CHAPTER IV
ABDUL HAMID SULTAN
The act of dethronement of Sultan Murad V. was now accomplished. On Thursday, 1st September 1876, Prince Hamid, surrounded by all the great Civil and Military dignitaries of the State, descended the Grand Rue of Pera on horseback, on his way to Top‐Kapou at Stamboul. The people thronged in large crowds to see the procession, but dazed by the series of dramatic events that were so rapidly succeeding one another, they viewed the spectacle with silence and without enthusiasm. There seemed a feeling of anxiety in the air as of the prescience of future evils.
From Stamboul the Prince passed in a State _caïque_ to the Palace of Dolma‐Bagtche. Monday, the 15th of the month Chaban, was fixed for the reception of the Biat (first ceremony of the investiture), and on that day a deputation of notabilities of Finance, accompanied by the chiefs of the five non‐Mussulman communities, headed by Jean Lorando, presented the Sultan elect with an address of congratulation in the name of the city of Galata, and to this the Sultan made the following reply:—
“I thank you for your congratulations; I have only one desire, and that is the progress of our country and peace for all our subjects. They will perceive by the logic of facts the fulfilment of the promise of the reforms made to them. They, too, on their part, must, in order to enjoy these privileges, give proof of the strict observance of the duties incumbent on them.”
To his Ministers he made a short speech, counselling union and agreement among themselves as the condition and symbol of union among all the subjects of the empire, and “counselled and ordered” them to prove their union by their acts.
The following Thursday, 18th of the month Chaban, was fixed for the great ceremony of investiture. On the morning of that day Abdul Hamid embarked in a _caïque_ for Eyoub, the suburb on the Golden Horn, where the sword of Osman and the other sacred relics are kept, and on his passage thither he was saluted by the guns of the fleet anchored there, and the shout of the sailors manning the yards, “Padishahim tchok Yasha!”
After the important ceremony here was over, and the investiture of the new Padishah was thus completed, he proceeded, according to usage, to the mausoleum of Selim I., the founder of the Ottoman Caliphate, and thence to the mausoleum of Abdul Medjid, his father and the father of Murad, and lastly to the Palace of Top‐Kapou, where the mantle of the Prophet and the sacred Banner are deposited; and at night, the ceremony of this important day being over, he returned to the Palace of Dolma‐Bagtche, where the ceremony of the investiture was completed.
Girt with the sword of Osman, Hamid II. reigned over Turkey, and the dark gloom of the Hamidian epoch was now about to settle over the land of the Osmanli.
On leaving the Palace of Dolma‐Bagtche that night old Mehemet Rushdi, turning to his colleagues, said to them: “We have been in a great hurry to get rid of Murad. May we never have cause to repent what we have done.”
With these quasi‐prophetic words on his lips, feeling no doubt that a new era of struggles was about to open for which younger men were required, the veteran Grand Vizier, who had piloted the country through one _coup d’état_, and had very unwillingly assisted at a second dethronement, in consideration of his great age and feeble state of health, requested to be relieved of the duties of Grand Vizier. His request was granted, but three months after, Midhat, universally designated for the post, was nominated as his successor. These three months were passed under the Grand Vizierate of Mehemet Rushdi Pasha, but it was Midhat who was leader of the Cabinet, and Mehemet Rushdi was only the mouthpiece of Midhat, until the latter finally replaced him on the 16th December 1876.
The first audience accorded by the new sovereign to foreign envoys was to Count Zichy, the Austro‐Hungarian Ambassador, accompanied by the Secretary of his Embassy. Safvet Pasha, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was present. The audience lasted one hour, and turned exclusively on the affairs of Herzegovina, the ambassador laying stress on the gravity of the events passing there, the anxiety and expenses that disturbances on its borders caused the Dual Empire, and exhortations to the new sovereign to listen to the advice of the friendly Powers. All this was, as we have seen, in the strictest conformity with the _rôle_ that Austria had been playing for two years. Having set light to the gunpowder in her neighbour’s house, she quoted to that neighbour the familiar proverb, “Proximus ardet Ucalegon,” and warned him of the consequences.
The next audience was granted to the Russian Ambassador, General Ignatieff, recently returned from St Petersburg with the last instructions from his Court. The tone that the ambassador and envoys of Russia, the Strogonoffs, and Mentchikoffs, and Ignatieffs, had rendered familiar to the Porte on its communications on critical occasions, was not absent on this occasion:
“His Majesty the Emperor, my master, officially informed of Your Majesty’s accession to the throne, has conferred on me the signal honour to represent him at Your Majesty’s court. The friendly relations of the two countries may continue on the condition of the interests of both being assured. His Majesty the Emperor cannot view with indifference what is passing in the Ottoman Empire, possessing, as it does, the commercial routes of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, and a portion of the inhabitants of which is of the same religion as his own.
“It is to the interest of our country that peace should reign in Turkey, and my country desires that late sad events should not be renewed, and that peace should be assured. His Majesty the Emperor is aware of the difficulties and critical moments that accompanied the accession of Your Majesty, and is convinced that the troubles will disappear, and that the re‐establishment of peace in the interior will be secured. His Majesty the Emperor prays for the success of Your Majesty.”
To this speech the Sultan made answer in a few appropriate words:
“More even than the Emperor of Russia ... I desire the progress of Turkey, peace in my provinces, and my most ardent desire is to secure the happiness of my people.”
Hardly had Abdul Hamid mounted the throne than the conflict between the two parties already described, commenced. The first act of the new reign was to appoint the _personnel_ of the Imperial Household. Damad Mahmoud Djelaleddin Pasha was named Grand Marshal of the Palace, and Saïd (Ingless) Pasha, first aide‐de‐camp to the Sultan. To these no objections had been raised or conditions imposed. Their duties had reference to what might be considered the more strictly household functions of the Palace, and their appointment lay within the exclusive domain of the sovereign’s personal choice. But it was very different with the office of First Secretary to the Sultan (or his successor) inasmuch as this important functionary has always been the right hand and mouthpiece of the sovereign, and the person by whom and through whom all communications pass between Ministers and the Sultan; and through the confidential character of his office, and his ready and continual access to the person of the sovereign, has always enjoyed a position of exceptional importance, hardly second to that of the Grand Vizier himself. It was for this reason that Midhat, attaching such importance to the worthy occupancy of this post, had not only laid stress on the necessity of its being filled by a functionary in harmony with the views of Ministers, but had actually laid down as one of the three conditions to which Prince Hamid was required to subscribe at the interview at Muslou‐Oglou, that Sadullah Bey, Zia Bey and Kemal Bey should be chosen as occupants of the post of Secretary respectively. In spite of his formal acceptance of this condition, the Sultan informed Midhat Pasha on his very first visit to the Palace, that he had appointed Saïd Bey (Mahmoud’s man) as his First Secretary. Astounded at this breach of faith, and aware of its significance—although perhaps not recognizing the full import of it—Midhat strongly remonstrated with the Sultan and urged a reconsideration of the appointment; but in spite of the remonstrances and prayers of his Ministers, the Sultan remained unmoved, and Midhat eventually acquiesced.
It is easy enough to be wise after the event and to see that Midhat ought to have put his foot down on this question and accepted the decisive battle thus offered him by the Sultan; that it ought to have been clear to him that this was only the first contest in a campaign that would decide the fate of Turkey during the whole of the coming reign, and that the first blow would probably decide the issue in the campaign. But our perspective of things is of course better than was Midhat’s. By the light of all the subsequent events that have unrolled themselves before our eyes, we now know the character of all the actors in the drama which was commencing, especially of the principal actor, and of this very First Secretary, who was the appropriate subject of the first contention. We can now appreciate the character of Damad Mahmoud Djelaleddin, the backbone and arm of the reaction; of some of the Ministers who had been feigning for months past to support Midhat’s views and were only waiting the moment to betray him; and can recognise the existence of a matured and carefully laid plot to upset reform by crushing the reformers—all these things are palpable and clear to us in the broad daylight of subsequent events; but they were scarcely surmised or imagined at the time we are now dealing with. The important citadel of the Palace was delivered, with all its defences, into the hands of the conspirators, and the Palace as a whole was organised for the express purposes of the reformers. This strong position being once firmly secured, the new Sultan could afford to show his hand with little disguise. He could not yet afford to treat with Midhat; it would have been clumsy to do so at once, for Midhat in opposition would have been a force with which he would have had to reckon, and, moreover, he and the Constitution were both necessary as a means of combating the conference that was assembling; but short of a rupture with his Grand Vizier, which was to be studiously avoided, he could afford to emphasize more and more his opposition to the policy of Midhat, so that when the moment arrived he could strike a decisive blow with effect, and with less fear of the consequences.
Subjects of contention between them were not far to seek. The speech from the throne, written by Midhat, which was a _pronunciamento_ of the policy of a new reign inaugurated under such exceptional circumstances, and looked for with great eagerness, was revised by the Sultan beyond recognition; the essential sentences were omitted, others of quite incomprehensive character substituted in their place. The keynote of the original was “a new Regime, the Constitution, and Reform”; this was changed, and meaningless colourless phrases took its place.
In order to give the reader an exact idea of the art displayed in this transformation, the speech actually delivered on this occasion is here appended, and the omitted sentences of the original, placed in parentheses:
“HATTI HUMAYUN.
“_On ascending the Throne_.
“My illustrious Vizier, Mehemet Rushdi Pasha,—
“By the Divine will my elder brother, Sultan Murad V., vacated the throne, and according to the law of succession We have mounted the throne of our Ancestors.
“Appreciating your great qualities, your ability and experience in the affairs of State, We confirm you in the functions of Grand Vizier and of President of the Council of Ministers (avec le titre de Premier Ministre), and direct all Our Ministers to keep their respective posts. Confident in the assistance of the Almighty, We will pursue Our object of strengthening Our Empire, and of making all Our subjects, without exception, participate in the blessings of liberty, peace, and justice; We trust that Our Ministers will help us in the realisation of Our wishes (for Turkey ranks among the great Powers, and in order to attain this object and to march on a footing of equality with its neighbours in the progress of the sciences, she must needs follow the same methods; and as the Constitutional system is one of the principal causes of the progress of Nations, _We hereby declare this system of Government to be adopted by Us_, whilst holding strict account of the laws of the Cheri and the customs of Our people.) No one who casts a glance at the causes of the critical condition of affairs to‐day, can fail to recognise among the various and numerous factors two principal ones, viz. the non‐observance of the strict laws of the Cheri, and the capricious and wilful actions of men. If the disorganisation that has for some time reigned in the affairs of State has latterly greatly increased; if our financial operations no longer inspire confidence; if our Courts of Justice no longer command respect, if Our Empire, with its vast capacities for commerce, industries and agriculture, and of every kind of progress, has profited by none of these things—if, in fine, all the efforts that have been made to insure liberty and peace for Our subjects have remained fruitless, this comes from the non‐observance of the laws and regulations; hence the necessity, whilst pursuing the noble object of assuring the happiness of Our subjects of commencing in the first place by the strict observation of existing laws, and of those which shall be elaborated and proclaimed in strict accordance with the laws of the Cheri and the wants of Our subjects, and by keeping a strict eye on the expenditure and revenues of the State, in order so to gain public confidence. (Each administrative department, therefore, must act prudently and abstain from useless expenses; and likewise with respect to the Household and other expenses of the Imperial Palaces, these shall be diminished and reduced to what is strictly necessary; and the Civil list of the Princes of the Imperial family shall also be reduced, and their amount shall be paid directly by the Minister of the Finances; and We make over to this same Minister, as reduction from our Own Civil list, the sum of £300,000, and We hereby fix the expenses of our Palace at the sum of £30,000 per month).
“The necessity of convoking a general assembly compatible with the habits and customs and capacity of Our population being more and more recognised and felt, Our Ministers will carefully and minutely study this question and submit their report on the subject to Our sanction. (In order to elaborate the Constitutional laws in conformity with the needs of Our population and their customs and usages and the law of the Cheri, We command our Ministers of State, the learned doctors of the law, and all those whose knowledge and experience can contribute to the perfection of the common work to unite in Council to express their opinions on the subject, and that on their report being approved by the Council of Ministers, it shall be submitted for Our approbation.) Further, the confusion in the affairs of State, resulting as it does from the incapacity of certain functionaries in their posts, and from the frequent and unnecessary changes in the personnel, it is Our desire that from the present time, according to their different ranks, all office‐holders shall be chosen according to their merit and capacity, and shall be irremovable without serious reason, and that each of these shall be responsible for the proper execution of his allotted duties. Moreover, Our attention is directed to the question of public instruction, and seeing that European nations have acquired the prosperity that they enjoy by means of public instruction, We desire that all Our subjects, without distinction of classes, shall be able to profit by the benefits of knowledge, each according to his personal capacity; (and in order that the progress of the country may produce the happiness of all its subjects alike, and in order to inculcate these ideas, We decree the foundation of schools in which instruction and education shall be common to all), and with this object We desire that the credits allotted to public education shall be increased, in order that without loss of time we may endeavour to realise this programme. In order, too, that the civil and financial administration of the Provinces may be restored to their normal condition, We must without loss of time endeavour to institute an organisation in the Provinces resembling as much as possible the Central organisation.
“(It is also absolutely necessary that the laws regulating the levying of tithes, taxes and indirect contributions shall be placed on a just and equitable basis, and all Our efforts will be directed to prevent any derogation or abuse in the execution of these laws. The buying and selling of slaves being contrary to the prescriptions of the Sacred Law (Cheri), We hereby enfranchise the slaves and eunuchs of Our Palace, and declare that henceforth all trade in slaves, whether purchase or sale, is hereby formally forbidden in Our Empire, and a date will be fixed for the gradual emancipation of all existing slaves, and special measures will be adopted to prevent any return of slavery.)
“Since last year, owing to malevolent instigations, Bosnia and Herzegovnia have been in a state of insurrection, and the revolt of Servia is now added as an outcome of this insurrection, so that the blood of the children of our common country is being spilt. The continuation of such a state of things is a subject of profound sorrow to Us, and Our most sincere desire is to put an end to it by the employment of the most energetic measures.
“Our treaties with foreign Powers having been renewed and recognised by Us, it will be Our aim to cultivate still further the friendly relations already existing with them.
“May the Almighty, our common Ruler and Master, grant through His mercy and goodness, success to our efforts.
“_Saturday_, 22 _Chaban_, 1292, _Hegira_.” (9_th September_ 1876.)
The points of contention between the Palace, or the Sultan (which now become synonymous expressions), and Midhat were all contained in germ in the foregoing variations in the first speech from the throne.
(1) In the very first sentence of the Hatti Humayun of inauguration the Sultan had cut out a passage which would have introduced a change to which Midhat attached some importance—“my Grand Vizier with the title of Prime Minister.” Midhat desired to abolish the title of Grand Vizier and to substitute for it that of Prime Minister, a change which would have entailed as a consequence the collective, instead of the individual, responsibility of Ministers. What the first Minister would lose in dignity and personal influence would be acquired by the Ministry collectively, and would thus consolidate the component parts of the Constitution. Midhat was well aware that this post of Prime Minister would require strengthening and developing for some time in Turkey, in view of the power and influence which the Throne derived from the very nature of the traditions and sentiments of the Ottomans, and the position of Islam in the world.
The purport and tendency of the proposal did not escape the new sovereign, and, faithful to his own views and interests, he simply cancelled the sentence and rejected the proposal.
(2) Midhat had placed in the mouth of the Sultan the following phrase: “As the Constitutional system is one of the principal causes of the progress of nations, we hereby declare this system of government to be adopted by Us, whilst holding, etc.”—instead of which, after some colourless commonplace sentences about the non‐observance of laws and regulations and pursuing the noble object of assuring the happiness of our subjects, he speaks of the necessity of convoking “a general Assembly compatible with the habits and customs and capacity of our population” (which might mean anything or nothing according to the estimate of their capacity), and he orders his Ministers carefully and minutely to study this question (which they had done for a year past), and submit the report to his sanction.
(3) In connection with the same important subject Midhat had proposed, for the purpose of elaborating the Constitutional laws, the convention of a Grand Council composed of the Ministers of State, the Doctors of the Law, and all those whose knowledge and experience entitled them to a voice in the country, to express their opinion on the subject, and that on their report being revised by the Council of Ministers it should be submitted to the approbation of the Sultan.
This proposal evidently meant business, and would not only have fixed a limit of time for the inauguration of the new Constitution, but would have given it the _imprimatur_ of all that was enlightened and worthy of respect and attention in the empire. The Sultan rejected the sentence _in toto_.
(4) Midhat, who was deeply concerned by the actual condition of Turkish Finances, and thoroughly convinced that the first step in setting this right must be the exercise of rigid economy in all branches of the administration, and who, moreover, had experience of all that had taken place in the reign of Abdul Aziz, did not hesitate to propound to Abdul Hamid what his predecessor Murad had unhesitatingly accepted, viz., that the expenses of the household and of the Imperial Palace should be diminished and reduced to what was strictly necessary, and the Civil list of the princes of the Imperial family should be in like manner reduced, and their amount paid directly by the Minister of Finance, and he left it to the sovereign to make over a sum that he should fix himself for the monthly expenses of the Palace.
The Sultan omitted the whole paragraph.
(5) Midhat attached the greatest importance to the question of mixed schools in the provinces where Christians and Mussulmans lived together. The reader will recollect (p. 40) that when Governor of the provinces of the Danube he desired to establish this system in Bulgaria, and it was this very proposal which excited the anxiety and stirred the energies of the vigilant Ignatieff to defeat the proposal and obtain the dismissal of the Vali.
The Governor of Bulgaria—who now became for the second time the Grand Vizier of the empire—desired to make this cherished scheme general in all the provinces of the empire, and in the inaugural speech he had placed in the Sultan’s mouth words that signified the adoption of this measure and its inauguration in the empire, “in order that the progress of the country may produce the happiness of all its subjects alike; and in order to inculcate these ideas, _We decree the foundation of these schools_, in which instruction and education shall be common to all.”
Instead of this categorical declaration the Sultan substituted the colourless proposal: “We desire that all Our subjects, without distinction of classes, shall be able to profit by the benefits of knowledge, each according to his personal capacity,” which will bear the exact sense that anybody may choose to attribute to it.
We shall very shortly see what practical sense the Sultan himself attributed to it.
(6) Midhat desired to abolish the slave trade, which he considered a scandal and a disgrace to the empire, and incompatible with its pretensions to a high place in the ranks of civilised nations. He proposed, therefore, in this inaugural speech to proclaim its abolition, and that the Sultan should inaugurate the change by enfranchising all the slaves in the Palace. The Sultan cut out the whole paragraph.
With such a radical difference in the whole point of view from which the Palace clique and the new Grand Vizier regarded the situation, it was clear that occasions for serious conflict would not be wanting, nor would be long in manifesting themselves. They arose indeed at once, and it will be seen that each subject of contention was implicitly contained in the divergence of views manifested with reference to the speech from the throne that has just been analysed.
The question of the Constitution naturally occupied the foreground in these disputes. The Sultan, as has been seen, refused to submit its provisions to a Grand Council to be summoned _ad hoc_, lest it should receive, as it undoubtedly would have received, this important sanction. He preferred that Ministers should be its sole sponsors, which would leave him free to deny subsequently that its details had been stamped with the seal of national approval. From the very first days of his accession he had shown the greatest anxiety on this subject of the Constitution, and no wonder: it was what the Magna Charta was to John of England—the curb and limit of arbitrary power and exaction.
Knowing that Midhat was its chief champion, it was with him that he entered into negotiations on the subject, even before the actual resignation of Mehemet Rushdi Pasha. The following significant letter signed with his own name (instead of through the usual vehicle of the First Secretary’s signature) was the warning shot fired across the enemy’s bows:—
_Letter addressed by the Sultan to Midhat Pasha on the eve of his Grand Vizierate._[1]
“_To my illustrious Vizier, Midhat Pasha_.
“We have made ourselves acquainted with the Constitution which you unofficially forwarded to us, and we have noticed in it passages incompatible with the habits and aptitudes of the nation. Our desire is to assure the future of the country by just administration, and we cannot but appreciate all efforts towards that end. And one of the objects to which we attach much importance is that of _safeguarding the Sovereign rights_ by a new organisation drawn up with regard to the needs of the people. We desire therefore that the Constitution should be discussed by the Council of Ministers, and should be revised in the manner referred to above. Communicate our greetings to our Grand Vizier and show him this order. In any case we expect from your patriotism that your efforts shall tend towards the object we have in view, and demand that this Irade shall be kept secret between our Grand Vizier and yourself.
“ABDUL HAMID
“9 _Zilkade_, 1293, _Hegira_.” (25_th November_ 1876.)
_Reply._
_To the First Secretary of His Majesty._[12]
“EXCELLENCY,—As it was impossible for me to thank His Majesty for the favours and the many proofs of goodwill with which he overwhelms me every day and every moment, I am entirely unable to testify my gratitude for the signal honour, so disproportionate to my deserts, which I have received in the reply of an autograph letter from His Majesty, inviting me to furnish certain explanations of the text of the Constitution unofficially forwarded to His Majesty. As to the contents of the report which has been submitted, I myself also recognise that the majority of the articles require to be modified and changed, and I think it is not necessary to say that if this text has been submitted to His Majesty as an incomplete rough draft, it was simply with the intention of correcting it later according to the views and wishes of His Majesty. This report has been drawn up and completed by the Commission convened for the purpose by Imperial command, and, as the time has come when the text should be studied by the Council of Ministers, the terms of the Imperial Irade have been communicated to His Highness the Grand Vizier. Now, urged by fidelity to my Sovereign and my love for my country, I feel it incumbent upon me, and have the courage to be of opinion that there are two methods of extrication from our present position. The first consists in putting into execution, before the meeting of the Conference, the reforms for our home government that were promised and proclaimed to all the Powers, and the time needed for so doing would be three or four days at the outside. The second method is to accept the proposals formulated by the Powers, and to make up our minds to live henceforth and for ever under their tutelage. If the first method is not adopted, or even if its promulgation is delayed and retarded until after the meeting of the Conference, the second becomes inevitable. My attachment to my Sovereign and my love for my country force me to give utterance to these ideas.
“I am....
“MIDHAT.
“11 _Zilkade_, 1293, _Hegira_.” (27_th November_ 1876.)
The inner meaning of the words “safeguarding the Sovereign rights” contained the pith and kernel of the conspirators’ views and intentions. It had direct reference to a clause which the Sultan desired to have inserted in the text of the Constitution, or rather (and the difference is very material) to a rider which he desired to be added to a clause (the 113th), referring to the declaration of a state of siege in disturbed districts. The purport and intention of the clause would naturally govern its different branches. It could not possibly be supposed to apply to Ministers themselves, inasmuch as the Constitution specially and elaborately provided for their trial and punishment in clauses 31, 32, and 34 of the text. In spite, however, of the provisions and safeguards which were to hedge and limit the exercise of this prerogative, Midhat had long combated the insertion of this rider to the 113th article. Anxious above all things, however, to get the Constitution promulgated not later than the first sitting of the Conference, and not as yet fully grasping the character of the man he was dealing with, he listened to the explanations and glosses offered with reference to this rider, and finally, though reluctantly, consented to its insertion in the text of the Constitution.
It is easy to see now that this was the second error of tactics committed by Midhat. “Put not your trust in princes” is an especially wise injunction when you do not know the character of the princes you are dealing with. If Midhat had forced the Sultan Hamid—as he might have done, if he had been less trustful and more strenuous—to observe strictly the terms of the treaty of Muslou‐Oglou that Prince Hamid had agreed to as a condition of his mounting on the throne at all, Midhat would never have been banished, and the Constitution would never have been strangled. Good men are rarely as determined and strenuous as bad men. It is a pity, for half the political ills of the world come from this weakness on their part.