The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-02-05
Beautiful SuItan-Calide.


by the jealousy OF the great powers and
by their desire to avoid a general Euro
pean war is usually little talked of unless
he has a few hundred Armenians slaugh-
tered or one Of his higher officials
assassinated because the latter has be-
come disaCreeable.
OF his private life little is known and
even this little emanates from sources
not altogether creditable nor credible.
The reports of domestic affairs in the
Palace of the Stars read like tale from
Arabian Nights" Few even of such
tales gain wide publicity and II therefore
sounds ike romance to learn just now
that Abdul Hamid has French blood in
his veins-aye. that he IS relative of the
Bonaparte family!
This romance sensational as il sounds
has nevertheless true historical back
ground
Sidney Daney. in his History of Mar
Unique" gives an extensive account Of
the Sultan's maternal ancestry; the An
mails of Orleans support it oy interesting
facts which come directly from the fam
lily of the heroine.
DR.. Cabanes. who has ruthlessly de-
stroyed so many romantic legends in
French history and. on the other hand
has rescued many valuable historical
ldClS lFOW DtiHg lOTSOitcll, duuUNtS III
his Secret Cabinet of History" much
documentary evidence of the fact that
the Sultan has French blood in his veins;
and other French historians like RufuZ
Aubenas. and others corroborate Ca
banes. These various sources of re-
search differ in details, but they agree in
the main that the beautiful Aimee Buc
de Rivry ended as Sultana-Valide. the
great-grandmother OF the present Sultan
Abdul Hamid IL
The tracing of this decent, as has been
said reads like a romance. but the main
genealogical facts are indisputable. Like
many daughters of rich French colonisis.
Josephine Beauharnais. the first wife of
Napoleon L.. for instance. Aimee Buc de
Rivry-others give the name of Dubuc de
Rivery-was sent as a child for her educa-
ton from Martinique, her home. TO
France. to the Convent of the Visitation
in Nantz.
She was Is years of age when. in 1854
she took passage in a vessel for home.
On the voyage the vessel sprang leak.
but before ii sank passengers and crew
were rescued by a Spanish vessel bound
for Majorka. The Spanish vessel was
captured by corsars, who took the young
creole and her governess to Algiers 10 the
court of the Bey who found Aimee so
entrancingly beautiful that he determined
TO present her to his sovereign in Con-
stantinople.
aimee mad such adherence for the life
in the seraglio that even death, threaten
ed by the Capu-Agassi, the captain of the
eunuchs, could not wiring consent from
her. white MOhammedan priest. Vely
Ziades, wawS more successful by mild
Clio at Constantinople, made such i'm
preston upon the Sultan, Abdul Hamid
l., that he elevated her the rank Of his
favorite Sultana. September 2. 1889. four
months after the death of Abdul Hamid
l. father, she became the mother of
son, who died as Mohsmid H., in 1896,
upon the throne of the Caliphs.
1t is significant that such an undoubted
authority as the Encyclopedias Britain
MICA says of him: "Mahamud IL was the
only Sultan of modern times who pos
sessed the qualities of a great race
Brought up in the seclusion of the sera-
Clio till the age of %, he was suddenly
placed on the throne, it is surprising that
he should have shown the power. the res
olution, and the intelligence which mark
ed his government.
Now, Abdul Hamid H., who today is
son of, this Mahmud and consequently
the great-grandson of the Creole Sultana.
which brought him into relationship to
the House of BonaDarte
For Aimee Buc de Rivry was the cousin
of the first blood of the Mile. Tascher de
la Pagerie, who, first a. Nine. de Beau
harnais, then b ythe Legitimate etour Of
Barras, became the crowned wife of Ma
poleOn l.. and next, by the marriage Of
her daughter Hortense Beauharnais
with the ephemeral Kink of Holland. the
grandmother of Napoleon III.
But this is ont the only relationship
which binds the Sultan to the family OF
the great Corsican. Aimee de Rivry was
also the cousin of the Mile. Won Bells
champs who. in 1902 married Lucien
BOnaparte, Prince Of Canine. This rela-
tionship is well known in the seraglios Of
the Turkish grandees. though little is said
about it nowadays. But there was a time
when even the powers Of the Yildiz palace
were not averse to refer TO il.
When in 1869, Abdul Aziz the Sultan
of the young Turkish proclivities and
fond Of European culture, went to Paris
the Turquie. a ConstantinOple newspa-
per Of semi-official charsctes, wrote
Certainly the influence w4 oh was ex-
erted by Mile. de Rivry as Sttana-Valide
may also have developed the spirit Of r,'-
form in her son Mahmud. Hence the
Ottomanic empire owes its first steps
upon the path OF reform 70 a French
woman -
IF one thinks OF tie impossibiIitv Of
having printed in a Turkish newspaper
any allusiOn not agreeable In official cir
cles it would seem that even the uusup-
81
sufficient evidence Of the part French ex-
traction Of Abdul Hamid II.
The Sultana from Martinique died In
1s47 as a Christian. Daney and others
relate that even I'm the seragIio she re-
manned true 10 the faith Of her fathers.
This IS undoubtedly ar error. because Of
her position as favoIre Suitsna and
mother Of the future ruler 81 the Otto-
man empire she mad 20 embrace the No
hammedan faith. But in her last iIlness
r. morse seized her and she expressed her
desire 10 die a Christian.
The sultan who loved his mother pas
siona;ely. attempted IN vain 30 dissusde
her from this step, and NJ gnsIly granted
her wish. Thus. in the dead Of u ght. JAM
zariss were sent TO St. Anthony Convent
in Pera 10 bring the prles' Father Chris
tomos. Nobody in the convent had ans
idea Of this alarming csii. and the monks
saw trembliugly the boat manned with
twenty-four rowers disappear In the DARK
ness OF the Bos9orus.
The prior vas conducted irto mag
nifcent apartment lighted uy spien-
did Candelabrs. Upon a couch. wrapped
in six coverings. rested waite-hsireG
woman. A. the door As Father Chrssos-
'ouos' report reads. stood . man appar-
entity 81 years q age He was ,siler thar
no medium sir, a broad noble brow ard
2 look expressing The habit - command
him 4 black. Bassgalis
fine beard gave % his face a serious and
d gnideJ expression he uotioned tae
priest 20 follow him and approached tns