The life of Midhat Pasha 41

The life of Midhat Pasha 41

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.