THE YOUNG TURK 
65 
up the prosecution of reforms, so ur- 
gently needed in the Empire. 
A REVOIvUTION SPEEDILY CRUSHED 
But for a few months only was peace 
allowed to reign in the near East. From 
out of a clear sky, on April 13, 1909, 
burst a war cloud that threatened to 
throw the country back into anarchy. 
Abdul Hamid had, with his character- 
istic cunning and a liberal supply of 
money, taken advantage of a mild dis- 
sension among the delegates in Parlia- 
ment which had met in December of the 
preceding year, to instigate a mutiny in 
the army and navy stationed at the capi- 
tal against constitutional authority. At 
the same time he sent emissaries to the 
interior of the country to appeal to the 
religious fanaticism of the poorer classes, 
and inaugurated a racial warfare be- 
tween the Turks and Armenians that at 
once put constitutional government in 
jeopardy. It was evident that Abdul 
Hamid's main purpose in bringing about 
intestine strife was to show the powers 
that Turkey could only be ruled by his 
strong right arm and that he alone could 
put a stop to the conflict. 
So near to success did he come in his 
nefarious aim that on April 24 the Lon- 
don Times published an article to the 
effect that constitutional government was 
dead, and that England should at once 
recognize Abdul Hamid as the supreme 
ruler of the land. 
This conviction was so general among 
foreigners that a commission from Par- 
liament was prevailed upon to warn the 
commander-in-chief of the Macedonian 
army, Mohammed Shefket Pasha, whose 
troops were then marching on the capi- 
tal, that if his army entered the city it 
would bring about a massacre of Chris- 
tians, and then would follow European 
intervention. "Go back," said this Oliver 
Cromwell of his country to the parlia- 
mentary committee sent to communicate 
this information, "and attend to your 
parliamentary duties. There is no power 
under heaven that can keep my army 
out of the cit}^" And so it proved. 
All military authorities unite in saying 
that the taking of Constantinople by the 
constitutional army, April 26, 1909, was 
one of the most brilliant and successful 
campaigns in history. It is not necessary 
to describe it here ; but, as far as the 
safety of Christians, the bugbear of Tur- 
key's foes, is concerned, I can state that 
ladies of my party traversed the streets 
of Constantinople while the conflict was 
raging with as little danger and less fear 
than they would have had in crossing 
Broadway, in New York city, during an 
election day excitement. 
The spectacle of Shefket Pasha's 
grand army of 30,000 as fine a body of 
men as ever crossed a parade ground, 
augmented by a contingent of volunteers, 
containing among the private soldiers 
peers of the realm and officers of high 
rank, both of the army and the navy, for 
whom there were not suitable commands, 
taking possession of Constantinople was 
an inspiration long to be remembered. 
It was an evidence of patriotism rarely 
seen elsewhere, and which bodes ill for 
the enemies of such a people. 
The greatest factor in this example of 
discipline was the absence of intoxicating 
liquors among both officers and men, and 
we could but contrast it with the stories 
of other battles in the east between Mo- 
hammedan and Christian troops, where a 
barrel of whiskey was regarded by the 
former as an equivalent to a reinforce- 
ment of one hundred men, for by rolling 
the barrel of whiskey before an advance 
guard of the enemy it was sure to be 
greedily attacked, to the advantage of 
the abstemious Turk. 
This counter revolution in Turkey, 
which Shefket Pasha did everything in 
his power to make as "bloodless" as was 
the revolution of 1908, was so quickly 
and completely suppressed that constitu- 
tional government was placed upon a 
higher and firmer basis than before, and 
on the day the London Times (to which 
I have referred) was read in Constanti- 
nople, Abdul Hamid was the nation's 
prisoner, never again to use his weapons 
of bloody intrigue. His impeachment 
was done in strict accordance with the 
constitution and the religious law of the 
land, and his shameful reign came to a 
final ending by the selection of his illus- 
trious successor, Mohammed Y, who had 
