The Washington times., 1905-08-13
s Turkey Ruled by q Madnan? :?

has been proved beyond peradventure
that all the Armenian massacres, whose
atrocities have horri1ed Christendon
Were perpetrated not Only with the Sui
tan's knowledge, but by his direct or
ders. At one time 1900 Armenian Chris
tians were killed in two months in six
provinces-which IS rather a record even
Tor Abdul Hamid
Abdul Harnid is described as 8. small
dark man, fraiI, worn, and paIe-faeed,
and verging on to seventy. He has
thin, rather fine features, except for
his prominent nose, and small nervous
womanish hands. A grizzled beard
covers the lower part OF his face and
sinks on his chest with the slight droop
OF his head and shoulders suggestive Of
years that have weighed TOO heavily
upon him.
He is a hard worker. William T.
stead says OF him: He tolls early
and late. seventeen or eighteen hours
a day. He has worked like galley
slave in the peopled solitude Of his
palace. An imperial convict condemned
to hard labor for life with the constant
liability to capital punishment hang
ing over him. He has scorned delights
and lived laborious days. He is not
genius, but he has held his own; not
hero, but he has borne the burden and
heat of a long and toilsome day without
complaint
Rather Il kindly description that But
listen 10 this, from a writer IN Every
bodys "A man whose like the classics
and history together can scarcely repro
duce. even should they submit 4 psyche
logical composite of choicest specimens.
SUCH composite would require the
Ds-G- -.
consummate craft of Richclieu. with the
Italian hnesse and falsity OF Machia-
VelH the blood tRiTstiness of mad
Caligula the ruthleSsnesS of Genghis
Khan. the refinement in terturing of
IorQuenada. the craven superstition OF
Macbeth. the parsimOnY of MazaTiE. the
awful fear OF the hereafter of Louis XI,
and more striking than anything else =
cOWardice without parallel"
1t is this cowardice bred OF continually
Guiding death that seems to have had
the most influence on his career. 1t has
caused him TO let the Turkish navy
simply cease to eSist-and the Turkish
power was originally sea power and
has ever depended largely upon its navy
mann mar! master of TWO shores ana hign
King OF two seas Never mind. When
they dethrOned Abdul Aziz did they not
threaten when he demurred 10 turn tfe
guns Of the vessels in the harbor on his
palace Of DOlma Bagtche Then let the
navy go 10 pieces It's guns shall never
be turned upon HamiG.
FOR the same reason he has usSefteu
the old palace. DoIma Bagtche, struc-
ture OF exquisite loyeliness, tairy-llke
In It's airy grace and priceless furnishing
"a structure moreover. whose oubl!ettes
were convenient places to thrust impor-
turate ministers too keen after reform,
or from which it was easy to drop re-
bellious beauties of the harem into the
blue waters of the Bosphorus. It Is TOO
near these same harbor guns TO please
the Sultan So he has lived ont at sthe
Yildiz-originally 4 suburban villa. and
built it and rebuilt it until 1t IS the
center Of village.
And in the heart OF it, almost mac
cessIble the Sultan has his private quar-
ters. There he lives prisoner of his own
fears with suspicion for a task master
goading him 10 madness And 50 thor
Oughly assasSin-progf, bomb-proof. ire
proof carthq"ake-pFOof. and microbe-
proof is this his home, that one wonders
now death viii manage to come Up with
so We'll fortified i man.