The Washington herald., 1911-11-08
THE MELANCHOLY SULTAN
AND HIS KINDLY SMILE

cup OF most delicious Arabian .(Mokka)
coffee, he smiles to them and whispers:
Allah be praised for his gifts5'
When he meets his foreign guests at
the Friday religious ceremony Of the
selamik, he greets them with smile,
| silent but expressive of his benevolent
nature, and of the thought that in reality
he is grateful to his Allah for kindly
friends from atar and near. When the
italian ultimatum. and soon thereafter
the proclamation OF war. were announced
to him, he smiled, heaving a deep sigh,
and said, Allah Is great. Allah over
rules"
Once he fell, injuring his knee. His
attendants rushed to him, greatly
alarmed, and trying to help him rise with
subdued dismay and exclamation of
"Aman." He looked up to them, smiled
his usual swift, melancholy smile of
resignation, and said: why this hustle.
my friends? We are all in the hands of
Allah" Sultan Mehmet smiles to each
and all, to children, to workmen, to SOL
diers, to waiting crowds OF his devoted
people, who in the short period Of his
reign have learned to love and to thor
oughly know him as the most beneyo-
lent and kind Padishah that ever oc-y
cupied the throne OF Ottoman the Great.
There Is something of the nature OF
the Oriental, fatalistic kismet in his
smile, inasmuch as II betrays a profound
sense OF aequiescence in the divine
course and order of things. Even dur
ing the present so trying crisis he is
known to smile now and then, and to
keep cheerful and confident of a salts
factory result with that fortitude of
character which frequently is impaired to
one by the inward sense of good will and
by the right experience Of suffering.
But Is 1t not strange that this man
should have retained his benevolence and
his confidence in any good in mans ma
ture after having suffered so much for
thirty years? During the long and
dreary confinement in the golden cage
OF Dolma-Baghtchen he never murmured,
never rebelled, always most readily sub
mitting to the ordinances Of his cruel
brother, Abdul Hamid, now deposed, and
even 10 him always smiling in the meek,
compliant, deferential attitude due to a
khalif and padishah.
There was a time when Abdul Hamid
got very suspicious OF the frequent visits
paid by a Frankish physician to Re-
shad Effendi Cthis was the name OF Sui
tan Mehmet while he was the heir ap-
parent. He ordered his brother to ap-
pear before him and said: Undesirable
people call on you. You are conspiring
against me. That Frankish doctor must
never visit you again" whereupon Re-
shad Enendi smiled his swift, melan-
choly. kindly smile and replied: That
doctor attends my ailing child and has
done 1t already a great deal Of good, but
II your majesty desires II he will never
Frankish doctor never again was seen
at the bedside Of the sick child.
In fact. that smile OF the Sultan seems
to be hereditary. Abdul Hamid, cruel
though he was to his own kin even
smiled frequently. But 1t was the smile
Of the tyrant. He ordered his execu-
tions with a smile on his thin lips. That
smile was the precursor OF evil and
bloody deeds. Often II was the smile Of
satisfied rage When once in the surg
Ing passion of his uncomfortable Ire ne
shot dead his child, a tender little girl
OF about ten. for having playfully aimed
at him with a small revolver she had
found on his writing desk. He even
then smiled down upon his victim with
the horrid bloodthirstiness OF a brute.
Another characteristic trait OF the
present Padishah is his impatience. With
him, however. it Is not the feverish un-
easiness Of self-preoccupation, but again
the outcome of his solicitous, benevolent
consideration for others. For instance,
he abhors letting people wait for him.
At state ceremonials. audiences or pi-
vate appointments he is the most pune
tuaI of monarchs. often appearing a
considerable time before the fixed hour.
TT pains me to think" he remarks
with smile, that people should spend
their time in mere waiting for me-"
When on his last tour of pacifcation
throughout some of the Macedonian and
Albanian provinces, his numerous suite
and engine drivers had considerable trou-
Bile in keeping correctly the previously
fixed Indications Of the timetable. Often
It was absolutely impossible. Thus, the
Sultan would frequently order start
long before the fixed time. do you
not see my friends" he used to explain,
many thousands of my faithful people
are eagerly waiting for me at the other
end? They and long to see one an
other; let US start at once" And the
train started at once, arriving at the
place Of destination half an hour before
the appointed time.
In his private life, Sultan Mehmet is
very simple. He has no extravagant
tastes His meals often are Of the most
frugal kind, his favorite dish, it is said,
being the so-called "ta-kebab," small bits |
Of mutton, we'll seasoned and roasted
on a slow fire. In former years he never |
used to drink alcoholic beverages, as
he is a strict Mussulman and sticks to |
the tenets and injunctions of his religion
with tenacity. Now. however, he takes |
during his meals some champagne, fol- |
lowing the instructions of his medical
attendants. Those who know state that |
In his harem life he shows the same |
simple habits SAND tendencies. He rel
mains faithful to his first affections and
dearly loves his children. I
He is very fond of music and listens |
with great pleasure not only to the |
melancholy strain of Oriental melody, |
but also to the airs OF Wagner and Paga- |
mini. Every evening, before the procla- |
nation of war, an orchestra, well trained |
by a European maestro, used TO play for |
hours In the gardens OF his palace. At |
present, however, he has given orders |
that there shall be no music near him. |
When so many suffer on the battlefield |
upon my territory, I cannot listen to the
performances of an orchestra" he said |
to HIS grand vizier.
His favorite pastime Is a sail upon the /
Bosphorus in his magnificent caik with /
seven pairs of rowers, Frequently he |
has a trip to one Of the numerous marble |
PALACES on the delightful slopes Of the
Rosphorus where he takes his meals and 1