan.
It inspires and nourishes suspicion. The Sultan suspects
the Crown Prince, and is regarded as an enemy by the
When Sultan Abdul Aziz visited
heir to the throne.
in 1867 he brought with him, as we have seen,
both Murad and Abdul Hamid. They were possible
enemies who were not to be trusted to remain in Turkey
during his absence. The story told by a Turkish prince
England
was that while
in
England Abdul Hamid made two or
three attempts to conceal himself so that he should not

be compelled to return to Turkey. His attitude was
constantly one of fear, fear that he would be made
awav
with.
CHAPTER
II
CONDITION OF TURKEY ON ACCESSION OF ABDUL HAMID

Empire
course
in
of
disintegration
its
extent
internal
almost
influence
of
purely military ;
Janissaries; their destruction in 1826; improvements in
Army ; introduction of foreign officers ; Bashi Bazuks
organisation
Military and Naval Schools established ; civil organisation ;

condition of Turkish finances ; corruption in administration
administration
of
justice
Courts
of
the
Patri-
Commercial and other Codes and Courts of Law

Land Court ; public education
more advanced among
non-Moslem than Moslem communities ; railways and
roads
relations between Moslems and Christians
inarchates
dustries.
In endeavouring to sketch the condition of the

Turkish Empire on Abdul Hamid's accession it is convenient to consider
(1) Its extent,
and
(2) Its internal
organisation.
(1) In reference to its extent, the reader should never
forget that the Empire was in course of disintegration.
Its growth after the capture of
Constantinople in 1453
had been steady. The whole of the Balkan Peninsula

had passed under Ottoman rule. The Empire continued
to enlarge
its
territory until 1683.
After 1453 Belgrade,
Mohacz and Buda had witnessed the triumph of the

Crescent
the Crimea and another large district in
Southern Russia owned the sway of the Sultan. Every
;
country on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, from

to the Atlantic, recognised him as
Sovereign. Until
1683, when John Sobieski, King of Poland, compelled
the Turks to raise the siege of Vienna, Turkish
progress
Egypt
had continued almost unchecked.
Readers will recall

Macaulay's statement in the chapter on the condition
CONDITION OF TURKEY ON ACCESSION
17
England in 1685, that the first question asked of a

from the Continent was, what was the progress
made by the Grand Turk ? for Turkish advance had
become a serious menace to the States of Germany,
and created alarm among the peoples of France and
England. The relief of Vienna marked, however, the
of
traveller
zenith of Turkish rule. From that time to the present it

has been on the down grade. Two statements may be
made about its decline after that year. First, that each
succeeding generation saw a steady diminution of the
that
with few exceptions, Turkey

any portion of territory once lost. It
had indeed not seldom happened that portions of territory were re-captured by the Turks, but without excep-
Empire
second,
rarely regained
they were taken from her within a few years.

Without attempting to give the history of the disintegration of the Empire down to the end of the eighteenth
tion
century, the successful struggle of the Greeks for independence in its first thirty years of last century, the
semi-independence gained by Seibia and by the Prin-
will show how

between
become
had
strong the force of disintegration
1800 and 1850. Roughly speaking, Russia was the only
Power which was then regarded as persistently and
constantly hostile to Turkey. Great Britain and France
had arrived at the conclusion that the existence of the
Turkish Empire was necessary to preserve the European
balance of power, and the doctrine loudly proclaimed
in both these countries previous to, and during, the
Crimean War was that the integrity and independence
cipalities
of
Moldavia and Wallachia
necessary for the preservation of

Indeed, that war may be regarded
as an attempt to prevent the further disintegration of
the Ottoman Empire.
Even the battle of Navarino,
in which England and France took part with Russia
in destroying the Turkish fleet and thus largely contributing to the loss of Greece, was spoken of officially by
" an untoward event." But
the British Government as
the historical movement could not be long arrested.
The Conference of the representatives of the European
Turkey were
European peace.
of
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
Powers held at Constantinople in January, 1877, had

its immediate object the devising of means for
the better government of Serbia, Bulgaria, and other
European dominions of the Sultan, and of thus preventing atrocities like those which had been committed in
for
Bulgaria in the spring of the previous year. The desire

European Power was to prevent war, and that
which the representatives of all the Powers recognised
as its probable result, a further diminution of the
"
Empire. " We tried," said Lord Salisbury, the British
"
"
we
to save Turkey
(and the word
delegate,
" but she
applied to all the members of the Conference),
would not allow herself to be saved." War ensued,
the Principality of Bulgaria ceased to belong to the
Serbia became an independent kingdom
Empire
Wallachia and Moldavia became the Kingdom of
Rumania the independence of Montenegro was recognised
Bosnia and Herzegovina were handed over
for administrative purposes to Austria.
Cyprus was
surrendered to Great Britain for the same purpose.
Batum, Kars, and a portion of Turkish territory in
Asia Minor fell to Russia.
Thus, the disintegration of the Turkish Empire had
continued to go on steadily up to the second year of
of every
'
Abdul Hamid's
reign.
The Turkish Empire had become
a smaller one than any over which any of his predecessors

had ruled during four hundred years.
(2) The internal organisation of the Empire had
undergone curiously little change up to the accession of
Abdul Hamid.
lines.
It was based altogether and always upon

The Turks, meaning thereby the Moslem
the Christians had nothing to do with
military
element, for
warfare, constituted a nation in arms, where every
man formed part of a Militia. In times of war a levy
en masse could be called in which every man had to
render military service. We have elaborate and careful
descriptions of the organisation of the army and of
Turkish Civil Administration as they existed in the
seventeenth century and subsequently. Amongst English writers Paul
Rycaut gives the most careful and
19
elaborate account of the organisation of the Turkish

Army and people. He went to Turkey in 1661 as secre-
tary to Lord Winchelsea, Ambassador in Constantinople,

and after five years became British Consul at Smyrna
where he remained eleven years. His three works on
1
Turkey indicate him as a careful and trustworthy author.
An
account given by Sir James Porter, Ambassador in

Constantinople a century later, indicates but few changes,
so that at the opening of the nineteenth century the
organisation of the Turkish Army as described by
Rycaut shows but slight change.
The progress of Turkish arms from 1380 to 1683
had been enormously aided by the formation of the
The more closely Turkish
great corps of Janissaries.
history between those periods is examined, the more
vividly is the reader impressed with the influence
exerted upon the Empire by this remarkable body.
Their elaborate organisation had succeeded so well that
of
greatly influenced and increased the fighting value
an
in
arms.
the whole of the nation
They developed
in history.
esprit de corps almost without any analogy
Maritza in
of
the
battles
who
won
It was they
the great
were
1
Serbians
which
the
South
destroyed, and
37 1, in
of the north
the
Serbians
in
which
Kossovo-Pol in 1389
it
the striking victory at Varna in 1444

were conquered
wherein King Ladislaus was killed and the great Hun;
garian leader, John Hunyadis, suffered a crushing "defeat,
and it was they who

was gained by them
fresh,
"
and
invincible
completed the capture of
vigorous
Constantinople in 1453. At the capture of Belgrade
in 1521, in the battle of Mohacz in 1526, and at Buda
Pesth in 1541, they had still shown their prowess.
;
After 1683, though as a fighting force they continued

formidable, they developed a conservatism which
They
brought about their destruction.
had almost become lords over their masters. They
repeatedly demanded and often obtained the heads
ultimately
"
was
The most important, The present State of the Ottoman Empire,"

translated into French, Polish, and German.
Subsequently, he wrote a Con"
Turkish History," bringing it down from 1623 to 1677.
tinuation of Knolles'
1
LIFE OF
20
ABDUL HAMID
of Ministers ; they made and unmade Sultans.

Even
as late as 1807, they deposed Sultan III. and replaced
him by Mustapha. When in the following year, 1808,
Mahmud
girt with the sword of Osman the

But
a great reputation.
maintained
Janissaries
had
The
Ulema
ceased
to
be
they
generally popular.
objected to their constant interference with the succesII.
was
still
sion of Sultans, and regarded them as lax

followers of the Dervish Haji Bektash.
and
Mahometans
The civilian
awe of them.
portion of the population generally stood in

Their lawlessness even in the capital is almost incredible.
The English chaplain

he saw and learned
1830 in the streets
in Constantinople describes
what
the years between 1820 and

and bazaars of Constantinople :
in
Christians openly robbed, their houses even being taken

from them ; men killed for the mere lust of slaughter ;
a general disregard for the rights of civilians ; all these
abuses, largely brought about by the Janissaries, furnished an example which was imitated by other
troops.
It
was when they
Mahmud
resisted the military reforms of
death-struggle between him and

them began. A well-drilled body of gunners, trained
by Frenchmen, who had seen service in the Napoleonic
wars, learned European methods of fighting. Jealousy
that
the
soon existed between the representatives of the new

When therefore Mahmud
regime and the Janissaries.
desired to introduce European drill and especially
European
among them, they objected and

camp kettles, their usual signal for
artillery
over-turned their
short struggle began on the famous Hippo"

it is called in Turkish, the
At-Meidan,"
but the great barracks of the Janissaries being at a
distance of a mile and a half in a quarter known as the
Meat Market, or Et Meidan, those in revolt fled to their
headquarters in that place. Thereupon the new troops
of artillery, headed by a leader who hereafter became
known as Kara Gehenna, or Black Hell, surrounded the
revolt.
drome, or as
barracks.
one
for
struggle was
orders that the famous corps
The Sultan recognised that the
life.
He gave
21
should be disbanded.
Every Janissary who showed
was at once shot down.
the
barracks
outside
himself
A crowd of them rushed to attack the artillery under
Black Hell in a dense body and in a narrow street.
The renown of the famous corps was still such that many
of the troops loyal to Mahmud began to flee before the
When the rebels faced the cannon, by which
rush.
The cannon,
Black Hell himself stood, they halted.
missed
fire.
The Janisloaded
with
however,
grape,
saries rushed forward while Black Hell's own men began
to give way.
Discharging his pistol over the priming
it went off, and, doing terrible execution amongst the
A desperate
massed men, checked their advance.
to
The
rushed
their death
ensued.
Janissaries
struggle
"
with the cry on their lips of
Haji Bektash," the name
On
that
of their founder, and fought fiercely.
1826 six thousand Janissaries were slaughtered.
day
in
Their influence in the capital had been great because

retiring from active service, the Janissaries were
when
given positions as guardians, as personal attendants,

Indeed the word
and in other capacities of trust.
"
itself usually signified until well within
Janissary"
the memory of living men, not a fighting soldier but a
Attached to each Embassy and
soldier guardian.
Consulate were many whose habits of discipline made
them the faithful protectors of officials, or of their wives
or daughters, when they went out into the streets of
the city. The destruction of the Janissaries did much
to put an end to the individual insolence, tyranny and
oppression of the civil population by the soldiery.
After the slaughter of the Janissaries in 1826, Mahmud
introduced many changes in the Turkish Army to bring
Down to
into conformity with European armies.
the Crimean War, however, in spite of the adoption of
European military dress and drill, the army did not
it
an effective body. Its weak

and until the present time, has been its
This was recognised by Mahmud, as, indeed,
officers.
it had been by some of his predecessors.
Probably at
strike foreigners as being
point then,
the beginning of the last century not five per cent, of
LIFE OF
22
ABDUL HAMID
the officers could read their
knew no
other.
own
language, and they
Instruction, therefore,
in
military-
matters had to be obtained from foreigners, and there

was no period during the last century and a half in which
some foreign officers have not held high positions in
1
The remark applies equally to the navy and
Turkey.
The
navy, however, during the last three centuries
army.
has always played a very secondary part to the army.
Omar Pasha, a Prussian of origin, figured largely on
the Turkish side in the Crimean War, and British officers
since that war have usually been attached to the Turkish
Admiralty.
Besides
in
Turkey
the regular Turkish

until the accession of
has done at
all
there
existed
Abdul Hamid,
as there
Army
times in Turkish history, a large fighting

and ill-disciplined, known as Bashi-
rabble, ill-armed
Bazuks. These were always unpaid, and had to live on

the plunder of the country as they could. An attempt
was made to organise this rabble at the time of the
Crimean War, and regiments were formed of them
which were stationed at Gallipoli and at other important parts of the Empire under British and French
officers. The latest attempt to organise the Bashi-Bazuks
occurred under Abdul Hamid in 1877. Those who saw
regiments of them recognised a disorderly mob of
savage-looking men.
It was not until well after the Crimean
serious attempts were
made
War
that
to reorganise the Turkish
lines.
French officers remained in
such a purpose
others were invited from
France and remained in the country until about 1890.
The success of Germany in the Franco-German War of
1870 had turned the attention of the Sultan and his
army towards Berlin, and since 1880 German officers
Army on European
Turkey
for
have replaced Frenchmen as instructors and organisers

In like manner Englishmen were
of Turkish troops.
aid
in reorganising the fleet
Admiral Slade
chosen to
was followed by Admiral Hobart and Sir Henry Woods.
;
The
first
distinguished
of taking service in Turkey. The equally

Moltke, spent two years in such service.
Napoleon was desirous
German
soldier,
23
That they did not succeed in making the fleet efficient

was not their fault.
Sultan Abdul Mejid, who died in 1861, and who had
been Sultan during the Crimean War, recognised that
the Turkish
Army required properly-trained officers.

a
military school, known as the Harbie,
Accordingly
was established at Pancaldi, a suburb of the capital, for
their training.
During the last quarter of a century
the chief instructors have been Germans, the most
distinguished of them being General Von der Golz
Pasha who died in Turkish service in 1916. It is beyond
doubt that the modern Turkish military officer is superior
in
attainments to his predecessors.
Somewhat
the
improvements were attempted in

Imperial Navy. There also the great defect was
in its officers.
Lepanto
similar
It is true that since the great battle of

popular impression in Turkey was
in 1571 the
that while Allah had given power on land to believers

he had left that of the sea to infidels. Nevertheless in
the first half of last century the navy compared not
unfavourably with that of any other country. A naval
school or college was established in the time of xA.bdul
Mejid on the Island of Halki, where there were usually
two or three English instructors, some of them not undisJust as military students had been
tinguished men.
sent to France or Germany, so also, by permission of
the British Government, a few Turks were trained on
our ships at Greenwich or Woolwich. Indeed, on the
accession of Abdul Hamid, the Turkish Navy was
probably the third in number of ships and weight of

guns which was in existence.
Civil Organisation.
Military organisation always occupied the first place

accounts of Turkey. She was rightly thought of as
a nation in arms. Civil organisation was indeed closely
connected with military organisation. It was so even
in the time of the Janissaries. Amongst the thousands
of youths of Christian origin, careful selection was made,
and those whose natural aptitude seemed to fit them for
in
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
24
civil
administration,
for
finance,
or
for
diplomatic
were trained, always under members of their

own corps, for such services. The same connection
between military and civil service still remains, and
Turks in the Civil Service have nearly always been
trained as military men.
service,
When Abdul Hamid became Sultan, it was the

invariable rule. There was no regular gradation which
led to the office ; appointments went mainly by favour.
It was always well understood that such officers, while
entitled to a salary from the State, were allowed opportunities of increasing their remuneration by forced
It was
contributions from the people under them.
equally understood that they could sell the appointments to various offices in the districts over which they
As their appointments were often due to the
ruled.
favour of ladies of the harem, or of Pashas about the
reigning Sultan, they had, in order to retain the favour
of those who appointed them, to send contributions to
The good government of the Province,
the capital.
or division of the Province over which they presided,
depended entirely upon the honesty and discretion of
the Governor. If he kept well with the Palace, that is,
many cases, if he kept up his payments towards some

of the occupants, and prevented too many complaints
reaching the ears of the Sultan, his position was fairly
in
an indefinite time.
The stories told by
and Arabia of the period
between the Crimean War and the accession of Hamid,
tell a curiously unanimous tale of gross forms of exaction and corruption committed by officials. The crowds
of Moslem pilgrims who annually found their way to
Mecca and Medina, had to pay a heavy tax to Bedouin
tribes in the neighbourhood, which it was well known
would be shared between the Chiefs and the local
Governors. Until Abdul Hamid's accession little had
been done to diminish this form of exaction and corruption.
The sale of small offices under the Governor was
on the same lines. The head of a Department had had
to pay for his appointment, and it was natural that he
secure
for
travellers in Asia Minor, Syria,
25
would recover this payment by forced contributions

from those under him.
The finances of the Empire on the accession of Abdul
Hamid were in a hopeless condition. Turkey during the
Crimean War had learnt that she could borrow money
with facility from British and French capitalists, and
she soon profited by the lesson. Even during the war
she had borrowed large sums nominally for its expenses.
England and France having guaranteed the payment
of interest on the loan, it had become in those countries
She continued borrowing, the
money being largely squandered, especially by Abdul
a favourite investment.
predecessor of Abdul Hamid, in building

in providing positions for the favourites of
and
palaces
his large harem.
Shortly before the accession of Abdul Hamid a change
had been made which was a distinct improvement.
The Department of the Civil List was formed, meaning
thereby one whose duty it was to administer the
property belonging to the private domain of the Sultan
and to take over the management of the sums allotted
to him by the Central Government. This arrangement
Aziz,
the
tended
towards
the regularisation of the national

did not prevent Abdul Aziz or even Abdul
Hamid, from demanding and obtaining sums from the
public treasury, but it at least caused it to be known
when great sums which ought to have been employed
for the public service of the State, were abstracted for
In one respect indeed
the private use of the Palace.
the Civil List Department, which was under the direct
supervision of the Sultan, worked against the general
public interest. It had become the rule that the occupants of Crown Lands, meaning thereby lands which
the Sultan claimed as his own, should be free from taxation. The result in certain districts was that the keenest
peasants gradually took farms on such lands and were
freed not only from the illegitimate exactions of the
tax collectors, but from the legitimate taxations to which
other tenants were subject. The principal taxes were
tithes and an ad valorem duty of 8 per cent, on all
finance.
It
26
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
Tithes or dimes were collected on all the

produce of the country. The method of collection led
The collectorship
to great abuses, and to discontent.
of tithes was sold, sometimes openly, but more usually
by a private arrangement between the collector and the
A rich Moslem in many cases paid
local authority.
sums because the assessment of his
small
ridiculously
made
on a scale which all his neighbours
was
property
knew to be much below its real value. The unpopular
imports.
man, and Christians generally, paid much more than

the tenth permitted by law. If they objected they were
liable to suffer from the ill will of the tax collector.
The crops were not allowed to be gathered until he gave
his permission.
They might rot on the ground as in
cases
they did. In a hundred ways the peasants
many
were at his mercy. Many of them found a way of escape
by bribery.
The administration
of justice in Turkey continued

until about 1845 to be under the direction of the Sheikul-Islam who was assisted by many Ulema. The Sheik-
ul-Islam is the highest judicial functionary known to

the Sacred Law (or Sheriat) with functions recalling
those of the Lord Chancellor in pre-Reformation times.
The Ulema, if Islam were a church, might be correctly
described as its hierarchy. One Chief Judge presided
over the Courts dealing with matters arising in Asia,
and another with those in Elurope. Both, however, were
In each of these
subordinate to the Sheik-ul-Islam.
two great divisions there were a number of subordinate
judges, all chosen from or connected with the Ulema.
Questions regarding the ownership of land were included
The
in the jurisdiction of all the judges mentioned.
law administered was that of the Sheri, that is, Moslem
Sacred Law. Its highest source was the Koran other
sacred or semi-sacred books furnished the Traditions
and the Commentaries of the contemporary or immediate
followers of the Prophet. The early Moslems had found
in the Empire the wonderful collection of law contained
in the Institutes of Justinian, in his Pandects, his Novels
and Edicts, and while the Caliphate existed at Bagdad,
;
27
great masses of these legal treatises were taken over and

became Islamic law. Forgetting for awhile the prejudices which soon separated the Moslems from the
Christians, and questions turning upon religious matters,
the law and even its administration in these early Courts
did not leave much ground for complaint. It is indeed
a wonderful testimony to the lucidity of the great legal

writers of the sixth century that their works should
have continued to be operative down to the present day
with few changes.
The Turks recognised from the first that there were

inherent differences between the religions of Islam and
Christ which made it desirable that Christians should
have their own Courts and their own law. Christian
Courts connected with the Patriarchates had jurisdiction
over the members of their own community, in everything relating to matters of legitimacy, dowry, marriage,
divorce, and testamentary succession, indeed in evervthing relating to what jurists understand by the term
Personal Statute. The jurisdiction of Christian Courts
came to be spoken of as " Privileges," but it may be
doubted whether the Turks so regarded them during
the first three centuries after the capture of ConstantiMoslems did not wish to be troubled with
nople.
quarrels among non-Moslems, who must manage these
Moslems were not going
matters among themselves.
to extend the privileges of Islamic believers to infidels
"
or even to Christians and Jews, the
Children of the
Books." About the time of the Crimean War, however,
Moslems as well as Christians came to regard the
jurisdiction of the Patriarchs and other Christian
authorities as privileges, and from that day to the
present there has always been a tendency amongst the
Turks to encroach upon them, a tendency which showed
its fullest development amongst some of the Chauvinists
of the Young Turk Party, who declared that as the
Revolution had proclaimed the equality of all Ottoman

subjects, there could be no question of 4 privileges.
Needless to say that this view was not generally
adopted.
On
the
accession
of
Abdul Hamid these
LIFE OF
28
privileges of the
ABDUL HAMID
non-Moslem communities were
in full
force.
Meantime, and especially during the first half of last

century, a series of questions had arisen with which the
Sacred Courts were incompetent to deal. The development of commerce with its bills of exchange, laws of
marine insurance, and a dozen other subjects, belonged
to a condition of society widely different from that
which had existed among the early Moslems or even
under Justinian, and, urged by the various Embassies
representing the commercial world in Europe and
supported by a series of able Grand Viziers, reforms
were made in Turkish Civil and Commercial Law and
new Courts were established which had no connection
with the Sheri or Sacred Law. The new laws were
framed after the Crimean War in the form of Codes.
The Commercial and Civil Codes were taken largely
and often textually from the Code Napoleon and other
French laws. A Commercial Court was established at
Constantinople, known as the Tidjaret, with branches
One of its divisions dealt

throughout the Empire.
with
between
Ottoman subjects and
cases
exclusively
and
is known as a Mixed Court.
These
foreigners,
Codes and Courts, though certain modifications had
been made, since their establishment, had come to be
in full working order just about the time of the accession
of
Abdul Hamid.
About the same period a Criminal Code was formed
after the French model, but introducing many provisions

from the Turkish Mejella, a compilation of Moslem law
from various sources.
With
ing
of
reference to the ownership of land, it is deservmention that Turkey has preserved the old
No private
Byzantine system of registration of titles.
papers between parties prove the validity of titles to
land. The true Title Deed, or Hodjet, is the entry in the
official Register of Transfer, or a certified copy of such
entry.
The system, which is still in force, is simple and

The buyer and seller present themselves
the Land Court which causes search to be made in
effectual.
before
29
the Register for the last transfer of the property in

If it be found inscribed in the name of the
person who presents himself as seller, he is asked after
question.
proving his identity whether he has sold the property

and if so, to whom, and for what sum. The
buyer is then asked whether he has bought it and
whether he has paid the price. Upon his answering
and upon the seller stating that he has received payment, an entry is carefully made in the land Register,
which is read over to both parties, signed by them, and
their signature is witnessed by half a dozen prominent
in question,
members of the Court.

There was indeed little
fault to be found with Turkish

law as it existed on the accession of Abdul Hamid. But
even then it was in its administration that the Turk
made a dismal failure. Substantially the law remains
There was already general
unchanged since then.
complaint throughout the country of corruption in

the administration of justice. Judges were then, as now,
ill-paid, and their salaries were frequently months in
arrears.
Popular opinion
constantly
asslumed that
decisions were bought.

Coupled with this statement,
the observation of Bentham that it is of more importance
that justice should seem to be administered impartially

than that it should be so administered, and the failure
of Turkish
Law
Courts
manifest.
destitute of traditions of a
of
Our fathers established
administration
pure
justice.
an Assize system, and for centuries have surrounded
the Judges who go on circuit with all the paraphernalia
necessary to show that they represented the Sovereign.
is
Turkey was absolutely
The ill-paid Turkish Judge had no such official dignity

awarded him, and whether his decisions were just or not,
he acquired no honour or dignity from his position. In
these respects no improvement had been made on the
accession of Abdul Hamid over the conditions which
had prevailed a century earlier.
On Abdul Hamid's
accession nothing worthy of the

It is true that attached
name of public education existed.
LIFE OF
30
ABDUL HAMID
to some of the mosques were schools in which reading

and writing in Turkish were taught, but they were
sparsely attended and the attempts at teaching were
crude.
The non-Moslems had already given much
more attention to the subject. The Jews had excellent
mission schools in the capital, in Smyrna, and in Salonika.
Some were under the management of L' Alliance Israelite,
but the most successful were under the control of the
Presbyterian Church of Scotland and of the Anglican
Mission to Jews. These bodies had already succeeded
No
raising the general status of Jewish women.
of
education
for
advancement
the
efforts, however,
in
at the time of the accession of
Abdul Hamid were
remarkable as those made by the Armenians.
so
In every
Church belonging to that nationality there was a Sunday

school attended by boys and men, who were instructed
in reading and writing. The Greeks were not less attentive to the educational wants of their children. Stimulated by the example of Robert College, a great American
institution which has rendered invaluable services,
especially to Christian boys of the Empire, the Greeks
established a kindred institution in the Island of Halki
which in 1876 was already a flourishing establishment,
and were already thinking of a scheme for the education
of Greek children throughout the country.
It should
not be forgotten that both Greeks and Armenians

have an advantage over the Turks in the greater simplicity of their written characters. It was rare to meet
with a Greek, man or woman, who did not know how
to read and write in his own language.
It was almost
unknown
to find a
Turk outside
officialdom
who
could
An attempt had
already been commenced by

the Government to establish a Secondary School in
which French should be the medium of instruction, but
do
so.
this in
1876 was languishing though undoubtedly doing
useful work.
In the great towns but especially in the capital a

few newspapers were in existence. There were only two
in Turkish. There were probably half a dozen in Greek,
31
and at least three in Armenian. The difficulty of writing

in Turkish characters was illustrated by the fact that
both Greek and Armenian newspapers existed in which
the language was Turkish, but the characters employed
were either Greek or Armenian.
There was no railway connection with any other
State. 1 Hardlv any ordinary road was in working order
with the exception of one between Beyrout and Damascus, which had been formed by and belonged to a French
company. The tracks which served as roads followed
the course of those constructed in the time of the Greek
Empire, but the bridges had been broken down and
were rarely repaired. Both roads and bridges were in
such a condition that they were constantly avoided by
travellers.
The means
of transport for the
peasants
were miserable, with the result that while profusion

existed in one district, famine prevailed in another not
many
miles distant.
In the towns watchmen were appointed whose particular duty was to give alarm in case of fire.
Local
"
"
few
but
existed,
police known as
zaptiehs
persons
had confidence
in their ability or trustworthiness.
gendarmerie had not yet been thought
of.
Happily
the great
body of the inhabitants of Turkey,
Christians and Moslems, were an orderly people, a
fact which was probably due to some extent to the
presence everywhere of men who had served in the
army.
Considering the large number of non-Moslems in the
country, it is remarkable how well the professors of the
two faiths generally got on together. The Moslem
always has a tendency to be insolent towards his Christian neighbours.
He can never divest himself of the
notion that he has a divine right to be dominant. The
Christians accepted the fact that it was necessary for
them to be subservient and, except when religious
fanaticism was called into play by exceptional circumstances, there were few disturbances between them.
1
In a subsequent chapter, railways wholly or partially constructed
mentioned.
will
be
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
32
Fanaticism was latent and was never altogether absent.

If a wealthy Moslem chose to take a fancy to a Christian
woman
or girl, as often happened, the parents would

have to give her up, and usually found it expedient to
make no trouble about it. Even in cases where an
unprincipled Moslem would refuse to pay what everybody knew to be a just debt towards a Christian, he
would often have the support of his co-religionists and
no redress was possible in a Court of Law. These,
however, were exceptional cases and a general desire for
a peaceful life did much to check the outbreaks of
fanaticism.
The people over whom Abdul Hamid was
called
to reign were, speaking generally, easily governed.

Three-fourths of them at least were agriculturists who
upon
wished only to live in security. Their earnings and their

wants were alike small. Throughout Asia Minor and
to a large extent in the European Provinces peasant
proprietorship was the rule. The old system of Derry
Beys had ceased to exist. In the villages silver money
and gold was almost unknown. In

Bulgaria and Macedonia, Village Communities existed
on similar lines to those of the Mir in Russia and the
In Macedonia, in a
Indian Village Communities.
and
in
the
Kurdish
districts of Asia
of
Serbia,
portion
held
Moslem
Minor,
lordship over Christian
proprietors
had
of
whom
tenants, many
accepted this position in
order to protect themselves from other chiefs.
was
rarely seen
except of a primitive character hardly

existed, though nearly everywhere peasant women
made woollen or cotton yarn and knitted it into socks
and other garments. Bulgaria, however, was already
Industries
making a species of frieze and of cloth resembling tweed

with which even then the Turkish Army was beginning
to be clothed.
Throughout the whole length of Asia
Minor carpet making found occupation for hundreds
of peasants. Steam had not yet been applied in Turkey
to any industry except that of grinding grain. External
trade and commerce were in the hands of foreigners,
but throughout the whole extent of the Empire except-
33
internal trade, as represented by shoprun

was
by the Christian subjects of the Sultan.
keeping,
It was rare even in villages otherwise exclusively Moslem
that the village shop was kept by a Turk. While it is
true that the population generally was law-abiding,
were
great movements had already commenced which
ing
Arabia,
development under the new Sultan.

The Empire, or such of it as remained under the rule of
the Ottoman Turks, was in a transition stage. The Turk,
with his immobility, with the resignation which his
into fatalism,
religion and traditions had transformed
his Christian
with
and with his ignorance in comparison
of Turkish
to
the
difficulties
fellow-subjects, due partly
to receive their full
The Christian,
script, was unwilling to make any change.
for
with his desire
education, already aspired to greater
prosperity.
It
was
inevitable
that
struggles between the two opposing
there
forces.
should be
The time
required a ruler possessed of statesmanship. The great

question before him was how to govern subject races.
The tradition for five centuries of such rule was to put
down any sign of revolt by massacre. It remained
to be seen whether Abdul Hamid could depart from that
tradition
and could learn the lesson
subjects with
L.A.H.
justice.
of treating all his
CHAPTER
III
REVOLUTION WHICH PLACES ABDUL HAMID ON THRONE

Midhat Pasha and of a
opposed by Sultan Abdul Aziz,
who is deposed by Midhat and Hussein Avni, Minister of
War Midhat advocates religious equality between Moslems
and Christians Hussein Avni killed Midhat's proposal
accepted; Sultan Murad becomes insane and is deposed;
Abdul Hamid succeeds to throne.
Revolution in Constantinople
party favouring reform
rise of
It was during the stirring events of the spring of 1876

that the name of Abdul Hamid first came into general
notice.
Sultan Abdul Aziz was then reigning and was
not generally unpopular, though his extravagance
alarmed his Ministers. His extravagance took the form
principally of building sumptuous palaces and of
keeping a large harem, but neither of these is a form
of extravagance which would tend to make the ruler of
an Eastern race unpopular. A more genuine cause of
unpopularity among thoughtful Turks existed in his
After
being opposed to reforms on European lines.
the Crimean War a number of able men, of whom Ali
and Fuad were the most prominent, conceived the idea
that Turkey's future advancement depended upon her
progress on such lines.
The Rise of Midhat Pasha and a Reform

Party.
In 1875-6, when the populations of Serbia, Bosnia,
Herzegovina, and Bulgaria had become restive and
resisted the ordinary oppression exercised by the
Pashas from Constantinople, the Ministers who had
ideas of better government both for the benefit of the
people and the country came naturally though slowly
REVOLUTION ENTHRONES ABDUL HAMID
35
The most prominent among them was

Midhat Pasha. At [a period a little earlier he had been
Vali of the Danubian province, which included Bulgaria, and had succeeded fairly well in maintaining order,
to the front.
but without showing any indication of a desire for reform,

especially for the most necessary reform in Bulgaria,
and
that of doing justice to the Christian population. Indeed,

the stories told of him in that province show him to
have had crude ideas of establishing equality between
Christians and Moslems. A conversation which he had
who then lived in Bulgaria, gives an

indication of his insight at that period. He stated that
he was informed that a Bulgarian or a Greek boy
could learn to read and write in his own language in a
with an American,
year, and, even though he were a dullard, in two years,

"
" one of
our boys takes three or four
whereas," said he,
in
order
to
stumble
years
through a page of Turkish."
This he considered unfair. He declared that, if he could,

he would prohibit the teaching of Greek and Bulgarian
in the schools and limit the teaching of
language to
Turkish.
When he came to Constantinople he was made
President of the Council, then sent by Ali Pasha, the
Grand Vizier, to Bagdad. Next, on Ali's death he was
ordered to Adrianople. He refused to go until he had
had an audience with the Sultan. He got his audience,
and the Grand Vizier was dismissed the following
day.
He was now generally regarded as the head of a party

which sought to effect reforms in the Administration.
All the influence of the Sultan's harem and of the
corrupt
officials was, however, brought against him
and the
Sultan named Mahmud Pasha, of whom Midhat had
;
complained, to be again Grand Vizier.

Finding that he could do nothing either as Grand
Vizier or as President of the Council, he threw
up his
a
and
almost
unknown
dangerous
post
procedure
which greatly offended Abdul Aziz and declared he
would no longer take office as Minister. He went further
and presented a report to the Palace in which he warned
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
36
the Sultan that he was " drifting to the

verge of an
like
he
to
his farm.
retired
abyss." Then,
Cincinnatus,
this time his opinions had developed. He was
and
under his guidance the reforming party,
growing,
of which he soon came to be considered the head, matured
a project of reform.
About November or December,
During
1875, the idea of a Constitution containing provisions

Chamber seems to have been entertained for the first time in Turkey. Upwards of a year
for a deliberative
afterwards Midhat called upon Sir Henry Elliot, the

British Ambassador, and explained his views on the
subject, views, however, with the general tenor of which
Sir Henry states that he was already acquainted.
Midhat especially wanted to control the Palace
expenditure, to make Ministers responsible for it and
other expenditure to a national popular assembly. To
this end, for the first time, he expressed his wish to place
Christians and Moslems on an equality. Hitherto his
desire appeared to be to improve Turkish government
by constituting an oligarchy composed of Ministers,

the leading Ulema, and a Council of State presided over
by the Sultan. But he recognised the difficulty of finding
men untrammelled by
As
his ideas of political
the traditions of Turkish rule.

reform developed he, with his
friends, desired a broader basis than the contemplated
They sincerely desired to

oligarchy would furnish.
reforms which should benefit all sections of the
community. They recognised that the great obstacle
in their way was Abdul Aziz himself. He was the type
of ruler who would tolerate anything for a quiet life
effect
except change.
Midhat by natural temperament was all in favour

and when the troubles began in Serbia and
the
remedy of reform for their restlessness
Bulgaria,
of activity,
came naturally
to the
front.
The great supporters
of the reform party were the Ulema and the theological

students, or Softas, who were under their influence.
Speaking generally, the Ulema during the last century

proved themselves the most enlightened class among
The Softas in 1876 were enthusiastic.
the Moslems.

No doubt
these young
men and boys were
easily
37
moved
but their youthful

political demonstration,
enthusiasm was due as much to a genuine belief in the
that most of
necessity for reform as to the knowledge
their elders and religious teachers sympathised with
make
to
them.
A significant incident
son of
occurred on
May
10, 1876,
when
Yussuf Izzedin, the eldest

the Sultan, demanding that he should return
crowd
of Softas stopped
and ask for the dismissal of Mahmud, the

Both were
Vizier, and of the Sheik-ul-Islam.
dismissed. Mehmed Rushdi, a responsible and popular
man who insisted upon having Midhat as colleague,
to his father
Grand
took Mahmud's place.
Deposition of Sultan Abdul Aziz

becomes Sultan.
Murad
the
feeling, however, became general amongst
be
could
no
reforms
that
in
class
Constantinople
ruling
obtained from Abdul Aziz, and a movement, begun in
The
instance amongst a few but soon taken up

to dethrone him.
generallv, commenced in order
When this change was decided on, the question arose
as to who was to be his successor. In accordance with
Ottoman law, the heir to the throne on the death or
the eldest male of
deposition of Abdul Aziz was Murad,
of
Abdul
the Imperial family, and the son
Mejid. There
the
first
were serious objections, however, to his appointment,

for already he had shown signs of mental aberration, and
his addiction to alcohol in various forms was so notorious
as to shock all good Moslems. The Ulema were consulted
as to whether the strict order of succession might not be
set aside, and whether the brother of Murad, Abdul
Hamid, could not be appointed in his place. But the
have
judges of the Sacred Court were, as indeed they
conscientious
the
last
been
half-century,
during
usually
men, devoted to the prescripts of their own law, and
1
by
Yussuf Izzedin died in January, 1916, either by his own hand, as alleged
the Turkish Government, or, as popularly asserted, by assassination.
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
38
showed no tendency to adopt the suggestion. There

was undoubtedly a party strongly in favour of the
appointment of Abdul Hamid, but it was small. It
was further suggested that Abdul Hamid should be
named regent, but the general belief was that he had
been sounded and refused to accept anything less than
appointment as Sultan. Accordingly on May 30,
1
1876, Abdul Aziz was deposed, and Murad, his nephew,
was proclaimed Sultan. A small detachment of the army
and the Turkish fleet, under the guidance of Midhat
and Hussein Avni, the Minister of War, accomplished
the deposition. Both of them ran great risks, for failure
would have cost them their heads.
The announcement of the deposition was received
with general satisfaction
the press had been worked
and all means taken for weeks before in order to let it
be known that Prince Murad was a reformer. The news
his
reached the British public before
it
reached Downing
Street. 2
England and France welcomed the change because

they still clung to the idea that the independence and
integrity of Turkey could be secured if only the Government would persist in introducing internal reforms.
Those who have seen the entire failure of the Western
Powers to induce Turkey to reform on practical lines
are apt to lose sight of the honest desire and longcontinued efforts of England and France to urge her to
get rid of the abuses which barred her progress. The
statesmen of London and Paris, as well as their ambassadors in Constantinople, desired a strong Turkey and
were well aware that for two centuries she had been
getting weaker.
They
believed that a constitutional
government was essential to the progress of any race,

and that Turkey could not be strong with its absolute
government. Above all, they held the faith that, with a
large portion of the population hostile to Moslem rule,
Few things
it was necessary to grant religious equality.
are
more pathetic than the noble and persistent

1
2
See note 2 at end of chapter.

See note 3 at end of chapter.
efforts
39
Stratford Canning, afterwards Lord Stratford de

RedclifTe, to bring about religious liberty, even though
In this he was
religious equality were not possible.
his
French
He considered
supported by
colleagues.
it the
of
life when he succeeded in obtainhis
triumph
With a flourish of many
ing the Hatti-Humayun.
of
trumpets and self-gratulatory proclamations, the issue

of the famous Hatt was hailed by the Christian
population and by the reform section among the Moslems.
But although
was actually proclaimed,

the
it
was
yet throughout
country
generally disregarded.
An illustrative story may be given from Canning's
Life.
He heard of a Moslem who had become Christian
and who was on his trial. Such an act was by the Sacred
Law of the Sheriat a criminal offence. But although
the Hatti-Humayun had been proclaimed, Canning knew
that
religious equality
many had been
changed
their faith.
quietly put to death for having

In the instance in question he
hastened to the Sultan with his dragoman, Mr. Pisani,

to inform him that this man was either sentenced or
about to be sentenced to death, and that such a violation
of the famous Hatt could not be tolerated. The Sultan
promised to make inquiries. Canning mistrusted the
Sultan and knew that time pressed, for as soon as it
was known that he had made representations to the
Sultan the execution would take place forthwith.
He
therefore declined to leave the palace until he had the
actual order for the release and surrender of the man to
him in his possession. He succeeded in saving the
intended victim, but many instances occurred during
the reign of Abdul Aziz where Moslems who had changed
their religion were quietly made away with.
While the ambassadors of the great Western Powers
followed the reform party which deposed Abdul Aziz
and placed Murad on the throne, Russia saw in the
change a blow against her influence. Her ambassador
at that time at Constantinople was General Ignatiev,
a man of great determination and intelligence. It was
due largely to his influence that after the Crimean War
the Russian party in Constantinople recovered its
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
40
amongst the Turks. When therefore Abdul

Aziz was deposed, popular sentiment in Constantinople
regarded the deposition as a triumph of Anglo-French
diplomacy over that of Russia. This was supposed to
be represented by a marked hostility between Sir Henry
Elliot, the British Ambassador, and General Ignatiev.
influence
Meantime every week after Murad had been proclaimed

Sultan his mental aberration seems to have been more
His malady was greatly exaggerated by
champagne and cognac. Midhat, who
at that time was only a Minister without portfolio,
took the lead in public affairs by virtue of his persistency.
Seeing the condition of the Sultan, he suggested the
pronounced.
his addiction to
idea of his temporary abdication during his period of

Once more the chiefs of the Ulema were conillness.
sulted. They objected to a regency and declared that
he could not be legally deposed.

Even if he were
certified to be non compos mentis, his dethronement
could only take place at the expiry of a full year. Midhat
was dissatisfied with the reply and was eager to place
Murad's brother, Abdul Hamid, on the throne. As the
days passed the malady of Murad grew worse. The

suicide of Abdul Aziz, which occurred a few days after
his deposition, was a terrible shock to a man whose
and this shock was
nerves were already shattered
increased by a letter which his uncle, the deposed Sultan,
;
to him the day after his deposition. He was

to be admitted to be girded with the sword of
Osman, the ceremony which corresponds to coronation,
had written
too
ill
and, under one pretext or another, the act of investiture
was delayed.
On June
shook
his
an event happened which still further

While the Ministers,
tottering reason.
15
Mehmed
Rushdi, the Grand Vizier, Hairulla Effendi,

the Sheik-ul-Islam, and Hussein, Minister of War, and
two others, were quietly seated in a house in Stamboul,
a Circassian soldier named Cherkess Hassan, a brother
of one of the ladies of the harem of the deposed Sultan,
rushed into the room armed with no less than six
revolvers,
and
fired at
everybody, killing the Minister
41
War and wounding two other Ministers. He had

"
maddened himself with
bang," or Indian hemp.
Cherkess Hassan was publicly hanged the day after his
mad act. The incident increased the malady of the
Sultan and to some extent augmented the strength of
of
who were opposed to all reforms, but all

soon recognised that it was necessary to have a new
the old Turks
Sultan.
Midhat was steadily

illness of Murad he
the
when
and
during
increasing
not only
produced a project of reform, it had the support
During
this period the influence of

;
the Christians connected with the administration,

but of the reforming section among the Moslems. He
had come at length to recognise that the first reform
of all other needful
necessary, and indeed the sum
reforms in the country, was the establishment of equality
His project was
of religion.
irrespective of difference
enunciated
nominally the consummation of the principles
in a large
forward
it
in the Hatti-Humayun, but to put
a
it
scheme of reform was to give
publicity throughout
the country which it had never before possessed. The
the principle of
objection which had been made to
of
the Hatti-Humayun was

equality on the publication of
sections of the Sacred
certain
with
that it might conflict
of
the Sheriat Law was
Law. Accordingly this portion
were to be
Christians
to be regarded as inapplicable.
and
all
the
admitted to nearly
positions in the
dignities
A supplementary and short code was
to be added
The project deserves
to be connected with Midhat's name because its existence and promulgation were mainly due to his foresight
State.
to that of the
Code Napoleon.
and persistency. After discussing it with the Ministers

and the leading Ulema he submitted it to the Great
Council of the Empire, which met at the Sheik-ulIslam's palace, and in which Ministers and many
The Council finally accepted^ the

to have been submitted|to
then
stated
project.
the Crown Prince, Abdul Hamid, who promised^to accept
The
it in its entirety should he come to the throne.
the
Conform
did
not
so
actually
accepted
project
notables took part.
It is
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
42
stitution
which was subsequently accepted and became
law, but it contained all its essential principles. Midhat

often consulted with Abdul Hamid, who at that time
professed to be entirely with the reformers, and, according
to Midhat's son, promised to grant more concessions in
the direction of liberal reform than were contained in
the project.
Midhat and his fellow-reformers had,
however, no intention of allowing the public to be aware
of their designs. Meetings for discussion were forbidden,
and the Press Bureau forbade the publication of any news
regarding the proposed change.
Poor Murad got worse instead of better under the
treatment of Dr. Capolini, on whom some discredit was

thrown, probably unjustly, by his refusal to permit
other medical men to see his patient.
The Valida
Sultana, the mother of Murad, sent to Vienna and
obtained the services of a celebrated professor of

medicine at that date, Dr. Leidesdorrr".
While this
action was resented by Capolini, it is asserted that the
Viennese specialist also disapproved of the treatment
to which his colleague had submitted the Sultan. When
he returned to Vienna he expressed his opinion that the
illness of Murad was incurable, probably a hasty decision,
which was much criticised at the time, and which was

proved to be unfounded by the subsequent recovery
of Murad. It was at this period, when probably all the
Ministers had agreed with Midhat that it was necessary
to depose the Sultan, that the proposal was made once
more to Abdul Hamid to become regent. He again
declined.
When
was arranged
some of the
must elapse
between the declaration that the Sultan was incapable
and his deposition. It is said that it was in compliance
with the objection so raised that Midhat induced or
compelled Abdul Hamid, the Crown Prince, to give
him a declaration in writing by which he bound himself
all
Ulema once more
for the deposition
insisted that a full year
when such brother

obscurity hangs about this matter.
uncertain that such paper was ever
to abdicate in favour of his brother
recovered.
First of
all,
Much
it
is
43
given, though the belief almost universally entertained

among the Turks is that there was such a document.
It was believed to have been taken possession of by
Midhat and to have been deposited for safe keeping in
After the trial and condemnation of Midhat

be
(to
subsequently mentioned) his house and all the
contents were burned, and it was believed by many
that amongst such contents was the declaration of Abdul
Hamid. Another story was to the effect that the
declaration was given to the Minister of Marine who
London.
was
in
power when Abdul Hamid was proclaimed and
under
whom
tion.
He remained
the fleet took a leading part in the deposiin office until his death about 1905,
and was the only Minister who had continued uninterruptedly to be in the Sultan's favour. The stories told
of him point to his fearlessness of anything that Abdul
Hamid could do. It is said that the Sultan on one
occasion sent to say that he had learned that the
Minister had received 200,000 as bakshish. The reply
of the Minister was that he had received 300,000, and
nothing more was heard of the matter. He was a bluff
old sailor and undoubtedly made a large fortune out
of his position as Minister of Marine.
But the reason
most commonly assigned for his being the only one whom
Abdul Hamid had not dismissed was that he either had
the document in question or knew where it was deposited
with orders for its publication in case of his death by
violence, and therefore it did not suit Abdul Hamid
to get rid of him.
MURAD DEPOSED
ABDUL HaMID BECOMES SULTAN.
Meantime everything had been arranged
for
the
had at
the necessary fetva

deposition of Murad
length been obtained from the Court of the Sheik-ulIslam, and on Thursday, August 31, 1876, Abdul Hamid
left the house of Peresta Hanum, the lady who had
adopted him, and, accompanied by the Minister of War
1
and
hundred and
1
fifty soldiers
on horseback, at
See note at end of chapter.
half-
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
44
past eight in the morning arrived at the Imperial Palace

at Stamboul, where the Ministers and high dignitaries
were already assembled. At ten o'clock the boom of a
hundred guns announced the deposition of Sultan Murad

and the appointment of his brother Abdul Hamid.
The new Sultan was then hailed as Padisha and embarked
at Seraglio Point, followed by a great number of caiques
belonging to the Court, and was conducted to the palace
of Dolma Bagshe, which had been quitted a few hours
earlier by Sultan Murad and his family. Abdul Hamid
had obtained his wish and was now undisputed Sultan
of Turkey.
Note No.
this
volume,
The word fetva, which

requires
what are known
in
occur in
Fetvas
correspond to
law as responsa prudentum, the
explanation.
Roman
will occasionally
" answers of the learned in the law."
They are opinions given

as
of
a
which
exists
the
court
part
by
Supreme Court for the
administration of sacred law. The Fetva Khan still survives.
person desires an answer to a question involving Turkish
may obtain it without much difficulty. The questions
"
Hassan dies leaving one
are usually in an impersonal form.
and
a
three
two
sons,
widow,
daughter,
grandchildren, being a
If a
law he
son and two daughters, the children of Mehmet, a third son of

Hassan, but now deceased." What is the share in the inheritance
of
Hassan which the children
of
Mehmet
will
be entitled to
small fee has to be paid to the court, which then

a
decision
in writing, known as a fetva.
gives
Note No. 2. On the deposition of Abdul Aziz, mentioned on
receive
Henry Elliot, writing in the Nineteenth Century for

1888,
gives the following interesting details
February,
" The
only persons who took an active part in it were Midhat
p.
37, Sir
Pasha and Hussein Avni, the Seraskier, or Minister of War, and

I never could ascertain for certain whether the Grand Vizier
had previous knowledge of their enterprise or not but I understood that, though three days before he had been persuaded to
;
consent to
it as indispensable for the salvation of the

Empire,
the two other Ministers alone matured the plan, without any but
themselves being dangerously compromised. The risk that they

to run was very great, for their heads were at stake
but
had

they combined their project with
courage and
skill,
and executed
it
45
with
They passed the early part of the night

of May 29 at Hussein Avni's konak at Beyler
Bay, on the Asiatic
shore of the Bosphorus, and from there an hour or two after
resolution.
midnight, when it was very dark and raining hard, they passed
over to Constantinople in a small caique, attended by a single
servant, and were landed at a spot where they expected to find
carriages waiting for them, which, however, had not arrived.
They were left standing in a drenching rain, exposed every
moment
which would have been fatal to their

and
no
doubt
to themselves, till at last their servant
enterprise
found and brought the carriages, which had gone to a wrong
to a discovery
place.
"
Then, as had been arranged, Midhat Pasha proceeded to the

while Hussein Avni went to the barracks near
Seraskerat,
Dolma Baghtche, where,
War, he had no difficulty

them to the palace, which
as Minister of
in bringing a regiment quartered in
he surrounded without any alarm being taken.
He
then knocked
at the gates, and desired the Kislar Agha, the chief official of the
household, to inform the Sultan that he was a prisoner, and to
urge him to put himself into the hands of the Seraskier, who
answered for his safety. The Sultan's first and natural impulse
was to resist, and it was not till Hussein Avni appeared before
him and convinced him that resistance was impossible that he
could be persuaded to submit to his kismet. A guard was placed
over him without a blow being struck, and, as had been agreed
upon, a gun was fired to announce to Midhat Pasha at the
Seraskerat that the arrest of the Sultan had been successfully
carried out.
"
In the meantime Midhat's position had been intensely critical.

authority over the troops, no right to give them orders,
He had no
and he had to
rely solely
be able to exercise.
on the personal influence that he might

arrived at the Ministry of War under
He had
the most suspicious appearances, in the dark, unattended, and

and it was with the utmost difficulty that,
;
drenched to the skin
by representing himself as authorised by the Seraskier, he at

last
succeeded in inducing the commanding
men and draw them up
in the square.
anxious time to pass, during which at any
his
officer to call
He had
a long
moment,
if
out
and
sinister
rumours arrived from the palace, the troops might assume a
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
46
it was not till close upon daybreak that the

end
an
to the suspense, and announced the successsignal gun put
hostile attitude, for
accomplishment of the enterprise.

Midhat then came out into the square to harangue the
troops, and not a murmur of discontent was heard when he
informed them of the step that had been taken, and explained
the necessity for it. He was cheerfully obeyed when he ordered
a guard of honour and an escort to proceed to the palace of Prince
Murad to announce to him his accession to the throne, and to
conduct him to the Seraskerat, where he was at once proclaimed
and saluted as Sultan by troops drawn up there, and by the
people, who by that time had begun to assemble."
Note No. 3. With reference to the statement that the news of
the deposition first reached the British public on p. 38, Sir Henry
ful
"
Elliot says
"
to send the
One newspaper correspondent alone had contrived

He was at the head of the
to his employers.
news
Turkish Post Office, and, with a view to some possible emergency,

he had arranged a private code by which he could communicate
political intelligence, while
appearing to deal with purely private
concerns, and he obtained permission to forward a message

The
of an urgent private nature,' which ran as follows
doctors have found it necessary to bleed' (depose) 'poor Jane'
'
'
(Abdul Aziz).
'
John
'
Grandmamma
'
(the Valide) 'is with her.
(Murad) has taken charge of the business.'
Cousin
This ingenious
telegram conveyed, I believe, the first intelligence of what had

occurred that reached any European capital."
CHAPTER
IV
ABDUL HAMID ENDEAVOURS TO STRENGTHEN

POSITION STORY OF MIDHAT
HIS
OWN
Two
dismissed from
attempts in favour of Murad Midhat Pasha
the Chamber of
Grand
Vizier
of
1877
7,
February
post
meets March 19,
Representatives under his Constitution
;
1877
clauses of Constitution
re
representative
govern-
ment suspended charge of murder against Midhat story

of post-mortem
of suicide of Abdul Aziz
testimony of
sentenced
nineteen medical men and of Sultana Valida
Sir Henry
murdered July, 1883
to death June 30, 1881
;
Elliot's
Once
remarks
in February, 1888.
seated on the throne, Abdul
Hamid found him-
presence of many difficult problems. The most

pressing in his own opinion related to the strengthening
of his position, the second to putting an end to the
self in
serious difficulties
which had arisen
in his
Danubian
provinces.
The Sultan probably considered his position to be

more serious danger than did observers in his
His right was not contested by any class of
capital.
Murad had been deposed after a formal
his subjects.
judgment of the highest religious court. Moslem public
opinion sanctioned it. The rest of the population either
approved of the deposition of a ruler who was insane
in
or a drunkard, or were indifferent. It is true that there

were a few among the Mollahs or Ulema who held to the
belief that a
year ought to elapse before the deposition

took place, and they were joined by some who were
opposed to any proposals which appeared to favour
the Christians.
They made a demonstration almost
immediately after the accession.

suppressed in the last
week
But
of October,
it
was
1877.
easily
few
48
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
arrests were
made, and the opposition seemed to
natural death.
die a
broke out again, however, in a more

serious form eighteen months later
(May 20, 1878) under
a half-cra7.y Mollah named Ali Suavi. He was
supported
by a few men who were dissatisfied on various grounds
with the conduct of Abdul Hamid, and who avowed
themselves in favour of Murad. Their plot was hardly
concealed, and when they made an attack upon the
palace, the leader and all the assailants were killed.
The incident was the last attempt in favour of Murad.
Abdul Hamid was much more concerned with
It
strengthening his position against Midhat Pasha and the

group of reformers. From his accession to his death,
probably most Sovereigns, he was extremely jealous

He
any encroachment on his sovereign power.
was believed to have promised the reformers that he
would grant even greater reforms than they asked for,
but such promises were made when he was asked to
become regent. When he became Sultan, his Ministers
and many others soon recognised that he hated the
notion of any change in the form of government.
The events in Bulgaria, however, forced his hand.
When a Conference of the European Powers was decided
to be held in the capital in December, two months after
his accession, to submit a scheme of reform to him, he
found himself in a difficulty. To accept what foreign
Powers desired for no secret was made of the general
lines on which the Powers would act
would humiliate
him in the eyes of his subjects to reject it would be
to risk war with all Europe.
Then Midhat saw his
like
of
He
suggested to Abdul
Hamid
a step which
of a triumph.
Abdul had promised to accept Midhat's scheme of
Let the Sultan outbid the European delereforms.
let him proclaim a scheme which should apply
gates
not to the disaffected European provinces only, but to
the whole Empire.
If his Majesty would proclaim
a Constitution the wind could be taken out of the sails
of the Conference. The representatives would go home
defeated men, and his Majesty's reputation would be
chance.
appealed to his vanity
and gave him hope
ABDUL HAMID'S POSITION

Abdul Hamid accepted the proposal.
enhanced.
the
49
On
the meeting of the Conference,

day
December 23, 1876, a salute of a hundred guns from
the Turkish fleet (anchored near the Admiralty buildings
on the Golden Horn, where the delegates were sitting)
should announce to them that the Sultan had granted
fixed
for
reforms greater than they proposed. We shall see in

the following chapter how this arrangement was carried
out.
For the present it is sufficient to say that it
signally failed.
On January
20, 1877, the Conference ended, all

that
admitting
they had not succeeded in obtaining the
for
which
objects
they had met. The Sultan's proposals
had not taken the place of those of the delegates.
Thereupon Abdul Hamid's resentment turned upon his

Grand Vizier. Midhat and other members in favour
of the Constitution were ignominiously dismissed on
February
5,
1877.
But the Constitution had been not only proclaimed,

but that part of it especially which established a Parliament was so welcomed by the populace of the capital
that it would have been dangerous to set it aside at
once. Accordingly a Turkish representative Chamber
was convoked. The experiment was a new one for
Turkey, and its results were in many respects noteworthy.
The Chamber met on March 19, 1877. It showed that
representative Chambers are not institutions to be
trifled with, and that, if freedom of
speech be permitted,
they will be an effectual means of bringing about reforms,
since they will create a public opinion which no ruler
can long defy. The convocation of the Chamber was
probably largely influenced in popular opinion by
manipulation from the capital. Few, however, objected
because the voters were entirely inexperienced. The
result obtained was an assembly of a number of real
representatives who had the desire to secure better
government, and some of whom were determined to
substitute a constitutional form of government for
absolutism. It was the first time that representatives
from such distant places as Bagdad, Albania, Armenia,
L.A H.
50
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
and Syria met together. Their discussions were singularly full of interest and even surprises. Though most
of the members spoke of serious grievances which
required redress in their own districts, they were surprised to learn that their own constituencies were not
alone as spheres of misgovernment. When the members
for Jerusalem, Bagdad, Erzerum, and Salonika met
together, they found that the administration throughout
all the country was corrupt, and they set themselves
honestly to discuss their grievances and the changes
in the system which were necessary to secure a remedy.
Amongst the deputies were several able and thoughtful
men. They had no traditions of parliamentary government, and some of the speeches were banal, speeches
which would have been brought to an end by authority
had they been delivered in the Legislative Chamber
either of England, America, or a British colony. They
often had a tendency to personalities unconnected with
public affairs, but more usually they attacked this

pasha or that for abuses, for receiving bribes and refusing to do what was right unless he were paid for it.
Had the Sultan been as wise as his sycophants represented him to be, he would have seen the value of such
statements and would have allowed the deliberations
of the Chamber to continue. There were at first absolutely no attacks whatever upon him, though many
of his Ministers were personally charged with specific
The discussions were a
irregularities and misconduct.
revelation to Turkish subjects. They showed that the
government from one end of the country to the other
The Chamber had at its
required radical reform.
head a President, Ahmed Vefyk, who had been Ambassador of Turkey at the Court of Napoleon III., was an
excellent French scholar, and in education was no doubt
the superior of nearly all the deputies. But in public
and private
life
he had become despotic, and his superior,
schoolmasterly manner as Chairman of the House was

He frequently
arrogant and sometimes amusing.
the
in
midst
of
stopped deputies
speeches, telling them
that they knew nothing about the subject and were

talking
nonsense.
Dr.
Washburn, the President
of
Robert College, was present when a white-turbaned

1
deputy, who was making a long and prosy statement,
was suddenly pulled up by a stentorian shout from the
" Shut
"
President of
up, you donkey
(Sus eshek). The
orator sat down as if he were shot.
!
Meantime
the accusations brought by members

the
against
corruption of individual Ministers became
more serious and definite in form. The claim that
certain of the Ministers should be brought before the
Chamber
answer charges against them was

naturally opposed by the accused Ministers, and was
distasteful to Abdul Hamid. The hostility between the
in order to
Chamber and
the pashas became serious, and various

correspondents predicted that within a short time the
Chamber would upset the rule of the pashas, or the
pashas would get rid of the Chamber. Abdul Hamid
never lost sight of the fact that the calling of the Chamber
and the proclamation of the Constitution had been
imposed upon him by Midhat.
Accordingly, when the

three
of
the
Ministers
became definite,
charges against
and a resolution was adopted that the accused should
answer them before the Chamber, Abdul Hamid took
the resolution to dissolve the Chamber and to expel the
members from Constantinople. The capital learned

that the night after the Chamber had made the request
above mentioned all the deputies had been packed
off to the places which
they represented. No more
was heard of attempts to govern Turkey constitutionally until the revolution of 1908. The dismissal of the
Chamber was followed by an Imperial edict declaring
that the whole of that part of Midhat's Constitution
which related to the Chamber of Representatives was
The Chamber, opened on March 19, 1877,

two months.
Though Abdul Hamid had got rid of the Chamber
and was now free to exercise arbitrary control, though
he never forgave Midhat or others who had urged him
to try the experiment, though its labours had not
suspended.
sat for barely
The Ulema
class
wear white turbans and are spoken
of as Seraclis or Mollahs.
E 2
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
52
placed upon the Statute Book any measure of importance, its sittings were nevertheless not valueless. They
gave the thoughtful portion of the community an insight
into a means of checking arbitrary authority.
They
helped to furnish to
it
an ideal
of better
government.
which provided
for representative government was in abeyance between
1877 and 1908, it was never forgotten, and in the interval,
which was crowded with instances of misgovernment
due to the vindictiveness, the short-sightedness, the
ignorance, and the incapacity of Abdul Hamid, men
recalled the attempt of Midhat and the reformers,
Though that portion
of the Constitution
forgot the blunders of the representatives of the people,

remembered their honest attempts, and came to think
of government by an
means of putting an end
elected
Chamber
as
the
best
to arbitrary government.
subsequent dealings of Abdul Hamid

is a tragedy, and shows the worst
He never forgave Midhat
of
the
Sultan's
character.
side
The story
of the
with Midhat Pasha
for his
attempt to establish constitutional government.
The members
Conference of Constantinople
deluded by the salute which
having
was intended to make them believe that the Sultan
of his own free will had inaugurated a wide scheme of
reforms for the whole Empire, Midhat, then Grand
Vizier, was sent for to the palace to be ignominiously
of
the
failed to be cajoled or
He was met
before entering it by an aideordered him in the name of his Majesty to

surrender to him the seals of office and then conducted
him on board a steamer leaving at once for Brindisi.
Thither he went, but soon afterwards at his own request
was permitted to return to Turkey.
The dismissal on February 3, 1877, was before the
meeting of the representative Chamber which was in
The Sultan had concluded
truth Midhat's creation.
not only that he must no longer be a Minister, but that
it was dangerous to allow the man who was
notoriously
the principal author of the Constitution, and who was
not unpopular with the inhabitants of the capital, to
dismissed.
de-camp, who
53
remain in it. After his dismissal until his death Midhat

was treated with remarkable vindictiveness. Upon his
return to Turkey, though he was not permitted to
reside in the capital, he was not molested.
Abdul
Hamid was waiting his time.
A charge was being formulated against Midhat of an
extremely grave character. In order to understand it
the deposition of Sultan Abdul Aziz must be recalled.
After that event the deposed Sultan was kept in an
honourable confinement for a day or two in his palace
and was then sent for two or three days to Seraglio
Point to a beautiful little kiosk which is one of the
most conspicuous objects to travellers descending the

Bosporus. Then he was taken back to the Cheragan
On the
Palace, which adjoins that of Dolma Bagshe.
fifth day after his deposition,
on
namely
June 4, 1876,
it was announced that he had been found dead in his
chair in one of its rooms.
The story given of the
circumstances in which he was found was plausible,
but in Constantinople accounts of the sudden death
of distinguished Turks are always, and justly, looked
upon with suspicion. The circumstantiality of the then
uncontested evidence convinced most people that in
this particular instance death was the result of suicide,
and not of assassination. The late Sultan was found
dead in an arm-chair with his head on one side. Great
spurts of blood which had come from his left arm were on
the floor, while smaller spurts had come from the
right.
By his left side was found a pair of long pointed scissors
such as the Turks commonly employ for personal use.
The room where he died, and which he occupied, adjoined
the harem, and its ladies could look into the part of it
where the Sultan's chair stood from a projecting gallery
whence they could see only the back of his head as he
sat in
it.
Some
of
them saw the
Sultan's head fall for-
ward. Alarm was immediately given, and the Sultana

Valida had the door forced open. On entering Abdul
Aziz was found to be dead with the scissors lying as if
they had fallen from his hand. The Sultana at once
declared that her son had asked for the scissors in order
LIFE OF
54
ABDUL HAMID
to trim his beard, and that she, after some hesitation,

had complied with his request. The hesitation, she
subsequently explained, was caused by the fact that
she believed that Abdul Aziz had a predisposition to
insanity. His brother, Abdul Mejid, whom he succeeded,
had indeed at one period of his life suffered from the
same malady.
The
before
Ministers recognised that for their justification

the country and the Powers an immediate
examination
legation
in
Every embassy and

was
Constantinople
requested to send its
was
necessary.
medical officer in order to take part in a post-mortem.

Nineteen medical men, including the most eminent
foreign and native physicians, attended and signed
a report declaring that after careful examination they
found that death was due to suicide under the circumSir Henry Elliot, our
stances already mentioned.
ambassador at the time, immediately summoned Dr.
Dickson, already an old and well-trusted British medical
officer, to attend with the rest.
By an accident in the
transmission of the message Dr. Dickson arrived at
the palace a few minutes after the others had concluded
He was accompanied by Dr. van
their investigation.
Millingen, who had been with Lord Byron at Missolonghi
when he died. Dr. Dickson in after-days repeatedly
stated that he went to the palace with the firm conviction that Abdul Aziz had been murdered, and that the
story put forward by the Ministers was an ingenious
invention, which he was determined to expose. He and
Dr. van Millingen examined the body carefully and found
no traces whatever
arms.
The
of injury except the piercing of the

Sultan was known to be an exceptionally
powerful man, and there was no trace of a struggle.

The fewer spurts of blood from the right arm as compared with those from the left impressed them as being
what would naturally happen from the fact that most

men are less skilful with the left arm than the right.
Having completed the examination of the body, they
reported that it was healthy and bore no traces of
violence or injury from the crown of his head to the
55
except on the arms. There was not a

or
bruise on any part of it. They examined
scratch, mark,
the body also for traces ofjpoisoning, giving details
soles of his feet
which need not be printed.
Thereupon Dr. Dickson

addressed a report to Sir Henry Elliot confirming in
all particulars that which had been drawn up by his
colleagues. His preconceived idea of murder had to be
abandoned. He found a clear case of suicide. He
confirmed these statements shortly afterwards in a
London Lancet.
After these examinations and reports Constantinople
settled down to the belief that the death of Abdul Aziz
was due solely to his own hands. The attitude taken
by the Sultana Valida confirmed the public judgment.
Everybody recognised that if she had any suspicion of
But
assassination she would have given utterance to it.
her declaration that she had given the scissors, and that
the wounds had evidently been inflicted by them, was
strong corroborative evidence of the truth of the suicide
story. She was satisfied as to the cause of death. The
poor woman was distracted and when Dr. Millingen saw
her, she bemoaned her fate and declared she was the
author of his death by lending him the scissors.
The outside world had almost forgotten the incident
of the suicide of Abdul Aziz when it was startled by
news that Midhat with Hairulla Effendi, the ex-Sheikul-Islam, Mahmud Damat, together with a wrestler
and a gardener attached to the Palace, had been suddenly
arrested and were to be put on trial for the murder of
Common report had long attributed
their Sovereign.
to the Sultan strong personal animosity against Midhat,
but anticipated with confidence that legal proceedings
would show that the death was suicide. The public
did not know that some of the creatures of Abdul Hamid
had prepared carefully a case against the leaders of the
reforming party. Indeed, the case got up on behalf of
the Sultan was ingeniously put together. It alleged that
no suspicion had been awakened against the report of
the medical men until an accidental examination of the
books of the Civil List in reference to the expenditure
careful letter to the
56
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
of Yildiz Palace disclosed the fact that there
were two
men
kept on, nominally as gardeners or in some other

subordinate capacity, to whom no specific work had been
assigned. Upon inquiry it

their salaries because they
was found that they received

had assisted in killing Abdul
It was alleged that under examination they

admitted the charge and declared that they were acting
under the orders of Midhat Pasha. One of them, a
Aziz.
held the Sultan's arms pinioned while the

other carefully thrust a stiletto from the shoulder to
the heart. They claimed that the deed had been done
so skilfully that no external signs could be detected
by any of the medical men who took part in the examination.
The judgment of the Turkish Court was delivered on
June 30, 1 881. All the judges, with the exception of one
Ulema who ever afterwards was the subject of Abdul
Hamid's enmity, concurred in pronouncing a verdict
"
"
of
Guilty
against all the persons accused. All were
sentenced to death.
Those who knew the Turkish Courts and Turkey
found no difficulty in believing that the witnesses were
suborned and that the whole trial was a monstrous
mockery of justice. It is true that a few intelligent
foreigners were inclined to believe the story told by the
prosecution, but their belief was due to ignorance of the
facilities by which false evidence could be obtained.
The witnesses had been carefully coached before they
In defiance even of Turkish
told their tale in Court.
was allowed. Midhat himno
cross-examination
law,
the
trial
was
self throughout
specially aimed at, although
It is doubtful
all the other accused were also sentenced.
whether more than three of them were intended for
wrestler,
punishment.
Abdul Hamid had succeeded in a foul conspiracy

which Sir Henry Elliot justly characterised as " an
indelible blot
upon
his reign." 1
1 Nineteenth
Century for 1888, p. 288. The article of Sir Henry is entitled
" The Death of Abdul Aziz and of Turkish Reform."
(See note at end of
chapter.)
57
Every Power
in Europe, acting upon the reports of

embassies, recognised that the verdict was at
least a doubtful one, and that to execute the sentence of
death on Midhat would be a disgrace to them as well
as to Abdul Hamid. The matter was brought before
their
own
both Houses of Parliament in England.

Both political
parties used their influence upon the Government to save
Midhat's life. All that they could accomplish was to
reduce the sentence from death to banishment for life
to Arabia.
Probably no act by the Powers was so
resented by Abdul Hamid as their interference between
him and his intended victim.
Abdul Hamid's vindictiveness was
baffled for the

time, but his determination to get rid of Midhat continued. He and Hairulla were sent to Taif, in Arabia.
The Sultan had succeeded in getting rid of the principal
man whose
presence would make it difficult for him to

shadowy reforms which he had granted in
that part of the Constitution which he had not suspended.
In Constantinople, however, it was generally believed
that the author of the Constitution had been sent to
Taif simply to get rid of his influence
but the popular
not
taken
had
the
measure
of Abdul
judgment
yet
Hamid's enmity.
to
Midhat's
fellow-exile,
According
Hairulla Efrendi, the reformer was strangled by order
of the Sultan on July 26, 1883. Hairulla records the
details of the manner of his death.
Midhat's son, Ali
recall the
Haydar Midhat Bey, gives

Midhat was sixty-one years
interesting
old at the
particulars.
time of his
that the British
Government
death.
It is interesting to recall
took the most active part in the intervention which

saved him from being hanged in Stamboul. The report
of the debate in the House of Commons on
July 1, 1881,
upon the trial of Midhat shows the great interest taken
in England both during his trial and after his condemnation. Lord Granville, then Foreign Secretary, was in
communication with Lord Dufrerin, who was then Ambassador to the Porte and had received instructions to
1
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
58
his influence together with that of the other

to save Midhat's life.
In reply to the
an
of
Mr.
Irish
M.P.
who had lived
McCoan,
questions
use
all
Ambassadors
years in Constantinople, practising at the Bar

Supreme Consular Court, Sir Charles Dilke
suggested that it was better not to press him further
with questions, or the members might be defeating the
object they had in view.
Midhat, a man not without serious faults, had sown
the seed which was destined after long years to be
The quarter of the
productive of a useful harvest.
which
followed
his
death
showed Turkish
century
of
and
the evils of
all
ranks
creeds
what
were
subjects
many
the
of
despotism. The faults of Midhat were forgotten, but it

will ever be remembered that he struggled hard to
substitute a constitutional government for absolutism
and
consequence. His trial and death

remain as one of the most conspicuous blots
lost his life in
will ever
upon the career

Note, p. 57.
of
Abdul Hamid.
See " Life
of
Midhat, with a Preface by
J.
L. de
Lanessan, formerly Minister of Marine in France." The author

repeats the story elsewhere alluded to that Midhat's body was
dug up and the head cut off and sent to Abdul Hamid at Yildiz
"
a box labelled
Ivoires Japonnaises, objets d'art. Pour
in
S.M.
le
Sultan."
Note on Midhat's
trial
by Sir Henry
Elliot.
In
February,
1888, writing in the Nineteenth Century, on p. 288, Sir

"
If at the time there was no ground
Elliot says
:
suspicion
of
deserving of
there
the
attention
slightest
for
was certainly no evidence
assassination,
mock
Henry
brought forward at the
three years later, when the

iniquitous
ruin of certain important personages had been resolved upon.
The fact that the charges against them could only be supported
trial
instituted
by evidence which could not by any possibility be true, and the

falseness of which could easily have been exposed if, in flagrant
defiance of the law, the accused had not been denied their right
of cross-examining the witnesses, affords sufficient proof that
real evidence against them existed. As the disgraceful
of
no
mockery
the whole proceedings was admitted universally even by those
59
who
entertained no friendly feelings towards the accused, it is

unnecessary to enter into an examination of them. The object,
attained, and eminent persons who were considered dangerous, and who might stand in the way of the resumption of the absolute power of the Palace, were effectually got
however, was
while the men on whose perjured and suborned evidence

;
the convictions were obtained, although they declared themselves to have murdered the Sultan with their own hands at
rid of
the instigation of the pashas, were not only not executed, but
are believed to have continued in the enjoyment of comfortable
pensions ever since.

" There is no
of explaining why, after the lapse of three

and a gardener should come forward and declare
that they had assassinated the Sultan except by the assumption
that they had been promised not only immunity, but reward, if,
while making their confession, they procured the conviction of
Midhat and the other pashas as the instigators of their crime.
They duly earned the promised recompense, and the Sultan
secured an iniquitous conviction that enabled him to rid
himself of the men whom he dreaded
but it was at the cost of
an indelible blot upon his reign."
way
years, a wrestler
CHAPTER V
THE PACIFICATION OF BULGARIA AS SETTLED AT
SAN STEFANO AND BERLIN
Abdul Hamid
resists reforms
condition of Balkan provinces
on his accession
attitude of
oppression of Bulgarians
Orthodox Church
massacre of Bulgarians
reports by
Mr. Schuyler and Mr. Baring
agitation aroused in England
Mr. Gladstone publishes " Bulgarian Horrors and
"
Conference of Powers at ConQuestions of the East
;
declaration
proclamation of Constitution
of war by Russia
and
fall
of
Plevna
Gourko
and
siege
Skobeleff advance
Abdul's attempt to delay it fails
stantinople
establishment
principality
intervenes with Austria to throw
England
of Berlin
Bismarck
odium of saving Turkey on
Treaty of San Stefano
Congress and Treaty
the Cyprus Convention.
of
of
While giving attention to the

own position, Abdul Hamid had
Bulgaria
strengthening of his
to concern himself
with the condition
of Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, and

Herzegovina. Insurrection had broken out in the latter
It spread
province in the summer of 1875.
rapidly into
Serbia and neighbouring provinces. In July, 1876, war
was declared against Serbia and Montenegro. In April,
May, and June massacres occurred in Bulgaria. Abdul
Hamid had of
course no responsibility for these atrocities,

since they took place before he ascended the throne.
Nor can he reasonably be held responsible for what took
place immediately after September 1, for the savage
cruelties, including the hanging

persons in order, as was alleged, to
of many suspected
punish those who had
stirred up the disaffection which led to the massacres.
In view, however, of what happened after Abdul
Hamid's accession and his many dealings with that
THE PACIFICATION OF BULGARIA
61
province, it is expedient to notice briefly what was the

condition of Bulgaria, and especially what were the
events of 1876.
The Bulgarians had hardly attracted any notice in
Europe for centuries. They belonged to the Orthodox
Church. Matters ecclesiastical were under the Patriarch
The bishops sent into Bulgaria were
of Constantinople.
Greeks,
who usually spoke no language but
their
mother-
tongue.
they possessed a second it would in most
cases be Turkish. Travellers who in the eighteenth and
nineteenth century passed through
first half of the
the
to
Bulgaria
capital (the chief road always being
from Belgrade to Sofia and thence to Philippopolis)
often seemed to have believed that all the Christians
whom they met were Greeks. Lady Mary Montague
"
in the eighteenth and Kinglake, the author of
Eothen,"
in the nineteenth, saw churches and usually took them
and their congregations to be Greek.
British statesman now living has stated that when he travelled over
the same ground as Kinglake in the early fifties he fell
into the same error.
The Bulgarians had ceased to regard their Church as
a protector.
The Bulgarians
Its liturgy was Greek.
suffered much from the exactions not only of the Turkish
If
governors, but of their ecclesiastical authorities. Many

younger members of well-to-do families were sent
into Russia for their education, usually to Odessa. The
first service these young men rendered to their country
was to give voice to a public opinion in favour of the use
of Bulgarian instead of Greek in their churches.
Like
all the Christians of the Balkan States,
they looked to
Russia for sympathy and aid. Their language, like that
of Serbia and Russia, is Slavic. Even before the Crimean
War a committee had been formed at Odessa which
became the centre of Bulgarian national activity and
of the
The Crimean War caused it to suspend

aspirations.
some of its operations, but the struggle for the use of
Slavic in their churches continued even during the war,
and had the
effect of causing the Russian nation to

with
the Bulgarian people. Russia, however,
sympathise
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
62
hesitated for a considerable time even after the war

to interfere. She was not going to renew a great struggle
an oppressed province in Turkey. She,

and
other
however,
European Powers changed their
attitude when an influential deputation of Bulgarians
went to Italy in order to negotiate a union of their
Church with that of Rome. The Greeks of ConstantiUnder the
nople naturally opposed this movement.
for the sake of
threat that if the concession to substitute a Slavic for

the Greek liturgy were not granted a formal demand
would be made for the union with Rome, the substitution
was granted.
The menace
of
such union brought about
the active intervention of Russia. England and France

recognised that the only equitable solution of the difficulty was to allow the Bulgarians to have their own
Church. When Napoleon III. advised union with Rome,

Russia pressed her demands on Constantinople for the
establishment of an autonomous Church.
The Porte
was always ready to adopt any suggestion which

divided the Christians and once the project was supported by Russia and the two Western Powers, Abdul
Aziz disregarded the opposition of the Greeks and in
February, 1870, granted a Firman recognising the
Bulgarian Church. Its authority was to extend over all
In
Bulgarian-speaking communities in the Empire.
;
order to lessen any conflict with the Patriarch, with

Russia had always desired to be on good terms,
the head of the Bulgarian Church was called the Exarch.
whom
The Orthodox Church, partly from its desire to force

the Bulgarians to preserve unity and partly from its
wish to guard its right of appointing bishops, declared
the Bulgarian Church to be schismatic, and still refuses
to
admit
its
members
into
communion with
her.
Unfor-
tunately the separation of the Churches emphasised the

century-long hostility between Slavs and Greeks in the
Balkan peninsula. When the struggle commenced by the
Bulgarians for their independence in the spring of 1876
the Greeks constantly and persistently opposed them.
During the revolt of the Serbians against Turkey in
1875 and 1876 an agitation of apparently slight impor-

tance had
commenced
The Turks in the

trying to find out and
in Bulgaria.
were engaged in
punish all who were disaffected
ment. They were particularly
masters, priests, and persons of
latter province
63
towards their Govern-
severe against schooleducation. Many were

imprisoned, others tortured or exiled unless they were
able to escape from the country. The exiles who had
reached Bucharest formed a committee whose object
was to obtain reforms in Bulgaria.
Thereupon the
who
has
never
known
of governing a
means
Turk,
any
disaffected section of his community other than by
massacre, tried his usual method. He would strike terror
into Christians from one end of the province to the other.
Orders were issued in April, 1876, by the Ministers of
Abdul Aziz to attack the Bulgarian malcontents. Then
there commenced a series of atrocities which recalled
to old men the loathsome brutalities of Chios in 1822.
All the cruelties which had attended the devastation of
that beautiful island were reproduced.
The reports
of them in the London press in June and July, 1876,
attracted great attention in England. 1 The statements
were denied by Mr. Disraeli, but his denials contributed to bring about the greatest political agitation
which had ever arisen in England in reference to the
The popular sentiment in favour
affairs of Turkey.
of Turkey which had existed during the Crimean War
still remained.
Many doubted the truth of the allegations
1
According to the testimony of Mr. Gladstone, I was the first person who
sounded the alarm in Europe." This was done by a letter to the Daily News,
"
under the head of
Moslem Atrocities in Bulgaria," which was dated from
Constantinople, June 16. In this and a subsequent one, written on June 30,
I gave the names of sixty villages which had been destroyed and whose inhabitants had either been tortured or killed. These letters were followed by others
in the Times, written by Mr. Gallenga, and attracted much attention in Parliament. Mr. Disraeli, then Prime Minister, made light of the matter. He professed a doubt whether torture was practised on a large scale among the
people,
who " generally terminated their connection with culprits in a more expeditious
manner." He spoke of the Circassians who had been mentioned as sharing
"
in the cruelties and plunder as
settlers with a great stake in the
country."
His statements were untrue, for torture was constantly practised throughout
the Turkish Empire until the revolution of 1908, and the Circassians were not
settlers, but consisted of a few bands of robbers, who looted all property which
The statement had been made that they had seized and sold
they could seize.
and that the latter could be bought for two or three pounds each.
girls,
"
64
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
the Daily News and The Times, but the denials

called forth fresh confirmatory evidence, and the earnestness and zeal of two men especially, the Duke of Argyll
in the House of Lords and Mr. W. E. Forster in the House
in
of Commons, supported as each was on account of the

moderation and precision of their statements, had their
A general demand was made in both Houses
effect.
of Parliament that an authorised representative should
be sent to examine and report on the charges which had
been made. After considerable discussion Mr. Disraeli
acquiesced in the general demand, and Mr. Walter
In the meantime,
Baring was named Commissioner.
Mr.
the
American Consulhowever,
Eugene Schuyler,
General, went into the disturbed province to learn the

truth by personal observation.
He was accompanied
Mr.
as
MacGahan, acting
by
special Commissioner for
the Daily News. Thus the reports of two independent
commissioners were obtained.
Mr. Baring found the
number of villages destroyed to be fifty-nine and the
number of killed to be 12,000. Mr. Schuyler's report
made the number of villages destroyed to be sixty and
the persons killed 15,000.
It was when these reports
were published in England that Mr. Gladstone, who had
remained silent during the discussion in the House of
"
Commons, published his pamphlet
Bulgarian Horrors
and the Question of the East." The publication of these
reports and the agitation which ensued did more than anything else to dispel the illusions in the Western mind which
had grown up during the Crimean War. The attitude of
Europe towards Turkey changed at this period, which
exactly coincides with the accession of Abdul Hamid.
In justice to him, it should be noted that, while he
had nothing to do with the outrages in Bulgaria, the
massacres, the torturing, and the many methods of
cruelty which were practised during the autumn of 1876
in Bulgaria, were all in accordance with the traditional
methods of government in Turkey.

The most burning question with which Abdul Hamid
had to deal was the pacification of the disturbed Balkan
provinces, a pacification which implied the establish-
65
ment of a government in the Balkan Peninsula which

would prevent a recurrence of the recent horrors.
In England and in Russia popular sentiment was
of finding a remedy,
loudly expressed. With the object
hold a Conference
to
the proposal made by England
reforms
was
draft
to
in Constantinople
accepted without
on December 21,
met
The
Conference
much difficulty.
the
was
Lord
Envoy Extraordinary
Salisbury
1876.
and Minister Plenipotentiary of England, but was
associated with Sir Henry Elliot, who was at this time
the Ambassador to the Sublime Porte. Sir Henry was
a favourite with the Turks, and during this portion of
his career owed much of this repute to a curious incident.
Mr. Disraeli in the House of Commons had not only
defended the Turks and spoken slightingly of their
misconduct, but produced a telegram, which, according
to him, purported to come from Sir Henry Elliot, denyBritish journals
ing some of the statements in the leading
declared
others to be
and
horrors
regarding Bulgarian
The telegram itself brought great

inconvenience and odium on Sir Henry, who, it appears,
never sent any telegram of the sort. But the statement
increased his popularity with the fanatical party in
Turkey, for whose opinion under ordinary circumstances
greatly exaggerated.
'
he
felt and expressed contempt.

Lord Salisbury, on his arrival
in Constantinople, ex-
the necessity of
pressed his opinion quite freely as to
and Sir Henry
he
that
soon
notion
and
the
grew
reform,
This opinion was probably

Lord
that
fact
the
Salisbury and General
by
of
the
Russia,
got on extremely
representative
Ignatiev,
well together. They two, beyond doubt, were regarded
in the
as, and in fact were, the most important men
Conference. The Turkish delegates were Savfet Pasha
Elliot
were at loggerheads.
increased
and Edhem Pasha.

The scheme of reform which was submitted by the
Conference alarmed Abdul Hamid. He declared that
all the proposals were in derogation of his sovereign
authority, and that he would not consent to anything
which left him less powerful than any of his predecessors.
66
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
The Turkish newspapers,

had already learnt to
all
subsidised,
which the Sultan
cultivate,
strongly supported
his Majesty's views, and, acting on the principle which
Abdul Hamid not infrequently avowed of divide et
impera, they were instructed to declare that Lord
Salisbury did not represent the views of Mr. Disraeli, the
British Prime Minister.
Many articles in this strain,
evidently inspired, appeared in the local journals.
One headed " Bravo Sir Elliot " was shown in the
House of Commons by Mr. Forster.
Abdul Hamid was perplexed. Even before the formal
meeting of the Conference on December 23, he was
informed what it would propose, and that its scheme of
reform was accepted by the representatives of all the
different Powers.
Turkey's representatives dared not

without
Abdul Hamid's permiission.
accept anything
Meantime even the Sultan recognised that something
must be done to satisfy the demands of all Europe.
He had accepted Midhat's proposal and it was now to be
carried out.
The Constitution would be proclaimed.
Sir
Apparently
Henry Elliot knew of what had been
arranged, for when a salute of a hundred guns disturbed
the first sitting of the Conference, he rose and declared
that the salute announced that their work was at an
end. They had been gathered together to draft a scheme
of reform for Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina.
The salute announced that his Majesty had granted a
Constitution which accorded wider reforms to the whole
of the Empire. 1
For the moment the members of the Conference
were dumb. Then Ignatiev expressed his opinion that
each of the delegates was charged by his Government
with a special mission and that officially they knew
Lord
nothing of the proclamation of a Constitution.
Salisbury hastened to support the view of his colleague.
The sittings were resumed and went on almost daily.
The Turkish delegates continued for awhile to refuse
any useful concessions or even modifications. Unfortunately Abdul Hamid knew that the Powers were not
1
6j
united to coerce Turkey in case they failed to persuade

The project of reform, accepted at first by all the
Powers except Turkey, was however finally whittled
down so that outsiders spoke of it as useless, and the
The
meetings of the Conference a waste of time.
unanimous desire, however, of every nation was to avoid
war, and the representatives would have been content
But the Turkish
with the simulacrum of reforms.
The
lost
obdurate.
were
representatives
delegates
on
the
when
Conference
and
18,
1877,
January
hope,
her.
broke up, it had accomplished nothing.

It is an interesting subject for speculation whether
at the time of the proclamation of Midhat's Constitution
a better course might not have been taken than merely
If the delegates had
copy of it, and having found, as they
probably would have done, that it contained useful
to reject the Sultan's proposal.
asked for an
provisions
official
for
establishment
the
of
representative
government and others against arbitrary arrest and

imprisonment, had accepted it on condition that
guarantees were given by Abdul Hamid for its execution,
possibly the course of Turkish history might have been
One can well understand that

as
the delegates of the Powers
experienced statesmen,
did
believe
in
the
not
were,
sincerity of a Constitution
been
to
have
which appeared
promulgated simply to
the
Turks
what
overcome
regarded as a temporary
changed
for the better.
difficulty.
What
is
certain
is,
that the delegates went to the
extreme limit of their powers in order to obtain better

government for all elements of the population, but
It is equally
especially for the oppressed Christians.
certain that the two nations most concerned after
Turkey, namely England and Russia, earnestly sought

to avoid war. It is hardly necessary to point out why
Great Britain so desired. The integrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire was accepted by both
parties as an article of political faith, and a war in defence
of Turkey occasioned by the events in Bulgaria and the
refusal of Turkey to accept reforms was unthinkable.
LIFE OF
68
ABDUL HAMID
As
to Russia, the general belief existed that she was not

prepared for war. Probably it was well founded. An
intelligent correspondent,
who had come overland from
Petersburg to Constantinople, declared that everywhere

the Russians were unprepared and would not and could
not fight. He was received by Abdul Hamid with every
mark
of favour,
was decorated, and became the
recipient
presents, his statements on the subject being
As a fact, however, Russia
regarded as conclusive.
was not well prepared for war, and she joined with England in the few weeks following the break up of the
of
many
Conference in making strong representations to Abdul

in order to obtain a show of reform and thus
Abdul Hamid was proud of his success
avoid war.
and would not give way. His delegates, Savfet and
Edhem, were both reasonable men and endeavoured to
induce him to reconsider his decision. The only effect
of their efforts was to cause both of them to be regarded
henceforward with disfavour by their master.
On April 24, all efforts having failed, the Czar of
Russia issued a manifesto, dignified in tone and reasonable in its statements, in which he declared that, having
exhausted all pacific measures, Russia was brought " by
the haughtiness and obduracy of the Porte to proceed
to less pacific acts." On the same day he declared war.
Hamid
Both the delegates of Abdul Hamid up to the declarawar had urged him to grant concessions which
would have avoided it. Their persistent arguments
were in vain. Abdul Hamid therefore must be held
responsible primarily for the war between his country
and Russia, a war which contributed largely to the
tion of
disintegration of Turkey.
It is no part of my task to write the history of the
but readers may usefully recall
Turco-Russian War
its chief incidents.
Turkey has never been without
the war which ensued there were
of
In
soldiers
ability.
;
many
vicissitudes
an able general.
surprises.
Muktar Pasha proved

the Turkish divisions
The Russians advanced against Turkey

and in Europe. For some weeks in Asia
in Asia Minor.
both there
and
He commanded
69
Minor they carried everything before them, but Muktar

by his generalship checked their progress towards
the capital and threatened them for a time with complete
defeat. The great body of the Turkish Army in Europe
was sent to oppose the Russians on the south shores of
the Danube and opposite the provinces now known as
Rumania. Another division under the command of
Mchmet Ali went to put down a rising in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Mehmet Ali was a Prussian renegade
who had come to Turkey as a youth, embraced
Mahometanism, and rose to high command. He was
murdered on the campaign in the autumn of 1877.
The Russians, aided by the Rumanians, who had been
hitherto regarded as an unwarlike people, successfully
crossed the Danube, and made their way, almost without
opposition, across the Balkans.
They were of course
welcomed by the Christian population, but on the
approach of a large body of Turks, one division of which
was under Suliman, they retreated across the Balkans.
Thereupon a series of retaliatory outrages commenced

by the Turkish soldiers upon the Christian population.
The Russians, however, successfully and skilfully aided
by the Rumanians, steadily advanced until a large
Turkish Army was surrounded at Plevna.
Osman
Pasha, in
command
at that place, intrenched himself
and successfully stood a

at
their
best.
which showed the Turks

captured, however, on
siege
Plevna was
December 10, mainly through the efforts of Skobeleff.

The Russian general in actual command was Gourko,
though he was nominally under a Grand Duke. Gourko,
the real hero of Sebastopol, and Skobeleff arranged the
subsequent plan of campaign Gourko marched with a
large division of the army to the miserable little village
;
now
the capital of Bulgaria.

His intention,
to
was
and
easily accomplished,
capture it,
by pushing
on over the great plain through the Iktiman Pass, of
which the famous Trajan Gates formed part, to
of Sofia,
occupy
arranged and executed a

project entirely in accord with his daring spirit. The
one great road over the Balkans debouched at Shipka.
Philippopolis.
Skobeleff
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
70
It was one of the few military roads made by the Turks,

and was commanded by the strong Forts of St. George.
The time was winter and exceptionally cold
but he
learned from Bulgarian peasants that some five or six
;
miles to the east of the great road there existed a sheep

and about the same distance to the west of it
another. He sent a body of men to endeavour to capture the Forts of St. George, a task which he recognised
to be impossible of accomplishment within the time
for the execution of his design. Another body he placed
under Prince Mirska, to cross the range by the pass to
the east of the road.
He himself took charge of the
remainder and set out to cross by the pass to the west.
It was arranged that the men under Mirska and Skobeleff respectively should take up defensive positions
immediately they had left the mountains and then
The pass was long and narrow. The
act together.
men travelled in Indian file, and the first man had
reached the southern extremity before the last man had
track,
They, however, successfully accomplished their

design, for, although seen by the Turks in command at
St. George, no efforts could be made to interrupt either
The division under Mirska
of the long thin lines.
started.
arrived
and was apparently impatient to get to the

large Turkish army under Vessel Pasha was
at Shenova, which commanded the pass.
first
enemy.
encamped
Mirska failed
100,000 men.
attempt against Vessel's army of

the following day his force united
with that of Skobeleff, and the most important battle of
Skobeleff claimed
the campaign took place at Shenova.
that in it there was a hand-to-hand bayonet fight
which lasted seven minutes. Then Vessel asked for the
terms of surrender. Skobeleff replied that the whole
of the army must lay down their arms and become
prisoners and that orders must be sent to the Forts of
These terms were
St. George for their surrender.
a large host of
and
before
fell
night
accepted,
Turkish soldiers, variously estimated at from 50,000
to 80,000 men, was on its march across the Shipka
Pass to Russia as prisoners. The whole movement
in his
On
71
ending at Shenova was the most brilliant feat of the

war.
Gourko's army was opposed by Suliman, a man of
little ability, and who so conducted himself that Baker
Pasha (Valentine Baker, formerly Colonel of the 10th
Hussars), who had accepted service with the Turks,
was persuaded that he was a traitor to Abdul Hamid.
The two armies of Gourko and Skobeleff joined forces
and continued their march to Philippopolis. Then
Abdul Hamid, who from the first had taken upon himself the direction of military movements,
recognised
that the Turkish Army was beaten, and proposed to
terms. He sent Commissioners to treat for peace,

a trickiness which characterised him
with
but,
throughout his reign, gave them no instructions and no power
to sign on his behalf.
These Commissioners asked
that the advance of the army should be stayed pending
negotiations. Naturally the Russians refused.
It is probable that Abdul Hamid was aware of an
agreement, then regarded as secret, between Austria
and Russia, by which Austria consented to the entry
of the Russian troops into Turkey, and to the establishment of a principality north of the Balkans, in return
for Austria having the right of administration over
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Once, therefore, the Russian
Army had reached Philippopolis, they had come within
make
the operation of a clause in the agreement which only

allowed them to pass south of the Balkans in case of
military necessity. Meantime messengers had been sent
in hot haste to inform Abdul Hamid that the Russians
were advancing and that they refused to treat with

Commissioners not furnished with powers. There was
no railway at the time and the roads, when not covered
with snow, were heavy with rain. Delay in negotiations
took place entirely owing to the inaction of Abdul
No powers authorising the delegates to treat

having arrived until the Turks had fallen back beyond
Adrianople, the Russians pushed on towards San SteAn
fano, about twelve miles from Constantinople.
armistice and preliminaries of peace were signed on
Hamid.
72
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
the last day of January, 1878. but the Russians continued

to advance until these were completed and signed.
When negotiations commenced the Russians had an
army of 150,000 men in the neighbourhood of ConHaving free access by sea through the
stantinople.
Bosporus to Odessa and the Crimea, and having no fear
of the Turkish fleet, their position was fairly safe. Peace
was signed on March 3, 1878, at San Stefano. Events
during the end of the war had followed each other
Plevna fell on December 10, 1877; Gourko's

a week later
was
at Sofia on January 5, 1878
army
it had
with
who
the Balkans
crossed
Skobeleff,
joined
on January 9, and was on its way towards Constantinople.
The most important event of the war was to establish
rapidly.
,'
the principality of Bulgaria.

Even before the fall of Plevna
great hopes on the interference
Abdul Hamid
of
England.
built
Mr.
had brought Indian troops to Malta which were

regarded as an earnest of a great Indian army which was
preparing to be despatched, and, most important of all,
he had sent the British fleet into the Marmora, which
Abdul Hamid was convinced
it entered on February 13.
that England would save him.
He, however, grew
greatly alarmed when he learnt of the progress of the
The Ambassador in Constantinople
Russian Army.
at the time was Sir Henry Layard, who had replaced
Sir Henry Elliot at the end of April, 1877.
He learnt
Disraeli
that preparations were being hurried on by the Sultan

The Sultan's very kitchen
for leaving Constantinople.
utensils and all the paraphernalia of a Turkish menage
were already packed for Brusa. Speaking generally,
Sir Henry Layard got on well with the Sultan, because
he was regarded as owing his appointment by Mr.
Disraeli to his friendly relations with the Turks.
But on this occasion he spoke very strongly to Abdul
Hamid, and warned him that if he quitted Constantinople
he would be abandoned by Great Britain and never
be allowed to return. At the same time the Sultan was
assured that the presence of the English fleet would be
a safeguard to
him and
to Turkey.
73
not out of place here to mention that while

Britain incurred the credit or the odium of
opposing the entry of the Russians in 1878 into Constantinople by sending a fleet under Admiral Hornby into
the Marmora, other causes had at least contributed to
such a result. On the authority of the late Sir William
White, the Ambassador at Constantinople, what
hindered the occupation of the capital by the Russians
was not primarily the British fleet, but a secret agreement between Russia and Austria. According to this
agreement, as already mentioned, the Russians were not
to advance beyond the Balkans except in case of military
necessity. When Austria learnt that they were advancing to San Stefano she began quietly to mobilise her
It
is
Great
Bismarck, who according to Sir William White

was the only statesman in Europe besides the immediate
parties who knew of the secret treaty, immediately
communicated with the Emperor of Austria and informed
him that he had tiustworthy information that Great
Britain was sending a fleet and Indian troops and that
the wiser course was to remain quiet and allow our
army.
country to take action.
The
British fleet in entering the Marmora had not

formally obtained the permission of Abdul Hamid as
required by the Treaty of Paris. One or more of our

ships actually grounded in the Dardanelles under the
Turkish guns, and anxiety prevailed in the capital lest
they should be fired upon. But Abdul Hamid made no
objections and probably gave his consent to Sir Henry
Layard. The fleet proceeded to Ismidt, the ancient
Nicomedia, but the position being unhealthy, and
moreover being forty miles distant from Constantinople,
our Ambassador yielded to the request of the Sultan
and the fleet took up its anchorage on the northern
side of the island of Prinkipo. Admiral Hornby was in
command, his flagship being the Alexandra. In the
fleet under him were the Temeraire, the Devastation, the
Their distance
Achilles, and seven smaller vessels.
from the south end of the Bosporus was about ten
A large detachment of the Russian Army took
miles.
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
74
up its position at San Stefano, about twelve miles distant

from Constantinople and on the northern shore of the
Marmora and fourteen miles from Prinkipo.
In the negotiations concluded at San Stefano on
March 3, Abdul Hamid found himself compelled to
recognise the independence of Rumania, Serbia, and
Montenegro and to cede Bessarabia and the Dobruja
to Rumania, to consent to the razing of all forts on the
Danube, and to recognise the right of passage to merchant ships of all nations through the Dardanelles and
the Bosporus.
The most important concession, however, was the

establishment of Bulgaria, which by the San Stefano
Treaty not merely included the whole district north of
the Balkans, but Southern Bulgaria, as Eastern Rumelia
was popularly called, and a large district including
the Rhodope Mountains and the sea-ports on the
"
northern shores of the iEgean.
This
Big Bulgaria," as
called, was constituted mainly on the

It was open to some objections, of
lines of nationality.
it
was commonly
which the greatest was that many Greeks were comprised

All along the northern coast of the ^gean, the
it.
Marmora, and even on the coast of the Black Sea, there
have been for many centuries Greek settlements. It
may be said, indeed, that the Bulgarian sea coast was
largely, and in some places almost exclusively, Greek,
In the course of
while the back country was Slav.
centuries in all the coast districts, and very largely in
Southern Macedonia, the population became mixed.
others were excluVillages exclusively Greek existed
in
story illustrative of this admixture of

the population was told of General Ignatiev. When the
proposal was made to mark out the confines of Bulgaria,
he is reported to have said to the Turkish delegates,
" I will take the
boundary you yourselves have drawn."
sively Slav.
The delegates expressed
their astonishment and declared

did
know
of
not
any. Ignatiev's answer was to
they
the
on
large map which had been prepared, to
point,
had been burned by the Turks because
which
villages
were
Bulgarian. One of these, that of Dervent, was
they
75
barely thirty miles from Constantinople. The proposal

was of course not acceptable and probably never seriously
made, but it illustrates the difficulty in marking out a
boundary which would be in accordance with the ethnography of the inhabitants. The Turks were singularly
ignorant of the geography of their own country, and
naturally the Russians knew even less. It is a remarkable fact that the man who had studied the ethnological
conditions of the country, and whose advice was most
followed by the Russian Commissioners because he
knew most about it, was Mr. Schuyler, the American
Consul-General, and it was with this aid that the outlines
were traced.
Great Britain was of opinion that the provisions of the
Treaty of San Stefano should undergo revision. The
principle of which Mr. Gladstone was a great advocate,
that in all matters relating to Turkey a concert of the
European Powers should be sought and ultimately
decide, was acted upon by the Conservative Government,
and after negotiations with the Powers, and especially
with Bismarck, a Congress was called at Berlin to revise
the San Stefano Treaty. Russia hesitated. Her army
was still in the Balkan Peninsula probably at least
180,000 men were within twenty miles of Constantinople.
An Austrian army would have been able to drive a
wedge in between Russia and the Balkan Peninsula
of Big Bulgaria
and to cut
off
the retreat of the Russians.
It
was well
known that Skobeleff and probably the Grand Duke,

who was now with the army in San Stefano, would have
liked to occupy Constantinople, but the military situation would have been extremely dangerous if Austria,
probably with Germany behind her, had declared war.

Accordingly Russia accepted the proposal for a Congress
It met on June 13, 1878, and continued
in Berlin.
The main outlines of a revised
its sittings for a month.
were
beforehand
settled
by an arrangement
Treaty
between Lord Salisbury and Count Schouvaloff, the
Russia.
On July 13 the Treaty of
It
cut
down
the San Stefano Treaty.
signed.
It sanctioned the establishment of the principality of
chief delegate of
Berlin
was
LIFE OF
76
ABDUL HAMID
Bulgaria to consist of the territory north of the Balkans
and bounded on the north by the Danube. It created

a new province under the name of Eastern Rumelia,
which was to be under a Governor named by the Sultan,
but with the consent of the Powers. The Prince who
should be chosen for Bulgaria, with his territory north
of the Balkans, should recognise the suzerainty of
Abdul Hamid. The Sultan was to have no right of interference with the principality, but in Eastern Rumelia
it was
expressly stipulated that in case of disturbance
his troops should have the right to enter in order to
The Treaty further stipulated for the
restore order.
payment
An
of a large
war indemnity.
San Stefano Treaty which occasioned

irritation
in
Rumania stipulated that Turkey
great
should cede Bessarabia to Russia. This was modified
article in the
Rumania appeared to make the cession

In return a large portion of the Dobrujawas
handed over to Rumania. People wondered much at
Russia's persistency in pressing and in obtaining
Bessarabia.
It was felt as an uncalled-for injury
inflicted on Rumania. The only explanation put forward
was that the Czar wished to obliterate all traces of con-
at Berlin so that
to Russia.
upon him by the Crimean War, of which

the surrender of Bessarabia was one. As the Rumanians
had lent valuable aid to Russia during the war, an aid
which, though not perhaps so important as the Rumanians
believed it to be, was really great, the act on Russia's
part appeared to be extremely ungracious.
cessions forced
Rumania, Serbia, and

as independent kingdoms.
Montenegro were recognised
Many stipulations of less importance appear in the

Berlin Treaty.
There were provisions for the better
of
contained in what was known as
Crete,
government
"
which remained to be drafted.
the
Law,"
Organic
Greece and Montenegro each received a cession of
in regard to both these States it may be
; but
here observed that, though the representatives of Turkey
in Berlin had signed it, Abdul Hamid refused to carry
out the stipulations in regard thereto and continued to
territory
77
convinced by naval demonthat

he must no longer resist.
Britain
Great
by
Another article made provision which, if carried out,
would have been useful for reforms in Armenia.
The general lines of the changes to be made in the
San Stefano Treaty, previously agreed upon between the
representatives of the British and Russian Governments,
were not seriously modified except as regards Armenia,
where, as we shall 9ee, the useful article 16 of San
Stefano was abandoned for one of less value. Punch
do so
for three years until
stration
in Berlin in a cartoon, which

fairly reflected the situation
Mr. Disraeli as asking his colleague for the
represented
"
because the arrangeFrench word for

compromise,"
"
"
between
transaction
ments were a compromise or
the claims of Russia and the provisions which Mr.
Disraeli desired to insert for preserving so far as possible
the integrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire.
Lord Salisbury had accompanied Mr. Disraeli to Berlin,

and when the two statesmen returned to London it
was Mr. Disraeli who, on the platform of the station at
which they arrived, declared in his best theatrical
manner to the crowd who had gathered to welcome
"
them, We bring you peace with honour."
During the negotiations at the San Stefano Congress,
and for many weeks after that of Berlin had been concluded, the British fleet remained in the Marmora.
It left Turkish waters in the beginning of October, 1878.
On June 4 Sir Henry Layard concluded with Abdul
Hamid what is known as the " Cyprus Convention."
It astonished Europe when it became known, but was
intentionally kept secret until after the Berlin Congress.
The late Sir Campbell Clarke, who acted as the representative of the Daily Telegraph at Berlin and had the
instincts of an able detective, realised from many
indications that such a Convention had been made, and
in Berlin mentioned his conclusions to Lord Salisbury,
who, while admitting that he was right, urged him not

No one has yet arrived
to make them publicly known.
why it was
would serve as a naval
at a satisfactory conclusion as to the reason
made.
The suggestion that
it
78
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
base for our fleet in the Levant is futile. It has not and
The
never can have any value for such purpose.
further suggestion that it should be used as a base of
operations against either the Northern Syrian coast or
that of Cilicia is not only improbable, but open to the
remark that it is hardly likely that Abdul Hamid
would have consented to the cession of a portion of
territory which might be used as a basis of attack
against Turkey. The only plausible explanation advanced is that Disraeli had suggested in one of his
earlier novels that England would take possession of
it.
The island has been of no use to us, but has been a
The whole negotiations were done secretly,
burden.
and in a great hurry Sir Henry Layard consented to
pay over to Turkish account a revenue amounting to
87,800 per annum. This has been employed to pay the
interest on a loan contracted during the Crimean War
and guaranteed by the British and French Governments.
The bargain was a bad one, but Great Britain has kept
her word, with the result that the revenues of the island,
when the aforesaid interest has been paid, have been
insufficient to meet the costs of government, let alone
1
The Treaty bears evident signs of
of improvement.
great haste. Abdul Hamid on all occasions showed the
utmost reluctance to surrender any portion of territory,
and the only article in the Convention which probably
appealed to him was one which provided that in return
for the cession and for the acceptation of reforms to be
made in Armenia, which Abdul would never even consider, Great Britain took the obligation to defend Turkish
territory against any attacks by Russia.
In one respect the Cyprus Convention has been of use
as showing that British administration can mete out
even-handed justice to Christians and Turks alike. The
Turkish population of the island have been content,
as they well may be, with their just government and with
the permission granted them to retain all their revenues
"
as a
Whitaker's Almanack for 1916 speaks of the amount to be paid
"
Taxation
is at least better apportioned than
but
adds
heavy burden,"
1
formerly."
79
from pious foundations. The Greeks, who form by far

the largest element in the population, have chafed
under the burden of taxation which remains practically
the same as under Turkish rule. It may be safe to predict that ultimately Cyprus, with the consent of Great
handed over to the kingdom of Greece.

In November, 1914, Cyprus was formally annexed to
the British Empire.
Britain, will be
Note.
Edhem
(p.
65)
was
is
noteworthy. Captured
massacre of Chios, he was
man
of great ability,
whose history
at the age of three or four in the

taken to a harem, brought up as a
Moslem, and, as has happened to Christian children in many

cases in Turkish history, rose by his singular talents to become
Grand Vizier. His eldest son was Hamdi Bey, who became the
real founder of the great Museum in Stamboul.
Though professing the religion of Islam, he became a painter and exhibited
at the Salon in Paris and at our Royal Academy.
Some of his
works have found a permanent resting place in British galleries.
The conferring upon him the degree of D.C.L. by Oxford in
1909 was regarded by him as the crowning of his career. Unfortunately he died the following year.
something should be said in justice

incurred much undeserved obloquy,
Henry
due
to
the
unfortunate
largely
misrepresentation which led the
that
he
to
believe
public
sympathised with the Turks in their
treatment of the Christians. He was an honest and intelligent
Note.
It is right that
to Sir
He
Elliot.
British Ambassador, who, like most Englishmen, was a firm

believer in the advantages of Constitutional Government. He
was cognisant from the first of the doings of Midhat and the
trusted them
believed in their honesty and that
reformers
they were on the right track to put an end to the corruption and
;
of the country.
When he interrupted the proceedings of the Conference by stating that the salute implied a
more radical change in the government of the country than that
misgovernment
likely
to be granted
believed in
what he
to
said.
the European delegates he honestly

He knew more about the provisions
than any of his colleagues and regarded

the experiment which was to be tried as hopeful. It was unfortunate that when Lord Salisbury came to the country the two
of Midhat's proposal
80
men
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID

did not get on well together.
Probably at that time
Sir
Henry did not recognise that the new Sultan would be the great
enemy of all reform, but he steadfastly worked on the lines of
the great Canning for the amelioration of
population in Turkey.
all
sections of the
CHAPTER
VI
QUESTIONS ARISING FROM BERLIN CONGRESS

Abdul Hamid's treatment
the
Berlin
Congress
remaining unsettled at
regarding reforms in
of questions
61
Article
Sir Henry Layard's struggles,

Armenia
negotiations
and
of letter in Greek written by
recall.
Incident
failure,
Sir Henry leaves Constantinople
is
Mr. Gladstone.
An
delivered
Abdul
Mr.
Goschen.
ultimatum
replaced by
Hamid yields regarding Montenegro
questions regardCommission appointed
Eastern Rumelia
ing Greece
;
Russian troops leave Bulgaria

organisation ;
Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice's Commission for Macedonia
for
its
Governor
of Gavril as
appointment
revolution
bloodless
in
of Eastern
Philippopolis.
Abdul
Rumelia
Hamid's
;
Gavril replaced by Prince

conduct regarding Bulgaria
Alexander, who is kidnapped
subsequently abdicates
;
September
elected
Serbia
7,
1887
'>
interregnum
Ferdinand of Coburg
war with
of
Russia
persistent opposition
Russia proposes intervenBattle of Slivnitza ;
;
tion with
Turkey
practical
Dictator
Sultan refuses
murdered
is
Stambuloff becomes
all
Powers recognise
Ferdinand.
Three
principal questions were left by the Berlin

further action by the signatories of the
The introduction of reforms
They concerned
Congress for
Treaty.
an increase
of territory to Montenegro,
Armenia
and another increase of territory to Greece arrangements for the government of Eastern Rumelia, includfor
ing the appointment of a Governor.

In reference to reforms in Armenia, Article 61 of
the Berlin Treaty provides
"
The Sublime Porte undertakes to carry out, without
further delay, the improvements and reforms demanded
:
JL.A.H.
LIFE OF
82
ABDUL HAMID
by local requirements in the provinces inhabited by

Armenians, and to guarantee their security against the
Circassians and Kurds. It will periodically make known
the steps taken to this effect to the Powers, who will
superintend their application."
Negotiations for Reforms
in
Armenia.
The Ambassador charged with the presentation of a

of reforms for Armenia to the Sultan, in accordance with the article just quoted, was Sir Henry Layard.
He had come to Turkey from being her Majesty's
Ambassador at Madrid, and arrived in Constantinople
on March 31, 1877. Though a Liberal in politics while in
the House of Commons, Sir Henry was appointed by Mr.
Disraeli's Government because of his well-known friendHis great reputation had been made
ship for the Turks.
in his early manhood by his discovery and exploration of
Nineveh. 1 His volume on the subject marked a great
advance in the archaeology of Assyria. Though in his
scheme
he recognised the corruption of Turkish

he liked the Turks personally, as did perhaps
most Englishmen, and on his return to England fell
under the influence of Mr. David Urquhart, a typical and
able philo-Turk, whose singular energy both on his
travels, in voluminous writings and in Parliament, but
"
especially in his
Spirit of the East," struck a popular
note and made many converts to his views. His followers were probably more philo-Turk than himself, and
were animated by philo-Turkism and by the utmost
distrust of Russia.
Small societies known as Foreign
Affairs Committees were formed in many British towns
for the advocacy of his views, especially in the northern
counties
probably he found his strongest supporters
in Newcastle-on-Tyne, where his influence remained
narrative
officials,
for
many
Sir Henry
years after the Crimean War.
fair representative at one time of the
Layard was a
general spirit of hostility towards Russia and of friendship towards Turkey prevailing in the Urquhart group.
When therefore Sir Henry Elliot was made Ambassador
1
See note at'end of chapter.
REFORMS
ARMENIA
IN
83
Vienna it was a reasonable suggestion on the part of

the Disraeli Government that a man, known
by his
admiration for the Turks, should be appointed as his
successor. He took up his task with reference to Armenia
with great confidence.
He was convinced that the
reforms which he submitted to the Porte were for the
benefit of Moslems and Christians alike, and that when
explained by him to his Majesty they would be carefully
considered.
He was received by Abdul Hamid as a
welcome successor to Sir Henry Elliot, and anticipated
in
in
procuring
their
acceptance.
hope would probably have
been
justified
little
difficulty
of the
the three or
the time of
country been
(February
1877).
This
had the
in the
hands of any of
Grand Viziers in office during
Abdul Hamid's immediate predecessors.
But government by Ministers was almost at an end.
Amongst the successors of such men, Midhat, the only
open advocate of reform, had already been dismissed
rule
5,
the
four
able
When
the coup de theatre of pro-
Constitution
Abdul's hostility
failed,
claiming
towards reform became more virulent than before.
He hated the very word " constitution " and everyone
who approved of it.

Sir Henry Layard
They were discussed
presented his scheme of reforms.

seriously with the other Ambas-
sadors and with the representatives of Abdul Hamid.

It soon however
appeared that the Turkish Ministers
were powerless, and that their master would not permit
them
to exercise their judgment.
Layard found out

that
the
Minister
for
subsequently
Foreign Affairs who
took the leading part on the Turkish side had been
ordered to make opposition to all projects of change.
Article by article of the projected scheme was discussed
and rejected. For the sake of appearances a new draft
of projected reforms was submitted on the
part of Abdul
Hamid.
Sir
Gradually
Henry Layard and all the
Ambassadors learned the disagreeable truth, that the
Sultan, in spite of his professions of friendship to Sir
to the country which he represented, was determined not to make any concession.
Henry personally and
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
84
He had to mainSir Henry was in a difficult position.

tain his reputation in England as a friend of the Turks.
Yet he had to obtain Abdul Hamid's consent to changes
which he soon saw were distasteful. Perhaps it may
fairly be said that he had been too violent a partisan to
have been sent as a representative to Turkey, for the
extreme philo-Turk party in England expected too
much of him. He worked steadily and persistently
in endeavouring to obtain from the Porte, that is, from
the Sultan, some definite promise of reforms for Armenia.
But as months passed away while all his proposals were
rejected, and those of the Porte were manifestly futile,
he gradually realised that it was hopeless to obtain
from Abdul Hamid any amelioration whatever of the
lot of the Armenian population.
After long negotiations he succeeded in obtaining
as a great and almost as the sole concession a declaration
that in the Armenian Provinces the sub-Governor
It is
in each of such provinces should be a Christian.
to
the
provision was valueless,
impossible
say that
because a sub-Governor who chose to risk his place
might take up a strong position with
his Chief in favour

if
line
of
a sensible man,
a
of
action, and,
particular
could use his personal influence to induce him to make
the provisions of existing law as little harsh as possible
but as he was appointed by
for his co-religionists ;
Abdul Hamid he knew perfectly well that if he opposed
the wishes of his Chief he could be easily dismissed. To
anticipate the result of this reform for which Sir Henry
Layard, at the time, claimed a good deal of credit,
The
sub-Governor, so
be known as " Evet
or
Effendi
Yes, Sir," because in popular belief he
Sir Henry Layard
invariably agreed with his Chief.
his
did
utmost
to
obtain
reforms.
His
undoubtedly
interest
coincided
and
with
the
interest
reputation
of the Turks, whom he liked, and stimulated him to
but he entirely failed.
In his diplogreat activity
matic correspondence, so far as it has been published,
he gave no indications that he had been unsuccessful
it
proved
utterly
illusory.
gradually came
appointed,
"
"
to
LA YARD'S FAILURE
his
during
When
negotiations.
at
length
85
the
con-
was granted of which I have spoken, the project

accepted was a mere simulacrum of what had been
cession
Henry expressed his disappointat the stubbornness of the

terms
very strong
that
the
sub-Governor clause would
but
remarked
Porte,
be
something gained.
always
A General Election took place in England in April,
originally proposed.
ment
1880.
was
Sir
in
The Liberal Party came
power and an outcry

Henry Layard. At the
despatch from him indicated
into
raised for the recall of Sir
crisis of
the election the
first
and especially pointed out that though the

reforms would be of as much benefit to the Moslems
as to the Christians, the Sultan would have none of
The despatch was taken by British public
them.
as
a volte face and a bid for popular favour.
opinion
The Liberal Government would possibly have continued Sir Henry in office but for an unfortunate circumstance which justly offended its members, and for which
Sir Henry's too great party zeal must be held responsible.
A letter had been written to Mr. Gladstone from
Constantinople of no special importance by a Greek
Mr. Gladstone replied in Greek but did
gentleman.
not keep a copy of what he had written. The Greek
who had received it showed it to Sir Henry Layard and
gave him what he chose to call a translation. Sir Henry
his failure
Layard, without having the translation verified by one

of the able Greek scholars at the Embassy, accepted
the translation as correct, and informed the correspondent of a London newspaper, which was at that time
strongly pro-Turkish, of
in
good
faith
its
contents. The correspondent

to his journal that Mr.
communicated
Gladstone had made statements which, if true, it was

The proat least inexpedient for him to have made.
Turkish party in England made a great outcry. Mr.
Gladstone asked that a copy should be furnished to
him. Sir Henry persisted that he had read the offensive
statements in Mr. Gladstone's own handwriting, in
"
"
other words he
to the Liberal leader.
gave the lie
When the copy was obtained it was found that
LIFE OF
86
ABDUL HAMID
Mr. Gladstone had not said what he was reported to
have said, and the odium of the incident fell upon the
The result was that one of the first
Ambassador.
decisions arrived at by the Liberal Government was
On his
that Sir Henry must leave Constantinople. 1
to
allowed
the
was
Armenian question
sleep
departure
for some months.
Abdul Hamid considered that he
had inflicted a defeat on Great Britain through her
Ambassador.
Sir Henry Layard was replaced by the Right Hon.
George J. Goschen, who was then Member of Parliament.
The special object of his mission was to induce the
Sultan to carry out certain other provisions of the Treaty
which he had hitherto declined to do.
of Berlin,
Negotiations regarding Montenegro.
The
first
tain State
of these related to Montenegro.
had had
The Moun-
independence acknowledged for

the first time by European Treaty. The Berlin Congress
decided that the port of Antivari on the Adriatic should
be given to it. Abdul Hamid from the first made the
strongest opposition and declared that he would never
its
consent to it or to any other sacrifice of territory. In

connection with such sacrifice let it be said generally
that a curious superstition has existed for centuries
On many previous occasions before the
in Turkey.
Berlin Congress it had been the habit of the Porte to
appoint a Christian delegate in order that he might
take the odium and responsibility of ceding Moslem
It
had happened on
territory to the Unbeliever.
various occasions that the Sultan had sacrificed his
Christian delegate to popular clamour, though it was
by his express or implied instructions he had consented
to yield territory. Even at the Congress of Berlin the
practice
had
Caratheodori,
been
followed,
who was perhaps
and
Alexander
Pasha
the ablest statesman in
Turkey, was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and

the especial Turkish representative at Berlin because
1
MR. GOSCHEN
AND MONTENEGRO
87
he was a Christian. In justice to him it should be said

that he fought a hard battle against Bismarck and Lord
Salisbury, the first being personally rude to him, telling
him bluntly on one occasion that he and his colleague
had nothing to do with the decisions of the Congress but
to accept them.
Abdul Hamid in opposing any cession of territory to

Montenegro was acting in accordance with the traditional practice. Nevertheless the Turkish delegates had
accepted the decision which Berlin had taken [and
Abdul must abide by it. He had defeated England in
his first encounter regarding Armenia and entered
upon the second with confidence. Upon his emphatic
to surrender Antivari, the British Cabinet
invited the States who had signed the Berlin Treaty to
join in making a naval demonstration before that town.
refusal
Men-of-war of various nations assembled in the Adriatic.

It was believed that their appearance would induce
Abdul Hamid to give way. When, after some weeks,
the Sultan showed no signs of yielding, and the ships
of the other nations which had taken part in the demonstration withdrew one after the other, Abdul Hamid
considered himself justified in his belief that his firm

would prevail, and that he would gain the credit
from his subjects of once more successfully defying
Europe. He, however, was not aware that in defying
Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Goschen he was matching
himself against two strong men. The British Government supported Mr. Goschen's recommendation that
the British fleet alone should execute the mandate of
the Powers, and prepared to take severe measures.
Mr. Goschen went to see Abdul Hamid and delivered an
The event was a trying one for the
ultimatum.
Ambassador, because he knew that the Sultan had
proclaimed his determination not to make the cession
and believed that the withdrawal of the ships of other
nations indicated that England stood alone.
Indeed
the belief in Turkey was general that Great Britain
was undertaking more than she could accomplish.
Some of the Powers would probably have liked to have
will
88
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
by Turkey on Great Britain. Mr.

Goschen informed Abdul Hamid that if he did not give
way, British ships would occupy and hold an important,
but unnamed, port in his dominions until he had given
in.
Abdul Hamid once more refused. The Concert of
Europe had failed, and Turkey had now only England
If Mr. Goschen at the interview was
to deal with.
nervous, Abdul Hamid was probably still more affected,
for the story was current in Constantinople the next
day that during the evening he had broken out into a
paroxysm of anger and professed that he would be happy
if he could see London
destroyed. Mr. Goschen probably
kept his own counsel. There was intense interest and
some jealousy on the part of some of the other Ambassadors who watched with eagerness to see whether
Meantime the British
England would act alone.
Government and Mr. Goschen had decided upon their
measures.
The Admiral in command of the British
fleet had secret instructions and the ships under him
were ready to heave anchor under sealed orders when
word came from Constantinople. Everything indeed
was ready for their departure and the signals were
"
"
when it was reported that a local
bent on
actually
boat was coming in haste from the shore and that someone in it was frantically waving a paper. The messenger
arrived bringing the announcement that the Sultan
had given way. It was not until three months afterwards
that the British public learnt that the sealed orders were
for the occupation of Smyrna. A legend had grown up
in England which was widely current at the time that
the Liberal Party was incapable of what was called
" a
spirited foreign policy." The concealment of what
had been done at Antivari until Parliament had risen
was an act which suggested that the Government were
still a little afraid of what their supporters would
say
about their spirited policy.
seen a rebuff inflicted
Questions regarding Greece.
Some
asily
of the questions in reference to

settled.
The
popular
belief,
Greece were
probably not
QUESTIONS REGARDING GREECE
89
unfounded, was that, on condition of her abstaining

from taking part in the Russo-Turkish War, she was to
receive compensation. In June, 1880, a Conference met
in Berlin to bring about a friendly arrangement between
Turkey and Greece. Meantime the Greek Army was
After months of negotiations, in July,
mobilised.
1 88 1,
Thessaly was ceded to her. Other questions were
The most important,

settled without much difficulty.
however, had to stand over until a later development
occurred, and was concerned with the better government of the Island of Crete. As this question did not
take an important shape until at least ten years later,
it need not be yet considered.
Questions regarding Bulgaria.

As already mentioned, the provisions of the San
Stefano Treaty had created a Great Bulgaria, which
extended as far south as the yEgean.
By the Berlin
Balkans
was formed
north
of
the
the
country
Treaty
into a Principality, and little difficulty occurred in the
appointment of Alexander of Battenberg as its first
Prince. A large strip of country which was included in
the Great Bulgaria of the San Stefano Treaty was
and the remainder, officially
returned to Turkey
known as Eastern Rumelia, was constituted into a
tributary province to be under the Sultan's suzerainty,
;
presided over by a Christian Governor,

Sultan with the approval of the Powers.
Before,
however,
Governor
was
named by
the
named much
Commission
preliminary work required to be done.
Rumelia
of
Eastern
was appointed for the organisation
in 1878.
Sir
Henry Drummond Wolff was named by
A scheme for the better

Great Britain in August.
was
drawn up and approved
the
of
province
government
and by the Sultan
of
the
Powers
by the Commissioners
November.
precaution had been
in the following
The
permitted of allowing
Russian troops to remain in occupation of Southern
Bulgaria until these arrangements were completed.
When the Commissioners had created and put the
90
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
machinery of government
in
motion
in
accordance with
the provisions of their scheme, the Russian troops
left
in
May, 1879.
Macedonia having been detached from the Great
Bulgaria, a Commission was appointed to draw up an
"
"
for its government.
It was presided
Organic Law
over by Lord Edmond, now Lord Fitzmaurice. It did
its work
excellently and was approved by the Powers.
Had its provisions been loyally executed by Abdul
Hamid, the history of Europe might have been changed,
and a semi-autonomous province created which would
have probably worked harmoniously. No reasonable
doubt can be entertained that the province could have
been made as great a success for some years at least,
as the district of the Lebanon had become after the
arrangement made consequent upon the troubles
between the Druses and the Maronites in i860. We shall
see that from the first Abdul Hamid, with the shortsightedness which characterised all his dealings both
with the Powers and with his own subjects, placed every
obstacle in the way of reforms in Macedonia and thus
led to the twenty-five years of anarchy which prevailed
in that country, and which resulted directly in the
formation of a Balkan League, the series of events
which precipitated the disturbances in the Balkan
States, and contributed to add a dangerous and disquieting element to the present European War.
To return, however, to the question of Southern
Bulgaria. It was not thought advisable that a Governor
should be appointed until the scheme of organisation
already mentioned was ready to be put in operation.
Then, after negotiations with the Powers, the Sultan
named a certain Christovitch, known by the Turks as
" Gavril
Pasha," to be Governor in 1884. In Constantihe
was often spoken of as a " schoolmaster
nople
"
in allusion to his conduct as President of
President
the Turkish Mixed Court. He was not a man of great
knowledge or of good judgment. Nevertheless, he had
effected improvements in his office in the capital, and
as there was absolutely nothing against his personal
QUESTIONS FROM BERLIN CONGRESS
91
was accepted by the Powers when named

Abdul
Hamid.
When he went to take up his position
by
character, he
at
Philippopolis,
the capital of Eastern
Rumelia,
it
was expected by the Sultan that he would wear the red

fez, as a mark of subjection to Turkish authority,
which everyone indeed in the Sultan's employ had to
wear. The story went that as soon as he crossed from
Turkey into Rumelia he put the fez in his pocket and
produced a Bulgarian headdress known as a kalpak.

He was a good-natured man and had no special difficulty with the Bulgarians, but the population resented
their separation from their brethren and neighbours
of Northern Bulgaria, and looked with
suspicion on
measure
introduced
Gavril,
every
by
fearing that it
might have been dictated from Constantinople. Nevertheless they tolerated the representative of the Sultan
because all knew that in the Treaty of Berlin express
authority was given to Abdul Hamid to send his troops

Rumelia in case such a measure was necessary to
into
preserve his authority.

We can all now recognise that the provision in the
Balkan Treaty which separated the Bulgarian people
was a foolish one, for the inhabitants were of the same
race, religion, and language as those in the Principality,
and would only consent to be separated from their
brethren so long as they were prevented by actual or
Indeed it was this consideration

anticipated force.
which furnished the reason for the provision allowing
Turkish troops to be sent by the Sultan to Philippopolis
and other portions of the province in case of disorder.
Hence, though the inhabitants were not dissatisfied
with their Governor, the feeling grew stronger every
day that they must be united with the people of the
Principality.
They would probably have waited longer and might

even have become contented to remain Turkish subjects
but for the perversity of Abdul Hamid. He insisted
upon suppressing the popular clamour for union with
the Principality and especially objected to the display
Acting on orders from the Sultan,
of Bulgarian flags.
LIFE OF
92
Gavril
ABDUL HAMID
now become Pashaforbade the hoisting
Principality flag in
an order to
Philippopolis.
this effect
was published a
of the
few days after

religious feast-
day occurred and nearly "every house displayed"it. Then

on September 13, 1885, a bloodless revolution occurred
"
in Philippopolis amid popular cries of
Long live the
felt
and
at once left
himself
Gavril
Union."
powerless
Eastern Rumelia and resumed the fez. He could hardly
have been surprised when the revolution broke out.
No one wished him any harm, and he went away without
hindrance or disturbance
of Vali in Philippopolis being
his occupation of the post

added to his many pleasant
reminiscences.
"
"
Five days after the bloodless revolution of September, 1885, Prince Alexander at Tirnova, the ancient
capital of Bulgaria, received a deputation of the leading
people of Eastern Rumelia who demanded union with
Two days later the Prince entered
the Principality.
was generally acclaimed as ruler
and
Philippopolis
of Eastern Rumelia.
The population of Bulgaria naturally rejoiced at the
decision of their brethren south of the Balkans. At the
same time, however, they at once commenced preparation
to resist the Turkish troops if Abdul Hamid determined,
as they expected he would, to exercise his right to send
them into the country. Europe, however, had by this
time come to recognise that the two Bulgarias ought
not to have been divided.
Upon the advice of the
of
all the Powers except Turkey, Prince
representatives
Alexander of Bulgaria did not mobilise.
The Grand Vizier at the time was Said Pasha, com"
from his short
Kutchuk Said
monly known as
He and other Ministers urged the Sultan to
stature.
'
Abdul Hamid
right of intervention.
The
do
so.
to
explanation which he
happily objected
British
the
and
to
to
Said
Embassy was that he
gave
exercise
his
knew that in his army were a number of rough fellows

who would treat the Bulgarians badly, and having
had experience
of the result of such treatment in 1876,
SERBIA RAISES DIFFICULTIES
93
treatment which had brought about the war with Russia,

he was not going to risk the experiment. On the whole
it was a
satisfactory decision both for the Powers and
Abdul.
The difficulty was overcome by the appointment of
Alexander, already Prince of Bulgaria, by the Sultan
as Governor of Eastern Rumelia for a term of five
Thereupon the Prince went to Philippopolis
years.
in that capacity.
Austria from the first had disliked the establishment
of Bulgaria and disliked still more the increase of its
Milan,
territory by the addition of Eastern Rumelia.
the
of
with
consent
of
Serbia,
Austria,
probably
King
took the opportunity of invading Bulgaria, claiming
that Serbia's territory should now be increased at the
Suddenly and without
expense of her neighbour.
warning, on November 13, 1885, Bulgaria was invaded

by Serbian troops at four points. Prince Alexander
appealed to the Sultan as the sovereign lord of Rumelia
Abdul
None, however, was forthcoming
being quite content to see his two lost provinces
of Serbia and Bulgaria at war with each other.
The moment was critical for Bulgaria, and that for
a reason which no student can safely overlook. No one
denies that the liberation of Bulgaria was due to Russia.
for
help.
Hamid
sacrifice of men and money had been great, and, as

a result, the Bulgarians were set free from the Turkish
yoke. Throughout the whole of the province, the sentiment of gratitude to the Russian Czar was profound.
every Bulgarian house had a portrait of Alexander
Nearly
"
Liberator."
But there was another side of the
the
Russian
diplomacy has always tended to become
picture.
and
arrogant and has seldom shown
domineering
Her
disadvantage than in dealing with

Russia
had undertaken to organise a BulBulgaria.
to
officer
it with Russians, and to
garian Army,
provide
But her tactless agents so misa Minister of War.
managed their task that the alternative soon presented
itself to the Bulgarian people of becoming a Russian
Province, as some foolish Russians stated was the inten-
itself
to
greater
LIFE OF
94
ABDUL HAMID
tion of Russia, or of becoming a really independent

State. Many Bulgarians felt that the want of experience
in the country was too great to enable it to be governed
Others unattached to party
without foreign aid.
recognised that the contest meant one between those
"
whose
was "
for
the Bulgarians
and those
Bulgaria
cry
considered that their only safeguard against
Turkey was to allow their country to become a second
Finland.
Undoubtedly the majority of the Bulgarian
people cherished the traditions of their race and hoped
who
to see an independent Bulgarian Kingdom.

Several questions tending to make the
Russians
unpopular had arisen between the Bulgarians and those
who had now come to be regarded as their taskmasters.
One of the most burning arose from the fact that the
Russians would allow no Bulgarian to have a commission
in the army beyond the rank of captain. The Minister
of War took his own course without reference to the
for Russia had
inexperienced Bulgarian Ministers
claimed and exercised the right to appoint the Bulgarian
Minister of War.
Ill-feeling between Russians and
Bulgarians became acute. It resulted in a sudden order
from Petersburg for the withdrawal and immediate
return of all the Russian officers in the army, about one
hundred and fifty in number.
It was at the moment when these officers were withdrawn and the Bulgarian Army was without superior
officers that Milan invaded the country.
The Bulgarian
;
troops
had
to
retreat
before
the
Serbians
and
fell
On November 15 the invaders

back upon Slivnitza.
attacked them. Fighting took place in the Dragoman
Pass, near the source of the river Morava, where an attack
was made by 40,000 Serbians. The Bulgarians held
their ground and on November 21 and 22, 1885, defeated
them. King Milan and his troops fled across the Serbian
frontier.
Inexperienced, and without trained officers,
the Bulgarians had shown a stubbornness worthy of
veterans. To add to their difficulties, Prince Alexander
was absent from Sofia, probably in Varna, when the
invasion occurred.
Communications and transport
BATTLE OF SLIVNITZA
95
all the advantages appeared on the

Serbian side. The contest at Slivnitza was a soldier's
battle, that is, there was apparently no directing head
to lead them. The Bulgarians had only one objective,
to drive back the enemy.
They chased the Serbians
across their frontier. Then on November 28 the Austrian
Emperor intervened. He gave formal notice to Bulgaria
that if her troops advanced further into Serbian territory
they would have to deal with Austrian troops.
were slow and
Once more Abdul Hamid was urged to exercise his

His refusal was probably due now to
right of entry.
representations of Sir William White, then
Constantinople, who knew Belgrade well and the ways
of its King and of Austria. He was indeed more familiar
with the politics and people of the Balkan States
than any Ambassador England ever had at the Sublime
It was largely due to his influence, first, that
Porte.
England invited all the Powers to request Alexander
not to mobilise, informing him that their influence
in
the
would be exercised in favour of the peaceful union of

Eastern Rumelia and Bulgaria, and second, that Abdul
Hamid
did not exercise his right to send troops for the

assertion of Turkish authority in conformity with the
Treaty of Berlin.
In 1886 occurred an incident which was more like

one out of mediaeval Italian history than one in the
nineteenth century. Russian intrigue, conducted by
the adventurous underlings of her Diplomatic Service,
led to a conspiracy
military officers to
amongst certain
replace
Prince
of the Bulgarian
Alexander by a
Russian prince. The plot was carefully concealed, and

this for obvious reasons, the most important being that
the nation was not dissatisfied with its prince. In the
third
week
of August,
1886, the plot
was carried
out.
Prince Alexander was kidnapped by the conspirators

and carried off to the frontier. It was an ugly business
and greatly discredited Russian diplomacy in the Near
The inconsiderate withdrawal of the Russian
East.
officers
dictatorial conduct of the chief represenRussia looked like mere spiteful interference.
and the
tatives of
LIFE OF
96
ABDUL HAMID
Russian diplomacy made
was determined
it
appear that the Deliverer

had rescued from
to treat the people he
Turkish rule as if they were serfs. It did more perhaps

than anything else to estrange the people from a belief
in the single-mindedness of Russia in setting the country
free.
Great resentment was felt against the perpetrators,
and Prince Alexander at the popular demand returned
in triumph on September 22 of the following year.
There is good reason to believe, however, that his return
was permitted by Petersburg on condition that on his
arrival he should formally abdicate and leave the
This arrangement was carried into effect,
country.
and at the end of September, 1887, Alexander left the
country. The Prince was a Battenberg, a brave soldier,
a straightforward and not unthoughtful man.
It is
difficult to know what was the real objection that Russia
had
to his rule in Bulgaria, though probably the chief

one was that she desired to have a Russian prince as
being likely to be more compliant with her wishes.
It was consequent on these events that Stambuloff,
an advocate who had been educated in Russia, came to
the front to play a part in the politics of his country.

His clearheadedness and strong will soon indicated him
as the Prime Minister in the near future. On the departure of Alexander he had been named one of three
Regents to act in lieu of a Prince. A Provisional Government was formed and an election took place to decide
what should be done.
The kidnapping of Prince Alexander, and the interregnum during which Bulgaria was without a recognised
Russia
ruler, were a severe trial for the young nation.
had not only withdrawn all her officers but appeared
to be doing all she could, short of going to war, to bring
the Bulgarian people to their knees. A confusion, little
The disorder was increased
short of anarchy, ensued.
the
between
Ministers and the Regents,
the
rivalries
by
rivalries which reflected the divergence of Bulgarian
opinion.
During the next two or three years political interest

Near East gathers round the conduct of Abdul
in the
97
Hamid in reference to Bulgaria. The expulsion of Gavril,

the prevalent disorder, and the absence of a prince gave
the Sultan many opportunities of that intervention
in Eastern Rumelia to which he had a clear right under
the Treaty of Berlin. Gavril's expulsion was an open
The disturbance foreseen
defiance of his authority.
and was continuing.
the
had
commenced
by
Treaty
of
well
for
the
it
was
Europe that Abdul
Though
peace
did not exercise his right, as some of his Ministers urged
him to do, his conduct illustrates at once his weakness
and
his vacillation.
Stambuloff" as the head of the regents, with insight

as to what ought to and what could be done, acted very
much as a dictator. The people, wholly unaccustomed
to political affairs, needed a leader who should lead and
recognised in him such a leader. He was determined

"
to carry into effect the policy of
Bulgaria for the
"
and was not minded that his people should
Bulgarians
exchange the Turkish yoke for that of Russia. Radoslavoff the Premier, while claiming as strongly as Stam,
desired to be independent of Russia,

acted in opposition to him. Zancoff, leader of an extreme
party, was regarded as the mouthpiece of Russia. Amid
the excitement of party passion, his friends took the
remarkable step of sending him to Constantinople in
order to induce the Sultan to exercise his right of interAbdul Hamid refused. Russia soon became
ference.
so irritated against Bulgaria that she herself proposed
common action with the Sultan. Had Abdul Hamid
accepted her invitation, he could have gone as the
mandatory of the Powers and the guardian of European
treaty law. What a position before gods and men
Surely the temptation to him must have been great.
The question of the appointment of a successor to
Alexander became a burning one.
Zancoff openly
declared (1) for the reappointment to their rank in
the army of the traitors who had taken part in kidnapping Prince Alexander, (2) for a Russian Minister
of War, and (3) for the appointment of the Prince of
Mingrelia, a Russian subject, as Prince of Bulgaria.
buloff that he
LIFE OF
98
When
ABDUL HAMID
with his companions returned from

the
Constantinople,
garrisons of Rustchuk and Silistria
revolted against the regents with the object of supporting Russia's demands. They were defeated, and Zancoff
with Karaveloff and others were arrested at the end of
The regents put down the revolt and
March, 1887.
executed some of the rebels at Rustchuk.
The visits to Constantinople had done harm to the
Russian cause. The suppression of the Rustchuk and
other revolts made it evident that the Russian party
were losing influence. They saw that they could not hope
to have a Russian prince elected.
Thereupon Russia
" in
invited the Powers to join
preventing further
bloodshed." The popular sentiment remained loyal
to the absent Alexander and on the anniversary of his
birthday, April 6, 1887, a Te Deum was sung at Varna,
and letters of congratulation poured in for the absent
Prince from all parts of the country. Stambuloff had
become the popular opponent of Russian interference
with the internal affairs of the country. Accompanied
by one of his colleagues, he made a tour throughout
Zancoff
Southern Bulgaria and was everywhere welcomed with

enthusiasm. He had taken the bold step of cashiering
100 officers out of the 700 Bulgarian soldiers who had
taken part in the kidnapping.
The great desire of the Powerswas to preserve European

peace and the representations of all the Ambassadors in
;
Constantinople, with the exception of that of Russia, were

now in favour of non-interference. They supported this
policy the more confidently because it had become clear
that Abdul Hamid would not exercise his right, under the
Even
Treaty of Berlin, to send troops into the country.
Austria would not be more sultanist than the Sultan.
Meantime a deputation consisting of Stoiloff, afterwards Prime Minister, Grekoff, and CalciefT, all good men,
had gone into Central Europe in search of a prince.
They had seen Prince Waldemar of Denmark, and
negotiations with him and with Ferdinand of Coburg
had commenced in December, 1886. Ferdinand consented to become prince, but made his acceptance subject
RUSSIAN AND BULGARIAN STRUGGLES
99
and especially of Russia.

As Austria and Russia were already rivals, it was feared
in Bulgaria that upon his appointment Russia, supported
by Turkey, would invade the country. The Sobranje
was convoked, the elections hurried, and upon the refusal
to the approval of the Powers,
of
Prince
Waldemar
to
accept the
princely
throne
Ferdinand was unanimously elected. Stambuloff had

hastened to give what legal sanction he could to the
choice of the deputies. The Sobranje on July 4, 1887,
gave a unanimousvote for the appointment of Ferdinand.
Thereupon fresh troubles began. Stambuloff resigned
because of disagreement with Radislavoff.
The representative in Sofia of Abdul Hamid, a

Gadban Effendi, declared that the elections were
certain
unfair.
probability they were gerrymandered, as have

been subsequent elections in allthe States of the Balkan
Peninsula, but no amount of ^jerrymandering could
prevent a real expression of the wish of the country.
Russian agents were intriguing in favour of the election
The Russian Government even
of a Russian prince.
sent a fleet to Varna in the hope of increasing Russian
In
all
and
reminding the people that she could

General Kaulbars, who did not
kind
of Russian diplomacy, had been
the
best
represent
Russian soldiers were landed, and
sent into Bulgaria.
Kaulbars threatened the Bulgarians.
Russia had
in
been
unsuccessful
her
support of a prince.
already
When the Sobranje found that Prince Waldemar of
Denmark refused to act, the Russians, once more finding
that Stambuloff and his followers were not compliant,
recalled Kaulbars and the Russian Consul.
Bulgaria
was to be dragooned into acquiescence.
Russia refused to recognise that the unanimous
vote of the Sobranje was valid.
France and other
Powers called attention to the fact that by the Treaty
of Berlin the Prince could only be validly elected with
the consent of all the Powers signatories of the Treaty.
Ferdinand negotiated with Russia
but although he
failed to obtain her consent, he learned that no other
Power made formal objection to his election. Accord-
influence
of
effectively interfere.
LIFE OF
ioo
ABDUL HAMID
ingly he decided on August 9 to accept the princely

throne and its risks. Russia, finding that she was unsupported, accepted the fait accompli and contented
On
herself for the time with lodging a protest.
August 24 Turkey also protested because the election
had been made without her consent, but she did nothing
more. After long negotiation Russia persuaded France
to join with her in proposing to send a Russian Commissioner to superintend a new election to be followed by
the choice of a prince. Abdul Hamid, however, would
not consent to the interference of a Commissioner named
These Powers, now joined by

by foreign States.
added
to
the
confusion by withdrawing their
Germany,
consuls from Bulgaria on August 22, the day preceding
that appointed for Ferdinand's public entry into Sofia.
On August 23 Ferdinand carried out the programme
arranged for his entry. The British Consul, however,
remained.
Ferdinand, with the aid of Stambuloff, had triumphed.
The impression which he created was not favourable.
His manner, stiff and haughty, was always against him.
Even five years later the attitude of the Bulgarians
towards him pointed to the conclusion that while they
considered it expedient to accept his rule, they cared
He gave the impression of
little for him personally.
the
between
make
to
himself, the grandson
gulf
desiring
The
French king, and his people impassable.
the
same
contold
of
to
him
pointed
everywhere
clusion. In this respect he compared unfavourably with
Prince Alexander, who was always genial and never
"
put on side." Conduct of this kind was ill placed.
The Turks, to whose rule the Bulgars had been subject,
A poor gardener or shoeare democratic in manner.
black will speak to a pasha without subserviency, and
nothing could be more alien to his subjects than the
attempt to introduce into their country the forms and
ceremonies of the ancient aristocratic and despotic
of
stories
system of France.
Ferdinand had dissolved the Sobranje on August 24.
New elections were held earlv in October. Russia,
STRUGGLES CONTINUED
101
persistent in her hostility even to the extent of employing her old enemy to crush the rebellious province,
had modified her former proposal, and had come now to

an agreement with Turkey that she and Turkey should
appoint two Commissioners, and that a new prince
should be elected from two candidates named by her.
The other Powers disliked the arrangement, and the
Bulgarian people were still more hostile to it. Happily
for them, Abdul Hamid once more changed his mind.
He not only withdrew from his engagement to name a
Commissioner to act with the Russian, but refused to call
on Ferdinand to leave Bulgaria pending new elections.
The influence of England was steadily used in Constantinople by Sir William White to leave the choice of
the
new
Prince solely to the Bulgarians.
Abdul Hamid
once followed British advice, as it coincided with

his own desire to remain inactive.
Ferdinand, having
obtained once more the unanimous vote of the Sobranje,
made a tour throughout the country. It took place in
for
the last
week
of 1888,
and was
entirely successful, for
he was accompanied by StambulofT, who was immensely

popular, and by his mother, the Princess Clementine,
a daughter of King Louis Philippe, a woman of great
charm, tact, and ability, who did far more to dispel the
open and latent opposition to Ferdinand than did the
Prince himself.
Once more Russia endeavoured
to induce the
Powers
to join her in getting rid of Ferdinand.

They were
however not only desirous of peace, but the long agitation
had convinced them that the Bulgarian people were

quite competent to manage their own affairs. England,
Austria, and Italy formally refused to make any further
representations against his occupation of the princely
throne.
Abdul Hamid, indeed, though he had missed
many opportunities of intervention, could not relinquish
his
dreams
As
mark
of again bringing Bulgaria under Turkish rule.

of his displeasure, and, as it was believed at
the time, at the instigation of Russia, he imposed 8 per

ad valorem duty on all exported Bulgarian produce
which had to pass across Turkish territory.
cent,
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
102
The quarrel between Ferdinand and Stambuloff does

within the range of this book, but it added to the
of Bulgaria, for Ferdinand's position was
not yet secure. He was still not officially recognised
as Prince, and the relations between him and the representatives of all the foreign Powers in Sofia were strained.
In the autumn of 1889 all foreigners excepting Russians
recognised that this position was detrimental to the
In October, 1889, the Austrian semipublic interest.
official Fremdenblatt suggested that the time had come
not
fall
difficulties
to recognise Ferdinand as Prince.
His occupation of
the throne had become an accomplished fact, and every

Power in Europe wished to see a settlement of the
The struggle had become one
question without war.
between
Austria
and Russia. Whatever one
mainly
did the other opposed. Bulgaria wanted loans in order
to construct her railways, linking up the Serbian line
from Belgrade with the Turkish line from ConstantiBulgaria proposed to obtain one from Austria.
nople.
Russia opposed, taking up the position that, according
to the Treaty of Berlin, Turkey alone had the right
to sanction the construction of railways in Eastern
Rumelia.
But Russia stood alone in her opposition.
indeed
might once more have chosen to assert
Turkey
her rights, and a serious difficulty in such case would
have been created, for the necessary money for the
construction of the railways would not have been forthBut as Turkey desired the construction of
coming.
railways in Eastern Rumelia in the interest of her own
line, the loan was issued without opposition and the
money for it subscribed six times over. England of
course had not opposed a practical proposal for the
construction of railways
and the influence of Sir
William White, her great ambassador in Constantinople,
was constantly used to support reasonable Bulgarian
demands. The British Agent and Consul-General in
Sofia at this time was Sir Nicholas O'Conor, who
heartily co-operated with the Ambassador. He was an
exceptionally good man for the position, cool, thoughtHe got on well with his colleagues,
ful, and conciliatory.
;
MURDER OF STAMBULOFF
and was
103
with the Bulgarians,

advance industrial
to
desired
especially
Balkan statesmen,
deal
with
to
he
had
When
projects.
found
him
painstaking, courteous, and cordial,
they
and without the arrogance which sometimes characterises young diplomats when dealing with the reprealways
sympathetic
when they
The influence of England

sentatives of small States.
in Bulgaria steadily increased because her people
An
believed that England desired her progress.
British
Governbetween
the
was
concluded
arrangement
ment and the Bulgarian for the entry of British goods
of an ad valorem duty of 8 per cent.
The Bulgarian Government had its own
on payment
serious
internal troubles, which, except as to Macedonia, do not

concern us here, for Abdul Hamid hardly interfered
with them.
Ferdinand weakened Stamon the condition

them had taken
from
the
anarchy which Abdul
Bulgaria
The non-recognition
of
buloff's representations to the Porte

Thousands of
of the Macedonians.
refuge
in
Hamid was
In June, 1889,
instigating or tolerating.
Stambuloff drew up a strong letter of remonstrance,
addressed by Prince Ferdinand to Abdul Hamid as
his suzerain, 1 in which he claimed that Bulgaria had
It concluded with a
been flouted and neglected.
menace unless something was done for the bettering
The letter was not
of the Macedonian population.
without effect on the Sultan.
On March 27, 1881, Stambuloff and his colleague
Beltchefr, the Minister of Finance, were fired at in a
street in Sofia.
Beltcheff
fell
mortally wounded by three
The
shots which were intended for his companion.
wounds.
his
from
later
latter, however, died a few days
The evidence at the time and none has been forthcoming
shows that the assassination was not
to contradict it
work
the
of
Russian agents.
Stambuloff had
made
many enemies, at home as well as in Russia. He was

and while
essentially a strong, but also a violent, man,
strenuous measures were necessary in the troublesome
1
The contents
of this letter are given in the chapter
on Macedonia.
L I FE 0F ABDUL HAMID
104
times that ensued after the kidnapping of Alexander,

the violent attacks in his own newspaper upon the
Russian Emperor and even his family were recalled as an

explanation, though not as a justification, of the terrible
crime.
After the
of Stambuloff the history of Bulour present purpose. Her action

concerns
garia hardly
was bound up largely with that of the Powers in
endeavouring to obtain order in Macedonia. Her ideal
for that province, constantly put before Europe, was the
establishment of an autonomous State.
Ferdinand, looked on coldly by Russia, turned his
He persuaded the
attention towards Abdul Hamid.
Sultan to name him formally as Governor of Eastern
Rumelia. He offended Russia by ostentatiously posing
as the vassal of Abdul Hamid. The Sultan was nattered,
and welcomed the visit of the Prince to Constantinople.
But Abdul Hamid was too shrewd and distrustful not
murder
was endeavouring to play

course Abdul's Press made
Of
Russia.
against
much of the visit but as the great mass of the ignorant
Turks regard all foreign princes as necessarily the
vassals of the Padisha, the incident of the visit cannot
be said to have increased the Sultan's reputation.
When, after the revolution in Constantinople of July,
1908, Ferdinand declared himself king, then, indeed,
the Sultanic Press came out in the strongest condemto discern that Ferdinand
him
off
nation of the traitor to his Sovereign.

An observer may well ask whether Abdul Hamid's
action in reference to Bulgaria indicated able statesmanAssuming that he desired to recover the princiship.
as he
pality and to preserve Eastern Rumelia,
that
would
note
an
observer
such
did,
undoubtedly
had many opportunities of probably successful

Had he stood upon his rights under the
Berlin Treaty, it would have been difficult for the
Powers to have opposed his employment of force, for
he would have been acting by their mandate.
By
he
interference.
to act he preserved peace for his country,

No
in so doing contributed to European peace.
declining
and
105
one however can fairly attribute this result to the foreFrom the
of Abdul Hamid's statesmanship.
Turkish point of view he stands condemned for acquiescing in the wrenching from Turkey of the fertile province
of Eastern Rumelia. We may agree with the Austrian
"
statesman Andrassy that
every inch of territory
taken from Turkey is gained for civilisation," but one
cannot expect a Turk to do so. Her Sultan reigns in
sight
order to preserve his territory intact ; and the Turk

had a just cause of complaint against his Sovereign
when, having rights recently sanctioned by European
to
treaty, his policy was so vacillating that he declined
take advantage of favourable opportunities to assert

them, if need be by force.
Note No.
1.
" Sir Henry Layard must leave Constantinople,"
All the evidence
Henry had an honest desire

Armenians. Already when a
explorations in Nineveh, he had noted that
shows that
Sir
to ameliorate the condition of the
young man bent on
his
they were oppressed. In individual cases not only of Armenians,

but of Moslem Arabs, he had interfered, without waiting for
instructions from home, to prevent some of the abominations of
the Turkish officials. He received a trustworthy report that a
of datestupid Vali on the Persian Gulf had ordered a forest
it furnished not only food but
because
be
cut
down
to
palms
comparative wealth to an Arab tribe who exported crushed dates

to England. His idea was that the members of the tribe must be
Sir Henry
kept poor in order that they should be subservient.
went to see the Sultan and obtained orders for the immediate
removal of the Vali. In spite of the story current in England

that Layard could be forgiven for discovering Nineveh, but that
Nineveh's discovery of Layard was unpardonable, his sturdy
common sense and kindness of character revolted at the treat-
ment
of the
Note No.
Armenians and Arabs.
2.
In my " Forty Years
in Constantinople
"
I attri-
buted the saying about Layard and Nineveh to Lord Palmerston

I find however that it has been attributed to many others, of whom
the witty Lady Morley was one. Perhaps a better claimant might
;
be a sprightly lady, Miss Emily Eden, whose works, and especially

her novels, says a correspondent to whose stores of facts I am
LIFE OF
106
ABDUL HAMID
greatly indebted, are not nearly so well known to the present

generation as they deserve to be. In July, 1866, Miss Eden wrote
" About
as follows to Lord Clarendon
twenty years ago I
:
remember writing to Lord Ellesmere, who was rather enjoue with

his Nineveh book, that I could forgive Layard for having discovered Nineveh, though I was satisfied to take it as Jonah
left it,
but
Layard."
could not forgive Nineveh for having discovered
CHAPTER
VII
ABDUL HAMID'S DAILY LIFE

Abdul
Hamid's
daily
programme;
private theatre
life
his
;
enlargement
recreations;
of
reading
Yildiz
of
daily
djournals ;
his loneliness.
It is worth while to interrupt the narrative of Abdul

Hamid's reign and to try to realise what was the daily
middle period of his reign.

succeeded
in getting rid of the party
completely
of reformers, in reducing his Ministers to the position
of merely executive officers, who were allowed little
initiative and whose duty was limited almost exclu-
life
of the Sultan during the
He had
sively to giving effect to his arbitrary decrees. He had

in fact made himself an absolute Sovereign, and hence-
was
in a period of strictly
Yildiz his
permanent residence.
known by that name
forth until 1908 the country
personal government.
He had now made

Built
his predecessors
on a
hill
by
and signifying " starry," overlooking the Bosporus,
and about half a mile behind the palace of Dolma
Bagshe, he had enlarged a comparatively small residence.
The great palace last named was never liked by him,
probably because it was associated with Abdul Aziz,
and it was now reserved for State functions. Even
before the year 1 885 Abdul Hamid had enlarged the
garden around the existing building.
He ruthlessly appropriated houses and grounds
belonging to his subjects, including two Christian
He surrounded the enlarged garden by a

high wall and subsequently, in 1898, had a second wall
built, so that the enclosure came to be regarded as a
fortress. Its position is charming.
From various points
it
views
extend
within
northwards over both sides
cemeteries.
108
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
In another direction, Scutari, the

the Bosporus.
Princes Islands, and a portion of Stambul rise from the
azure blue of the Marmora. On every point of vantage
Abdul Hamid built a chalet or kiosque. Each of these
of
was usually supplied with powerful
telescopes, so as to
serve as points of observation. Many of them contained

accommodation for sleeping and temporary residence,
and each was surrounded by a terrace on which trusted
guards could keep watch while their lord was within.
It was commonly reported that he rarely slept twice in
the same building. Lofty walls encircled the enclosure
French writer speaks of Yildiz, with
from the first.
palace, its many kiosques and chalets,

commonplace
" Macedoine "
as a
(the name given to a salad made up
of a large variety of fruit and vegetables). In order to
render Yildiz strong against attack, he had cleared
away an entire street of houses in the neighbourhood and
had removed every obstacle to its defence. One of the
its
time is not without its amusing side.

der Goltz Pasha, then an instructor in the Military
School, about a mile distant, in lecturing upon military
attack, accidentally put his pointer upon the map on
which the hill of Yildiz was marked and asked a question
The incident was at once
relative to his lecture.
who
sent for the German Ambasto
the
Sultan,
reported
sador and caused a strict inquiry to be made, from which
he was convinced that no instructions were being given
for attack upon the palace in which Abdul Hamid had
stories told at the
Von
entrenched himself.
After a severe earthquake shock in 1894 he built
another kiosque containing eleven rooms and resting
upon an artificial rock, the whole so constructed as to
render an occupant safe either from earthquake or fire.
Never indeed so long as he was allowed to live in Yildiz
did he neglect any means of making it secure against
The worst enemy he had to fear
possible enemies.
was fire, and the precautions he took against it were
excessive. In 1898 he built a second encircling wall, and
the barracks of his Imperial guard were constructed
Not only had he entrenched himself as
against it.
109
but he had
securely as possible in the great enclosure,
it a farm,
within
had
he
that
self-contained
it
so
made
a
artificial
a small
menagerie,
lake, stables, workshops,
and an aviary. Altogether, including the ladies of his
harem and their attendants, there were said to be nearly
while
5,000 persons resident within the enclosure,
it there were 7,000 of the Imperial Guard.
adjoining
So far as Abdul Hamid was concerned, it was at once
a fortress and a prison which was locked on the inside.
Not far from the palace of Yildiz were a koluk, that is,
a police office, and a prison, and some of the most
horrible stories told of Abdul Hamid speak of the
and the cruelties perpetrated in that building.

There can be no reasonable doubt that many persons
suffered tortures for offences committed in and around
tortures
Yildiz, for the details given of these horrors are too many
and too detailed not to have in them a large amount of
truth.
most
fairly regular. Like
He
riser.
he
was
an
early
Turkey,
o'clock
about
workroom
his
went
into
eight
usually
and began the day, as most people do in Turkey, with a
a
strong, unsweetened cup of coffee, followed by cigarette,
Abdul Hamid's habits were
of the inhabitants of
which was the first of a long series continuing until the

After a light breakfast, usually
day's work was done.
the first task, to which he
and
of
milk,
eggs
consisting
devoted himself with great assiduity, was to read the
was
djournalSy or reports of his spies. His correspondence
conof
examine
to
He
had
army
proposals
large.
tractors and others, petitions, and accounts of tradesmen. It was remarked that the larger part of his
time was occupied with private affairs connected with
Yildiz itself. As he had no confidence in those about
him, he personally conducted the whole of his correspondence. As the morning advanced his secretaries
and chamberlains reported what they had done the
Sultan to
previous day. Then came the time for the
Abdul
was
for
see men permitted to have audiences,
or
not inaccessible to tradesmen
unsuspected persons
with whom there was business to be done. The Chief
no
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
Eunuch, who was with him on these occasions, had almost

invariably before him a pile of applications for contracts
or concessions, and of petitions. The Turkish tradition
is that every subject has a right to present a demand to
Sovereign, and this was one which Abdul Hamid
could not set aside.
About ten o'clock Abdul Hamid took his lunch. He
his
years suffered from dyspepsia and a

nervous malady which made him abstemious. Like all
Turks, he was particular as to his drinking water, but
it was notorious that the Sultan
invariably obtained
his from a spring at Kiat-hane, a village on the north
The explanation of this
side of the Golden Horn.
was
that
before
he
was Sovereign a gipsy
preference
had
for
many
woman had warned him
to anticipate danger to his life

from an external source, such as plague or cholera,
but had assured him he would be safe if he only drank
He was subject to many similar
Kiat-hane water.
superstitions, and, like the majority of his subjects,
believed in the predictions of soothsayers.
After his lunch, which he alwavs took alone and over
which he only spent a few minutes, Abdul Hamid

received his secretaries and gave them orders to be
Before the end of the
transmitted to his Ministers.
had
he
the
of rarely seeing his
habit
acquired
century
Ministers. He transmitted orders and general instructions, and they obeyed them.
In summer and autumn Abdul Hamid took a short
Then followed his time for relaxation and for
siesta.
throwing off the cares of the day. In the early years he
had been fond of riding but though he had always a
number of superb horses in his stables, it may be doubted
whether after 1890 he rode any of them. He was therefore compelled to limit his exercise to walking, always
;
of course within the limits of Yildiz.
Though
the palace
was surrounded by guards, yet when he walked in his

park he was preceded by a eunuch, in whom for years
he had great confidence, whose duty was to clear anyone
out of the way his Majesty chose to go, and was followed
by two of his trusted guards.

Amid
his loneliness
he found amusement in carpentry
and in fretwork, in which he excelled, and in pistol shooting,

in which he had become such an adept while yet a prince
that it is said he could write his name with shots on a
One of his
of twenty-five paces.
into the
throw
to
often
was
oranges
employed
guards
It struck one at
air, which the Sultan would rarely miss.
board at a distance
first
as curious to learn that after ascending the throne
Abdul Hamid dabbled a little in analytical chemistry.

Possibly the idea was given him by Lord Salisbury. Such
with his conversaslight skill as he obtained together
tions with Dr. Mavrogeni, the chief physician at the
had something to do with the favour he showed

towards the proposal, which was fully carried out, of
a
establishing a medical school in Constantinople,
his
to
be
school which is the most notable asset to
placed
palace,
credit.
took interest in an intelligent old Turk who had

a talent for mechanics. A small pleasure boat on the
lake within the park was propelled by clockwork of
which the motive power was a spring, and in this the
Sultan often passed a pleasant hour.
Four o'clock in winter and six in summer was Abdul
Hamid's time for the evening meal. This meal, like
his lunch, he took alone, and occupied only a few minutes
over it. He kept up the curious custom of sending the
dish of which he had partaken to a favourite. Not seldom
he would require the Superintendent of the Kitchen to
partake of a dish which he had produced. His food was
He
prepared in a building separate from that known as the

palace kitchen. His diet at this evening meal was as
simple as that at lunch, for it must always be remembered that dyspepsia and his nervous disease had largely
obtained the mastery over him. If the statement be
true that he sometimes took a petit verre de cognac after
his evening meal, no sensible man will blame him.
After dinner came far too often the reading of
If disposed for a less irritating pleasure,
djournals.
one of his professional buffoons with two or three
favourite servants would be called in. One such buffoon
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
ii2
was a man on whom, for the amusement of his Majesty,

rough tricks and horse-play were indulged in with
impunity, and from whom stories, either simple or coarse,
might be expected, for, like all Turks, Abdul Hamid
loved a good story-teller.
Abdul Hamid must often have found his evenings

He had built a small theatre at Yildiz and
had
two
usually
companies of actors in his pay, many
of them in the early part of his reign being Armenians.
He preferred that women's parts should be taken by
men. When a French company arrived in Constanti-
wearisome.
nople he generally arranged that it should perform in

the small theatre at Yildiz. The company was glad
to be able to state that it had played before the Sultan,
but it found the performances far from exhilarating.
The audience was always extremely small. As the
Sultan himself never applauded, no one else ventured
to do
so.
With such
The whole performance was deadly

a performance Abdul's normal day's
dull.
work
terminated.
In his palace at Yildiz, with its beautiful but somewhat
dreary grounds, he was a lonely man without friends,
for the men .who were around himwere neither of good
social position nor sufficiently intelligent to invite
Companionship had now entirely ceased
friendship.
between him and his Ministers. He did not want to see
them, nor they him. His very servants avoided meeting
him, for he had become a terror. Unable to keep up
a conversation in any language but Turkish, with which
no Ambassador or foreign Minister was acquainted,
intimacy with any of them was also out of the question.
It is true that he gave dinners occasionally in honour
of ambassadors or distinguished foreigners and in the
earlier years to a few prominent members of the com-
munity and
their wives,
but anything more
frigid,
more
unlikely to conduce to friendly conversation, could hardly

be imagined. The Sultan himself is said to have loathed
them.
fashion
money
Yet they were served

crockery, napery, and
could
buy
in
the best European

were the best that
glass
the cooking was unobjectionable
113
opposite each guest would be half a dozen different kinds

of glasses, though of course everyone knew that, as the
Sultan himself did not drink any alcoholic liquor, none
of his subjects would do so in his presence. Such dinners
were solemn farces, the banalities of Turkish Court
The absence of women from the table increased
life.
their deadly dulness, for while no Turkish lady was
ever present, the wives of ambassadors or of persons in
Morehis service hardly added gaiety to the function.
rarer
with
dinners
became
such
the
over,
every
giving
The visitors were honoured by

year which passed.
his
with
dining
Majesty, but those to whom the novelty
of the honour had passed soon became, like Abdul
Hamid himself, bored at the entertainment. The Sultan,
with nobody of his own intelligence with whom to talk,
with no intellectual tastes and no lofty and ennobling
designs for the welfare of his people, and with the constant fear of dyspepsia before him, was unenviable in
his great loneliness.
It is
impossible to speak with anything like exactitude
Abdul Hamid's harem. Many lady writers have

written and have given second or third-hand accounts of
No male visitor, of course, was ever permitted to
it.
enter it. Two remarks may however be safely made
first, that Abdul Hamid was not a sensual man, his
harem being very much smaller than that of either
and second, that the
of his immediate predecessors
of
accounts given of his innocent delight in the company of

the ladies of his harem are to his credit. He never knew
however the home delights of an ordinary Turk, with his
the sweet companionship of a
one wife and family
home was denied to him.
Abdul Hamid had made himself a virtual prisoner
in his palace at Yildiz, with the door locked from the
inside.
In thus ^secluding himself he was not following
the example of any of his predecessors, for the Turkish
tradition was of sultans who rejoiced in the active
exercise which fitted them for the field of battle, who
loved hunting and out-of-door sports, who could shoot
further than any of their subjects, or who in the capital
;
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
ii 4
went about
freely amongst their people, often in disguise,

to learn their complaints and desires, to see how they
lived, to be better able to render themselves popular, and
to spy out the discontented.

Abdul Hamid preferred
to remain immured and to do his spying by others.
His habits did not conduce to his bodily or mental
health.
increased,
As the years passed his physical ailments

and the evidence appears to show that his
mental capacity diminished.
CHAPTER
VIII
ABDUL HAMID'S RELATIONS WITH FOREIGN STATES

Incident of Kostroma; French land stationaire' s crew at Ismidt ;
members of Roman Catholic orders forbidden to enter
Turkey settlement of claims by some European States for

damage done to their subjects in Armenian massacres
attack on European post-offices
Abdul Hamid seizes
;
land unfairly;
change
in
appointment to British consular
service in Turkey.
parable often related in Moslem coffee-houses gives

the popular notion of how the safety of Turkey, and
The
especially of Constantinople, has been secured.
carcase of a sheep was suspended in a Han at a height
sufficient to be beyond the reach of the village dogs.
Nevertheless each of them tried to snatch a mouthful.
Sometimes they succeeded, but each and all had failed
detach the carcase, and the combined attempts
The
usually ended in quarrels in the village pack.
to
the pack of
suspended carcase represented Turkey
It was
wolf-like dogs stood for the European Powers.
the genius of Canning, afterwards Lord Stratford, which
first recognised that in dealing with Turkey, especially
in compelling her to do justice to her Christian popuMr. Gladstone
lation, Europe ought to be united.
"
acted upon Canning's idea, and
the concert of
"
Europe was the ideal cherished by him for compelling
Turkey to do justice to the Christian races of the
1
Lord Salisbury, without adopting the phrase,
Empire.
Hence in writing on Abdul Hamid's
acted upon it.
relations with foreign States the Salisbury policy will
be best seen when he is acting with the other Powers
in block.
In the many questions which arose out of
;
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
u6
Abdul Hamid's treatment
of the subject races in the

we
the
as
shall see, generally acted
Powers,
Empire,
were
there
other
But
together.
questions where separate
States had no common interests, and the most important
of these must be noted.
From 1890 to his deposition
there was no year in which Turkey had not to treat with
some Power on a question which more particularly
concerned
than Europe generally.
it
the Treaty of Paris and
by earlier international
had
the guardian of the
been
made
agreements Turkey
had
the right to pass
and
of
war
no
vessel
Straits,
the Dardanelles if carrying more guns than were necessary for firing salutes. Merchant vessels however were
free to pass.
Russia, after the Treaty of London in
a number of armed merchantmen,
had
constructed
1871,
"
Fleet." Although armed, they
her
Volunteer
forming
By
In April, 1891,
carried the Russian commercial flag.
of
named
the Kostroma,
for
these
one
vessels,
permission
to pass through the Dardanelles was refused by Abdul
Hamid. Russia protested that she was within her rights ;
and notwithstanding Abdul Hamid's protest and actual
refusal the difficulty was arranged, Russia consenting,
in order to be agreeable to the Porte, that she would
notify it when one of the Volunteer Fleet proposed to pass
The right of Russia was by no

but Abdul Hamid acted impulsively, first
in protesting, and then in as hastily surrendering.
During the Armenian massacres, 1894-7, Frenchmen
in the capital had not attempted to restrain their
indignation at the Sultan's treatment of his Armenian
French steamers had received refugees and
subjects.
had refused to give them up. When the Turks entered a
monastery, under French protection, near Ismidt, on
which the tricolour was flying, this had been torn down
by a too officious Turkish official, and the monks, who
also were under French protection, had been expelled.
The French Ambassador protested against the insult.
The Porte proposed negotiation, which, had it been
permitted, would have lasted long and probably would
have been useless. The French Government demanded
through the
means
clear
Straits.
ABDUL HAMID AND FOREIGN STATES
117
The
an immediate apology. The Sultan hesitated.
French stationaire, in spite of the protests and prayers
of Abdul Hamid when he learned that the captain
would not discuss the insult to his flag, went from the
Bosporus to Ismidt, and her captain marched his crew
with fixed bayonets^ and the tricolour flying to the
monastery and again hoisted the French flag in its usual
This and other similar incidents aroused the
place.
anger of the Sultan. He wished especially to strike at
the French Christian missions for having been the cause
of what he, not incorrectly, called a violation of Turkish
He waited his time, and in May, 1901, issued
territory.
an irade forbidding French members of the Roman
Catholic orders to settle in Turkey without special
authorisation.
Now, no right was more firmly established by a series of capitulations beginning in 1535 than
It had
entry of the religious orders.
time
of
Hamid.
the
Abdul
until
remained undisputed
The irade caused great irritation to the Catholic portion
of France. At the same time a French financial group
could obtain no satisfaction from the Porte in reference
to its claim on account of the quays in Smyrna. A group
of local French bankers had in vain sought also for settlement of their claims founded on judgments in the
The Sultan's obstinacy led in the
Turkish courts.
that
of
the
month
of August to diplomatic relations being broken

between the two countries. Negotiations went on
for some weeks
then on November 5, 1901, France sent
to
of
war
Mitylene and took possession of the
ships
Custom House.
Straightway the Porte proposed to
settle the financial claims, but France, having been
off
compelled to use force, now insisted upon a settlement

of all outstanding questions. Among the new demands
the most important was the recognition of the rights
ab antiquo of all French religious and scholastic establishments in Turkey and their exemption from taxation
On November 9 Abdul Hamid agreed

as in past years.
to everything. The incident was one more illustration of
his policy of refusing just demands, making objections,
and
finally surrendering everything.
n8
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
Abdul Hamid's conduct
in reference to the
Armenians
led to the presentation of many claims by American

citizens and by British subjects and those of France and
During the massacres in the Armenian provinces

Moslem mobs, notwithstanding orders not to do
injury to the property of any foreign subject, did not
discriminate. Houses and shops were plundered belonging to Christians, and the mob did not stop to inquire
whether the owner was Greek, Jew, or Armenian. So
long as he was not Moslem they plundered without
Hence the belongings of many foreign
distinction.
Some Armenians
were
stolen or destroyed.
subjects
when they had become American citizens returned to
Italy.
the
still retaining their newly acquired nationality.

Indeed, the number of such men in the Turkish Empire
Other Armenians had brothers
ran into hundreds.
Turkey,
or fathers settled in France, England, or Italy who had

appointed their relations in Turkey as agents, for many
of them had established flourishing businesses. When
the shops or houses of such men were plundered, the

respective Governments of the owners protested and
claimed compensation. The Sultan absolutely refused,
alleging that foreigners must suffer the damages which
resulted from internal disorders, just as Ottoman
But the Powers knew that these
subjects suffered.
Abdul Hamid and superThey therefore persisted

demands and spoke of the employment of force
outrages had been ordered by

vised by his subordinates.
in their
to obtain satisfaction.
curious idea occurred to someone and was at once adopted by the Sultan. He called
the American Minister, Mr. Griscom, and requested him
to procure the attendance of the agent of the celebrated
American firm of shipbuilders named Cramp. Negotiations were entered into ; the style of ship was fixed
upon, the price duly stipulated, and the order arranged.
Then the agent was informed that to the price he must

add the sum of so many pounds, being the amount
claimed by the American Minister as compensation for
the damage done to Americans. This sum was to be
paid to the Minister. He of course could do what he

liked with
it.
In this
way
119
the Sultan judged that he
had avoided the admission of the validity of the

American claims.
He had of course satisfied the
American Minister. The arrangement was to be kept
secret. It naturally became public after a few days.
A like procedure took place with Armstrongs in

reference to the British claims and with the French
builders.
As to those put forward by Italy, the prowere
ceedings
slightly varied. One of the old ironclads
was sent to Ansaldo's, at Genoa, to be repaired and
refitted, and the Italian claims were added to the price.
In this way the various ambassadors were satisfied

and the claims got rid of. These new ships took their
place in the Golden Horn.
When it was decided to send a ship to Italy for repairs,
the one chosen was one of those which had been sent
to the Dardanelles.
Before leaving a transport went
to take out all the guns on board the other ships
which had gone to the same place except a small
one for signalling. In this way three ships, the only

ones outside the harbour of the Golden Horn, were
rendered incapable of being used against the Sultan.
Abdul Hamid had thus shown his knowledge of international law and of statesmanship, and had
three powerful vessels to the Turkish fleet.
added
Having got rid of government by Ministers and thus

rendered himself an absolute ruler, Abdul Hamid was
often tempted to act in an arbitrary manner towards
He never understood the value of
foreign States.
In an old-established government
non
movere.
quieta
like Turkey, especially in one which was hardly half
civilised, practices had been adopted and welcomed by
own
subjects and by all foreign Powers which had

One such
forgotten in European countries.
practice was to allow foreign nations to have their own
Its origin is easily understood.
When,
post-offices.
his
been
especially after 1535, treaties or capitulations had been

made with France which shortly enured to the advantage
of every important
European country, trade and com-
120
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
merce took a considerable development. The traders

were always under the protection of the country of
which they were subjects. No Turkish post-offices or
mail service existed, and the merchants received their
letters in the Ambassador's bag.
For convenience,
each Great Power established a post-office, which was
always attached to its embassy. Sometimes, though
rarely, some of the Powers founded post-offices in a
few of the chief towns in the interior. The practice
worked well for centuries, but it had its inconveniences
and when after the Crimean War Turkey entered
officially into the rank of the European Powers she
wished to have the Post-offices in her own hands.
Most States recognised that her claim should be admitted
as soon as^ she had shown her capacity to manage
them so as to secure the regularity which characterised
the foreign post-offices.
But Turkish Ministers as well
;
as all classes of foreigners saw Turkey fail in every

successive attempt and acquiesced in the old arrangements. Abdul Hamid however wanted to extend his
spy system to them, to learn who were his disaffected
subjects and to control the correspondence of all.
Accordingly in 1901 he determined in his
own
impulsive
and arbitrary manner to abolish the privileges of the

European Powers in having post-offices.
It was in May of that year that he ordered the letter
bags of the foreign post-offices in Constantinople to be
seized on their arrival.
Already letters which arrived
the capital by the Turkish post-offices from the
were delivered ostentatiously open. He now
sent messengers who upon the arrival of the tri-weekly
trains from Paris, London, and other European cities,
seized the mail bags although they were sealed and
addressed to the British and French post-masters,
carried them off to the Turkish Post-office, opened
them, and took possession of those which were addressed
in
interior
to Turkish subjects.
The foreign post-masters, acting
of their embassies, refused to take
on the instructions
delivery of the rest, on the ground, amongst others,

that they could not control the number of postal orders
121
which had been received. Great turmoil arose in the

foreign community, and within a week Abdul Hamid
had to give instructions that there should be no more
His
violation of the postal rights of the embassies.
action was one more illustration of his impulsive and
ill-considered action and of his having to climb down.
Abdul Hamid came into conflict with the British

and other ambassadors through his efforts at land
grabbing.
During the years 1882-90 the Civil List, acting under

the orders of Abdul Hamid, dispossessed hundreds of
peasants, occupants of lands throughout the country,
in order to add such lands to the private domain of the
Sultan. It was remarked that these attempts were first
made in places where there were no foreign consuls, and
upon Ottoman subjects only. The intention was to prevent publicity to what in many cases was nothing short
of
robbery.
reason
had
the hodjets,
Wherever the
to
or
believe
title
officials
that
the
deeds, were
of
Abdul Hamid
official
lost,
copies
Circassians
of
or
nomads would be settled upon the property as tenants

of the Sultan and would be furnished with new hodjets.
It was in vain that the neighbouring proprietors and
villagers of all races and creeds testified that the
dispossessed peasant or his grandparent had held
undisputed possession to the knowledge of the oldest
inhabitant, or that they could show that in one of
the many fires common in Asia Minor villages their
hodjets had been destroyed.
They were told by the
of
that they had no right
the
Sultan
iniquitous agents
in presence of the new-comers, who had obtained hodjets.
After a while the creatures of Yildiz became bold enough
to seize land belonging to foreign subjects, and by 1890
there was probably not an embassy that was not
troubled with complaints from its own subjects of
attempts to steal their land with the buildings upon it.
The British Embassy protested strongly in many such
cases.
By the Turkish law of 1869 foreign subjects
were for the first time permitted to hold land in Turkey.
LIFE OF
122
ABDUL HAMID
The condition however was attached that they should

be assimilated to Turkish subjects in everything regardwas that
ing the ownership of such property. The result
of
courts
the
Turkish
in
was
redress
impossible
legal
law. These courts gave such judgments as they were
ordered to give, and a foreigner had no redress except
indeed, it was the number of
through his embassy
that mainly put an end
the
embassies
from
complaints
to this wholesale theft on the part of Abdul Hamid,
Finance
mainly, though not exclusively, because the
Minister and the leading Turkish notables justly comtenants directly
plained that the new occupants, being
of the Sultan, were exempt from taxes which went into
Hamid in the
the
treasury. The action of Abdul
;
public
matter helped to contribute to make him unpopular.

Moreover, it soon became recognised that where the old
occupant was a well-to-do Moslem he was not disturbed
by the planting of new-comers upon his land, whereas
his poorer neighbour, and especially if he were a Christian,
Abdul Hamid always loved
suffered without redress.
money, and his private income had become enormously

by his employment of those who were ready
to augment it at the cost of the public treasury, but
his achievements as a land-grabber from his Christian
increased
subjects greatly assisted to make him hated.

There are other incidents which would furnish illustrations of Abdul Hamid's relations with foreign States.
Such, for instance, is the expulsion of Fehim Pasha, which

was due to the representation of Sir Nicholas O'Conor
and Baron Marschall. Such also is the incident of Tabah,
on the Gulf of Suez, where the Sultan attempted to
change the boundary of Egypt. It is more convenient,
however, to treat these in other portions of this book.
Note, p. 115. Before leaving Const- ntinople in January, 1877,

after the failure of the European Confe ;nce, Lord Salisbury caused
known that he was far from s .tisfied with the information

Turkish
regarding what had passed in various parts of the
GovernBritish
the
and
therefore
The
British
Embassy,
Empire.
it
to be
ment, had not been furnished with anything
like
adequate news
123
movements that had taken place in Bulgaria and elseWhile in Constantinople he had seen Mr., afterwards
Sir William, White, Sir William Holmes, and several other
consuls from different parts of the country. With the exception
of the two mentioned and one or two others, he was dissatisfied
with their conduct as public officers and with their ignorance of
the country. Many of them were not British subjects, and were
would
placed in circumstances which made it unlikely that they
and
own
district
be acquainted with what was going on in their
of the
where.
business where their private interest

the Turkish
required that they should be on good terms with
a
he
On his return to England
officials.
organised
plan for the
many were engaged
in
men
appointment of student dragomans, who were to be young
or
one
in
a
who
should
of British birth,
undergo special training
more languages of the country and in elementary law.
They
were to be selected after a competitive examination. The inducements held out were high, the greatest being that not only would
the consular service of the East be in the main reserved for them,
but that
men who proved
capable in such service should pass
The result has on the whole been fairly

has been marred by the fact that the promise that
into that of diplomacy.

successful.
It
has
exceptional men should pass into the diplomatic service
not been kept. The British service has been the loser. Various
instances have occurred in which
men with
quite exceptional
would
experience, qualifications, and knowledge of the country
have been of great value if they had been diplomats. With the
sole exception of Sir William White, none have been so named.
CHAPTER IX
ABDUL HAMID's RELATIONS WITH EGYPT
story of deposition
disturbances caused by
Egypt
June, 1882
of
Khedive
Ismail,
Arabi
battle of Tel-el-Kebir
of
Egypt
Alexandria in
in
riots
France declines to join
Sultan requested
with England in occupation of Egypt
to send troops as symbol of his authority; negotiations
;
through Lord Dufferin Baker Pasha endeavours to persuade

Abdul Hamid to accept British invitation Sultan delays
Baker leaves capital
Sir
until occupation takes place
;
Drummond
Wolff appointed envoy in 1885 to arrange for

British troops
of
signs an Agreement with Grand
departure
;
by Lord Salisbury, repudiated by Abdul

Hamid; Wolff Convention becomes dead letter; in 1882
attempt made to foist new Firman upon Egypt changing
boundaries of Egypt, discovered and withdrawn
another
of
all
in
defeat
Abdul
to
change boundary
attempt
1906
Hamid's designs regarding Egypt.
is Sultan of Turkey Caliph
Notes, on the Caliphate
statement of opposing views on attempts to create disaffection in India
on Pan-Islamism on liberal Moslem sects.
Vizier, accepted
In this chapter are related the various dealings of

in reference to Egypt.
They include a
series of attempts on his part to change the order of
succession to the Turkish throne, to create and employ
Pan-Islamism as a weapon against Great Britain, to
oppose European, but especially British, influence in
Egypt. England and France succeeded in getting rid of
the rule of Khedive Ismail. All Abdul Hamid's PanHis fatuous refusal to join
Islamic intrigues failed.
England in sending troops into Egypt to co-operate with
the British led to its occupation. His desire to coerce
England into an immediate withdrawal of our troops
Abdul Hamid
ABDUL HAMID'S RELATIONS WITH EGYPT

and
his
125
the Wolff
gross breach of faith in rejecting
Convention, which his own Ministers had signed and

doubtless he himself had approved, had convinced
England that his word could not be trusted. Lastly,
his desire to encroach on the boundaries of Egypt not
him for
only failed in its direct object, but compelled
the first time to recognise formally that England had
occupied the country.
Abdul Hamid, like his predecessors, always attached
the
great importance to the suzerainty of Egypt. It was
"
It was
which he
brightest jewel
especially
possessed."
valued by him because from his accession he emphasised

more than any of his predecessors his claims to be
1
Caliph.
Ismail
was the reigning Khedive when Abdul Hamid

became Sultan. He had succeeded in the lifetime of
Abdul Aziz in obtaining a Firman changing the order
of succession from the Asiatic to the European mode.
He had accomplished this by paying heavy bribes in
Turkey to the Sultan and all round. It is unlikely that
Abdul Hamid, who had already children born to him,
made any objections to this change in the law of

succession, because he hoped from the first to succeed
in making it applicable to the Turkish throne and therefore to his own son. Egypt, after the Firman in question,
Ismail was a
remained under the Sultan's suzerainty.
ever
who regarded the principal

typical Eastern monarch,
use of a Ministry as a means to furnish him with an
He
spent what he had

He had a large and unusually extravagant
lavishly.
harem. Egypt had already incurred many debts and
unlimited supply of money.
the holders of Egyptian Bonds, most of which were in

France or England, were alarmed at his extravagance.
The peasants were overburdened with taxation but
Roads which had been good were allowed to
voiceless.
with an extensive use
get out of repair ; forced labour,
and the great
exacted
of the kurbash, was constantly
;
mass
1
of the population
were oppressed.
The French
For'a discussion of the history of the Caliphate see note at end of
chapter.
this
126
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
and English bondholders became alarmed
for the safety

investments.
in
Already
1859 the Khedive
had had to surrender the power of imposing taxes and
of contracting loans, but the Firman which changed the
order of succession made him virtually independent,
the only practical limitations being that he must not
Ismail
build ironclads, make treaties, or coin money.
had encouraged the slave trade, and Sir Samuel Baker
had been appointed at the request of the Powers to
head an expedition into Central Africa to suppress it.
He returned in 1873 and Gordon, afterwards of Khartum
of their
fame, was appointed as his successor.
Comptrollers
had been named by England and France with the object

of keeping down the expenditure in Egypt and of effecting reforms. One of the most important of these reforms
was the introduction in November, 1875, of International
Courts. The Mixed Courts, that is, those which have to
deal with questions between Egyptian subjects and
Europeans, followed, and were formally opened on
January I, 1876. It was in November, 1875, that a
bold economic measure was taken by Mr. Disraeli.
The opening of the Suez Canal had greatly affected the
economic situation. A large number of shares in it
belonged to the Khedive personally. Ismail was always
in want of money, and when these were offered for sale,
they were purchased in November, 1875, by Mr. Disraeli
for the British Government.
The purchase gave the
In
British shareholders a majority of voting power.
Sir
Rivers
Wilson
was
September, 1878,
appointed
Finance Minister ; and a few weeks afterwards M. de
Blignieres was named Minister of Public Works. Both
these representatives remonstrated with the Khedive on
account of his extravagance. A financial scheme had

been prepared by a commission of inquiry of which M.
de Lesseps, the builder of the Suez Canal, was president
and Sir Rivers Wilson vice-president. With them were
The Compfour Commissioners of the Public Debt.
trollers, who at that time were Mr. Romaine and Baron
de Malaret, were purposely kept outside the commission.
Its report
was drawn up by the present Lord Cromer,

then Sir Evelyn Baring,
who had gone
a Commissioner of the Egyptian Public
127
out to Egypt as
in 1877 and
Debt
became Comptroller-General in Egypt in 1879. Lord

Cromer was assisted by the other Commissioners, and
notably by his French colleague, M. de Blignieres.
The work of the commission was well done, and is
notable as
the
first
attempt to deal seriously with
down the basis of a comEgyptian

with
the
of
the Government, but it
creditors
position
also showed that the real debtor was the Khedive
himself, who had not only spent his own money, but
had borrowed on the Khedivial estates. It was, therefore,
finance.
It laid
necessary to limit his Civil List. The day previous to

the publication of the report, namely, April 8, 1879,
the Khedive dismissed the European Ministers. This
action embarrassed the European Powers. It meant that
Ismail would not consent to any control over financial
administration. In May England and France demanded
the appointment of European Ministers. The Commissioners proffered their resignation, which
Ismail tried at first the policy of bluff.
was accepted.
He
increased
army, but a few days later he found that he could

not trust it.
The popular sentiment, already strong
was
increased.
him,
against
Apparently he had relied
on discord among the Powers, but when the German
Consul-General declared that the Khedive must be held
responsible for the payment of a judgment debt levied
by the international tribunal, to the establishment of
which Germany had been a party, Ismail apparently
his
considered his case hopeless.

sentatives
of
Probably also the repre-
England* and France
felt
that
Prince
Bismarck's action in ordering the German ConsulGeneral to put forward the small German claims
indicated the desire on the part of Germany to^take a
hand with England and France in the settlement of
Egyptian affairs, a desire which was regarded as inopportune and likely to cause trouble.
However this may
have been, both Governments decided that the deposition of Ismail was necessary, and they lost no time in
taking action so as to avoid interference. On^June 19
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
128
Sir
Frank
Lascelles
sent
communication
to
the
Khedive, by order of Lord Salisbury, to the effect that

the French and British Governments " officially advised
his Highness to abdicate and leave Egypt."
The
communication added that if he accepted this advice
the Powers would recognise the validity of the Firman
which had changed the order of succession and allow
his son Tewfik to succeed
in addition he would receive
;
a substantial pension, an amount subsequently fixed at

If, on the contrary, his Highness
.40,000 per annum.
refused to abdicate and thus compelled the Cabinets of
Paris and London to address themselves to the Sultan,
his Highness would not be able to count on the Civil List
or on the succession of his son.
On June 21 Ismail
asked for time and stated that he had referred the
question to the Sultan, on whose interference he built
great hopes. The agent whom he sent to Constantinople
was instructed to attach importance to the fact that this
was an attempt by France and England to disregard

Abdul Hamid's sovereign rights. It was believed in
Egypt while these negotiations were going on that the
claims of Prince Halim, the Crown Prince de jure if the
Firman was disregarded, were favoured by the Sultan.
But in truth Abdul Hamid, who had followed the events
in Egypt with great interest, apparently never dreamed
that the Powers entertained the idea of a deposition
without his consent. Although he favoured Halim, he
was unwilling to consent to the revocation of the
Firman which Ismail had obtained. Indeed, from the

and throughout his reign, Abdul Hamid hoped to
first,
obtain the change in the order of succession to the

Turkish throne. He seems to have had no objection
to the deposition of Ismail, taking it for granted that his
rights as suzerain would be respected and that he would
be applied to in that capacity by England and France.

Meantime the demand for abdication made on June 19
required a prompt answer ; the request for time for
consideration was on June 21.
Probably neither of
these facts was known in Constantinople earlier than
forty-eight hours before the time fixed for the announce-

ment
129
abdication or deposition.
When Abdul
learnt the arrangement he was greatly alarmed.
was the greatest of his possessions, the brightest
of the
Hamid
Egypt
jewel in his Crown.
His
loss of
reputation would be
enormous, especially among his own subjects, if the

Powers changed the ruler of Egypt without his consent.
Probably nothing that had happened since his accession
had so greatly alarmed him.
He immediately called
together all his Ministers, who all recognised that such
a step, without their Sovereign's consent, was to be
avoided if possible.
The discussion lasted till after
midnight.
The
ablest
man amongst
his Ministers
was
Alexander Caratheodori, who had been Minister of

Foreign Affairs at the Congress of Berlin, and whose
clearsightedness was evident to all who knew him.
others had given their opinions, Caratheodori,
incurred some disrepute amid the Moslems
because he had had to consent at Berlin to the sacrifice
of territory, was appealed to by those of the Ministers
who knew his capacity.
He boldly declared to his
a
case
in which audacity and
that
this
was
Majesty
the
But Abdul Hamid,
furnished
remedies.
celerity
only
After
all
who had
always vacillating, suggested negotiations for delay.

Caratheodori urged the Sultan himself immediately to
depose Ismail and to appoint Tewfik his successor. By
so doing he would assert his rights over Egypt, and
prevent England and France being credited with the
deposition.
Delay would risk the sacrifice of Egypt.
The proposal was a startling one and was hotly discussed,
but time was short, for on the following day, as Cara-
reminded his Majesty, with or without his

the
consent,
Finally,
deposition would be proclaimed.
it was
recognised that audacity was the safest course in
Abdul Hamid's interest, and thereupon, in the early
morning of June 24, Caratheodori drove from Yildiz
to the telegraph office at Pera with full powers and
The first was to Ismail.
dictated three despatches.
behalf
of
the
Sultan he declared that
on
Telegraphing
his Majesty, recognising his extravagance and violation
of his dutv towards his Suzerain, found he had so mistheodori
L.A.H.
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
130
conducted himself that he herewith issued a Firman

deposing him. The second telegram was addressed to
Tewfik, the son of Ismail, notifying him that he was
appointed by Abdul Hamid, and advising him to avoid
the faults of his father. The third was addressed to
the Turkish Minister in Paris and informed him of the
By this stroke, although Abdul

not defeated the designs of England and
France, he had at least saved his reputation among his
subjects as Sovereign Lord of Egypt.
Ismail left Egypt and took his 40,000 a year, and
went, accompanied by his harem, to live in Naples. No
privileges were granted to him beyond the two mentwo previous despatches.
Hamid had
tioned, of receiving a handsome pension, and of securing

He was,
the recognition of his son as his successor.
however, allowed to keep one or two palaces, which he
chose to consider as his private property, though they

really been bought out of public funds, and were
afterwards sold by him.
Before he left Caho Ismail collected all the jewels
belonging to the ladies of his harem, and had in a number
of jewellers from the town, who were stripped naked
and who took the stones out of their settings. These
he wrapped up in a towel and took away with him to
had
Italy.
Tewfik became Khedive on June 24, 1879. Abdul

Hamid claimed that he had obtained a diplomatic
triumph in deposing Ismail and appointing his son.

It was generally recognised, however, in Constantinople
that if triumph there were, it was on the part of England
and France. One indeed wonders how the Sultan could
have been kept in ignorance of the intentions of the
Western Powers. That their conduct was wise under
the circumstances can hardly be doubted. Had they
commenced negotiations with the Sultan as the Sovereign Lord of Ismail, they would have been involved in
for Abdul Hamid, and indeed all
a long controversy
;
attached great importance to lengthy

and
Germany might possibly, even at that
negotiations,
have
considered
it in her inteiest to
early stage,
pose as
his
Ministers,
131
the defender of the rights of the Sultanate. By adopting

a bold course with Ismail, England and France carried
through their project without great difficulty, and without intervention. They treated the Sultan almost as
a negligible quantity. Abdul Hamid knew that he had
been so treated, and resented the action of England and
France, and when at a subsequent period these two
nations disagreed as to the policy to be pursued in
Egypt, his resentment fell almost solely upon our
1
country.
The Khedive Ismail was deposed in June, 1879.

England and France, which had hitherto acted in harmony in Egypt, continued to do so for nearly two years.
Then there arose a certain tension between the two
countries which resulted in separate action. A military
revolt by troops who had received no pay broke out in
France and England acted together in giving
1880.
their advice to the new Khedive in order to put an end
to the revolt, which at one time appeared very serious,
and the advice and efforts of Sir E. Malet, the British
Minister, and of Baron de Ring, succeeded in preventing
A Military Committee was formed, headed
its spread.
Arabi
and Mahmud, whose aim seems to
Ahmed
by
have been chiefly a demonstration against Turkish
In August, 1881, Ahmed Arabi
officers and foreigners.
with his followers surrounded the Khedivial palace at
Cairo and made a demand for higher pay. In February,
1882, they forced on the Khedive an administration, at
the head of which was Mahmud, while Arabi was
Minister of War. Thereupon the European Concert
was invoked and a Conference was held in ConstantiIt was alleged that there then occurred a
nople.
conspiracy to assassinate Arabi and to dethrone the
Khedive, but evidently Lord Cromer believed that such
conspiracy never existed, and that it was merely a
creation of Arabi's craven imagination.
Forty-five
Serious
persons, mostly Circassians, were arrested.
1
The most complete and trustworthy account of the deposition of Ismail and
"
Egypt is given by Lord Cromer in his Modern
of other events of this period in
Egypt," Vol.
I.,
Chapter
viii.
132
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
rioting took place at Alexandria and Cairo.

of these cities was fortified, and England
The former
and France
united in protesting against the fortification, the mis-
government, and the continuance in office of Arabi.

A detachment of the fleet of each nation arrived in
Alexandria at the end of May, 1882. Arabi refused
to resign, whereupon England and France sent an
ultimatum calling upon Arabi and the other Ministers to
give up their seals, in order that the Khedive's authority
might be re-established. On the last day of May the

Ministry yielded.
Thereupon great alarm existed in
Alexandria. The Arab mob, which had followed the lead
of Arabi, rioted. A great many Europeans left the city,
and it is said that 5,000 Egyptian soldiers were killed.
The mob attacked the European population, the great
day of rioting being June 11, 1882. On July 10 Admiral
Seymour destroyed the forts at Alexandria. Arabi
was declared a rebel by the Khedive and, in reply, on
July 24, proclaimed a Jehad or Holy War.
France withdrew her fleet from Egyptian waters on
July 30. England had now to take the pacification of
On September 13, 1882,

into her own hands.
Garnet Wolseley, who had landed at Alexandria
and assumed command a few days earlier, advanced
with 11,000 infantry, 200 cavalry, and forty guns from
Egypt
Sir
and fought the battle of Tel-el-Kebir. On

the 14th the victorious British Army, led by Sir Charles
Watson, entered Cairo. The back of the rebellion had
been broken, and on September 25 the Khedive himself made a triumphant entry into his capital.
The separate action of England led to the abandonment of the Anglo-French control, notice having been
given on November 9 that it would cease on January II,
Ismailia,
1883.
The agents of Abdul Hamid kept him well informed

what was going on in Egypt, and he was unable to
conceal his delight on seeing the difficulties which had
arisen between England and France. He was fond of
moral of which was that Turkey
telling a story, the
would always be preserved by the conflicting interests
of
133
Here was a striking

of the giaours.
illustration of this divergence and its results, due largely
it was believed to the secret instigation of his agents.
He was satisfied with their action.
and struggles
Government had decided that the temporary occupation of Egypt was necessary to secure
The idea, however, fully
its future good government.
shared both by Lord Salisbury and Mr. Gladstone, was
that the occupation should only be temporary. Each of
these statesmen expressed his conviction that it was
The
British
undesirable in the interests of Great Britain that anything should be done which would tend to render the
Apart from the immediate
occupation permanent.
both
these
of
statesmen, but especially
Egypt,
question
Mr. Gladstone, retained the traditional conviction
that it was in the interest of England to support the
of the Turkish
integrity as well as the independence
Mr. Gladstone and the Foreign Secretary,
Empire.
Lord Granville, apparently never wavered from the
opinion that it was their duty to request the Sultan
to take part in the proposed occupation. Even had the
French consented to act with us, the British statesmen
would
still
have requested Abdul Hamid to send some
only to show that the Sovereign of the country,

under whose name they proposed to act, was a consenting party. He was to be invited to send troops in order
that his rights as Suzerain might not even appear to be
evaded.
The tension between the two Western Governments,
however, had become more acute than during the earlier
France was urged to join her forces to our
troubles.
own. Nearly all the French officials in Egypt considered
that it was in the interests of their country that there
should be a joint occupation.
They believed that
and the expedition
at
Alexandria
conduct
England's
of Tel-el-Kebir showed that, whether France joined
her forces or not, England would occupy the country.
troops,
if
Unfortunately, an opposite view prevailed amongst

many of the French residents in Egypt, and especially
From the moment of the withdrawal of their
in Cairo.
LIFE OF
134
ABDUL HAMID
an attitude
of hostility arose amongst this section

community, and telegrams strongly in opposition
to joint action were sent to M. Gambetta, who was
then the most important man in France, stating that the
occupation was not necessaiy and that England dared
fleet
of the
not attempt it without the co-operation of France.

Their effect, according to one of the most intelligent
Frenchmen then resident in Egypt, was to completely
override the despatches and letters sent from French
officials and the better informed men of the French
community in Egypt. The delight of the Arab mob,
which included the partisans of Arabi and of all who
wished to put an end to the financial reforms which the
joint control had inaugurated, was intense when France
definitely refused to join in the occupation of the country.
Such delight was heartily shared by Abdul Hamid. He

had already been informed that his co-operation would
be requested by England. This placed him in a dilemma.
To accept would be to recognise the right of interference
of the British in Egypt, which was an integral part of
his Empire to refuse was dangerous, because he did not
know whether England would venture on the occupation
;
He soon learned that the desire

without his consent.
of France was that he should refuse, but there was
always a lingering fear that England might choose
to act not only without France, but without him,
and so he commenced the policy to which he always
attached great importance, of making delays.
What was done in the capital became of prime
The negotiations between Abdul Hamid and
interest.
British Government were conducted by Lord
the
Dufferin, who, on his arrival, for various reasons, was
curiously considered to entertain friendly feelings not
only towards Turkey, but towards the Sultan personally.
Lord Dufferin was an Irishman, and Ireland was not
His friendship with
believed to be loyal to Britain.
Mr. Disraeli was well known and much talked about.
In several small but really important matters the
British Ambassador had complied with demands of the
Sultan which the representatives of the other Powers
135
had refused. One of these was to give effect to Abdul

Hamid's wish that no foreigner should be permitted
to display any flag for decorative purposes except a
Turkish. For this and other inadequate reasons it was
believed that on this Egyptian question Lord Dufferin
would be equally complacent in reference to demands
which Turkey or England might make. The leading

statesmen of both political parties had often spoken
of the necessity of doing nothing to impair Turkish
sovereign rights. Abdul Hamid could not make up his
mind what to do. The one thing of which apparently
he had become certain was that England would not
occupy Egypt unless
his troops co-operated.

Finally a formal invitation was given to him to send
such a detachment of troops, small or great, as would
enable the British Government to state that in occupy-
ing Egypt they were carefully respecting Abdul Hamid's

suzerain rights, and were acting in accord with him.
Lord Dufferin had by this time come to know the
Sultan and his ways. He was the first Ambassador to
recognise that the Porte, meaning by the term the
Turkish Ministers, on important subjects had no will of

their own
that the Government was not only nominally
but really in the hands of the Sultan. After having
given his message, anticipating that he would be worried
morning, noon and night by communications from the
He had a
Palace, he took somewhat unusual steps.
he
Dufferin
with
little
in
which
beautiful
Lady
yacht
to
the
Prince's
for
a
week-end
ran
often
down
Islands,
and anchored in a small bay behind the point of the
His despatch boat brought him
Glossa, or tongue.
communications daily, but otherwise he had no intercourse with the Sultan or his agents. At that time on
;
the same island lived Baker Pasha, who was now in

He went every
active service under Abdul Hamid.
He
the
in
the
to
Palace, returning
evening.
morning
to
from
the
first
the
friendliness
Turkey of
recognised
the British proposal, but, having taken service with the
He
Turks, he continued staunchly loyal to them.
urêd Abdul
Hamid and
his Ministers to lose
no time
in
136
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
At first he was
consenting to act with the British.
confident that Abdul Hamid would comply with the
British demands, but every day his confidence decreased.
The Sultan, and those who reflected his opinion, were
convinced that England would not and dared not
attempt the occupation of the country without his
co-operation.
They believed that their refusal to
co-operate would be a great blow to Mr. Gladstone and
the Liberal Government then in power, and they were
foolish enough to believe that if they continued to refuse
they would have the support of the Conservative
During an eventful week, Baker combated
Party.
Abdul Hamid's confident opinion that England dared
not attempt the occupation of Egypt without his consent and co-operation. He stated that he had urged that
England having declared that she was about to make
such occupation, neither the non-acquiescence of France
nor the refusal of Abdul Hamid would turn Mr. Gladstone
from his purpose that he and other Liberal statesmen
;
could not, and dared not, in their own interest, retreat

from the decision they had taken. It was even amusing
to hear that Baker was declared to be a supporter of
Mr. Gladstone. He found it vain to explain that his
sympathies had always been with the opposite political
party, and that the advice he was giving was that of a
strong Conservative speaking in the interest of the
Sultan of Turkey.
As the time drew near for an occupation, Baker, who
was kept daily for hours at Yildiz, became intensely
anxious, and spoke of the supreme folly which reigned
in the counsels of the Palace. At the end of a full week
Lord Dufferin was sent for by the Sultan and returned
He had a morning interview with his Majesty
to Pera.
in which the Sultan proposed new negotiations.
The
he
was
that
without
was
to
enter
authority
upon
reply
them. He was kept at the Palace during all the afternoon and evening, the Sultan expressly sending word that
he wished him to remain to dinner. Lord Dufferin,
however, was aware, though probably no one else in
Constantinople was, that the very day on which he was

sent for
by the Sultan was
137
to witness the entry of the
For him it was one of

he
left
the
Palace late in the
and
when
great anxiety,
he
that
no
was
secretary or other
evening
surprised
the
had
from
arrived
messenger
Embassy giving telehis
from
On
news
way homewards he
graphic
Egypt.
To his anxious
met the long-expected messenger.
come
the answer was
whether
had
a
telegram
inquiry
that it had arrived, but had taken a long time to
It conveyed the news that the occupation had
decode.
taken place. This was a Saturday night. The state of
mind of Abdul Hamid when he learnt the news could
army
of occupation into Egypt.
only be described as one of fury. He found that the

statements made by Baker Pasha were true and that the
great leader's word had been kept. British troops had
entered without his co-operation or consent.
On the following day Baker, the loyal servant up to that
time of Abdul Hamid, left Constantinople in a steamer
bound for Alexandria and shook off the dust of his feet
from a country which he ever afterwards spoke of as
hopeless so long as it was under the rule of Abdul Hamid.
When the Sultan heard of his departure his anger
found vent against him. The Turkish newspapers were
He was denounced as a
instructed to attack him.
more
ridiculous
statement could hardly
traitor.
Any
have been made. He had served him faithfully, had
urged him to common action with Great Britain in order
to save his rights in Egypt
but he had seen the imperviousness of Abdul Hamid to any argument which
ran counter to his desire. In the interest of Turkey
Baker had told the disagreeable truth, but he had done
his utmost to save him until this last gigantic blunder. 1
;
1
Baker Pasha fled to Egypt, was welcomed there by the Khedive and his
Government, and was shortly afterwards made commander-in-chief of a new
army formed under his supervision. His career there, however, was an unhappy
one. The Egyptian army under Hicks Pasha had been entirely destroyed by
the followers of a Mahdi.
Thereupon the new army under Baker was sent
to resist the same enemy, but the men were poor fighters, and, in spite of the drill
through which they had been put incessantly under his orders, had not stuff
in them to resist the attacks of the Arab tribes in the Sudan.
His army was
Baker was so upset that it was with difficulty he was prevented
also defeated.
from committing suicide. He, however, lived on a few months longer.
138
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
The history
of Abdul Hamid's dealings with Egypt

the
few years was one of intrigue with the
next
during
Khedive and with disaffected Egyptian Ministers in
order to interfere with British rule.
Meantime, both
in Parliament and out, the leaders of both political
parties professed their intention to withdraw British
troops from Egypt ; and no one acquainted with the
facts can doubt the loyalty of their intention and their
desire that Egypt should continue under Turkish rule
and under a good native administration. Lord Dufferin
drew up a scheme for introducing a measure of selfgovernment for the country. Intelligent foreigners,
however, concluded from the first occupation that
England could not relinquish Egypt, however much her
statesmen desired it. The American Minister at Constantinople paid a visit to Egypt and on his return
to Constantinople openly declared that, England being
in, he did not see how it was possible that she could
get out, however much she desired it.
Nevertheless England, not so much to comply with
the desire of Abdul Hamid as because the leaders of
both parties had stated that the occupation was only
temporary, took a very important step in concert with
Abdul Hamid in order to fix the period of British
occupation.
The Wolff Convention.
Conservative Government had succeeded to that

and it was Lord Salisbury who took
the next step. He had been an equally ardent advocate
for the entry of Turkish troops with ours, more as a
symbol of Turkish authority than for any assistance
they could render, and now took up the task of executing
the promises made by himself and his predecessor of
limiting the time during which the British troops should
It was under these circumstances that on
remain.
August 3, 1885, the Right Hon. Sir Drummond Wolff
was sent as Envoy Extraordinary on a special mission
to Constantinople with reference to the affairs of Egypt,
and he was undoubtedly the right man to send for such
of Mr. Gladstone,
ABDUL HAMID AND WOLFF CONVENTION
139
purpose, for he was experienced in diplomacy and

Every step in the arrangement was
statesmanship.
watched with jealousy by Abdul Hamid. The Envoy
took the matter very coolly, pointed out the absurdity
of many of the suggestions made by the Ministers on
the Sultan's behalf, but finally, in October, 1885, came
to an arrangement, which was modified in January,
1887, by which the last British soldier was to leave
Egypt within seven years after its confirmation by the
two Sovereigns. There was in it also a proviso that if
at the end of the term reoccupation became necessary,
British troops should be called in to aid the Sultan in
It was an
preference to those of any other Power.
arrangement absolutely friendly to Turkey, an arrangement which any clear-headed man, with a knowledge of
the circumstances, might have considered even a triumph
The relations, however, between
for Turkish diplomacy.
were
still strained.
The French
France
and
England
Ambassador in Constantinople, the Comte de Montebello,
most unwisely in French interest, is understood to have
advised the Sultan to reject it. He carried the Russian
Ambassador with him. In spite of their opposition, the
Convention was agreed to and signed ne varietur. Most
people in Constantinople thought that the question of
the occupation by British troops was finished. Englishmen generally regarded its provisions as equitable and
expedient, for the political leaders of both parties had
pledged themselves that the occupation should be
It was therefore with surprise that the
temporary.
world learned that, after the English Government had
given their confirmation of it, the Sultan refused to
give his. It was a supreme act of folly on his part, as
many of his subjects and even Ministers acknowledged.
He however, with his limited vision and ignorance of
European politics, considered that he had won a great
diplomatic victory over England. Abdul Hamid's view
was reflected in the Palace, which was exultant. All
wondered what would be the attitude of the British
Government. Probably to their surprise, it was found

that Lord Salisbury was not in the slightest degree
LIFE OF
40
ABDUL HAMID
disturbed.
He was annoyed
Hamid, but
it
was a case
at the
bad
faith of
Abdul
of beati possidentes.
Within a year it dawned upon Abdul Hamid that he

had blundered, and that the advice given him by France
and possibly Russia was not in his interest. He therefore sent instructions to the Turkish Ambassador in
London to see Lord Salisbury and ask for the reopening
The Prime Minister declared that he
of negotiations.
had no wish for further negotiations, and that, after the
rejection of the Wolff Convention, he had no proposal
Lord Salisbury, as everybody
whatever to make.
short
answer when necessary, and
could
a
knew,
give
no British statesman who visited Turkey sooner took
the measure of Abdul Hamid's ability than did he.
The reply he gave to the Turkish Ambassador probably
lost
nothing of
its
undiplomatic character in trans-
greatly annoyed Abdul Hamid. The British

had forgotten apparently that the request
came from the Sultan. The Turkish Ambassador was
mission.
It
Minister
ordered peremptorily to demand the reopening of

the negotiations without delay. It was near the end of
Lord Salisbury replied that

the parliamentary session.
he was tired and must rest
moreover, the Egyptian
not
and
was
might perfectly well
pressing
question
stand over. He would do nothing.
It was generally believed that when France and Italy
came to an arrangement in 1896 in reference to Tunis
an understanding was arrived at to the effect substantially that France would make no further difficulties
about our occupation of Egypt, and we should make none
about Tunis.
Indeed, in 1904 France recognised the
dominant position of England in Egypt.
The Wolff
Convention in fact became a dead letter. Abdul Hamid
was hoist with his own petard.
In 1892 Sir F. Clare Ford was appointed British
;
Ambassador
in Constantinople,
and questions arose
in
Egypt, when once more Abdul Hamid's

The question of most importance
defeated.
were
designs
was that of granting a new Firman for Abbas Hilmi,
the new Khedive, successor of Tewfik. Abdul Hamid
reference to
ABDUL HAMID'S ATTEMPTS ON EGYPT
141
thought he saw his opportunity of endeavouring to

obtain possession of a portion of the Sinai Peninsula.
He in fact wished to draw a boundary line from El
Arish to Suez.
The Firman had been prepared, but
before promulgation had to be examined by Lord
Cromer. He knew the Sultan sufficiently well not to
express his approval of it until he had seen the full text,
but neither he nor Sir Clare Ford could persuade the
Sultan to disclose it. Sir Clare went on leave, and the
negotiations were successfully conducted in his absence
by Sir Edward Fane. He was able to secure communication of the text for Lord Cromer a few hours before
the time fixed for the Firman to be publicly read in
front of the Khedivial Palace at Cairo.
Lord Cromer
instantly countermanded all the orders that had been
given, and delayed matters about forty-eight hours
until the Sultan had sent a telegram annulling the
1
Abdul Hamid's intrigues had
objectionable parts.
been again successfully defeated.
Yet once again, though after the expiration of the
century, the Egyptian question came up, and Abdul
tried the same trick in
1906 of endeavouring to change
the boundaries between Turkey and Egypt. Sir Nicholas
O'Conor, then ambassador and a most painstaking and
careful diplomat, had to deal with the question. Izzet
Pasha, who was at that time the chief secretary and
favourite of the Sultan, had constructed under his
orders a railway intended especially for the use of
small body of
pilgrims from Damascus to Hedjaz.
Turkish troops sent down from Damascus over a portion
of this line already constructed occupied the village of
Tabah, on the western side of the Gulf of Akaba, one of
the two which form a fork at the northern end of the
Red
The village beyond doubt was in Egyptian

and
south of the recognised boundary between
territory
and
Turkey
Egypt, which runs through Akaba Rafia
to a point a little to the north of El Arish. The village
was so evidently in Egyptian territory that Sir Nicholas
Sea.
1
Lord Cromer in his work on " Modern Egypt " touches lightly on the subject,
but Lord Milner deals with it fully.
142
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
was confident that the occupation was a simple blunder

on the part of the Turks which would be at once recogThree
nised after examination of the official maps.
months passed in negotiations. The Ministers jestingly
spoke of Tabah as occupying Egyptian territory, while
one even boasted that it was a try-on by the Sultan.
Sir Nicholas patiently continued the negotiations, pointing out in various ways how beyond doubt Tabah was
not Turkish. In May, 1906, Sir Nicholas gave formal
notice to the Turks that they must evacuate Tabah,
and they then might join a commission of Egyptians
and Turks to draw a boundary line between the two
had long been shown on the official map.

Meantime our Mediterranean fleet had assembled at the
points which
Piraeus, and Sir Nicholas now gave the

notice to evacuate Tabah. Then Abdul
Turks ten days'

Hamid saw that
more
blundered.
His
once
Ministers
he had
endeavoured
to obtain some concession which would save the Sultan's
But Sir Nicholas refused to give way. Finally,
face.
after the time which had been given in which
hours
ten
were to clear out, Abdul Hamid consented to
Turks
the
It was a
the British demands.
triumph for British
for
two
reasons
because
the place was
first,
diplomacy
within
to
be
acknowledged
Egyptian territory, and
:
second, because for the first time England's right to

act on behalf of Egypt was definitely recognised by
the Sultan.
Abdul Hamid's dealings with the Egyptian question
afford an answer to the claims of persons who have
chosen to attribute to him statesmanship. On every
occasion of his dealings with Egypt he had been comto recede from the position which
pelled to give way and
he had taken up. In the matter of Tabah he plumed
himself upon the fact that he had allowed the term of
the ultimatum to pass by ten hours and had thus
obtained a diplomatic victory. No Englishman could

doubt that when Mr. Gladstone and Lord Salisbury
declared that England would evacuate Egypt they were
not only sincere, but had the majority of their countrymen behind them. In rejecting the Wolff Convention,
143
Abdul Hamid showed at once his bad faith and his want
of statesmanship.
When, still earlier, he had refused
to send troops with ours into Egypt, he should have
recognised as a statesman that it was a grand opportunity offered him by England to assert his sovereign
Even at the earliest period of his reign, when
rights.
England and France, acting together, deposed Ismail,
a statesman would have seen that the question was
largely whether such deposition was approved by the
A witty French statesman
majority of his subjects.
during the period of our occupation declared that the
cry of France for the departure of the British troops
was obviously hollow, because whenever there was an
announcement that they were about to leave Egypt
down went the value of all Egyptian securities. Indeed,
no part of his reign is his want of statesmanship

more conspicuous than in his dealings with Egypt.
in
Note on
the Caliphate.
Before
speaking of Abdul Hamid's
dealing with Egyptian questions, it is well to give an account

of the various opinions held by Mahometans on the
Caliphate,
so far at
Turkey.
least
as they bear on the claim of the Sultan of

is of
importance to the British Empire,
The question
its ambit are included

nearly one hundred million
out
of whom some ninety million acknowledge the
Moslems,
title of the Sultans of
Turkey to what may be called the
for
within
pontifical office of Islam.
The Sultans
of
Turkey derive the title of Caliph from the

1518 by the then Abbaside Caliph to Selim I.,
assignment made in
the second Sultan in succession to
Mahomet
II.,
the conqueror
of Constantinople.
Mahomet, the founder
of the Islamic faith,
with the object
of preserving the integrity of his

religious community, had made
an arrangement by which his authority passed to a successor.
His ancestors had long been guardians of the sacred shrine of
the Kaaba, from which Mecca derives its

sanctity, and of Medina,
which contains his mausoleum, and which is held in equal veneration.
It is believed among all the sects of Islam that these
can never pass under non-Moslem guardianship without

convulsing the Moslem world. Next come in order of sanctity
cities
LIFE 0F
44
ABDUL HAMID
the cities of Irak, or Mesopotamia, where lie buried the holy

Imams, and Stamboul, sanctified in Moslem eyes by the remains
of the holy men and the champions of the faith who lived and
died there.
The
four Caliphs
who succeeded
the founder of Islam were
men
of ability, and in various mosques their names are

inscribed in great letters for the veneration of the faithful. 1
still
Islam is divided into two great sects, the Sunni and the Shiah,
Out of the three
each of which, however, has many sub-sects.
hundred to three hundred and fifty millions of Moslems the
Shiahs in all probability do not exceed thirty millions. They
are mostly in Persia, where the State religion is Shiahism. About
one-third of the population of that country are Shiahs. Both the
great divisions agree that the religious efficacy of the rites and
duties prescribed by the Sacred Law, and in fact the validity of
Islam, depend on the existence of a vicegerent and representative

who as such is the spiritual head of the faithful.
of the Prophet,
This spiritual head is called the Imam, or Caliph. His office

The great difference between
is the Imamate, or the Caliphate.
fact
whilst the Imam of the
consists
in
the
that
sects
two
the
Imam,
disappearance of the last Apostolic

only spiritually present at the prayers of the faithful,
owing
Shiahs,
is
to
the
the Sunni insist on his actual physical existence to preside and

officiate, where possible, at the devotions of the congregation,
"
"
and to impart validity to the official acts 2 of the minor Imams,
who
the people.
to
the
followers of the
applied exclusively
The Shiah Imams
twelve apostles of the house of Mahomet.
"
Our
are descended from Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet,
are his representatives or delegates
"
The term " Shiah
among
is
Lady of Light," as she is reverently called by the faithful, who

was married to the fourth Caliph, named Ali.
The followers of Ismail, a son of the sixth Apostolic Imam
who had died in his father's lifetime, broke away from the true
succession and gave their adhesion to the son of Ismail. They
formed a sect with doctrines which have no place in orthodox
1
valuable historical sketch of the history of the development of the

is given in the Contemporary Review of June, 191 5, by the Right
Caliphate
Hon. Syed Ameer Ali, who, besides being a Moslem himself, occupies a high
call the hierarchy of Islam.
position in what we may
2
^, The word "officiation" would best express my meaning, but I do not
find it in
any dictionary.
145
Islam. A descendant of Ismail, Obaidullah, rose to power in

Northern Africa in the tenth century, and his successors formed
an empire, which became flourishing, with its capital at Cairo.
They assumed the
title of Caliph, and are

spoken of as the
Fatimide Caliphs. Their doctrines spread largely both in Asia
and Africa, but their right to the Caliphate was never recognised
their comparatively limited number of followers.

The
of
this
died
in
in
when
Saladin
Caliph
1171
dynasty
Egypt,
beyond
last
restored
Sunni orthodoxy in that country, which has since

remained faithful to that form of Islam.
The Sunnis,
Religious
Law
in person to
ful,
and
Messiah is yet to
unborn. " The Sunni
must be actually present
like the Jews, believe that the
come, that the Saviour of Islam

insists that the
is
still
Imam
impart religious efficacy to the devotions of the faithwhere it is not possible for him to lead the prayers,
that,
he should be represented by persons possessing the necessary

1
Such
qualifications directly or indirectly representing him."
teaching reproduces to some extent the Christian notion of
Apostolic Succession, but the line, so far as leading the congregation in prayer
is
the Caliphate
is
concerned, is much less distinctly marked. As

believed to be ordained by divine law for the
perpetuation of Islam and the perpetual observance of its laws

rules, there must therefore always be a Caliph, the actual
and
and
Syed Ameer Ali is

between
the Imam and the congregation, there is no inconsistency between
this dogma and the statement that there is no priesthood in
Islam. The Caliph must lead public prayers unless it is physically
impossible, and this rule has long been followed by the Ottoman
direct representative of the master.
careful to point out that, while there exists a spiritual tie
Sovereigns.
was when Mahomet was stricken by his last illness that he

deputed Abu Bekr to lead the prayers in his absence. On his
death the master's nomination was accepted by the congregations,
and Abu Bekr thus became the first Caliph. He was installed
by the unanimous suffrage of the entire congregation of Moslems,
and in theory this has been the universal practice ever since.
It
Amongst his qualifications it is necessary for the occupant of

what we may call the " pontifical seat " that the Moslem chosen
should be a Sunni, capable of exercising
1
L.A.H.
Contemporary Review, June, 191 5,
supreme temporal
p. 685.
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
146
authority and independent of outside control. Syed Ameer Ali

affirms that Moslem law does not insist upon his descent from the
Koreish, the Arabian tribe to which Mahomet belonged, provided
that he be free from personal defects, a man of good character,
possessed of the capacity of conducting the affairs of state
and
It is true that the institution of the

of leading prayers.
was when the tribe of Koreish was the most advanced and
office
powerful in Arabia, and the one to which the Prophet himself

belonged. It is admitted also that the early doctors of Moslem
" of
"
the Prophet,
Sayings
theology accept the authority of the
which declare that the Caliph should be a Koreish by birth, but
the opponents of this view claim that the condition was due to the
special needs of the time, that the Prophet was thinking only of
the immediate future rather than laying down a hard and fast
rule of succession for all time, and that, as a qualified and capable
ruler at that time could only be found among the Koreish, the
recommendation was given that the Caliph, who was also the
1
Imam, should be chosen from among them.

The first Caliph, Abu Bekr, nominated as his successor Omar
chief
and the appointment was accepted by the Moslems. Omar died

from the effect of a wound inflicted on him by an assassin. Before
his death he had appointed an electoral committee consisting of
six members. Their choice fell on Osman, who was accepted by
the people. On Osman's death, Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet,
who, according to the Shiahs, ought at once to have succeeded the
Prophet, was now proclaimed Caliph and Imam. Ali united in
Revolt was made
his person hereditary right and election.
however against him. He himself was killed by the hand of an
assassin, and with him ended what Moslem theologians speak of
"
the perfect Caliphate," because in each case the title to the

rulership of Islam was perfected by the universal suffrage of the
Moslem community or nation. In 661, on Ali's death, a certain
as
of the Caliphate from Hassan,

the eldest son of Ali and hence belonging to the Koreish. Great
rivalry commenced at once between two offshoots both of which
Muawiyah obtained the assignment
belonged to the Koreish, the most powerful of which were known

as the
Ommeyads.
Muawiyah was
the
first
Caliph of that house.
1
At one time it was affirmed by some Moslem jurists, apparently to give
force to the sanctity of the Abbasid Caliphs, that the Caliphate was the
monopoly of the Koreish.
147
The Ommeyad dynasty was overthrown in 756 and was succeeded

by the Abbasid, who held temporal and spiritual sway over Islam
for five
hundred years from their seat
important Moslem
at
Bagdad, then the most
its intellectual activity.
It
has been generally held amongst the Sunni that

not merely a secular Sovereign, but is the spiritual
Since that time
the Caliph
the centre of
rules relating to the Caliphate were systematised.
was there that the

is
city,
it
head of what we
may
call
the Moslem Church and the actual
divine agent for its government.

be admitted that the Caliphate
The general
rule
came
also to
indivisible, and that there

cannot be two Caliphs existing at one and the same time.
Election to the office of Caliph was recognised as essential, and
this usually
is
took place with great ceremony.
The Bagdad Caliphate lasted until the destruction of the city

by a Tartar-Turcoman invasion in 1258. The then Caliph, with
his son and the principal members of his family, perished in the
general massacre. The havoc and ruin caused by this terrible
invasion, serious as it was to the Greek Empire, was still more
destructive to the Moslems.
When
"
Ghengiz Khan, the
scourge
God," appeared in Asia Minor, there existed great intellectual

activity under the rule of the Bagdad Caliphs. Literature, arts,
and crafts of every kind were cultivated
the neighbouring
cities were populous, and Islam was shown at its very best.
When his successor, Hulaku, reached Bagdad, he inveigled the
Caliph into his camp and then ordered the sack of the city. From
of
Bagdad he proceeded to attack the Crusaders, who were aided

happily by Baibars, the Sultan of Egypt, and for the first time
met with a great check, which enabled the latter, named hence"
forth as
champion of Islam," to rid Syria and Mesopotamia
For a while no Caliph existed, and Syed
of the Tartar horde.
Ameer AH
states that, according to the Sunni doctors, the devotions of religion were devoid of that religious efficacy which is
imparted to them by the presence of an acknowledged Imam.
The right to the Caliphate had become vested by five centuries

of Moslem prescription in the house of Abbas, and an escaped
member
of the
house was invited to Cairo to be installed as
The ceremony is described as imposing and sacred.

Caliph.
When his descent had been proved before the chief judge, he
was acknowledged
b'lllah, that
is
"
as Caliph
under the
title
of As-Mustansir
Seeking the help of the Lord."
This was
L 2
ABDUL HAMID
LIFE OF
148
May, 1261. The new Caliph's name was impressed on the

coinage and recited in the daily prayers. Thereupon he proceeded to invest the Sultan of Egypt with the Black Robe and
diploma which in the eyes of the Orthodox were the essential
in
symbols of legitimate authority.

The Abbasid Caliphate thus established in Cairo lasted for
over two centuries and a half, from 1261 to 15 18. Each sultan
on his accession received his investiture from the Caliph of his

time and professed to exercise his authority as a descendant and
delegate of the Caliph.
The appointments
and judges were subject to
of ministers of religion
his formal sanction.
the second successor of Mahomet, the conqueror of

Constantinople in 1453, was girt with the sword of Osman in 1512.
Selim
I.,
thirty years had been the scene of

Mamluk
under
later
the
sultans, and a section of the
anarchy
Egypt during the previous
population invited Selim to enter the country. He early overthrew the incompetent Mamluks and incorporated Egypt in
the Ottoman Empire. According to the Sunni records, Selim at
that time was recognised as the only Moslem Sovereign
who
could
restore the historic character of the Caliphate and discharge

effectively the duties attached to the office.
Accordingly the
then Caliph of Cairo in 15 17 by a formal deed of assignment

the Caliphate to the Ottoman conqueror. In the
same year Selim received the homage of the Sharif of Mecca
transferred
and acquired the right of the guardianship of the Holy Cities.

Solemn prayers offered in Medina and Mecca were claimed to
have given finality to the right of Selim to become Caliph.
Henceforward Constantinople, his seat of government, became
the Dar-ul-Khailafat and began to be called by Mahometans
"
"
the City of Islam." Thus the Caliphate became
Islambol,"
the heritage of the Ottoman house. 1
1
I have followed in this notice of the Caliphate the learned and valuable
essay of Syed Ameer Ali referred to on p. 144.
It is the more valuable because the Syed belongs to an ancient division of
Mahometans known as the Mutazalis, whose doctrines approach somewhat
more closely to those of the Shiahs than to those of the Sunni. They have
constituted a distinct school of Moslem thought since the eighth century a.d.
It may be added that the Syed's judicial habits of thought, great learning, and
high character led to his being appointed to the position he now holds as one
of the judges of our highest court of appeal.
I entirely agree with him and emphatically endorse his opinion that the
question of appointing a Caliph or of interfering in the question is one which
ought to be left solely to Moslems. It would be as impertinent for us as Chris-
149
The Syed's view is emphatically that the Turkish Sultan is

But while many Moslems would support it, others
Caliph.
come to a different conclusion.
It is well therefore to see what other observers have said on the
The Rev. Dr. T. P. Hughes, an Anglican clergyman
subject.
"
Dicspent many years in India and is the author of a
" and
of an excellent summary of the Mahometan
tionary of Islam
" Notes on
states that he has
faith entitled
who has
Muhammedanism,"
man
of authority who has ever attempted

to prove that the Sultans of Turkey are rightful Caliphs," and he
gives a number of quotations on the subject from Mahometan
"not seen
writers. 1
a single
similar opinion is expressed by the Rev. Edward

Dr. Hughes, writing eight years ago and alluding to his
"
After a careful study of the whole
long residence in India, says,
Sell.
subject for thirty years, twenty having been spent amongst

the mosques of the Moslems, I will defy anyone to produce any
reasonable proof that any Moslem school in India acknowledges

Abdul Hamid as the rightful Caliph."
In the early years of Abdul Hamid, the chief mosques in

Stamboul contained extracts from the Sacred Books of the
About 1 890, by Abdul
qualifications required in the Caliph.
Hamid's commands, these were ordered to be taken down, and a
considerable amount of discontent was thus created amongst the
Ulema. One of them asked my informant, " Does Abdul Hamid
consider that we are fools, that we do not all know the extracts
by heart, and does he think that because they are taken down we
shall cease to teach
them
in the ordinary course of
"
study
Having given the opposing views on the question, the reader

must be left to form his own judgment.
Note on Pan-Islamism.
of the
Ulema
in
tians to interfere in
It is to the credit of the great body

that
Turkey
they refused to support any of the
the question as
it
would
for
Moslems
to interfere in the
Archbishop of Canterbury or the Pope of Rome.

With the Syed's valuable contribution may be compared a learned and
impartial article in the Quarterly Review of July, 191 5, by Mr. Stanley Lane
Poole, who subjects the Caliphate to historic treatment in which he points out
that the popular opinion that there is only one Caliph is incorrect. " There are
in fact at the present time six." The article is full of valuable suggestions, and
ought not to be overlooked by anyone desiring to form an independent opinion
on the subject.
1
Hughes, "Notes on Muhammedanism," 2nd ed., pp. 152
154.
2 "
The Faith of
appointment
of the
Islam," p. 85,
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
ISO
projects of Abdul Hamid when they varied from what they

regarded as the precepts of their faith. As an illustration, the
About the time when Abdul Hamid
following will suffice
:
down of the notices of the qualifications of the

he
sounded
the Ulema on the question whether he could
Caliph
a
decree
change in the order of succession to the Ottoman
rightly
throne. The result of this inquiry led him to take no further
ordered the taking
what he evidently wished
namely to bring the law

which prevails in Egypt.
of
his
Abdul
the
course
Hamid made some
reign
During
to
create
disaffection
the
Moslem population
amongst
attempts
in India.
Lord Dufferin found that he had established a press
at Yildiz, and that notices and pamphlets had been published
intended for distribution amongst Indian and Afghan Moslems.
He interviewed the Sultan and told him very emphatically that
none of these must be sent, and that any attempt made in such
direction would be regarded as an unfriendly act by the British
Government
that Great Britain granted and would always
grant the utmost freedom to the Mahometans of the Empire.
steps in
to do,
of Turkish succession into line with that
Happily they recognised the justice of our conduct in regard

thereto, but the British Government would not tolerate any
outside interference with the religious faith of the Moslems in
the Empire.
Nevertheless Abdul Hamid sent messengers to
Afghanistan and elsewhere to endeavour to stir up disaffection.
All attempts in the direction of Pan-Islamism made by Abdul
Hamid completely failed. Many Indian Moslems during the last
Some of them were barristers-atforty years visited Turkey.
law, and the impression generally left was that, while they went to
Constantinople as the pious Jew of old time might have gone to
Jerusalem, they left it with far other feelings. They hoped to see
Islam at its best ; they went away greatly disappointed. They
were often kindly treated and made much of by good Moslems,

but the longer their stay in Islambol the more completely did
they realise the maladministration of government, and especially
the disgraceful condition of the courts of law.
Even
in
Turkey
itself
Pan-Islamism as a living force can
hardly be said to have existed during Abdul Hamid's reign, for

Pan-Islamism in the sense in which the term is usually employed
means
a fighting force in favour of the faith.
the religion of
Mahomet may have been
However much
aided by the sword in
151
progress, its spread was much more

due to its ideas and its opposition to the corrupt practices of
some of the degraded Eastern sects of Christianity than to
the early centuries of
violence.
fight
its
The time has long passed
since
Turks were ready to
The Senussi and some

here and there of individual
for the spread of their faith.
simply
Mahadis and the followers

Mahometans have caused considerable expansion of Mahometanism in Africa, Arabia, and elsewhere, but such expansion,
of the
according to the judgment of outsiders, has been due usually to

their desire to bring back the simplicity of the early Islamic
faith.
The
real simple life
and
spiritual life of Islam
is
to be found in
Turkey amongst various sects of Dervishes, such as the Mehlevis

and the Bektashis. Englishmen generally are unaware how
highly developed
are
recited,
is
their spiritual
which
recall
life.
Phrases are used, prayers
language of Christian mystics.
the
The Mehlevis, the most important of the Dervish sects, have

1
always been distinguished by their spirit of religious toleration.
The community is an ancient one, whose head has resided for
many centuries at Konia, the ancient Iconium, is known as the
"
Chelibi,"
and has the right to gird the sword
new sultan.
The Bektashis
of
Osman on
The
two great communities has been a humanising
one on the Moslems of Turkey, and it is largely due to the wide
the spread of Pan-Islamism
dispersion of their members that
are not less tolerant in religious matters.
influence of these
an objectionable character entirely failed in the Turkish

existed
Empire. The only Pan-Islamic movement which has
that
efforts
The
one.
is a purely religious
great missionary
a
due
to
and
Asia
are
not
Africa
made
in
has
Mahometanism
of
Pan-Islamism, but to the leaven of the sects mentioned,

that if missionary efforts are to succeed, they
understand
who
must be made by spiritual and not by temporal forces.
political
The present Sultan,

the community.
1
Mehmet
V.,
is
reported to be one of the
members
of
CHAPTER X
INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION OF EMPIRE
Part
First
direct
I.
Railways.
railway communication between Constantinople

the Bagdad Railway ; German aspirations
and London
general design
Abdul Hamid's
monopoly
resistance
of
railway
fails
declares himself
Kaiser's
two
protector of
Constantinople
the Hedjaz Railway for pilgrims to Holy
;
Russian demand
visits
to
Moslems
Cities.
accession of Abdul Hamid only three lines

had been constructed in the Turkish Empire.
A concession for the oldest, from Smyrna to Aidin
(the ancient Tralles), was granted in July, 1856, and. the
railway was forthwith constructed.
Smyrna is the
for
outlet
commerce
from
the
western part
principal
of Asia Minor, and the railway built and still held by a
Before the
of railway
British company, running at its opening only as far as

Aidin, helped to develop agriculture along the Mendere
valley and the district to the south-east of Smyrna.
In 1888 permission for extension to Dinair was granted,
and in 1906 to Lake Eghirdir. In 1 883-1 884 a French
company obtained a concession from Smyrna and built
the Smyrna and Cassaba Railway. The railway built,
shortly before the accession of Abdul Hamid, from
Haidarpasha, on the Bosporus, to Ismidt, had already
been commenced. Another line to Adrianople had also

been constructed shortly before his accession, the concession having been granted to Baron Hirsch.
All
these lines played a useful part in the economic development of Turkey. The last-mentioned, however, stopped
at Adrianople because at that time no railway existed
in Bulgaria.
153
When Abdul Hamid ascended the throne the best

routes from London to Constantinople were either by
railway to Marseilles and thence by steamer to the
Bosporus, or by railway to Berlin, thence to the Russian
frontier, Podvolocheskofr', on to Odessa, and by steamer
across the Black Sea to Constantinople. The first took
a week, and the second four and a half days. Bulgaria
from the establishment of the Principality saw the
importance both of roads and railways, and when her
line was linked up with that which the Serbians had
built from the Bulgarian frontier to Belgrade, Turkey
recognised the desirability of linking up her Adrianople
line and thus having a direct railway communication to
Belgrade, from which place already by the Austrian
journey could be made to Vienna and Western
line the
Europe.
It was in 1888 that direct railway communication
was opened between Constantinople and Paris. A steady
increase in traffic took place in each succeeding year, and
especially after the institution of an international train
known as the Orient Express. It is sufficient to say

that during the last quarter of a century the service
by this train was one of successful management.
The Bagdad Railway.
The
idea of constructing a railway from Constantihad long been entertained both

All agreed that such a line
in England and Germany.
would be the main trunk road for the Empire. Before
the opening of the Suez Canal several British engineer
officers had gone over the ground and had prepared
nople to the Persian Gulf
When, however, direct

general plans for a railway.
water communication was established between the
Mediterranean and the Red Sea, a railway connection
between Constantinople and Bagdad did not appeal to
Great Britain. Our merchants and statesmen recognised that, so far as the Far East was concerned, the
improvements already made and being made in steamer
communication caused the road through the Suez Canal
to be more useful and profitable than the best railway.
LIFE OF
154
ABDUL HAMID
Their prognostications have proved correct, and it now

seems more unlikely than ever that land carriage across
Turkey can compete economically with that by sea.
It was of the trade to and from the Far East that
British engineers were mainly thinking.
Germany on her side had other views.
She thought
Asia Minor as a field for colonisation
by her own subjects, a dream which Great Britain had
never shared. German writers and thinkers had long
hoped to find a place in the sun for their country in the
Turkish Empire. Hemmed in by other States, Germany
found her people emigrating in large numbers to the
from the
first of
United States, to British colonies and elsewhere, and

sought to find territory in which her surplus population
might settle. As far back as 1830 Moltke, the great
German strategist in the Franco-German War of 1870,

who had spent two years in Turkish service, advocated
the foundation of a German Principality in Palestine.
doubtful whether (as is sometimes asserted) he
contemplated the settlement of his countrymen elsewhere in Turkey. He probably knew the country too
well to advise their entry on so serious an undertaking.
In 1846, Lizt proposed the construction of a railway
to Bagdad. In 1848, Rosher claimed that the heritage
"
"
sick man
of the Turkish
ought to fall to Germany.
In 1886, a German Oriental scholar, Sprenger, described
"
the most remunerative field for coloniBabylonia as
sation and as the only country not yet occupied by great
Powers." Many German writers advocated the estabDr. Seton
lishment of a Protectorate in Asia Minor.
Watson has traced the growth of the idea in Germany
of a domination over all the territories between Berlin
and Bagdad, and has shown how Germany's thinkers
gave the nation a conception of a world policy that
would aim at such a result. It would be out of place to
1
attempt to repeat what he has said. It may be remarked,
however, that Prince Von Bismarck did not share the
opinion that the future of Germany lay in the countries
It
is
See
"
Pan-German Aspirations
in the
Near East," by R. W. Seton Watson^

March 31, 1916..
D.Litt., in Journal of Royal Society of Arts ,
155
Even the prospect

did
not
appeal to him.
possessing Constantinople
His ideal was of a Germany which should be closely
united with Austria and which should keep on good
terms with the people of the Balkan States. After the
defeat of Austria at Koeniggratz, he did not attempt
to obtain from Austria any indemnity or an inch of
He recognised that the interests of the two
territory.
States were bound up together. At a later period when
the late Kaiser had allied himself with the Czar and the
Emperor of Austria, and when the interests of Austria
and Russia were in conflict, he threw in his influence
on the side of Austria. On the accession of William II. in
June, 1888, and the dismissal of Bismarck shortly afterwards, the idea of a Greater Germany which had been
spread by a number of writers apparently took possession of the new Kaiser. Already the German Embassy
in Constantinople had been working to secure from
Abdul Hamid and his Ministers an apparently unimportant railway concession in Turkey. A short line of
about forty miles long between Haidarpasha (a village
adjoining Scutari, on the Asiatic side of the Bosporus
between Berlin and the Persian Gulf.
of
and immediately opposite Constantinople) and Ismidt

had been built by the Turkish Government. Such line
was the natural head of a road of any kind to Bagdad.
Since the time of the Emperor Justinian, in the middle
of the
sixth century, a considerable portion of trade
between the East and the West had been diverted

by the great Emperor from the Persian Gulf through
Mesopotamia, Cilicia, and Konia, into two great roads,
the chief of which went to Ismidt or Nicomedia. The
city indeed is at the head of a great natural highway to
the central tableland of Asia Minor which had been used
for many centuries. The Turkish Government decided
that owing to the changed circumstances of the times the
termination of this great road should not remain at
Ismidt, but be at the nearest point to the capital, namely
Haidarpasha. This line was leased for working to a
In violation of the stipulation
British group in 1872.
in the lease, the Turkish Government seized the railway
LIFE OF
156
in
1883,
and
after a
ABDUL HAMID
few months handed
it
over to a
German group. In 1 889 the Anatolian Railway Companywas formed in Germany to take over the line.
The
became possessed of thf terminus of a line
which constitutes the most valuable, if not the only
practical, terminus of a railway from Constantinople
to Konia and Bagdad. The Turks probably surmised
that this was the German idea and insisted that before
extending it from Ismidt in a south-easterly direction
towards Konia they should build a line eastward to
Angora. This extension was at once taken in hand and
latter thus
executed.
During the following years
made
little
or
no progress was
in railway
development.
In 1889, a year after his accession, the Kaiser visited
the Sultan in Constantinople. The event was of importance and marks the commencement of a series of
incidents which enabled the Germans to obtain a preponderating position in Turkey. From that time until
the Revolution in 1908, the first care of German diplomacy was to obtain influence over the Sultan and his
Ministers in order that Germany might carry out her
designs in Asiatic Turkey. The most pressing of these
right, that is, the monopoly, of cona
structing
railway to Konia, thence across the Taurus
to
Adana, thence to Alexandretta, and through
Range
the Amanus Range, via Aleppo, to the Euphrates, and
The visit of the Kaiser in
onward to Bagdad.
the autumn of 1898 secured the promise of the
extension of the Anatolian Railway from Ismidt to
Konia, the concession for which was formally given
was to obtain the
in 1899.
On November
7,
1898,
when
at
Damascus, the
" for
Kaiser proclaimed himself the protector
of the three hundred millions of the Moslem
From the time of the visit to the Sultan two
later, Germany had entirely her own way with
"
ever
world.
years
Abdul
Hamid. From the capital the Kaiser went to Jerusalem,

and on the anniversary of the day when Luther
nailed his famous thesis on
the church door of
157
Wittenberg he repeated the Reformer's declaration

" to
maintain this field."
In February, 1893, the Anatolia Company had been
authorised to extend from Ismidt to Konia. This part
was nearly
finished in 1896.
When
in 1898 the Kaiser
was promised the extension to the

was granted in March, 1903. This
is the basis of the
Bagdad Railway enterprise.
About this time (May, 1903) some kind of agreement
was made between the Kaiser and the Emperor of
Austria by which the latter was to have Salonika. 1
The first proposal of Germany was that France and
England should be joined with her in supplying the
capital for the construction of the Bagdad Railway, and
visited the Sultan, he
Persian Gulf, and this
that on the board of directors of the company to be

formed for carrying out the project there should be
British and French representatives.
The representation proposed, however, was inadequate, as the German
members could always outvote the combined British

Nevertheless, it was generally recognised
and French.
that the construction of a railway from Constantinople

to Bagdad would be of
great economic value for the
of
development
Turkey. Mr. Arthur Balfour in the
House of Commons supported the enterprise, though
after four or five weeks he came to take a different
view, and the Bagdad Railway was recognised to be a
powerful German, and not international, undertaking.
The German people expressed their delight at the
prospects of the construction of such a railway, and
spoke of establishing colonies of Germans all along the
The undertaking was seriously taken in hand.

The line from Ismidt to Konia and, indeed, to the Taurus
Range was completed before the deposition of Abdul
Hamid. Instead of crossing the Taurus through the
Cilician Gates, the route chosen was to the east of that
pass. The Taurus presented serious obstacles, the rocks
line.
being mostly of a friable nature, so that cuttings had to

1
Sir Valentine Chirol
would explain much
is
my
of the
the Revolution of 1908.
authority for this statement.
conduct of Austria during the
Such an agreement
six years
preceding
158
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
The projected line

be deep and the tunnels long.
on
the
south
of
the
terminates
range about fifteen miles
west of Adana.
A short railway between Mersina through Tarsus to
Adana had already been constructed and was in working
it was owned
by British
tbe
Frenchmen.
The
remaining forty-five by
subjects,
Germans negotiated with a small group which held
all the French shares and purchased them in block.
Having quietly bought British shares in the line whenever offered for sale, they succeeded in obtaining a
dominant voice in the direction of the railway, so that
order.
it
Fifty-five per cent, of
became and
is
now under German management.
Its
advantage to the Germans was that it prevented the

necessity of constructing a line from the north of the
Bay of Alexandretta for the purpose of carrying materials
for the construction of the proposed railway. Thence it
had to pass east from Alexandretta through the Amanus
Range. That range is of harder rock and has not yet
been completely pierced. Thence the railway proceeds
through Aleppo to Jerablus (the Carchemish of the
From the latter
Bible), which is on the Euphrates.
no
to
difficulties
of importance
Bagdad
engineering
place
occur.
In order to provide the

of the line the
money for the construction

German Embassy succeeded in persuading
Abdul Hamid to grant heavy kilometric guarantees which

the Turkish population justly regarded with suspicion.
One of the disagreeable aspects about the German
railway development in Asia Minor is the suggestion
of a desire, deducible from many facts, to exclude all
other nations from taking part in railway development
in Asia Minor. They have already acquired one of the
two important lines in Turkey which terminate in
Smyrna, namely that which runs to Cassaba. A strong
American group, of which the heads were Mr. Chester
and Mr. Colt, made a series of proposals for railway
construction from Alexandretta in a north-easterly
direction.
They stood no chance of being accepted
because they were opposed by the Germans.
159
Seeing that Germany had obtained the promise of

the concession of a railway to Bagdad, and was opposing
the grant to the subjects of other States of railway
concessions in Asia Minor, especially towards the northeast, Russia grew alarmed and made a formal demand
through her Ambassador that Turkey should grant no
concessions in her north-eastern provinces except
to Russian subjects or with the consent of the Russian
Government. The demand was undoubtedly a stiff one,
but it appeared to Russia, as, indeed, it did to most
observers in Turkey, that Germany was doing her
utmost to obtain a monopoly of railways in the Empire.
She had already made much progress in securing such

a monopoly. She had evicted the lessees of the line
from Constantinople to Ismidt, had acquired preponderating influence over the Smyrna and Cassaba line,
and had virtually annexed the Mersina, Tarsus and
Adana Railway.
Russia's alarm was natural. The demand, however,
was so serious that Abdul Hamid took very unusual
means to have it withdrawn. He wrote to the Czar of
Russia complaining of the proposal and declaring that,
in presence of the friendship which existed between the
two Sovereigns, it could never have been put forward
with the consent of his Majesty, and he, therefore,
brought it to his knowledge that it might be withdrawn.

The answer he received was a curt one, to the effect
that no servant of Russia dare put forward such a
Simulproposal without his Sovereign's consent.
"
addressed
letters
the
Sultan
to
his
friend,"
taneously
the Kaiser, and to Queen Victoria.
The Kaiser was
In
in
a
a
semi-official
difficulty.
evidently
paper which
on this occasion was believed to have been directly
inspired by him, the proposal was mentioned with the
remark that though the Kaiser was always ready to

oblige his friend the Sultan, it must be remembered that
the Czar was also his friend, and that, therefore, the
case was not one in which he could interfere.
The
Sultan's letter to Queen Victoria was presumably handed
over by her to Lord Salisbury, whom the Turkish
160
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
The
in London was ordered to visit.
Ambassador's instructions were to call special attention
to the provision in the Cyprus Convention by which
England undertook to defend Turkey in case of any
aggression made by a foreign Power. He claimed that
Lord Salisbury,
the demand was such an aggression.
Ambassador
however, knew the Treaty and pointed out to him that

the undertaking to defend Turkey was conditioned,
among other things, by the obligation on the part of
the Sultan to introduce reforms for the Armenians.
Instead of carrying out this obligation, his Majesty had
been murdering them.
Repulsed by all three sovereigns, Abdul Hamid

conceded the demand of Russia.
The design of Germany to have the monopoly of
railway traffic and of other great industrial undertakings
in Asia Minor took so strong a development after the
Kaiser's second visit to the Sultan that foreign residents
in the country concluded that an arrangement had been
made between the Courts of London and Berlin by which
Germany was to be allowed a free hand in Asia Minor
even to the extent of blocking British proposals. It was
at a time when the relations between England and France
were strained, and when the outrages in Armenia led to
the belief in England that the best plan of giving
security to Armenians was that the provinces in which
they were numerous should come under foreign rule.
To allow Germany a free hand had the advantage of
suggesting that, having invested most of her capital
in Asia Minor, she would take upon herself to prevent
the capital falling into Russian hands.
The dreams of German colonies along the Haidarpasha-Bagdad line had already before the Revolution
No German colonies in the
of 1908 proved illusory.
small
ones, mostly of Second
Empire exist, except
is
It
as
Palestine.
in
Adventists,
unlikely that they ever
will exist as that colonies of British settlers will ever
Climatic conditions
establish themselves in India.
count for something, but the great obstacle is that
already the line is surrounded by sufficient inhabitants

who cannot and ought not
to be dispossessed
belonging to any foreign race.

It is useless to
predict what will be the
161
by those
immediate
future of the Turkish Empire, but whoever may be the

possessors of the territories through which the line
from Constantinople to Bagdad and the Persian Gulf
may
pass,
it
management.
should
be
placed
under international
is
to remain
Assuming that Turkey
possession of the country, she is too hopelessly

incapable of managing so great an undertaking. The
only departments or undertakings in Turkey which
have proved successful are those which are managed
in
foreigners. If, therefore, no satisfactory arrangement

arrived at by which the Bagdad Railway should have
an international administration, it would be well to
place its management under the Department of the
Public Debt, if that institution should survive the present
by
is
cataclysm.
Serious complaints were made by the people of Turkey
on account of the large kilometric guarantees which
were assigned to the railway company to be paid from
the revenues of the districts through which the line
But the development of the country made by
passes.
the railway will probably amply cover the guarantees
It may be
necessary and will benefit the peasants.
added at the same time that it was only the great
influence which the Germans had
acquired over
him to resist
which
could
have
induced
Abdul Hamid,
the popular outcry against the apparently excessive
guarantees.
That the Bagdad Railway will be completed is certain.
Whatever Power or Powers are in possession of the
country through which it passes, its importance for

commercial purposes will be recognised. Its construction
has gone on slowly but steadily during the last ten years.
The engineering difficulties in the Taurus are being
Those encountered in tunnelling
rapidly overcome.
the
Amanus
through
Range are more serious, but are
already vanishing. Already in 191 6, by far the larger
These, once over-*portion of the line is constructed.
L A.H
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
162
come, the road to Jerablus, on the Euphrates, is clear.

The desert beyord only presents difficulties in crossing
the rivers.
In reference to the project generally, it may be safely
observed that every inch of railway built in Turkey is
a gain to the population. Crops rotting in the fields,
fertile land practically uncultivated, the absence of
means
communication between one town and another

towns and the sea contributed largely
to increase the poverty to which nomads and misgovernment had reduced Turkey. The returns made to
the Department of Public Debc, which may always be
taken as trustworthy, show that wherever a railway
has passed through any given province its revenues have
of
or between the
been largely increased.
Germany had
sacrificed
much
to obtain the
Bagdad
She had spent money lavishly. Above all,

had declined to aid the other Powers in obtaining good
government for Crete, for Armenia, and Macedonia for
fear of losing influence with Abdul Hamid. The interest
of the resident inhabitants was sacrificed to the economic
At a time when English and
interests of Germany.
French residents in the capital incurred the enmity of
the Sultan by sheltering Armenians from his cruel
clutches, Germans, evidently acting under orders,
concessions.
refused to render any similar aid.

her soul for the Sultan's favour.
Germany had
sold
The Hedjaz Railway

The most important outcome of Abdul Hamid's
Pan-Islamism was the execution of a project which was
carried out
by his ablest Private Secretary Izzet Pasha,

the
construction of a railway from Damascus
namely,
The Secretary was a man of great
to the Hedjaz.
and
intelligence
possessed exceptional knowledge of
with the internal condition of the
connected
questions
Arab
by birth, he went to ConstantiEmpire.
Syrian
man
and
a
as
shortly afterwards obtained
young
nople
an appointment as a Judge in Macedonia. Even while
163
he formed a very poor opinion of the

Turkish Ministers and others in the immediate entourage
of the Sultan. After some years he succeeded in getting
himself transferred to the capital where he was promoted
tne mos t important Commercial Court
to be a T u dg e
which deals with cases between Turkish subjects and
His chance came after interviews with the
foreigners.
who
Sultan,
recognised that he had not only an exceptional knowledge of what concerned Syria and Arabia,
but also of Macedonia, with which the European Powers
were continually troubling his Majesty. Before long he
acquired possibly more influence with the Sultan than
any other subject. He continued to be his Private
Secretary until the Revolution in 1908 and then fled
from the country.
The pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the four require"
ments or " pillars of Islam. At all times then has been
a steady number of Believers who have made their way
to the Moslem Holv Land. In the absence of statistics
in that Province
any value, it may be said generally that the number of

off during the first years of Abdul
pilgrims had fallen
Hamid's reign. Of late years, however, and largely
of
owing to the conquests of Russia in Central Asia, the

number of pilgrims had steadily increased. The men
usually bring with them considerable sums of money to
meet the expenses of the long route. In the early days
of Abdul Hamid many died on the way. The pilgrimage
was always a trying one for the pilgrims, but was
regarded as a gold mine by the tribes of Bedouins,
Arabia to the east of the Jordan.
especially in Northern
In the autumn of 1876, the British Consul declared that
the common form of dowry among the Bedouins was
the share of booty which should fall to the bridegroom
when the next annual caravan for the Holy Places
was plundered. It is not too much to say that at that
time and down to the construction of the railway,
every caravan had to pay outrageous sums of blackmail
either to Bedouin chiefs or to the Turkish Governors.
Hence it is not necessary to suppose, as was commonly
alleged, that Izzet Pasha in advising the construction
LIFE OF
64
ABDUL HAMID
Hedjaz Railway was seeking to serve his private

ends.
The Sultan, who was for the moment ready
to engage in any scheme which would increase his
of the
fell in with the

plan of his
in
the
summer
of
and,
1900 Abdul
accordingly,
Secretary,
Hamid commenced the construction of a railwav from
Damascus to the Hedjaz. Already a line had been built
from Haifa to the Horan and Damascus. A few years
before the Hedjaz Railway was opened Abdul Hamid
influence as Caliph, readily
had made one

reputation
as
of his
spasmodic
efforts to increase his
Caliph and to spread Mahometanism.
He had founded or
and had sent many
rebuilt a certain
by Moslems.
cost
number
of
mosques
preachers into Africa. Yet it cannot

truthfully be said that in building the Hedjaz Railway
he had no other reason for favouring the project than
that of facilitating pilgrimage.
His hold upon the
Arabs around Yemen was always slight, and a railway
would be of value for keeping them in order. The undertaking was a difficult one, and the difficulty was increased
by his desire to show the Moslem world that a railway
for a religious purpose could be constructed entirely
Its
was almost
entirely
met by
contributions from Mahometans in all parts of the

world.
Although the designs and the supervision of
the construction had to be entrusted largely to foreigners,
the idea was never lost sight of that the railway was
intended for Moslem pilgrims. It is probable also that
Abdul Hamid hoped that the railway would enable him
to recover his influence in Egypt.
Nevertheless, the
railway was one of public utility, and Abdul Hamid

deserves credit for having encouraged so useful an
1
undertaking. It is now complete as far as Medina.
Besides the railways mentioned, five short ones
deserve notice. One is from Mudania, on the Sea of
Marmora, to Brussa. The line had been planned and
partly completed before Abdul Hamid's accession.
Locomotives and a certain amount of rolling stock had
1
In a later chapter it will be seen that one of the charges brought against
the Sultan was that a large sum collected for the construction could not be
accounted
for.
165
been provided. All were allowed to remain unused for

years before permission was granted to complete the
line.
The second also started from Mudania and runs
to Smyrna.
The third, about forty miles long, is
between Jaffa and Jerusalem.
In connection with
Damascus are two lines the first, running on an old
coach road, built by a French company from Beyrout
;
across the
Haifa.
two ranges
The amount
of
Lebanon, and the second, from
of railway
Hamid's reign was small.
development during Abdul

It was small owing mainly
to the rotten condition
of his administration.
It is
true that the Sultan disapproved almost every kind of
public works. Probably, so far as he held any convictions whatever on the subject, he agreed with one of his
early Ministers who expressed his distrust of railways,
and claimed that so long as the Turks had only their

camels and horses they were prosperous and happy.
But in spite of the fact that Abdul Hamid told Mr.
Joseph Chamberlain and other Europeans that he
wished to see his country covered with a network of
roads and railways, he was himself the great obstacle
to their construction.
After he had got rid of the
reformers, his employees were allowed a free hand in
It was the price paid for their
obtaining bakshish.
no
could be obtained without
concessions
sycophancy
it.
One of the members of a British firm, which up to
his arrival in Constantinople had had the
largest
experience in the world in railway construction, was
sent for by the Grand Vizier, on the occasion of his
visit to the Bosporus, and asked whether he would
;
not apply for a railway concession. His answer probably

startled the Minister.
He would not apply because
his firm did only clean business.
He had carefully
looked into what had been done in Turkey, and found
that the only way to carry out public works was to
distribute bakshish freely and his firm had refused to
fall in with such
When this was promised,
practice.
bad work was passed ; extra charges allowed, and
Abdul Hamid is
peculation of every kind tolerated.
;
66
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
making no attempt to put an end to the

in popular belief
which may be
Indeed
practice.
admitted in such cases to be of doubtful value he himself shared in some of the large sums paid for all imporresponsible for
tant concessions.
CHAPTER
X continued
Part
II.
The
Continued
Turkish Public Debt
Story of the Turkish Department of the Public Debt.
Turkey
paper
practically bankrupt on accession of Abdul Hamid
money
proposal to cede revenues from six different
sources to be collected and administered for holders of
Turkish bonds
proposal by Porte discussed with Mr.
Robert Bourke on behalf of British and other bondholders ;
results in Decree of Muharem, December 20, 1881
formation of Council for the administration of the Ottoman
Public Debt
successful from first
illustrations of good
;
proposal to manage collection

and apportionment of revenues for payment of kilometric
guarantees ; Department never officially recognised by
management
British
unification
Government
service introduced
Why
formation
Ameliorations in financial
of
Tobacco Regie
silk
by Depart;
industry re-created and viniculture assisted

ment ; a Department which made for progress.
Story of the Turkish Department of the Public Debt
Owing to the extravagance of Abdul Aziz, which,

as already mentioned, led to his deposition, Turkey on
the accession of Abdul Hamid was on the verge of
New loans were contracted with local

bankers, and outside Turkey, to pay the interest on
debts. The financial administration was utterly rotten,
and probably not more than 40 per cent, of the taxes
collected found its way into the Treasury. The Public
Debt outside the Empire amounted to 190,750,000
bankruptcy.
Turkish pounds (the Turkish pound is equal to i8j\ 2d).

During 1875-6 expenses rapidly increased from various
The amount of revenue fell. The Turkish
causes.
Government were forced to recognise that some remedy
68
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
must be found. They were unable to float more loans

or otherwise borrow more money. They were, in fact,
living from hand to mouth, mostly upon small loans
obtained from Galata bankers.
On September n, 1875, Turkey

in a private individual would have
had committed what

been an act of bank-
ruptcy. She ordered the suspension of the payment of

one-half of the interest and sinking fund from the following month, with the exception of those on the Egyptian
Tribute Loans, and of one made in 1855 guaranteed by
the British and French Governments. Then came many
makeshifts to obtain money. Paper currency, locally
known as caismes, was issued. The Turkish sovereign
or lira (the equivalent of 100 gold piastres) was the
standard. The Government in issuing caismes declared
that the one lira note was equivalent to 120 silver piastres,
the usual rate of exchange being 108. The promises
made by the Government were so alluring to the ignorant
of the community that many of them brought forward
their savings and converted their gold and silver into
paper money. Gradually and rapidly its value depreciated so that within a few weeks, the happy possessor
of a gold lira could exchange it for 160 paper piastres,
and the poor peasants thought that the operation of
their paternal
Government was
for their benefit.
To
such an extent did this fiction prevail that even the

tradesmen in Constantinople made but slight advance
in their prices, evidently believing that the fall in the
value of the paper was a rise. When the war with Russia
broke out, they began to realise their mistake, for
suddenly Turkish gold rose from 160 to 300 piastres
the lira, and finally no one would take the paper money,
except at an outrageously low value. When the Russian
War was over, the leading financial establishments in
the country, of which the Imperial Ottoman Bank was
the most important, refused further advances unless
those which they had previously made were secured.
six revenues paid
They made a practical suggestion that
"
Six Indirect Conto the Government, known as the
tributions," should be handed over to a committee of
169
and administered by them.

negotiations this condition was
" Six
in
principle on November 22, 1879. The
accepted
Contributions" were the total revenue derived from
tobacco, salt, wines and spirituous liquors, stamps,
fisheries, and silk, subject to a reduction of one million
sterling, but plus the contribution of Eastern Rumelia
and Cyprus and the tribute of Bulgaria. All these were
local bankers to be collected
After
considerable
to go to bondholders.
The Porte and Abdul Hamid
still found the

difficulty
borrowing money serious. It was indeed impossible,
except by the consent of the Ottoman Bank and of the
local bankers who acted in accord with it. They were
determined in their own interest and in that of the
foreign bondholders, that so much at least of the income
of
country as was necessary to meet the interest

upon the bonds, should be set apart from the general
revenue for their benefit and that of the bondholders
of the
whom
they represented. In order, moreover, to obtain

loans from abroad, it was equally necessary to
satisfy the bondholders that old and new loans should
be secured by a sound administration. The original
new
scheme required enlargement and amendment.

It
could not be left in the hands of local bankers.
The stoppage of payment of interest on the bonds
already mentioned had been a terrible blow to Turkish
credit.
In England and France, Turkish securities had
been favourably regarded because they offered ion| per
cent, more interest than could be obtained on British or
French Government securities. This was a tempting
bait to numbers of middle-class investors, to whom the
difference
between
per cent, and 4 or 4^ meant great

Moreover, it was well known
difference in comfort.
Englishmen in high positions who had had

experience in Turkey, had believed in the solidity of
Turkish guarantees. It was notorious that even the
great Ambassador who became Lord Stratford de
Redcliffe, had made large investments in Turkish funds.
It was therefore not wonderful that such funds conThe same
stituted a favourite form of investment.
that
170
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
observation applies to France, but an additional inducement had made French small investors eager to hold
Turkish bonds. Owing to different arrangements on
the French Bourse from those in England, they were a
favourite form for that kind of gambling which is known
"
as
buying and selling differences," the simplest form
being the purchase of a large amount of bonds to be
delivered at a later date, which both buyer and seller
recognise that the buyer would probably be unable to
take up, that is, to pay for. If in the interval between
the purchase and the date fixed for delivery the market
price of such securities had risen or fallen, one or other
of the parties pocketed the difference.
The fluctuations
of the market during the period between 1875, when the
first decree was issued reducing the amount of interest
to half, and the end of 1879, were enormous, and affected
not merelv Government securities but the shares of the
various banks and other establishments doing business
in Turkey, and of the institutions which had business
operations with the Government. Thus, for example,
the shares of the Ottoman Bank fell for two or three
days to about 2 15s., and rose within two years to about
This was mainly due to speculation in Paris, and
.25.
dismay arose, because it was recognised by the directors
themselves that the latter figure was above their actual
All concerned, including the Turkish Finance
value.
Minister, recognised that in such a fluctuating and
unsteady market, it was impossible to obtain new
advances from Europe. The bankers' project must be
modified.
Accordingly, when on October 3, 1880, the
Porte addressed the Embassies, suggesting that the
foreign bondholders should appoint delegates to proceed
to Constantinople to come to an understanding, the
The English and French

was accepted.
bondholders had already commenced to act together,
but now they, as well as the Dutch, Austrian, German
and Italian bondholders, formally elected delegates.
The Right Hon. Robert Bourke, M.P., represented
the British and Dutch. The first idea was that the delegates should form an International Commission, but
invitation
171
Mr. Bourke found the plan open to two objections ;

that the delegates were unlikely to agree among
themselves, and second, that the Porte would not entertain a proposal by which it should be left out.
The
case would be one of " reckoning without your host."
The Dutch, who held a considerable number of
Turkish bonds, wisely placed their interests in the hands
of the British Council of
Foreign Bondholders and
decided that its delegate or delegates should act also for
them.
The Imperial Ottoman Bank and its group
acted for the French bondholders, the chief place of
business for such bank, though nominally in ConstanA few German bondtinople, being really in Paris.
holders were represented by Herr S. Bleichroder.
In
also
there
were
Turkish
and
these
bondholders,
Italy
were represented by the Italian Chamber of Commerce.
Negotiations took place between the delegates and a
Turkish Commission of six members, and between them
and the Porte. The result was that an agreement was
come to which resulted in the promulgation of a law
known as " The Decree of Muharem."
Such decree
bore date of December 20, 1881, or in Turkish, the
28th day of the month of Muharem. Mr. Bourke had
arrived in Constantinople at the end of August, 1881.
His report presented to the bondholders is dated
first,
January
10, 1882.
The
issue of this decree
The
British representatives always played
was an event of high importance for Turkish finance.

Thereupon the Council for
the Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt became
a Turkish Institution,
commonly known as the Debt
or the Public Debt. The largest amount of foreign bonds
being in English and French hands, it was decided that
the United Council of Foreign Bondholders should be
under an English or French President, each of whom
should hold office alternately for a period of five years. 1
an impor-
tant, perhaps, indeed, the most important, part on the

Council of the Public Debt, and were successively,
Sir Hamilton Lang, Sir
Edgar Vincent, Sir Vincent
1
Article
XV., Decree
of
Muharem.
172
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
Calliard, Sir Edward Fitzgerald Law, Sir Henry Babington Smith and Sir Adam Block.
This is not the place in which to give the history of
the development of the Institution which took in hand
the management of the conceded revenues for the
benefit of the bondholders. But every year that passed
increased its efficiency, satisfied the bondholders, and,
what is of more importance, reduced into order the
administration, collection and application of the public
funds. Nor is this the place to speak of the unification
of the Turkish Debt, and of the various manipulations
of the same which were mutually beneficial to the Turks
and their creditors. The revenues collected by the
Public Debt, greatly increased from 1882 to 1903. In
the latter year the increase became more rapid, owing
probably to the unification (on September I, 1903),
by which the Turkish Government itself obtained an
interest in the revenues, since three quarters of the
surplus after the payment of the interest and sinking
fund of the Debt went to it directly, whilst the remaining
one quarter was utilised for sinking fund purposes.
In 1889 the Turkish Government, which, after some
hesitation, had come to recognise the utility of the
Public Debt for its own purposes, joined with certain
railway companies to which the Government had granted
kilometric guarantees in requesting the Department to
take over the administration of revenues outside those
conceded by the Decree of Muharem for the payment of
such guarantees. Whether it was a good or a bad thing
from the bondholders' point of view, is a moot question,
but there is no doubt that it was to the advantage of
In subsequent years further revenues were
Turkey.
specially assigned for collection by the Public Debt.
These steps meant better administration, that is, a
greater approach to justice for the taxpayers and more
revenue for the Turkish Treasury, and for the foreign
bondholders. In the last few years the Turkish Government showed an increasing desire to hand over their
revenues for collection by the Public Debt, and if events
had pursued a normal course, the Department would
173
probably have been made collectors of the revenues for

the whole of the Turkish Empire.
When the Revolution of July, 1908, happened, the
Young Turks recognised that the Department could
administer the finances of the Empire better than thev
could
that native officials, trained by it, were not only
more efficient, but less open to corruption, and that there
was a regularity in the Debt's administration which had
never been attained under Turkish management.
The Members of the Council of the Public Debt,
acting under a succession of able Presidents who held
office until the outbreak of the present war, succeeded
in making the Ottoman Public Debt Department certainly the most efficient and best organised administration in Turkey, and one which would bear comparison
with any corresponding administration elsewhere. It
is
tempting to enter fully upon the services which this
Turkish Department, officered by Europeans, has rendered
to Turkey as well as to its constituents, the bondholders.
;
Some
of
details
achievement, especially in later

be
noted. Its gross receipts during
years, may, however,
the year 1903-4 were .T2, 97 1,984. The corresponding
receipts of 1911-12 had steadily risen to ^5,061,335,
This
or, deducting new Customs dues, to ^3,910,150.
was an increase during the interval, of nearly one
million Turkish pounds, a proof at once that the revenue
of the country was increasing, and that the administration of its finance had greatly improved.
Taking
an average during the thirty years in which the
revenues were administered by the Public Debt, there
is an increase
during this period of 79*07 per cent. The
tables published in the Special Report on the Public
Debt by Sir Adam Block in January, 1914, show that
this increase in the revenues administered by the
Council of the Public Debt had been steadily progress1
ing during each of its three decades.
Provision had been made in the Unification Scheme
for redemption.
In 1904-5 (which is taken because
redemption only took place in six months of the previous
1
Sir
its
Adam
Block's Report, pp." 17-19.
LIFE 0F
174
year,
1903)
redeemed.
ABDUL HAMID
^222,398 represented the value of debts

In 1912-13 3^X621, 610 was devoted to
During the years from 1903 to the end of

191 3, including the six months of 1903-4, no less a sum
than 3^X4,329,028 had been applied for that purpose,
the whole representing 10*24 P er cen-t. of the Public
Debt. Bondholders as well as everybody who wished
well for the financial situation of Turkey, must have
recognised that this was a brilliant result. In addition,
the effect of dealing with Xurkish Lottery Bonds,
which, though not quoted on the London Exchange,
are a favourite form of investment on the Continent,
on September 1, 1903, the date of
must be noted
the Decree of Unification of the Xurkish Debt, the
nominal capital of the Lottery Bonds was Xi 3,448,789.
Between 1903 and the end of 191 3 bonds for the nominal
value of 3^X509,604 were cancelled. As mentioned in
the case of the conceded revenues in the period between
1903-4 and 1912-13 these Lottery Bonds were as usual
redemption.
number drawn being proamount

to
the
which
the Public Debt had
portionate
at its disposal for dealing with them.
In 1904-5 the
nominal value of drawn bonds was .14 1,66 3 ; this
drawn
for cancellation, the
steadily increased until in 191 4 ^79,755 were drawn.

Provision had been made also for a Reserve Fund of
two million pounds sterling. Xhis Reserve Fund still
exists and, according to the latest information, is intact.
Considerable sensation was created in Constantinople

when it was stated that a
secret understanding had been come to between the
French and the Germans, by which the three-quarter
surplus of the conceded revenues should be assigned as
a guarantee for the payment of the loans issued for the
Xhe work of
construction of the Bagdad Railway.
collecting by the Council of the Debt for railway guarantees was of course not contemplated in the Decree of
at the time of the unification
Muharem, and though public opposition was marked

against such guarantees, especially to the Bagdad Railway, the collection and administration of a portion of
the tithes, which were set aside for such guarantee,
175
were taken over with general satisfaction by the Public

Debt. Here, as in other matters, there was a steady and
rapid improvement in the gross receipts under its
The totals published in Sir Adam

administration.
Block's Report (p. 64) are valuable, because they suggest
that there is reasonable hope that heavy though the
payments were which had to be made for kilometric
guarantee on the railway, the increased produce of the
districts through which the railway passed,
produced
increased revenues, and this with the result that a
smaller amount of guarantee was necessary.
Thus,
example, the total of guarantees paid in the year
1908 was ^771,509. This went on steadily decreasing
until in 191 2 (the last year for which we have returns)
the amount of guarantees paid was only ^341,388.
That the Public Debt Department has been a great
for
success and promised much for the financial regeneration of the Turkish Empire, is admitted by everyore
acquainted with the country. Curiously enough, and
unlike the delegates of all foreign States, the British
delegate was never officially recognised by the British

Government. Nor indeed was the Department itself.
Its delegate was in consequence at a
disadvantage in
his colleagues.
The latter were
of
their
Governments, which took great
representatives
interest in their doings, and in the economic
comparison
with
progress
and financial reforms which the Public Debt Department was slowly but steadily carrying out in the Empire.
In this respect, British diplomacy did not
compare well
with that of some of the other Powers. The attitude
too often taken even by our Ambassadors was that
they
had nothing to do with trade or economic questions.
Their example was contagious, and affected the British
Consular Service.
One British Consul-General was
snubbed
deservedly
by an Ambassador who took exceptional interest in trade questions, because he stated that
hejknew nothing and cared little about tariff questions
on Turkish railways. Germany's influence in Turkey
during the last fifteen years was largely due to her keen
interest in such
questions, and to the support which she
176
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
gave to her business men. Whether greater collaboration and co-operation between the Government and
banking and commercial interests, with the object of
assisting bankers and traders to obtain and do business,
is a
good policy or not, it is one which England in the
Near East has not followed. The refusal to recognise
the Department of the Public Debt is possibly due to
the same antiquated aristocratic contempt for anything
The
that has to do with commerce or shopkeeping.
the
Public
Debt
not
to
be
of
was
recognised
Department
because it was only concerned with matters of finance.
But in Turkey and the Near East generally, political
and financial interests are always closely allied.
The many reforms accomplished by the Public Debt,
and especially during the administration of Sir Adam
Block, and in spite of the non-recognition of that Department by the British Foreign Office, redound greatly to
his credit.
In one important respect Sir Adam had an
enormous advantage over his predecessors in that he knew
Turkish as well as he knew his native tongue. He had
been the Embassy First Dragoman, but abandoned that
position because he could rise no higher in the Consular
Service to which he belonged and, by the practice of
our Foreign Office Service, could not be taken into that
of diplomacy.
The Turkish Public Debt gained but
our Diplomatic Service lost by his transfer.
While what has been said will give an idea of the
progress and general utility of the Public Debt Administration, it conferred other advantages on Turkey which
are deserving of notice. The collection of the revenues
The terrible
of the country became more regular.
;
The collectors and

leakage was greatly lessened.
inspectors, who were at first mostly foreigners, showed
The amount paid in to the
neither fear nor favour.
Treasury steadily increased. Assessments for the purposes of taxation which were found in disorder were
corrected.
Wealthy men had been able to bribe the
Poor men had
assessors so that they should pay less.
no redress when assessed beyond the value of their
property. Great care was taken by the Public Debt
177
in the
appointment of the first inspectors, and as they

their successors, Turkish
subjects, were well paid,
treated
and
fairly
supported by the Council in just
and
demands, men of excellent character were forthcoming.

It was
interesting and hopeful to see the reform that
was made in assessment interesting because it showed
;
that the general belief in the corruption of the old

officials was well founded
hopeful because it demonstrated that the revenues of the country might be
largely increased without unfair pressure on the peasants.
During the early years of the Public Debt, the inspectors
and the chief officials were partly foreigners and partly
;
natives.
The Department was iortunate in obtaining
a few foreigners who
spoke Turkish well, and who could
deal with the proprietors without the necessity of
native interpreters. A strong and proper desire existed

in the Council to
employ natives wherever possible.
They soon found, especially amongst the Armenians,
trustworthy and efficient servants, who, once they
recognised that the pilferings and even wholesale
robberies of pervious years would no longer be tolerated
and that they would be protected, lent valuable aid to
their employers.
Indeed, on many occasions the
Council of the Public Debt have borne testimony to
both the sagacity and knowledge which were displayed
by the native contingents of assessors. It was shown
for the first time in recent Turkish
history, that the
country could produce as efficient public servants as
any other, once it was recognised that honesty was the
best policy, as under the Public Debt it soon proved
itself to be.
Every year increased the efficiency of the
Department.
Looked at with a certain suspicion and never recognised officially by the British Government, regarded
with anxiety by Abdul Hamid, and not entirely trusted
either by Russia or
Germany, the influence of the
Public Debt steadily increased until the outbreak of
the world-war.
Abdul Hamid and his Ministers
tion of the conceded revenues was
L.A.H.
saw that the collecfairly and that,
made
178
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
without getting into serious conflict with his Government,

the Department every year had an increase of revenue
which his country participated. Germany so completely abandoned her distrust that it was she who
suggested that the collection of the revenues from which
her kilometric guarantee was to be paid should be taken
in
over by the Public Debt.
The Department was a

its
success because, though

direction was in the hands of
nominally Turkish,
But, at the same time, it was training up a
foreigners.
new generation of native public servants, whose influence
was gradually spreading to other departments of the
State and leading to honest habits.
Fears, indeed,
were entertained during some years that Abdul Hamid
would either abolish the Department or claim to make
such modifications in the Decree of Muharem as
would largely diminish its value.
Such fears proved
groundless.
The extent of smuggling, especially of tobacco, induced
the Department to approve a project which met with
no opposition from the Turkish Government, of separat"
Six conceded revenues."
ing tobacco from the list of the
A company
was formed, mainly with French
capital,
to purchase the rights of the Public Debt Department,

to deal with tobacco. The formation of such a company,
which was to work in co-partnership with the Government, had been anticipated during the visit of Mr.
In return for these rights the company was to

Debt. The
pay ^750,000 per annum to the Public
"
itself
was
described
as
Co-interested
company
officially
with the Ottoman Government," and as a company
"
"
en regie" literally, in trust."
The Regie Company,
as it is usually described in Turkey, was never greatly
of
approved by Abdul Hamid. Under the provisions
"
its constitution it had the right to appoint
coljies,"
or officers, to preserve the rights of the Regie. For some
years the conflicts which took place between them and
the native smugglers were almost constant in every
part of the country, the worst offenders being illAbdul Hamid probably for this reason
paid soldiers.
Bourke.
179
never entered cordially into the plans for suppressing

smuggling.
The Department had a long fight in order to suppress
It would probably be difficult to find a
smuggling.
smoker in Turkey who has not had offered to him
packages of Turkish tobacco at a price less than half
that of the same quality sold by the agents of the
Department of Public Debt, or its present substitute
the Regie Ottomane de tabac. The smuggling of tobacco,
indeed, in the early years of the Department was general
1
throughout the Empire.
The notice of the Public Debt Department may be
concluded by mentioning other incidental but important
services which it rendered to Turkey. Among its active
members was Sir Vincent Caillard. To him, acting for
the Department, probably more than to any other
person, is due the revival of the silk industry in Turkey.
In 1880 that industry was practically dead. In the
'seventies of last century
it
had been
flourishing
about
Nicaea, in the neighbourhood of Brussa, and in a wide

stretch of country south of the Marmora.
Tens of
thousands of mulberry trees had existed, furnishing

the leaves on which the silkworms feed. Nearly all had
been cut down because there were no silkworms to be
fed. A fatal disease had appeared amongst them, which
had destroyed the industry even more completely than
"
"
the terrible
had done that of the wine
phylloxera
trade of France.
Sir Vincent took advantage of the
modern science. The French chemist, Pasteur,

had found a remedy both against phylloxera and the
silkworm disease
a small school of sericulture was
established by the Department, which resulted in the
results of
re-establishment, under happier conditions, of the silk

industry in Turkey. Pasteur had found that under the
microscope the eggs of the silkworm moth, when they
were black, indicated that the mother moth was
1
Even as late as June, 19 14, on a visit toMarsovan, two days' carriage journey
inland almost due south of Sansoun, it was difficult to buy cigarettes which
had been made by, or under the Ottoman Regie. Unless the buyer were
suspected of being a spy, the seller would volunteer the statement that he had
better tobacco at a lower price, which was, of course, smuggled.
n 2
LIFE OF
180
ABDUL HAMID
The
question, therefore, was of finding out

free from disease and of keeping
as
the
or,
eggs,
only "
they are technically called, the
"
of healthy moths.
The sight in the school was
seed
an interesting one. In one corner was a great heap of
small muslin bags, each about three inches square,
the muslin being of the thinnest and cheapest variety.
diseased.
which were the moths
In each was a dead moth and her eggs. Upon a table

were several microscopes, each magnifying 1,200 times.
The process of selecting healthy seed was a simple one.
One of the bags was opened, the dried moth placed in
what looked like a toy mortar a toy pestle with a glass
of water was at hand and a few drops poured into the
mortar and stirred rather than beaten with the pestle
and then a drop was placed under the microscope. The
observer could see at once whether there were anv
If there were
blacks seeds or not.
any, the bag was
if there were
thrown into a receptacle to be burnt
none, the mother was pronounced to have been free
from disease. In this way healthy silkworm seed was
The most interesting
placed on the local market.
of
see
thirteen or fourteen
feature was to
peasant boys
in
interest
who took great
learning the simple process.
subscribe
the .12 necessary to
united
to
The villagers
them
and
soon learnt how
buy a microscope amongst
to select the healthy seed. The movement spread with
;
great rapidity. Peasants, Moslems and Christians, alike,

knew the value of the industry and did their part well.
So successful indeed were they that two years after the
introduction of the school of sericulture a cartload of
mulberry leaves was selling at twenty times the former
the enormous number of mulberry trees
price, when
existed.
similar service was rendered to the

with viniculture.
connection
Phylloxera,
country
devastated
had
which
France, made its appearance in
somewhat
in
was curious to
how
irregularly and yet

within
three or four
spread. Vineyards
steadily
miles of Constantinople, which had manifestly been
stricken by the disease, were within half a mile of others
Turkey.
how
It
it
see
181
which were entirely free from it. Here again the Public
Debt Department came to the aid of the peasants.
It had been found that a native American vine had sufficient vitality to withstand the attacks of the phylloxera,
and that other vines when grafted upon the American
were
also
The Department
able to withstand it.
Thousands of
a school of viniculture.
vines were planted and were sold to the culti-
established
American
In other ways
vators at little more than cost price.
the Public Debt Department proved a benefit to the
country.
The administration
of the Public Debt has been

dealt with at some length because it is the one Department under the rule of Abdul Hamid which made for
had an
The Turk has never

aptitude
progress.
business or commerce, that instinctive aptitude for
business which has for many centuries characterised the
for
The
Jewish, the Armenian, and certain other races.
accounts of a wealthy Turkish pasha are usually in a
muddle, and his absence of power of control causes him
to fall an easy victim to men of other races. His ability
as a soldier is no match for the cunning of the stranger
His extravagance is often
in the economic struggle.
his inability to borrow more
transmitted habits of centuries suggest
limited only
The
by
money.
an ex-
The nomad Turk had little regard for the

property of others, and his modern representative
reproduces this trait. He never acquires a fortune by
The Turkish peasant always has been poor
thrift.
planation.
a simple industry
culture appeals to
like that of
silk-making or of viniwithin the measure of
him and is
assisted him to overcome the
To
have
his capacity.
he regarded as Kismet
what
created
difficulties
by
was a service useful to him and to the country.
The improvements in Abdul Hamid's reign connected
with financial administration, with collection of taxes,
the stoppage of leakage, especially of the portion that
should find
its
way
into the public Treasury,
and
in a
dozen different directions, were due to the admirable

administration of the Department of Public Debt.
82
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
hope to the country for the future, not so

because it largely increased the revenue going
to the bondholders and the Treasury, as from the fact
that it had become a moral influence under whose
example a large number of employees were being
trained to be honest and efficient.
The Department
itself was presenting a model to the public of an administration in which the heads were bent upon introducing
changes which would benefit the country as well as
themselves. As the one great healthy institution which
was created and developed during Abdul Hamid's
reign it will always be remembered.
It furnished
much
CHAPTER
X continued
Part
I.
III.
Army becomes
darmery
Army-Navy
demoralised.
projects.
4.
2.
Postal
Continued
Gendarmery
Navy remains
service
by
idle.
3.
Turks
Genfails.
Establishment of School of Medicine.
5.
i.
The Turkish Army's Degeneracy under Abdul

Hamid.
Abdul Hamid's treatment of the fighting forces

Turkey merited and obtained the condemnation of
of
all
classes of his subjects, but especially of the Moslems.

The Turks have always formed a military caste. They
know
little of agriculture except in its most primitive

form. They have always looked upon commerce with
the contempt of ignorance. Trades and industries,
except in such simple forms as keeping small village
shops, are left to the giaours who profit by Turkish
There are, indeed, a few
dislike of such occupations.
industries, such as carpet weaving, in which

women work, but it is rare, indeed, that they
and
men
But soldiering
not
are
superintended by Christians.
is the real business for which the Turk has an
aptitude.
Its alternate demands for energetic service and periods
village
of lethargy suit his

field
temperament.
On many
a battle-
and during long centuries he has proved himself
a valiant soldier. In the Turco-Russian War of 1877-8

he fought well both in Europe and Asia Minor. All the
glories of his race were won on the field of battle. The
Rhodes and
Belgrade in carrying out the

II., in which those
policy
and
were
that
of
Plevna in which the
captured,
places
Turk lost, all bore witness to his value as a fighter. The
sieges of
of
bequeathed by Mahomet
84
LIFE OF
battlefields of
ABDUL HAMID
Maritza in which the South Slavs were
defeated, and that of Kossovo-pol in which Northern

Serbia was reduced to slavery ; the bloody field of
Mohacz, the siege and capture of Buda-Pest, all attest
It is true that all
his competence and endurance.
the battles had been won mainly by Janissaries, and that
they were to a man, Christians of origin, but the Janissaries had been absorbed into the population and
furnished good fighting blood to the nation. The second
quarter of last century, had
into the Army, and in the
did
not make a bad show.
Crimean War the Turk
After that war, French officers were introduced into
Turkey, and did their best to improve it.
When Abdul Hamid was girt with the sword of
Othman, or Osman, the army was a fairly good fighting
machine. The reform in it made by Mahmud II. and the
experience of the Crimean War had been beneficial. He,
however, knew of the French debacle of 1 870-1, and within
four years of his accession obtained German officers to
replace those from France. But already the demoralisathe
introduced Western
Mahmud, during
tion,
first
drill
which was largely due to
his
opposition to
all
reforms so long as he could secure his own personal

safety, was working like a venom in all the body politic.
Just as he obtained British officers to make England
believe that he wished effectively to police the country,
and having obtained them did not allow them to work,
so he wanted German soldiers to persuade Europe that
No
his army would be in line with European armies.
blame can be justly attributed to the officers sent from
Germany ; yet from General Von der Golz downwards
they effected few beneficial changes in the army and this
because the Sultan only wanted a show army. The
troops around Yildiz made a goodly appearance each
Friday when Abdul Aziz left his palace for the weekly
prayer in the new mosque he had built outside the gates
But while they were gaudily and well
of Yildiz.
their
comrades in every other part of the
clothed,
Those who have seen European
in
were
rags.
Empire
armies in any other country can hardly believe the
185
wretched appearance which the Turks presented in

the provinces. Their pay, usually one piastre a day
(2d.), was usually months in arrear.
They were ill fed,
Little esprit de corps existed
shod, and ill housed.
the
officers.
They had no common mess, and,
among
indeed, it was generally stated that Abdul Hamid
regarded anything like intimacy among the officers
with suspicion. In the Greek War of 1897 they gained
an easy victory under German leadership, for the
ill
Greek Army was as much demoralised as their own.

But when the real hour of trial came after the formation
of the Balkan League in 191 2, the result of the neglect
army became immediately visible. The Serbians

defeated a large army at Komanovo. The Bulgarians
swept the Turkish Army before them at Lulu Burgas,
and would probably have captured the lines of Chatalja
Their organisation
if the Russians had not intervened.
so completely broke down that Mr. Ashmead Bartlett,
describing what he saw and admitting the bravery of
the ordinary Turkish soldier, declared that the Turk had
not a capacity of organisation sufficient to enable him
to run a village circus. Never probably during the whole
of Turkey's history was the Turkish Army so utterly
That demoralisation was due to Abdul
demoralised.
of the
Hamid.
2.
The
Fleet under
Abdul Hamid.
Turkey has rarely distinguished herself at sea. Her

naval strength was destroyed by Don John of Austria
at Lepanto in 1571, when the legend became current
among the Turks that while Allah had given dominion
over the land to the believers, He had left that over the
Nevertheless the Turkish fleet
seas to the giaours.
on Abdul Hamid's accession had so far developed that
she was held to possess one of the great European fleets.
His treatment of it shows the injury he inflicted upon
the Turkish nation and illustrates his character. When
he commenced his reign, his fleet compared favourably
even with that of France. The ships were fairly up to
date
many of the officers had been trained in our navy.
;
LIFE OF
86
ABDUL HAMID
There existed at the Turkish arsenal on the Golden

Horn upwards of two hundred British subjects from
Scotland and the north of England who were skilled
engineers, and who were engaged in repairing ships or
The crews until the accession of

building new ones.
Abdul Hamid had been kept in good training. The
fleet had taken an
important part in the revolution
which deposed Abdul Aziz and placed Murad on the
throne. Abdul Hamid, after the short and inglorious
reign of his brother, kept the ships bottled up in the
inner harbour of the Golden Horn.
Until his day it
had been the habit to send them for practice on short
cruises and for the rest of the summer to
keep them at
anchor in the southern end of the Bosporus. Abdul
Hamid changed all this. The two hundred British
workmen
at the Turkish arsenal were
gradually paid
and returned
to England. Within three years of his

accession all but half a dozen had been discharged.
Thereupon the ships became ill kept. It was no secret
that their boilers were not attended to, and that they
off
were deteriorating rapidly from neglect.

Until the
Greek War in 1897 Abdul Hamid never allowed any
war vessel to come out of the Golden Horn. On one
occasion indeed during that war four ironclads, two
cruisers, and five smaller boats were sent to the Dardanelles in order to threaten the Greek fleet in the
but they never
Piraeus, or wherever they could find it
It was even
got any further than the Dardanelles.
;
reported that small essential parts of the machinery

were carefully retained in Constantinople. The larger
vessels were unable to steam more than six knots an hour.
The additions which Abdul Hamid made to the fleet
consisted of twenty torpedo boats, which were built in
France, and of three large ironclads. The popular belief

Constantinople was that the torpedo boats, which
were duly bought and paid for, were never intended to
be used. Such belief arose from the fact that they were
allowed for years to remain idle in the Golden Horn
during the remainder of Abdul Hamid's reign. Some
in
persons were alleged to have gained huge commissions
187
on their purchase, and perhaps therefore they had served

the purpose for which they were bought.
The story of the addition of the three largest ironclads

1
navy has already been given, and illustrates
the limits of Abdul Hamid's intelligence. It is sufficient
to say that they are powerful ships and do credit to their
builders
one was from Armstrong's, of Newcastle,
a second from Cramp's, an American firm, and the
third was built in France.
Why were they ordered ?
How did it dawn upon the Sultan between 1896 and
1904 that, having neglected his fleet, he must have ships
of the latest date
The explanation has been given.
to the
3.
The Gendarmery and Abdul Hamid.
Before the conclusion and failure of the Conference

1877, when Lord Salisbury left Constantinople, he
had urged the Porte in its own interest to institute two
reforms which appealed to the Turks generally.
In
in
addition he determined that England should effect

reforms in the consular service in the Levant. The
two reforms urged upon the Sultan were the development of a system of gendarmery and the improvement
of the post-office service in Turkey. Colonel Valentine
Baker arrived in the country and took service in the
Turkish Army before the declaration of the Turco-
Russian War on April 24, 1877, and was shortly afterwards made pasha. He had had a not undistinguished
career in the British Army, and had attained to the
rank of colonel of the 10th Hussars, and took pleasure
in pointing out the spot where he, then a subaltern, had
encamped with his regiment near Feneraki Point. His
reputation as a fine cavalry officer and an excellent
He took part in the
organiser had preceded him.
war against Russia, held a command under Suleiman
Pasha, and became a general favourite with the Turkish
troops. The talk at this time in Turkey turned largely
on reform and the constitution of a body of gendarmery
to replace the venal, underpaid, and altogether incom1
In Chapter VIII., on Abdul Hamid's relations with foreign States.
LIFE OF
88
ABDUL HAMID
petent guardians of the peace in town or country known

When the proposal for establishing
zaptiehs.
was
gendarmery
explained to the Sultan by Sir Henry
Abdul
Hamid
Layard,
suggested that the new force
should be at once constituted and placed under the
command of Baker Pasha. With the impulsiveness
which characterised him in many of the crises of his
reign, Abdul Hamid sent for Baker himself and arranged
that he should select twelve British officers who should
be stationed in different parts of the country to organise
the new force. The plan was to be executed immediately.
Could he not telegraph to the officers ? " Impossible,"
was Baker Pasha's reply. It would be necessary to
select men fitted for the task.
Accordingly he was
instructed to select them and to spare no expense in
Baker
bringing them out to Constantinople speedily.
would have liked a reasonable time in order to see the
men who were to be charged with so important a task,
but the Sultan's impatience was so great that at the time
he would have had them all brought out by telegraph
as
were possible.
Twelve officers, however, were
and
selected,
subsequently one was added, so that it was
"
natural that the body should be spoken of as
Baker's
dozen." It is sufficient to say that nine or ten of them
were excellent men for the purpose. In the Turkish
papers their qualifications were lauded, and the populace
if
it
hoped that they would be able to inaugurate a body of

police which would secure the protection of life throughout the Empire. As, however, the war was now going
on, some of them took part on the side of the Turks.
By the time it had come to an end the desire on the part
It was the
of the Sultan for gendarmery had passed.
usual story, so often repeated in Turkish history, of
short-lived feverish energy followed by continuous
It is fair to the English officers to say that
lethargy.
their enforced idleness. Three or four were
disliked
they
sent into various parts of the Empire, but were never
Colonel Briscoe, a cavalry
allowed to do anything.
under inaction, and was sent to Aleppo

Colonel Blunt in similar fashion was
quiet.
officer, fretted
to keep
him
189
sent to Adrianople. Both these men would have liked

nothing better than to have been given a body of gen-
darmes to instruct in their task. They were both genial

men, and got on admirably with the Valis and other
officials, but the Sultan would not allow them to do
anything for the carrying out of the purpose for which
The circumstances under which
they were chosen.
Baker Pasha quitted Turkish service and entered that
of the Khedive of Egypt have already been related.
He had had no quarrel with the Turkish Ministers, but
was personally popular with them, nor had he any
with Abdul Hamid

The only work in connection with the genhimself.
darmery that he had been permitted to do was to draw
up a report on the subject. Thus the project on which
the country had been building came to an end. Gradually
private
reason
to
take
offence
every English gendarmery officer left the service in

disgust with the exception of General Blunt.
4.
Post-offices.
The second reform suggested by Lord Salisbury, that

of the post-offices, was welcomed not merely by the
Sultan, but especially by the Moslem population. Even
before the Conference of 1877 the reformers among the
Turks had determined to make a radical change in this
Several
department. The situation was anomalous.
own
and
where
received
they
Empire,
principal
letters from abroad and from whence, always under the
stamps of their own country, they forwarded letters
to every other country. The situation had grown up in
consequence of the negligence of the Turkish Government in every matter relating to commerce. Until the
Crimean War the Turks had no post-offices whatever.
Letters for the members of the various colonies were
received by the ambassadors of the countries they
the Embassies
represented, and were distributed by
been practised
had
This
own
their
subjects.
amongst
from 1535, and probably from the time of the capture of
nations had
their
cities
of
the
post-offices in the Capital
LIFE OF
190
ABDUL HAMID
The ambassadors found, however, at

Constantinople.
an early stage that this department of their work could
readily be separated from that which related to diplomacy, and hence it came about even in the fifteenth
century that the republic of Venice had a post-office
in Constantinople, which took care of letters coming
from Venice, and despatched those which went thither.
When in 1535 the French obtained capitulations similar
to those which Venice and Genoa had obtained, they
established a post-office of their own, always nominally
part of the Embassy. All the great nations followed suit.
After the Crimean War the Turks determined if possible
to take over the whole system, moved thereto particularly by the reports they received from England and
France as to the profits which accrued to the nation from
having a monopoly of postage in the country, but moved
also by the desire of having the opportunity to examine
the letters. When it was announced in 1875 that Mr.
Scudamore, who had been one of the secretaries of the
General Post Office in London, had been selected, with
the approval of the British Government, to take charge
of the General Post Office for the Empire of Turkey,
there was a belief freely expressed on the part of the
foreign population that, though the Turks had not shown
themselves competent in corresponding matters, it was
only just that they should be given a fair chance to see
if
they could organise a postal service which would work
with the same regularity which characterised those of
England, France, and other Western countries.
The
effort failed,
and
its failure
was due
to
two
causes,
the sheer incompetency of the Turkish administration, though under the direction of Mr. Scudamore, to
secure the same regularity in the despatch of mails from
first
Constantinople which was supplied by foreign

Time after time the mail-bags which were
sent by steamer to Constanza, or, as it was then called,
"
Kustenje," were not ready when the steamer started,
and had to wait for the next. The result was that everybody complained, and sent letters by the foreign posts.
The second objection, which ruined the chances of a
even
post-offices.
191
Turkish monopoly of postage, was the well-grounded

fear that the letters would be
opened. Incompetency
was the mark of every department under the rule of
Abdul Hamid. This state of things continued until the
Revolution of 1908.
5.
Establishment of School of Medicine.
turn from Abdul Hamid's failures

one most useful public work which
will be associated with his name,
namely, the establishment of a medical school at Scutari.
The attitude of the Turks towards sickness and
medical men is a curious one. On the one hand, the
It is a
pleasure to
in order to record
fatalism of the
Turk tends
to
make him
believe that
nothing which medical men can do will prevent kismet

from working its way on the other, the experience of
;
him that medical treatment

be
of
use.
may
Apparently during all historical time the
the
on
city
Bosporus has been a believer in fate, destiny,
or kismet. At Chalcedon, on the side
opposite to the
new Rome, many ancient finger rings have been
unearthed, usually of iron, containing a stone in which
"
is inscribed the
single word
Tyche," destiny. When
the city received its name, the Christian
party was
to
Constantine
in
sufficiently powerful
justify
ordering
the destruction of all the images adored by the pagan
"
"
party except the two great figures of
Tyche which
stood on the hippodrome which had been commenced
by Severus. These he did not venture to disturb.
Nevertheless at all times surgical treatment came to
be recognised by the early Constantinopolitans, as it is
by the present occupants of the city, as desirable and
centuries has convinced
More doubt existed amongst them as to

permissible.
the treatment of diseases.
A distinguished medical man
who spent his life in the East has declared that probably
the introduction of " Jesuit's Bark," better known by
the name of " quinine," has done more to reconcile
Eastern peoples to the value of medicine than has anything else.
Throughout Turkey malarial fever, due
LIFE OF
192
ABDUL HAMID
mainly to bad drainage, was and
is
almost everywhere
present.
Medical science, however, in Turkey thirty years ago

was very backward. Dissection was absolutely forbidden.
number
fully
of
competed
men
calling themselves doctors successagainst men properly trained. The latter
succeeded without much difficulty in persuading the

Turkish Government to allow them to be formed into a
guild, and, needless to say,
they have steadily waged war
Abdul Hamid saw

against unqualified practitioners.
no objection to the increase of medical men, but it was
represented to him that the most competent were
foreigners, and that his own subjects, if properly trained,
would become equally competent.

subjects indeed, including Moslems, but
Greeks
few Turkish
more commonly
and Armenians, had gone through medical
training in Vienna, Paris, or England. Their influence,

exerted mostly through the society which they had
formed, induced the Sultan to establish a great medical
school.
The building intended
for their use
and prominent one, occupying a
is
a large
between
the
Selimia Barracks, the site of Florence Nightingale's
labours during the Crimean War, and the British
cemetery. Every well-wisher of the people of Turkey
site
rejoiced at its erection, and credit must be fairly given

to Abdul Hamid for encouraging its construction.
The
value of drainage in reference to malarial fever

On a first visit to Nicsea
be illustrated by the following
the writer attended the famous Easter Eve services in the only
Note.
may
church remaining in the "City of the Creed." Every member

of the crowd which attended the out-of-door service had malarial
fever clearly written upon his features, and the only medical
man
in the place, an old Sicilian, declared that there

person in the town who was not suffering from it.
was not
On
a sub-
sequent visit to the city, in company with Mr. and Mrs. Theodore
Bent ten years later, no malarial fever whatever existed. The
explanation given by the old doctor was that they had had as
governor an engineer who had brought about the trans-
local
See note on Malarial Fever at end of this chapter.

formation.
The
city stands at the
193
end of Lake Ascanius and was
famous, as far back as 325 a.d., the time of the meeting of the
General Council, for its excellent water supply. A group of
springs where the water welled up as high as the girths of the
In course of time a broad
horses is still in vigorous action.
rim of sand and gravel had been formed around the lake. Such
rim was probably on an average about two feet above the level
of the lake.
The
result
was that between
it
and the foot
of the
a large stagnant marsh had been formed,

neighbouring
from which the excellent water could only escape by evaporation.
hills
The Engineer-Governor cut many deep and narrow channels

through the rim, with the double result of getting rid of the water
which became stagnant notwithstanding that the springs were
Such
constantly flowing, and of putting an end to malaria.
stagnant waters exist in hundreds of places throughout Asia
Minor and malarial fever
is
commonest demand upon
all
is
for quinine.
L.A.H.
consequence widespread. The

European travellers in Asia Minor
in
X continued
CHAPTER
Part IV.
Press.
Continued
Attack on Christian Churches.

Espionage.
Attempts to control
ignorance
of
local
Turkish
and foreign press

officials
certain
illustrations of
news forbidden
fulsome adulation exacted.

newspapers subventioned
Churches closed
Ancient privileges of Churches attacked
Sultan becomes alarmed
invites intervention of Russia.
;
Espionage
public and private meetings forbidden.
In his endeavours to make himself an absolute ruler

tried to obtain control over the foreign
It may safely be said that
as well as the Turkish press.
he was the first Ottoman ruler who had had any such
Abdul Hamid
design
for
the ignorance
which prevailed regarding
foreign newspapers even amongst the Turkish governing class is almost incredible. On an occasion when a
well-known publicist was sent for to the Palace, His
Majesty's private secretary, a respectable and respected

Turk, who was probably as much in the confidence of his
Imperial master as anyone ever was, afforded a curious
A conversation took place in Turkish
illustration.
between him and the interpreter of the publicist, and the
secretary remarked that he supposed the newspaper, a
well-known London daily, was published in Galata.
When the interpreter expressed astonishment at the
"
Is any European newsquestion, the secretary asked
in
The answer
be
Stambul
?
to
allowed
published
paper
was that London was the place of publication, and not
Stambul. He confessed that while he had often heard
of the newspaper, he had always assumed that it was
published in Galata, a suburb of Constantinople, where
newspapers not printed in Turkish are published.
:
'
195
censorship was established in reference to

everything printed in Turkey. Nothing was allowed
to be published that did not meet the approval of one
or other of the censors. The penalty for disobedience
was the suspension of the paper or the entire withdrawal
Abdul Hamid's subjects
of the licence for printing.
were to know nothing of any question of which he
considered they ought to be ignorant. Certain words
were absolutely tabooed. The use of the word Macedonia, of Armenia, and of certain other places, was
strictly forbidden. A story was current at the American
Bible House about the translation of the message of
" Come over into
St. Paul in the Acts of the Apostles,
" There
is no place called
Macedonia and help us."
" But we are
Macedonia," said the censor.
translating
what was written 1,800 years ago and the name
"
We cannot and will not have it
then existed."
mentioned. You must substitute one of the provinces
which exist in the place from which the message was
sent." It was only after considerable difficulty that the
message was permitted to appear in its original form.
Indeed, more amusing stories are told of the mistakes of
the censors than on any other subject. As some of them
strict
throw light on Abdul Hamid's methods of government,

they will bear repeating. A Greek gentleman and his
wife had educated a boy as a journeyman printer. He
had arrived at the age of eighteen or nineteen, when

The boy had been
his Greek protector sought advice.
in prison for several
days under the following circum-
The working printers in Constantinople had

formed a Mutual Benefit Society and had published
stances
Canionismos, naturally in the Greek

the
back of the pamphlet containing the
language. On
" While there is time
was
rules there
printed in Greek,
let us do good unto all men but especially to those of
" Paulos
the household," and then followed in Greek
"
St. Paul's Epistle
ep. e. t Galat," meaning, of course,
to the Galatians." The boy had been in the printing
He was
office where the Canonismos had been printed.
asked to state where was the residence of Paulos. He
their
rules
or
LIFE OF
196
ABDUL HAMID
declared that he did not know. On his arrest he was

taken before the police authorities and again declared
his ignorance, adding that Paulos, he was told, died
some 1 ,800 years ago. They were indignant and declared
that they could read enough Greek to see that he was
resident in Galata. Then the boy managed to get into
communication with his patron, who informed the
authorities in Turkish, which he spoke well, that the
that Paul was a Christian Apostle
statement was true
who had long been dead. They expressed doubts at
;
this
statement and became
still
more
sceptical
when he
affirmed that the epistle was not to the inhabitants of

Galata, but to the Galatians, a people who had lived in
Asia Minor centuries before the Turks came into the
They would not be persuaded until two wellknown men were produced as witnesses and formally
country.
declared that they had no doubt whatever that the

Paul quoted on the title page was long since dead. Then
they were persuaded that their ignorance was making
them the objects of ridicule. The boy was released and
the matter allowed to drop.
Out of the many other stories illustrative of the folly
In the early
of the censorship, two may be selected.
of
the
after
the
establishment
Principality of
days
and
of
books
the
printing
pamphlets in BulBulgaria,
was
to
Christianity
mostly conducted
garian relating
in Constantinople. The MSS. were usually terribly cut
about by the censors, and amongst other emendations
was one omitting in the Lord's Prayer the petition
"
Thy Kingdom come." This was regarded as an attack
The Empire was
upon the sovereignty of the Sultan.
a subordinate
It
was
for
all
loyal subjects.
good enough
The vice-president of
official who had struck it out.
Robert College at that time, who was justly regarded as
a master of the Bulgarian language, was appealed to,
and went to see the chief censor to whom he was wellknown and held in respect. He explained that the
prayer was not an aspiration for a kingdom or princedom
in the earthly sense, but was one uttered by Christ
Himself and had been said by millions of Christians all

down
The chief censor replied

you, and if you assure me that
the centuries.
and respect
"
:
intended to be an attack on the Sultan's rights

it
pass."
it
197
I like
is
not
I will let
A translation
the following
of hymns was made by American missionaries into Bulgarian, and as usual was sent to the censor before being
When the copy came back the collection was
printed.
so cut about that doubt existed as to whether they
"
Lines like
should print any of it.
Hail, Prince of
"
"
Christian
Onward,
Soldiers,"
Peace,"
Jesus, the
the
were
and
over
name high
like,
all,"
ruthlessly
cut out. Once more the services of the vice-president
of Robert College were invoked to overcome the diffiThe friendly chief censor remarked " Leave
culties.
A few days later
it to me ; I will see what I can do."
the censor pointed out that he had allowed many of the
Another
illustration
is
to remain which had been objected to, but

" You Christians take us to be
greater fools
than we are, for here is a hymn which says Shall we
'
know what that river is just
gather at the river ?
as well as you do. It is the Maritza."
hymns
added
We
The events which happened in Egypt from 1879

the deposition of Abdul Hamid in 1909 were
never mentioned in any newspaper published in Turkey.
until
Contemporary history could never be gathered from the

files of Turkish newspapers. It was impossible to prevent
foreigners receiving newspapers or telegrams, but only
those could be published which were approved by the
If an emperor or other royal person were
censor.
was stated that he " had died somewhat

for Abdul Hamid never permitted assassisuddenly
nation to be mentioned in regard to them. If bombs
were thrown nothing was said on the subject. When
Armenians or Greeks or Bulgarians revolted, a paragraph would sometimes appear stating that in such and
such a district a band of brigands had appeared but was
speedily dispersed by the troops and the usual tranquility prevailed. More usually the event was not even
killed,
it
"
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
198
alluded to.
Anyone reading the local newspapers, for

Armenian massacres of 1894-8 would
conclude there had been nothing extraordinary in the
example, of the
country except that the bands of brigands were rather

more numerous than usual. Macbeth, Hamlet, Julius
Caesar, and other plays, English or French, which
introduced the death of a prince by violence were
altogether banned.
A curious objection was made by Abdul Hamid to

the introduction of books into the country published
before the year 1700 in any language.
Knowles'
"
"
Travels,"
History of the Ottoman Turks," Sandy's
and many others in English, French or Italian were
confiscated whenever the authorities could find them.
The only explanation ever suggested was that they
misrepresented the religion of Mahomet and showed the
diminution of the Empire.
As a compensation for not being allowed to publish
matters of general interest and to render them devoted
to his Majesty, all local papers received subsidies
from Yildiz. They had in return to belaud the Sultan.
Flattery laid on with a trowel was the rule. When his
Majesty's
name was brought
in, his qualifications
were
He was
not seldom described

spoken
" "
"
be
ruler
in Europe
to
the
wisest
the
as
recognised
who
on
of
ever
the
sword
greatest Sovereign
girded
Osman " "a model ruler, one whose good actions were
so numerous that if those performed in a single day
were all printed, the columns of the paper would be
insufficient to report them."
Europeans laughed, but
the local papers were not intended for their edification,
but for Abdul's subjects.
Abdul Hamid had learnt the power of the foreign, and
especially of the British, press in consequence of the
attention aroused by the Moslem outrages in Bulgaria.
His instructions to his ambassadors abroad were that
they should use all their influence, first, to obtain the
of in superlatives.
support of foreign newspapers, and second, to keep

of articles unfavourable to himself, so
that he might prevent their entry into the country.
him informed
199
as all local ones, were

foreign newspapers, as well
of articles were sent to
Proofs
subsidised.
regularly
Yildiz Palace, sometimes by his diplomats, more usually
sum
by others, with a notification that if a certain
be
inserted.
would
article
the
not
were
Many
Many
forthcoming
such sums were forthcoming.
examined
country.
two
and
Groups
of censors
of
the
every European
leading journals
The censors were themselves censored for
:
sets existed, one at the Porte, the other at Yildiz,

either overlooked an important passage, an
if
inquiry was held.
Espionage.
Between 1885 and the end
of
Abdul Hamid's
reign,
each year witnessed a steady growth in the number of

"
the reports of spies, locally known as
Djournals."
Devised at first to inform the Sultan of what his subjects
were plotting against him, the system of espionage
if
developed to such an extent that, in popular belief,
three Turkish subjects were seen together one at least
would be certain to be a spy. In meeting places, even in
clubs and hotels, Turkish subjects were afraid to be seen
It was at once painful and ludicrous to
conversing.
men
conversing and instantly ceasing

In the
a third person drew near.
hotels kept by Turkish subjects, the hotel-keeper for
his own safety had to be on good terms with the police.
Not only had he to furnish the usual particulars required
in continental hotels from each visitor, but the contents
of their luggage, and especially information as to the
see respectable
conversation
when
business which had brought them to Constantinople,

and the subject-matter of their correspondence had
to be furnished by him. In the larger hotels kept by
men and
foreigners there were always resident spies,
where
women. Many instances occurred
European
travellers, objecting to the obtrusiveness of these
creatures, and recognising that they were spies, comadmitted that
plained to the manager. His usual reply
the person complained of, though apparently conductan ordinary travelling visitor
ing himself or herself like
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
200
to the hotel, was yet employed by the Turkish police,

and frankly declared that he could not help it. He would
dismiss the spy, if the visitor insisted, but the result
would be that he would have to receive another from
the police who might be even a greater nuisance than

the one dismissed. The spies, male or female, usually
paid about one-seventh for their board and lodging of
what a traveller would pay.
Probably nothing did more to disgust the Turkish
population of the better class with the Government
of Abdul Hamid in his later years than did the general
practice and extension of espionage. The Turk above
the peasant class has the virtues and faults of a dominant
He is accustomed to be outspoken, to criticise
class.
the acts of the Government, and even the Sultan himWhen such men learned that reports of their
self.
conversation were largely sought and sent directly to
the Sultan, they ceased to have respect for him, and
declared more confidently than ever that he could not
be a real Turk.
Meetings Prevented.
As part
to repress
same policy the Sultan endeavoured

any meeting together of a number of his
of the
subjects. Even on the occasion of a family gathering,

as at a wedding, spies were constantly present and
sent in a djournal to the Palace. Anything in the nature
of a public
forbidden.
meeting of Turkish subjects was strictly

Abdul Hamid even attempted to forbid
evening parties in the houses of foreigners. When the

on the immunity of their houses granted
them under the capitulations, refused to cancel invitations to such gatherings, police were stationed outside
the house and warned any Turkish subject that should
he enter he would be reported.
On account of these restrictions, and in dread of
latter, relying
espionage, many leading Turks on learning that they

had been reported, escaped from the country. In doing
so, however, they were always faced by the obstacles
that no one could leave without a passport, and that
201
passports were steadily refused to any Turkish subject

against whom an unfavourable report had been made.
The Sultan's own sister bitterly complained to Abdul
Hamid that by his injustice he had compelled her
husband to flee the country taking with him her two
sons. Such fugitives from Turkey became the emissaries
of revolution.
There was not an Ambassador who was not annoyed
to prevent gatherings of his countrymen
because they were alleged to give Turkish subjects the
opportunity to meet and conspire together. On one
occasion Sir Nicholas O'Conor, British Ambassador, was
requested by two emissaries from the Palace to forbid a
Christmas gathering of the small British colony at Moda,
a village opposite Stamboul. The community had its
by requests
own church, its own Institute, and an Anglican chaplain

who was greatly respected. During three or four years
the chaplain had taken great interest in the education of
both boys and girls, and had organised a Christmas
entertainment of the kind which take place in every
British town, and in which children played the most
important parts. The emissaries requested Sir Nicholas,
on his Majesty's behalf, to forbid the repetition of a
performance which had already been given on one or

two occasions. His Majesty had been informed that
such entertainments were of an immoral character.
Sir Nicholas, greatly indignant, replied that they did
not come from the Palace because the request was
impertinent, and told them to return with that message.
Thereupon he immediately sent round to his colleagues,
collected a number of children belonging to the different
Embassies and took them in the Embassy Despatch
Boat to see the show at Moda.

Abdul Hamid had so contrived that there was not a
respectable Turk or European who did not loathe the
attitude of suspicion and espionage so dear to him.
It was notorious that the Turkish Ministers were forbidden to give their consent to the installing of telephones or electric light in the capital, though both
Smyrna and Salonica had acquired these conveniences.
202
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
Nor did his

Such means
Ministers themselves desire the telephone.

of communication had existed in Bulgaria
but no telephone was allowed in Con1885

until
after the Revolution of 1908, the exstantinople
of
refusal
given by one of the Ministers when
planation
the request was made for permission to install them
be
being, that his Majesty's servants were already liable to
disturbed at any hour of the day or night by messengers
from the Palace, but that if telephones were permitted
no Minister would ever dare to leave his home or office.
before
Attacks on
Privileges
ab antiquo of Christian
Churches.
Wider spread espionage, the hindrances placed upon

travel in the interior and on granting passports for leaving the country, the prevention of sociable or other
gatherings, all tended to make Abdul Hamid ridiculous
in the
especially of his Moslem subjects and to
eyes
annoy them. Taken together, they constituted a reign

of tyranny which the Turks, a long-suffering and essenAbdul Hamid
loathed.
tially good-natured people,
was unusual
that
the
dissatisfaction
knew from his spies
the
back
and
fell
plan of arousing
upon
among Moslems,
Christians
the
by appealing to Moslem
ill-feeling against
he
was constant, was to
which
to
The
aim,
prejudice.
He would be the
ruler.
an
absolute
himself
make
Churches
The
Christian
own
in
his
ruler
sole
kingdom.
had privileges. No man or community ought to possess
them, and the Moslem mob and, as he probably hoped,
Moslems generally would support him in taking away
those privileges. By the mischievous clause which his
IX.
agents had succeeded in having inserted in Article
of the Paris Treaty, no foreign State had the right to
1
He believed
interfere between himself and his subjects.
himself to have a free hand.
Mahomet the Conqueror, in 1453, and the ablest of
successors, recognised that there were essential
differences between Moslemism and Christianity, which
his

rendered
their
it
203
necessary that the Christians should have
own laws and customs
in reference to ecclesiastical
and to many other questions. The mention of

bigamy is a sufficient illustration. Moslem law allows
a man to have four wives. No Christian community
It was for this and
could accept such legislation.
affairs
similar
reasons
that
the
privileges
of
the
Churches
were, and have always continued to be in the Ottoman

Empire, an important part of Ottoman legislation. The
Churches had continued to have the right, enjoyed before
the Moslem conquest, to deal with their own adherents
in matters of marriage, testamentary disposition, and
generally of all matters relating to what jurists call
Personal Statute. Abdul Hamid, possibly at the instigation of some of the more fanatical Moslems, but more
probably with the hope of gaining popularity among

them, seems from the first to have determined to get
All the
rid of the ancient privileges of the Churches.
Churches, and especially the Patriarch and officials of
the Orthodox Church, dealt with the attacks upon them
with moderation, but also with firmness, and with a
knowledge that they had the implicit support of every
European nation. They met the attacks with remonstrances, and in the last resort with passive resistance.
In December, 1893, the Orthodox Patriarch, acting on
the advice of his Council, ordered all the churches in
his jurisdiction to be closed, because of the Sultan's
attempt to abrogate the ancient privileges. This was
the signal for the passive resistance of a large and important section of his subjects throughout the whole of
The Sultan became alarmed when he
his dominion.
found that he had irritated not only the Christians
and the best men of the Ulema class, but all European
His own Moslem subjects, or those of them
States.
who dared express their opinion, spoke with disgust
and abhorrence of his attack, and declared that it was in
flagrant violation of the tenets of Islam. He learnt not
only that his attempt had failed, but that there was a
talk of foreign intervention. He was driven to the great
humiliation of having to request Russia to intervene in
204
LIFE 0F ABDUL HAMID
which the Czar undertook. When

the Sultan had given formal promises to respect the
immunities ab antiquo, the churches were re-opened. 1
his favour, a task
1
Until the Treaty of Paris, 1856, the Powers had exercised the right of
protecting the Christian churches. Our Ambassador Canning, afterwards Lord
Stratford de Redcliffe, and others had often usefully exercised such right.
The great triumph of Lord Stratford's diplomatic career in Turkey was the
obtaining from the Sultan the famous Hatti-hu-mayun, the Magna Carta of
Imagine therefore his annoyance when he learned
liberty for the Christians.
that at Paris in 1856, the following Article (IX). was proposed to be inserted
"
decided to communicate
in the Treaty. After stating that the Sultan had
to the Contracting Powers the said Firman emanating spontaneously from his
"
It is clearly understood that it cannot
sovereign will," the article continues
give to the said Powers the right to interfere either collectively or individually
in the relations of H.M. the Sultan with his subjects or in the internal adminis:
tration of his Empire."

Lord Stratford wrote to
Lord Clarendon, who was charged by the British

"
There are able
Government with the conduct of the negotiations in Paris
"
who
and experienced men in this country," meaning presumably himself,
:
view with alarm the supposed intention of the Conference of Paris to record
the Sultan's late Firman of privileges in the Treaty of Paris and at the same time
to declare that the Powers of Europe disclaim all right of interference between
the Sultan and his subjects. They argue that the Imperial Firman places the
It is
Christians and the Mussulmans on an equal footing as to civil rights.
believed that the Porte will never of its own accord carry the provisions of the
The Treaty in its supposed form would therefore
Firman seriously into effect.
infirm the right and extinguish the hope of the Christians. Despair on their side
and fear on that of the Turks would in that case engender the bitterest acrimony
between them and not improbably bring on a deadly struggle before long."
(" Life of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe," Vol. II., p. 442.)
Nevertheless the objectionable clause became part of the Treaty.
The above is an excellent illustration of the mischief that can be done at a
Conference when men inexperienced with the conditions in the country treated
The
of, do not take the trouble to consult those who have such experience.
blundering at the Congress in Berlin in substituting the clause for the treatment
of Armenians for that which had been inserted in the Treaty of San Stefano
is
another illustration of the same folly of our diplomatists.
CHAPTER XI
ABDUL HAMID's TREATMENT OF SUBJECT RACES
Part
I.
In
Crete
Condition of Crete on accession of Abdul
Hamid
Christian
Governor appointed in 1885; hostilities between Christians

and Moslems
Mahmud appointed Commissioner, 1886
;
insurrection,
1889;
July,
Christian
villages
burned;
Governor
in
Greece ;
Mahmud Jelaleddin,
;
Abdul Hamid intrigues
replaced by Alexander Pasha ;
in favour of Moslem Party against
plans of Powers ;
agitation
Alexander Pasha recalled
new
insurrection
to adopt reforms
in 1896; replaced by Moslem;

Powers try to persuade Abdul Hamid
Christians refuse to lay down arms
all
Moslem Governor
replaced, but Moslem Party with aid of

Turkish troops attack Christians ; agitation in Athens ;
clamour
defeated.
for
war;
war
declared
April,
1877;
Greeks
Subsequent history.
Preliminary
Though the population of Bulgaria and Eastern

Rumelia had been definitely emancipated from the yoke
of Abdul Hamid he was still the ruler of masses of subject
The most important were the Cretans, the
races.
Armenians, and the people of mixed races in Macedonia.
Certain general observations should not be lost sight
of.
The Turk, whilst possessing many military virtues, has

never shown himself a successful ruler of subject races.
He
is a brave soldier, a
kindly host ; his long centuries
freedom have made him self-respecting. He gets on
well with his friends and with the subjects of most
foreign Powers, the latter of whom he regards as his
Against them in warfare he proves a fair
equals.
His
fighter.
history and his religion, however, have led
of
LIFE OF
206
ABDUL HAMID
him
to believe that he has a divine right of dominancy

over races he has conquered when they belong to a faith
other than that of Islam. He is almost entirely devoid
of race or colour prejudices.
Probably nowhere is the
negro, whether bond or free, treated so completely on an

But the negroes
equality with himself as in Turkey.
whom he knows are Moslems. The subject races inTurkey
are Christian, and ever since they were conquered, the
have
Turk has never ceased to rule them harshly.
fared.
of
how
the
Christians
seen
Bulgaria
already
We
Although Abdul Hamid was in no way responsible

misgovernment of Bulgaria which led to the loss
of that Province, the only noteworthy conclusion which
he drew from the events leading to such loss was that
Europe must be prevented as far as possible from findfor the
how he treated the races still subject to his rule.

He was too ignorant and short-sighted to recognise,
ing out
as did several of his Ministers, that a policy of evenhanded justice would have been wise ; that the execution of the provisions of the famous Hatt would have
gone far to reconcile the subject races of the Empire
Such traditions or convictions as he posto his rule.
own character,
policy of reconciliation, and threw
his influence on the side of the most ignorant and
In his dealfanatical section of his Moslem subjects.
him
ings with all the subject races of his Empire we see
sessed,
and a
certain vindictiveness in his
made him opposed to a
at his worst.
He answered
complaints of oppression
by worse oppression. We see his efforts to conceal

We see
oppression by subterfuge, lying and intrigue.
Powers
of
the
him pretending to yield to the request
humanitarian
on
desirous in their own interest, and
grounds, of maintaining the integrity of his Empire,
and secretly plotting to intensify the evils against
which the Powers were striving.
The people of Crete had been restless under Turkish
misrule ever since Greece had acquired her indepenThe population, virtually all Greek speaking,
dence.
was 303,000 in 1914, and probably has varied little
during a century. Of these only 34,000 were Moslems.
ABDUL HAMID AND CRETANS.
207
Probably thirty years ago Cretan Moslems were slightly

more numerous. The Moslems of the island have long
had the reputation of being amongst the most turbulent,
fanatical and lawless among the Turkish population on
the coasts of the Levant and Southern Mediterranean.
Hence many revolts against Turkish rule occurred
within a generation before the accession of Abdul
Hamid, the latest being less than two years before that
event.
In the
first
seven years of Abdul's reign Crete
was comparatively quiet. But with the disparity in

numbers between Christians and Moslems, it was impossible that the enormous Christian majority should
remain content under the Moslem minority. The Christians had been kept down by a series of heartless
massacres. Their fellow Greeks in the kingdom had
shaken off the Turkish yoke and they were now more
unlikely than ever to willingly submit to it.
During 1885 Crete came again into public notice.
With the object of satisfying the Christian inhabitants
of the island, Photiades Pasha had been named, in 1884,
Governor for the period of five years. One must not be
surprised to learn that Abdul Hamid sympathised with
the Moslem minority in their opposition to the appointment of a Christian Governor. Photiades endeavoured
to act justly towards Moslems and Christians alike, but
the hostilities between the two sections of the com-
munity rendered his position intolerable, and in 1885

he resigned. In 1886 Abdul Hamid sent Mahmud as a
Commissioner to Crete. He did his best to bring about
the continuing difficulties, and on
concessions which for a time satisfied
July 19, 1887,
He
reduced taxation, and gave to
the Christians.
Moslems and Christians alike a larger share of local
government. The Christian majority, however, concluded that they could never obtain justice until thev
were under Christian government, the government of
their choice being naturally that of Greece. They asked
for the recall of their Governor, a certian Sartinski
The
Pasha, and demanded annexation to Greece.
a
settlement
of
made
Greek people sympathised with their
co-religionists,
208
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
but the Greek Government feared to encourage the cry

produce war with
and
lest
the
who
Cretans,
Turkey,
though divided in
a
were
homogeneous people, should become a
religion
turbulent element in the Greek electorate.
They
of annexation, lest doing so should
therefore gave no encouragement directly or indirectly

to the Cretan claims. On July n, 1889, insurrection
broke out in the island. The Governor was recalled to
Constantinople, and his departure was followed by disturbances throughout the whole of the island. Six Cretan
delegates were sent to Constantinople by the Moslems.

Several Christian villages were burnt, and a great emigration of the Christian population set in to Greece.
Thereupon the Greek Government was compelled by
public opinion to act. It issued a circular explaining its
position, and claiming justice and better government for
the Christians of the island. The Sultan gave no attention to the demands and the irritation in Greece increased.
Indeed, it looked as if Abdul Hamid refused to act on the
absurd ground that having recently granted certain Bulgarian demands he was now justified in refusing concesHe was foolish enough in
sions to other Christians.
of the Greek tongue in
forbid
the
use
to
January, 1890,
at
even
Law
Courts
the
Janina for, that city being but
a few miles from Greek territory, the restriction in
the use of the common language brought home to their
neighbours the desire of the Sultan more completely than
if it had been limited to Crete.
Nevertheless, such a restriction was quite in accordance with Turkish tradition. Many orders had been
issued in former times and in different portions of the
Empire, especially in Armenia, forbidding the use of
the native language under penalty that the offender
should have his tongue cut out.
Unfortunately old
Turks thought, as young Turks did after the Revolution
of 1908, that a nation can be unified by forcing upon it
a foreign tongue. In the case of Janina, the prohibition
was purely mischievous, for the attempt to enforce it
aroused dangerous irritation, made Greeks outside
the Kingdom hopeless of just government from the
;
ABDUL HAMID AND CRETANS

capital,
and increased the
209
hostility in Greece towards
Turkey.
Abdul Hamid's unopposed oppression

at this time encouraged him
nians
of the
to
Arme-
attempt
similar treatment of the rebellious Cretans.
He
sent
Mahmud
Jelaleddin, a Governor after his own heart,

to reduce Crete, as he already believed Armenia had been
reduced. The Cretans were, however, a fighting race,
and during 1893-4 stoutly resisted all aggression. The

disturbances became so serious that in consequence of
the remonstrances of the Powers the Governor was
changed and replaced by Caratheodori, usually called
Alexander Pasha, the able and honourable man already
mentioned. His influence at once began to tell. The
even-handed justice which he dealt out to Moslem and
Christian alike
won
the respect of
all
Consuls, and would have succeeded

in keeping
Crete
in
loyal
subjection
the European
at another time
to the
Sultan.
But Abdul Hamid was bent upon supporting the

Moslem party in their efforts to regain an ascendancy
which should place the Christians in the abject submission in which they had been a generation earlier.
Caratheodori's proposals were regarded unfavourably
at the Palace. The Sultan, known to be in communication with the disaffected leaders of the Moslem
party, was found to be secretly encouraging them to
resist the measures which the Governor was carrying
out for the pacification of the island.
In 1896 the Sultan removed Caratheodori and
The Cretans soon
replaced him by Turkasi Pasha.
learned that the measures of their late Governor were
set aside.
Preparations were made to overrun the
with
country
troops and Bashi-Bazuks or volunteers.
The latter expected to have as free a hand over the
Christians as they had had over the Bulgarians in 1876.
Thereupon the Christians broke out once more into open
insurrection.
Europe determined to intervene. All
the Ambassadors in Constantinople united in endeavouring to persuade the Sultan to adopt measures to satisfy
the just demands of the population. He gave promises
210
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
The general who had been sent with

reinforcements against the insurgents issued a proclamation vaguely indicating a redress of grievances, but
demanding first that the Christians should lay down
their arms. The experience of centuries told them that
they would be fools if they obeyed such an order. The
Ambassadors at the desire of the Sultan tried to open
Simultaneously they
negotiations with the leaders.
pointed out to the Sultan the unsatisfactory character
The islanders flatly
of the general's proclamation.
At length Abdul
refused to lay down their arms.
Hamid on the renewed representations of the Powers,
consented once more to appoint a Christian Governor,
to allow the Cretan Assembly to meet, and to bring again
into force an arrangement for the government of the
"
Pact of Halep." But the Cretans
island known as the
to that effect.
were suspicious.
In 1896 the Moslem inhabitants had been joined by
the troops, all, of course, Moslems, and continued their
attacks on the Christians. The Cretan, whether Christian or Moslem, is a man who refuses to submit to
injustice, and the Christians not only appealed to the
Powers for justice, but fought heroically during 1896
and 1897. They compelled the attention both

and the Powers.
The inhabitants
of
Turkey
were divided in opinion.

All,
exception,
sympathised with their
in
the
island, but the Government
co-religionists
desired peace, because they were not ready for war
and because, while they expressed sympathy with the
victims of Turkish misrule, they feared internal troubles
from the introduction of a large body of Cretan
voters.
Meantime, popular enthusiasm throughout
Before the year
Greece grew daily more intense.
the
Ambassadors
recognised that Abdul
1896 ended,
Hamid was once more acting in bad faith, and did
not desire even-handed government in Crete.
They
of Greece
without
remonstrated, pointed out once more that his action

was increasing discontent and arousing a feeling in
His reply was to
Greece hostile to his sovereignty.

issue a circular to
211
Europe protesting against the
atti-
tude of Greece.
In February, 1897, Greece was unable to resist popular
feeling, and sent troops to Crete to aid the Christians.
Thereupon the Christian Governor left the island.
In March, the Ambassadors of the six Powers informed
the Sultan by a collective note, first, that Europe
intended to make Crete autonomous, and, second, that
Greek troops would be sent out of the island. They
followed this up by informing Abdul Hamid that a large
number of the Turkish troops must also be withdrawn.
While it was difficult not to sympathise with the
Greeks in their desire to set their Cretan brethren free
from the Turkish yoke, it must be admitted that many of
the statements made by the orators and in the Athenian
press during the agitation which prevailed in Athens
were ludicrous. One may forgive the countless allusions
to their glorious ancestors and to the deeds of Plataea
and Marathon, because these deeds of the best time
in Greek history had furnished for two thousand years
an inspiration and quickening tradition, a tradition
which every man, woman, and child seems to have
inherited. The ludicrous aspect was seen in the imaginative interpretations both of ancient but especially
of modern Greek history.
The struggles for independence in the 'twenties of last century were of a very
mixed character, for while they illustrate the vainglory and boastfulness of the race, great Englishmen
and Frenchmen took a higher and truer view of the
situation, a view which Lord Byron made known in his
vigorous lines to the British public. There were wild
statements in 1897 of the superiority of Greek soldiers
and sailors over the Turks and versions of struggles
during the War of Independence which were ridiculous
or wildly exaggerated
but they roused the blood of
the Greeks to fever heat. Outside observers who cared
:
nothing for Greek traditions were aware that the army

of Greece was ill-organised and ill-disciplined, and that
her fleet was hardly in a better condition that, on the
;
other hand, Turkey, which had become alarmed
by the
V 2
212
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
long agitation in Athens, had carefully prepared under

German officers an army of invasion which would be
able to have an easy march to Athens.
Meantime popular sympathy in Greece with the
Cretans raised a general clamour for war. The Powers
gave notice both to Turkey and Greece that the State
which commenced hostilities would be held responsible,
and formally rebuked Greece for her action. The Greeks,
however, moved their troops towards their frontier.

This gave Abdul Hamid his chance, and Edhem Pasha,
with the aid of a few German officers, was sent in command of an army against them. Greece, as its rulers
knew, never had a chance of success. The country was
not prepared for war and its Government had counted
upon a European intervention, which, after the formal
notification of war, was for a time clearly impossible.
The war declared in April, 1897, was curious. The
population of Athens had become so inebriated by the
speeches of the orators in Constitution Square and the
Omonia that an attempt to prevent it would have
brought about a Revolution which would have inevitably
led to the expulsion of the Royal Family. In such case
Greece would have been without a friend. Hence, it had
been decided by the Greek Government that the war
must go on, and the secret influence of the Powers
must be brought to bear in order to obtain the best
A short but disastrous struggle commenced.
terms.
The Greeks were everywhere defeated. But at the
demand of the Ministers, the Powers intervened to
prevent its continuance.
The Sultan demanded the cession of Thessaly and an
indemnity of 10,000,000 sterling. The Powers vetoed
this demand, but the negotiations for peace were
of
prolonged until September. Finally, the Emperor
Austria, with the approval of the other European
Powers, decided that two small strips of territory should
be ceded to Turkey, and that Greece should pay an
indemnity of 3,600,000. The Turks returned trium-
was
phantly to their homes and the Greek dynasty
saved. The war was concluded May 18, 1897.
213
Meantime the struggle in Crete continued. Even

during the war it had not ceased. It went on during
1898. The European fleets which had been sent to the
island did what they could to prevent disorder, but all
foreigners now openly expressed their sympathy with
the Cretans. Angry negotiations went on with Jevad,
the Turkish Governor, acting on instructions from his

Sovereign. The European admirals in command found
their action constantly thwarted by him and declared
their position to be intolerable. During the negotiations
Russia suggested that Prince George, the second son of
the King of Greece, should be appointed Governor of
the island. The Sultan objected. Germany and Austria
withdrew from the negotiations and left them to
England, France, Russia and Italy. In a disturbance
which was believed to have been instigated by the
Governor, a few British soldiers, who had landed from
the fleet, were killed by Turkish troops.
The Allied
Powers then gave notice to Abdul Hamid that all
Turkish troops must leave the island, and after the
usual excuses for delay the Porte gave the necessary
orders, and by the end of November, 1898, the evacuation was complete.
Prince George was formally
appointed Governor and remained in
office
Abdul Hamid had
in spite of
efforts of the
lost Crete
lost
it
1906.
the
Powers to induce him to deal justly with
the Christian population, to respect his

and thus preserve it in the Empire. 1
1
till
own
promises,
In October, 1912, Crete was formally declared to be a part of the Hellenic
Kingdom.
CHAPTER XI continued
ABDUL HAMID'S TREATMENT OF SUBJECT RACES
continued
Part
Article
II.
In
Armenia.
6 of San Stefano Treaty replaced by Article 61 of Treaty

Mr. Goschen's attempt at reforms for Armenia
of Berlin
Consular reports
impudent despatch by Porte reply by
British Consuls; Collective Note of Powers, 1880; Great
Britain alone in pressing for reform
Abdul Hamid has his
;
own way
Armenians themselves submit

relations of Armenians and
project based on Article 61
Kurds
Abdul Hamid sends agents to arouse fanaticism
for
ten years
endeavours
to
conceal facts
correspondent Daily TeleMr. Gordon

outcry in Europe
;
graph reports situation

Bennett, of the New York Herald, authorised to send Commissioner
Mr. Hepworth accompanies him
his impartial
Mr. Fitzmaurice sent
his report of story of
account
;
account of conversion at Berijik, of holocaust of refugees

Cathedral of Urfa and murder of 2,500 people; dis-
in
Fuad Pasha defends Armeturbances in Constantinople

attack on Ottoman Bank
nians
telegraphic menace to
;
Abdul Hamid by representatives of all the Powers Collecdisturbance of trade

Armenian massacres
tive Note
conclusive evidence of want of statesmanship in Abdul
Hamid.
;
Abdul
Hamid's
Abdul Hamid had
Treatment of Armenians.
so treated his Christian subjects
have alienated their sympathy,
in Crete as not only to
Even
Europe to interfere.
formed
had
already
Germany and Austria, though they
designs which urged them to cultivate the favour and
but to have forced
all
support of the Sultan, joined with the other European
ABDUL HAMID AND ARMENIANS
215
Powers in pressing him to accept reforms which would

have preserved peace in the island. We have seen with
what result.
The condition of his Christian subjects in Armenia
had always occupied the attention of Abdul Hamid,
and the story of their treatment requires a fuller notice.
The reforms commenced by the Hatti-hu-mayun, and
followed with steady though an-all-too-gentle pressure
by the British and French Embassies, had their effect.
Turkey was progressing towards civilised government.
If Midhat's Constitution had not been suspended it
would have been a valuable aid in the development of
the reforms already initiated, and an effective arm for
native workers and ambassadors for bringing about that
reform which was more greatly needed in Turkey than
any other, that, indeed, which in Turkey is the necesreforms, religious equality between
Unfortunatelv, the Moslem
population generally opposed equality, and failed to
realise that its adoption would have been for the prosperity of the Empire. Nevertheless, when Abdul Hamid
came to the throne, the tendency was in favour of an
sary preliminary of
Moslems and
all
Christians.
expansion of religious liberty, which would probably

have largely developed had not the Sultan been its
constant opponent.
The granting of such liberty, while important to all
the populations of the Empire, would have been of
special value to the Armenians, since they suffered
more than any other race from Moslem intolerance.
They have hitherto proved an indestructible race.
Belonging to the Indo-European division of the human
family, they held their own against successive attacks
by members of the Semitic and Turanian races, and in
spite
lived
of
invasions,
conquests
on with unbroken national

two thousand years.
and
massacres,
spirit for
they
upwards
of
In the six provinces of Turkey most largely occupied

by Armenians, they numbered on the accession of Abdul
Hamid about 1,200,000 out of a total population of
Both in those provinces and throughout
2,600,000.
LIFE OF
216
ABDUL HAMID
the Empire they are a sober, thrifty, and intelligent

people. Wherever they exist they are noted for their
a certain
industry, their aptitude for business, and
has
often
while
it
of
character, which,
brought
obstinacy
them into trouble with the dominant power, has preserved their national sentiment.
Throughout all the
lifetime of
New Rome
they played an important part.
Ten Armenian Emperors occupied the throne of Constantine, of whom Leo, the Great Basil, and John
In modern
Zimisces are probably the best known.
times they have been the pioneers of commerce and
industry in the Near East, and have occupied high
In
positions in Turkey, Russia, Persia, and Egypt.
the Turco-Russian War of 1877-8, Loris Melikoff and
other Armenian generals on the Russian side distinguished themselves. In Persia, Malkom Khan and
others in recent times proved their ability. In Egypt,
"
have
Lord Cromer points out that the Armenians
attained the highest administrative rank," and mentions
especially
Artin Pasha, as
Nubar Pasha, Boghos Pasha, Jacub
men who have
at times exercised a
decisive influence on the conduct of public affairs in

that country. In Turkey, many of the leading Ministers
and administrators
Abdul Hamid's
Dadian Effendi was an able
in the early part of
reign were Armenians.
Gabriel
of State for Foreign Affairs
Effendi Nuradunghian, who is still living, was probably
the ablest jurist, with the possible exception of the
Greek Caratheodori, who served under Abdul Hamid.
It would be easy to mention others who, like Dilber
Effendi, had and have the respect of all classes of the
community. In spite of a prejudice against the race
entertained by Abdul Hamid, the Armenians held their
Under Secretary
own among the leading merchants of the capital. Those

who lived in the north-east of Turkey, which is the
home of the race, aided by their fellow religionists
throughout the Empire, in spite of centuries of persewavered in their attachment to their
cution, have never
Nation, Church, and Language. When the great reliin

gious movement, known as the Reformation, occurred

Western Europe, and ever
since,
their
217
leaders have
shown a desire to reap the benefits of European thought

and of civilisation. They instinctively feel themselves
to be Europeans.
They welcomed amongst them the
efforts of Roman Catholic missionaries, and at a later
The Greeks
period those of Protestants from America.
confuse
who
nationality with
invariably
Turkey,
of any kind
missions
tolerate
will
not
willingly
religion,
Catholic
Roman
the
either
To
them.
accept
amongst
faith or any form of Protestantism is treason to their
in
Not so amongst the Armenians. The Roman

Catholic missions have prospered, and the flourishing
institutions in Vienna and at San Lazzaro in Venice,
race.
an Armenian merchant,
of their European
careful culture in arts and secular
due largely to the generosity

are
evidences
at
of
once
Mekitar,
tendencies and of their
learning as well as in theology.
Men of this race have furnished useful citizens to
France and America, and under a
Russia,
England,
Turkish ruler possessed of insight would have been
recognised as an invaluable element in the population.
Under Abdul Hamid they became the special objects
of his virulent hatred.
They should have been
cherished by him because their qualities of industry,
which the
Abdul Hamid could see
nothing in them but the enemies of his person and
government. He regarded them as ever ready to join
with any foreigners in order to shake off his rule,
whereas in truth long centuries of oppression had made
them suspicious of foreigners, for those who came
thrift,
and
in
intelligence are precisely those
Turkish Moslem
is
lacking.
under their observation were usually under the special

protection of the Turkish Government and were regarded
as its spies. Nor did they wish to cease to be Turkish
though they desired security for their lives,

the honour of their women, and their property. They
are hospitable to those whom they trust, but are shy
of strangers, usually believed to be friendly with the
subjects,
oppressors.
The
position of the
Armenians
in
1878 was already so
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
218
serious that a useful provision for reforms was inserted

in the Treaty of San Stefano, and was to the
following
effect
"
Article 1 6.
As the evacuation by the Russian
troops of the territory which they occupy in Armenia,
and which is to be restored to Turkey, might give rise
to conflicts and complications detrimental to the maintenance of good relations between the two countries
"
the Sublime Porte engages to
(Russia and Turkey),
carry into effect without further delay the improvements
and reforms demanded by local requirements in the
1
provinces inhabited by the Armenians, and to guarantee
'
from Kurds and Circassians."

Unfortunately this was one of the articles mischievInstead
ously tampered with at the Congress of Berlin.
of the San Stefano article, a modification of it took
place
which has already been given and became Article 6l 2
their security
A comparison of the two articles

shows the important nature of the change. When the
San Stefano Treaty was signed, the Russian troops were
still in
occupation of the Turkish territory inhabited
by the Armenians which it had been agreed should be
in the Berlin Treaty.
restored to Turkey.
The presence of these troops
constituted the best possible guarantee for the execution
"
of the improvements and reforms demanded by
local requirements without further delay." It probably
implied, or was at least taken to imply, that the Russians
would not leave Turkish
territory until they had seen

of these reforms.
commencement of the execution

The provision was undoubtedly
the
stringent,
but
it
Several members
of the Congress at Berlin took it to imply that Russia
might permanently occupy and take possession of the
country, because, if such were her desire, it would have
been easy to make the execution of the reforms difficult
or even impossible.
On the other hand, the feeling in
Russia at that time was not favourable either to the
would at
least
have been
effectual.
The provinces inhabited by Armenians
Kharput, and Sivas.

2
For text, Article
6i, see p. 8i.
are Van, Bitlis, Erzerum, Diabekir,

Armenians
of
Turkey
or to the
219
Armenians under Russian
The
fanatical party under the Czar had tried hard,

but in vain, to persuade the Armenians to accept the
rule.
dogmas and
discipline of the Holy Orthodox Church.

In Russia the Armenians were persecuted because they
would not sacrifice the traditions and beliefs of their
race, and Russian sentiment did not show any special
favour towards them.
It is interesting to note what took place at the Berlin
Congress when Article 16 of the San Stefano Treaty
came under discussion. Lord Salisbury proposed that
the latter half of the article by which the Sublime
"
Porte
engages to carry into effect without further
"
should
stand, but that the first portion, in referdelay
ence to the evacuation by the Russian troops, should be
omitted. He did so on the express ground that the
first half of the article appeared to render the evacuation
by the Russian troops contingent on the concession of
reforms by the Sublime Porte. When the Congress met
two days later, the alterations came up for consideration,
and the new article commenced with the words " The
Sublime Porte engages itself," etc. Lord Salisbury had
added " It will come to an understanding subsequently
with the other signatory Powers respecting the extent
of this engagement and the measures necessary for
carrying it into effect." He appears to have been persuaded, probably by an important Armenian deputation
which was in attendance at Berlin, that his condition
was vague, and accordingly at the next meeting of the
Congress a revised version appeared to the following
"
The Sublime Porte must periodically make
effect
known the steps taken to this effect to the Powers, who
will superintend their application." The evident weak:
ness of Article 61, as Lord Salisbury must have recognised, was that no guarantee existed for the execution of
"
the
amelioration and reforms demanded by local
As a matter of fact, Abdul Hamid
requirements."
disregarded this clause entirely, never submitting any
project for amelioration and reforms, and rejecting
those suggested to him by the British Government
LIFE OF
22o
ABDUL HAMID
Sir Henry Layard and later ambassadors.

So
strenuous was the Sultan's opposition to any reform
that apparently no Power cared to incur his displeasure
by calling attention to the fact that he had promised
to report the steps taken to effect reforms, and that
the Powers had demanded and obtained the right to
through
superintend their application.
Article 61 consequently
a
dead
letter.
entirely
Nevertheless both embassies and the Armenians
themselves endeavoured to secure protection for life
became almost
and property in Armenia.

We have seen how the
efforts of Sir
Henry Layard
to obtain reforms for the Armenians.

during the short time when he was in
entirely failed
Mr. Goschen
Constantinople endeavoured to induce
the Powers
for the
same purpose. He found on his arrival that one of the
last acts of his predecessor was to protest against the
to bring pressure to bear
all
upon Abdul Hamid
Kiamil Pasha, who had been Governor

By the orders of Abdul Hamid he had
or
at least had not tried to prevent, an
encouraged,
attack upon the Armenians at Zeitun the mountain
fastness of Little Armenia which has always maintained
a semi-independence. Moreover, he had been accused of
taking bribes by the British consul at Aleppo, and, in
consequence of the representations of Sir Henry Layard,
had been dismissed. A few weeks afterwards he was
promotion
of
of Aleppo.
appointed Under-Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior,
(the
and a
little later
Department
was made Minister of the Evkaf

and decorated
of Pious Foundations)
with the Order of Mejidie. 1
The condition
1
The appointment
of
Armenia grew
steadily worse.
Yet
is a typical instance of what from that time onward Abdul

invariably did. Whenever, by the efforts of ambassadors, an
official was dismissed for his ill-treatment of the Armenians or for
any other
offence of which the Sultan did not disapprove, Abdul Hamid compensated
him by giving him a more lucrative post. It would be easy to mention a score
A man of notoriously bad character was dismissed on the
of such cases.
representation of the Turkish Debt Department for various reasons, one of
which was that he was acting as a spy upon their proceedings and reporting
on them constantly to the Sultan. The office he held was a low one ; he was
shortly afterwards promoted to be a Minister.
Hamid almost
221
and honestonly just to say that independent

of
ill-treatment
the
Moslems
minded
protested against
was
claimed
which
their Christian fellow-subjects,
they
doing injury also to Moslems. One such Mahometan
wrote to our consul, the present Sir Alfred Biliotti,
" it is
of
that
impossible to give an idea of the state
their
from
driven
and
things. Tyrannised over, robbed,
it
is
lands by Government officials and agas, Moslems as

The aspect of
well as Christians shed tears of blood.
the country is desolate. No care is taken to preserve
The villages are only collections
or restock the forests.
of mud huts in plains devoid of trees, water, gardens, or
The inhabitants are coarsely fed and
vegetables.
Neither roads nor bridges are in a serclad.
coarsely
viceable state.
There hardly remains a single public
not partially in
constantly entering
the settled districts." A commission had been appointed
to draw the boundaries between Russia and Turkey in
Armenia, and the British vice-consul who accompanied
the Commissioner compared the condition of two
from each other,
villages, one and a half hour's distance
the one being under Turkish, the other under Russian,
" In the Turkish the
rule
people complained bitterly
of the oppression of the soldiers, who took everything
from them without payment, while the other, which had
been ceded to Russia, was in a nourishing condition, and
the Cossack troops who occupied it got on admirably
with the people."
During the period between the Berlin Congress in
1878 and 1 88 1 we have several volumes of consular
They show constant
reports relating to Turkey.
on
of
Earl
Granville and of Lord
both
the
part
anxiety
Salisbury to point out to the Porte the danger to which
The
perversity or inertia was exposing the Empire.
Turkish Minister Edhem Pasha, who succeeded Midhat,
1
approved the reform project prepared by Great Britain.
His successor, Savas Pasha, in January, 1880, promised
building whose
ruins.
interior or exterior
The nomad population
is
is
Sir
Henry Layard
1
his support in pressing for reforms.

Despatch October
24, 1877.
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
222
But the Sultan would not accept any.

"
that
the
Mr. Goschen
reported
Europe, as well as
that of the Ottoman Empire, requires the execution
of the 6 1st Article of the Treaty of Berlin, and that the
joint and incessant action of the Powers can alone bring
about this result." An identical note was issued by the
"
Powers demanding the complete and immediate execution of the article, and, in conformity therewith, called
upon the Government of his Imperial Majesty to state
explicitly what the steps are which have been taken in
order to fulfil the provisions of that article."
The
"
Porte replied that, in spite of difficulties, the execution
of the article has always been present in the minds of
the Ottoman Government, that it has sent competent
officials into Kurdistan, that is the district in Armenia
mainly occupied by the Kurds, and other provinces, to
study the most efficient means of ensuring security to
Armenians and other faithful subjects of the Sultan."
The Porte claimed that it had already made reforms in
the law courts, that it had tried various experiments for
the creation of a new system of collecting taxes and
tithes in order to secure peace and tranquillity, that it
interest
of
had begun to establish gendarmery and

districts, that it found the
assize would be useful, and
Porte proposed to make for
that the Government had
police in certain
establishment of courts of
gave the division which the
judicial purposes.
It
added
already admitted to public

and
honest
persons without distinction of
employ capable
creed that it proposed to watch the progress of education
and public works, " the principal cause of a country's hapThe following significant paragraph concludes
piness."
" In
the Porte's despatch
bringing the foregoing to your
I
to
have
to
state
that whenever misdemeannotice, regret
ours which naturally occur in every country of the world
happen to be committed in Armenia, some over-zealous
people appear to take it upon themselves to invent
;
imaginary crimes in addition to the real offences, and to

represent them before the eyes of Europe and the consuls
on the spot as having actually occurred." The despatch
is a typical one as showing the
effrontery of the Porte,
223
and their determination to misrepresent the condition

It shows also how completely Turkish
of Armenia.
officials had caught the knack of employing diplomatic
of little things.
phrases and of making much
The British consuls in Armenia were invited by Earl
Granville to make their observations on this reply of the
Porte and its significance. They affirm in their reply
that (1) the reforms which the Porte asserts have been
commenced are fallacious (2) the commissions have
tribunals
done nothing
(3) the interference with the
of law has only resulted in evil
(4) the asserted
improvements in the system of collecting tithes and
taxes, and in the organisation of the gendarmery, have
not been made, and that Baker Pasha, the head of the
gendarmery, which he is alleged to have visited and
inspected, was a gendarmery which had no existence.
Mr. Goschen, writing to Earl Granville on August 30,
;
"
All the consular agents of her Majesty

Minor repeat over and over again that nothing
can be hoped for the provinces unless there is a real
For bold mendacity the
reform in Constantinople."
Porte's note, doubtless drawn up at the instigation of, and
approved by, Abdul Hamid, would be difficult to beat.
The real reform wanted, as Mr. Goschen stated, was in
1880, states
in Asia
Constantinople, meaning of course with the Sultan himself.

In consequence of this correspondence a collective
note was sent on September 11, 1880, by the ambassadors of all the Great Powers. It is a complete answer
to the equivocations of the Porte, and concludes with
the following paragraphs
"
It is absolutely necessary to carry out, without loss
of time, the reforms intended to secure the life and
property of the Armenians to take immediate measures
against the incursions of the Kurds to carry out at once
to place the gendarmery
the proposed system of finance
a
on
more
and,
satisfactory footing
provisionally
above all, to give to the governors-general greater
security of office and a more extended responsibility.
" In
conclusion, the Powers once more recall to the
Sublime Porte the essential fact that the reforms to be
:
224
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
introduced into the provinces inhabited by the Armenians

are, by treaty engagements, to be adapted to local
wants, and to be carried out under the supervision of
the Powers."
The Porte replied to the collective note on October 3
without making the slightest reference to the censures
which had been addressed to it. The reply was characterised by Mr. Goschen as " aggressive," and virtually stated
that all that the Powers had to do with the matter in conformity with Article 61 was to thankfully rejoice at the
promises which the Porte was pleased to make.
Europe did not protest against this violation of faith.
Abdul Hamid was to have his own way. Mr. Goschen's
hands were full, because it was at the time when, the
Sultan having refused to cede Antivari, a naval demonstration was taking place before that town. The attitude amongst the other European Powers was one of
Some seem to have been in favour of
hopelessness.
the
a respite, but Mr. Goschen notified his
Turks
giving
Government that if the Powers did not combine to
ameliorate the situation in Armenia " dire results would
ensue" and claimed that "the responsibility will not
1
lie with her
The reports of
Majesty's Government."
our consuls showed that the so-called attempts at
reform were, as one of them, Captain Clayton, said,
" a
The selection of Turkish adminisperfect farce."
trators was absurd. In the district of Passin, for example,
only one mudir out of seventeen could read and write.
Another official stated that the condition of the country
at the end of 1880 was worse than it was in 1879.
"
There is less security for life and property
poverty
has increased, while crimes of oppression and corruption
have increased proportionately with the impoverished
state of the Empire." In January, 1881, Earl Granville
instructed the British ambassadors in Paris, Berlin,
Vienna, Petersburg, and Rome to call the attention of
the Governments to which they were accredited to the
state of affairs in Armenia. Russia's reply showed that
she still resented the change of the article accepted at
;
Blue Book 30, No.
6, 1881, p. 242.
225
San Stefano into that introduced at Berlin. She stated

that she would join in the concert of Europe to make
representations if the proposal met with the approval
of the other Powers which had signed the Treaty of
Berlin. Indeed, it is hardly too much to say that at this
time England stood alone in pressing for better govern-
ment
Armenia.
During the next ten years Abdul
in
Hamid had
his
own
reference to the provinces inhabited
by the
defeated Europe, and continued to
violate the promises which he had given in San Stefano
and in Berlin. The Powers had indeed made a mistake
when they allowed Article 16 of the Treaty of San
Stefano to be replaced by Article 61 of the Treaty of
way
in
Armenians.
He had
Berlin.
When Lord Salisbury found that his labour to obtain

reforms under the guarantee of Europe had failed
miserably, he treated Abdul Hamid and his promises
with the contempt which they deserved. He regretted
"
could not sail the fleet over the Taurus Mounthat he
"
he was afraid that at that time Russia was not
tains
disposed to help the Armenians, and recognised that
she could not overcome the aversion of the ecclesiastical
leaders on both sides to accepting union with the
Orthodox Church, implying indeed that without the
co-operation of Russia his interference would be of no
benefit to the sufferers, and in this he was right.
;
The Cyprus Convention and the indignant remarks

Lord Salisbury, at a later period, to the Turkish
Ambassador in London, have already been mentioned.
of
He
expressed his indignation at the treatment of the

Armenians and on a subsequent occasion his belief
that in supporting the integrity and independence of
"
England had put her
Turkey at the Berlin Congress
the
horse."
on
wrong
money
The Russian delegates, who knew the Turks better,
proved right in suggesting that without the presence
of their troops, as provided for in the San Stefano
Treaty, all other guarantees were illusory.
In fairness to Mr. Disraeli and Lord Salisburv, it
>-
L.A.H,
LIFE OF
226
ABDUL HAMID
should be added that the distrust of Russia,

especially
in relation to her
dealings in distant States, was great
and not altogether without justification. Those who

were in Turkey and could look on the question with
detachment were of opinion that Russia at that time
did not wish to increase the number of Armenians
in her
territory, nor to acquire
new
territory occupied
by them and partly by Moslems.

Many attempts were made by the Armenians themselves, based upon Article 61, to obtain in a peaceful
manner from the Sultan measures of reform. Their
demands greatly irritated him. He came to loathe the
mention of Armenia. Yet their leaders abroad and in
partly
Turkey, while always profoundly respectful, did not

ask for autonomy, nor did they wish to be under Russian
rule.
They recognised that in none of the six provinces
largely occupied by them were they in a numerical
All that they desired was security for life,
and
honour,
property. They asked for administrative
reforms and not political severance. The more advanced
amongst them, residing outside Turkey, as well as their
majority.
intelligent sympathisers in all parts of Europe, suggested

a form of administration similar to that existing in the
Lebanon, where the Sultan appoints a European
governor with the assent of the Powers, who should be
irremovable for a term of years. But the Armenians
residing in the Empire never dared to submit such
demands.
Differences in the
and the Armenians
first
led
instance between the Kurds

the outbreak of unusual
to
massacres in Armenia.
It was in the autumn of 1889 tnat Lord Salisbury
demanded a commission of inquiry to be sent into
Armenia. The attacks by the Kurds, mostly a hill
people, upon the Armenians in the plains, were led by a
Mussa Bey, a Kurdish chief. By order of the

Sultan, he was brought for trial to Constantinople.
The accused was ostentatiously a braggart, boasted that
Abdul Hamid would protect him, and that in robbing
and Jailing Armenians he was acting under the Sultan's
certain

orders.
Abdul Hamid himself
227
at this time proclaimed

"
do justice between the Armenians, whom

he loved as his own children," and the Kurds. Happily,
the trial was public, and no one was surprised when,
after the witnesses had been browbeaten and all sorts
of irregularities in Turkish law had been permitted, Mussa
his desire to
was acquitted.
that a
new
The denial of justice was so flagrant

was ordered, and the accused was
trial
condemned, but notwithstanding the decision everybody recognised that Abdul Hamid was either afraid
or unwilling to punish*the culprit. The Sultan's mind
was at that time full of the project, which shortly afterwards was carried into effect, of forming a regiment
of Kurdish cavalry which was named after him,
" Hamidiehs."
Many of these were sent to Constantinople and swaggered through the streets in their gaudy
uniforms, like red Indians, to the terror of peaceful
inhabitants.
Kurds and Armenians.
Dispersed throughout all the six vilayets, or provinces,
were about 190,000 Kurds. They were Moslems and
warlike. In the provinces where the Kurds were most
"
six provinces," the
numerous, as indeed in all the
In the course of two
Christians had been disarmed.
centuries the Kurds had become a dominant class
which occupied the hill country, while most of the
Armenians lived on the plains.
Disorder reigned
during that period in all Armenia. In the course of
years many Armenian villages submitted voluntarily
to pay blackmail to certain Kurdish chieftains in order
to be protected from depredations committed by other
chieftains of their race or by Turks. A kind of feudal
arrangement had indeed grown up between Kurdish
The latter
freebooters and the peasant Armenians.
more
than
industrious
their
Kurdish
being
plunderers,
had acquired comparative wealth. './^The result was that

The
they were constantly pillaged by the Kurds.
amount of tribute was measured by the wealth of the
subject
Armenians.
Their
complaints
to
the
Q.2
local
228
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
governors were not attended
to.
When
in late years,
Crimean War, these complaints were reported

to Constantinople by European consuls, or by Protestant or Roman Catholic missionaries, they produced
no redress. The condition of the Christian peasants
gradually grew worse, and the attempts at reform made
by the Powers did not improve matters. Those who
those of whom they
complained were Christians
were
The
Moslems.
governors, who wished
complained
to stand well with Abdul Hamid, reported against the
Christians and in favour of the Kurds, or at best
tried to smooth over the difficulties between them.
The difficulties arising from the constant pillage by the
Kurds were greatly aggravated by the capture of
Armenian women. The common answer to a complaint
that a Kurdish tribe had violated or had captured the
women of a village was that such women had desired
to become Moslems and had accepted Islam. Everyone
in the neighbourhood knew that the statement was
false, but no redress was given.
Indeed, the two
constant complaints made by Armenians and by
foreign consuls regarded the violation of wives and
daughters and the pillage of Armenian property.
The half-savage Kurds being Moslems and lawless
fighters, were rarely successfully attacked even by
regular troops. On a few occasions troops were sent
against them, but they usually attacked in half-hearted
fashion and often joined with the robber tribes in their
plunder of the Armenians. It was mainly the impossibility of putting an end to the anarchy which prevailed,
and which his governors were unable to deal with, which
led Abdul Hamid to try his own desperate remedy. For
many reasons he had come to hate the very name of
Armenia. He had long since given orders that it should
never be employed in the newspapers, and the order
had to be strictly obeyed. By an imperial decree
Armenia ceased to exist. He carried his hostility even
to an absurd degree, as, for example, when an Armenian
who had regulated and attended to the clocks at Yildiz
for years before Abdul Hamid's accession was disafter the
229
missed peremptorily by Abdul, who declared that he

would have no Armenian about his palace.
The persistency with which the claims of Armenia
government continued to be urged by England,

France, and in succeeding years by Russia, added to his
irritation.
The Armenian people, the great majority
of whom remained attached to their national Church,
and to the traditions especially of their national saint,
Gregory the illuminator, had obtained for their Church
a council which even Abdul Hamid hesitated to destroy.
The head of the Church for spiritual and doctrinal
purposes was known as the Catholicos and resided in
for better
Etchmiadin, which was then, as now, in Russian terriThe temporal head of the Church in Turkey is
"
tory.
the Armenian Patriarch, officially known as

Patriarch
of the Armenians," who resides in Constantinople.
A
succession of Patriarchs since the Crimean War have
shown a patriotism and devotion to their duties as heads
of the Church in Armenia of quite a remarkable character.
Ismirliam in particular will pass down into history as
a man of unswerving devotion to the cause of his people.
At the risk not only of his position, but of his life, he
constantly urged intervention on the Sultan to protect
At first
the Armenian villagers against the Kurds.
like
was
received
with
other
Armenian
Patriarchs,
he,
of
made.
fulsome
relief
were
and
promises
compliments,
Experience, however, soon showed him that the Sultan
either could not or would not come to the assistance of
his flock.
Massacres.
With the year 1894 began the great series of massacres

The first
in Armenia which will ever be memorable.
The
of
Sassun.
of them occurred in the neighbourhood
had
become
exactions of the Kurds from their neighbours
steadily worse. Most of the villages were paying blackmail to the chiefs of the tribes in order to secure protection.
Of late years the Turkish authorities had aban-
doned
all
hope
of receiving taxes
from the Armenians,
LIFE OF
230
ABDUL HAMID
because they recognised that the exactions of the Kurds

them penniless, but in November, 1894, orders were
given from Constantinople that Armenians must pay
as they had done some years earlier, before the Kurds
left
had
instituted their regular system of levying blackmail.

Turkish troops were sent to enforce payment.
The
to
their
defended
peasants trusting apparently
being
by the Kurds, refused and claimed exemption. The
officer commanding the Fourth
Army Corps, whose
were
in
headquarters
Erzinghian, as well as troops
from Bitlis and elsewhere, received orders to attack
the Armenians. Without any sort of preliminary notice
they opened fire on the unarmed population. Twentyfive villages were burnt and several thousand Armenians
killed.
The massacre was somewhat of a surprise to the rest

Empire and to the diplomats. The Porte judged
it desirable to
give its version of the affair. It was one
so absurdly at variance with facts and with probabilities
that it was regarded in the embassies at Constantinople
with contempt. It put the movement down largely to
bands of Armenian brigands furnished with foreign
arms. It alleged that they had joined insurgent Kurds,
and that the united bands had destroyed several of the
Moslem villages. It pretended that regular troops had
of the
been sent with the object of protecting the peaceful

population, that they had succeeded in accomplishing
this object and had re-established order in the Sassun
district to general satisfaction.
It was not true, it
continued, that Kurds had seized the cattle and effects
Armenians. This Turkish circular was so absurdly
false in its misstatements as to become the subject of
of the
general ridicule.
The perversity of the Sultan in rejecting the suggestions both of loyal Armenians and the Powers was
noted by the best Moslems, as well as were the futile
and
as
reform put forward by Abdul

They were regarded simply
of them indeed irritated the
farcical notifications of
Hamid through
mockeries.
the Porte.
Some
Moslems, though of no use to the Christians.
231
The hostility between the Kurds and the Christians

became more pronounced. The Kurds, little better
than savages, acted upon the belief that they had not
only the right of dominancy over the Christians, but the
approval of the Sultan. Abdul Hamid himself felt able
to defy the Powers, and was determined to deal with the
Armenians after his own methods, which implied the
stimulation not only of the religious fanaticism of his
Moslem subjects, but of their love for plunder.
The superior industry, thrift, and intelligence of the
Christians had enabled them, amidst all their difficulties,
to
the
become comparatively prosperous. The efforts of

Protestant and Roman Catholic missions, and
especially of their wealthier fellow-countrymen of the

great towns, had produced a comparatively educated
The interest, not always friendly, which
peasantry.
Russia and the Powers had taken in their progress, made
the peasants less tolerant than they had formerly been
and outrages upon their wives and

On the other hand, the impossibility of
daughters.
obtaining redress in the law courts, where indeed the
Christian had no chance of justice against a Moslem,
led the Kurds to constant encroachments upon the
of periodical robbery
property of their neighbours.
Lands were
stolen, as all
the inhabitants of a village knew, but the villagers were

Christians, and their oaths were not admissible against
Moslem testimony. The natural result ensued. Many
Some found their way to
peasants fled the country.
America, where in the neighbourhood of Los Angeles
there are three districts inhabited by comparatively
large
communities
Armenians, who have proved
of
themselves industrious and good citizens. Emigration

It was forbidden
into Russia was still more easy.
Turks
and
not
welcomed
the
by the Russians,
by
who appear to have been afraid that the contiguous
portion of their empire might become too largely
Armenian. The refugees in Russia burning with a sense
of
injuries
to
which
Turkish rule were

for redress in
still
Turkey.
remaining under
committees
to work
formed
subject,
their
It
relations
must never be forgotten that few
232
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
Armenian community in Turkey

On many occasions
by Russia.
they showed their belief that they would be better off
in a reformed Turkey and had little sympathy with the
extreme measures prosecuted by the refugees. Russia
was still endeavouring to induce, or even to force,
Armenians already in Russia to join the Orthodox
Church. Moreover, there was the desire, always strong
among a peasant community, to remain in the land of
their fathers, to endure the ills to which they were liable
rather than to fly to others in a distant and unknown
country of which they knew nothing. It was only the
persistent folly of Abdul Hamid which furnished memthe great
desired annexation
among
bers to the foreign revolutionary committees. Some of

these committees, however, in despair, entertained the
dangerous and foolish hope that by stirring up public
disorders they would bring about massacres which
would compel the intervention of Europe. The hope
was foolish because the only country that could successfully intervene was Russia, and the sufferers themselves
recognised that Russia's attitude at that time was not
The result was that Abdul Hamid came to
friendly.
he was allowed a free hand.
that
consider
Foreign
not
Powers would
help, and he could deal with his own
He had closed Armenian schools on the
subjects.
His censorship had prohibited the

Empire of any school books which even
mentioned Armenia, or which in any way dealt with
slightest pretext.
entry into the
the history of the nation. As previously in Bulgaria,

school teachers were regarded with suspicion and were
constantly imprisoned without trial or any definite
charge being brought against them. Wholesale arrests,
imprisonment without trial, tortures of the most
horrible character which the ingenuity of savages could
devise in order to exact evidence or confession, murders
committed in the prisons, misgovernment of every kind,
all contributed to make a pandemonium of Armenia.
Abdul Hamid knew of this condition and of the daily
outrages and justified them. Sir Philip Currie told a
story in 1894 which illustrates the Sultan's attitude
233
The Ambassador had received news from a consul in

Armenia of the arrest, imprisonment and torture of
sixty persons in a village where a Moslem had been
killed. He went to see the Sultan and to ask that they
should be released.
Abdul Hamid replied, " But a
Moslem has been killed," and this with an air of satisfaction, said Sir Philip, as
to imprisoning the whole lot
"
You can't
when you remember
if
to say,
object
that."
Our Ambassador explained that in civilised countries

the murderer would be sought out and punished. It
was useless to try and persuade Abdul Hamid that order
could be maintained by limiting the action of his servant
in that fashion when Armenians were concerned.
Abdul Hamid recognised, however, that it was not
expedient to arouse European attention to what was
going on under his rule. He was carefully preparing
for still more serious attacks upon the Armenians, and
as far as possible determined to hinder tidings of what
he was doing from reaching the West.
Religious
The Moslem
fanaticism was aroused by his agents.
cupidity was to be given a free hand, and the Faithful
to be allowed to enrich themselves by robbing their
neighbours, and in the case of resistance by killing them.
A repetition took place of the worst features which had
occurred in the Bulgarian massacres of 1876. Abdul
Hamid sent his agents throughout Armenia with
instructions as to their course of action. The manner
The
of their proceeding was usually the following
Moslem population were collected in the largest mosque
:
where of course no Christians were present.

Abdul's agent declared that the Sultan had evidence
that the Armenians generally were in revolt and that
their principal aim was to strike at Islam. They were
called upon as good Moslems to defend the faith and to
of the town,
He declared that
give a lesson to intending rebels.
to
the
Sacred
Law
the
according
property of rebels
taken
and
invited his congrebe
he
Believers,
by
might
on
the
morrow
to
loot
their
neighbours'
possesgation
sions, informing them at the same time that if resistance
were made, they would be justified in killing those who
LIFE OF
234
ABDUL HAMID
To appeal in this way to human cupidity

opposed.
in the name of
religion naturally produced terrible
results.
It is to the eternal disgrace of Abdul Hamid
that these appeals were made in his name, by his express
orders, and in the name of the Islamic faith.
The outrages rendered some of the leading Armenians
reckless, and this applied especially to the Russian
refugees.
revolutionary society was formed amongst

"
the
Henchak," and several of its
them, known as
members found
majority of the
their
way
into
Turkey.
Armenians regarded
The great
their proceedings
with
dislike.
They recognised their patriotism, they
shared their indignation against Abdul Hamid, but
knew the spirit of fanaticism amongst the lower class too
well not to understand that when measures were directed
by Abdul Hamid, he would take advantage of them to
excel himself in brutality.
Meantime, during the summer and autumn of 1894,
and the first half of 1895, rumours of ugly outrages
found their way to the Embassies in the capital and
Abdul Hamid
through Russia to Western Europe.
had tried to stop all leakage of news. Every letter
from the interior to the capital was delivered ostentatiously open. No correspondent or commercial or other
traveller could obtain permission to enter any of the
Armenian provinces.
But in spite of all his measures news leaked out. Abdul
Hamid must do something. A scheme of reform had
been prepared, and in October, 1895, he gave it his
approval. He declared that his constant desire had been
to carry out reforms adapted to the circumstances of
the provinces, and calculated to secure the well-being
The reforms he had proposed

of all his subjects.
were for the benefit of Moslems and Christians alike,
but they would be first established in Anatolia. As
usual, he was profuse in promises. He spoke of the great
Hatti-hu-mayun, and of his intentions to settle the
nomadic tribes (the Kurds) on lands belonging to the
Government. Special regulations were to be made for
the regiments of Hamidieh cavalry and his proclama;
235
became at once more
boastful, bombastic and

than
ever.
sickening
On the very day of the publication came the news of
a massacre in Trebizond. One of the first accounts was
given by the captain of an Austrian Lloyd's steamer.
Every Christian had been killed. Those on board his
steamer saw Armenians who were swimming out in
hopes of escape knocked on the head by Moslem boatmen, or held under water until they drowned. There
was some slight resistance, but while on the first day at
least six hundred Armenians were killed, only five
Moslems, were slain. Men were burnt in their houses,
and those who tried to escape were shot down. In
reference to resistance in Trebizond, it is unfortunate
tions
that there and elsewhere the Armenians made little

Their non-resistance is explained by the
opposition.
fact that on various occasions the whole Armenian popu-
had been disarmed, were entirely unaccustomed

and probably believed that resistance
would be worse than useless. The latter proposition
may well be doubted. An Englishman, who was present
in Trebizond and saw what went on, gave a vivid
description of what he saw. The first idea that occurred
to him was, that as the Sultan wished the Moslems to
attack the Armenians, the lowest class of them thought
lation
to the use of arms,
only of plunder. Many of their companions anticipated

resistance, and took no part in the first attack upon the
shops, but when they saw that the Armenians were
unarmed and did not intend to make a fight for their
wives, children and property, joined in the fray and upon
resistance being made had no hesitation in killing
The Englishman in question, who

opponents.
travelled in the Western States of America and
knew also the East End of London, declared that if
their
had
there
had been a dozen roughs from
either of these parts

fight against the leaders of the
probably have been successful in
who would have shown

mob, they would
preventing the great slaughter, for when the leaders

found that they could take what property they liked
"
the attack began of an ever
without resistance,
LIFE OF
236
ABDUL HAMID
There are
increasing pack of wolves upon sheep."
occasions when to turn the other cheek is neither good
Christianity nor good policy.
Meantime word had passed round Armenia to Abdul

Hamid's agents to make a general attack upon the
Christians. The principal massacres in 1895 took place
at Erzerum, Bitlis, Marash, Kharput and Zeitum.
All the Powers in November demanded that they should
The Porte contemptuously replied that all the

had been called out, the infamous
made
that there was a general rising
suggestion being
in Armenia, a statement which everybody in Turkey
knew to be false.
cease.
troops of the Reserves
While not afraid of the remonstrances of the Powers

which had proposed, and had honestly endeavoured
to obtain the reforms for Armenia, but had virtually
done nothing, Abdul Hamid became greatly alarmed
discontent among his own Moslem subjects.
their discontent, coupled with the demands in
November of the Powers, that alarmed the Sultan.
at
the
It
was
fantastical scheme of reform which had been put

forward by the Porte remained a dead letter. Throughout the whole of Armenia there was wild disorder. Some
The property
of the American missions were looted.
of American citizens, as well as of Italian, French and
The
British subjects, was plundered or destroyed during the

letting loose of the rabble upon the Armenian population.
The alarm in Constantinople was such that some of

the Embassies in the capital requested Abdul Hamid
to grant permission for them to have in the Bosporus
" stationaire."
Abdul
a second despatch boat or
Hamid hesitated and greatly disliked the proposal.
After he learnt, however, that the whole of the Powers
insisted upon his compliance, he consented.
Everyone,
Moslem or Christian, who had urged the Sultan, in his
own interest or in that of the country, to effect reforms
which would put an end to the massacres in Armenia,
became an object of suspicion.
Said Pasha had ceased to be Grand Vizier because
he had ventured to make such suggestions. He believed
237
was in danger, and he probably was right, for he

was followed by Abdul Hamid's spies whenever he left
On December 9, he
his house, and wherever he went.
seems to have felt that he could stand it no longer.
He entered a large shop in the Grande Rue de Pera,
known as the Bon Marche. The spies remained at the
his life
door awaiting his
exit.
Accompanied by
his
young
son, he went through the shop and out in another street

two or three hundred yards from the British Embassy.
He and
hastened there and sought protection

He explained that he was
Philip Currie.
and
believed
his life to be in danger, and
followed
being
of course Sir Philip and Lady Currie gave him shelter.
The anger of Abdul Hamid was known before the day
was over to all in Pera. To the messenger sent to the
from
his son
Sir
Philip replied that Said was his guest

there.
Then the Sultan requested
a visit from Sir Philip on the following day.
Our
Ambassador gave the writer an interesting accoum of
Embassy
Sir
and would remain
Abdul Hamid pretended that he bore no

Kutchuk Said, and that it was a mistake on
his interview.
ill-will
to
the part of the refugee to imagine that he did. Thereupon he asked Sir Philip why he had taken him in, and
why he did not give him up. Sir Philip's reply was
In recounting his visit he
characteristic of the man.
said a happy thought occurred to him, and he replied
" that
according to English religion, and, as he believed,
according to his Majesty's also, a refugee must be
protected." Abdul smiled grimly and did not contradict
the Ambassador. The Sultan declared that if Kutchuk

Said would leave the Embassy he should not be followed
by spies nor in any way molested. Sir Philip recognised
that as the incident was already published in the local
known fully to every Ambassador, its

was
his
safeguard, and accordingly Said left
publicity
the Embassy.
In the last week of December an official report of the
outrages was published. Its object was not intended to
influence foreigners but Moslem subjects, and, like many
similar reports, was a tissue of lies. It declared that the
papers and was
238
'
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
Armenians had burnt mosques, had attacked Moslem

women, and were the sole cause of the massacres which
had taken place. The report did Abdul Hamid no good,
because the statements themselves were not even
On every hand they were characterised as
ingenious.
false.
Meantime the year closed with massacres, of
which that of Kara Hissar was typical. Every house
was searched for Armenians, Moslems or Christians.
When any fugitive was discovered in a Greek's house its
Zeitum has
inhabitants were at once butchered.
one
of
the
been
mentioned
as
places at which
already
a massacre had taken place. Its inhabitants have for
centuries occupied a place which in reference to Asia
Minor corresponds generally to the condition of Montenegro. It was a mountainous region which was inhabited
It once formed part of the
solely by Armenians.
Little
of
Armenia, which had been established
kingdom
Its mountains and defiles were
Crusaders.
the
by
When
the Armenians were attacked
of
defence.
easy
they defended themselves bravely, but in presence of
the enormous forces sent by Abdul against them, it
was impossible that they could have held out. The
Sultan was determined to destroy the whole of them.
All the Powers took interest in their fate.
Queen
Victoria herself sent a letter to Abdul Hamid, beseeching
The intervention of the
to spare its inhabitants.
of
the
British
and
Queen, saved them.
Powers,
especially
him
It is satisfactory to record that some good Moslems

revolted at the baseness of the advice given by Abdul
Hamid's agents to Moslem subjects. One instance may
be given where an Imam of a large mosque spoke up
boldly in opposition to the advice of Abdul Hamid's
emissary. He is described as a venerable old man with
white hair and beard ; the mosque was full of Believers
"
" led in
for many years. When
he had
prayer
the emissary from Constantinople had finished speaking,
"
You
he energetically replied in the following fashion
have known me during all your lives as a good Moslem.
I tell you that Islam teaches that Moslems are to respect
the lives and property of the children of the books
whom
'
'
239
is, Christians and Jews) unless they are in revolt

against the Faithful. No man amongst you dare stand
up and tell me that the Armenians in our town are, or
have been, in revolt. They are quiet, peaceful people,
and their lives and property are to be respected. This
man from Constantinople states that he brings a mesI do not believe it, because
sage from the Padisha.
the Sultan would never attempt to set aside the
I tell
teachings of Mahomet.
you as a good Moslem
if
of
take
in
that
any
part
you
pillaging or killing the
Armenians, he is acting against the law of God and His
Prophet, and he will have to answer for it in the Day of
Judgment. In that great day I shall be ready to stand
up before Allah Himself and bear witness that I uttered
I will accuse
this warning.
any man who takes part in
the action recommended by this emissary from Constantinople." Such utterances were probably not numerous,
but there was hardly a town in which pious Mahometans
did not shelter or seek to shelter Armenians during the
(that
massacres which commenced in 1894.

An abundance of evidence shows that massacres on
a huge scale took place throughout all the Armenian
The number of killed and of those who died

from exposure and hardship consequent on the massacres
will never be accurately known.
The Armenians estimate it at 350,000. Few observers have put the number
of victims lower than 100,000, but even they recognise
that it is quite possible that they have underestimated
them.
It may be admitted that
the proscriptions, the
provinces.
arrests, the torturings, the
murders, during the years

of the Armenians,
who were residing outside the country, to something
like madness. One may well excuse those who had had
relations murdered from not looking calmly upon the
preceding 1894 had driven many
pandemonium which
existed.
While denouncing the utter and inexplicable stupidity

and wickedness of Abdul Hamid's government of
Armenia, many observers also denounced the sending
of revolutionary Armenians from Russia to provoke
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
240
insurrection.
Armenians
They urged,
in the
quite
correctly,
that
the
country would never have a chance
of
success in
any rising.
Abdul Hamid never forgot the indignation in England
and Russia consequent on the Press exposure of the
Moslem outrages in Bulgaria, and was always keenly
anxious to prevent the publication of his deeds in any
section of the European Press.
It was the knowledge
of these facts which made the extremists among the
Armenian exiles in Russia conclude that the only
method of attracting the attention of Europe was to
stir up agitation in Armenia itself and thereby provoke
massacres.
One of the earliest notices that appeared of them in
England was in the Daily Telegraph of April 2, 1895, sent
In it he made the followby its special commissioner.
"
statements
The
Armenian
ing
population throughout the entire country are exhibiting a marvellous
degree of patience under treatment which would rouse
any other people to open rebellion. The mischievous
remarks of people writing from Tiflis concerning the
workings of a secret society, and so forth, are utterly
devoid of truth. There is no secret society, worthy the
name, in Armenia now. The Armenians are incapable
of guarding secrets or of being welded into a powerful
and the revolutionary plans talked of are
organisation
but the injustice and oppression
a mirage of the brain
of which the Armenian people are the victims would
change the most loyal of Europeans into rebels. Women
are being constantly insulted, assaulted, and dishonoured;
property is being seized by violence ; men, women,
and children struck, wounded and killed and Christ's
religion publicly reviled. Those who dare to complain
are imprisoned, and the highest officials who enjoy the
Sultan's confidence offer the very worst example. Every
day I see property of Christian merchants publicly
taken away by Mahometans, and when these helpless
people kept their shops closed to avoid pillage the
Governor-General himself ordered them to be opened.
"
Two days ago, three Armenian ladies came to me
:
241
for protection. They did not fear death, they said, but
only dishonour, and they had been told by Turkish
officers that when the riot began each one of them would
be handed to certain officers who had marked them for
their own. The female teachers of an Armenian Protestant school at Erzeroum took refuge with the American
missionary's family, as they were all too much alarmed
to spend the night in the school-house."
"
The collection of taxes offers opportunity for
exaction and nameless injustice. I am enabled to state
as an absolute fact that the governmental tax-gatherers
are no longer satisfied with the money due to the
Treasury, or the usual bribes for themselves, but indulge
in wanton cruelties such as tying men to posts, flogging
them,
rubbing
mouth and
ears
fresh
;
manure
into
their
eyes,
nose,
slowly pouring cold water over them
while they stand naked in snow

and forcing them to
walk barefoot over sharp thorn bushes."
When the correspondent of the Daily 'Telegraph
wrote, serious massacres had already taken place. Abdul
Hamid had taken his measures carefully and had almost
succeeded in keeping correspondents out of the country.
;
Two, however, succeeded in reaching Armenia, one

on the pretext that he was an engineer and was taking
notes and drawings for a proposed railway, and the
second as his dragoman, or interpreter. As, however,
they were constantly liable to have their notes inspected,
they had almost entirely to trust to their memories.
Both were deeply impressed with what they saw and
heard. Both recognised that the Turkish statement of
a revolutionary movement due to committees which
existed in Russia was greatly exaggerated, though they
declared that the persecution to which the Armenians
were subject would have justified much more serious
movements than had actually taken place.
An outcry arose in Europe against the concealment
for the truth was
of the news of what was going on
;
gradually leaking out. Abdul Hamid, always sensitive

to the influence of the foreign Press, was desirous of
leading foreigners to believe that what he had done
242
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
and was doing in Armenia was necessitated by revolutionary movements mainly due to the influence of
Armenians in Russia instigated by Russian agents.
The correspondents in Constantinople of every important

European journal remained loyal to the truth. But
very little news had been allowed to reach the capital.
Instances of instigation or revolutionary movements of
which they had obtained evidence were at once published,
but they soon understood that events were happening
which they could obtain no trustworthy evidence.
American and French missionaries, Protestant and
Catholic, still remained in Armenia, and at the risk of
their lives sent accounts to the United States Minister in
Constantinople or to the British or French Ambassadors
of what they saw. But the Turkish authorities exercised
of
the most strict censorship of all letters, and refused to

send telegrams the contents of which were suspected.
One of the features to which foreign Consuls called
attention was that the Armenians could save their
To the honour of the
lives if they became Moslems.
the
followed
race, they
example of their fathers, and,
The
few
a
in
cases, refused to apostasize.
except
to
the
to
resist
will
of
perversion
required
strength
for
the
women
was
of
Islam
greater perhaps
religion
than for the men. Some letters written by Armenians
were smuggled into the capital. One, written by the
Armenian who, like so many of his

had
come to Constantinople to take
countrymen,
wife of a poor
domestic service, remitting nearly the whole of his

earnings to his family explained to her husband that
Moslems had come to the house, one of whom was
armed with a long knife, and had offered her and other
women the alternative of perversion or death. She
mentioned that a bright boy of six or seven years of age
was seized by the Turk with a knife, who threatened
to cut his throat unless she
would
Mahometanism.
accept
" You
know what a dear chap
She added in her letter,
he is, and, God forgive me, I changed and became
Moslem. Many women in our town have done the same,
and the Turks tell us that in the course of two or three

we
243
Other
with the change."
were
smuggled
testimony
containing
into Constantinople by Europeans or kindly Moslems
coming from Armenia, who hated the loathsome
brutality of Abdul Hamid's treatment of peaceful
years
shall be content
letters
similar
The fullest source of information, however,

peasants.
was furnished by Consuls and missionaries.
As these and other communications, which escaped
the vigilance of the Turkish censors and spies, were
creating a strong hostile opinion in Europe and America,
Abdul Hamid gladly availed himself of an opportunity,
as he thought, of giving his version of the massacres
through
an
important
American
Mr.
newspaper.
New Tork
Herald, had arrived

in Constantinople, and was received by the Sultan as
one of the princes of the Press. It is unimportant to
know whether the suggestion of sending a special
commissioner on behalf of his paper came from his
Gordon Bennett,
of the
Majesty or from Mr. Bennett, but each was willing

that a commissioner should be sent Mr. Bennett because
it would enable his newspaper to be the first to give an
account of the recent events and conditions in Armenia
from actual observation Abdul Hamid because he hoped
:
and probably believed that his own version of the

events could be imposed on the American people as a
true one.
In Constantinople the Gallios were amused,
and remarked that the Sultan was at his old tricks but
;
who
desired that the world should learn the truth

were alarmed. This alarm increased when the name of
an extremely able man was mentioned as having been
those
chosen by Mr. Bennett as his correspondent. As it

was well known in the capital that the proposed correspondent's visit to the city had been for business where
the support of Abdul Hamid was desired, it was judged
by the leading Americans that he should be accompanied
by another whose statements would be regarded as
beyond suspicion. Mr. Bennett was therefore seen by
Dr. Washburn, the President at that time of Robert
College, who pointed out the unsuitability of having
as a commissioner a man who was reputed, rightly or
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
244
wrongly, to be seeking favours from the Sultan.

Mr. Bennett received Dr. Washburn's representations
with the independence which characterised him. He
neither wished to give the Turkish nor the Armenian
view. He wanted news for his paper, but it must be
truth and not fiction. After considerable consultation,
it was agreed that a
literary man of high reputation in
America should be joined as a second commissioner on
The commissioner
behalf of the New York Herald,.
named was the Rev. Geo. Hepworth, a Presbyterian
clergyman, who had turned his attention largely to
journalism. We have Mr. Hepworth's own account of
his journey and of what he saw. 1 His book is itself a
model of what such an account should be. He declares
in his Preface that from the first he determined to be
He kept his promise and his volume indicates

a thoughtful and trustworthy man, with eyes to see and
principles strong enough to resist the temptations
thrown in his way to pervert truth. The accounts
given on various occasions of efforts made to prevent
him seeing persons other than those who were in the
pay of Abdul Hamid are amusing and suggestive but
Mr. Hepworth was not a man to be deceived by Turkish
impartial.
The commissioners were accompanied by

cunning.
three of the Sultan's aides-de-camp and a secretary.
The attempts made to prevent them from getting other
information than from sources favourable to Abdul
Hamid
Mr. Hepworth says

occur again and again.
that can legitimately be said against the Armenians.
Yet he points out how some of them were worried into
rebellion by attacks from the Kurds. He admits that
the Russian Committee of revolutionary Armenians
urged rebellion. He puts the matter however in its
" When I
true light
say that the Armenian massacres
were caused by Armenian revolutionists, I tell a truth
and a very important truth, but it is not the whole
truth. It would be more correct to say that the presence
of the revolutionists gave occasion and excuse for the
all
&
"
Through Armenia on Horseback," by the Rev. Geo. Hepworth.

London, 1898.
Co.,
Isbister
245
massacres. That the Turks were looking for an occasion

and an excuse, no one can doubt who has traversed that
country." His testimony is valuable also in reference

to the general relations between the Turks, in which
are included the Kurds, and the Armenians. As already
economic question had much to do

between the respective adherents of the
two faiths. But it is well to see what a keen-eyed
observer says on the subject
"
Way down in the bottom of his heart, the Turk
hates the Armenian. He will swear to the contrary,
but I am convinced that the statement is true neverThe reasons for this are abundant, as I have
theless.
insisted upon, the
with
hostilities
tried to
show
is
in other chapters of this book. The Turk

jealous of the Armenian, jealous of his
extremely
mental superiority,
of his thrift
and business
enterprise.
He
has therefore resorted to oppression, and his steady

purpose has been, and is now, to keep his victims poor.
Equal opportunities for all are a delusion and a snare.

exist, and it is not intended that they shall
exist. If the Turk could have his own way, unhampered
by the public opinion of Europe, there would neither
be an Armenian nor a missionary in Anatolia at the end
of twenty years, for both are equally obnoxious."
"
If you put an Armenian and a Turk side by side
in a village it will hardly be twelve months before the
Turk will retire impoverished because the Armenian
has absorbed the business. The Turk has conquered
the Armenian by force of arms, but the Armenian has
the better of the Turk by force of brains. Up to the
time of the recent massacres the Turk was continually
losing money, while the Armenian grew richer every
They do not
day."
The truth here stated by Mr. Hepworth that the

Turks had conquered the Armenians by force of arms,
but that the Armenians had the better of the Turks by
is one which should never be
forgotten.
had much to do with increasing the
fanaticism
Religious
It has always been
hostility between the two races.
force of brains,
appealed to by tyrants
like
Abdul Hamid
to stir
up the
246
ABDUL HAMID
LIFE OF
Moslems against the Christians, but

the groundwork of disaffection already existed in the
jealousy of the superior intelligence and consequent
prosperity of the Christians.
When the commissioners reached Armenia they saw,
in spite of the attempts of the aides-de-camp and others
to prevent them, that the evidence on the spot gave a
disaffection of the
very different impression from what they had received.

" It is one
" to read about
thing," says Mr. Hepworth,
the tragedy, the stupid blundering tragedy, when you
are seated in your easy chair, thousands of miles away,
but a very different thing to look into the wan and
wrinkled faces of women whose homes have been

broken up, and who were compelled to fly to the mountains amid the snows of winter in order to save themselves and their children while their husbands and
fathers lay dead under the deserted roof."
The massacres commenced in 1894, and continued
"
it would be
during three years. Mr. Hepworth says
but a moderate estimate to say that 50,000 were killed.
These victims were mostly heads of families," and takes
no notice of those who perished from cold and exposure.
Sir William Ramsay, who knows Asia Minor as well as
"
Abdul Hamid is responsible
any Englishman, says
for half a million deaths, a still larger number who have
suffered permanently from destitution, torture, mutilation, loss of property, of honour, etc., can vie with
Not one spark of any
Mongols like Tamarlane.
illumined
or
his life or ennobled
great quality
grand
:
his fall."
The Armenians throughout
the massacres mentioned

Many cases were
gave many examples
and
British
in
the Blue Books
in
newspapers
published
of men and women who refused to save their lives by
of heroism.
the abandonment of their religion. They cannot justly

be charged with cowardice. Though the people had been
repeatedly disarmed they often made a bold stand.
Mr. Hepworth remarks on various occasions upon the
dreadful alternative presented to the Armenians to
"
turn Moslems or be exterminated." ..." The poor
247
fellows at Birijik looked into the faces of their wives

and children whose fate depended on their decision.
It was a tragic scene, and tragic moment
in other parts were being murdered by
their brethren
hundreds. The
They surrendered
;
cemeteries were glutted with victims.

and saved their lives. But the majority met their
doom with the true and indomitable spirit of martyrdom
and were as noble in their death as they were faithful
in their lives."
Alluding to the abandonment of their faith by a few

he adds: "Let those who think that they
would prefer to have their skulls broken with a club
blame the people of Birijik, if they choose to do so. I
can only say that I myself dare not do it." " Think
"
of women," says he,
holding their honour at such a
that
they deliberately leaped from the bank
price
of the Euphrates and sank beneath the raging torrent
rather than submit to the lust of the Kurd. Can the
old days of persecution furnish nobler examples of
"
He raised his hat to their
self-sacrifice than these ?
honour as he passed the place from which they threw
themselves.
From this account by an impartial American it is
well to pass to one of equally unexceptionable authority
furnished by a British official, Mr. Gerald Fitzmaurice, who was chief dragoman at the British
Embassy until the declaration of war with Turkey
in Birijik,
October, 1914, and who had already been many

years in the employ of the British Government,
He had
for which he had done valuable work.
a
for
his
skilful
knowledge of
reputation
acquired
the various forms of Turkish, and had gained the
confidence of Moslems and Christians alike. Sir Philip
Currie, who in 1896 was our Ambassador to the Porte,
had done his utmost, but in vain, to obtain the Sultan's
consent to the amelioration of the Armenians. He
in
probably knew more of what was going on in Armenia

than the Ambassador in Constantinople of any other
Power, but he regretted that his information was scanty.
Abdul Hamid had dammed the supply
of news.
He
248
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
succeeded, however, in 1896, in obtaining permission

from the Sultan to send Mr. Fitzmaurice to Birijik. The
special object assigned him, and on which Sir Philip had
exacted permission, was to inquire on behalf of the British
Government into the cases of conversion from Christianity to the Moslem faith which had taken place in
that and neighbouring towns. Probably Abdul Hamid
had not much objection to allow a British representative
make such inquiry because the majority of conversions

Such
of women who had been taken into harems.
women, to save their reputation, were often, perhaps
to
were
even usually, ready to pretend that they had been

voluntary converts. Birijik was specially mentioned
because a number of women there were known to have
accepted Mahometanism. Mr. Fitzmaurice's statement
1
is contained in a report dated March 5,
His
1896.
story of the conversions in Birijik is the following. The
command in the town asked the Christians to
surrender their arms, otherwise he could not protect
them. The Christians, believing that the implied offer
was a genuine one, foolishly trusted in his word, and all
the arms that had been left to them were sent to the
Konak or Government House. The Kaimakan, or
Assistant Governor, was one of the Moslems who loathed
the task of carrying out Abdul's orders. As usual,
religious fanaticism had been aroused, and the Moslem
mob was eager for a conflict with the Christians and for
the looting of their houses. The mob turned their wrath
"
as an
against the Kaimakan, and reproached him
officer in
uncircumcised infidel, with protecting Christians, and

with concealing the Sultan's orders for their exterminaThe story of such concealment was current in
tion."
Armenia among Moslems and Christians alike for few
of the Governors dared to contradict the statement that
Abdul Hamid had signed such orders. On the Kaimakan
remaining firm and expressing his determination to
protect the Christians, the mob took the matter into their
own hands. The officer at the head of the troops refused
to keep his own promise to protect them. Thereupon
;
Blue Book.
Turkey No.
5,
1896.
249
there began a scene similar to what had taken place in

many other towns. Every Armenian house, whether
its occupants belonged to the National Church or were
Roman Catholics or Protestants, was pillaged, ruined
and desecrated.
Once more a kindly Moslem
of
good position
tried to
protect his Christian neighbours. He begged the officer

"
" with tears in his
in command
to give him a few
eyes
soldiers to go into the Armenian quarter and help to save
His request was refused. The Christian

could.
was
surrounded.
Many had taken refuge in a
quarter
where
large building
they were menaced with death.
Surrounded by a howling crowd, abandoned by the
A woman ascended
soldiers, their position was hopeless.
what he
the roof of the building and, showing a white flag, declared that all within it had become Mahometans. Mr.
Fitzmaurice, speaking of what had happened, says

"
They accepted Islam to save their lives, to save themselves from certain death."
An official report had been issued by Abdul Hamid's
creatures which represented the conversions as voluntary. As usual in such cases, it was a huge lie. Even on
the occasion of Mr. Fitzmaurice's visit the fanatical
" was
determined to kill any
element, he declares,
convert who renounced Islam."
Perhaps the most gruesome story, amid many horrors
recounted by Mr. Fitzmaurice, relates to the City of
Urfa, the ancient Edessa. He describes the massacre
which took place in October preceding his visit and,
especially, on December 28 and 29. Before it commenced
the city contained 70,000 souls, of whom 30,000 were
Armenians. The action of Abdul Hamid and the movements among the Armenians had created great tension
between the two classes of the community, and little
was required to bring about fighting between the
troops, aided by the armed Moslem majority, and the
:
Christians.
In the previous October an Armenian requested a

to pay a debt. The Moslem saw an opportunity
of escaping payment by appealing to the fanaticism of
Moslem
LIFE OF
250
ABDUL HAMID
His house was not

some distance from
his co-religionists.
quarter, but at
in the
Armenian
He had
the
iends in refusing to pay.
Mr. Fitzmaurice states that all the Armenians had
been disarmed, and they, as well as the Moslems,
believed that Abdul Hamid had sent orders for their
extermination. The Moslems cut off the water supply
to the Armenian quarter, and no person was permitted
to carry food into it after the end of October.
The
sympathy
of his
it.
Armenian bishop
tried to telegraph to the Sultan, but

the disturbances he had taken refuge in a
monastery outside the town, and was there kept a
Neither he nor any other Armenian was
prisoner.
allowed to telegraph or send letters by post. In the
Armenian quarter was a brave American lady, a Miss
Shattuck, who was greatly respected, not only by the
Armenians of the town, but by all who knew her. As
orders apparently had been sent from Constantinople
to be careful not to allow any foreigner to be attacked,
she was permitted to leave the town an hour before
the great massacre of December 28 commenced.
In the interval between the end of October and the
last days of December the Armenians assisted each
other.
They were now effectively in a state of siege.
The water supply being cut off, they reopened old wells
and carefully caught rain water. They managed also
to obtain a scanty supply of food. Many messengers
were sent out to take the news of their condition
to other places, but all were caught and stripped.
The mean trick of attempting to deceive the outside
public was resorted to by compelling the Armenians
to sign a telegram stating that tranquillity had been
failed.
Amid
restored.
On December
28 the leading Armenians gathered in a

and
great
ugly church, which was the cathedral. They
drew up a statement of their fears and asked protection.
The
officer in charge of the troops promised that it

should be given, but hardly had the promise been given
The cathedral, in
before the massacre commenced.
which were the intended victims, was surrounded by a
251
double ring of soldiers and mob. At the mid-day prayer

a mollah waved a green flag, the emblem of the Moslem
faith.
Mr. Fitzmaurice states that thereupon " soldiers
and mob rushed on the Armenian quarter and began a
massacre of the males over a certain age." One of the
"
A certain
ghastly incidents recorded is as follows
sheik ordered his followers to bring as many stalwart
young Armenians as they could find. To the number of
about 100 they were thrown on their backs and held
down by their hands and feet, while the sheik, with a
combination of fanaticism and cruelty, proceeded, while
:
reciting verses of the Koran, to cut their throats after

the Mecca rite of sacrificing sheep." Meantime, all the
houses in the Armenian quarter were being plundered.
Many women
male
lost their lives in trying to protect their
relations.
The massacre on that day, which began by the

waving of the green flag, ceased at sunset by trumpet
All outrages came to an end for that day.
sound.
Here, as throughout the massacres, their organisation
In some places
carefully and officially complete.
both
commenced
and
ended
with
the sound of
they
trumpet.
On the following day, Sunday, December 29, the
trumpet sounded the signal for the attack to commence.
Moslems who had not taken part in these on the previous
day seemed to have been unwilling not to receive their
share in the plunder of Christian houses, and on this day
Savage butchery continued
joined the Moslem mob.
"
until noon, and
then culminated in an act," says
"
Mr. Fitzmaurice, which for fiendish barbarity is one to
which history can furnish few, if any, parallels." The
language of Mr. Fitzmaurice is exceptionally strong here,
but it may safely be said that nothing, even in recent
Turkish history, is on the whole more loathsomely
brutal than the incident he relates. It was the deliberate
sacrifice of a cathedral full of disarmed people at a
time when it is not even alleged that there was rebellion,
was
riot,
will
or even resistance.
The
ugly, barn-like building
hold about 8,000 people, and on Saturday evening
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
252
was crowded with refugees. A general belief existed

there and elsewhere in Turkey, which was not without
some foundation in fact, that unarmed people who took
refuge within a church would not be molested. Even
within the recollection of
many
in
Constantinople the
alarm of an anti-Christian or anti- Jewish riot caused

the churches and synagogues to fill rapidly.
Such
buildings, indeed,
turies,
erected during the last three cen-
always have the appearance of being built to
support a siege.
On the Saturday night the Armenian priest in the
cathedral entered a record upon one of the pillars of the
church, which was read by Mr. Fitzmaurice, to the
effect that he had administered a last communion to
All these persons remained
i, 800 members of his flock.
all night in the church and were joined by several
hundred more who believed that they were in a place of
When the church was attacked on the Sunday
safety.
morning it is estimated that there were at least 3,000
The outside mob was well armed,
people within it.
the Christians within absolutely without arms.
The
attack commenced by firing in through the windows
and by trying to break down the doors. After a short
time the iron door was smashed in. The mob entered
with a rush and killed all who were on the ground floor,
all of
whom
women and children having

The church treasures were at
The ornaments and shrines were torn down,
were men, the
gone into the gallery.

once
rifled.
amid
cries
from the
mob
"
Call on Christ to prove

Himself a greater prophet than Mahomet."
The huge gallery was partly stone and partly wood,
and was packed with a terrified and shrieking mass of
women and children, with a few men. Some of the mob
began picking off men with revolver shots, but this process of killing Christians
of
was too
tedious.
Churches and mosques in Turkey are usually covered

with straw matting, often indeed several layers thick.
Many of the refugees had taken into the church their
yorghans, a kind of eiderdown, which may be used either
This mass of matting, and of
as a bed or a covering.
253
yorghans, was collected together with other combustible

materials, and arranged so that when set fire to they
would burn the galleries. Then thirty tins of petroleum
were poured over the mass and on the dead bodies of
those lying about on the ground floor, and fire was set to
the whole. The gallery beams and staircase soon caught
fire, and then the mob left the mass of struggling human
beings to become the prey of the flames.
Abdul Hamid had beaten the record even of massacres
Turkey. The slaughter at Urfa was

sytematically conducted, like those of so many other
At half-past three on that terrible
places in Armenia.
Sunday afternoon the trumpet once more sounded the
mob withdrew, and the Mufti and other Moslem notables
went round the Armenian quarter to proclaim that the
slaughter was at an end.
Mr. Fitzmaurice reported that 126 families were so
completely wiped out that not even a woman or a baby
remained. No distinction was made in the slaughter
between the various forms of Christianity which the
victims professed. The majority were Gregorians, that
is to
say, professed the national religion of the race, but
He
there were also Roman Catholics and Protestants.
estimates that on the two days December 28 and 29
of Christians in
nearly 8,000 persons perished, and of these, between

2,500 and 3,000 were killed in the cathedral. Between
400 and 500 persons, during the siege, became Moslems.
Mr. Gladstone, speaking at the time of these outrages,
"
declared that
the powers of language hardly suffice to
describe what has been done and is being done in
Armenia, and that exaggeration is almost beyond power."
Massacre in Constantinople.
The story of massacres of Armenians during the reign

Abdul Hamid does not end with the slaughter in the
Armenian Provinces. A foolish demonstration made by
of
Armenians took place in Constantinople itself in September, 1895. All the Powers remonstrated, but did nothing
else.
The Turks naturally knew what was being done
L I FE 0F ABDUL HAMID
254
and prepared
to anticipate
it
by a Moslem onslaught
of
greatly superior force. The mob, consisting of the lowest

of the Mahometans, largely enforced by the many Kurds
who were then
in Constantinople, were prepared with

sticks, usually having a piece of angle-iron affixed at one
"
end. Those so armed were spoken of as
sopajis," and
on a given day the signal was given for attacking

the Armenians in Stamboul, Galata, Pera, and in the
villages on each side of the Bosporus. There were
many thousands of them resident in these portions of
the capital. It had long been the habit of members
of families in Armenia to send the husbands, and
after them the sons of the family, to Constantinople
Most of the caretakers

and shops belonged to
The great majority were honest and
in order to earn their living.

or guardians of khans, offices
this
class.
trustworthy servants, earned the respect of their

employers, and did not meddle in politics. The proportion of wages which they remitted to their families
was very large, often amounting to three-quarters
In former times Moslems had
of their earnings.
been
unwilling to take service under Chrisusually
tians, whether natives or foreigners, though during
the first thirty years of last century they had begun
to do so.
They were then largely replaced by
Armenians. The result was that the class of hamals
or porters, the guardians, and messengers were nearly
all Christians, without being willingly unfair to the
poor Moslems, who are, to say the least, equally as
trustworthy as the Armenians most foreigners would

agree that, on the whole, the Moslems showed less
intelligence in the performance of their duties than
Even the poorest Armenian could
did Armenians.
read and write his own language, and for all services
mentioned such an acquisition was a great advantage.
;
The result was that in the course of half a century

Armenians from the provinces had largely replaced
Moslems in these positions of trust. Thereby jealousy
was created, and this, added to the great religious
hostility, led to the
massacre in the capital in 1895,
ATTACKS ON ARMENIANS IN CAPITAL
255
the object of which, in popular opinion, was to clear

out the whole of the poor Armenians in the capital
and replace them by Moslems.

The attack upon them a year later was much more
Had there been
savage and equally unjustifiable.
on this occasion also any decent police regulations,
coupled with the will to preserve order without
massacre, nothing serious would have happened. It
was well understood, however, at the time that the
Moslem mob was acting according to the will, and
even by express orders from, Abdul Hamid. During
two days in August, 1896, the Armenians were
murdered in the streets of Constantinople itself
wherever found. There was no resistance or attempt
at resistance. There were, however, in the city a few
Armenians of Russian nationality, some of whom were
desperate men, prepared to resist and determined to
make a demonstration against Abdul Hamid, but
they were an insignificant portion of the number of
Armenians in the capital. The sopajis went about in
gangs and knocked every Armenian on the head
whom they met. Every foreigner had a story to tell
of some
outrage of which he had heard or been a
witness.
The villages on the Bosporus in which
isolated families of Armenians had been residing all
their lives, men as little
likely to take part in a public
disturbance as the occupants of suburban dormitories
around London would be, were hunted down relentlessly.
Many instances occurred in which Moslems of

who loathed the outrages which were going on,
position,
did their
utmost to save the Armenians. Amongst such men

should be mentioned Marshal Fuad Pasha. He had been
a
of General SkobelefL
were young, and there was much
in common between them.
Both were daring and
soldiers.
Fuad
in
late
generous
years had come to be
with
Hamid on account of
Abdul
regarded
suspicion by
friend,
Both men
generation earlier,
at that time
It was generally believed that the

Sultan was responsible for several attempts upon his life,
his out-spokenness.
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
256
but he was surrounded

by a body of faithful Croats and
each
of
whom
was ready to shed his blood in
Albanians,
his master's defence.
When the order was given from
the Palace, that is, from Abdul, to attack the
Armenians,
Fuad was residing on his farm immediately behind
Kadikewi, the ancient Chalcedon, where he had a
military command. When he learned what the orders
were he immediately sent to the local authorities in the
villages on the Asiatic side of the Bosporus to say that
the Armenians were to be protected and that he would
hold the officials personally responsible if any Armenian
were killed or molested. His vigour and
activity during
the two days of massacre were remarkable. When he
heard of the bloodshed on the opposite shore of the
Bosporus he sent messengers in every direction to
renew his orders, and in this way the lives of hundreds
of Armenians were saved.
Nor was he alone. An
old Mollah, also residing on the Asiatic side, was
acquainted with a British family living some eight miles
from Constantinople in a purely Turkish village. The
head of the household was a Scotchman, who, together
with his family, had rendered generous and constant
service to the poor Mahometans of the village, but the
Imam
appeared to resent the residence of foreigners in
The Mollah, who knew the village and the

family, was aware of the dangerous spirit
aroused by religious fanaticism, and believed that the
isolated houses would be attacked, possibly even by
some of the villagers who had received favours from it.
He therefore took down his old gun, seated himself on
the doorstep of the Christian house, and let it be understood that he would shoot the first Moslem who attempted
the village.
British
to enter
it.
Many
similar incidents
might be quoted.
The protection afforded by Fuad Pasha to the

Armenians rendered him more than ever an object of
hatred to the Sultan. Further attempts, which happily
failed, were made upon his life, and even his sons were
frequently harassed.
It was during these attacks that an incident occurred
which deserves record of attacks by Kurds in the quarter

of Constantinople,
trict there
and
were a
257
known as Kum Capu. 1 In that dislarge number of resident Armenians,
it is the cathedral church and the

the Armenian Patriarch.
The British
Society of Friends had gradually built up an Institution
intended solely for the benefit of poor Armenians.
Armenian women seem to have a transmitted faculty
for needlework, and the founders of the establishment
in the midst of
residence
of
organised working parties of girls and women, where

embroidery and other needlework was done which helped
the workers to live. At the head of it was Miss Burgess,
a lady of great energy and of fertile activity in all that
related to the advancement of girls. The latter received
own
The Institution
language.
It soon came to be understood in the neighbourhood that it was not established
for the propagation of any form of Christian faith, but
that its objects were humanitarian, and that there was
no sort of gain sought or obtained by those who conducted it. During the earlier massacres the Institution
had to pass through a troublesome time. The streets in
the neighbourhood were patrolled by Turkish soldiers, as
well as by a Turkish and Kurdish mob. When the agitation against the Armenians became exceptionally great,
the British Consul sent a request, which almost amounted
to an order, that Miss Burgess and the British teachers
working with her should leave and go to Pera, the
instruction
became
in
large
their
and
successful.
European quarter. Mis Burgess indignantly replied

that she could not and would not desert her Armenian
Then came an order " Hoist the British flag."
girls.
The ladies of the Society of Friends are probably not
learned in the matter of flags, and as it was impossible
to send a messenger from Stamboul to Galata to buy one,
their only servants being Armenian, the ladies had to
make one to answer the purpose. Woman's ingenuity
was not at fault, and something like a Union Jack was
1
It is worth noting that most of the great gates of Constantinople have names
which, when translated, resemble those found in London or in other parts of
Sandgate Eski Capu, Oldgate Yeni Capu,
England. Thus Kum Capu
Newgate Top Capu, Canongate Egri Capu, Crooked Gate.
258
LIFE OF
made which, sewn on

the purpose.
angrily how
British flag,
ABDUL HAMID
to a piece of red cloth,
When Abdul Hamid's
answered
zaptiehs inquired
was that Armenians dared to hoist the

the answer was a reference to the British
it
Embassy. Happily the Institution escaped attack.

The great slaughter of Armenians in Constantinople
terminated with a daring but foolish attack made
upon the Ottoman Bank. On August 26, 1896, half a
dozen Russian Armenians with a few Turkish subjects
took part in the attack. It was foolish, because it was
unlikely to serve any useful purpose, the design of its
perpetrators being to show how easily public buildings
could be destroyed, and would be if redress were not
granted to Armenia. The chief director of the Bank,
Sir Edgar Vincent, now Lord D'Abernon, and the other
officials were greatly alarmed for the safety of the
which they were charged. The evidence

does not, however, point to any desire on the part of
the leaders to do injury to property which belonged
largely to foreigners. Hand grenades were thrown and
a small bomb was dropped from the roof into the street,
interests with
which already soldiers had hurried. Sir Edgar and

others wisely opposed any attack being made on the
rioters while they were in possession of the Bank. With
the consent of the Government the instigators were
to
permitted to negotiate and were promised personal

This they did, and were
safety if they surrendered.
allowed to take refuge on board Sir Edgar's yacht and,
subsequently, to leave the country.
The massacre in Constantinople itself caused the

Ambassadors to realise the horrors which had been
committed in Armenia. Corpses lying in the road at
Therapia and elsewhere before the Embassies compelled them to vigorous action. The first result was
to lead to the sending of an open telegram to Abdul
1
The Institution survived the storm until the Revolution in 1908, then
took new developments, greatly increased its number of scholars, and had the
open approval of even its Moslem neighbours, as well as of every fair-minded
man in the foreign communities. It continued to do noble work for the eleva-
it
tion of the large Armenian population in the neighbourhood of Kum

the declaration of war with England at the end of October, 1914.
Capu
until

Hamid, signed
by the representatives
of
259
all
the
Powers, telling the Sultan that the massacre must

" continuance meant
cease immediately, and that its
danger to his throne and dynasty." This startling
message, sent open and in French in order that it
might become publicly known, had an immediate

The massacre ceased at once. A few days
afterwards the following Collective Note was preeffect. 1
sented
" The
:
representatives of the Great Powers believe

duty to draw the attention of the Sublime
Porte to an exceptionally serious side of the disorders
which have recently stained with blood the capital
and its environs.
" It
is the declaration on positive data of the fact
the
that
savage bands which murderously attacked
the Armenians and pillaged the houses and shops,
which they entered under the pretence of looking for
agitators, were not accidental gatherings of fanatical
it
their
people, but presented every indication of a special

organisation known by certain agents of the authorities
if not directed
by them. This is proved by the following circumstances
"
(1) The bands rose simultaneously at different

points of the town at the first news of the occupation of
the Bank by the Armenian revolutionaries, before
even the police or an armed force had appeared on the
scene of the disorder, while the Sublime Porte admits

that information was received in advance by the
police regarding the criminal designs of the agitators.
"
(2) A great part of the people who composed
these bands were dressed and armed in the same
manner.
"
(3)
They were
soldiers, or
led
even police
or
accompanied by
softas,
who
not only looked

at their excesses, but at times even took
officers,
on unmoved
part in them.
1
The telegram was drafted by
Mr., afterwards Sir Michael Herbert, Charge

during the temporary absence of Sir Philip Currie, but signed by the
representatives of all the Powers.
d' Affaires
s 2
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
260
"
(4) Several heads of the detective police were

seen to distribute cudgels and knives
among these
Bashi-Bazuks, and point out to them the direction
to take in search of victims.
"
(5) They were able to move about freely, and
accomplish their crimes with impunity, under the
eyes of the troops and their officers, even in the
vicinity of the imperial palace.
"
(6) One of the assassins, arrested by the dragoman
of one of the embassies, declared that the soldiers
could not arrest him.
On being taken to Yildiz
he
was
received
Palace,
by the attendants as one of
their acquaintances.
"
Two
Turks, employed by Europeans, who

disappeared during the two days' massacre, declared,
on their return, that they had been requisitioned
and armed with knives and cudgels in order to kill
(7)
Armenians.
"
These facts need no comment.
"
The only remarks to be added
recall
force
are,
that they
what happened in Anatolia, and that such a

springing up under the eyes of the authorities,
and with the co-operation of certain of the latter's

agents, becomes an exceedingly dangerous weapon.
Directed to-day against one nationality of the country,
it
may be employed to-morrow against the foreign
colonies, or may even turn against those who tolerated
its
creation.
" The
representatives of the Great Powers do not
believe it right to conceal these facts from their Governments, and consider it their duty to demand of the
Sublime Porte that the origin of this organisation
should be sought out, and that the instigators and
principal actors should be discovered and punished
with the utmost rigour.
"
They are ready, on their part, to facilitate the
inquiry, which should be opened by making known
all the facts brought to their notice by eye-witnesses,
which they will take care to submit to a special
investigation."

To
261
this note, which, in diplomatic language, charged

or instigator of
Abdul Hamid with being the author
the massacre, the Porte replied denying that the attacks

on the Armenians by the Moslem mob had been
instigated by Government agents, pointing out that
among the dead there were many Mahometans who
had been attacked by Armenians, and promising

that the Mahometans as well as the Armenians who
took a leading part in the riots would be tried by a
special tribunal appointed for the purpose. No faith,
however, was placed in these statements.
To appease the Ambassadors and to save his own
reputation by throwing the blame on another, Abdul

dismissed Kutchuk Said, though no one
doubted that he was merely an instrument for carryKiamil, his
ing out the intentions of his master.
as
far
back
as
the
successor, recognised
beginning of
the
as
well
as
the
1895
stupidity
brutality of the
massacres. He had endeavoured to persuade Abdul
Hamid to accept a project of reforms for Armenia
already submitted by the Powers, and especially a
provision in it by which the Powers should have the
Hamid
right to appoint a foreign Commissioner to superintend their execution.

Abdul Hamid refused to
or
this
accept
provision
any modification of it.
Kiamil tried his best to organise a Turkish Commission

which the Ambassadors accepted, hoping
rather than expecting, in view of the rejection of their
own proposals, that it would be effective. His
He tendered his resignation
efforts were fruitless.
on two or three occasions, but the Sultan, knowing
that he was respected by the Ambassadors, refused
to accept it. The veteran Minister tried, and again
of Control
reforms
the
resignation was
Again
but
on
Sultan disNovember
the
refused,
6, 1895,
missed him, and sent him to be Governor of Aleppo
as a punishment. He was ill at the time, was carried
on board a steamer, and had to remain at Smyrna.
It need only be added here that Kiamil and the
failed, to
for
persuade the Sultan to institute
Armenia and resigned.
262
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
best of the Moslems disapproved of the Armenian

massacres. 1
These hideous deeds were done by order
of the Sultan in spite of his Ministers.
They were
none of them at this time strong men, but they did
their little best to be humane. In many cases Abdul
Hamid sent agents provocateurs into the Armenian
villages to incite the peasants to make foolish
declarations against the Sultan, and then had them
attacked for having made them.
Lord Salisbury, in 1897, in a public speech solemnly

warned Abdul Hamid of the " ultimate fate of misgoverned countries," and expressed his opinion of the
Sultan's conduct as strongly as one in his position
could do.
The Armenian troubles, rangingfasTthey did over
four or five years, did great material injury to Turkey.
They convinced all sections of the community that
Abdul Hamid had either insufficient intelligence to
that his perversity of hatred towards
see, or
Armenians made him unable to recognise that his
action was not only ruining the credit of Turkey, but
was destroying its industries and its commercial
He never seems to have understood that
class.
internal peace and quiet were essentials to industrial
prosperity. He took little interest in industries of any
kind, because he knew nothing of them. It is therefore not surprising that he sanctioned methods which
were ruinous to business enterprise. It was upon his
suggestion that local passports were required to
enable any person living in Turkey to pass from one
town or village to another, that an examination
took place of every passenger even who had obtained

such a passport, an examination in which the reason
for the journey was taken note of and any letters found
on him were read. Travelling for business purposes
but while foreigners
was thus largely diminished
were merely inconlawful
business
about
their
going
venienced by these restrictions, native Christians,
Greeks as well as Armenians, were practically con;
See note
at
end
of this chapter.

demned
to idleness.
hitherto employed
on account
Many commercial
Armenian
263
houses had
travellers or
bagmen,
acquaintance with the languages

of the country, to visit various districts of the
Empire to display samples of their merchandise
and obtain orders. It was always found difficult,
and in some cases impossible, to replace such men.
of their
Even
flourishing industrial institutions belonging

Europeans suffered largely from the hindrances
to business due to the difficulties imposed on travel. 1
to
Meantime, petty persecutions of the Armenians

existed throughout the country.
The attacks and
massacres in Constantinople itself were believed
amongst all classes of the community to be intended
to drive out all Armenians of the porter class from
the capital, and to replace them by Kurds and other
Moslems.
In this respect the persecution largely
succeeded. Hundreds of hamals or porters, guardians,
cooks, and other Armenians, were replaced by
Moslems. Villages in Armenia which had supplied
such men for even centuries, fathers being succeeded
by
their
sons,
became impoverished.
Indeed, the
persecution of the Armenians was,

of view, sheer folly. When coupled
treatment of thousands of
from every point

with the inhuman
industrious and peace-
loving citizens, it places Abdul Hamid in the list of

the enemies of the human race.
No other portion of the career of Abdul Hamid
more fairly and fully illustrates his policy, the limiThe
tations of his ability, and his habit of mind.
nourishing business had an

He managed to get
a letter smuggled through to the establishment in Constantinople, stating
that if he could obtain permission to leave the town where he lived he would
1
One
illustration
Armenian
creditor
may
be given as typical.
who had never
failed in his
payments.
have no difficulty in collecting amounts due to him and consequently in paying

that his customers had been
what was asked of him from Constantinople
accustomed to pay him or his traveller, and would not make payments to
In spite of the employment of influence with the Government, the
others.
In a hundred different ways business operations were
request was refused.
impeded. It is true that the Turks generally, being unaccustomed to business,
had very crude ideas of the elementary laws of economic science, and in this
the revenues
respect Abdul Hamid was a typical Turk. The result was that
of the country diminished and many business houses were closed.
;
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
264
Armenians, when he was girt with the sword of Osman,

though they had grievances, had not become troublesome subjects. The provinces mainly inhabited by
them were remote from the capital, and Moslem
opinion in Constantinople, which was practically all
which Abdul Hamid respected, cared little about
what was done to Christians in so distant a part of
the Empire.
At that time, had the Sultan been
sensible or gracious enough to grant a few rudimentary
reforms for the protection of life, honour and property,
the Armenians would have been grateful. Rightly or
wrongly they dreaded becoming subject to Russian
A wise ruler, even a Gallio, consulting only
rule.
his own convenience and the interest of his country,
could have flung them a few concessions which would
have made him popular. Such an idea never seems
to have occurred to him.
He sent Governors who
were notoriously robbing the people whom they
ought to have protected. He protected the wrongdoers even after he had been informed by the
Patriarch or the Foreign Embassies of the robberies
committed by them. If the pressure from an Embassy
became unusual, he removed the official and pro-
moted him
more lucrative
This, indeed, was

and his
Ambassadors
showing Foreign
way
Moslem subjects that he intended to govern Armenia
as he liked. Year by year he neglected every suggestion
to a
post.
of
his
made
for
the amelioration of the lot of the
Armenians, even when made by his own Ministers.

There was not a Consul belonging to any foreign
State who did not report hideous cases of torture
within his knowledge inflicted by Turkish officials
of the baser sort in order to extort money from
Armenian
please
prisoners, their friends or relations, or to

their own superiors.
The forms of torture
were hideous and inhuman.

selves complained of and, in
Turkish women themsome notable instances,
were made ill by the terrible shrieks indicating sufferings endured by prisoners against whom there was no
charge and who were never brought to trial. Even
265
before the great massacres of 1894 had commenced,

the pandemonium existing in the Armenian Provinces
was the most damnable of which modern European
It is futile to suggest that
history bears record.
Abdul Hamid was ignorant of these outrages. They
were brought to his notice by several Ambassadors,
and
also
by humane Moslem
subjects.
Such subjects,
indeed, became notoriously marked men.

During
the whole period of the massacres, 1893-97, every
European resident in Turkey heard stories of
Moslems who had been persecuted because they had

sheltered Armenians from the brutal cruelty of their
Sovereign.
The only excuse that an advocate for Abdul Hamid
could attempt to make for his conduct during this time
was that there was a disposition to rebel amongst the
Armenian people, and that he desired to prevent
rebellion coming to a head
but the excuse would have
few facts to support it. Independent observers testified
in the early years of Abdul's reign that the Armenians
were loyal and, for various reasons, preferred to remain
;
under Turkey's rule. The Armenians knew that, as

there was no Province in which there were a majority
of Christians, they had no chance of being formed into
an autonomous Christian State. Such a proposal was
never suggested in any newspaper either in Turkey, nor
probably outside. The reforms suggested by the British
Government and submitted by Sir Henry Layard and
successive Ambassadors would have produced loyal and
contented subjects. Abdul Hamid set himself from the
first
with such hostility towards every form of improve-
ment
in the position of his Armenian subjects as to lead

to general belief in Turkey that his opposition was due
to a personal sentiment of hatred towards them.
Whether
this was so or not it is impossible to say, but

at least safe to declare that, until the period of the
great massacres, he did nothing which indicated that
he had the desire to do justice to them or possessed
elementary ideas of statesmanship in regard to the rule
it is
of subject races.
LIFE OF
266
ABDUL HAMID
When we remember his conduct in organising the

massacres, in supporting every outrage committed upon
his own subjects, we shall not be far wrong in comparing
him, as Sir William Ramsay has done, with Tamerlane or
Nero, or any other enemy of the human race. A reckhuman
life seems to have taken

Abdul Hamid's conduct as a statesman under such circumstances will ever be condemned.
Assuming that the desire of a Sultan must be to preserve
his territory intact, and to make the whole of his
subjects loyal, Abdul Hamid took no measures in
reference to Armenia which tended to achieve either of
these results. His subjects were driven by him to look
to Russia for deliverance, and the inevitable result
followed, that they came to rejoice that the Provinces
occupied by them should be under Russian rule. Whatever may be the result of the world-war which is now
going on, we may take it as certain that such portion of
the Armenian population as remains will be well content
lessness of
suffering or
possession of him.
to be delivered from Turkish rule.

Note
i.
Notes on Visit to Armenia, by Dr. Rendel Harris.
Professor Rendel Harris and his wife visited
Armenia
in 1896.
The volume
of the correspondence between husband and wife

contains a most human account of the Armenian population
after the massacres.

Mrs. Harris was a woman of remarkable
power, whose sympathy induced men and women, not only
amongst the Armenians, but even Turkish women, to speak of
what they had seen. Her letters are full of touches of pathos and
insight into character, which make them specially

Starting from Alexandretta she journeyed to Aintab
and Urfa, where she visited the old Cathedral, the scene of the
great slaughter more completely described by Mr. Fitzmaurice ;
of
womanly
valuable.
passed on to Marden and then to Diarbekir, each of her letters

from these places being full of interest. At Malatia she describes
the act of a friendly Turkish
She visited the harem of this
Bey who helped the Armenians.

man who had defended them at
1 "
Letters from the Scenes of the Recent Armenian Massacres," by J. Rendel
Harris and Helen B. Harris. Published by James Nisbet & Co., Ltd., 1897.
267
and whose house at the time of the massacre

She saw a woman whose hand had been
a
severed
by sword, and whose wounds had been dressed
nearly
Turkish
ladies
of the home. In another place, she mentions
the
by
a Kurdish village whose inhabitants had refused to help in the
She adds, however,
massacre of their Christian neighbours.
that this was the only village out of a hundred which did refuse.
In consequence of their refusal, Turkish troops were sent who
destroyed and burnt the village as if it had been an Armenian
the risk of his
was
life
full of refugees.
one
In many places she bears testimony to the

(p. 174).
humanitarian work of American missionaries, especially of two
ladies, Miss Shattuck and Miss Bush, both of whom had devoted
their lives to service
amongst Armenian women.
Both she and
her husband speak of the devotion and veritable heroism of Dr.

Gates, at that time the President of the (American) Euphrates
College. Dr. Gates has been for the last seven years President
of Robert College, the successor of Dr. Geo. Washburn. His work
was highly appreciated in England, especially by the Committee

in aid of Armenian distress presided over by the Duke of Westminster. The University of Edinburgh, in recognition of his services to education, conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of
Mrs. Harris, writing from Harpoot on September 21st,
1896, alluding to the statements circulated in Constantinople
Laws.
and abroad that the Armenians themselves " always bring on

these troubles," says (speaking for the localities she knows)
"
a falsehood patent to all who witness the events. The

massacres are planned beforehand. The Armenians have been
This
is
deprived long since of their arms they are defenceless and cowed.
Do the sheep attack the wolf ? They have no recourse, no place
to flee to. Abject submission is their attitude, and their only
;
is dated
from Marsovan.
She speaks
enthusiastically about the great American College, its large staff
of teachers, and of the native professors, all of whom could converse
fluently in English. The present writer may add that seventeen
years afterwards, in 191 3, he visited this college and can add his
possible policy" (p. 207).
Mrs. Harris's last letter
November
is
18th, 1896, and
testimony to the useful work that it was then accomplishing. It

was still in full vigour under a new Director, Dr. White, while
the ladies mentioned by Mrs. Harris, namely, Miss Gage and Miss
Willard, were
still
in the full vigour of active
and useful
lives.
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
268
Note
2.
Summary
The following is
of Massacres in Armenia.
summary (mainly from Blue Books) of the most
important slaughters in Armenia during the great massacres

At the beginning of 1894, forty-one persons who had
surrendered at Yuzgat were killed
thirty-two villages in the
were
burned
in
and
most of the inhabitants
neighbourhood
June
:
killed
by order
In consequence of these
of the authorities.
was held in London in May, 1895, at which

and Westminster two men who were always
prominent in doing what was possible to protect the Armenians
were the most distinguished speakers. The following months
of the same year saw the worst of Abdul Hamid's doings
2,000
persons were murdered at Baiburt, 1,000 in Erzinghian, the same
number in Bitlis, 2,500 in Diabekir
all the above were in
October.
During November and December Harpoot, Sivas,
Marash, Gurun, Arabkir, and Kaiserea each had upwards of 1,000,
outrages a meeting
the Dukes of Argyll
the last-mentioned having 2,000.

The massacres in Urfa, Zeitun, Mush, and other places were
in 1896.
CHAPTER XI continued
ABDUL HAMID'S TREATMENT OF SUBJECT RACES
continued
Part
Want
III.
In
Macedonia.
of statesmanship in dealing with Macedonia ; all Powers

it for Turkey ; Abdul Hamid refuses to exe-
desire to save
cute reforms promised at Berlin
position occasions anxiety
to Bulgarians and Greeks ; difficulties arising from uncertainty of Ferdinand's position ; disputes between Orthodox
and Bulgarian Churches
Germany supports demands
for
Comitijis ; Murzsteg Programme, 1903

provisions ; failure of ; Austria's attitude doubtful
Hilmi Pasha's recommendations disregarded.
Bulgarian Bishops
its
Abdul Hamid's want of statesmanship was nowhere

more conspicuous than in his treatment of Macedonia.
He had witnessed the loss of Serbia and Bulgaria. In
Macedonia, adjoining Greece and these liberated States,
the people were mostly of the same race, religion, and
language as those of these adjacent countries, and a
ruler might have been expected to examine the circumstances under which they had been detached from the
Empire, and to ask himself how far similar circumstances
were likely to produce a similar result. Unhappily, his
treatment of Macedonia showed that he had learned
nothing.
Every European State appeared, at least,
to desire that it should remain under his rule. Its loss
to the Empire was due to Abdul Hamid.
The Province had suffered previous to his accession
from the same kind of mis-government which had led
to aspirations in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, and
In the
Bulgaria, and then to the Russo-Turkish war.
Treaties both of San Stefano and Berlin suggestions
LIFE OF
270
ABDUL HAMID
had been made
for bettering the lot of Moslem and

Christian inhabitants in order to remove legitimate
discontent.
While the usual evils attendant upon
Turkish rule prevailed in Macedonia, such as the nonpayment of the troops quartered upon the population,
the lawless exactions of Moslems from the Christians,
the want of protection for life, woman's honour, and
property, Macedonia had its own special grievances. Nongovernment was a not less fertile ground of complaint
than mis-government. The traditionally hostile elements

of the population, Greeks, Bulgarians and Albanians,
were left to fight out their own quarrels. Redress in the
law courts could not be had. Corrupt as they were
throughout the Empire, they were probably worse in
Macedonia than elsewhere. Already a large portion of
the country had been unjustly acquired by Moslems
from the Christian peasants, and the disputes between
the legal Moslem owners themselves, as well as between
them and the peasants, had brought about something
Abdul Hamid
in the early years of his

did nothing.
The Bulgarian element in the population was the most
numerous, but in the southern portion of the Province
there were districts where the Greeks predominated.
Bulgars and Serbs the two Slavic elements made
common cause. The Albanians were steadily encroachin Northern Macedonia. After
ing on Serbian territory
Serbia had become a Kingdom in 1878 and Bulgaria a
semi-independent State, the desire to get rid of the
anarchy which prevailed became common to all the
States who were inconvenienced by
neighbouring
immigrants of their own race. Abdul Hamid should
have seen the need of sending his best men to check the
encroachments of the Albanians, and to preside over
courts where justice would have been administered.
Had he done so he would have learned that the aspirations of the Christians had been increased by the
like
anarchy.
reign let
things drift.
He
liberation of their neighbours on all sides, but he would

have learned also that the population had not yet
conceived the idea of separation from his rule. Indeed,
ABDUL HAMID AND SUBJECT RACES
271
if he had
possessed any gift of statesmanship he would
have seen his chance of attaching Macedonia to it.
The Bulgarians and Greeks in their own countries
naturally sympathised with men of their race who were
still under the Turkish
yoke, but they did not wish to be
troubled by them. Abdul Hamid knew that Bulgaria,
was seriously harassed by the constantly

crowd
of refugees who fled from Macedonian
increasing
and
he
could
have worked to satisfy the desire
anarchy,
of the people by establishing some form of autonomous
especially,
Even
short of that step, anarchy plus the

would have gone far to content them.
Bulgaria would have aided him, for she feared danger
from absorbing so many Macedonians. Greece would
not have objected. But he did nothing.
During ten or twelve years after the conclusion of
peace with Russia, all the old evils were allowed to
continue.
Gradually, however, Abdul Hamid formed
the notion that his best policy was to encourage the
government.
street constable
Albanians. It is true that this highly interesting race

were divided but while there was a majority of Moslems,
nearly half the population were Christians, those of the
South belonging to the Orthodox Church, and those of
the North to that of Rome
but the adherents of both
;
Churches and, indeed, of both religions got on with each

other better than in any other part of the Empire.
That this statement is true is attested by a host of
independent foreign witnesses. This happy result is due
to various causes, one of the principal being that the
Moslem Albanians were under the influence of the
Becktashi sect of Dervishes, who have always been in
favour of religious toleration. Members of the same
family, some of whom were Christians and others
Moslems, sat at the same table, partook of the same dishes,
and often intermarried. Religious toleration was indeed
Abdul Hamid had persuaded himself that

Albanian troops were the most loyal of his subjects,
and so he gradually surrounded his palace with them.
He gave them favours which were denied to other
sections of his army. He promoted Albanians to high
their rule.
his
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
272
and
such an extent, both in the Army and

as
to
arouse a strong feeling of jealousy in
Civil Service,
Their
encroachments on the lands of
both services.
office,
this to
Bulgarians, Serbians, and Greeks were encouraged. His

policy of permitting the Albanians to capture the
territory of their neighbours in Macedonia greatly
increased the anarchy already existing.
During the years 1 890-1900 the condition of
Macedonia continued to cause anxiety to all the neighbouring States. Bulgaria, especially, desiring a peaceful
neighbour and wishing to stop immigration, presented
projects for its reform to the Porte. She did not ask for
or desire its annexation, because, though the population
of Southern Macedonia was largely Bulgarian, the
people of the Principality did not wish their influence to
be swamped by the union with the people of that
There was, indeed, considerable jealousy
Province.
between the two populations, but Bulgaria suggested
the establishment of an autonomous Government in
Macedonia under the suzerainty of the Sultan. Thereupon the Albanians, probably at the instigation of the
Sultan, put forth another project on different lines.
Neither project was accepted by the Porte.
The anomalous position of Prince Ferdinand created
additional difficulties in Macedonia. It was not recognised that he had the right to speak for his country.
As the Powers refused officially to recognise him, the
Sultan adopted the same policy. The Russians were
constantly intriguing to regain their influence, so

that the representatives of Bulgaria were unheeded.
Stambuloff had his hands full, with struggles against
the partisans of Russia, the influx of Macedonians,
such plot may

plots against his own authority. One
be mentioned. It was formed in 1889 under a certain
Major Panitza to expel Ferdinand. Panitza visited the
and
Commandant of the Army at Sofia by night and invited

him to join the conspiracy. The Commandant refused
and informed the Government. The leaders and the
chiefs were arrested, and an examination of their papers
showed that the conspiracy had many ramifications,
273
some of the most serious of which were in Macedonia.

Ten persons were tried, all found guilty, and Panitza
was publicly shot on June 28, 1890, at Sofia. Stambuloff
was convinced that his difficulties were largely increased
by the non-recognition of the Prince, especially by
Turkey. Ferdinand had humiliated himself before his
own subjects by ostentatiously seeking Abdul Hamid's
But the Sultan would neither consent nor
protection.
refuse to recognise him as Prince. Thereupon Ferdinand
wrote
in June, 1890, an unusual letter to the Sultan, in

of Stambuloff is well seen.
It declared
which the hand
that during five years the Porte had been hostile to Bulgaria ; that in many ways the Prince had shown his desire
to live on good terms with his Suzerain
that the plots
the
Prince
were
against
instigated by foreign agents and
backed by foreign money
and that they tended to
weaken Bulgaria. The letter claimed that the Porte
ought to try and strengthen the hands of the Prince.
It finished with something like a menace, and was not
without effect in leading to the recognition of Ferdinand.
A semi-religious element intensified the disputes
between the Greeks and Bulgarians in Macedonia. They
turned largely upon the claims of the supporters of the
Patriarch against those of the Exarch for the possession
;
and schools. Disputes had already commenced between their respective followers, in other words,
between Bulgars and Greeks. The latter, as far back as
the formation of an autonomous Bulgarian Church in
1870, had been violently opposed to those whom it
regarded as schismatic, because they had broken away
of churches
from allegiance to the Patriarch. Nearly all the churches

in the country were inscribed in the name of the Orthodox
Patriarch until 1870 and this, according to Turkish law,
implied ownership. But as some had been built solely
by Bulgarians and many by both Greeks and Bulgars,
the latter claimed, as was the fact, that the Patriarch
held them in trust. The dispute as to possession led to
fierce combats between the respective adherents of
Patriarch and Exarch. The Bulgarians in Macedonia
were
left
without bishops
in sufficient
number
to
meet
274
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
the local requirements of their Church.

When the
was
that
Porte
issue
made
the
should
berats,
proposal
that is, official permission for bishops to be appointed,
Greece and the Greeks of Macedonia and the Empire
made violent opposition, and the Bulgarian Note presented in June, 1890, aroused angry opposition against
the Patriarch.
He, indeed, tendered his resignation,
when two
It was seriously
bishops were appointed.
whole of the Greek churches in the
Empire. No formal resolution to this effect was taken
by the Patriarch and his Council. Indeed, some of the
Greek bishops took a more sensible view of the matter
and refused to give orders for closing the churches.
Russia, Serbia, and Greece, all belonging to the Orthodox
Church, supported the Patriarch in his opposition. The
agitation became so serious that in the last days of
October, 1890, the Porte made a compromise which,
however, satisfied neither party. Berats were granted
for Bulgarian bishops at Uskub and Ochrida, but refused
for other places.
In Bulgaria this was regarded as a
and
greatly strengthened the position of both
triumph,
Stambuloff and Prince Ferdinand. The triumph over
Russian opposition was the more remarkable, since in
previous years, when she was patronising Bulgaria, she
had pressed the Porte to appoint Bulgarian bishops and
had been refused. It is noteworthy that, in this semireligious struggle, for the first time Germany supported
the Bulgarian demands.
proposed to close the
The anarchy which continued to reign in Macedonia was largely aggravated by the fact that the
Turkish troops remained unpaid. They lived upon the
Bulgarian and Greek villagers, taking, even in their
religious quarrels, sometimes the side of one and
sometimes of the other. In 1902 the dissatisfaction
resulted in a serious insurrection in Macedonia, in
which, though not always openly, all the Balkan
A large Macedonian Committee
States took sides.
had been formed
and bands of Bulgarians,

Comitajis," acting under their orders,
attacked Turkish villages. The Greeks were not less
locally known as
"
in Sofia,
ABDUL HAMTD AND SUBJECT RACES
275
active in opposing the Bulgarians. On each side bands

"
of
Comitajis," made reckless attacks one against
the other, the troops often assisting the villagers
on whom they were living. An incident of no international importance, but illustrative of the condition
of the country, created a certain excitement in 1901,
an American missionary, was

After
of Bulgarian brigands.
band
captured by
of
offices
the
between
Sofia,
foreign
long negotiations
Constantinople, and the brigands themselves, she
was released. Large numbers, said to be 15,000, of
Macedonian refugees in Sofia, were a costly, disturbing and dangerous element for the Principality.
One section was in favour of diplomatic measures,
when Miss
Stone,
a
but general opinion supported the brigands in the

hopes of thereby driving the Powers to intervene
and establish a Government which would preserve

order. The moderate section which did not wish for
annexation, put forward several attempts at reasonable reforms and submitted them to Abdul Hamid or
All were peremptorily
his representatives in Sofia.
The Turkish troops sent to suppress the
refused.
insurrection, carried out their task with the usual
unscrupulousness of an unpaid soldiery.
and during
Macedonia
conthe years 1902-3
Greek
and
Both
chief
feature.
stituted its
Bulgarian
bands were devastating the country. The Turkish
troops, unpaid and undisciplined, were fighting for
their own benefit, and perpetrating acts of cruelty
now against one race, and now against the other. Sir
Nicholas O'Conor in December, 1902, called special
The Greek community at
attention to these acts.
" that
Salonika complained
they were scourged by the
of
brigand bands, aided by Bulgarian
heavy oppression
who
not
committees,
only robbed the people, but did
not stop at murder, rape, and arson." Revolutionary
Committees now began to appear in various towns
in Macedonia.
They urged Sofia and the Powers
to demand Macedonian autonomy from the Porte.
Nothing
else
was done
to restore order,
disturbances
in
276
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
Indeed, the Powers had never ceased to press for

reforms.
As a result of negotiations between the
Porte and the Powers, an Inspector-General of the
gendarmery had been named, but with insufficient

powers. The appointment itself, only accepted after
long negotiations, marked the limit of the success
of Europe.
The condition of the country became so serious that

Austria and Russia, the two Powers after Turkey
most interested in the pacification, took the matter
in
hand.
meeting between the Austrian Emperor'fand the

Czar was held at Murzsteg in the summer of 1903.
resulted in the drawing up of a programme of
reforms which was presented to the Porte in October
of that year.
The important items in the Murzsteg
were
(1) that Austria and Russia should
programme
to direct the Inspector-General
Civil
Agents
appoint
the appointment of such an
of the gendarmery
officer having been accepted by the Porte in principle.
(2) That the gendarmery should be reorganised under
foreign officers who should be subjects of one or other
of the Great Powers. (3) That in order to meet local
requirements, the existing territorial arrangements
for the gendarmery officers should be changed (the
the
intention
Serbians,
Bulgarians,
being that
It
Greeks, Albanians, and Moslems should, as far as

possible, be placed under separate local arrangements
so as to avoid conflict between them).
(4) That in
Macedonia
there
should
of
towns
each of the important
of an
a
formed
Mixed
Commission
be established
to
examine
of
Moslems
and
Christians
number
equal
and decide upon local reforms. (5) That the Law
Courts should be reformed. Lastly, it was stipulated
that all these reforms should be put into force without
delay.
In September Abdul Hamid expressed his regret

to the two Powers that such demands were considered necessary, but, of course, left a further answer
to be given by his Sublime Porte.
277
Instructions were sent by the Austrian and Russian

in October, 1903, to be ready to put them
into execution.
Great Britain, France, Germany, and
in
November
sent similar instructions to their
Italy
Consuls, and the Porte was pressed to accept the proSo unanimous a demand could not be
posals.
Governments
Moreover, Russia was now

altogether disregarded.
murder
in August (1903) of her
under
the
smarting
Consul at Monastir, a crime which was attributed to
orders from the capital.
The Porte gave a general
assent in January, 1904, to the demands of the Powers,
but spoke of the necessity of guarding the sovereign
right of the Sultan. During the next two years it made
as many delays as possible in putting the reforms
into execution. All the Powers agreed that a financial
scheme
for Macedonia was necessary and, therefore,

contemporaneously with the endeavours to get the
provisions mentioned into such a form as would be
accepted by the Porte, a financial project was also

under consideration. In all these negotiations the
Porte endeavoured to whittle down the proposals of
the Powers and to gain time.
In January, 1904, an Italian of experience in the
organisation of gendarmery, General Di Giorgis, was
appointed. But the Porte stipulated that he should
not introduce any changes in the gendarmery unless
they were sanctioned by it, and after he had received
instructions from it. The project of having two Civil
Agents, named by Austria and Russia respectively,
was rejected by the Porte, unless it should be stipulated that they or their delegates when on inspection
The
should be accompanied by Turkish officers.
once
refused
Austria
was
at
by
proposed stipulation
and Russia. The suggestions in reference to both these
articles were considered by all the Powers who, in
every other negotiation regarding Macewere

most anxious, while striving for reforms,
donia,
this as in
'
to respect the Sultan's rights. A modified project was

submitted to the Porte. It was rejected on March 2,
1904, as trespassing on his Majesty's sovereign rights.
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
278
Then the Porte grew
bolder, and a fortnight later

counter-proposal claiming that Turkish
officers must retain actual control of the
gendarmery,
and that the number of foreign officers employed as
inspectors and instructors must not exceed twenty-
made
five.
The negotiations were long and ended
in an unsatiseither
because
she was
factory compromise. Austria,
afraid that disorder in Macedonia might be too
completely suppressed or was influenced by Germany
not to push the Sultan too far, ceased to take an
She and
energetic part in pressing on the reforms.
now
acted
became
and
it
soon
Germany
together,
the popular and not unfounded opinion that the
which they had the appointment of

saw little of the keen activity
gendarmery
which those under British and French officers
districts
for
officers
witnessed in the desire of the
officers
placed in charge
The
police.
stipulations which
had been weakly accepted that the inspectors whose
duty inter alia it was to report on murders or other
outrages should only act on orders from Turkish
officials proved useless.
It was soon found that the
great object of such officials was to conceal crime
when committed by Turkish and other favoured
bands, and their visits came to be regarded as worse
than farce. Abdul Hamid was curiously persistent
in his determination not to tolerate any reform
initiated by the European Powers.
He was equally
minded not to allow any suggested by his own
to
secure
effective
people.
During the years between 1904 and 1908, the Moslem

population of Macedonia, as well as Bulgars and
Greeks, again pressed Abdul Hamid to take measures
to provide for the safety of life and property. The
Murzsteg programme of the two Emperors had
failed in producing useful results.
Lord Lansdowne
in February, 1905, informed the Balkan Committee
that the British Government was " pressing the Porte
for permanent and effective reforms,"
In November,
279
1905, England, France, and Italy sought to compel

Abdul Hamid to carry financial reforms into execution.
They asked that a budget of income and
expenditure should be submitted to the two Civil
Agents appointed under the Murzsteg programme.
The Porte agreed, but objected to control by the Civil
Agents, and asked to increase custom duties from
8 to 11 per cent.
The Powers refused, but England
proposed that the control should be international,

and that a Council should be appointed. On July II,
the
Porte refused, pleading the Sultan's sovereign

The Powers stuck to their proposal, and a
rights.
fleet consisting of British,
French, Russian, Italian,
and Austrian ships made a demonstration.

They
seized the Custom houses of Mitylene and Lemnos,
and held them until Abdul Hamid yielded (November, 1905).
Germany had already begun to pose as
the Sultan's friend, and would not name foreign
gendarmery officers, or take any part in the naval
demonstration. She was now the only great Power
which declined to co-operate in securing order in
Macedonia. No proposal for even the most limited
form of autonomy was listened to.
Every year saw a larger amount of emigration from
Macedonia to America, and other foreign countries.
The best of the Moslem population, as well as the
Christians, recognised that with an unpaid soldiery,
disorder was certain to continue. Moslems and Christians came to believe that Abdul Hamid was the great
hinderer of the execution of reform. He had refused
consider even the proposals made by his own

subjects, just as he had cut out of the project presented
by Austria and Russia the provisions which would
have guaranteed the proposed reforms and would
have contented the bulk of the inhabitants. All
for
Europe insisted that reform was necessary
of
the
condition
the
and
years 1905
1906
during
to
Macedonia had become worse than ever, Greek and

Bulgarian bands waged civil war against each other.
Murders, theft, attacks upon villages by
men
of a
LIFE OF
280
ABDUL HAMID
sometimes upon no pretext whatever,

that the village was Bulgarian,
Greeks,
except,
by
or vice versa ; at other times on the pretext that the
hostile race
if
had given aid to
Turkish troops
rival bands
Farms were
one
now
another.
side,
joining
deserted.
Mines were abandoned.
People of all
races were seeking the means of getting out of the
villagers
now
country.
In 1907 it was noted that in the small district southwest of Kastoria there were at least ten bands of
"
Greek " Comitajis plundering the country. They were
notoriously paid in part by subscriptions from Greeks
in the Kingdom or elsewhere, and their avowed object
was to enlarge the ethnographic boundaries of a
larger Greece by exterminating the Bulgarians. The
latter had retaliated by driving Greeks out of Anchialos
on the Black Sea. " Death to every Bulgar," was
inscribed on a postcard which the Greek post-offices
allowed to circulate.
Macedonia had become a
Independent observers as well as
pandemonium.
the European Powers called upon Abdul Hamid to do
something to remedy an evil which had become a
European scandal.
When the Balkan Committee
in
England suggested
large measures of reform, the Sultan thought it

desirable to do something to appease a European
outcry which was becoming as loud as that which
preceded the Russo-Turkish war. He had already
sent in Hilmi Pasha, an agent whose reputation was
high, in order to advise measures for pacification.
Hilmi was respected by Ambassadors and by the
Much was hoped
best Moslem element in Turkey.
from his appointment. But his failure was complete,
and brought him under considerable obloquy. After
the revolution it became known that he had sent
various projects of reform of a practical and even of
a drastic character, and such as would have been
welcomed not only by the Christian but by the
Abdul Hamid would not even
Moslem population.
consider them.
281
deserves notice that a strong belief existed, both

the capital and Macedonia, that in the various
negotiations Austria did not wish for reforms and was
The belief
well content to see anarchy increasing.
in her double-dealing is not without evidence.
That
the Turks themselves suspected it was well known.
It
in
One circumstance which probably pointed to such

The Grand Vizier reported
to Abdul Hamid a visit paid to him by Baron Calici,
the Austrian Ambassador, who informed him that all
the Ambassadors had adopted a note or resolution
to be submitted to the Sultan condemning his
dealing was the following
inactivity, but that he, as representative of Austria,

would indicate a way by which Turkey could save
Let the Porte draw up a project of
appearances.
own and have it shown at once to the Ambassadors

and thus prevent the presentation of the objectionable note. The Grand Vizier declared in his report
that he had been shown the original.
By adopting
his suggestion Turkey would save her face. A photograph of this report was published shortly after the
death of the Grand Vizier and the authenticity of the
fac-simile of his handwriting was not disputed.
Though it was generally believed to mean that Austria
wished to bar the reforms proposed by his colleagues,
another explanation is possible. The Ambassador and
the Grand Vizier, knowing Abdul Hamid's unwillingness to further any reform in Macedonia, may have
her
concocted a harmless plot of a note as the only way

to induce the Sultan to put forward a scheme which
he would really support.
The supineness of the
Austrian Consuls and other officials in Macedonia
was, however, generally put down to the desire of
the Ballplatz to let things go from bad to worse,
when possibly all Europe would agree to invite Austria
to enter the province for the preservation of order.
This was the view commonly expressed by the active
Moslem party in Macedonia.

Whether Austria was acting loyally or not, nothing
can excuse Abdul Hamid's attitude. His own represpirits of the
282
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
sentative, Hilmi Pasha, indicated reforms as necessary.

If Abdul believed that Austria was opposing them, as he
probably did, he should have endeavoured to find out

her motives for such opposition. Her attitude ought to
have put him on his guard. The fact is that he rejected
the suggestions of his own chosen and undoubtedly able
agent with the same foolish obstinacy as he had done
those of the Powers.
If there were no other complaints against Abdul
Hamid than the treatment of his subject races in
Macedonia, which led to the discontent of his Moslem
would pass down into history as having

contributed largely to the disintegration of his Empire.
His refusal to take any steps to introduce changes
which would make an end of the existing anarchy
alienated Moslems.
They might have pardoned his
indifference to the sufferings of the Christians, but they
would not tolerate his neglect of the national interest.
The story of Abdul Hamid's treatment of subject
races now becomes merged in the larger one which
resulted in Revolution.
subjects, he
CHAPTER
XII
COMMITTEE OF UNION AND PROGRESS. REVOLUTION.

ABDUL HAMID DEPRIVED OF POLITICAL POWER
Formation
Revolution
of Committee of Union and Progress
Abdul Hamid deprived of arbitrary power.
;
Gradually there had been formed in Macedonia

small bodies of disaffected Moslems who recognised that
the Sultan was the great hindrance to any amelioration of
the condition of the country and that he was a hindrance because all power was centred in his hands.
Outside Turkey, in Paris and in Switzerland, especially,
disaffected Turkish refugees had already gathered
together and become the missionaries of revolution.
Before long some of them agreed to common action
As
with discontented fellow-subjects in Macedonia.
of
had
malcontents
already mentioned, small groups
been formed in many towns in Macedonia. In 1906
many of them united to form a Central Committee
which met in Salonika. A similar Committee, under
Ahmed Riza, was constituted in Paris in October, 1907.
The two bodies decided to work for the establishment
of constitutional government, by which was meant,
after some hesitation, the demand for the putting
into force of Midhat's Constitution, which had been in
abeyance since 1877. Their members were at first
almost exclusively Moslems with, possibly, the addition
of four or five Jews, but, as many intelligent Christians,
subjects of Turkey, were also exiles in France and
Switzerland, some of these were taken into the French
In Geneva also was a similar ComCommittee.
In all the Committees the Moslem element
mittee.
The members formed a body which
predominated.
"
Committee of Union and Protook the name of the
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
284
x
By union, they meant that of all races and of

creeds in the Empire. The President of the Paris
Committee, Ahmed Riza, was a Positivist, an honourable
gress."
all
The two Committees

and greatly respected man.
formed one, but the more active portion held their
meetings in Salonika. Thereupon the movement during
1906 1908 spread with remarkable rapidity. Discontent
with the existing regime was widespread. It had now
become organised.
It was impossible that some of the great army of spies
in the pay of Abdul Hamid should not have known of
the existence of the Committees before they adopted the
now well-known name. His brother-in-law with two
of his sons had fled from Constantinople in October,
1899, and were known to sympathise with them.
Agencies of the Committee sprang up all over the country
with wonderful celerity.
Although in Constantinople
men who were believed to belong to it would have been
immediately arrested, and although some persons were
arrested, yet its proceedings were conducted with such
secrecy that it is doubtful whether the Sultan, or those
of his agents who were faithful to him, ever realised
that the Committee was formidable until it was too late

to defeat its objects.
Two of the earliest and boldest adherents of the
Committee, Niazi Bey and Enver Bey, now Enver
Damat Pasha, deserve special notice. Niazi will always
stand out as the typical missionary of revolution on
He
behalf of the Committee of Union and Progress.
was a native of Resna in Macedonia. In 1897 he was a
sub-lieutenant, took part in the Greek war, and distinguished himself as a brave soldier in the fight above
the town of Volo. Sent to the capital in charge of Greek
prisoners, he saw much of the entourage of Abdul Hamid,
and was greatly impressed by the jobbery, favouritism,
and injustice which existed in connection with promo1
Before the formation of the Committee of Union and Progress the reformers
"
were known by the old name of Young Turks." They came prominently into
notice under that name when in October, 1899, Mahmud Damat (the brotherin-law of the Sultan) fled with his two sons to Paris.
COMMITTEE OF UNION AND PROGRESS

tion to places in the Army and Civil Service
to the rewards bestowed on the soldiers.
and
285
in regard
Then he was
stationed in command over troops in the neighbourhood

of his native hills.
Their duty was to suppress the
he was disgusted with what he
bands.
But
Bulgarian
saw. The commissariat officers enriched themselves at
the expense of the troops. The latter were unpaid and
lived on the peaceful peasants.
Spies reported that
Niazi had expressed his indignation at what he saw,
and that he favoured reforms. He fled to avoid arrest
and went to Paris. Thence he determined to return to
Turkey and to work on behalf of the Committee. He
landed in Greece, disguised himself in the fustanella,
crossed the frontier and descended boldly to Salonika,
he had been recognised by Abdul Hamid's

partisans, he would probably have been hung within
twenty-four hours. As at that time, however, Abdul
Hamid's agents were playing the game of supporting
the Greek bands against the Bulgarian, as they had
where,
if
previously supported the Bulgars against the Greeks,

the disguise was fairly safe.
He met the Committee
and was taken into their confidence. They fitted him
in Turkish costume as a hawker and saw him on
board a steamer for Smyrna.
There and at many
other places in Asia Minor he went boldly amongst the
up
soldiers and officers and, finding everywhere discontent

with Abdul Hamid, induced many to join the Committee.
He is stated to have travelled as a hodja or
teacher, and in that character to have addressed
Turks in the mosques
as a hawker and travelling merchant
as a begging dervish and in other disguises,
;
everywhere spreading the new gospel of a Constitution.
Every month the Committee
new
accessions.
Some
of
of
Union and Progress had

leading members in
Freemasons in order the
its
Salonika had joined a Lodge of

more completely to keep their plans secret.
Enver Bey, now Enver Pasha, was almost an unknown
man in either Macedonia or the capital. Little is known
of his early history. He was a quiet, silent man, often
regarded as surly. But from the first he was considered
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
286
He will always be memorable

because he and Niazi were the first to raise the standard
of revolt. In the first week of July, 1908, the two men
took to the hills of Resna. From thence they issued an
appeal to the army and the Empire. Each had a small
but determined following.
Meantime the Paris and the Salonika Committees
had decided to demand from Abdul Hamid the re-proclamation of Midhat's Constitution.
They hesitated
about fixing the time of a demonstration throughout
Turkey in favour of their demand. They anticipated an
angry refusal with the arrest of all suspects, and thereto be a daring soldier.
fore increased their activity in gaining new adherents.

Most of the leading employees of the railways in
Macedonia, Christians as well as Moslems, were persuaded without much difficulty to become members.
Each was sworn to obedience and secrecy. Each knew
his own immediate superior in the conspiracy, but
often knew no other confederate. A number, though
officers and of others in the
members.
Service, became
Many Albanians
did not show
with
the
but
Committee
sympathised
not large, of the military

Civil
eagerness to join
it.
But time was
meeting had taken place

pressing.
at
on
the
Russian Baltic, between
Reval,
9, 1908,
Edward VII. and the Czar, and it was known that one
of its objects was to agree upon measures for effecting
on June
reforms
in
Macedonia.
The
Russian
newspapers
announced that Sir Charles, now Lord, Hardinge and

M. Isvolski, who had accompanied their respective
Sovereigns, were near a complete agreement on a
The Young Turks, as
project of reforms necessary.
the members of the Committee were still often called,
recognised that the two Sovereigns would not be content
to repeat the error of the Murzsteg programme which
Abdul Hamid had emasculated, but feared that their
decision would be to establish an autonomous government which would inevitably lead to the loss of the
What they wanted was to get
province by Turkey.
rid of Absolutism and to establish representative govern-
287
ment which would provide good government throughout

But they did not wish to diminish it.
the Empire.
Hence the two Committees of Salonika and Paris
decided that their demonstration should take place on
September 1, 1908, the date of Abdul's accession.
An incident, however, occurred which brought about
the demonstration at a still earlier period. The premature action of Niazi and Enver would probably have
been without result but for the incident in question.
Austria, which had many Consuls and other officials
"
as well as a large number of subjects and
protected
" 1
for
to
be
in
Macedonia,
working
appeared
persons
and confident of obtaining the annexation of the
had no
province. Of this the leaders of the Committee
doubt. Throughout the Turkish Empire Austria was
the Power which had the largest number of cafes chantants
In the neighbourhoods of
and registered brothels.
Uskub and Kossova, which were largely inhabited by
Albanians, the Albanian chiefs were greatly displeased
with an Austrian Consul who sheltered under his flag
gambling-houses, brothels, and other disorderly houses.
The chiefs declared that their young men were robbed
and demoralised by the debauchery protected under
the Austrian flag. Under the Consul's auspices a great
take
orgy, intended to last for a week, was arranged to
the
towns
place at Fersovich, about halfway between
Sheds and booths were erected for the
mentioned.
Special trains were to run throughout the
purpose.
week when this great picnic was to be held. The
Albanians collected on the neighbouring hills to the
number of 20,000 and were determined to prevent the
orgy. They set fire to the sheds and booths, and then,
having prevented the contemplated meeting, decided to
take the matter of public order into their own hands
by attacking the Austrian Consulate. When the tidings
of these events reached Salonika, the Committee of
1
A protege or " protected person " is one of another nationality who
he is not a subject. A Swiss,
enjoys consular protection from a country of which
for example, is usually protected by Germany or France or Italy according to
the canton from which he comes.
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
288
Union and Progress saw that any attempt on the part

of the Albanians against the Austrian Consul would
bring in the Austrian Army and certainly postpone if
not
definitely defeat their plans.

Messengers were
therefore sent in great haste to the Albanians to dissuade
them from their proposed action. They met with such
success that the Albanians forbore to attack the Consulate
and consented to take part with the Committee in
demanding a Constitution, provided that this should be

done immediately. No time was lost. A formal demand
was made and negotiations were pressed on between the
Committee and Yildiz. When the Sultan heard of the
Albanian meeting and of what they were proposing he
at once sent orders to disperse them.
Unhappily for
him, the Committee had already amongst its members
most of the telegraph and railway employees, and
knew at once what orders were transmitted. Galib Bey
himself,
who received the order to
disperse the Albanians,
had become a member of the Committee. Abdul Hamid

had heard the news from Paris both of the meeting and
of what was proposed by the Committee.
He at once
promoted 2,000 officers in the navy and a great number
of officers in the army. On July 19, 800 soldiers arrived

at Monastir.
Shemshi Pasha left Uskub with two
Niazi
and Enver were
to be attacked
on their comrades, and
Shemshi himself was shot as he was about to lead them
to the Resna Hills. The colonel in command at Seres
shared the same fate. Everywhere in Macedonia the
army showed themselves favourable to the Revolubattalions.
but the troops refused to
fire
The Sultan called upon Ferid Pasha,

tionary party.
the Grand Vizier, to act as Seraskier or War Minister
in order to punish the discontented.
But Ferid, a
cautious and able man, refused to interfere with the
task of his colleague. Upon this Adbul Hamid, confident
in the trustworthiness of his spies, took the matter into
his own hands. He ordered forty of them to report
upon
the conduct of the troops and to send the names of the
But their mission became at once known and
disloyal.
acted like a spark to a powder magazine. Those officers
289
who had
hitherto hesitated, declared for the Committee.

Their declaration was due not so much to a fear of being
reported as disloyal, as to the general loathing at the
employment of spies against them. At the same time
Abdul Hamid ordered the troops in Smyrna to be sent
to Salonika. The army in Macedonia now followed up
their telegram by another, demanding the Constitution
or Abdication (July 21 or 22), and stating that the troops
had sworn not to lay down their arms until the Constitution
was proclaimed. 1
Before the Sultan gave the order to the troops to

attack the rebels, an incident occurred which enabled
Abdul Hamid to learn that the disaffection in the
highest sphere of the Moslem hierarchy was serious.
According to Turkish custom, when Moslem is to be
sent to fight Moslem the formal approval of the
Abdul Hamid applied
Sheik-ul-Islam is necessary.
to the Highest Religious Court, or Fetva-hane, in
which the Sheik presides, for an answer to the question
"
justifiable against Moslem soldiers who rebel

Padisha's authority ?
The acute minds
the
against
who preside in that Court asked for a statement
of facts.
Statements in detail had to be furnished
which showed the whole case. The people of the
capital, who learned that there was some kind of
mutiny in Macedonia, waited anxiously for the
The president of the Court was a man
decision.
greatly respected for his integrity, and all believed that
his answer would be guided by his science and conIs
war
'
At length, and after he was known to have

a careful examination of the demands of the
troops for reforms and redress of grievances, he
declared that they were not contrary to the prescriptions of the Sacred Law. As a result the decision was
taken to mean that if a Fetva were pressed for, it
would not justify the war by Moslems against
science.
made
Moslems.
1 The late General Von der
Goltz, in a letter published in the Neue Freie
Presse, declared a few weeks later that the system of espionage was the chief
practical grievance of the Turkish soldier.
L.A.H.
290
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
During the three or four days preceding July 22,

similar telegrams were sent to Yildiz almost simultaneously from Salonika, Fersovich, and Uskub, in
which the heads of the army joined, demanding a
Constitution,
and
intimating
"
immediately granted
that
if
it
were not
something very serious
would
happen to the Sultan himself."

The Sultan, in great alarm, called a Council of his
Ministers. They sat at the palace on July 20, 21, and
The circumstances, but especially the demand and

menace, furnished a rude awakening. To acquiesce
in the demand for the restoration of Midhat's Constitution was to admit the defeat of the policy which
he had pursued unremittingly since he dismissed its
author in February, 1877. To refuse it was to face
the immediate opposition of his army in Macedonia.
The position was exceedingly difficult. Could his
Ministers help him out ? Could he trust them ? No
published account has appeared of what passed in
22.
its
the momentous meeting. But some of those present

did not hesitate after a few weeks to speak of it. The
general impression left by their disclosures was that
nearly, possibly all present, sympathised with the
Macedonian demands. All recognised that if they
were not conceded, civil war would at once ensue.
After long discussion it was agreed at the third sitting
that Abdul Hamid should be informed that they were
unanimously of opinion that the Constitution should
be proclaimed.
Who was to be the messenger to
inform him of so heart-breaking a decision ? No one
volunteered for the task. They knew the vindictive
character of their Imperial master. They knew that
he had opposed every reform, had persecuted Midhat

to his death, and they naturally anticipated an outburst of anger when the decision should be communicated to him.
After long hesitation and considerable discussion,
someone proposed that Abdul Huda, the Court
Astrologer, should be asked to inform the Sultan of
the result of their deliberations.
Huda was known
291
to be greatly favoured by his master, and that his

utterances were regarded as inspired. He was therefore called into the Council Chamber, which he entered
from a sick-bed, and informed of the decision which
he was desired to communicate.
A man of short
a
with
and
not unkindly
stature,
keen, intelligent
looked
like
who
he
one
feared
no
mortal.
After
face,
the
he
situation
undertook
the
task.
fully discussing
He saw that no plan could be suggested by which the
demand coming from various parts of Macedonia
and from the army could be successfully resisted. 1
It was during the sitting of this memorable Council
that news arrived that General Shemshi had been
openly shot in the streets of Monastir. Other telegrams announced that all the troops in Macedonia
were in favour of the telegraphic demands for the
re-establishment of the Constitution. Abdul Hamid
had tried the troops in Adrianople, but found they
sided with those in Macedonia.
It was in view of
these facts that when the Sultan learned from his
astrologer the unanimous advice of his Ministers he
saw that he must yield. Accordingly, in the night of
July 22-23, ne sent telegrams to Macedonia, and
before midnight the troops in Uskub, Monastir, and
Salonika, saluted the proclamation of the Constitution.
Eight hours afterwards, that is on the eve of
July 24, the same news was published in the
capital.
The proclamation of the Constitution was an epochmaking event. It signified to Abdul Hamid the entire
He had worked for thirty years
failure of his plans.
He had exiled or killed
to make himself absolute.
the band of reformers who had worked for the establishment of the government of the Empire on conHe had reduced government by
stitutional lines.
Ministers by restricting their power and simply
1 It was believed that he saw the
important telegrams which arrived at Yildiz,
and it was even reported that the favourite secretary of Abdul Hamid showed
them to him before they were communicated to the Sultan, all of which would
have given confidence to his predictions.
292
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
allowing them to put his personal edicts into decent

He had chosen his Ministers for their sublegal form.
serviency or for their hostility towards their colleagues.

By means of his army of spies he had debased the
character of his Moslem subjects so that none dared
His arrangements for
openly speak of reforms.
repressing any aspirations for liberty were elaborate,
and those for his own personal defence were minute.
Yet suddenly, with little warning, the storm burst
over him, and all his preparations proved futile. To

save himself he had to proclaim the re-establishment
It is difficult to imagine a
of Midhat's Constitution.
for a defeated Sovereign.
situation
more humiliating
The proclamation of the Constitution, which was
accompanied by notice that the Parliament would be
summoned, had an electrical effect upon the population
of the Empire.
Constantinople went delirious with
Moslems, Christians and Jews were exultant.

merchants and labourers
Rich and poor
imams,
and
rabbis, joined hands in congratulating
priests
each other that the arbitrary power of Abdul Hamid
had for ever ceased. He had been like a dead weight
on a powerful spring, which, when the weight was
removed, at once acted powerfully. A wild cry of
Men
relief and delight burst from tens of thousands.
and women alike shouted with joy. Even Turkish
women, usually the most secluded and modest of their
sex, shook hands and embraced their Christian sisters
in the streets, and congratulated each other that
The newspapers,
liberty had dawned upon them.
whether Moslem or Christian, gave expression to the
joy.
Midhat's Constitution was not menpublic belief.

tioned in the proclamation, but they assumed that
that was what was meant, for it had been regarded
for thirty years as the symbol of liberty. The special
in each
grievance of the newspapers was the presence
The Constitution was assumed to
office of a censor.
imply liberty of the Press and, on the day of its publication, the editors combined to bundle the censors
The loudest cry of the public
out of their offices.
;
293
was " Down with the spies " and before the day was
over most of them had disappeared.
The public knew little of what had passed at the
palace, and probably still less of the serious movements in Macedonia, and was in such good humour
" Vive la Conat the great news, that their cries of
"
stitution
were scarcely more cordial than those of
"
Vive le Sultan." If Abdul Hamid had ventured
into the streets of his capital he would have been
received as a benefactor.
When it was announced
!
that, for the first time for a quarter of a century, he
would
almost every house in Stamand Galata was decorated spontaneously.

An enormous crowd gathered before the gates of
Yildiz, and kept up a continuous shout for him and the
Constitution.
On the following day when he went
to the famous mosque, which embodies the history of
the New Rome, he was everywhere cheered by
crowds composed of all classes and faiths in the comHe was accompanied by Kutchuk Said,
munity.
who had replaced Ferid. The Sultan showed himself
to the multitude and declared that henceforth all
his subjects would receive similar treatment.
On
and
a
of
crowd
Moslems, Mollahs,
Sunday, July 26,
Softas, made a demonstration before Yildiz in which
"
cheers for Abdul Hamid were alternated with
Down
"
with the spies
The Sultan again showed himself
to the crowd, and it was announced that he had sworn
on the Koran that he would respect the Constitution.
After this demonstration, the crowd marched to
the official residence of the Armenian Patriarch,
thence to that of the Orthodox Church, and some to
visit St. Sophia,
boul, Pera,
"
No disthe residence of the Bulgarian Exarch.
tinction between the subjects of the Sultan on account
of differences in religion or race," was the general
note of all the many speeches. The demonstrations
which followed during the next week were unique.
The
street and private carriages in Constantinople

are open, and processions passed daily through the
streets, which had evidently been organised with
LIFE OF
294
great care.
some
side
In the
ABDUL HAMID
many
was always
Turkish Mollahs rode
carriages there
sign of fraternisation.
by side with Orthodox
Bishops,
and many
carriages were to be seen containing, the representatives of apparently discordant creeds, Armenian priests
with those of the Orthodox Church, or Chaldeans, or
Jacobites, Jewish Rabbis with Christians, representatives of every Christian Church in Turkey, taking a
part in the general rejoicing amid the plaudits of a

dense crowd. It may well be doubted whether such
a scene had ever been witnessed in the New Rome.
Two facts in the demonstration deserve special
mention.
The first that in all prominent places
the crowd halted while someone, usually a Mollah,
though sometimes a Christian, stood upon a slight
eminence in an attitude of prayer, with the palms of
his hands held upwards and horizontally before him,
and in a clear voice called upon Allah to preserve
the Constitution, thanked Him for the blessings
of liberty which had now been conferred upon the
nation, and invoked the favour of Heaven upon the
Sultan. Speeches were made in the mosques in which
it was
loudly proclaimed that Islam taught the doc"
trine of brotherly love to all
Children of the Books."
Never was a crowd more reverent. Christians and
Moslems fervently uttered their " Aniens."
The
other noticeable fact was that no procession ever
passed the British Embassy without giving a hearty
cheer for the country which they recognised as the
Mother of Free Parliaments.
The new British
Ambassador had not yet arrived in Constantinople,
and the Embassy staff was at its country residence
It seemed that with one accord the
in Therapia.
whole country recognised that the reign of Abdul
Hamid as an absolute Sovereign was at an end. The
popular instinct was right, for the revolution had
triumphed and Constitutional Government had
replaced absolutism.
CHAPTER
XIII
DETHRONEMENT OF ABDUL HAMID

Hamid
Popularity of Abdul
stitution
"
Atheists,
Lowther
after the re-establishment of
Kutchuk Said made Grand

Jews
and Freemasons."
reaction
begins
of
Sir
G.
Association
Balkan Committee
Nazim Pasha
growing
visit of
Attempt
Mahmud Muktar
at
resists;
march on capital
Fetva
delegates communicate news to
after deposition sent to Salonika.
Macedonia
in
13;
April
obtained for deposition
Abdul Hamid
Con-
his mistakes
Arrival
blunders by Chauvinist Party.
counter-revolution,
Shevket
Mahometan
meeting of Turkish Parliament

Kiamil defeated in Chamber
disaffection
Vizier
The Committee of Union and Progress had stripped

Abdul Hamid of his arbitrary power. Many of its
members realised that he was certain to give trouble
if he had the chance.
A minority of the Party would
not have been unwilling to
dethronement or even death,
determined to keep him
"
Divinity which doth hedge
vote for his immediate

but the majority wisely
on the throne.
The
in a King" applies with
Moreover, the outburst
special force to a Sultan.
of enthusiasm which had welcomed the establishment
of Constitutional Government caused the multitude
to forget for the time Abdul Hamid's many misdeeds.
The abolition of espionage and of the system of Yolteskeres,
or
local passports,
the two most general
Government, were
they had been the free
To have spoken publicly about
gifts of the Sultan.
the desirability of deposing him would have been
generally resented. So long as he would consent to
grounds
of complaint against his
welcomed with gratitude as
if
govern constitutionally through Ministers responsible
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
296
his subjects would have been content.

seen little of him during his reign, and, if
to Parliament
They had
he had chosen to allow his Ministers to govern, discontent against the actions of the Government would
have been directed against them and not against
him.
On
July 22, he had dismissed Ferid Pasha from his

Grand Vizier. Ferid did not belong to the
post as
Committee, and probably by the majority of its

members was looked on with a certain distrust. That
however ceased when the Sultan dismissed him.
Though he did not join the Committee, they recognised
that in his refusal to take the place of the Minister of
War when Abdul requested him to do so he sympathised with its action.
Upon his dismissal Abdul
Hamid sent for Kutchuk Said and Kiamil Pasha. To
have done so must have been galling, because both
these Ministers had fallen under his displeasure, and
each of them had had to seek the intervention of Great
Britain to ensure his personal safety. We have seen
Kutchuk Said seeking shelter in the British Embassy
in the time of Sir Philip Currie.
Kiamil, a little
at Smyrna,
British
had
to
the
Consulate
fled
later,
and did not venture to leave it until Sir Nicholas
O'Conor had received assurances that if he came to
Constantinople his person and property would be
safe.
Hamid
The public demonstrations had shown Abdul

that the Party in favour of Constitutional
Government looked to England

inasmuch as both the men sent
as their model,
for
and
were believed to
be strongly in favour of British institutions, the

Sultan rightly considered that the appointment of
So far as Europe and the
either would be popular.
could see, Abdul
of
Turkish
his
subjects
majority
Hamid continued for several weeks after the revolution to be a simple passive spectator of what was
going on.
The revolution had completely triumphed. It had

been accomplished almost exclusively by his Moslem
for although there were a few members of the
subjects
;
297
Committee who were Christians and a smaller number
who were
Jews, the
authors of
the
revolution, the
Committee and its more active members,

were Moslems. Abdul Hamid had done nothing condistinct
sciously against the Moslems of Macedonia as
from the injury which his non-government and misgovernment had inflicted upon the inhabitants generally.
On the contrary, he had encouraged the Moslem
Albanians to encroach on the territory of Serbians,
Bulgarians, and Greeks, and had allowed the Moslem
overlords of Southern Macedonia to oppress their tenants.
He had done nothing, however, to put an end to general
organisers of the
disorder, or towards preventing the plunder of villages,

Greek, now Bulgarian, by his unpaid soldiery. But
the result of his inaction, alternated with foolish action,
had been to alienate the men who might have been ready
to stand by him even when he allowed the Christians to
now
be robbed or killed.
They recognised that his rule
tended to the disintegration of the Empire and they saw
in the Young Turk Party, with its new-fangled Committee
of Union and Progress, the means of putting an end to
;
incompetent and destructive government.

He had
failed him.
entertained hopes of the attachment of his Albanian
troops around Yildiz, but now at the moment of trial
He had favoured them
their loyalty was doubtful.
during many years to such an extent that officers of
high rank in his Turkish regiments declared that nothing
would please their men better than to have the chance of
attacking the encampment around Yildiz. Some of the
Albanian officers, who had risen into positions solely
through Abdul Hamid's favour, were ready, it was
his
Even the Albanian Moslems had
believed, to aid any rising in defence of the

against the Government of the Committee.
Revolution they made no sign. At a later
such risings occurred in Constantinople. The
Sultan and
But at the
period two
Committee,
however, had already many military officers of high
rank in the Albanian regiments around the Palace, and
these men made short work of the demonstrations in
favour of the Padisha. It was astonishing to see how
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
298
entirely friendless
Abdul Hamid had become.
Within
a fortnight after the famous 24th July the Committee

was recognised as the ruling body in the Turkish
Empire.
Something must be said about the statement
repeatedly put forward in Western Europe that the
revolutionary party consisted of Atheists, Jews, and
Freemasons. Ahmed Riza, the Chairman of the Paris
Committee, already marked out as the President of the

Senate, was a Positivist, and this was supposed to be
the justification for employing the word " Atheist."
An explanation is hardly needed, though a Positivist
is not
There is more sense in
necessarily an Atheist.
of
the
It has often
the
Committee.
speaking
Jews upon
been pointed out that the Salonika Jews are the manliest
set of Israelites to be found in the East.
Nearly all of
them are the descendants of exiles from Spain in the
reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, and they still speak
Spanish. Three prominent Salonika Jews were on the
Committee, all of whom were respected amongst all
classes of the community.
There is a curious sect of
"
Crypto- Jews in Salonika known as
Dunmays," whose
dates
from
the
seventeenth
history
century and is well
but
are
as
known,
they
just
respectable a class as any
other religious community in Turkey. It

stated that Javid, who was appointed
is
commonly
Minister of
to
this
sect.
He
Finance, belonged
proved himself an
able financier.
As for the charge that there were
Freemasons among them, that, while admitted, does not
It was necessary to have secret
require defence.
and
as
meetings,
many of the inhabitants of Salonika
were Italian subjects, it was not an unwise thing that
the members should join an Italian lodge for their
Those best acquainted with the
personal security.
facts, however, recognise that the revolution was the
work in the main of the Moslem subjects of Abdul
Hamid, and that they constituted the majority of the
Committee.
The happy
selves
the revolution showed themPress for the first time during
results of
at once.
The

Turkey became absolutely
thirty years in
free.
299
Public
meetings were at once held which gave expression of

popular satisfaction.
The outburst of delight on the part of the great
majority of the population in the capital was remarkable
and to all appearances unanimous. It was the apparent
realisation of the great dream of Mr. Canning and of
other Turkish reformers that throughout the Empire
there should be complete religious equality.
Justice
was then tardily rendered to the memory of Midhat
Pasha. He it was who had designed the Constitution.
Assisted by the British Ambassador, he had chosen
English institutions as the model for the regeneration of
his country.
He had been persecuted to his death by
Abdul Hamid but the great reformer had not lived in
;
vain.
The
many
processions
which
the
cheer lustily for
perambulated
streets of the capital never failed to
A new Ambassador, Sir Gerard Lowther,

England.
appointed on the death of Sir Nicholas O'Conor, had
not arrived when the Revolution occurred. When he
did so on July 30, he was met, among others, by Mr.
Leishman, the American Ambassador, and the reprethe two great Constitutional countries
received such a welcome as had never been previously
accorded to the representatives of either of these States.
sentatives
of
British influence rose in Constantinople to boiling point ;

"
the
for it was hoped and believed that England,
of Free Parliaments," would rejoice in the
establishment as was fully believed of a reformed
Mother
Turkey, with institutions framed on British
lines.
Mutual Suspicions and Distrust.

Abdul Hamid, who remained quiet,
"
Selamlik
continued his weekly display known as the
with as much ostentation as in previous years. GraduMeantime
''
however, public opinion began to distrust him

that, though silent, he was plotting to
rid himself of the Committee which had brought
about the revolution. Both he and the members
ally,
and to suspect
300
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
Committee had troublous times before them,

and before the popular demonstrations were over
each saw dangers ahead.
Abdul Hamid was not
of the
likely to part willingly with the absolute power for

which he had been striving during thirty years. He
probably regarded every Minister in office in July,

1908, as having betrayed him, and he was a man not
The leading members of the Comthat by their action they had become
legally rebels and that the Sultan, should he regain
power, would make short work of them and their
reforms.
He, nevertheless, put a good face on the
matter.
Kutchuk Said was appointed Grand Vizier in
succession to Ferid. But hardly had he taken office
likely to forgive.
mittee
knew
when he gave serious offence. The very proclamation

which he had signed, declaring that the Constitution
should be put into force, raised suspicion that Abdul
Hamid had won him over for the Constitution
provided for the appointment of Ministers of State,
but the proclamation reserved the appointment of the
Ministers of War and Marine to the Sultan.
The
to
Abdul
Hamid's
intention
to
change pointed
keep
all executive power in his own hands.
Thereupon
Kutchuk Said became suspect and had to resign.
Hilmi Pasha was appointed in his stead. Hilmi's
conduct entitled him to the confidence of the ComHe was already experienced in government
mittee.
and had shown himself independent. When in the
days immediately preceding the revolution he was
;
nominally in command of the army in Salonika

he steadily refused to join the Committee. When the
latter on July 21 issued its manifesto he was informed
that he must proclaim the Constitution within fortyeight hours or take the consequences. Hilmi met the
order like a brave man. He had been appointed by
the Sultan and would not sanction the proclamation
He telegraphed
without instructions from Yildiz.
to the Sultan, who, happily for Hilmi, gave way.
Within three or four months after the revolution
301
the advocates of reaction began to raise their heads.

They consisted mainly of employees who had been
dismissed as useless from various public departments,
the departments indeed being largely overstocked by
orders from Abdul Hamid or some of his creatures, in
order that they might be provided for at public
To them were added the great army of
expense.
whose
Amongst the
occupation was gone.
spies
a
were
but
there
class
Ulema
few,
apparently very few,
who regretted the revolution which had been accomplished, and in addition there were naturally, as there
would be in every country, a few opposed to any
From these discordant elements a secret
change.
Association was
called
the Mahometan
society
Its object was to oppose the Committee.
formed.
It claimed to be working solely in view of preventing
the government falling into the hands of the antiMoslem elements. Some of its members declared that
Abdul Hamid,
in spite of his declaration, disapproved

of the Constitution.
But, so far as could be judged
the newspapers which were believed to be

subsidised by Abdul Hamid, its main ambition was to
establish the rule of the Sacred Law or Sheriat. Yet
even that object could not be loudly proclaimed, for it
would alienate all the non-Moslem elements of the
The Association formed the nucleus
population.
round which the various elements of discontent
from
The Kis-Agassi, or chief palace eunuch,

gathered.
with
the second eunuch, and at least one of
together
Abdul Hamid's sons, were reputed to be its founders.
We shall see that the Association played a serious part.
The Chamber of Representatives was convoked
and met on December 17, 1908. Its place of meeting
was one which had been adapted for such purpose as
far back as 1876, and was situated in a building
"
spoken of in Turkish as The Fountain of Learning,"
The crowds
at the south-east end of St. Sophia.
on the occasion of its first meeting were
unprecedented.
Every Ambassador in the place
in
attended
uniform. The cheers given for Sir Gerard
in the streets
302
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
Lowther were undoubtedly more hearty than for any

The Sheik-ul-Islam and the highest officials
other.
amongst the Ulema were present, but so also were
the heads of all the Eastern Churches. The Committee
was formally represented by Ahmed Riza and Enver
Bey, and the Government, approved by the Committee, by Kiamil, now the Grand Vizier in succession to Hilmi.
The Sultan, who had hardly been
seen in the streets for thirty years, attended to
take the most important part in the function and
was accompanied by
his five sons.
It
was noticed,
moreover, as remarkable that Prince Jusuf Izzedin,

the Crown Prince, was not present. Had he been there,
his presence would have been regarded as an act of
generosity on the part of Abdul Hamid, but it was
openly asserted, and was probably true, that he had
been requested not to attempt to go there.
His
Majesty's Speech was read for him and was hardly
less truthful than such documents usually are, for in
"
the course of it Abdul Hamid was made to say,
In
spite of those who are of a contrary opinion, we have
proclaimed anew the Constitution and have ordered
new
elections."
His appearance on this day did not create a favourable impression. As he stood up in the central box
which had been fitted up for his use to salute his
distinguished audience, they saw before them a wearylooking old man of short stature, whose pale and thin
face made his large aquiline nose fully prominent.
A quick, jerky habit of throwing his head round
suggested a man full of apprehension, and when by

slight accident he dropped his handkerchief, his
movement to one of his officers to pick it up indicated
an impatient want of repose which is not a usual
feature in reigning sovereigns.
His bent figure and
in
manner
face
and
the
which
he shuffled rather
ashy
than walked indicated a man a score of years older
than the almanac declared him to be. His shrunken
appearance was aided by his habit of wearing a fez
and overcoat, each much too large for him. The
a

Ambassadors were nearly
appearance, and the noble
all
men
303
of
distinguished
Riza, the
President of the Senate and ex-Chairman of the
Committee of Union and Progress in Paris, caught the
The one important figure in the
popular attention.
Chamber which did not even look dignified was that
of
figure of
Ahmed
Abdul Hamid.
After the friendly tumult which followed the reading

of the Sultan's Speech, he was understood in presence
of the Sheik-ul-Islam to have sworn fidelity to the
Constitution. Whether he did so or not was doubtful,
but to remove doubt he subsequently took an oath to

this
effect.
When
Chamber met
for business there were a

to
be discussed. Naturally,
large number of proposals
to be exposed. Lively
also, there were many grievances
the
Not only were the

members boldly
Ministers attacked, but
was
Abdul
Hamid himself.
declared that the chief culprit
for
wounded
soldiers in
collected
A larê sum of money
discussions of abuses
commenced.
several of the
the Greek
War
in 1897 could not be
accounted
for.
and largely believed that it had

suggestion was made
The project to
gone into Abdul Hamid's private purse.
attached
most
had
which Abdul Hamid
importance as
was
the
construction
Moslem
best pleasing to his
subjects
He
boasted with truth that the

money for its construction had been subscribed by
Moslems all over the world, but it was asserted that, in
addition to the money actually spent on the railway and
a liberal allowance for it for unforeseen expenses, there
was a sum of 700,000 over and above which had not been
accounted for. Riza Tewfik, a fearless Deputy whom
more
many will remember as having visited England on
"
who
was
known
as
the
and
occasion
than one
philowhich
sopher," demanded explanations. That, however,
wounded Abdul Hamid more than these complaints of
the vote in the Chamber to
alleged delinquencies, was
from 882,000 to 600,000.
List
Civil
the
down
cut
sore
at the loss.
was
He
Nevertheless,
notoriously
almost
was
it
immediately after the vote that on
of the
Hedjaz Railway.
304
LIFE OF
ABDUL HAMID
December 31 he invited all the Deputies to dine with

him at Yildiz. He specially helped Ahmed Riza with
water from his own decanter of Kiat Hane water, complimented the prominent men present, praised Jahid for
his powerful advocacy of the Constitution in his newspaper, and delighted the simple representatives from
the provinces, many of whom possibly believed in his

statements.
They heartily cheered him when he
"
a sob in his voice," that never in his life
with
declared,
had he been so happy as at that moment. Even Ahmed
Riza expressed his opinion that the Sultan honestly
intended to become a Constitutional monarch. Many
"
of his guests kissed his hand, while most shouted
Long
"
life to the Padisha and to the Constitution
In spite of these demonstrations, dissension soon
began to show itself both in the country and in the
!
Parliament itself. The Turkish newspapers which were

the organs of the Committee, and undoubtedly were
better aware of what the Sultan was doing than the
general public or the foreign Embassies, watched him
Of the hundreds of spies in
with grave suspicion.
were
there
many who sought to make
Constantinople
Still there
their peace with the new Government.
Foreigners and Turkish
deposition.
with the change
well
satisfied
were
subjects generally
to
and everything
trade
of
flourish,
;
began
was no talk
of
government
looked hopeful.
Yet neither the Sultan nor the leaders were contented
with the other.
Hussein Jahid, a prominent member of the Committee,
who perhaps saw more of him than any other public man,
describes him as usually at this period looking cowed
and anxious only to have his life spared and to be allowed
to reign. Neither Jahid, however, nor any man who had
had experience of Abdul Hamid, trusted either his looks
or his word. They knew that duplicity had long been a
confirmed attribute. Like all Oriental sovereigns, he had
lived in an atmosphere of intrigue, and they continued
It
to distrust him, as no doubt he distrusted them.
could not be otherwise. During many years a large
305
portion of every day had been taken up in the perusal

of the reports of his spies.
The hundreds of such
reports which are said to have reached him daily had
obsessed him, and he daily continued to peruse them.
Many
thousands
of
them were subsequently found
packed away at Yildiz, the enormous majority being

not only worthless, but, as Dr. Shakir Bey, a trust-
worthy man charged
to
report
on
their
contents,
affirmed, contradictory and mischievous, explaining to

some extent the Sultan's blundering in the two or three
weeks which preceded the revolution, and especially
how
until within three or four days of the proclamation

he appeared incapable of recognising that the revolutionary movement required more attention than the
immediate arrest of a few individuals.
It was during the Vizierate of Kiamil that the British
Balkan Committee sent out a deputation to congratulate
the Committee on the happy revolution.
As the
Selamlik was undoubtedly one of the sights of the city,
the members of the deputation, consisting of Mr. Noel E.
Buxton, his brother Roden, Mr., now Sir Arthur Evans,
and half a dozen others, went to see it. They were
placed by prominent members of the Committee on a
small covered terrace before which the Sultan passed
in his short journey from the Palace gates of Yildiz to
the Hamidieh Mosque, where he attended for the Friday
midday prayers. The ceremony was not a specially
the feature in it which always jarred
interesting one
upon foreigners being that the Sultan, on his return
;
up a somewhat steep hill to the gates of Yildiz, was

followed on foot by a number of Pashas, some of them
very fat, who puffed and blew a good deal to keep pace
with the Sovereign's carriage.
The spectacle would
have been ludicrous if it were not ridiculous. The
Sultan expressed a desire to receive the members
of the Balkan Committee.
His reception of these
men who for years had urged reforms has been
described by Mr. Roden Buxton.
Kiamil Pasha, as
well as the Young Turk Party, welcomed the British
visitors
L.A.H.
as
representing
the
opinion
of
country
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
3 o6
with
which
constitutional
government
is
always
associated.
Kiamil Pasha continued in office as Grand Vizier

until February, 1909.
He, however, lost the confidence of the Young Turk Party and was only retained
in his post because he was known to be favourably
regarded by Great Britain. Though he was amongst
those who at the great Palace meeting on July 23 had
advised Abdul Hamid to give way, he was not and
Indeed
never became a member of the Committee.
may be said that he never worked cordially with it.

He was an old man, already past eighty, and his ideal
it
of Turkish government was that of the notable

Viziers who had held office previous to Abdul Hamid's
accession. He wanted a strong Government and did
not believe that the Turks were fit for representative
institutions ; he wanted a just Government such as
Ali, Fuad, and Reshid had attempted to form, in order
that he might attack the abuses in the administration

of justice.
The special fault which the Committee
found with him was that he had driven the Minister
of War, Riza Pasha, and that of Marine out of office,
and had appointed Nazim in place of Riza without

consulting the Committee. A vote in the Chamber
of 198 against and only 8 for him led to his resignation.
Whatever were the motives of Kiamil, there was a
general feeling of satisfaction at Nazim's appointment, and especially among foreign military experts.
The Second Army Corps, of which he had been placed
in command, was lax in discipline when he took charge.
The soldiers were discussing politics, asking whether
it was best in their interest to
support the Committee,
or whether the Committee were working in the
interest of the Giaours.
They understood liberty
and equality, as most of the uneducated Turks did,
to mean that one man was as good as another, and
that the soldier ought to have equal authority with
his officer.
They had to be coaxed to go to drill.
were
Nazim
They
disrespectful to their officers.
Pasha soon changed all this. He told his officers that

it
was the business
fighting,
that
307
of a soldier to train himself for
political
and that the
questions
were
not
of a soldier
first
their
was to
duty
According to all accounts he effected a quite
remarkable improvement in discipline. 1
The belief was generally expressed, when Kiamil
appointed Nazim Minister of War, that what he had
done for one army corps he would accomplish for
the whole army. The Committee and the nation had
full confidence in him.
He had been kept in prison
in Erzinghian by Abdul Hamid for seven years as a
political suspect.
During five of these years he had
been confined in a room about ten feet square, but as
a favour had been allowed access to military books.
He was known as one of the best soldiers in the countrv
when he was exiled and had added to his theoretical
knowledge during his imprisonment. In June, 1908,
he escaped from prison and made his way in various
disguises during thirty-five days to Batum, where he
learned that the revolution had occurred in ConstanHe contrived to reach the capital, and was
tinople.
at once welcomed by the Committee and the army.
He was heart and soul with their movement. But
when Kiamil fell the Committee would not allow him
to continue as Minister of War because he had been
business,
obey.
named by
of
the fallen Minister.
War was
placed again
letting every soldier do

development than ever.
The previous Minister

and the old system of
in office
much
as he liked took greater
Observers other than the Turkish Ministers saw

many othec things than the lax discipline of the
army, which led them to conclude that a cataclysm
might ensue. There was a steadily growing dissatisfaction with the new regime because it did nothing.
Regarding many matters this dissatisfaction was
In others, there was an impatience
unjustifiable.
for results which was simply due to ignorance.
Kiamil's Government had named Commissioners to
1 Nazim had been trained
at St. Cyr and approved
German methods of tactics and strategy.
of
French rather than
LIFE OF
308
ABDUL HAMID
frame Bills to present to the Chamber which would

remedy many of the crying evils. Ignorant men,
accustomed to absolute government, thought that the
Sovereign's fiat could at once be used to put an end
to the evils complained of. No such fiats were issued.
It is true that the system of spies was abolished and
that the abominations of torture had for a time come
but disorder in the capital and the
to an end
provinces seemed rather to increase.
Liberty was
taken to be licence. People saw no improvements in
The Law Courts
the administration of justice.
;
remained unchanged. The beginning of an attempt

The sento purify them had not even been made.
of
for
trial
sational
Nedjib Melhame,
alleged tortures
which would have disgraced the Inquisition, had been
dragging on for months. In popular belief the judges
in this and similar criminal cases were seeking the
means, at the instigation of the Palace, of postponing
their decisions until the offences were forgotten and
the prisoners could be released.
Then, too, the financial difficulties had not lessened.
the soldiers
All the departments required money
saw no advantages which they had gained by the
revolution. The Ministry of Hilmi Pasha, which was
purely and simply that of the Committee, showed a
want of backbone. It gave orders which it had not
the courage to carry out. There were even signs which
were construed as an intention to interfere with the
and with the liberty of the
right of public meeting
Press. Nor were matters improved under the rule of
The Committee was discredited by the
Kiamil.
;
weakness
of its nominees.
But the most ominous of the signs that a storm was

seen in the intolerance and narrowlikely to come was
ness of a small section of the Committee. People were
asking whether it was worth while exchanging the
tyranny of Abdul Hamid for that of this irresponsible
body. The Committee felt that its rule was becoming
unpopular and plunged. Everyone recognised that it
had managed the revolution of July with skill and a
309
moderation which deserved every praise, but with

that admission admiration ceased.
A few days after the vote of want of confidence in
Kiamil, in February, 1909, it was a matter of common
talk that the officers of the fleet
they would claim to elect their
had declared that
own Minister of
Civilians
uneasiness
prevailed.
general
became alarmed.
The manner in which Kiamil was dismissed did much
He
to destroy public confidence in the Committee.
was contemptuously outvoted. Yet he was an old and
trusty public servant who not only embodied the best
traditions of the small party which during thirty years
had opposed the tyranny of the Palace, but stood for the
principle of liberty, of settled government, and of a
school which was willing to grant equality within the
limits of what was possible to all the non-Turkish
elements of the Empire. He was not, therefore, a man
to be lightly cast aside, though the opinion was quite
helm
fairly held that a younger man ought to be at the
Marine.
of State.
of Kiamil definitely marked the parting
The
of the ways.
Committee of Union and Progress
and the Chamber divided into sections. The first
assumed the name of Achrars, or Liberals, and the other
of Nationalists.
Both sections were actuated by a
common purpose to benefit the country. Both were
The downfall
passionately attached to constitutional government.

Both considered themselves progressive, but one wished
to go further or faster than the other. It had been said
"
that the Liberals were in favour of
decentralisation,"
but the Nationalists made the same claim. What each
agreed to understand by the term was that the local
Governors should have power to take decisions in
reference to public works and other matters of specially
local interest without the necessity of referring every
matter to the Ministers in the capital. The Liberals,
however, preferred that there should be locally elected
councils.
The parting
of the
ways was shown both
in reference
LIFE OF
310
ABDUL HAMID
and to men. The extreme Nationalists

showed an intolerance of all opinions contrary to their
own and opposed all projects not previously sanctioned
by them. Already some of them had insolently proclaimed that when liberty and equality were spoken of
they meant only among Moslems.
They wished to
Even
Arabs
and
Albanians were
Turkify everything.
to be forced to learn Turkish, which was to be the only
The names of the streets, even
official language used.
in towns where Greek was the language of three-fourths
to measures
of the inhabitants, were painted in Turkish characters

which a very small proportion of the population could
read.
Old-fashioned Turks mocked at the absurdity.
It was, however, a more serious question in Albania and
the Arabs, their language, that of the

Koran,
regarded with a veneration which causes
them to look upon Turkish as barbarous. To attempt
to supersede the semi-sacred language increased the
already growing hostility of the tribes towards the
Committee.
Already, before the revolution, in June,
had
defeated the Turks near Sana, and the
1907, they
fear which the rebels, aided by the climate and lack of
water, had aroused in the Turkish troops was so great
that desertions were always frequent when troops were
ordered to the Hedjaz. After the revolution, when at
the end of October, 1908, the Seventh Regiment was
ordered to Jeddah, they mutinied and declared against
the Committee.
The Hedjaz Railway, opened on
enabled
the troops on the side of the
September 1,
Arabia.
Among
is
Government to effect their defeat, and Ratib Pasha,

their commander, was captured.
Nevertheless, the
discontent among the tribes became so serious that
Hilmi Pasha drew up a project of reforms with the
Arab leaders which it was believed would satisfy them.
When Kiamil came into power he gave it his entire
But it was not Turkish enough to satisfy
approval.
the extremists and was set aside on the dismissal of
Kiamil.
Upon
Kiamil's dismissal, the Sheik-ul-Islam, JemalThe dominant section of the Com-
ed-din, resigned.
311
mittee begged him to remain in office.

Hilmi Pasha
Hilmi's
the
But
in
joined
request.
unexpected desertion
of his chief on the Thursday preceding the Saturday of
Kiamil's fall had created a bad impression in the minds
of all who knew the circumstances. He had not played
the game.
The Sheik-ul-Islam refused. All that he
would consent to was to recommend Zia-ed-din as his
successor. The new Sheik-ul-Islam was greatly respected
and it was hoped he would prove as able as his
predecessor.
But the refusal of the Jemal-ed-din to continue in
office was a significant sign that the Committee had
forfeited the confidence of a man who carried great
weight with the community, and especially with the

Ulema, the most learned and highly placed of Moslems.
No greater blunder could have been committed by the
Nationalist Party than to alienate this class.
The position became threatening to Young Turkey.

The Parliament which they had called together was
working quite as well as could have been expected when
it is remembered that nine out of ten members were
absolutely inexperienced and unused to public life.
Each one, however, recognised that the party was
fighting for its life and believed that there was an
unseen force, headed by Abdul Hamid, that was working
for its ruin.
Confident of their popularity in the country,
they took few precautions, except that the larger part

of the Albanian troops surrounding Yildiz were sent to
other barracks and a few suspected employees were
dismissed.
13, 1909, a piece of news
Europe and even to the foreign
Ministers in Constantinople.
Yet there had been
indications which ought to have put the latter on guard.
The newspapers which spoke for the Mahometan
Association, and even other local journals, had begun
A public meeting
violently to attack the Committee.
denounce changes
held
in
the
first
week
of
to
was
April
The employees of the only Turkish
in the Press Law.
Suddenly, on Tuesday, April
came
as a
bomb
to
steamship company openly defied the orders of the
LIFE OF
312
Government, that
is,
ABDUL HAMID
of the
Committee.
They retained
possession of the steamers and ran them in defiance of

It looked as if the Young
the Committee's orders.
Turks were losing all control. Then one of the editors,

Hassan Fehmi, of a Mahometan Association newspaper
called the Serbesti, was assassinated near Galata Bridge
and his death was generally attributed to the Committee.
Though the man had been of ill-repute, the assassination
aroused such ill-feeling against the Committee that they
obtained permission to bury him in the mausoleum of
Mahmud the Reformer in other words, to allege that
they regretted his death. His funeral, designed to clear
the Committee from suspicion, became a demonstration
it.
against
return, however, to the events of April 13. What

appeared like a general revolt of all the troops in the
To
From the suburbs regiments marched

towards the great courtyard of Saint Sophia and the large
open space known in Byzantine days as the Augusteon,
which lies to the south of the great church. All the
capital occurred.
carried rifles, and as they passed over the

the Golden Horn hundreds of shots were
across
bridges
fired into the air. The first impression was, and probably
not an incorrect one, that the soldiers, who were mostly
without officers, wished no harm to anybody, but were
soldiers
The previous days had been Easter

and
Monday, feasts which all denominations of
Sunday
Eastern Christians celebrate by the indiscriminate
discharge of rifles, pistols, and fireworks. They had had
their turn and the Turkish soldier seemed to think that
it was now his.
This was not, however, the view of the better informed.
The garrison of the capital and the marines from the
Arsenal had mutinied. Those who neared the converging places found that there were persons among the
having an outing.
"
Down with the Constitu"

with the Committee,"
Long live the
It turned out afterwards
Sheriat," the Sacred Law.
that there were a number of men, disguised as mollahs,
who had
hojas, or softas, and wearing the white turban,
troops
tion,"
who
"
raised the cry of
Down
313
been instructed to raise these shouts. The cry was a

dangerous one because it tended to arouse religious
fanaticism, and in former years and under different
circumstances would have led to an attack upon the
by the Moslem mob. That time,

had
however,
gone past. It was not taken up largely,
and the soldiers continued their demonstrations of joy.
It was soon remarked that the regiments were mostly
without officers. Then the news was spread that Nazim
Pasha, the Minister of Justice, had been shot for refusing
to give up his revolver
that a man had been killed
under the belief that he was Jahid Bey, editor of the
chief Committee newspaper
that Hilmi Pasha having
refused to continue in office had been replaced as Grand
Vizier by Tewfik Pasha, and that Abdul Hamid had
promised pardon to all the mutineers. That it was an
attempt at counter revolution became evident and
cannot seriously be doubted. There was some religious
feeling in the movement, but there was also a good deal
of gold and silver. A great
many of the noisy demonChristian population
strators subsequently arrested were found to possess

considerable sums of money which they declared had
been given to them that morning as recompense for
raising cries against the Committee and in favour of the
Sheriat.
voked
The mob evoked no enthusiasm and pro-
It wrecked the offices of the

opposition.
leading newspaper, the Tanin, the organ of the Committee. It destroyed those of the Committee, a Turkish
ladies' club, and the property of another newspaper
which supported the Committee.
In the afternoon all firing ceased until late in the
In the following day, April 14, the new
evening.
Vizier formed a Ministry from which naturally Young
Turks were excluded.
The most notable opposition had taken place at the
barracks of the Seraskerat, which is situated on the
highest ground in the eastern portion of Stambul. The
troops there were in command of Mahmud Muktar,
who subsequently gave a full history of what he did and
saw on that day. He refused to admit the military
little
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
3H
mob into the barrack yard, not doubting that they

were acting against the Sovereign's orders. Fighting
took place between the men under his command and a
During the struggle orders
were brought to Muktar from the Palace that the mob
was not to be resisted. He at once obeyed, but he knew
that he had incurred the displeasure of the Sultan and
of the party which was then in possession of the streets
of Stambul.
He therefore hastened away in disguise,
crossed the Bosporus, and went to his house at Moda,
at the extreme south-east end of that channel. After
various remarkable adventures he got away from
Constantinople on the following day by the help of the
British and German Embassies to the Piraeus, and three
days later reached Salonika, where he joined Mahmud
portion of the military.
Shevket. 1
The proceedings
for
many
in Constantinople were concealed

hours from the rest of the country, and
especially from Salonika, where the silence of the

telegraph wires occasioned great alarm amongst the
Committee. The troops in that city and indeed in all
Macedonia were under the command of Shevket Pasha,
a brave soldier, respected by all who knew him.
As
soon as the news of what was immediately taken to be
a serious revolt in favour of Abdul Hamid reached the
city, Shevket was sent for by the Committee and asked
what he proposed to do. He had only joined the
Committee after considerable hesitation, but when the
question was put to him his answer was worthy of his

"
I have sworn to defend the Committee
reputation.
and
of Union
Progress and shall respect my oath."
of
As details
the rising reached Salonika he collected
an army largely composed of Albanians and Christians
A detachment
in order to proceed to Constantinople.
left for the capital on Friday, April 16.
In the eventful four days that followed the demonstration of April 13 all the prominent members of the
Government and of the Committee went into hiding.
1
"
Muktar declared it would have been child's play to have put down the
But on receipt of the Sultan's message he had to flee for his life.
revolt."
315
Some sought
refuge in one or other of the foreign

but
most of them in friendly private houses.
Consulates,
The storm had burst suddenly, and no one knew what
would follow. When men found that the demonstration
was entirely silly, futile, and without apparent guidance,
they came out into daylight and, not altogether free
from alarm, made San Stefano their headquarters.
It was then found that the deaths during April 13 were
The Minister
less numerous than had been expected.
of Justice and Arslan Bey were the only notables who
had been killed. Eight officers also had been slain, but,
excepting those who fell in attacking Mahmud Muktar

at the Seraskerat, probably not more than a score
perished.
At San Stefano most of the leading members of the

Committee waited anxiously to see what the military
party, and above all Shevket, would do. Many of the
telegraph employees in the capital were members of
the Committee and sent word to Salonika of what San
Stefano thought and proposed. Abdul Hamid to the
general surprise made no move. That the demonstration
was intended to subvert the Constitution and bring
back the personal government of Abdul Hamid was not
doubted by most persons who witnessed it. That the
demonstrators were supplied with
money was proved
by the confessions of men arrested even on April 13,

upon whom considerable sums had been found. The
question which everybody asked was to whom could
a counter revolution be beneficial, and but one answer
was given. Abdul Hamid, in his methods, always had a
tendency to secret intrigue and cunning, and in none of
his endeavours were these qualities displayed more
conspicuously than in the way in which the demonstration of April 13 was organised.
Yet the question of the Sultan's share in it is not
Kiamil acquitted Abdul
altogether free from doubt.
Hamid of any participation. The Sultan was " a brokendown man and went in fear of his life," according to
It must be remembered, however, that Kiamil
him.
had been roughly treated by the Committee and his
LIFE OF
316
ABDUL HAMID
Shevket judged
not be impartial.
to be the instigator. The first and second
eunuchs of the Palace were of the same opinion and
gave curious details of Abdul's preparations. It was
subsequently stated that the examination of the spies'
testimony
may
Abdul Hamid
reports are conclusive as to the Sultan's participation.

It was remembered that Abdul Hamid had already
destroyed one Parliament, and the belief was natural
that the attempt on April 13 was another to accomplish
a like object.
Shevket Pasha kept his word and did not lose a day
in Salonika in preparing his
pushing on to the capital.
consisting of
members
of
army
for a
march and
in
National Convention
both Houses met daily at San
Stefano after April 16, and was not disturbed by the

police or the troops who were still supposed to be acting
on behalf of Abdul Hamid. The Army of Liberation,
as those under Shevket were commonly called, made
its
appearance in the suburbs of the capital on April 22,
1909.
Everybody in the city expected a serious struggle.

There was indeed opposition at two or three places,
the first at Daoud barracks, about a mile outside the
Adrianople Gate, and another outside San Stefano,
but, gradually and skilfully, a semi-circle was drawn
around the city having one end west of San Stefano
and the other on the Bosporus, four or five miles northward of the city. The most serious fighting was expected
but on April 22, in
in the neighbourhood of Yildiz
;
the early morning, Shevket's army arrived in its neighbourhood and took possession of the outlying barracks
around the Sultan's residence. They were attacked by
some of the troops in the direction of the Taxim, and
hundreds of shots were exchanged during two hours.
About a score of soldiers and civilians were killed or
wounded. Then opposition ceased until the afternoon,
when again a few soldiers attached to Abdul Hamid's
cause opened fire from the Tashkisla barracks.
This
was soon silenced, and at five o'clock in the afternoon
hundreds of residents visited the neighbourhood of
317
these barracks and found everything quiet. Yildiz had

sent out spies to learn the whereabouts of the invaders,
but they were captured.
The Palace was soon
to be
in the possession of the deliverers. The semi-circle had

converged. The Army of Deliverers were already in
Their advance was so rapid

possession of the city.
that Abdul Hamid seems to have been unable to decide
upon any action whatever. Fuad Pasha, an experienced
soldier, maintained that with a small number of men he
could have held the Deliverers at Chatalja for a period
sufficiently long to have enabled the Sultan to bring
up troops from many parts of Asia Minor. He did
nothing
were already in possession. The

Union and Progress had once more
his enemies
Committee
of
triumphed.
Thereupon, although not for the first time, a party
in favour of deposing Abdul Hamid declared itself and
became at once the majority. Some of the extremists
would probably have voted for his death, but more
moderate counsels again prevailed.
He was to be
allowed to live, but to be shorn of all power.
The population of the capital had believed that

Abdul Hamid was a quiet spectator of what was being
done. It was asserted that he was dazed, stricken with
surprise and fear at the rapid progress which he was
informed the troops
marching to Constantinople were

incredulous that his pampered Albanian
that among the
troops should leave him defenceless
thousands of his subjects who had lived at his charge
none were forthcoming to organise a defence of the
capital or even of Yildiz against the rebel army. What
caused most astonishment during the army's advance
was that no soldier was named to lead the defence.
few troops led only by officers of low rank made a show
of fighting rather than a serious fight.
In reality, howa
indecision.
He could not
Abdul
was
state
of
in
ever,
make up his mind to play the man. Yet he was not
altogether inactive. In his own unsoldierly way he had
He had sent Yusuf
endeavoured to save himself.
Pasha into Albania to rouse a party in his favour. But
making
318
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
Shevket learned of the mission at Chatalja and sent

two trustworthy men to watch the messenger. Yusuf
was arrested and was found to have a large sum in gold
packets in his luggage. Abdul counted for help upon the
lower section of the Ulema, and it was claimed by the
Committee that there was abundant evidence to show
that he had expended money lavishly in bribing dozens
of such men to arouse Moslem fanaticism in his favour.
The Albanians who remained near the capital showed
that they would not join in such a movement, and an
eye-witness of what passed during the three or four
"
Albanians
days preceding the capture of Yildiz saw
to
with
as little
marching hojas (Moslem teachers)
jail
1
if these
men
were
as
of
Unbelievers."
Pigs
ceremony
holy
As soon as Yildiz was captured a Military Committee
was appointed to preserve the lives of those within it
and its contents. As already mentioned, the walls of
the great park included many outbuildings and a large
community. Every Turkish Pasha who can afford it
has always a great number of servants and hangers-on,
but in Yildiz there were an unusual number.
There
were said to be 370 ladies and their servants, together
with the sons and daughters of the Sultan and their
respective suites amounting to 160 persons. In addition
were 350 persons who were chamberlains, body servants
and aides-de-camp
250 belonging to the kitchens
and
stablemen,
350
body troops to the number of
;
nearly 1,500.
The Saturday night after the capture must have been

The Palace, which Abdul Hamid
at Yildiz.
had
brilliantly lighted, was in complete darkness.
always
The Sultan was not visible, and many believed that he
was in a fit or already dead. Nothing but pity could be
terrible
"
The Fall of Abdul Hamid," p. 247, by Francis McCullagh. Abdul Hamid
said even in these the most critical days of his life to have believed that
" the
he,
King of Kings, the Shadow of God, the Blood Drinker, the
Hunkiar, the sole Arbiter of the World's destiny," was invulnerable. He
1
is
believed in the predictions already mentioned. When on the afternoon of

Friday Yildiz was captured, he began to regard the situation as hopeless.
It is right to add that trusted soldiers were placed around Yildiz and that
his person and that of all in the great palace remained unmolested.
still
319
the poor ladies who were alleged to have anticipated that they would be left to the mercy of the
The higher officials and functionaries were
soldiers.
immediately taken away and placed under control.
Many of them had gone into the harem, in which place
also the eunuchs had taken refuge.
Most of the ladies
were conveyed to the Cheragan Palace which adjoins
Yildiz or were taken quietly to imperial buildings at
Seraglio Point. The citizens of Pera on the Monday saw
a long procession of eunuchs, spies, slaves, and unarmed
officers marched through the streets surrounded by a
felt for
detachment
of
Macedonian
soldiers.
Always careful to act so far as possible in conformity

with the Sacred Law, the National Convention, which
intended to depose Abdul Hamid, applied to the
Sheik-ul-Islam for a Fetva authorising their proceedings.
This was obtained without difficulty, and a deputation
consisting of four persons was then appointed by the
Convention to inform Abdul Hamid that he was deposed
and to announce
to
Reshad Effendi,
his
younger brother,
his accession to the throne.
Reshad had been
living in retirement, carefully spied
upon by the emissaries of Abdul Hamid, and could

hardly believe the news when he received the deputation
informing him that in accordance with the Fetva of the
Highest Sacred Court Abdul Hamid was deposed and
he had consequently become Sultan.
For our purpose it is more interesting to notice what
was done by the Commission when charged to convey
the news to Abdul Hamid. The most important member
was General Essad Pasha, a man much respected and
about fifty years of age. He gave an account of what
1
The
happened at the interview to Mr. McCullagh.
man
after
him
was
most prominent
Carasso Effendi, a
member of the Committee and a deputy from Salonika.
He gave an account of the fulfilment of his mission to
various persons, the present writer amongst the number.
He is an advocate, an orthodox Jew, and is greatly
respected on account of his character and ability. This
1
"
Fall of
Abdul Hamid,"
p. 266.
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
320
was
his
second
visit
to
Yildiz.
revolution of July, 1908, he
Shortly before
the
had been arrested while
on his way home, and was taken in a steam launch

across to Scutari and thence to Yildiz. He was severely
interrogated, both in the launch and at the Palace.
In the account of the interview at Yildiz, which the
present writer entirely believes, he made up his mind
that his only chance of getting away from the Palace
was to present a bold front to the Sultan's agents. He
admitted that he was a member of the Committee, and
then told his questioners that they had ramifications in
every part of the Empire, that the army was with them,
and that there could be no chance whatever of successIn other words, he bluffed them to
fully resisting it.
such an extent that after four hours' interrogation they
let him out of the Palace at midnight, and to his great
delight he was permitted to return to his family.
When on Tuesday, April 27, Carasso and his fellow

Commissioners reached Yildiz, they informed the
Sultan's secretary that they had a personal communication to make to his Majesty on behalf of the National
The secretary warned them that his
Convention.
an excited condition and that he might
was
in
Majesty
draw his revolver on them. They were then surrounded

by a party of about thirty black eunuchs and admitted
into the room where they were to give their message.
The most noticeable feature in the room was the number
of mirrors which enabled the Sultan to see what persons
entered, even from behind him. Abdul Hamid came in
a few minutes after them, accompanied by his little son,
Abdurrahman Effendi. The deputation advanced into
the centre of the room and respectfully saluted. The
eunuchs and secretaries remained near the door by
which the deputies had entered. Abdul Hamid came in
from behind a screen and asked why they had come,
whereupon Essad Pasha saluted and replied that they
were there by orders of the Chambers acting in conformity with a Fetva that had been pronounced by the
Sacred Court and confirmed by the Sheik-ul-Islam,
declaring that his Majesty Abdul Hamid could lawfully
321
be deposed, and that in consequence Reshad would

immediately be proclaimed Sultan. He added that the
National Convention " charges itself with his Majesty's
personal safety and that of his family." The Sultan
replied in a state of great excitement that he was not
"
It is my Kismet," and then pressed them for
guilty
an assurance that his life would be spared. He added,
still
speaking passionately, that it ought to be spared
because he had spared the life not only of Murad, but of
Reshad himself, who they stated had now become
Sultan. Could they give an assurance that he would be
safe ?
Both Essad and Carasso replied, in terms which
had
they
previously agreed upon, that the Ottoman
were
people
magnanimous and that the decision rested
with them.
They were then asked if they would
that
his life was safe.
guarantee
They declared that
were
not
to
they
charged
give any message regarding
his personal safety, but their opinion was that his life
would be safe. The Sultan burst out with the question
"
Will you swear to me that my life will be safe ?
Essad expressed his opinion that the Assembly would
not commit an act of injustice. Then Abdul asked if he
might be permitted to occupy the Cheragan Palace.
All that they could promise was that they would submit
his wish to the National Convention, and would communicate its decision. Essad added that he personally
thought such desire would be granted. Then Abdul
Hamid whined out that he had conducted the war
against Greece and had gained it, and that he had done
many things in the interest of the nation, and that he did
not deserve to be deposed.
For a moment Abdul
Hamid gave utterance to a cry of despair, finishing by
calling upon Allah to punish the wrong-doers, a sentiment to which one of the deputation responded with a
"
Amen." Towards the end of the interview
hearty
Abdul Hamid passed from a state of excitement to one
:
'
of collapse.
The
last three or four
days had told heavily
and the hair

showed grey. The deputation then retired, and the last
sound that they heard was the boyish voice of the
upon him.
L.A.H.
His beard had
lost its dye,
LIFE OF
322
little
Prince,
who was
ABDUL HAMID
crying as
if
his
heart would
break.
out for the

April 13 his mutinous army had cried
of the
decree
the
to
on
Sheriat
April 27, according
same
the
On
to
Hamid
had
ceased
Abdul
reign.
Sheriat,
the
under
Sultan
was
Effendi
Reshad
proclaimed
day
On
Mahomet V.
title of
It
is
unnecessary for
my purpose to record
ment that was meted out
to those
the punishthe
who had taken
leading part in the attempted reaction on April 13.

On the evening of his dethronement, at about nine
two armed automobiles and two squadrons of

to
cavalry with three Macedonian officers proceeded
Yildiz. They were under the command of Husni Pasha,
o'clock,
whom were Ghalib, Inspector-General of the Police

and Gendarmery, and Ali Fatieh, who had been the
Turkish Military Attache at Paris. Husni Pasha, Commander of the First Division of the Macedonian Army,
has given a full account of what happened. He saw Jevad
Bey, the first secretary of the ex-Sultan, and requested
him to announce his visit. Jevad Bey refused and
"
The Sultan is a good shot and never misses.
said,
You have no idea how well he aims." Husni replied,
" I
can kill you on the spot, go and do what I order
tell Abdul Hamid that I must speak to him on a question
hour.
touching his life." He waited a quarter of an
Then Jevad Bey conducted him into the presence of
Abdul Hamid, who appeared very much agitated, with
his hands in his pockets, doubtless clutching two
with
"
revolvers, and, adds Husni,

apparently convinced that
Husni saluted the
the troops intended to kill him."
ex-Sultan with the greatest respect, and assured him

that the nation did not wish to injure him, that he had
swore to Abdul Hamid that his life
nothing to fear, and
"
"
the decision
was guaranteed.
Nevertheless," he said,
is irrevocably taken that two Sultans ought not to remain
same place."
" I understand. What do
Abdul Hamid answered,
" "
Abdul
I wish to take you to Salonika."
you want ?
Hamid declared that he was ill and wished to pass his
in the
DETHRONEMENT OF ABDUL HAMTD
323
days at Cheragan, or to have his freedom and to be

permitted to go to Europe.
Husni goes on to tell that he pleaded long with the
ex-Sultan in order that he might yield. Abdul Hamid
His women brought him water and wept
fainted.
Finally he yielded to their urgent entreaties,
bitterly.
and the carriages were ordered to get ready.
He was permitted to take with him three Sultanas,
four concubines and a retinue, in all twenty-seven
persons. He was only allowed to take a small portion
of the luggage which he desired to take, but many boxes
had been packed, and it was promised that these should
be sent on by train, a promise which was kept. Abdul
Hamid expressed a desire to take with him a favourite
Angora cat, and this was also forwarded the next day. At
midnight the automobiles, accompanied by a squadron
Abdul
the railway station.
Princes and three Sultanas was
the rest were in automobiles.
in a large landau
It was noted that the ex-Sultan was pleased to see the
of
cavalry, started
Hamid with two
for
little
railway station which he had never been in before.

Probably he was now for the first time convinced that
he was to be taken to Salonika, and that the representations of Husni were not part of a plot to kill him. At
2.30 a.m. the train for Salonika started on what is always
a long and weary journey. Passing through Dedeagatch,
it continued for about twenty hours, and at nine o'clock
on the evening of the 28th reached its destination.
There the deposed Sultan was lodged in the Villa
Allatini, belonging to a well-known and highly respected
Jewish family.
The story of Abdul Hamid as Sultan is finished. It

only remains to add that he never appears to have
recovered his spirits, but developed the distrust and
querulousness which had always been marked features
of his character.
Had he wished to escape while in
he
Salonika,
probably could have done so without much
The
Villa Allatini was practically locked from
difficulty.
From
the time of his arrival there he entirely
the inside.
from
It is, to say the least,
public view.
disappears
Y 2
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
324
curious that few persons, either in Turkey or out of it,

cared to inquire what had become of him. Eleven of his
leave
suite, mostly ladies, desired after a few months to
two
about
so.
After
him and were permitted to do
years
in Salonika the Committee considered it safer that he
should be nearer the Capita], and he was brought to

small palace
Constantinople and for a time lodged in a
he
has
said
that
It
is
on the Bosporus.
again been
interior.
in
the
removed to some place
Note
I.
Full
details of the visit of the Deputies to Yildiz
Abdul Hamid that he was deposed were given in the

Daily Telegraph, the Times, and the Daily News. They agreed
in giving credit to the delegates for correct and courteous treatment of the fallen Sovereign and in representing him as making
denunciations of his
piteous appeals for his life, amid passionate
to inform
"
excellent
Diary of Recent Events in Constanti" One on the
Spot," was given in Blackwood's
nople," by
r
with Tuesday, April 13.
fe
commencing
June,
1909,
Magazine
A much fuller account and one picturesquely written is given
by Mr. Francis McCullagh, who also was in Constantinople at
that time (as was the present writer). Mr. McCullagh had the
enemies.
An
and of obtaining the versions

Pasha and several others of the prime actors in the
events of April 13 and for a fortnight after the deposition
Francis
of Abdul Hamid.
(" The Fall of Abdul Hamid,'" by
McCullagh, Methuen & Co.)
advantage
of discussing events with,
of Shefket
Note
Fortune
2.-
of Abdul Hamid on his Dethronement.
has already been mentioned that Abdul Hamid was keen

money. A Commission appointed immediately after the
deposition by the Chamber reported that on May 9, 1909, they
It
after
had opened two of the safes in the secret portion of Yildiz, and
"
found in gold and silver ^90,000, which were placed in eleven
sacks in one strong box." A further report declared that they
found similar hoards in Yildiz of cash and notes amounting to
Abdul Hamid's private

had
been
which
obtained, brought
irregularly
properties,
him in a large income, the mines alone producing annually from
^300,000 to ^350,000. These were transferred to the Govern-Ti8o,ooo and ^Ti, 800,000 in securities.
many
of
DETHRONEMENT OF ABDUL HAM1D
325
was never discovered what money he possessed in

foreign banks, except his deposits in the Ottoman Bank, where he
had ^lÔjOOO. He alleged that all his deposits abroad only
amounted to ^Ti, 080,000.
The same Commission reported that there were 300 cases of
Djoumals in the basement at Yildiz only.
ment.
It
Note on the Young Turk Party, Diplomacy, and

the Entry of Turkey into the European War.
With the deposition of Abdul Hamid the story of the
Committee of Union and Progress finishes so far as this
book is concerned. But the writer may be allowed to
add something to his story about them. That they were
actuated when they made the Revolution of 1908 by
praiseworthy motives is beyond reasonable doubt.
No Englishman, knowing the condition to which Abdul
Hamid had reduced his country, could fail to sympathise with their desire to establish Constitutional
Government. Having accomplished that object by a

union of all the elements in the countrv, internal dissensions were as inevitable as they were after the great
English Convention which got rid of James II. Young
Turkey began to blunder from the moment it had accomplished its principal object. But in the famous attempt
at reaction on April 13, 1909, the Salonika branch of the
Committee of Union and Progress gave orders, which
were however not acquiesced in by the Constantinople
section, for an attack on the Armenians in Cilicia, and
a massacre followed which in wickedness equalled those
in Armenia in 1894-7.
This was the greatest initial
blunder. Other blunders and shortcomings have been
noted.
worth while to explain what was the attitude of

Europe, and of Great Britain especially, towards the
It is
Young Turk Party. Many of the members of that party

had been struggling for long years to remodel the
Government on Constitutional, that is, British, lines.
Many had been exiled for adherence or supposed adherence to such a project. Nearly all had risked their
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
326
property and even their lives to realise a British ideal.

When at length they compelled the Sultan to re-proclaim
Midhat's Constitution, and eight months afterwards
dethroned him, they counted upon, and had a right to
These events constituted
expect, British sympathy.
a
which
had been accomplished
Revolution
together
almost without bloodshed, and bore witness to the
moderation of the counsels of the Young Turks. In
spite of their many blunders, due to lack of experience
and a too great fervency of zeal, their aspirations and
general conduct would have met with the approval of
Canning, of Russell, of Palmerston, and of the liberal

men of both political parties in England who clung to
the traditions in favour of struggling peoples. Young
Turkey believed that while the rulers of other European
States might look askance, it would at least obtain
England's support.
When on July 30, 1908,
Ambassador, arrived
Sir
Gerard Lowther, her

he was received with
in the capital,
wild enthusiasm. British influence rose

German fell.
The occasion gave a unique opportunity for following
the best British traditions. Unhappily it was not seized.
;
Why
It is difficult to give
an entirely satisfactory
answer. Professor Hobhouse is probably right in stating

that the worst period of the Armenian massacres,
" marks the moral
of
bankruptcy
1894-6,
Mr. Goschen
European
when Ambassador
to the
statesmanship."
Porte twenty years earlier expressed himself as disagreeably surprised at the indifference of the Powers
to internal political development in Turkey, and even to
human suffering. It became the fashion among the
diplomatic class to be sceptical in all matters relating
to the progress of the Turkish people, although, as
already stated, Great Britain on several occasions
took the lead and risked war in pressing for measures
in Crete,
Armenia, and Macedonia
for the benefit of
The selfishness and materialism of

subject races.
current philosophy seen at its worst in Germany
had lowered the public opinion of Europe and had
The
affected the tendencies of the governing class.
327
belief of our grandfathers in
freedom, self-government,
liberty
religious cult which the
was
younger generation
gradually abandoning. In the
Young Turk Party the latter saw a number of young,
and constitutional
was a
inexperienced and largely uneducated men striving to

attain the ideals which Englishmen previous to 1870
had held up to the world. Having themselves lost
sympathy with such ideals, they became contemptuous
of those who followed them.
A little kindly feeling
towards inexperienced idealists, a little friendly guidance
without any attempt at interference, would have stood
England in good stead. British diplomacy looked on
coldly, disdainfully, and did not rise to the occasion.
The new Ambassador,
Sir
Gerard Lowther, had been
years absent from Turkey and could not be

expected to have watched the growth of the Young
many
He was an excellent Ambassador for all

the matters with which he was acquainted. His great
anxiety was to maintain the prestige of the Empire at
the height to which it had ascended on his arrival. He
successfully encouraged the Porte, that is the Committee,
to ask for and obtain an English Naval Mission, a Mission
Turk Party.
which, under Admiral Gamble, then Admiral Williams,

and subsequently under Admiral, now Sir Arthur,
Limpus, was
quite remarkably successful in reconthe

Turkish
Naval Service, in supporting the
stituting
of
the
Turks
to
obtain two Dreadnoughts, and to
design
remodel their shipbuilding yards.
In many other
matters he showed his sympathy with the national
But Sir Gerard Lowther laboured under

two great disadvantages, first, that he knew himself
to be already struggling with the terrible malady which
ultimately in the spring of 19 16 brought his life to an
aspirations.
untimely end.
He manfully
struggled on, especially

the terrible sufferings inflicted
on Moslems and Christians alike by the two Balkan
in
trying
Wars
to
relieve
which Turkish military organisation completely

collapsed, and in which he was aided by his wife's quite
remarkable powers of organisation. His second disin
advantage lay in the defects of our antiquated diplomatic
LIFE OF
328
ABDUL HAMID
Prince Bismarck once spoke of an Ambassador

as in these latter days being a Foreign Office clerk at the
end of a telegraphic wire. Such an arrangement works
well if at one end of the wire the speaker is in touch
system.
with the sentiment of his country, and at the other

the receiver knows the drift of feeling in the country
to which he is accredited. But the statement indicates
a change of circumstances from those of a previous
when a young
generation. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe
man was for nearly two years unable to receive any
communication from the Foreign Office, but he knew
the general lines of the policy of which his country would
for
approve, acted as if he were the Foreign Secretary
Great Britain, understood Turkey, and carried out
British policy to a successful issue. History has shown
that his judgment was usually right and, indeed, that
the interference of his Government was sometimes
mischievous.
Railway communication and the telegraph wire have
for
considerably changed the situation. But the need
an efficient Ambassador is as great as ever, especially for

one who, like Sir William White, knows the country well,
or for one who is kept fully informed by a number of
consuls who speak the language, are in touch with all
Great
classes, and can keep their chief fully informed.
Britain was singularly fortunate during the reign of
Abdul Hamid in her Ambassadors. Where she failed
was in establishing satisfactory relations between her
Consuls, the latter of whom are nearly

But their duties and their relations with
all able men.
the Embassy are alike ill defined, and there has conthe
stantly existed jealousy between the diplomatic and
of
her
use
make
full
did
not
consular services. England
Embassy and her
Gerard Lowther, returning to the country

after twenty years' absence, had to depend largely for
his information regarding Young Turkey and its aims
Consuls.
Sir
upon inexperienced secretaries, and upon consuls who

had not been expected or encouraged to watch political
movements. The German Ambassador, the able Baron
Marschall Von Bieberstein, had seen the reputation of
329
on the success of the July Revolution of

1908.
recognised that the Committee was in power
and was the only party in Turkey with vitality, and
commenced at once to cultivate it. Within a year
many of the leading Young Turks had become his friends.
During that time it was a matter of public remark that
Germany
fall
He
nearly everyone at the British Embassy, except Sir

Gerard himself, spoke disparagingly of Young Turkey.
The only British newspaper published in the capital,
and on that account supposed, quite incorrectly, to
represent the opinions of the Embassy, was one of the
most constant to join in denunciation of the Committee.
Sir Gerard Lowther struggled on manfully and with
success in achieving the objects mentioned in spite of
the atmosphere by which he was surrounded.
The
system which made the Consuls a detached body gave
him no aid.
The same general remarks apply lo our diplomatic
system both in Turkey and in all the Balkan States. The
staffs of the diplomatic bodies in each capital belonging
to various nations tend to constitute a clique closed to the
outside world and knowing little of the people to whose
Sovereign their chiefs are accredited. One heard almost
everywhere in the Balkans of the arrogance and disdain
of members of the diplomatic caste towards the governing
classes of the small communities.
When the Great European War in August, 191 4,
commenced, the Turks were ultimately forced to join
the Germans, Enver having gone over to their side. Sir
Gerard had been replaced by Sir Louis Mallet, who from
the first did much to show sympathy with the Young
Turks. It has often been said that if the Committee had
not been in power the adhesion of Turkey to the Central
Powers would have been avoided. No valid reason
exists to support this view. Abdul Hamid would have
continued to be a pliant tool in their hands. It would be
nearer the truth to say that if Sir Louis Mallet had not
been known to be sympathetic, and in this to reflect the
opinion of Sir Edward Grey, Turkey would have joined
the Germans earlier than she did.
Said Halim, the
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
330
Grand
Vizier in 1914, and other members of the Comknown to be favourable to France and
mittee were
England. Turkey was naturally greatly irritated when

our Government pre-empted the two Dreadnoughts on
which the Turks had
built great hopes of defeating the

but that act, though the Germans made the
most of it in Turkey, would have been forgotten if a
bolder statesmanship had been pursued. The present
writer suggests that when the Goeben and the Breslau
entered the Dardanelles they should have been followed
by British ships and compelled to disarm. There was the
error, in his opinion, of British statesmanship, for from
that time the Germans became masters of the Darda-
Greeks
and
It is true that the two

ships were allowed to keep their crews on
board out of consideration for Turkish susceptibility,
nelles
of Constantinople.
German
but it was, nevertheless, a blunder

they ought to have
been compelled to disarm. Most of the Young Turkey
Party would have been glad to see such energetic action
;
It was these German ships, joined by

others of the Turkish fleet and all under German leaders,
at the crisis.
which bombarded Odessa and at once brought Turkey

into the war.
CHAPTER XIV
ESTIMATE OF THE CHARACTER OF ABDUL HAMID
It
is fair
in estimating the character of
Abdul Hamid
to consider his environment and the influence on him

of the traditional treatment of possible or probable heirs
to the throne.
What Von Hammer
calls
"
the legal
male children belonging

"
has already been mentioned.
to the Imperial family
The history of the Turkish Imperial family during the
last four centuries points to the conclusion that such
The inevitable
slaughter met with general approval.
There was constant rivalry or susresult followed.
picion in the Imperial harem between the mothers of
justification of the slaughter of
possible heirs and among the boys themselves. It was

in such an atmosphere of rivalry and suspicion that
Abdul Hamid was born and brought up.

As he had been treated, so he treated
brother, the present Sultan,
his accession as Reshad.
his
younger
Mahomet V., known before

Abdul Hamid kept him a
prisoner in his house, with permission to walk or to

drive within a radius of about a mile. Every visitor to
house was carefully watched. He never had a conversation with a foreign Ambassador, was never allowed
to visit or be visited by the Turkish Ministers, or even
to speak to them, unless they happened to ride or drive
1
by chance across the area which was assigned to him.
No letters were permitted to enter his konak without
the knowledge of their contents being communicated
to an official who acted as Abdul's chief spy over his
his
1
On one occasion, after Abdul Hamid had been for ten years on the throne,
the Grand Vizier's carriage passed across the area and met that of Prince
Reshad, as Mahomet V. was then called. The two men saluted each other and
passed on, but an examination took place at Yildiz under the supervision of
Abdul Hamid. The two coachmen and the outriders were summoned and
examined separately in order to report precisely what had taken place.
LIFE OF
332
ABDUL HAMID
When on April 27, 1909, the deputies

appointed by the two Chambers were sent to communicate to Abdul Hamid the decision of the National
Assembly to dethrone him, and, to Reshad, that he would
be at once proclaimed Sultan, the latter was astounded
at the news
for he had heard little of what was
going on.
brother. 1
Abdul Hamid,
in the famous interview begging for his

claimed merit for having permitted his brother to
live.
There were, indeed, many precedents for the
killing of the heir to the throne, and in the eyes of the
ordinary Turk such an act would not have been regarded
life,
as extraordinary.
The atmosphere of suspicion, always prevalent in

the Palace, was fatal to the development of manliness
and trustfulness. There is no evidence to show that
in his youth the intelligence of Abdul Hamid was other
than mediocre. Such virtues as he possessed were of the
negative kind. He avoided the vices of his elder brother.
He neither drank, nor was he a sensualist. He was not
lazy nor invariably ill-tempered. But a despotic Sultan
ought at least to possess
virility,
courage both physical
and moral, and of neither of these did he give signs.

He was self-willed and could be rash, could threaten
but his threats were often
heavily or promise freely
foolish and constantly disregarded.
In the European
sense of the term he had no literary education whatever, but he could write and read his own language, an
accomplishment which of itself shows that he had had
;
considerable application.
After he was girt with the sword of Osman his attitude
of suspicion increased. From the first his fear of those
about him led him to employ the suspicions of others
to defeat the hostile designs he always suspected. That
1
lady doctor in the city, a German subject and possibly a German

had been in the habit of visiting the ladies in Reshad's harem,
but she was suspected of or possibly detected in carrying some kind of
Abdul Hamid at once ordered her expulsion from the
communication.
country, and though she was not unpopular with German ladies and
with other Europeans, the German Ambassador was compelled to give
way and to see that she left Turkey.
Many stories were current in
Constantinople which pointed to the strictness of the guard set over
Reshad's movements.
spy,
CHARACTER OF ABDUL HAMID

man was known
333
enemy of a Minister was a

the
recommendation to
Sultan for his appointment to a
in
which
he
could
post
bring his enmity to play the spy
a subject of common remark in
became
him.
It
upon
case of a Ministerial vacancy that a successor would be
appointed who was known to be hostile to some other
Minister. It was Abdul Hamid's idea of statesmanship
The
thus to play off one Minister against another.
Ministers themselves were often afraid to pay visits
to their colleagues lest they should be suspected of
being too friendly ; for each one knew that any act
that could be distorted to his disadvantage would be
reported at Yildiz. But as suspicion breeds suspicion,
Abdul became afraid of everybody. Many stories were
told of Palace life which would be incredible but for his
a
to be the
general distrust of everyone connected with it. One such

will suffice
On one occasion two girls qf about nine or
ten years of age J were in his room when the Sultan
commenced his usual prayers. He had taken from his
pocket a beautiful revolver which he generally carried,
and laid it on the table, for a Moslem must divest himself of arms while at prayer.
One of the girls took it
and
with
the
up
dangerous curiosity of a child began
to examine it.
The Sultan saw the movement and
motioned to her to put it down, which she did. When
the prayers were finished he subjected the two girls to
a cruel cross-examination in presence of a police officer.
He wanted to know who had suggested that she should
take up the revolver, and brought in another person to
assist in the examination and to endeavour to make one
of the children admit that she had been told to take it
up in order to kill him. Suspicion was, in fact, depriving
:
him
of
common
sense.
be said that Abdul Hamid's suspicion was not

entirely due to his environment but was largely attributable to an unhealthy trait of Orientalism, the answer
If it
is that
many of his predecessors largely overcame it by
a healthy out-of-door life. Abdul had never lived such
a life
cared
he took no interest in out-of-door sports
for
or
exercise.
other physical
nothing
fishing, hunting,
;
LIFE OF
334
ABDUL HAMID
He had
ceased to ride on horseback and only took

walking exercise in the restricted fashion alreadydescribed. Yet it would not be just to say of him that
he lived the luxurious, effeminate life of a typical
Eastern despot, for in his own way he was far from being
idle.
He had
however, of the
spasmodic periods of energy, mostly,

His want of
unwholesome indoor kind.
healthy companionship in his youth unfitted him for

He retained his few youthful tastes,
friendship.
his
of carpentry and for animals and birds.
love
notably
But even to these he was inconstant. Having an
almost unlimited supply of money, he would spend large
buying dumb creatures, of which pictures or

descriptions had taken his fancy, but having seen them
once, the whim to possess them passed, and he would
cease to care what became of them. He was never selfrestrained, and the stories told of him, both in his youth
and later in life, reveal a character of impulses which he
rarely made an effort to check.
sums
in
The isolation of the period before his accession grew

upon him and became habitual. It had kept him from
the companionship of his superiors in knowledge, educaIf ever the desire for it
tion, or natural shrewdness.
existed he had outlived it. Never having mixed with
such men, he never desired to understand them. Those,
indeed, with whose company he seemed best pleased
were of a lower order, good-natured sycophants who
with mediocre
But them
of
intellect strove to obtain his patronage.

and in a moment
also he usually suspected,
temporary anger would banish them
for ever
from
his presence.
Dr. Mavrogeni, his chief medical adviser and a trust-
worthy man to everyone else, fell into disgrace because

he was reputed to be writing the secret history of Yildiz.
Dussap Effendi, leader of his orchestra, was forbidden
to show himself again at Yildiz because after the playing
of the Hamidieh March an ass outside brayed loudly
and set the audience laughing. A foreign conjurer noted
for his skill in
making up imitations of distinguished

personages, including the Czar and the two Emperors,
335
Abdul
performed before the Sultan. When, however,
learned that at an entertainment given in a Minister's
house the conjurer had reproduced the Sultan, Abdul
Hamid warned the Minister and at once sent a good
sum of money to the performer on condition that he
Emin Bey was
should immediately leave Turkey.
dismissed for mildly hinting that some measures of
reform would increase his master's popularity.
As Abdul grew older his suspicion increased and his
grew shorter. There was a good deal of Asiatic
temper
barbarism
in
him, which was especially shown
in
appa-
of temper.
The danrently uncontrollable outbursts
at
of
had
he
habit
always
carrying
acquired
gerous
least one revolver led to many tales of accidents which
cannot all be inventions, and some of which are based
on satisfactory evidence. He would never permit a man
near him to attempt to take anything from his own
Sadyk Pasha, a former Grand Vizier, was

pocket.
disgraced because he put his hand into his pocket
to take out a document. His Ministers must stand in
his presence in a humble attitude with their hands
them and never touch their pockets.

was easily alarmed.
One of his gardeners was trimming a bush when the
Sultan passed, and the gardener immediately sprang to
Abdul Hamid saw him rise, fired at once
attention.
and killed him. Examination showed that the gardener
was without a weapon of any kind. Arminius Vambery
stated that while seated at table with him (for he was
by the Sultan, who at that time
greatly favoured "
Baba ") he reached across to take
him
as
addressed
Abdul
a match.
Hamid, startled with the movement,
alarm
which to his visitor was very
in
an
sprang up
The
ex-Chamberlain, who writes as Monsieur
painful.
crossed before
Abdul became
so nervous that he
Dorys, tells the story of Arif Pasha, then President of

the Council of State, that, feeling a draught, he stood up
suddenly and asked leave to close the window. Abdul
Hamid's hand at once went to his revolver pocket, and
Arif hastened to reassure him. Adossides Pasha, Prince
of Samos, on a visit to Yildiz, in backing out of the
ABDUL HAMID
LIFE OF
336
Sultan's presence tripped up.

The Sovereign plunged
hand into his terrible pocket and slipped out of the
room. The same author gives other illustrations of this
alarming nervousness of the Sultan and suggests that to
its existence was
largely due the fact that the number of
his friends diminished, for they never went to the
his
Palace without alarm.
To account
made for his
for this nervousness allowance has to
be
habit of seclusion and his ever-present

but
something also should be put down to his
suspicion
chronic illness.
Dyspepsia and some other malady
known to his medical advisers account for much of the
;
waywardness, want of self-control, ill-temper, and

perhaps also for the erratic habits of life which at the
end of the century had begun to display themselves.
It was said that he would occasionally pass forty-eight
hours without sleep. What is certain is that he lived in
the midst of alarms, which were largely due to his own
It was whispered at times that he
temperament.
suffered from some form of mental aberration, but no
that he
trustworthy evidence to this effect exists
doctored himself, taking ether and valerian
that he
took such doses because he was suffering terribly, and
that the crises which demanded remedies became more
;
frequent.
When Mahmud Damat,
his brother-in-law,
the country, taking with him his two sons, their

uncle had a specially severe breakdown. He disliked
darkness, and though he would never consent to electric
fled
light
Constantinople (although he
being installed in
had permitted
it
in
Smyrna and
park at Yildiz, with its

illuminated by
its
many
Salonika), his great
buildings,
was
brilliantly
means.
As he grew older his vanity increased. Yet he found

himself thwarted both by his own subjects and by the
foreign Powers. The reports of his agents had a morbid
fascination for him and could not have ministered to
his vanity.
The
daily bundles of djournals worried his
soul, increased his discontent,

It was in vain that
irritable.
and made him more

he told the Armenian
Patriarch that he loved the Armenians as his
own
337
and that he would make no distinction between

them and his Moslem subjects for his spies told him
that such statements were generally disbelieved, and
in
undoubtedly angered him. He had no hesitation
children,
Devil- Worshippers) because

slaughtering the Yezijis (or
"
Children of the Books."
nor
Moslems
neither
were
they
None of those on whom he showered his flattery believed
or loved him. The very Kurds, whom he had
allowed to do what they liked with the
and
petted
were not
and
territory of the Armenians,
persons
It was in
as
ever.
as
were
Arabs
The
unruly
grateful.
in
him
vain that he sent regiment after regiment into the

Hedjaz until the soldiers in Syria mutinied and refused
to be sent to what they regarded as certain death. He
Power against
dawned
newer
and
upon him in
another,
hopes
though
had
one
largely failed in trying to set
visits from the German Emperor, he

saw disorders increasing on every side. When Russian
Armenians entered his territory his anger broke loose
consequence of
against his own subjects.

[Before the century was five years old, Abdul Hamid
had grown to be a wizened and weary-looking old man.
He never went beyond his palace walls except to the
weekly ceremony of the Selamlik, which by Moslem
Even in the performtradition he was bound to attend.
ance of this duty he limited his exertions as far as possible ; for, whereas on his accession he had followed the
example of his predecessors and had said his Friday

mid-day prayer in St. Sophia or in another of the
the last twenty years
stately mosques in Stamboul, in
of his reign he never crossed the Golden Horn except
on the annual occasion of the Hirkai Sherif, when tradition and Moslem opinion required him to venerate the
sacred relics of the Prophet. Unlike his predecessors
he would never be photographed, and persons found
with kodaks on them at the Selamlik were arrested
and their cameras confiscated. Did he fear the deadly
accuracy of the camera, kim belir ? Believing himself
to be surrounded by enemies was he unwilling that his
subjects should recognise
L.A.H.
him
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
338
Probably this objection to being photographed, like

that of being publicly seen, was due to care for his own
safety. It was generally attributed to cowardice. The
precautions which were taken when he went on his
annual visit tended to confirm the popular impression.
In his annual passage from his residence at Yildiz to Stamboul a distance of about two miles he had the choice
of three routes. Two were by land and one by water.
On the appointed day for the veneration of the relics, the
15th of the month of Ramazan, all three routes were
The roads were sanded
carefully prepared for him.
all places, behind

objectionable houses examined
which an enemy could hide, carefully guarded soldiers
lined the streets throughout the whole length of both
roads. The sea route was between his palace at Dolma
Bagshe, to which access could be gained through his
garden at Yildiz, to Seraglio Point. There, in another
of his own gardens he was conducted in state through
lines of soldiers to the building, less than a quarter of a
mile distant, where the relics are preserved.
As he
descended from his carriage an officer, following an
" Humble
ancient custom, recited the warning
thyself
O Padisha, and remember that Allah is greater than
thou." Did Abdul Hamid ever take the warning to heart ?
Until Abdul Hamid was ready to start on this ceremonious visit, no one knew by which route he intended
to go. It was an unkingly spectacle, unworthy of a man
who claimed descent from Mahomet, the Conqueror. He
all
knew
or feared that
men spoke
of
him
as a coward, for
an interview with Dr. Englander he smote his breast,

and asked why should such a charge be made against
one who had the blood of the Ghazi in his veins.
A French author x states, on the authority of one of his
chamberlains, that Abdul Hamid had one of them to
read to him before he went to sleep, and that his favourite
books were those which related to assassinations and
in
" The successful

issues of crimes prevented
him from sleeping, but when it came to the shedding of
blood, he became calm at once and slept." The statement
executions.
G. Dorys
"
;
Abdul Hamid, Intime"
Paris, 1909.
339
probably an exaggeration, but it is illustrative of the

man's temperament. If the story be true that when
Midhat Pasha was strangled, Abdul; Hamid ordered the
head to be embalmed and sent to Constantinople, the
order was not a mere precaution to be certain that
Midhat was dead, but because in popular belief he loved
to gloat over his enemy's head. Another story from the
same source is, that after the attempt by Ali-Suavi to
is
dethrone him, Abdul Hamid called his first secretary

and, pointing to the Sublime Porte, expressed his belief
that there was at that moment a gathering in order to
"
The
Of whom ?
depose him. "His secretary asked
'
reply was
My Ministers are plotting against me."
Another time, upon seeing in the courts of the old
Seraglio the portraits of Viziers whose heads had been
cut off, because they had ceased to please his predecessors, Abdul Hamid remarked that they constituted
:
useful warnings to their successors and regretted he

could not get rid of them in the same fashion. In 1895,
when the Armenian Patriarch, Ismirlian, was called to
the Palace after an Armenian demonstration at the
Porte which had taken place a short time before the
massacre in Stamboul itself, "They wish perhaps,"
"
said he,
by this means to bring about European intervention.
Foreign fleets may pass the Straits and Euroarmies
invade my capital, but before they will land,
pean
the waves of the Bosporus will be coloured red with the
blood of every Armenian." The poor old Patriarch,
greatly moved, threw himself on his knees and begged
the Sultan to have pity on his people. Abdul Hamid,
however, at once became impatient and peremptorily
ordered him to get out.
It would be pleasant but is difficult to find anything
to say in favour of Abdul Hamid. His most agreeable
trait was his liking for a cat. When he was deported to
Salonika, his great anxiety, as already stated, was that
his favourite should be sent after him. It is pleasant to
Even the pleasantest
record that this was done.
him usually speak of his vanity. He was

In
anxious
to please European visitors.
invariably
stories told of
Z 2
340
ABDUL HAMID
LIFE OF
European Ambassadors he usually showed

and was an adept in flattery. A lady of
rank
who
visited him was rather remarkable for a
high
which
was regarded as obtuseness. He
taciturnity
endeavoured to learn from the Ambassador of the
country to which she belonged whether she took interest
in anything.
She knew and cared little for politics or
music or literature. Someone, however, informed him
that she was fond of birds. He at once led the conversation to this subject, and took her to see his collection,
with the result that the lady became eloquent and
talking with
his best side,
astonished those who heard her into observing that

never had she been heard to speak so freely. He prided
himself upon influencing a man by what he said. He
declared to some of the mediocre creatures who were
around him that he could bring tears into the eyes of
was approaching, and he
any listener. An old fellow
"
his hearers,
See, if I cannot do it." The
met
such
with
success that the old Turk
experiment
then
his
and
Sovereign turned round to his
wept,
"
with
the
remark
Did not I say that I
sycophants
"
could bring him to tears ?
Illustrations of his smart-
remarked to
one here will suffice.

ness in repartees have been given
After having entertained a foreign Minister at dinner,
he with his guest witnessed a play in the little theatre
within his grounds at Yildiz. In the interval between
the acts, offering a cigarette to the Minister, he asked
how he liked Turkish tobacco. The Minister, at Abdul
Hamid's request, had furnished him a few days earlier
with a stronger kind. Before replying he spat and asked
his Majesty how he liked that which he had brought him.
The reply came at once " It is very good, but I keep it
to smoke in the garden where I can spit."
During the last two or three years of his reign he looked
weak in health, ashy-faced, with hair which, whatever
its original colour, was dyed of that red-brown, with a
suspicion of purple, which is so much beloved by
;
Eastern peoples.
His long, cadaverous face made him
look unnaturally thin. He could never have possessed

a stately figure nor have grown into a venerable one.
341
With a fez too large and clothes hanging loosely upon

him, with a quick jerky movement and shuffling feet,
there was nothing in his appearance either dignified or
fatherly.
The
Abdul Hamid
will remain on record as an

mischievous and dangerous character
of absolute government.
An able man possessed of
absolute authority may do much to enhance his reputation or add to his territory. An Alexander the Great or a
Napoleon may emblazon the history of his country with
military glory, but such success is never of advantage
life
example
of
of the
to the country unless accompanied by civil growth, and

nations so glorified seldom gain more than transient
The danger in absolutism is that there is no

that
the successor of an able occupant of the
certainty
throne shall not be a fool.
Such danger is greatly
increased when the succession follows the Turkish rule,
for under it, the heir, hidden away or more or less
victories.
no men of eminence and, in all

more incompetent the longer he
lives before being girt with the sword of Osman.
But
Abdul Hamid was not an able occupant of the throne,
and his reign indicates the mischief which an incompetent ruler can do to his country.
The treatment of his brothers by Abdul Hamid
throws light on his character whether Murad continued
mentally incapable or not, it is beyond doubt that he
had alienated general Moslem sympathy by his intemperate habits. Whether he were living or dead mattered
to nobody.
He was closely guarded until his death.
Murad was the elder brother, Reshad EfTendi, the
present occupant of the throne, was the younger, and
received more attention from Abdul Hamid than did
the elder, for he was a more dangerous competitor. He
was closely watched. During the thirty years of his
imprisonment Reshad never had any intercourse with
any foreign Ambassador or with prominent Turks. Yet
all reports spoke and still
speak of him as a man of
kindly disposition and fond of children.
Ignorant of
closely imprisoned, sees
likelihood, becomes the
every language except Turkish, his opportunities of
LIFE OF
342
ABDUL HAMID
knowing what was going on in the political world were

Hamid himself
slight, and on the deposition of Abdul
he was by no means anxious to ascend the throne.
Since 1909, when he became Sultan, he has naturally
been guided by his Ministers, and to his credit it must
be said that he never attempted to treat the heir to the
throne, Jusuf Izzedin EfTendi, as Abdul had treated
him. 1
So far as one can penetrate the thick veil which concealed his private life, which is certainly not far, one
sees in Abdul Hamid a singular absence of that geniality
which goes far to make the average Turk a favourite.
He was always vindictive, and never forgave a man who
had offended him. The stories told of him usually turn
either
upon
his cruelty, his distrust, or his bitterness of

in repartee to have
He was shrewd enough
tongue.
given a reply to his brother as Charles II. did to the
"
Duke of York
They will never kill me to put you
on the throne," but there was nothing of the good nature
which relieved the unpleasant record of the Merry
:
Monarch.
charge Abdul Hamid with
physical cowardice, though the precautions he took to
His treatment of Ali
save himself point that way.
Haidar Midhat, the son of the murdered Midhat, was
One may
hesitate
to
He became the recipient of the Sultan's many

favours which were regarded generally as an indication
The Revolution had marked the
of Abdul's cunning.
of
Midhat's
projects, and it became desirable
triumph
to placate the son of his old enemy.
curious.
distinguished writer, who has travelled largely in

the Near East and whose observations always deserve
2
consideration, suggests that Abdul Hamid designed to
make of Turkey an Asiatic State, and that such an idea
1
There came to England on the last day of January, 1916, the announcement
that Izzedin had committed suicide by opening his veins, in other words, if the
statement be true, by seeking to end his life in the same way as his father Abdul
Aziz had done in 1876. Two days after the announcement the more probable
statement came that the report of suicide was untrue and that he had been
murdered. Whatever be the cause of^death, it has not even been suggested
that Mahomet or Mehmet V. could have had anything to do with it.
"
2
Oxford Essays," 191 5.
Mr. D. G. Hogarth in
343
was based on the logic of facts. That the Sultan may

at various times have had such an idea is probable, but
He was never long constant to
it never obsessed him.
He
from
hand to mouth. Just as he
idea.
lived
any
would send to England for beautiful dogs and a man to
tend them, and when they were received would never
again trouble to look at them, so with his ideas or
notions or whims. Probably at one time he cherished
visions of a Pan-Islamic movement, of which he should be
the head. But they vanished in presence of new dreams.
An English maker of machinery received large orders
for elaborate and costly machines which were to be
delivered in all haste. Three years later he went to
Constantinople and found them lying unpacked and

exposed to all weathers.
There is much to be said in favour of the statement
that Abdul Hamid cared more for show than for subHe obtained torpedo boats to let Europe
stance.
know that he possessed them rather than for eventual
fighting.
He wanted gendarmery from Englard
in
order to persuade the Powers that Turkey had made

reforms. The truer explanation of his conduct is to be
found in the vacillation which was always a characEven in the army,
teristic of his ill-balanced mind.
where a Turkish Sultan would have been expected to
prefer reality, he preferred show.
Selamlik made a brilliant display of
While
men
in
his
weekly
new
suits
and with up-to-date arms, the great mass of his soldiers

were ill-clothed, ill-shod, and always in arrears of pay.
When he was confronted with what he regarded as
i'.
attacks upon his sovereign rights, he protested violently,

but usually gave way. His record contains a long series
He was
of threats, protests, and absolute surrender.
a
and
of
other
people's property
spendthrift of
greedy
his own whenever he wanted to further any of his ignoble
He saw his country growing steadily poorer

all appearances, never had a notion of
to
yet,
it
enriching
except by the levy of new taxes. He met
projects.
and
'
Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, Mr. Shaw Lefevre,

and other English and French statesmen and did all that
men
like
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
344
he could to impress them with his determination to

schools, to construct roads and railways,
and to develop the industry and commerce of the
Empire. But he never took a single step on his own
establish
initiative
towards the accomplishment of any of these
designs.
Abdul Hamid was delighted when he was spoken of

"
newspaper as Ghazi," or Conqueror, a title which
was justly given to Mahomet II., after the capture of
in a
Constantinople.
No
The term
to him.
title
could
be less appropriate
by the Turks solely to

conquerors, and no Sultan ever showed less
military
is
applied
for the conduct of military affairs than

did he.
In 1885 ne na(^ a chance of proving his value
as a military commander which he neglected to take.
But neither then nor at any other time did he ever take
or propose to take the field.
Had he possessed the
spirit of a Ghazi he would have recognised that he had
European law on his side, and that England, France,
Germany and Austria would not have interfered between
competence
him and
He
lost
his rebellious subjects in
much
territory
Eastern Rumelia.
and virtually did not gain any.
Bulgaria became detached from his rule as well as a large

portion of Asia Minor including Batum and Kars Crete
was lost to Turkey through his incapacity in war and his
inability to recognise that changes urged upon him by all
the Powers of Europe were intended to preserve the
"
We have tried to save the
integrity of his Empire.
said
Lord
Empire,"
Salisbury, singing the Swan-song
"
of Crimean War sentiment, but
Turkey," that is,
"
Abdul Hamid,
refuses to accept salvation."
The
title of Great Assassin by which Mr. Gladstone denounced
him has much more to be said in its favour than that of
Ghazi. He ordered the massacre of Arabs in Arabia.
He had at least 20,000 of the Yezides murdered in the
region mostly to the east of the Tigris. He ordered
the massacre of Greeks both in Crete and in Epirus.
Albanians were ruthlessly slaughtered in Europe when
they opposed him, and the Druses in Mount Lebanon
without mercy. In all these cases there was no attempt
;

to redress
content.
the grievances which
had awakened
345
dis-
In his attack upon the Armenians in 1894-6 especially,
he deliberately chose the method of carefully planned

massacres by mobs rather than those which a military
leader like Mahomet or any other Ghazi would have
followed.
So far from being entitled to the military
of
he had none of the virtues which have
Ghazi,
epithet
often been possessed by soldiers even who behaved
brutally. There is nothing military about the character
of a man who carefully avoided the battlefield and
cared nothing about his army so long as they could
make a brave show at the Friday Selamlik and, as he
believed, could and would defend him against his own
subjects.
Enough has been said of Abdul Hamid to show that

he has no title to be reckoned among the heroes. He
must be classed as a Sovereign among the failures, as
a selfish man among the mediocrities.

Turk may
well ask the question, What did he do for Turkey ? The
answer should be that he helped to destroy it.
Policy
he had none, but his conduct of public affairs greatly

weakened his government. He largely diminished the
moral fibre of his people. The truthful, daring, and
outspoken Turk whom our grandfathers admired became
A generation grew up under Abdul
demoralised.
Hamid's sway which was the constant object of suspicion.

Espionage is deadly, and creates a nation of
and
The presence of spies in the house,
liars
cowards.
the mosque, the street, indeed everywhere, led to subterfuge and lying, to universal suspicion, and largely
crushed out the manliness of the dominant race. It is
never recorded of Abdul Hamid that he uttered a noble
thought. He never touched the national imagination.
His long reign records a series of losses of territory,
Without military
to which he largely contributed.
knowledge or experience, he became his own commanderin-chief in the Russo-Turkish War and by his incompetence and bad faith rendered the loss of Bulgaria
With preparations going on in Austria for
certain.
LIFE OF
346
ABDUL HAMID
mobilisation, with the presence of the British fleet, and

with the assurances of Sir Henry Layard that Russia
would not be allowed to enter Constantinople, this
descendant of the great Ghazi was with difficulty

prevented from leaving his capital. When the Bulgaria
of the San Stefano Treaty had been largely reduced and
Eastern Rumelia placed under his rule, with the right to
the province in case of disorder, a right
sanctioned by all Europe, his Ministers could not
re-enter
persuade him to exercise it. Though his representatives

at Berlin had promised that he would introduce reforms
into Armenia, he violated the promises given in his
name. His violation of the Treaty in reference to Macedonia was not less flagrant. Every Power in Europe
desired during several years to see reforms both in
Armenia and in Macedonia. His own subjects, Moslems
as well as Christians, desired them, not in the interest
Abdul Hamid
of Christians, but in that of Turkey.
defied all Europe,
though
its
central idea
was to preserve
general peace by preserving the integrity of the Empire.

He rejected the elaborate schemes of reform prepared
at the request of all Europe by Sir Drummond Wolff
and Lord Fitzmaurice. It is true that at a later period
of his reign Austria was not whole-hearted in her
with the other Powers in
support, though she joined
regard to Armenia.
The Turk, considering his answer to the question
what his Sultan had done for Turkey, might well ask,
Did he know that the Powers were working in Turkey's
interest ? If the answer suggested is that they were also
working in their own interest, then why, when trust-
worthy servants like Hilmi Pasha urged measures of

reform, were they not listened to ? Why, again, did he
go out of
his
way
to attack the ancient privileges of the
Orthodox and other Christian Churches ? They had

been conceded by more convinced Moslems than he.
Why
should they be disturbed
Abdul blundered badly when he refused to allow

Turkish troops to enter Egypt with the British, for he
was expressly warned that, with his consent or without

it,
the British would enter.
hitherto kept their

displayed at Varna
His blundering in respect
was still worse.

word. The tradition
to the Wolff Convention

is
known
347
Sultans had
of the Treaty
to every educated Turk,
and has done much to make them respecters of their signatures to such documents. Abdul violated his and lost
Egypt. All the Great Powers wished the island of Crete
to remain Ottoman.
Greece herself did not desire to
annex it. It is true that in 1897 Germany and Austria
ceased to take part in a demonstration by the fleets,
but they none the less wished the island to remain under
the Sultan.
But Abdul Hamid was found playing a
foul game, supporting the Moslems against his own
appointed Governor, and so the Sultan lost Crete. Abdul
Hamid had
Tunis and Tripoli through his

Turkish inquirer of an enlightened
sacrificed
incompetence.
class would have nothing to say in defence of the

massacres in Armenia, for those with experience of the
country declare that no Moslem who followed what was
done could speak otherwise than with loathing of Abdul's
share in them.
There is nothing to be noted as compensation to the
Empire for the loss of territory, of reputation, and of
moral.
Until the end of the century all Europe had
worked with general accord to preserve the Empire
intact. It was Abdul Hamid's perversity that hastened
The Sultan had already been flatits disintegration.
tered by one visit from the Kaiser, and fell an easy victim
to German flattery.
Had he possessed the statesmanwhich
he
to be credited, he would have
with
loved
ship
noted that Germany and Austria in his late years were
working in accord, that they aided in increasing the
discord in Macedonia, and that, as his spies doubtless

informed him, they calculated upon the anarchy there
existing as likely to lead to a European invitation to
Austria to occupy the disaffected province. He would
have recognised that Germany by taking over the railto Ismidt|and|obtaimng the extensions for Angora,
Konia/'and ultimately to Bagdad, and especially in
seeking to obtain a monopoly of railways, was arranging
way
LIFE OF
348
ABDUL HAMID
for the economic annexation of Asia Minor, which would

go dangerously near the political annexation of the whole
Empire, and that, while such was the apparent design of
the Central Powers, none of the other States appeared
to desire a share in Turkish territory.
In home affairs Abdul Hamid's want of statesmanship
is
equally visible. It is sufficient in order to answer the
question, What has Abdul Hamid done for Turkey ? to
recall his suspension of Midhat's Constitution, entailing
the silence of a Chamber of Representatives for thirty

years, his treatment of its author, his rejection of every
suggestion of reform in government, and the entire
absence of ideas of his own to effect beneficial changes.
He
arrested the development of every race in the

Empire. He never seems to have conceived the idea of
welding them together, so that they should willingly
accept his rule. He widened the breach between them.
No step can be pointed to as taken by him which would
indicate that he had a desire to make of his subjects one
people.
He had many
confidant
fellows
of
like
able subjects, but failed to make a

of them.
He protected worthless
his foster-brother Fehim, who, having
any
notoriously committed in Constantinople every crime

in the Decalogue, was, at the demand of Baron Marschall
von Bieberstein and Sir Nicholas O'Conor, banished
from Constantinople to Brussa, and upon his openly

continuing his outrages on women and men was lynched
He had alienated every

by a long-suffering populace.
He found the law courts on his accession
supporter.
he left them with even
treated with scant respect
;
He saw
deposition driven
Bulgars and Serbs his fleet on his deposition
was not able to face an enemy. He had taken all the
moral stamina out of the nation. At the last stage of his
career as Sultan he found himself friendless. None were
sufficiently attached to him to regret his overthrow
less.
his
army
before
after his
;
none so poor to do him reverence.

incapable of taking advantage of
either
commenced by him
or
by some
He had become
the
movements
of those
whose
349
interest lay in keeping him on the throne. He remained

passive in his palace while his adherents were being
beaten.
Though he had no reason to
fear for his personal
safety, this Ghazi seemed only anxious to save his

In his later years Abdul Hamid, prematurely
fell
a victim to his
led
to his
being
ill
life.
old,
own machinations.
His suspicion
informed of what was going on
around him. The djournals sent daily by his army of

spies were so many that he could not find time to read
them. He dared not entrust them to anyone else and
yet those which he did read were so contradictory that
he ended, as was shown after his deposition, by leaving
most of them unread. He was thus thrown back upon
his own judgment, which was that of an ill-balanced
and mediocre intelligence. For, whatever he had been in
his youth, he had now become an essentially commonIt may be
place man, mean, sordid, and cunning.
doubted whether in the conduct of foreign affairs he
ever tried to see any question from the point of view of
the nation which it concerned. His conduct rather suggests that he held the opinion of the ignorant Turkish
peasant that all other States ought to do the Padisha's
;
bidding, and that imperial policy consisted mainly in

playing off one country against another.
Long before the revolution of 1908 he had gathered
all power into his own hands, and could have
truthfully
"
boasted, Vetat, c'est mot." But in so doing he had made
himself a terror. To those outside Yildiz he was a bogey ;
to those within the bogey resolved itself into a weak,
ill-tempered, lonely old man, frightened at his own
be doubted whether he ever thought

which he would leave Turkey to his
successor. If he did, he acted as if he would have added,
"
Apres mot le deluge" His favourites had been allowed
to amass fortunes in the hope of binding them to his
In the hour of need they deserted him. He
service.
creation.
It
may
of the condition in
had tolerated corruption in every branch of his service,

and those who had profited by it were eager to denounce
him when it became safe to do so.
His influence on his country and his race was per-
350
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID

Without any
lofty ideal of conduct, he blunin

old
dered on
his
age in loneliness and in sickness,
kind
of
making every
progress impossible.
nicious.
The Turkish population descended during
his rule
to a lower plane, to a less pure political and moral

No ideals remained except among the
atmosphere.
handful of Young Turks whom he in vain tried to exter-
minate.
Corruption and degeneracy had increased in
every department of state.

Abdul Hamid when he was deposed had finished his
He had degraded Turkey ; possibly he had
life work.
destroyed her.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
1842 (Sept. 22). Birth of Abdul Hamid.
Revolutions in France and elsewhere.
1848.
Crimean War.
1854-5.
1856.
Treaty of Paris.
Concession for Ottoman- Aidin Railway granted.
(July 18).
Indian Mutiny.
1857.
1858 (Sept. 19). Railway opened, Smyrna to Aidin.
1
861.
American
Civil
War
begins.
1866.
Austro-Prussian War.
1867.
Abdul Hamid visits Paris Exhibition and London with

Sultan Abdul Aziz.
Suez Canal opened.

1870 (March 10). Firman constituting Bulgarian Church.
Franco-Prussian War.
1873 (June 17). Railway between Constantinople and Adrianople opened.

Disraeli Prime Minister of Great Britain.
1874.
1869.
Insurrection in Herzegovina.
Great Britain buys Khedive's shares in Suez Canal.
(Nov.).
1876 (March). Payment of interest on Turkish Debt suspended
1875.
altogether.
(May). Abdul Aziz deposed and Murad proclaimed Sultan.

(May to Sept.). Massacre and horrors in Bulgaria.
Baring's report on Bulgaria published ;

19).
Gladstone's Bulgarian pamphlet.
Serbia, who had accepted an armistice, renews
(Sept. 27).
Murad deposed and Abdul Hamid proclaimed;

Murad commits suicide a few days afterwards.
(Aug. 31).
(Sept.
fighting.
English officers engaged to form gendarmerie.

at Constantinople.
Conference
(Dec. 5).
Turkish Great Council rejects proposals of
1877 (Jan. 18).
Conference.
Midhat (Prime Minister) dismissed ; succeeded by
(Feb. 5).
Edhem Pasha.
(March 19). First Turkish Parliament opened.

(April 24). Sir Henry A. Layard Ambassador at Con,,
(autumn).
stantinople.
War
declared by Russia.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
352
1877 (Dec. 10). Plevna surrenders to Russians.

1878 (Jan.). Battle of Shenova; capture of 60,000 Turkish
troops.
British Fleet passes Dardanelles.
(Feb. 13).
San Stefano Treaty ; Great Bulgaria created.
(March).
(May 20). Ali Suavi's attempt against Sultan.
(July 7). Cyprus Convention signed.
(July 13). Treaty of Berlin; Bulgaria autonomous;
Eastern Rumelia under Sultan.
1879
Murder
(Sept. 6).
of
Mehmet
Ali.
Decree of Muharem.
(Dec. 20).
Peace with Russia signed.
(Feb. 8).
Prince Alexander of Hesse elected Prince of
(April 29).
Bulgaria.
Deposition of Khedive Ismail.

Great
Britain's Afghan and South African Wars.
1879-81.
Gladstone succeeds Beaconsfield.
1880.
Naval demonstration at Dulcigno.
(Sept.).
German officers appointed to reorganise Turkish
(Nov.).
(June).
Army.
Trial and exile of Midhat Pasha.
Arabi made Minister of War in Egypt.
Arabi's revolt.
(Aug.).
1882 (May). British and French Fleets arrive at Alexandria.
(June 11). Riot in Alexandria.

Admiral Seymour bombards Alexandria
French
(July).
Fleet withdraws.
88 1 (June).
(Aug.
1883 (Feb.).
1884 (Jan.).
(May).
1885 (Jan.).
1886
Battle of
Tel-el-Kebir
British enter Cairo.
Sept.).
Arabi
(Nov.).
(Jan.).
surrender
Gordon sent to Khartoum.

Midhat murdered in Arabia.
Death of Gordon.
"
Bloodless revolution
"
in Philippopolis.
Serbo-Bulgar War.
Massacres in Armenia.
Collective note calls
on Balkan States to disarm
Serbia and Greece refuse.

Gladstone's first Home Rule
Bill.
Peace between Bulgaria and Serbia.

Alexander Governor of Eastern Rumelia.
(April 5).
returns
(Aug. Sept.). Alexander
kidnapped ;
(March
of
Anglo-French control in Egypt ends.
(Sept. 18).
(Nov.).
13).
and
abdicates.
(Sept.).
General Kaulbars Russian agent in Bulgaria.
(Dec. 15).
Mahmud
Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg invited by Bulgaria.

appointed Ottoman Commissioner in Crete.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
1887 (J u ly)-
353
Wolff's convention regarding departure of troops
from Egypt.
Ferdinand becomes Prince of Bulgaria.
(Aug. 14).
1888 (June). Accession of William II. as German Emperor.
(Aug. 12). Direct railway communication between Constantinople and London.

1889 (July). Cretan Assembly claims annexation to Greece;
Greek Government refuses insurrection breaks out in
;
island.
Committee of inquiry sent to Armenia.

Troubles in Armenia and Crete.
(Aug.).
1890.
Haidarpasha
Germany
line seized
by Turks, and handed over
German ascendancy growing
to
in Constanti-
nople.
1894 1895. Great series of Armenian massacres.

England, France, and Russia propose
1894.
Armenia.
1895 (June).
(July).
Jevad replaced
as
Grand
Vizier
reforms
by Kutchuk
Stambuloff murdered.
Massacres at Baiburt, Erzinghian,
Bitlis,
in
Said.
Diabekr,
and other places.

All Powers protest against massacres in Armenia.
(Nov.).
(Dec). Abdul Hamid becomes alarmed, especially at the
discontent of his
Moslem
subjects.
(Dec). Massacres at Urfa.

Rising at Zeitun.
1896.
Attack on Ottoman Bank in Constantinople,
(Aug.).
followed by massacres of Armenians in Constantinople ;
protests of Powers.
Cretan charter granted.
(Sept.).
1897 (April 24). Sultan grants Berats for three new Bulgarian
bishoprics.
May).
War between Turkey and Greece.

French
and
English
garrisons occupy Candia.
(April
Greece sends troops to Crete.

Great Britain, France, Italy, and Russia constitute Crete
an autonomous State
Prince George of Greece
Governor-General.
Battle of Omdurman
,,
(Sept.).
conquest of Soudan.
First visit of Kaiser to Sultan.
,,
(Oct. 18).
Anatolian Railway concession granted to Germans.
1899-1902. Great Britain's South African War.

1898.
Bagdad Railway concession granted to Germany.

Hedjaz Railway commenced.
succeeded by Edward VII.
1901 (Jan.). Queen Victoria dies
1899 (Nov.).
1900.
L.A.H.
A A
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
354
Cretan Assembly adopts a resolution in favour of

union with Greece the four protecting Powers refuse
1901 (June).
consent.
Turks violate
Aden frontier; Sir Nicholas O'Conor

demands and obtains withdrawal of Turkish troops.
1903 (July). First section Bagdad Railway opened.
(Sept.). Murzsteg programme of reforms for Macedonia;
1902.
gendarmerie proposals.
Permission granted Russian Volunteer
Straits ; Great Britain protests.
Fleet
to
pass
Russo-Japanese War.
Anglo-French Entente.
(Aug. 31). Murad V., deposed Sultan, dies.
1905 (Feb.). Rising in Yemen Turks defeated.
German Emperor visits Jerusalem.
(Dec). Powers' proposals for Macedonia agreed to after

naval demonstration at Mitylene and Lemnos.
1906 (Oct.). Extension Ottoman-Aidin Railway to Bulair and
1904.
1907.
Eghidir.
Central Committee of Union and Progress formed in
Salonika.
Central Committee of Union and Progress formed in
Paris.
Anglo-Russian agreement.
Lord Cromer retires from Egypt.
Crete's union with Greece proclaimed
disapproved by
1908.
Powers.
(June 9). Meeting of Edward VII. and Czar at Reval.

(end June). Niazi Bey and Enver Bey take to the hills at
Resna.
(July 22). Army in Macedonia supports Committee of Union

;
1909
and Progress and demand constitution.

Sultan yields and proclaims constitution.
(July 23).
1).
Hedjaz Railway opened nearly to Medina.
(Sept.
Ferdinand declares himself King of Bulgaria.
(Oct. 5).
(Dec). Turkish Parliament meets.
(April 13).
Attempt at counter-revolution. "
"
Arrival of Army of Deliverers
under Shevket
(April 24).
Pasha.
(April 27).
(April 29).
Abdul Hamid arrested in Yildiz

Abdul taken to Salonika.
deposed.
354*
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Topography. Excellent maps have been published
Relating to
during the last fifty years of Constantinople and its neighbourhood. Those of the city including Galata and Pera are fairly
complete as published by several French houses. The Admiralty
charts of the Bosporos and the Islands are, of course, as nearly
perfect as possible. Of the environs of Constantinople, especially
between the Black Sea and the Marmora, a map prepared and
published by General Von der Goltz while in the Turkish service
"
Karte der Umgegend von
(Freiherr Colman v. der Goltz
I.
Constantinopel."
beautifully complete.
For
the Archaeology of the City

Constantinoplis Christiana," of C.
II.
"
1898)
is
cannot be neglected.
Byzantine authors.
The
nople
It is
found in
and Neighbourhood. The

F. Du Cange (1680),
Du
all
the three editions of the
studies of the late Dr. Paspates, who resided in Constantiabout 1884, are always valuable. Only one has been
till
"
translated into English.
The Great Palace of Constantinople."
Tr. by W. Metcalfe.
In Greek they are simply
Paisley.
1893.
known as the Meletai.
Various studies of local topography were made by the members
of the community of the Roman Catholic Assumptionists whose
headquarters were at Chalcedon, the modern Kadikeui. In the
transactions of both the Russian Institute in Constantinople and
in that of the transactions Mitteilungen des Deutschen Exkursions-Klubs in Constantinopel are many valuable papers on the
topography and archaeology.

these may be added two valuable books by the late Dr.
Alexander van Millingen, who was always a keen student of
local
To
everything that related to the archaeology of his native city,

and whose books will preserve the plans and photographs of
some of the ancient buildings that have stood for a thousand
years but have been wantonly destroyed within the last four
years. His principal books are
"
Byzantine Churches in Constantinople."
By A. v. M.,
assisted by R. Traquair, W. S. George and A. E. Henderson.
With Maps, Plans and Illustrations. Macmillan. 191 2.
:
LIFE OF ABDUL HAMID
354^
"
Byzantine Constantinople.
adjoining Historical Sites. ..."
trations. John Murray. 1899.
The Walls of the City and

With Maps, Plans and Illus-
and Biographical :
H. A. Gibbons. " The Foundations of the Ottoman Empire."
A History of the Osmanlis up to the Death of Bayezid I., 13001403. Oxford University Press. 1916.
III. Historical
Sir Paul Rycaut.

1668.
" The Present State of the Ottoman

Empire."
"
Observations on the
James Porter.
Government and Manners of the Turks." 1768.
Sir
Rev. Robert Walsh.
Religion,
Law,
" Residence
at Constantinople during the
2 vols.
1836. (Walsh was
the
time
of
the
hanging of the
Embassy during
Patriarch and the brutalities inflicted upon the Greeks in the
Greek and Turkish Revolutions."
chaplain to the
Greek Revolution, 1820-30.)

"
Three Years in Constantinople." 3 vols.
Charles White.
Col burn. 1845. (The author, Colonel White, spent three years
in Constantinople and wrote what Layard described as the best
book ever written about the place. It is not only pleasant
reading but full of valuable facts and observations.)
J.
H. A.
Ubicini.
"
Lettres."
2 vols.
1853-4.
(English
translation, 1856.)
William Miller.
" The Ottoman

Empire, 1801-1913."
(Cam-
bridge Historical Series, 1913.)

" The
Life of Stratford de Redcliffe."
Stanley Lane-Poole.
2 vols.
1888. (Popular edition, 1890.)
"
"
"
Turkey in Europe."
Odysseus
{Sir Charles N. E. Eliot).
1900.
A. Gallenga.
1877.
"
(Letters to
Two
Years of the Eastern Question."

The Times.)
2 vols.
" The
War Correspondence of the Daily News, forming a
continuous history of the War between Russia and Turkey."
1877-8.
"
Chas. S. Ryan.
Red Crescent." 1877-8, 1897. (Colonel
was
the
Ryan
only Englishman present with the Turks at the
siege of Plevna.)
"
Abdul Hamid Intime." Paris. 6th edition. 1903.
G.Dorys.
"
Francis McCullagh.
The Fall of Abdul Hamid." 1910.
"
Sir E. Pears.
Turkey and its People." 191 1.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
35V
An
extremely valuable history of Turkey and the Balkan

was brought out in 191 5 by the Carnegie Fund. A great
number of books and pamphlets were published in Abdul Hamid's
none of course in Turkey.
reign in Paris, Berlin, and Geneva
The above list covers the most important of the books relating
to Constantinople and the Empire during the life of Abdul
Hamid. The earlier ones mentioned, such as those by Rycaut,
Sir James Porter and the invaluable Life of Lord Stratford de
Redcliffe are of great importance, showing the steady decadence
States
of
Turkey, the causes which led thereto and the great attempts
to regenerate the Empire, especially by England and
made
France.
INDEX
Abbas Hilmi, Khedive, firman
of 1892
Abbasid dynasty 147-8.

Abdul Aziz, Sultan Bulgarian
140-1.
suicide, 37-40, 44-6, 53-6
recognised, 62
Church
deposition
and
visit to Paris, 8.
Armenians and his
extravagance, 34
treatment
Sultan
accession, 34-46.
Bagdad Railway con214-68 ; Army demoralised by, 183-5
Bulgarian negotiations
cessions, 153-62; birth and upbringing, 6-15
and policy, 64-80, 89-105 Caliphate, 149-51 character, estimate of,
331-50; Christian Churches, attacks on their privileges, 202-4; Committee of Union and Progress, 283-94 Cyprus Convention, 1878. .77-9 ;
dethronement,
destroyer of the Turkish Empire, 1-5
daily life, 107-14
Abdul Hamid
II.,
of, 81-6,
relations
124-43; espionage under, 199-202;

with, 115-22; fortune of, 324-5;
foreign States and their
gendarmery, proposed formation, 187-9; Hedjaz Railway project, 162-4;
landgrabbing, 121-2 Midhat Pasha and, 47-59 Midhat's Constitution,
295-325; Egypt,
with,
relations
demand for and proclamation of, 283-94 Montenegrin negotiations,

86-8; Navy neglected by, 185-7; Note of the Powers on Armenian
;
massacres, 259-61; personal appearance in 1908.. 302-3; Press and

his attempts to control, 194-9 ; religious liberty promised by, 41-2 ;
school of medicine established, 192
subject races and his treatment of,
;
Abdul
Abdul
205-82.
Huda, court astrologer 290-1.
infanticide in Imperial family abolished by, 12
Mejid, Sultan
:
and naval reforms,
military
23.
Abu
Bekr, first Caliph, 145.

Adossides Pasha, prince of Samos
335-6.
283, 284, 298, 302, 303.
Riza, on Committee of Union and Progress
Vefyk, president of Representative Chamber, 1877 50-1.
Albanians
immorality encouraged by Austria, 287-8 preference to shown
by the Sultan, 271-2 ; quarrels with Greeks and Bulgarians in Macedonia,
270-80 ; sympathy with the revolutionaries, 297-8.
Alexander of Battenberg created Prince of Bulgaria and Governor of Eastern
Rumelia, 89, 92 kidnapping of, 1886. .95-6.
132.
Alexandria, riots and British interference
succession as Caliph, 146.
Ali, son-in-law of Mahomet,
Ahmed
Ahmed
Ali Fatieh, Turkish military attache, 322.

Ali Haidar Midhat, treatment by Abdul Hamid, 342.
Ali Suavi, plot against Abdul Hamid, 48.
Ameer Ah, Syed, on the Caliphate

Anatolian Railway Company 156.
:
144.
Antivari, port, cession to Montenegro, 86-8.

Arabi Pasha, revolt in Egypt
131-2.
Arabia, discontent caused by use of Turkish language
64.
Argyll, Duke of, and the Bulgarian atrocities
:
310.
Arif Pasha
Armenians
30
335.
Abdul Hamid's treatment of, 214-68 education advanced by,

Kurds and their relations with, 227-9 massacres, 1894-6. .229-68 ;
;
A Al
INDEX
35 6
Note
of the
Powers respecting massacres, 259-61
number and charac-
reforms in
215-17; provisions of Berlin Treaty, 1878.. 77;
Armenia urged on the Sultan, 81-6, 218-27.
demoralisation due to Sultan, 183-5
improvements effected by Nazim
teristics,
Army
Pasha, 306-7; organisation, 18-23.

Army of Liberation, 1909 314-17.
Arslan Bey, killed in demonstration of 1909
315.
12.
Ateya, Sultana, death of son
Salonika
German agreement with respecting
Austria
(1903), 157 ; immorality
in Macedonia encouraged by, 287
pacification of Macedonia, negotiasecret agreement with Russia, 1877. .71, 73.
tions, 276-82
:
Bagdad, Caliphs
Bagdad Railway:
:
147.
concessions and negotiations, 153-62; payment of loans

issued for construction of, 174-5.
Baker Pasha defeat and death, 137 ; opinion of Suliman, 71 ; proposed formation of gendarmery, 187-9 relations with Abdul Hamid, 135-7.
126.
Baker, Sir Samuel, suppression of slave trade
:
Balfour, Arthur, and
Bagdad Railway
157.
Balkan Committee in England deputation to Turkey, 305-6

reforms urged by, 280.
64.
Baring, Walter, report on Bulgarian atrocities
185.
Bartlett, Ashmead, on the Turkish Army
:
Macedonian
Bashi-Bazuks, attempts to organise 22.

Berlin Treaty, 1878. .77
Beaconsfield, Lord
purchase of Suez Canal shares, 126.
Bektashi sect of Dervishes
151, 271.
:
Bulgarian atrocities, 63-4, 65
103.
Beltcheff, Bulgarian Minister, assassination
Bennett, Gordon, of the New York Herald : 243-4.
:
192.
Bent, Theodore
account of, 75-8 ; Armenian reforms
Berlin, Congress and Treaty of, 1878
under terms of, 218-20, 222, 224-5 negotiations with Sultan over questions arising from, 81-106.
76.
Bessarabia, provisions of Berlin Treaty respecting
demand for banishment of Fehim, 348 ;
Bieberstein, Baron Marschall von
Turkish policy, 328-9.
Armenia 221.
Biliotti, Sir Alfred, and condition of
Birijik, Armenian massacres at, 247-9.
Bismarck, Prince von, ideal for Germany 154-5.
171.
Bleichroder, Herr S., delegate for German bondholders
126.
Blignieres, M. de, Minister of Public Works in Egypt
172, 173, 175, 176.
Block, Sir Adam, on Turkish Council of the Public Debt
:
188-9.
Blunt, General, service in Turkey
Bourke, Robert, delegate for foreign bondholders
330.
Breslau, S.S.
:
170-1.
188-9.
Briscoe, Colonel, service in Turkey
Bulgaria Berlin Treaty, provisions of and negotiations with Sultan, 89-105 ;
condition in 1876.. 60-4; Ferdinand's anomalous position, 272-3';
Macedonian reforms, projects for, 272 ; massacres, 1876. .63 ; pacification
:
by Abdul Hamid, 64-80
;
principality established, 72, 74-6, 98-105 ;
quarrels of Bulgarians with Greeks and Albanians, 270-80.
Bulgarian Church disputes in Macedonia with the Greeks, 273-4 ; recognition
of, 1870. .62.
Burgess, Miss, protection of Armenians, 257-8.
Bush, Miss, work among the Armenians, 267.
:
INDEX
357
Buxton, Noel E., deputation to Turkey 305.

Buxton, Roden, deputation to Turkey 305.
:
Caillard, Sir Vincent

representative on Turkish Council of the Public
Debt, 171-2 silk industry in Turkey revived by, 179-80.
132.
Cairo, riots (1882) and British interference
168.
Caismes, term explained
:
deputation to choose a Bulgarian prince 98.

Baron, and Austria's attitude towards Macedonian reforms: 281.
Caliphate, note on
143-51.
Canning, Mr. See Stratford de Redcliffe, Lord.
42.
Capolini, Dr., treatment of Sultan Murad
Carasso Effendi, deposition of Abdul Hamid
319-21.
:
Calcieff, M.,
Calici,
Caratheodori, Alexander, Pasha
Governor of Crete, 209
as
deposition
of
Khedive
Ismail, 129-30.
Censors, ignorance of
195-7.
Chamber of Representatives 49-5
:
1.
Cherkess Hassan
Christians
40-1.
of, 214-68 ; attacks on priviCretan, Abdul Hamid's treatment of,
Armenian, Abdul Hamid's treatment
leges of
Churches, 117, 202-4
207-13.
See Gavril Pasha.
Christovitch.
Civil List Department
25-6.
:
Civil Service, organisation
23-5.
Clarendon, Lord, and Treaty of Paris, 1856. .204.

77.
Clarke, Sir Campbell, the Cyprus Convention
101.
Clementine, Princess, influence in Bulgaria
Comitajis, bands of brigands in Bulgaria 274-5, 280.
Committee of Union and Progress British attitude towards a cause of alienadethronement of the Sultan, 295-325 diplomacy and
tion, 325-30
entry of Turkey into European War, 325-30 history of, 283-94 revolt
:
against, 311-18.
Constantinople: Armenian massacres, 253-61 conference of the Powers (1876). .

65-8 ; railway communication, 153.
demand for adoption in 1907. .283-94 proclamation,
Constitution (Midhat's)
1877.-48-9,66-7.
annexation to Greece, 213 conCrete Abdul Hamid's treatment of, 207-13
dition on accession of Abdul Hamid, 205-7; stipulations of Berlin Treaty,
;
76-
Cromer, Lord Abdul Hamid's relations with, 141 ; Comptroller-General in

Egypt, 126-7 on tne Armenians, 216.
Currie, Sir Philip
request for report on massacres, 247-8 ; Said Pasha protected
by, 237 ; story of interview with the Sultan, 232-3.
Cyprus Convention of 1878. .77-9.
:
Armenian attack on the Ottoman Bank,

representative on Turkish Council of the Public Debt, 171.
Dadian Effendi, an Armenian 216.
116.
Dardanelles, provisions of Treaty of Paris respecting
1
Decree of Muharem, 1 88 1
71
D'Abernon, Edgar Vincent, Lord

258
151.
Dervishes, spiritual life among sects
54-5.
Dickson, Dr., report on death of Abdul Aziz
Di Giorgis, General, and Macedonian gendarmery 277.
216.
Dilber Effendi, an Armenian
:
INDEX
358
199.
Djournals, term explained
Dobruja, provisions of Berlin Treaty respecting : 76.
Dorys, Georges, on character of Abdul Hamid 8.
Dragomans, appointment of student 123.
:
Dufferin, Lord, negotiations with Abdul Hamid : 134-8, 150.

sect of Jews in Salonika
298.
Dussap Effendi, leader of the Sultan's orchestra 334.
Dunmays,
Eastern Rumelia, formation
of province
89-105.
Eden, Miss Emily 105-6.

Edhem Pasha Armenian reform project approved by, 221 ; biographical not ,
79 command against the Greeks, 212 Constantinople Conference, 65.
Education, condition in Turkey 29-30.
Edward VII., meeting with the Czar at Reval 286.
Egypt Abdul Hamid's relations with, 124-43 British occupation and nego:
'>
tiations, 133-43.
Elliot, Sir Henry : Abdul Aziz,
account of deposition, 44-6 ; Constantinople

Conference, 65 ; Ignatiev's relations with, 40 ; justification of his Turkish
policy, 79-80 ; Midhat's interview with, 36 ; note on Midhat's trial, 58-9.
Enver Damat Pasha, member of Committee of Union and Progress 284, 285-6,
:
302.
199-202, 293, 295.

Espionage, under Abdul Hamid
Essad Pasha, General 319-22.
to
Sir
Arthur, deputation
Turkey 305.
Evans,
:
Sir Edward, negotiations with Abdul Hamid

141.
Fatima, daughter of Mahomet, descent of Shiah Imams from
144.
Fatimide Caliphs
145.
Fehim, foster-brother of the Sultan 348.
Ferdinand, of Coburg chosen Prince of Bulgaria, 98-9 policy on accession,
Fane,
recognition by the Sultan, negotiations, 272-3.

100-5
Ferid Pasha, Grand Vizier dismissal, 296 refusal to act as War Minister, 288.
287.
Fersovich, orgy at, arranged by Austrians
Fetva, term explained 44.
Finance condition on accession of Abdul Hamid, 25-6 history of Public Debt
'1
Department, 167-82.
Fitzmaurice, Lord, and Macedonian reforms
90.
Fitzmaurice, Gerald, report on Armenian massacres
Ford, Sir F. Clare, negotiations with Abdul Hamid
:
247-53.
140-1.
82.
Foreign Affairs Committees, formation in England

Foreign States, Abdul Hamid's dealings with, reviewed
115-22.
Forster, W. E., and the Bulgarian atrocities
64.
with
Abdul
France disputes
Hamid, 1 16-17 withdrawal from Egypt, 132-4.
Friends, Society of, Armenian institution in Constantinople
257-8.
Fuad Pasha efforts to save Armenians, 255-6 ; on the " Army of Deliverers,"
:
3I7-
Gabriel Effendi Nuradunghian, an Armenian 216.

Gadban Effendi 99.
Gage, Miss, work among the Armenians 267.
Galib (Ghalib) Bey Inspector-General of Police and Gendarmery, 322
ber of Committee of Union and Progress, 288.
:
Gallenga, Mr., letters on Bulgarian atrocities
63.
mem-
INDEX
359
Gambetta, M. 134.
Gamble, Admiral, naval mission to Turkey 327.
267.
Gates, Dr., work for the Armenians
Gavril Pasha (Christovitch), Governor of Eastern Rumelia 90-2, 97.
Gendarmery Macedonian, organisation urged on Sultan, 276-8 ; Turkish,
:
proposed formation, 187-9.

George, Prince of Greece, Governor of Crete =213.
Germany Bagdad Railway enterprise, 154-62 influence in Turkey, 329, 347-8
Macedonian negotiations, Turkey befriended, 278-9.
:
Ghengiz Khan
147.
Bulgarian atrocities, 63, 64; Egyptian policy, 133, 142;

Gladstone, W. E.
Layard's relations with, 85-6 revision of San Stefano Treaty advocated,
:
75; Turkish policy,

330.
Goeben, S.S.
Goltz, General von der
115.
anecdote of, 108 instructor in Turkish army, 23 ; on

espionage in Turkey, 289.
Goschen, George J. Armenian reforms urged, 220, 223 ; European diplomacy
in Turkey, 326
negotiations with the Sultan, 86-8.
Gourko, Russian General, campaign of 1877 69, 71-2.
Armenian reforms, 221, 223, 224 Egyptian policy, 133.
Granville, Earl
Greece Cretan demand for annexation, 207-13 quarrels of Greeks with
Albanians and Bulgarians in Macedonia, 270-80
Thessaly ceded to, 89
Turkish war of 1897.. 212.
98.
Grekoff, M., deputation to choose a Bulgarian prince
118.
Griscom, Mr., United States Minister in Turkey
:
Hairulla
Effendi, trial for
murder
55-7.
Halep, Pact of 210.

Hamdi Bey, founder of museum in Stamboul 79.
Harbi6, Turkish military school 23.
Hardinge, Lord, and Macedonian reforms 286.
266-7.
Harris, Helen B., letters on visit to Armenia
:
Harris, Dr. Rendel, notes on visit to

Hassan Fehmi, assassination 312.
Armenia
266-7.
Hatti-huma-yun 2, 39.
Hedjaz Railway construction, 162-6 funds not accounted for, 303.
Henchak, a revolutionary society 234.
Hepworth, Rev. George, account of Armenia and the massacres 244-7.
:
Herbert, Sir Michael, telegram to the Sultan
Hicks Pasha
Hilmi Pasha
137.
as Grand Vizier, 300, 308
259.
desertion of Kiamil, 311
failure to
introduce Macedonian reforms, 280.

152.
Hirsch, Baron, railway concession
:
Hobhouse, Professor, on European statesmanship

Hodjet, title deed 28.
326.
Hornby, Admiral, entry into Sea of Marmora 73.

Hughes, Rev. T. P., on the Caliphate 149.
Husni Pasha, account of Sultan's removal to Salonika 322-3.
Hussein Avni, Minister of War, share in deposition of Abdul Aziz
:
Ignatiev, General Constantinople Conference, 65

San Stefano Treaty, 74-5.
:
Imamate.
See Caliphate.
See Ottoman Bank.
Imperial Ottoman Bank.
44-5.
policy in Turkey, 39-40
INDEX
360
Industries of Turkey 32-3.

10-12.
Infanticide in Imperial family
International Courts, establishment in
:
Ismail, Khedive, rule in
Egypt and
Egypt
Armenian Patriarch 229, 339.

Isvolski, M., and Macedonian reforms 286.
37,
Izzedin, Jusuf, Prince, son of Abdul Aziz
Izzet Pasha
Hedjaz Railway project, 162-4
Ismirlian,
126.
his deposition
125-31.
302, 342.
5
Turkish occupation of Tabah,
141.
Janina, Greek prohibited in Law Courts 208.

effect on Turkish law of succession, 13 5 organisation and history,
Janissaries
19-21.
298, 304.
(Jahid) Hussein, member of Committee of Union and Progress
:
Javid
Jemal-ed-din, Sheik-ul-Islam, resignation: 310-11.

191.
Jesuits' bark
Jevad, Turkish Governor in Crete 213.
first
secretary to the Sultan
Jevad Bey,
298.
Jews, Salonikan
of
26-9.
Justice, administration
:
322.
Justinian law, incorporated into Islamic law
26-7.
Kaulbars, General, sent to Bulgaria 99.

Kiamil, Grand Vizier Armenian reforms urged by, 261-2
:
British Ambassador's protest against, 220

302, 305-6
missal, 1909. .309 ; recalled by the Sultan, 296, 302.
Kinglake, Mr., on Christians in Bulgaria 61.
146.
Koreish, Arabian tribe
;
as
;
Grand
manner
Vizier,
of dis-
"
Kostroma
"
incident
116.
Kum
Capu, Constantinople, Armenian massacres

Kurds, treatment of the Armenians 227-9.
257-8.
Land
ownership, registration of titles

28-9.
Sir Hamilton, on Turkish Council of the Public Debt
171.
on
Macedonian
reforms
278.
Lansdowne, Lord,
of
Khedive
Ismail
128.
Lascelles, Sir Frank, deposition
Law, Sir Edward Fitzgerald, on Turkish Council of Public Debt 172.
Layard, Sir Henry Abdul Hamid's relations with, 72, 73 Armenian reforms,
82-6, 221
Cyprus Convention, 77-9 gendarmery, proposal to estabnote on, 105-6 ; protest against Kiamil Pasha, 220 ; recall
lish, 188
:
Lang,
from Turkey, 85-6.

Leidesdorff, Dr., on illness of Sultan
Murad
42.
Leishman, Mr., American Ambassador 299.

Lemnos, Custom-house seized, 1905 297.
:
Lepanto, battle of 184.

Lesseps, M. de, commission of inquiry : 126.
Limpus, Sir Arthur, naval mission to Turkey
174.
Lottery bonds, transactions
:
327.
Lowther,
Sir
Gerard
reception in Turkey, 299, 301-2
Turkish policy, 326-9.
"
"
Fall of Abdul Hamid
Francis, his
319, 324.
Abdul Hamid's treatment of, 269-82 churches and schools, disputes as to ownership, 273-4 Committee of Union and Progress in,
283-94 immorality encouraged by Austria, 287 institution of reforms
McCullagh,
Macedonia
in, 90, 286.
INDEX
MacGahan,
Mahmud
361
64.
Mr., report on Bulgarian atrocities
effort to abolish infanticide, 12
Sultan
:
struggle with the Janisintroduced into Turkish army, 184.
II.,
saries, 20-21
Western
drill
Mahmud, Grand Vizier, dismissal

Mahmud, Commissioner in Crete
Mahmud, revolt in Egypt (1881)
(1876)
(1886)
37.
207.
131.
Mahmud Damat, brother-in-law of the Sultan 55, 284.

Mahmud Jelaleddin, Governor of Crete, 1893-4: 209.
:
to the Caliphs
Mahomet, the Prophet, authority bequeathed
Mahomet
Sultan
II.,
infanticide legalised by, 11
143-4.
privileges granted to Chris-
tians, 202-3.
Mahomet
Mahomet
murder
Sultan,
III.,
V., Sultan
of his brothers
331-2, 341-2.
Mahometan Association, opposition to
II.
accession, 1909. .319, 322
Committee
treatment by Abdul Hamid,

of
....
3"Mahometan
Union and Progress
301,
26-9.
law, administration in Turkey
Malarial fever, value of drainage
192-3.
131.
Malet, Sir E., British Minister in Egypt
:
Malkom Khan, an Armenian
Ambassador
Mallet, Sir Louis,
217.
in
Turkey
329.
Marsovan, American college 267.

Mavrogeni, Dr., medical adviser to the Sultan
163-4.
Mecca, Hedjaz railway to
191-2.
Medicine, Turkish school at Scutari
Dervish
sect
151.
Mehlevis,
:
1 1
1,
334.
Mehmed Rushdi, Grand Vizier 37.

Mehmet Ali, Turkish General, campaign
:
Melikoff, Loris,
Armenian General
1877
of,
69.
216.
career, 34-46, 47-59 ; Constitution drawn up by, 48-9, 66-7,

story that Abdul Hamid ordered head to be embalmed, 339 ;
trial and death, 4, 53-9.
12.
Mihr, Princess
Milan, King of Serbia, invasion of Bulgaria 93-5.
Millingen, Dr. van, examination of body of Abdul Aziz : 54.
70.
Mirska, Prince, campaign against the Turks
Midhat Pasha
283-94
279.
Mitylene, Custom-house seized, 1905
277.
Monastir, Russian consul murdered, 1903
:
Montague, Lady Mary
61.
139.
Montebello, Comte de, French Ambassador
Montenegro: Berlin Treaty stipulations, 86-8 San Stefano Treaty, provisions
:
of, 74.
Muharem, Decree
of.
See Decree of Muharem.
Muktar, Turkish General
68, 313-4.
11.
Sultan (d. 1594), murder of sons
Murad, Sultan, brother of Abdul Hamid character, 13-14 ; illness and deposiproclaimed Sultan, 37-8 treatment by Abdul Hamid, 341 ;
tion, 40-4
visit to Paris, 1867. .8.
Murzsteg, programme for pacification of Macedonia, 1903 276-9.
Mussa Bey, attack on the Armenians 226-7.
Mutazalis
148.
Murad
III.,
Napoleon
Church agitation
62.
III., Bulgarian
"
"
an untoward event
17.
Navarino, battle of,
Hamid's
Abdul
neglect of, 185-7; attempts to improve, 23, 327;
Navy:
Naval
Mission, 327.
English
:
INDEX
362
Nazim Pasha
306-7.
trial
Nedjib Melhame,
308.
Newspapers 30-1, 194, 197-9, 292.

New York Herald, articles on Armenia and the massacres
:
243-7.
Niazi Bey, as a missionary of revolution

284-5.
192-3.
Nicaea, malarial fever at, and effect of drainage
Nineveh, discovery and exploration by Layard 82.
:
Obaidullah, descendant
of Ismail
145.
Christmas entertainment at Moda, 201 ; demand for

banishment of Fehim, 348 influence in the Balkans, 102-3 5 Kkmil
Pasha protected by, 296 ; Macedonian disturbances, 275 5 negotiations
with Sultan, 141-2.
O' Conor, Sir Nicholas
Odessa, Bulgarian Reform Committee at

Omar, second Caliph 146.
61.
Ommeyad
dynasty 146-7.
Orchan, Sultan, Janissaries formed by: 13.
Orthodox Church attitude towards Bulgarians, 61-2
:
disputes in Macedonia,
273-4-
Osman Pasha, defence of Plevna

Ottoman Bank Armenian attack
:
69.
on, 258
story of Public
Debt
transactions,
168.
"
" Pact of
Halep
210.
150-1.
Pan-Islamism, failure of Abdul Hamid's attempts
Panitza, Major, plot against Ferdinand of Bulgaria, 272-3.
:
Union and Progress
Paris,
Committee
of
Paris,
Treaty
1856
of,
in
283-4, 286.
116, 202, 204.
262, 295.
Passports, local
179-80.
Pasteur, M., remedy against silkworm disease
Peresto Hanum, adoption of Abdul Hamid 7.
8.
Pertevalla Kadina
92.
Philippopolis, bloodless revolution of 1885
Photiades Pasha, as Governor of Crete 207.
:
Phylloxera, appearance in Turkey: 180-1.

163-4.
Pilgrimage to Mecca, Hedjaz railway project
Plevna, capture of, 1877 69.
Post Office failure of suggested reforms, 189-91
rights of Embassies interfered with, 1 1 9-2 1.
Abdul Hamid's attempts to control, 194-9 ; freedom under Midhat's
Press
Constitution, 292, 298-9.
Public Debt Department, history of
167-82.
200-2.
Public meetings, prohibition
:
Quinine, value
in the
East
191.
in Bulgaria
97, 99.
1
52-66.
Railways, construction in Turkish Empire
Ramsay, Sir William on the Armenian massacres, 246
Radoslavoff, M., policy
Hamid,
266.
Ratib Pasha, captured by Arabs 310.

178-9.
Regie Company, formation
:
opinion of Abdul
INDEX
363
Religious liberty, Midhat Pasha's reforms : 41-2.

Reshad, Prince. See Mahomet V.
Reval, meeting of the Czar and King Edward VII. at
Ring, Baron de, French Minister in Egypt 331.
286.
Riza Tewfik, member of Chamber of Representatives, 1908 303.

Robert College 30.
Roman Catholics French in Turkey and Abdul Hamid, 117. See also Chris:
tians.
Rumania
ally of Russia, 1877. .69

provisions of San Stefano Treaty, 74.
Russia: Armenians, attitude to, 219, 231-2; Bagdad Railway enterprise,
objection to, 159-60; Bulgarian policy, 93-105; Bulgarian sympathy
"
Czar's meeting with Edward VII. at Reval, 286 ;
Koswith, 61-2
:
troma " incident, 116; pacification
of Macedonia, negotiations, 276-9;

Turkish war, 1877-8. .68-77.
Rustchuk revolt, 1887: 98.
Rycaut, Paul, on organisation of the Turkish Empire 18-9.
:
Sadyk Pasha, cause of disgrace 335.

Said Pasha (Kutchuk Said) Armenian reforms suggested by, 236-7
Buldismissed by the Sultan, 261
garian negotiations, 92
recalled, 296,
:
3-
Said Halim, Grand Vizier, 329-330.

Armenian reforms, 219, 221, 225-6 Berlin Treaty,
Salisbury, Marquis of
75, 77
Constantinople Conference, 65
Egyptian policy and negotiastudent dragomans, plan for appointment of,
tions, 133, 138-40, 142-3
Turkish policy and reforms advocated by, 1 15, 187, 189 warning
122-3
to Abdul Hamid, 1897. .262.
Salonika Abdul Hamid's exile to, 322-4 army sent to Constantinople, 1909.
314 Committee of Union and Progress, 284-90.
San Stefano, Treaty of; Armenian reforms, stipulation, 218-20; modification
:
by Treaty
Sartinski Pasha,
of Berlin, 75-8 ; negotiations and provisions of,

71-9.
for recall by Cretan Christians
207.
demand
Sassun, Armenian massacres

229-30.
Savas Pasha, and Armenian reforms 221.
Savfet Pasha, Constantinople Conference, 1876
:
65.
Schouvaloff, Count, Treaty of Berlin, 1878 : 75.

Schuyler, Eugene report on Bulgarian atrocities, 64 ; San Stefano Treaty
negotiations, 75.
Scudamore, Mr., appointed to reform Turkish Post Office 190.
Scutari, establishment of school of medicine
19 1-2.
Selim I., Sultan, title of Caliph
143, 149.
:
Sell,
Rev. Edward
149.
invasion of Bulgaria, 1885. .93-5 ; provisions of San Stefano Treaty, 74

quarrels of Serbs with Greeks and Albanians in Macedonia, 270-80.
Seymour, Admiral, destruction of Alexandrian forts 132.
Serbia
Shakir Bey, Dr., on reports of spies 305.

Shattuck, Miss permitted to leave Urfa before the massacres, 250
among the Armenians, 267.
:
26.
Sheik-ul-Islam, functions
Shemshi Pasha, shot by revolutionaries 288, 291.
Shenova, battle of 70-1.
Shevket Pasha, " Army of Liberation " under 314-7.
:
Shiah sect
144-5.
Silk industry, revival in
"
Turkey
"
Six Indirect Contributions
179-80.
168-9.
work
INDEX
3<H
Skobeleff, General
campaign against the Turks, 69-72
Slavic, Bulgarian agitation for use in their churches

Slivnitza, battle of
94-5.
Fuad Pasha,
friend of
61-2.
Smith, Sir Henry Babington, on Council of the Public Debt

172.
railway communication, 152 threatened occupation by British,
1880.. 88.
Softas, supporters of reform party
36-7.
"
"
:
Smyrna
Sopajis
254.
as regent in Bulgaria, 96-9 ; efforts to secure recognition of

Stambuloff, M.
Ferdinand, 272-3 ; murder of, 103-4 ; quarrel with Ferdinand, 102.
Stoiloff, M., deputation to choose a Bulgarian prince
98.
Stone, Miss, American missionary, capture by brigands
275.
Stratford de Redcliffe, Lord (Canning)
belief in Turkish solvency, 169
religious liberty, efforts to procure, 39 remonstrance respecting Article IX.
:
"
of Treaty of Paris, 204

Turkish policy, 1-2, 115, 328.
Succession, Turkish law of
10-15.
Suez Canal, purchase of shares by Disraeli
126.
;
Suliman, Turkish General, campaign of ; 1877
Sunni sect
71.
144, 145.
village, Turkish occupation

Taxes, abuses in collection 25-6.
Tabah, Egyptian
141-2.
Tel-el-Kebir, battle of
132.
201-2.
Telephones, forbidden in Constantinople till 1908
Tewfik, succession as Khedive
128-30.
Thessaly, cession to Greece, 1881
89.
28.
Tidjaret, Court
Tobacco, formation of the Regie Company
178-9.
Trebizond, Armenian massacres
235-6.
Turkasi Pasha, as Governor of Crete 209.
Turkish bonds, institution of the Public Debt Department
:
Turkish Empire
Abdul Hamid's pernicious
effect on,
167-75.
British diplo344-50
Bulgarian relations with,
;
macy a cause of alienation in 1914. .325-30 ;

60-80, 89-105 ; condition on accession of Abdul
Hamid, 16-33 German

government by Ministers destroyed by Abdul Hamid,
3-5; Greek War, 1897.. 21 2; internal administration under Abdul
Hamid, 152-204 Midhat's Constitution, and demands for, 48-9, 66-7, 28394; organisation based on military lines, 18-25 Public Debt DepartChamber convoked, 1877. .49-51
ment,
167-82; Representative
Russian War, 1877-8. .68-77 subject races and treatment of by Abdul
Hamid, 205-82 Sultan as Caliph, 143-51.
influence, 156-62
Ulema
functions
of,
26
opposition to Abdul Hamid,
of reform, 36.
United States, Abdul Hamid's relations with

Urfa, Armenian massacres at 249-53.
Urquhart, David, belief in the Turks 82.
:
Vambery, Arminius
7, 335.
Vessel Pasha, campaign of 1877

70.
See D'Abernon, Lord.
Vincent, Sir Edgar.
180-1.
Viniculture, school established
:
11 8-9.
5,
149-50
supporters
INDEX
365
prince of Denmark, refusal of Bulgarian throne

Washburn, Dr., president of Robert College 243-4.
Watson, Sir Charles, entry into Cairo, 1882 132.
Watson, Dr. Seton, on German aspirations in the East 154.
Waldemar,
98-9.
Balkan troubles of 1885, influence in, 95, 101, 102

ence in Turkey, 123 ; on Turco-Russian War of 1877. .73.
White, Colonel, on infanticide 12.
White, Dr., director of American College at Marsovan 267.
267.
Willard, Miss, work among the Armenians
White,
Sir
William
influ-
156.
William, Emperor of Germany, visit to Constantinople, 1889
Williams, Admiral, naval mission to Turkey 327.
126.
Wilson, Sir Rivers, Finance Minister in Egypt
mission to Turkey, 1885. 138-40
Wolff, Sir Henry Drummond
tion of Eastern Rumelia negotiations, 89.
Wolff Convention
138-43.
:
organisa-
Wolseley, Viscount, battle of Tel-el-Kebir
132.
Yildiz, palace: capture, 1909.. 317-9; described, 107-9.

Young Turks Reform party so called, 284. See also Committee of Union
:
and Progress.
Yussuf Izzedin, son of Abdul Aziz.
Yusuf Pasha, sent to Albania, 1909
Yuzgat, Armenian massacre 268.
See Izzedin.
:
317-8.
Zancoff, M., policy in Bulgaria

238.
Zeitun, Armenian massacres
:
97-8.
Zia-ed-din, appointed Sheik-ul-Islam
311.
THE WHITEFRIARS PRESS, LTD. LONDON, AND TONBRIDGK.
BINDING SECT.
JUN
2 9 1962
University of Toronto
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Life of Abdulhamid II

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What is the book about?

What is the book about?

What position did Abdul Hamid hold?

What position did Abdul Hamid hold?

HANDBOUND

Richard Stanley & Co. Photc:

MAKERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Printed in Great Britain

GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE

The merely damned

not each hollow and cranny of Tophet

the brightest of Hell's aureoles

Dost shine supreme, incomparably crowned,

Thus wrote Mr. William Watson

gising to the late Sultan for having once called

Abdul the Damned."

be seen by those who read this volume, written

who saw and made others see

what was good

his voice against the

cowardly oppression of their rulers,

knowledge, Abdul Hamid loses even the little credit

an astute and able ruler. All this is true enough,

action of Europe in the last quarter of the nineteenth

Abdul Hamid may

lay claim to be included among those who have helped

Abdul Hamid was an

GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE

and so the nightmare abides.

for he knew that though all

most outrageous crimes, lest

sees, she hears,

with soul unstirred

no hand and speaks no word,

This apathy of Europe, and Abdul Hamid's crafty

his treacherous murders, his policy of

the corrupting methods of government,

out and succeeded him.

How empty was his

of strength may be seen from his immediate surrender

on a point that concerned their

his collapse like a pricked bladder

by a few determined subjects.

he played so ignominious a part, he

knowing that his ignominy

GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE

being perpetuated by his successors. They were men

but by their hideous massacres in Armenia they have

massacres, of which he set the example, and have erected

Holy Places, the very basis of the Sultan's

and indeed improving on the methods of Abdul, whose

be able to trace back her redemption from

a cruel and oppressive burden, since the better part of

Parentage, etc., of Abdul Hamid.

Condition of Turkey on Accession

Abdul Hamid Endeavours to Strengthen

at San Stefano and Berlin

Questions arising from Berlin Congress

Abdul Hamid's Relations with Foreign States