Review of Reviewi, IjHI S. 



Leading Articles. 



577 



ABDUL HAMID, THE SULTAN. 



A Character Sketch by M. Mijatovitch. 



The Fortnightly Review opens with a bright, but 

 all too brief, character sketch of the present Sultan 

 by M. Mijatovitch, " formerly Servian Minister to 

 his Imperial Majesty the Sultan,'' but much better 

 known in London as the most distinguished diplo- 

 matist who has ever represented Servia at the Court 

 of St. James's. M. Mijatovitch was one of the most 

 u,seful members of the Hague Conference in 1899, 

 and it will be an international misfortune if, because 

 of the change of dynasty, Servia shou'd not again 

 enjov the advantage of securing the services of the 

 doyen of her Diplomatic Corps as her plenipoten- 

 tiary at next year's Conference. Meantime, being 

 relieved from the responsibilities of office, M. Mijato- 

 vitch is contributing to the Press of Europe and 

 America some specimens of the vast store of his- 

 torical treasure that he has accumulated in his long 

 and distinguished diplomatic career. 



His sketch of Abdul the Damned and Abdul the 

 Assassin in the current number of the Fortmghily 

 Rcvinv is a pleasant and delightful surprise. The 

 Master of the Massacres may be a very fiend in 

 Armenia, but in his private life M. Mijatovitch 

 found him a very charming and even a sentimental 

 gentleman, towards whom the heart goes out with 

 sympathy, even although it is severely limited to his 

 domestic virtues. 



THE SULTAN ON THE POWER OF LOVE. 



How. for instance, can anyone wonder that the 

 Sultan made captive the chivalrous heart of the 

 Servian Minister when we read this idyllic disquisi- 

 tion upon the nature of true love from the lips of 

 the Ciimmander of the Faithful: — 



When the telegrams announced the formal engagement of 

 King .\lexander of Servia with Madame Draga Maahin, the 

 Sultan sent for me. aakine me at the same time to bring, 

 if I could, a photograph of the King'a fiancee. I did so. 

 The Sultan looked at the photograph for aome time, ob- 

 aerved that Mme. Draga was evidently a handaome woman. 

 and that ahe had beautiful eyea. 



" Yet." he said, in hia nuiet. earueat manner, " I cannot 

 aufficiently wonder that King Alexander, who aeemed to me 

 a very shrewd young man. should commit such folly! No 

 doul)t the day will arrive when he will see clearly himself 

 what a folly he has t;omniitted."* 

 And then, after a prolonged silence, he continued: — 

 "But, after all. what right have we to complain? W'hat 

 right have we even to criticise? Can a man escape his 

 destiny? And ia it fair to forget what an irresistible power 

 love has? Where is the strong man who is not weak when 

 he tinfla himself alone with a. woman with whom he ia in 

 lo\e? And are we not all liable sometimes to commit fol- 

 lies? Does love ever ask what rank and your dignity? 

 Does love ever ask what your father and mother will say 

 to that? Does it ever listen to reason? I, verily, do not 

 think we have a riiiht to laugh at the folly of this young 

 man. Poor Alexander ia evidently deeply in love with 

 Draga. All we can do is to wish for him that his love 

 bo crowned by true and lasting happiness. I will wire him 

 my best wishes, but you must also let him know that I 

 shall always rejoice to hear of his happiness-" 



I waa so charmed, and really deeply impressed by thia 

 philosophical discourse of Sultan Abdul-Hamid on the 

 power of love, that on my return to the Ijegati<.)n I wrote 

 it down immediately. He never seemed to me to stand in a 

 better light than on that occasion. He evidently knew what 

 love wa,s. iuid he seems to have reduced his own experiences 

 to philosophical principles, which led him to be fair and 

 charitable to others. 



THE SULTAN AT THE OPERA. 

 Another storv of a more risque character illus- 

 trates Abdul Hamid less of a philosopher and more 

 as the Lord of the Seraglio: — 



On one occaaion, in the empty Court Theatre in the Mer- 

 rassim Kiosk, an Italian company waa playing the opera 

 " Robert le Diable." The Sultan took the Ruaaian Am- 

 bass.ador Zinovyeff, the Persian Ambassador and myself in 

 hia box. In the adjoining box were a few enuerriea of the 

 Sultan. Thoae two boxea contained all the spectators on 

 that occasion. Abdul-Hamid, as a true lover of music, lis- 

 tened attentively to the singing of the artists on the stage, 

 and during their singing never spoke a word with ua. 

 But when Pepita, after her beautiful prayer to the Madon- 

 na, began to undreaa herself, prior to going to bed, and 

 took off her first dreaa, theii her bodice, then her top petti- 

 coat, the Sultan turned, alarmed, to Zinovyeff. 



" No doubt." he said. " your Excellency knowa the habits 

 of the European young women- Do you think thia young 

 actreaa ia going to undress herself altogether in our pre- 

 sence?" 



"I hope not!" answered Zinovyeff- "But I do not know; 

 the actora, and more esneciall.v the actreaaea, like to hu- 

 mour the deaires of their patrons." 



The Sultan immediately ca-ught the meaning of the Rua- 

 aian Ambassador, and laughed heartily. 



M. Mijatovitch, who tells us that v^'ith his invisible 

 psychological kodak he made inaudible snaps when- 

 ever in any of his interviews a flash of mind re- 

 vealed Abdul Hamid's soul, declares that he was 

 never able to detect in the Sultan even a shadow 

 of cruelty. Humph ! But why not ? No one can 

 detect shadow^s in the sun. Neither is the shadow 

 of cruelty to be found at its source. 



A VERY HUMAN MAN— 



M. Mijatovitch maintains that Abdul Hamid is a 

 good Turk, an able man, one of the best and ablest 

 of Sultans, a man of great initiative and unusual 

 energy. He is also a man full of quiet humour, 

 sensitive as to his personal dignity, a man fond of 

 pictures and devoted to music and the theatre: — 



He is distinctly a man of aesthetic taste. He ia fond of 

 flowers, of beautiful women, of line horses, of lovely views 

 of aea and land, of everything that ia beautiful- He is an 

 affectionate father. He takea care that the ladiea of 

 his harem shall enjoy higher pleasures, and provides for 

 them concerts and theatricals. He can be. and is. a de- 

 voted friend to his friends. He is able to contract deep 

 and faithful friendship. ■»» 



So much does he crave for friendship that he even 

 in\ited King Milan to Constantinople to live with 

 him as his loving friend. He told M. Mijatovitch to 

 tell King Milan : — 



1 often feel (luite lonely, and that I am longing with all 

 my heart and soul to have near me a man to whom, as to a 

 faithful and sincere friend. I could confide what I have in 

 my heart, with whom I could freely exchange thoughts 

 and take counsel, and with whom I could share joy and 



