CHAPTER XII
EXILE OF MIDHAT PASHA
The Sultan, yielding to the humane intervention of England and Europe, named the town of Taïf, in Arabia, as the place of exile for Midhat Pasha. Taïf is a town situated to the south of Mecca, and is renowned for its verdure and for its surrounding fortress. Midhat Pasha, Damad Mahmoud Djelaleddin and Nouri Pashas, with the other prisoners, were taken by a special steamer and landed at Djeddah, and reached Taïf by way of Mecca. The Sheik‐ul‐Islam, Haïroullah Effendi, who had been on a pilgrimage to Mecca when he was accused of being an accomplice in the alleged murder of Abdul Aziz, had been imprisoned at Taïf, where Midhat found him on his arrival.
After the banishment of Midhat, his family were detained in exile in Smyrna, and his son and daughter sought refuge from any possible contingency at the British Consulate, where they remained for three months, returning to their mother when the storm of these events had passed. Two years after his exile, Midhat sent his family the most alarming information in his letters, of which we give a translation. These letters were carried to Smyrna by men who were the devoted friends of the family, and who made the journey for that express purpose.
_Translation of an Autograph Letter from Midhat Pasha (from the Prison of Taïf) to his Family._
“MY DEAR FAMILY,—Nearly a month ago I sent you a letter through Saïd Bey—the last that I was able to write before this—in which I gave you the list of the numbered letters which I had previously sent you. A week after, I became ill with an abscess on the right shoulder‐blade. Later on, this was diagnosed as being anthrax. It caused me very great suffering. The only doctor here is quite a young man, without any experience. My companions in exile,[26] seeing my condition, became very uneasy, and, without consulting me, took upon themselves to address a letter to the Governor of Mecca, asking that a doctor might be sent here. But they did not receive any reply from this personage, who, however, had just received through an aide‐de‐camp sent from Constantinople the firman bestowing on him the rank of marshal, and also strict secret orders that we must perish, either by starvation or by some other means.
“To this end the Vali chose Major Bekir Effendi, who was charged with our surveillance and with the execution of this mission. As soon as he arrived, Bekir dismissed our servants and cooks and reduced our rations. I was in bed, suffering from the pain of this abscess, when Bekir came and told me the orders he had received, which he did in a severe voice, with a rough tone and without the least touch of feeling. He told us that we must be contented with a little soup and with vegetables, which would be served to us in one of those bowls used by the soldiers, and that we were strictly forbidden to procure other food than that which was provided for us. At the same time he forbade us to have our linen washed, a task which each one of us must perform for himself. Besides this, he took away the inkstand, pen and paper that was at our disposition, and everything necessary for correspondence. Luckily, I had burned your letters, although they contained nothing compromising, but complications might have arisen from them if they had fallen into their hands.
“This part of his mission accomplished, Major Bekir had the wife and child of Haïroullah Effendi, who were occupying a separate house, sent off to Mecca that very night. Our servants and cooks followed very soon afterwards.
“The treatment to which we are submitted is one means of many to get rid of us. For my companions have always been accustomed to luxury and ease, and even though hunger may oblige them to eat the poor food given to the soldiers, their health cannot endure such a regimen, and they will certainly end by succumbing, but only after how much suffering and misery! I cannot give you an idea of the melancholy into which they are plunged. They are constantly praying Heaven for their deliverance. As to me, what I find the most painful, is being deprived of my servant, whom they removed by force, and whose attentions were more than ever necessary to me at a moment when my state of health has got so much worse.
“The refusal of the Governor‐General of Mecca to send a doctor, and the speech and most unjustifiable conduct of Bekir, contributed not a little to the aggravation of my condition. I had no other consolation than the hope of quitting this life and of at last succumbing to the sufferings that I endured. But it cannot be helped; the supreme hour has not yet come, and I must still suffer. I had lost all hope, although Heaven in its mercy often reserves consolations for the unhappy, and relief for their sorrows.
“I was thus in despair of ever getting well, when, thanks to the care of my companions, who applied a poultice, the abscess burst and continued suppurating for a fortnight. Since then the pain has diminished and the wound is beginning to heal. At the moment when Haïroullah Effendi’s wife and child, and our servants also, were embarking at Djeddah for Constantinople, a telegraphic order caused them to return to Taïf in company with Major Bekir. Thus, when on the point of becoming free, these unhappy beings were once more cast into prison.
“This is a brief statement of our situation, and if no change takes place in the conditions of our existence, it will be very difficult for me to send letters as hitherto. The linen, food and money that you wish to send me will never reach me. Perhaps you could find some one who might be able to send me my false teeth. Give up any idea of sending me money, for we are now forbidden to buy any really nourishing food, such as meat, vegetables, rice, etc., and as to coffee, coal, and soap, I have plenty of money to buy those. I embrace you all affectionately.
“(Signed) MIDHAT.
“_8th Djemazi‐ul‐Ahir, 1301_” (1883). (_Year of the Hegira._)
“_P.S._—Every morning they bring a bowl of soup for eight people, a dish of radish leaves or something of that nature; in the evening we all assemble round these bowls and those who are very hungry are obliged to eat from them; the others content themselves with a piece of bread kept back from the day before. Those who have money buy soap and coal, and heat water for washing their linen. Those who are without the necessary means use water mixed with cinders. As to me, who have no teeth, I live on bread‐soup. The abscess is nearly cured, but my weakness is very great. As I have already told you, all these means are taken with the sole aim of destroying us. Time will show who will be the first to give me the _coup de grâce_.”
_Another Autograph Letter from Midhat Pasha._
“MY DEAR WIFE, MY BELOVED DAUGHTERS, MY DEAR SON ALI HAIDAR,—This letter is perhaps the last that I shall ever write you; for, as I told you in my two preceding letters, it is now proved that in modifying our regimen and in depriving us of all means of correspondence, they have no other aim than that of getting rid of us. Besides which they have tried to poison us.
“Ten days ago, my servant Arif, whom I had ordered to buy some milk through one of the officers, discovered when he was boiling it that it was poisoned. Four days after this, Arif, having bought some meat, prepared it in the evening and placed it in his room. In the morning we perceived that the metal of the saucepan bore traces of poison. Several days afterwards they poisoned the water in the jug from which we drink. All these attempts have been foiled by the attention and watchfulness of the servant. Seeing this want of success, they will try other means. We are surrounded by very dangerous people; especially Major Tcherkesse Bekir, one of the college companions of the famous Tcherkesse Hassan,[27] who was sent two years ago from Constantinople to keep watch over us. This Tcherkesse Bekir has, as accomplices, three non‐commissioned officers, who lodge with us. Every day the most sinister orders are transmitted to the Vali, Osman Pasha (Governor of Mecca), who in return for his services has received a Marshal’s bâton. Yesterday there arrived Colonel Tcherkesse Mehemet Lutfi, always with the same orders. We are face to face with very great danger and are threatened with the blackest designs; I believe that there is little hope that we shall escape. Perhaps even before receiving this letter you will learn the news of my death. In this case it is useless to suffer great affliction. May the merciful God pardon us our sins! And if we are destined to succumb, there can be no greater happiness than to be martyrs in a holy cause.
“My supreme desire is that you should live in peace, united around the family hearth. May the Almighty God have you in His Holy keeping!
“(Signed) MIDHAT.
“_10 Redjeb 1301, O.S._” (_24th September 1883_).
Madame Midhat had these facts brought to the knowledge of Lord Dufferin, at Constantinople. At the same time the Duke of Sutherland, who was going to Constantinople, passed through Smyrna and went to see Midhat’s family, assuring them that he would do all in his power to persuade the Sultan to give Midhat Pasha his liberty. Lord Dufferin made representations to the Ottoman Government, and charged the Dragoman belonging to the British Consulate at Djeddah to procure news of Midhat’s health from the Grand Shereef of Mecca. The Grand Shereef, Abdul Mutalib Pasha, assured the Dragoman that Midhat was perfectly well.[28] But the Sultan, terrified at the relations between the Grand Shereef Abdul Mutalib and the English Dragoman, accused the former of holding secret relations with England, with a view to saving Midhat and combining with him against his person; he therefore disgraced him, throwing him into the fortress of Taïf. It was on this account that Midhat, without knowing the real reason, wrote the following letter to his family on the arrest of the Grand Shereef:—
Another Letter from Midhat Pasha to his Family.
“MY DEAR FAMILY,—Two days ago a very strange event occurred. During the night of 30th August, at midnight, the house of the Emir of Mecca, Shereef Abdul Mutalib (who was then in residence at Taïf), was suddenly surrounded by four battalions of Infantry and four guns. At daybreak he was torn from his bed and conducted to the fortress where we are imprisoned. He has been replaced in his office by the Shereef Abdullah Pasha. It is believed that Abdul Mutalib will be sent to Constantinople or elsewhere. He is accused of having kept up a correspondence with the English. The fact that this personage, who, in his anxiety to please in a high quarter, caused us so much suffering, is now thrown into a wretched hole of a prison, is a very great example. However, we can only pity his fate, when we think of his great age—he is a hundred—and that he is a descendant of the Prophet.
“(Signed) MIDHAT.
“_2nd September 1299, O.S._” (_14th September 1882._)
Whilst the Sultan was assuring England of his good intentions, he was at the same time maturing his tyrannical plan of execution. Damad Nouri Pasha had already died—mad; but it was extremely difficult to put a Sheik‐ul‐Islam to death on a false accusation, and above all before the “Softa” (Theological Students and Ulemas, of whom he is the Supreme Head); for this reason, Haïroullah Effendi was placed on one side. The Vali of Hedjaz—Marshal Osman Nouri Pasha—received an order by special envoys to see to the execution of the murder. On the 26th of April, 1883, they entered Midhat’s room during the night, and by means of a cord they strangled him in his bed without the least resistance. Damad Mahmoud Djelaleddin Pasha attempted to defend himself, but was overcome by brute force. An eye‐witness of the crime, Haïroullah Effendi, sent a letter of condolence to the family of Midhat Pasha, of which we publish a translation.
_To the Honourable Family of Midhat Pasha._
“I humbly present my most respectful homage to Madame and Mesdemoiselles Midhat Pasha, and also to his son Ali Haydar Bey, with the expression of my profound regret and sympathy on the occasion of the death of our beloved master, Midhat Pasha. May the Almighty grant them as great a measure of happiness as there are grains of dust in the earth that covers his martyred remains.
“You will have heard of his tragic death and of the circumstances under which it occurred. His Highness did not succumb, as has been announced in the newspapers, to the illness from which he was suffering. It is true that he had anthrax, but it was not bubonic. The truth is that in the same night and at the same moment both Midhat Pasha and Damad Mahmoud Pasha were strangled. May the Divine clemency and blessing be upon them.
“There are many things that I ought to tell you, but I dare not write more fully, as I am in dread of our persecutors. Kindly let me hear that you have received this letter, and do not divulge the name of him who sent it. If you have anything that you wish to ask me you can write to me.
“Half of the Pasha’s possessions have been stolen by the employés, the rest has been sent to Constantinople.
“The servant, who so faithfully served our lamented Midhat Pasha, is well worthy of being helped. The Pasha, shortly before his death, left him £T100. He gave me a note signed to this effect, which I enclose to you, begging that you will send the poor man the money.
“I beg you, Madame and Mesdemoiselles, to accept the expression of my respectful affection.
“HASSAN HAÏROULLAH. (_ex‐Sheik‐ul‐Islam._)
“TAÏF, _15th Zilkade, 1301_” (1883).
Wishing to render a last service to his country, the Sheik‐ul‐Islam, Haïroullah Effendi, also sent to the Reform Party a record of the details of this assassination, which is contained in the following chapter.