The life of Midhat Pasha 22

The life of Midhat Pasha 22

“As the Press, basing its pretensions on the liberty it enjoys under

the Constitution, does not cease to publish all sorts of things, His

Majesty, with a view to putting an end to abuses, and placing a curb

on the license of the newspapers, commands your Highness to give the

necessary orders in the proper quarter to complete within the delay

of three or four days, the law on the Press, referred to in the

Constitution.

 

“I have the honour to be

 

“(Signed) SAÏD.

 

“15 _Zilhidje_, 1293, _Hegira_.”

(31_st December_ 1876.)

 

 

_To Midhat Pasha, Grand Vizier._

 

“HIGHNESS,—With reference to the measures to be taken against the

Editor of the _Vakit_, I presented to His Majesty the note sent by

your Honour last night on this subject. Whilst accepting the spirit of

your observations, and even granting that the article in that paper

was not in itself seditious, it is not the less a fact that that paper

published, without any plausible justification, a statement to the

effect that the _Fetva_ of Sheik‐ul‐Islam is sufficient to depose a

Sultan, a declaration calculated to prompt the people to a seditious

movement, and to nullify the conditions and safeguards on which the

promulgation of the _Fetva_ depends, teaching the people that all

power is attached to the individual will of the functionary who issues

the _Fetva_. If such acts are tolerated, the papers will not fail to

profit by the license, and to abuse it, and His Majesty orders that

the Imperial Irade issued against the _Vakit_ and its Editor shall

be executed as soon as possible by way of example; the present law

with respect to the Press being sufficient for this purpose. Further,

the journal _Istikbal_, in its number of last Tuesday, published a

long article to the effect that the delay in the promulgation of the

Constitution, which was elaborated and ready for promulgation in his

reign, had caused all kinds of ills, and this article corroborates

the facts above referred to; and it is with a view to preventing the

Press, either from ignorance or evil intention, from adopting a line

of reasoning in contradiction to the views and intentions of His

Majesty, that His Majesty commands me, with a view of emphasising his

views on the subject, to send you a copy of the incriminated article.

 

“I have the honour to be,

 

“(Signed) SAÏD.

 

“18 _Zilkidje_, 1293, _Hegira_.”

(2_nd January_ 1877.)

 

 

Two other subjects of grave difference were the cause of a good deal

of fencing between Midhat and the Palace. The one was the position

of Galib Pasha, Minister of Finance, whom Midhat was determined to

remove from the post of Minister of Finance; the other had reference

to mixed education in the State schools, a subject on which Midhat had

always held very strong views. But as the foreign envoys in the capital

were now demanding the convocation of the official meeting of the

Conference, it was determined to postpone the final resolution on these

subjects till after the Conference was over.

 

The preliminary difficulties being at last overcome, or at least their

discussion postponed till after the Conference was over, the date for

the proclamation of the Constitution, with the Sultan’s famous rider

inserted in the text, like the fatal gift of the evil fairy in the

fable, was finally determined on.

 

On the morning of the 23rd December, 1876, in the big open space in

front of the Sublime Porte, facing the apartments reserved for the

Sultan, a large platform was erected, profusely decorated with Turkish

flags. Hither all the notabilities and Ulemas and Ministers were

convoked to hear the promulgation of the new Constitution which, in the

view of its promoters and supporters, was to inaugurate a new era for

the sorely tried empire of the Osmanli. It might indeed have been a day

marked in red, the greatest date in Turkish history. As it was, it was

only the first act of a stupendous comedy.

 

The notabilities were now assembled, and in spite of a downpour of

rain, an immense crowd of people came to witness and applaud the

ceremony. The troops lined the road between Sirkedji and the Sublime

Porte, and along it, at mid‐day. Saïd Pasha, the first Secretary to

the Sultan, in full uniform, preceded by a military band, arrived at

the Sublime Porte, bearing the Sultan’s letter (_Hatti Humayun_) of

promulgation, addressed to the Grand Vizier Midhat Pasha, and the text

of the Constitution. The letter ran as follows:—

 

 

_Rescript_ (_Hatti Humayun_) _of the Sultan promulgating the Ottoman

Constitution_.

 

 

“MY ILLUSTRIOUS GRAND VIZIER, MIDHAT PASHA,—The power of Our Empire

was lately declining. Foreign affairs were not the cause of this, but

men had strayed from the right path in the administration of home

affairs, and the bonds that attached Our subjects to the Government

had been relaxed. My august Father, the late Sultan, Abdul Medjid,

granted a Charter of Reform, the _Tanzimat_, which guaranteed, in

accordance with the sacred law of the Cheri, life, property, and

honour to all.

 

“It has been in consequence of the salutary effect of the _Tanzimat_

that the State has, up to the present time, been able to maintain

itself in security, and that We have been enabled to found and

proclaim this day the Constitution which is the result of ideas and

opinions fully expressed.

 

“On this auspicious occasion I desire to recall with a feeling of

special devotion the memory of My late august Father, who has been

rightly considered the regenerator of his country. I doubt not that

he would have himself inaugurated the Constitutional era that we are

about to enter this day, if the period of the promulgation of the

_Tanzimat_ had been adapted to the necessities of our own times. But

it has been to Our reign that Providence has reserved the task to

accomplish this happy transformation, which is the supreme guarantee

of the welfare of Our peoples. I thank Heaven for allowing me to be

its instrument.

 

“It is evident that the principle of our Government had become

incompatible with the successive modifications introduced into our

internal organisation, and the increasing development of our foreign

relations. Our most earnest desire is to cause the disappearance of

all obstacles to the full enjoyment by the nation of all the natural

resources it possesses, and, in a word, to see Our subjects put into

the possession of rights which appertain to all civilised society,

and to be united together in a common bond of progress, union, and

concord.

 

“In order to attain this object it was necessary to adopt a salutary

regular organisation, to safeguard the inalienable rights of the

Governing body by the abolition of faults and abuses of all kinds,

_which result from illegality—that is to say, from the arbitrary

power of one or more individuals_: to accord the same rights and

to prescribe the same duties to all the members of the several

communities composing our Society, and to enable them all to profit,

without distinction, by the blessings of liberty, justice and

equality—these being the only possible methods of guaranteeing and

protecting the interests of all.

 

“From these essential principles flows the necessity of another

eminently useful work: viz., that of connecting Public Right with a

deliberative and constitutional System. That is the reason why in the

Hatt that We promulgated on Our accession to the Throne We declared

the urgency of creating a Parliament.

 

“A special Commission composed of the highest dignitaries, Ulemas and

functionaries of the State, has carefully elaborated the basis of a

Constitution, and this again has been studied and approved by Our

Council of Ministers.

 

“This fundamental Charter confirms the prerogatives of the Sovereign;

the civil and political equality of Ottomans before the law; the

responsibilities and duties of Ministers and Officials; the complete

independence of the Tribunals; the efficient balancing of the Budget,

and lastly, the decentralisation of provincial administration,

whilst preserving the decisive action and the powers of the Central

Government.

 

“All these principles, _in strict conformity with the dispositions of

the Cheri_, as well as to Our aptitude and aspirations, are equally

in harmony with Our generous desire to assure the happiness and

prosperity of all Our subjects, which is Our Supreme wish.

 

“Confiding in the Divine Grace and in the intercession of the

Prophet, I am now placing in your hand this Constitution after having

invested it with My Imperial sanction. With the assistance of God, it

will immediately be applied to all portions of Our Empire.

 

“Therefore, it is My decided will that you shall publish it, and

shall see that it shall be executed, from this day forth.

 

“You must, moreover, take the promptest and most efficacious measures

to proceed with the study and elaboration of the laws and regulations

mentioned in this instrument.

 

“May the Almighty deign to accord success to all those who work for

the salvation of the Empire and the Nation.

 

“Given this 7th of Zilhidje 1293, Hegira.”

 

(23_rd December_ 1876.)

 

 

The reading of the _Hatti Humayun_ concluded, the First Secretary

ceremoniously handed the Grand Vizier the text of the Constitution,

after reverently raising it to his lips. The Grand Vizier received

it with the like ceremony, and then handed it to the Grand

Referendary,[16] Mahmoud Bey, who read it to the assembled people,

while thousands of fly‐leaves bearing the text of the Constitution were

distributed in all directions.

 

After the text was read, Midhat made a speech, expressing gratitude

to the Sultan for the graciousness of this act in promulgating the

Constitution, the immense importance of which he proceeded to point

out to the people. When he had concluded, the Mufti of Adrianople

offered up a prayer, and all the people cried “Amen,” and a salute of

101 guns from the Seraskierate announced to the whole city that “the

Constitution” was proclaimed.

 

The Ulemas with the Sheik‐ul‐Islam (Hairullah Effendi) at their head;

the Christian clergy with their patriarchs; the Ministers; the learned

and distinguished Chakir Effendi, followed by the Softas and students;

the representatives of all the corporations, and the populace of

the capital, with flags bearing the inscription “Liberty,” came to

congratulate Midhat, at his own residence, on the new era of liberty.

In the evening the mosques were illuminated, and the people, carrying

torches, paraded the streets, crying, “Long live the Sultan and

Midhat Pasha!” Telegrams of congratulation were received from all the

provinces of the Empire, expressing the joy felt at this great event.

In short, the whole populace was in a state of rejoicing; the Palace

of Bechiktashe was the only place not illuminated. The Sultan was indisposed.