3589) Free E-Book: Forty Years in Constantinople -Recollections of Sir Edwin Pears, 1873-1915

PREFACE

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IN writing my reminiscences of Life in Constantinople I have been under the disadvantage of depending almost entirely on memory. When I was compelled to leave Turkey in the middle of last December I was unable to bring away memoranda and books which would have enabled me to fix dates, to give correct spelling of names of persons and places, and would have recalled a hundred circumstances, which without such aids I am unable to relate with desirable exactitude. This is all I have to add by way of excuse for any inaccuracies and shortcomings in my book. I could have added many more reminiscences of visitors who have given me the pleasure of
seeing them, some of them men and women whom all England delights to honour.

Merely to mention their names would lay one open to a charge of sycophancy. To relate conversation with them would be a breach of confidence. If, for example, I should tell the story of one of our legislators who made all haste to get away from the city because he learned that Abdul- Hamid proposed to invite him to dinner, and who gave as his reason for getting away that if invited he could hardly refuse, and that if he accepted he would lose all nonconformist votes, I should have to miss the point of my story unless I mentioned the name, which I should not be justified in doing. Had space permitted, I should have liked much to speak at length of visits : of that of Miss Isabel Fry, who spent time and money for the benefit of Turkish women ; of the Members of the Balkan Committee, notably Mr. Noel E. Buxton and his brother ; Lady Boyle and Sir Edward ; Sir Arthur Evans, and others whose labours for the benefit of all sections of the community won them the gratitude of Moslems and Christians alike ; of the veteran Frederic Harrison, who was especially honoured by the best men of the Young Turkey Party ; of Mr. H. W. Massingham, who shewed himself greatly interested in Turkish institutions.

These visits were of great value to leading Turks and other members of the community as setting before them ideals of conduct and self-sacrifice.

Turkey has long attracted some of our best men and women. The singular devotion of Miss Edith Durham has won general respect in all the Western Balkan States. The massacres at Adana drew Lady Rosalind Northcote and several others to the aid of the victims. Susan, Lady Malmesbury, took great interest in the schools and colleges of the capital. Mr. Edward Clodd wanted to learn every-thing regarding Moslem and Christian education. The late Mr. John Westlake, a friend whom I had known from my Social Science days, always took great interest in the developments of Turkey. Another old and dear friend from the same period was Rev. Brooke Lambert, who stayed with me on three occasions, on one of which during our summer residence he conducted divine service in our sala at Prinkipo.

Canon Malcolm McCall paid us two visits, and from the time of the Moslem atrocities in Bulgaria was always keenly aUve to the religious and political questions of the Near East, I have to express my very sincere thanks to Hariot, Lady Dufferin, for the excellent photographs of her husband and herself. I possess one signed by Lord Dufferin, but, like another of General Skobeleff and others which it was my intention to use, I have not seen my way to obtain them from Constantinople. My thanks are also due to Lady O'Conor for offering to place at my disposal a series of photographs of her husband ; to Lord Goschen for a photo which carries my memory back to the time when it was taken and the men with whom he had to act ; and to Beatrice, Lady Ellenborough, for permission to reproduce from her photograph the portrait of Jane Digby, Lady Ellenborough.

EDWIN PEARS
London, S.W., Sep. 20, 1915

CONTENTS

PREFACE
CHAPTER I
I GO TO CONSTANTINOPLE
A Chance Remark and the Consequences — The Social Science Association — Pleasant Relations — I Start for Turkey — First Impressions — Bakshish — The Turks' Incurable Malady — The Comedy
of the Buoys — The Tragedy of the Bridge — An Ideal Coal for the Navy

CHAPTER II
THE MOSLEM ATROCITIES IN BULGARIA
' Our Own Correspondent " — Robert College — Dr. Washburn and Dr. Long — ^The Bulgarian Students — Ugly Rumours —"Allah's Business" — My First Letter — Disraeli's Doubts — I Send Additional Proof — Incomprehensible Scepticism — Macgahan Sent to Investigate — Horrible Discoveries — Mr. Walter Baring Appointed Commissioner — His Report — Disraeli's Strange Conduct — Death of Macgahan — Conference of Powers, Dec-Jan., 1877 Its Failure — Salisbury Unpopular in Constantinople — " Bravo, Sir Elliot " — Declaration of War by Russia, April 24, 1877

CHAPTER III
THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR
The Russo-Turkish War Begins — Battle of Shenova — British Fleet in Besika Bay — British Colony Still Hostile — British Fleet at Prinkipo — Leaves Turkey — Did Arrival of British Fleet Prevent Russian Occupation ? — Baker Pasha and Suliman — SkobeleflE and the Taking of Constantinople — My Visit to Him in Camp Remarkable Unanswered Telegram to Czar — Personal Reminiscences — Fellow Correspondents, Galenga, George Augustus Sala — A Correspondent Impostor — Remarkable Solution of a Prize Case


CHAPTER IV
EAST AND WEST
The Anti- Russian British Colony — An Address to Sir Henry Elliot I Protest — Journalism Extraordinary — Mr. Layard Becomes Ambassador — The Marquess of Bath — "A Year Behind the Fair " — Mr. W. E. Forster — A Grand Vizier's Rudeness — Mr. Hughes's Revenge — " The Only Gentleman in Europe " — British Tommies and a Turkish Toll Collector — Gallantry and Death A Strange Court Scene — The Scots at Hasskewi — How a Lawyer Cannot be a Jackass -


CHAPTER V
THE REVOLUTION OF 1876
Turkey's Finances — Heavy Losses — The Moral Effect — Outcry Against the Sultan's Extravagance — His Passion for Building Abdul Aziz a Prisoner — His Suicide — A Committee of Examination — The Trial of Ministers — The Tradition of the Turkish Palace — Murad Ascends the Throne — He is Deposed and Succeeded by Abdul Hamid — The Question of a Constitution — Revelation of Abuses — The New Form of Government — Blunt Speaker — The Traditional Method — A Question of Right or Wrong -

CHAPTER VI
ARCHEOLOGICAL INTERESTS AND LADY ELLENBOROUGH
Dr, Paspates and Dr. Schliemann — My First Visit to the Patriarchal Church — An Impressive Ceremony — The Greek Tradition — The Site of Troy — Interesting Discoveries — Visits to Nicaea — A Visit to Damascus — I Meet the Sheik's Wife — A Remarkable Woman — A Queen of the Desert — Life in the Harem — An Arab Invasion — The Bedouins' Devotion - - -


CHAPTER VII
THE EGYPTIAN QUESTION
The Arrival of Sir Henry Layard — Russophobia — Ideals About the Turk — A Scheme of Reform — Sir Henry Disillusioned — Glad-stone's Greek Letter — A Scandal — The Khedive's Extravagance — Egypt's Finances — Dual Control — The Succession Changed The Khedive Deposed — Turkish Alarm — Saving the Sultan's Face — Mr. Goschen Succeeds Sir Henry Layard — Bismarck's Rudeness — The Sultan Obdurate — Mr. Goschen 's Victory — The Murder of Colonel Cumarofle

CHAPTER VIII
EGYPT
Lord Dufferin Appointed Ambassador — The Revolt of Arabi Pasha — Turkish Pin-pricks — The Bombardment of Alexandria — Tel-el-Kebir—The British Left to Restore Order—Turkey's Help Solicited — The Sultan's Refusal — Baker Pasha's Anxiety — Mr. Gladstone Determined — British Troops Land — Lord and Lady Dufferin's Services to the European Colony — The Girls' High School — Lady Dufferin's Popularity — A Courteous but Strong Ambassador — A Broad-minded Man

CHAPTER IX
ABDUL HAMID
The Sultan's Superstition — Abdul Hamid's Hostility to Armenians The Turkish Law of Succession — Its Disadvantages — Abdul Hamid's Upbringing — A Narrow Environment — The Fleet Neglected — Abdul Hamid's Sensitiveness to Criticism — An Unofficial Censorship — A Continuous Foreign Policy — An Avengement for the Evacuation of Egypt — The Sultan Refuses His Consent — Lord Salisbury's Rejoinder — A Prosperous Egypt — Izzet Pasha — The Two Secretaries — Belief in Astrologers The Tabah Affair — The Sultan's "Diplomatic Victory" — A Suspicious Monarch — An Elaborate Spying System — Blackmail — The Censors Regard Me as Incorrigible — I am Threatened with Expulsion — Turkish "Decorations" — A Clever Fraud

CHAPTER X
ARMINIUS VAMBERY AND ABDUL HAMID
in the — Women without Souls — The Khedive's Dictum " Free Speech " in Turkey — The Sultan's Interference — Sir Henry Bulwer and Plataea — His Dummy Library — Arminius Vambery — A Chance Encounter — A Polyglot Gentleman Vambery's Advice to Abdul Hamid — The Sultan's Anger — Suppressed Book — The White Slave Traffic — A Courageous Englishwoman — An American's Mistake — A Splendid Work

CHAPTER XI
THE SULTAN'S SUMMONS
Sir Edward Thornton — Mr. Sunset Cox — A Brilliant Speaker — Sir William White — His Friendship with Dr. Washburn — The Sultan Sends for Me — The Ideal Dragoman — I Refuse a Decoration — Haji Ali's Astonishment — The Sultan Persists — The Secretary's Ignorance — A Visit from a Spy — The Decoration Again Offered — A Significant Hint — The Value of a Turkish Decoration — The Order of the Mejidieh Conferred on a Fighting Cock

CHAPTER XII
THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES
Popularity of " The Bosporus Bull " — The Sacredness of the Sultan's Tougra — Baron Calice's Subtlety — Sir Philip Currie — Turkish Tobacco — The Armenians and Their Culture — Lord Byron and Their Tongue — The Desire for Education — Palmerston's Epigram — The " Yes Sirs " — Abdul Hamid and the Murdered Turk — An Armenian Tragedy — The Sultan's Resolve — Organised Massacre — A Terrible List of Victims — Death or Conversion — An Armenian's Report — A Great Outcry — Mr. Gordon Bennett in Constantinople — The New York Herald's Investigations — Abdul Hamid's Mistake — Mr. Hepworth's and Mr. Fitzmaurice's Reports — " Voluntary " Conversions — The Massacre in Urfa Cathedral

CHAPTER XIII
THE TURKISH METHOD
Turkish Fleet Neglected, but Added to Under Strange Circumstances — Kutchuk Said Takes Refuge at British Embassy — Is Protected by Sir Philip Currie — Girding on the Sword of Osman — Hamdi Bey — Allaverdi — Bishop Wordsworth's Visit — Lady Currie's Popularity — A Cultured Woman — The Spy's Invitation — The Young Turks' Indiscretion — The Secretary's Dilemma — A Counter Offensive — An Uncompromising Retort — Espionage — The Englishmen and the Female Spy — The Armenian Ritriarch — An Impressive Ceremony — The Patriarch's Cordiality

CHAPTER XIV
SIR NICHOLAS O'CONNOR
Sir Nicholas O'Connor at Constantinople — Our Meeting at Sofia Stambul off Sends for Me — My Lost Luggage — I Enter the Palace Looking Like a Brigand — Stambuloff Comes to See me Off The State of Macedonia — Robber Chiefs as Protectors — Exodus of the Inhabitants — Hilmi Pasha's Reforms Shelved — The Rival Churches — An Appeal to Rome — The Eternal Question of Reform — Formation of a Revolutionary Party — Dr. Nazim's Adventures

CHAPTER XV
BARON MARSCHALL VON BIEBERSTEIN
The Baron's Greeting — The Fire-eaters at Home — Fehim Effendi's Escapades — Abdul Hamid's Protection — The German Ambassador's Ultimatum — Fehim's Banishment and Death — Sir Nicholas O'Connor's Thoroughness — Our Sunday Excursions — A Turkish Superstition — Hannibal's Tomb — Egyptian Affairs — Death of Sir Nicholas O'Connor — The Kaiser's Protest — Baron Marshall's Methods — A " Thorough " Man

CHAPTER XVI
THE REVOLUTION OF 1908
Secret Committees — Sir Philip Currie's Anger — Turkish Procrastination — The Sick Man of Europe — Abdul Hamid a Bar to Telephones — Condition of Army and Navy — Ignorant Officers — Disaffection General — The Salonica Committee — Methods of Secrecy — The Third Army Corps — Enver and Niazi in Revolt — The End Approaching — Corruption and Tyranny — Espionage Everywhere — Turkish Women Involved — The First Shot — The Decision of the Fetva Emine — The Troops Refuse to Fight — Wholesale Promotions — Afraid to Tell Abdul — The Court Astrologer Requisitioned — The Sultan Bows to the Storm — A Wave of Popularity — Spies Abolished and Liberty Proclaimed — General Rejoicing

THE YOUNG TURKS IN POWER
Popularity of Great Britain — ^The Waring Guard — Great Britain's Disinterestedness — Abdul Hamid's Oath — Prisoners Released A Grave Mistake — Ugly Rumours — A New Ministry Under Kiamil — Abdul Hamid and the Kaiser's Letter — Success of the Revolution — The Palace Staff — Abdul Hamid's Orders — Von der Goltz suspected — Turks' Vagueness as to the Constitution I visit the Sheik-ul-Islam — A Remarkable Man — The Secret Methods of the C.U.P. — A People Transformed — An American Lady's Adventure " Yasak " — A Precipitated Revolution The Austrians and the Albanians — A Difficult Situation — ^The Sultan's Favourites

CHAPTER XVIII
THE COUNTER REVOLUTION OF APRIL 13, 1909
The Unemployed — ^Turkish Anti-Semitism — Javad Bey Appointed Minister of Finance — The Reactionaries — A Military Revolt Disturbing Reports — The Sacred Law — Mahmud Mukhtar's Loyalty — His Flight — My Son's Prompt Action — Surrounded The Dragomans and the Sultan — An Interrupted Turkish Bath A Matter of Life or Death — Mukhtar's Escape — A Hail of Bullets — The Meaning of the Movement — A Surprise to the Cabinet — Nazim Pasha's Escape — Dissatisfaction with the C.U.P. — The Comedy of the Steamers — Absurd Anomalies Turkification and Tyranny — The Nationalists — Official Murders — ^What Occurred at Salonica — The Army of Deliverance — Systematic Counter-stroke — The Tables Turned — The Exodus from the Palace

CHAPTER XIX
ABDUL HAMID DEPOSED
Enver's Significant Words — A New Era — A Precipitated Coup — The Sultan's Attitude — The National Assembly Decide Upon Deposition — Abdul Hamid Informed — He Pleads for His Life His Cowardice — Mahomet V. — Abdul Hamid is Packed Off Refreshing the Harem — The New Sultan Proclaimed — A Kindly Man — Defying Abdul Hamid — Turkish Misrule — Fostering Religious Hatred — The Caliphate — The Jehad — Bribes for Reactionaries

CHAPTER XX
STRUGGLES OF THE COMMITTEE OF UNION AND PROGRESS
A Question of Responsibility — ^The Adana Massacre — A Commission of Enquiry — Examining Yildiz Kiosk — Embarrassing Discoveries — Hanging Reactionaries — The C.U.P. Visits France and England — Javad Bey's Mission a Failure — ^The C.U.P.'s Blunders — Turkify Everything — A Foolish Boycott — A Secret Struggle — Jehad that Failed — The Sultan's Progress — A Severe Criticism Hakki Pasha's Comment — A Struggle for Life — Damat Ferid Pasha — The Dogs of Constantinople — Their Unwritten Laws — Terrible Fate — Great Fires in Stambul — Young Turks' Vigorous Action — An Insanitary Hospital — Fire Insurance Claims — The Turks and Life Insurance — A New Law — Absurd Clauses — My Drastic Excisions — Decentralisation — A Cumbrous System The Gendarmerie — The Modem Woman Phase — Miss Isabel Fry's Work

CHAPTER XXI
ANNEXATION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Prince Ferdinand declares himself King — Reorganisation of the Turkish Navy — Difficulties with Albania — The Balkan League — Its Successes — Dissensions — Mediation of the Powers — Orthodox and Bulgarian Churches Agree for Common Action — My Last Interview with Marschall von Bieberstein Coup d'etat — Assassination of Nazim Pasha — Forced Resignation of Kiamil Arrival of Sir Louis Mallet — Quarrel between Bulgaria and Serbia — Assassination of Shevket Pasha — British Relief Committees in Constantinople

CHAPTER XXII
AUGUST-OCTOBER, 1914
Before the Storm — Turkish Ministers Favourable to England, Excepting Enver Pasha — Arrival of Goeben and Breslau — Constant Declarations of Neutrality by Turks — British Ships not Permitted to Pass Into the Aegean — Disadvantages of British Ambassador — Hard and Fast Rule Between Diplomatic and Consular Service — Irritation of Turks at Preemption of Ships Built in England — Constant Series of Attacks Against England in Constantinople — Finding Turks Would not Declare War Germans in Command of Turkish Fleet Bombard Odessa

CHAPTER XXIII
THE AMERICAN AMBASSADOR AT CONSTANTINOPLE
I Wish to Remain in Constantinople After Declaration of War — I am Arrested — Imprisoned — Released by Intervention of the American Ambassador — I Leave Constantinople — Journey to D6d6agatch — Thence to Piraeus, Malta, Marseilles, and England — Incidents of the Voyage — Noble Conduct of Mr. and Mrs. Morgenthau Towards French and British Refugees — The Y.M.C.A. in Constantinople

CHAPTER XXIV
SHORT AND PERSONAL

CHAPTER XXV
THE PAST AND THE FUTURE
Among the Archaeologists — Rev. John Peters — Professor Hilprecht — George Smith — Hittite Investigators — Mr. Hogarth, Mr. Garstang, and Professor Sayce — Distinguished Explorers for the Palestine Exploration Fund — My Archaeological Work in Constantinople — Rev. Dr. van Millingen — Bishops of Salisbury, Peterborough, and Gibraltar — Dr. Spooner, Canon Shoobridge, and Other Clergymen — Visit of Mr. Choate, Ambassador, to St. James's — Visits to Renowned Historical Sites, Ephesus Especially — British Colony in Turkey — Thoughts on the Future of Turkey and Notably of Constantinople

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