The life of Midhat Pasha 35

The life of Midhat Pasha 35

Among the men who had been charged by Midhat to get the aides‐de‐camp

to talk about the manner in which the arrest was to be made, was a

police agent, an extremely intelligent man, who, disguised as a rich

merchant, was lodging in the same hotel as Hilmi Pasha, chief of the

mission. Hilmi Pasha, at the end of a good dinner, had allowed to

the pretended merchant that he had come to Smyrna by the Imperial

command, and that his object was to arrest the Governor‐General, but

that he was waiting for further instructions before carrying out his

instructions. Midhat, in order to be prepared for any occurrence,

had ordered a secret door to be made, and one of the steamers of the

Compagnie Joly was retained in the harbour, ready to carry him off

abroad. One evening the above‐mentioned agent came and warned him that

Hilmi Pasha had been called to the Telegraph Office, and that, after

a long conversation with the Palace, he had re‐entered the hotel, had

put on his uniform, and gone straight to the barracks. It was asserted

that among the orders he had received, he had been instructed to kill

Midhat and to massacre his family. Indeed, one of Midhat’s servants,

named Nezir, had been bribed, and it was arranged that before the

Governor’s house was occupied, he should fire off a revolver on the

troops, and thus give the signal for the massacre. In support of this

theory, it is interesting to note that after Midhat Pasha’s exile the

said Nezir entered into the service of the Yildiz Kiosk, and received

a considerable salary. Besides this, one of the chamberlains of the

Sultan Abdul Hamid, Bessim Bey, who died some time ago in disgrace,

whilst still in the service of the Palace, assured a member of Midhat’s

family that Hilmi Pasha was not only entrusted with the arrest of

Midhat, but that the Sultan had given him a positive order to have

him killed in the tumult which was to be adroitly brought about, and

to massacre his whole family, men, women and children. It was on this

account that General Hilmi had bribed Nezir, so that the public might

believe that Midhat had refused to obey, and that he had fired upon the

soldiers.

 

On the receipt of this news from his agent, Midhat Pasha, without

losing his _sang‐froid_, sought out his family and acquainted them with

the position of affairs. He advised them to be resigned, and informed

them of his intention of quitting Turkish soil from the moment that his

life had been threatened. As midnight struck, three cannon‐shots rang

out from the barracks (in Turkey this is the method employed for giving

the alarm of fire), but Midhat understood only too well that it was

done with the express purpose of distracting the attention of the mob.

At the same moment he left his house by the secret door, accompanied

by his secretary, and stole down to the quay; but perceiving that the

quays were blocked by sentinels, he hailed a carriage, and recollecting

that the English Consul, Mr Dennis, was not in the town, he told them

to drive to the French Consulate, and there begged for protection.

Meanwhile, the soldiers, who had forced their way at the point of their

bayonets up to the doors of the first floor, now demanded to speak

with Midhat Pasha, and were informed that he had just left. This reply

being absolutely unexpected, they were convinced that he was hiding

in one of the rooms. Hilmi Pasha gave orders that the house should be

searched, and that all the servants should be thrown into prison. The

troops entered, breaking down the doors, and recommending the ladies

not to move, they made an exhaustive search, even tearing up the

flooring. At this moment, by way of fulfilling his cowardly promise and

giving reason for a massacre, Nezir, hiding himself behind a mattress,

tried to fire off his revolver, but one of the servants, realising the

peril, tore the weapon from his hand.

 

After a minute search that lasted for several hours, and during which

no trace of either Midhat nor yet of his papers had been discovered,

Madame Midhat, seeing that the officers and soldiers had no intention

of withdrawing, sent for General Hilmi and informed him that in the

case of the troops remaining in the house, she would open the windows

and call in the help of the people. This terrified the General, for he

had received orders not to give rise to a revolution, and he dismissed

the soldiers, only remaining himself with one or two officers. A few

hours later the police informed General Hilmi that Midhat was at the

French Consulate, and he thereupon went thither, and had it surrounded

on every side. The French Consul‐General, Monsieur Pélissier, had sent

a telegram to the French Ambassador at Constantinople, informing him of

all that had taken place. On seeking refuge at the French Consulate,

Midhat had invited the consuls of all the Great Powers to attend;

had acquainted them with the danger from which he had escaped, and

had begged them to insist on a guarantee that he should be judged by

a High Court. Meanwhile, he received a telegram from Constantinople

begging him to surrender, and assuring him that no injustice should be

done him, but that if he refused to do so, then he would be considered

guilty.

 

There are two versions given of this memorable occurrence of the spring

of 1881; and these two versions are so much the more important, because

they affect the truth of the fact whether the Government of the French

Republic delivered up Midhat Pasha, who had sought refuge in the

French Consulate, to the Sultan, or whether he surrendered of his own

accord on receiving the telegram from Constantinople. The fact that he

had caused a secret door to be constructed in a hidden corner of his

house, and that a steamer had been kept in readiness in the harbour,

all proves that Midhat had intended flight. Not having succeeded in

his design of reaching the sea, he had sought refuge at the French

Consulate, and he had implored the assistance that France might easily

have rendered him. It is to be presumed that the ambassador, after

having asked for instructions from Paris, and having explained to the

Government the Sultan’s insistence, may have informed Midhat that he

could not effectually protect him. Not having any definite proof on

this subject, it is impossible for us to certify anything. The opinions

of the European Press were very divergent. We reprint the telegrams

sent by the correspondent of the _Times_ from Constantinople, dated

19th May and 21st May, 1881, which give the fullest details.[25]

 

Midhat Pasha had been perfectly well aware of what would happen. He

knew the plots that had been formed against him, and when his friends

had invited him to leave Turkey, by the boat which had been got ready

to take him aboard, he replied, “I shall never give way before the

insinuations of the Sultan. I shall never allow the world to say that I

fled because I was guilty and that I feared the Sultan. I shall resist

until the last moment, and if I then see that my life is in danger, I

may perhaps have recourse to the means you offer.” It was this same

state of mind which led him to think of embarking, when the soldiers,

under the command of General Hilmi Pasha, surrounded his house, and

by their attitude showed plainly the danger in which both he and his

family were placed. On realising the impossibility of carrying out

this plan, he had taken refuge at the French Consulate, and had asked

the Consuls of all the Powers that their respective Governments should

demand a public trial, and had declared “that he gave himself up to

judgment, trusting to the good faith of the telegram which he had

received from Constantinople.”

 

For the honour of France, we are inclined to believe that Midhat

surrendered to the Ottoman authorities of his own accord. It is

scarcely credible that France would have delivered Midhat Pasha to the

Sultan, the more so because Gambetta, who was then in power, had been a

great friend of his.

 

The Sultan had been anxious to have Midhat arrested when he was still

Governor‐General of Syria, but so great was his popularity in that

Province, that Abdul Hamid was reluctantly obliged to relinquish his

design, for fear of provoking a revolution.

 

The day following the arrest found the town of Smyrna still strictly

guarded by the troops, and no one was permitted to go about the streets

for fear of any demonstration. The terrified inhabitants closed their

shops, and all business was suspended for twenty‐four hours. Midhat

was retained as a prisoner in the barracks, until the arrival of the

Imperial yacht, which brought over the new Governor‐General, the high

judicial dignitaries, and also the Minister Djevdet Pasha. He embarked

quietly in the midst of the general emotion, and duly arrived at

Constantinople. Whilst waiting for the assembling of the High Court,

the little pavilion in the “Yildiz Park” called “Malta Kiosk,” was

assigned to him as his place of residence by the Sultan.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XI

 

THE TRIAL OF MIDHAT PASHA

 

 

As we have already stated, Midhat Pasha arrived at Constantinople in

one of the Imperial yachts, accompanied by the Minister and the high

judicial dignitaries. He was kept in the pavilion of the “Malta Kiosk,”

which is situated within the park of Yildiz. In accordance with his

desire that he might be given a public trial, and that the conditions

on which he had surrendered to the Ottoman authorities from the French

Consulate should be observed, a High Court was formed by the Sultan

Abdul Hamid. But the tickets of admission to the meetings were issued

in such a manner that the Turks who wished to be present at the trial

had to renounce their intention, for fear of attracting the ill‐will of

the Sultan, or else, those who were followers of Midhat, had to pose as

his adversaries in order to be able to hear and understand the manner

in which he was to be condemned. The Diplomatic Corps was present, but

many foreigners found difficulty in obtaining admittance. Only a few

correspondents of the foreign newspapers were admitted, and amongst

the representatives of the Turkish Press only those who were faithful

adherents of the Sultan.

 

We possess no special information on the subject of the trial, and

that which we have been able to collect from those persons who were

present at the debates gives us no further details than those which the

_Times_ correspondent (present at the Trial) sent to his newspaper. We

publish, therefore, by permission of the proprietors of the _Times_ the

most interesting portions of their reports, together with some extracts

from the debates in the Houses of Parliament on this subject, in order

to give the reader some idea of this most memorable mock trial.

 

 

“_Constantinople, 28th June._—The great State trial which began

yesterday, and of which I have already forwarded you a summary

of the proceedings, presented an interesting and picturesque

spectacle. Around the Malta guard‐house, situated in a large open

space immediately outside the Imperial park of Yildiz Kiosk, a

goodly number of soldiers were posted at short distances from each

other, and all persons not provided with a ticket of admission

were prevented from approaching the building. The few who had

been fortunate enough to obtain tickets, found on approaching the

Guard‐House a large green oval tent, and adjoining it a considerable

space enclosed by a canvas screen and covered by an awning. One side

of this tent was occupied by a bench, on which sat the judges, three

Mussulmans and two Christians, in black frock‐coats _à la Turque_

and red fezes, presided over by a grey‐bearded Ulema called Sourouri

Effendi, in a black robe and white turban. To the right and left

of the judges sat the Public Prosecutor, the secretaries, and the

subordinate judicial functionaries, and behind them stood several

Imperial aides‐de‐camp and Palace servants. Below the bench, in a

trench cut for the purpose, sat on cane chairs the ten prisoners,

Mahmoud and Nouri Pashas (both brothers‐in‐law of the Sultan), two

ex‐functionaries of the Palace, three officers of the Guard, two

professional wrestlers, and a Palace watchman. Behind each of the

prisoners stood a common soldier. The side of the tent facing the

bench was left open, so that the spectators, seated on rows of chairs

under an awning, immediately behind the prisoners, could witness

the proceedings. Among the audience, comprising about one hundred

and twenty people, were the Persian Ambassador and other members of

the Diplomatic Body, several high officials in and out of office,

a score of Imperial aides‐de‐camp, a few officers of the Palace,

several Ulema in flowing robes and white or green turbans, and the

representatives of the Press to a limited number. The spectators

might have been considerably increased, for behind them were more than a hundred chairs unoccupied.