ENTERING DIPLOMACY
At sea--Our arrival in London--Concerning George Eliot and
Lewes--At the banking house of Baron de Rothschild--In
Paris--Boulanger's Napoleonic dreams; his suicide--Josef Hofmann as
a boy pianist--The artist who painted "Christ before Pilate"; an
extraordinary wife--Distinguished hosts and rich cooking--Vienna
and the Balkans--Thoughts on passing through the
Bosphorus--Constantinople, the city of picturesque dirt--Many
delays obstruct my audience with the Sultan--The fast of
Ramazan--Diplomatic garden parties--An ambassador's L300 Circassian
slave-wife--The Sultan says his prayers--Advice from a seasoned
diplomat--My address at Robert College commencement--In the
Sultan's Palace.
Our voyage was not altogether a light one. We had found it expedient to
leave Mildred, our elder daughter, then four years old, with her Grandma
Lavanburg; and while she was in excellent hands my wife was naturally
heavy-hearted at the thought of traveling so far and for so long without
her. The weather on board ship was for the most part stormy. Our little
Aline and her nurse were so seasick that the child resented being on
board with all the force of age three. "Mama, this ship is nobody's
home; why did you bring me here? I shall write sister Milly never to go
on the ocean," she declared rebelliously.
Having reached London, however, things went more pleasantly. Our
minister there at the time--we did not yet appoint ambassadors--was
Edward J. Phelps, for many years Professor of International Law at Yale,
a scholarly gentleman. I called on him almost immediately on my arrival,
and subsequently Mrs. Straus and I dined at the legation to meet Rustem
Pasha, Turkish ambassador, veteran diplomat who had been in the service
for thirty-three years and was about twice as old. He was leading
Turkish representative at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, following the
Russo-Turkish War. He referred to the various questions pending between
his Government and mine--the interpretation of Article 4 of the Treaty
of 1830, signed only in Turkish; the proposed treaty of 1874, negotiated
by Minister Boker and not confirmed by the Senate, concerning
naturalized citizens of the United States returning to Turkey;
missionary matters; our refusal to negotiate a treaty for the
extradition of criminals. I had informed myself regarding all of these,
but I deemed it wise not to discuss them in detail; rather I chose to be
the listener and draw him out, assuring him that when I arrived at my
post all these subjects would have my very best attention. He was
particularly concerned with the treaty for the extradition of criminals,
but the so-called criminals that came to the United States at that
period, especially from Russia and Turkey, were with rare exception
political refugees, and it is provided in most of our extradition
treaties that political offenders are not to be delivered up.
We remained in London about ten days, calling on a number of interesting
people. We spent one pleasant evening with Dr. and Mrs. John Chapman, of
the "Westminster Review." My article on "The Development of Religious
Liberty in America" was appearing in a current number of the "Review."
The Chapmans were good friends of George Eliot and Professor Lewes. In
fact, the novelist and the professor first met at the Chapman home. Dr.
Chapman also told me he was the one who first employed George Eliot in
literary work. He became editor of the "Review" in 1851 and engaged her
as associate editor. When George Eliot resigned, Mrs. Chapman became the
associate editor. With us that evening, too, was Harold Frederic, London
correspondent of the "New York Times" and a novelist of some promise.
From Messrs. J. & W. Seligman of New York I had received a letter to the
Seligman banking house in London, at 3 Angel Court. Mr. Isaac Seligman
invited us to dine _en famille_, and arranged for me to call at Messrs.
N. M. Rothschild & Sons', where I was very pleasantly received by Baron
Alfred Charles de Rothschild, who showed me through his magnificent
banking establishment and offered to send me a letter to the Paris
Rothschild firm. The Baron was then about forty-four years old, very
agreeable, a polished gentleman of the best Jewish type.
* * * * *
In Paris, our next stopping-place, we also had a very interesting time.
Of course we called on our minister, Robert M. McLane, then seventy-four
years old, but looking sixty. He was distinctly of the old school, with
all the grace of manner, combined with ability and wide experience in
public service--an excellent representative who was esteemed by the
French people quite as highly as by our own citizens in France. I speak
of this especially because in capitals like Paris it is not an easy task
to please both elements.
At dinner one evening in the home of my friend Adolphe Salmon, an
American merchant residing in Paris, we met Count Dillon and his wife,
most affable people to whom we felt ourselves immediately attracted. The
Count was a thorough Royalist, had been for many years in the army. At
this time he was managing director of the Mackay-Bennett Cable Company
and the leader of a movement, really anti-Republican intrigue, designed
to put General Boulanger, Minister of War, at the head of the State. The
Count was a close personal friend and schoolmate of Boulanger, then the
most extolled man in all France. The Count suggested that he arrange a
luncheon or dinner to have us meet the General, if that was agreeable to
us, for he felt sure the General would be pleased.
Consequently a few days later we lunched at Count Dillon's beautiful
villa some thirty minutes outside of Paris. It was an intimate two-hour
luncheon party, just Mr. and Mrs. Adolphe Salmon, the Count and Countess
Dillon, General Boulanger, Mrs. Straus, and myself. Boulanger was a
young-looking man for his fifty years, of medium height and weight,
wearing a closely trimmed beard; rather Anglo-American than French in
appearance, unassuming, of pleasant expression, and probably at the
height of his power. Five years before he had been Director of Infantry
in the War Office and made himself very popular as a military reformer.
In 1886, under the aegis of Clemenceau and the Radical Party which
brought Freycinet into power, Boulanger was made Minister of War. He was
noted for his fire-eating attitude toward Germany in connection with the
Schnaebele frontier incident, and because of this was hailed as the man
destined to give France her revenge for the disasters of 1870. In fact,
the masses looked upon him as a second Napoleon, "the man on horseback,"
and his picture on horseback was displayed in countless shop windows.
At our luncheon party he entertained us with many an interesting
anecdote, and I particularly recall his telling of coming to the
Yorktown Centennial Celebration and traveling as far as the Pacific
Coast in company with General Sherman to see our fortifications. "I was
asked what I thought of your American fortifications ["You know what
antiquated and insignificant things they are," in an aside to Mrs.
Straus], and I praised them and said I thought they were splendid, that
I had never seen any better ones because"--and here his eyes
twinkled--"no country has such nice ditches in front of its
fortifications," He meant, of course, the Atlantic and the Pacific.
When the champagne was being drunk and toasts were in order I turned to
the General, after drinking to the health of the company, and said: "May
you administer the War Department so successfully that posterity will
know you as the great preserver of peace." To this he responded that for
fifteen years France had always been on the defensive and permitted
insults rather than take offense, but that the time had come when she
could no longer do so and must be ready for the offensive. He evidently
had in mind that war was imminent. At a later meeting he asked me
whether, in case of war, I would be willing to take charge of French
interests in Turkey. I told him that while of course it would be
agreeable to me personally, such action could be taken only under the
authority of my government, which authority I would have to obtain
before giving an official answer.
The subsequent meteoric career of Boulanger is a matter of history. For
two years more his personality was one of the dominating factors of
French politics. I remember writing from Constantinople early in 1889:
"The most menacing condition exists in France, where, I am of opinion,
Boulanger will gain the presidency before many months and from that time
perhaps try to tread in the footprints of his Napoleonic ideal. If
so--alas, poor France, and alas the peace of Europe!" He had become an
open menace to the republic; and when Constans was Minister of the
Interior a prosecution was instituted against Boulanger and a warrant
signed for his arrest. He fled from Paris and was afterward tried and
condemned _in absentia_ for treason. In 1891 he committed suicide on the
grave of his mistress in a cemetery at Brussels.
We dined, on another evening in Paris, with Mr. and Mrs. William
Seligman, of the banking firm of Seligman Freres, the Paris branch of J.
& W. Seligman of New York and of the London Seligman establishment. This
dinner was a very large and elaborate affair, with many distinguished
guests present. After dinner we were entertained by the budding genius
of Josef Hofmann, then ten or eleven years old.
The noted Hungarian, Munkacsy, painter of "Last Day of a Condemned Man,"
"Christ before Pilate," "Christ on Calvary," and other celebrated works,
was also there with his wife. As a couple they presented a striking
contrast indeed. He was a silent man, talking very little and haltingly;
he impressed one as a refined artisan of some sort, perhaps a carpenter.
He was a large man of about five feet ten in height, with bushy hair
combed up, bushy beard and mustache, and small eyes which he screwed up
to almost nothing when observing something. His wife, on the other hand,
was as coarse-looking a woman as one might discover, with a loud,
raucous, almost masculine voice which, like a saw in action, rose above
every other sound. However, I have observed that these contraries in
personality in couples often make for happiness.
The artist seemed to take a keen interest in Mrs. Straus. He quite
embarrassed her by his constant staring, and after dinner sought an
introduction and sat next to her. Her plain hair-dress, smoothly brushed
back and rolled in a coil behind, fascinated him. He remarked how
natural and becoming it was and wanted to know whether she always wore
it that way; he wondered whether it would be as becoming any other way.
He wanted to know how long we should remain in Paris and expressed
regret when told we were leaving in three or four days. Mrs. Straus
felt he had studied her head long enough to paint it from memory. And
who knows, perhaps he has used it in some painting that we have not yet
discovered!
Another memorable dinner was at the home of Eli Lazard, of Lazard
Freres, bankers, where we met Judge Wilson and daughters, of Cincinnati.
All of these hospitalities were very pleasant, but personally I should
have been glad to escape them, for the late hours, together with the
rich cooking of Paris, were not in accord with my quiet habits and
simple tastes in food and drink.
In Vienna I called on our consul-general, Edmund Jussen, whose wife was
the sister of my esteemed friend Carl Schurz, which fact really prompted
me to make the call. Jussen himself was not very admirable. He had much
of the arrogance of a German official, so out of place in an American
representative. However, during our sojourn in the city he and his wife
exchanged several visits with us. Mrs. Jussen did not much resemble her
distinguished brother, except for an expression about the eyes. She was
a very amiable woman with a good face. She told me much of her brother's
childhood and school years--how he had to struggle hard for his
education. Their father was a small shopkeeper, but no business man, and
was never able to make money. Carl did not earn money, but always
applied himself diligently. This and much more that has since been
published about Schurz interested me greatly, of course.
We continued our journey to Varna on the Black Sea, there to take the
steamer for Constantinople. In those days there was no railway
connection with Constantinople. The Oriental Express went only to Varna,
by way of Bucharest. On that particular part of our journey we got our
first glimpses of the picturesque costumes of the Balkan district,
especially those of the men with their bare legs and flying shirts.
The trip from Varna to Constantinople was beautiful and inspiring. We
boarded the boat at about four in the afternoon and retired early so as
to be up by five or six next morning, when we passed through the
Bosphorus, round which clusters so much of classical memory. I suddenly
realized how much of my Homer I had forgotten--the Homer on whom I had
spent years of hard study. However, most of us meet so many new subjects
that have a more direct relation to our surroundings that it is next to
impossible to get that "elegant leisure" necessary for a continued
interest in the classics.
The effect of the trip through the Bosphorus is quite like a dream. The
high coast on both sides is covered with green, with here and there a
house or some large huts; on one side is Europe and on the other side
Asia, looking very much alike, bathed by the same sunshine, peaceful.
We sailed past Buyukdereh, Therapia, the summer residence of most of the
diplomats, about twelve miles from Constantinople, where the English,
French, Austrian, and Russian embassies had magnificent palaces and the
Germans were engaged in building; on past the lovely old towers of
Roumeli-Hissar, built eight hundred years before, when first the Turks
set foot in Europe, and back of this the tower of Robert College.
Suddenly my ever-smiling and happy wife spied a launch flying a large
United States flag at the stern. "It's our launch!" And sure enough,
when we waved our handkerchiefs we discovered the members of my official
family, who had come in the legation launch to meet us. There were
Pendleton King, acting charge d'affaires; Mr. Gargiulo, dragoman; J.
Lynch Pringle, consul-general; Mehmet, the _cavass_; and several clerks
of the consulate and legation.
The _cavass_, by the way, is a sort of bodyguard. He walks before the
minister, or rides on the box beside the driver, and serves the purpose
of designating that the minister or ambassador follows. He carries two
huge pistols and a sword suspended from a gold belt, and his coat,
sometimes red and sometimes blue, is much bebraided and embroidered. The
natives know each minister or ambassador by his _cavass_.
Our first impression from the windows of the Royal Hotel in
Constantinople was of picturesque dirt. As Mrs. Straus said at the time,
dirt not only on the hard earth roads and the people, but even on the
dogs. In time, however, one is less impressed by the dirt than by the
picturesqueness--the venders calling out their wares of fish, fruit,
meat, vegetables, all carried on the edges of baskets covered with
leaves; the water-carriers with their urns carried on yokes; and the
veiled women.
* * * * *
Immediately upon my arrival, of course, I communicated with His
Excellency, Said Pasha, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to present my
credentials and arrange for an audience with His Majesty the Sultan,
Abdul Hamid. The Pasha replied at once, appointing a time two days
later, and accordingly I went to the Sublime Porte, as the Turkish
Government seat is called, in company with the charge and the dragoman
or interpreter. That was about May 26th. Not until June 6th, however,
did I receive a communication from Munir Pasha, Grand Master of
Ceremonies, that His Majesty had named June 8th for my audience. The
next evening I received a telegram postponing the audience to the 10th.
On the 9th I received another communication, postponing it _sine die_.
On the 15th a new appointment was made for the 17th; then, between
midnight and one o'clock on the night of June 16th-17th, the personal
secretary of the Sultan came knocking at the door of my apartment, and,
after apologizing for his arrival at that untimely hour, informed me
that he had come at the Sultan's special request to say that word had
come from the Porte that June 17th was a most sacred day, a fact just
determined by the phases of the moon, and the Sultan therefore was
constrained to postpone the audience again. The date was later set for
July 1st, when I finally had my audience.
It was a peculiarity of Abdul Hamid to delay audiences to new
representatives for weeks and sometimes months by these successive
appointments and postponements, to no other purpose than to impress the
agents of foreign governments with the importance of His Majesty. In my
case there was some added cause: it was the month of Ramazan, during
which only the most pressing official functions take place.
Ramazan, ninth month of the Turkish calendar, is a period of fasting.
For twenty-nine days every Mussulman abstains from food and water, and
even smoking, from sunrise to sunset; which the rich arrange
conveniently by sleeping all day and eating all night, while the poor
who have to work all day eat at sundown, at midnight, and very early in
the morning. The first meal after the fasting, at sunset, is called
_iltar_. The fast is broken with Ramazan bread, a cakelike bread,
circular in shape, which we saw much in evidence at a bazaar in the
courtyard of a mosque at Stamboul, the more Oriental part of
Constantinople, where the costumes of Greeks, Armenians, Turks, and
Arabs form a strange mixture indeed.
During Beiram, a three days' feasting following Ramazan, the mosques
are all illuminated at night, and the view over the water, with the
moving lights of boats in the foreground and the dimly lighted houses
beyond, interspersed with brightly illumined mosques, is quite like a
picture of some enchanted land.
* * * * *
Because of the Sultan's peculiarities in receiving foreign
representatives, the custom in regard to official calls at
Constantinople is different from that at most capitals. Elsewhere calls
on colleagues are not made until after a minister or ambassador has had
his audience; but here usage dictated calling on one's colleagues as
soon as possible. Therefore I called first on Baron de Calice,
ambassador from Austria-Hungary and _doyen_ of the diplomatic corps. He
received me with great cordiality and kindness, and advised me fully
regarding diplomatic practices at Constantinople. And we were welcomed
by each and all of my colleagues in turn, so that I found these calls
very much less disagreeable than I had anticipated; I even enjoyed many
of them. At each visit coffee or tea was served, and generally
cigarettes too, as is customary with the Turks, which is wonderfully
effective in taking off the chill of diplomatic formalities. One soon
gets to expect these refreshments; it is a delightful custom that might
be adopted in other places to advantage.
Another reason why these formal calls were less formidable than they
might have been was that three days after our arrival at the capital we
were invited to a garden party given by Lady White, wife of the British
ambassador, Sir William A. White. This served to give us a prompt
introduction to all my colleagues. In fact, in the five weeks
intervening between our arrival and my audience, we had attended so many
garden parties and dinners given to us, that I found myself heartily
longing for respite. My natural inclination was to regard these social
gatherings in the light of idle frivolities, especially in the summer,
when one is supposed to be relatively free from functions of this kind;
and I was not alone among my colleagues in preferring more evenings at
home to the occasional headaches that it cost to continue the very late
hours these many engagements forced us to keep. Yet I could not
consistently decline invitations; such a course might have been
interpreted as a desire on my part to withdraw from the diplomatic
circle and would have interfered with the pleasant social relations it
was incumbent on me to cultivate. Attendance was really part of my duty,
and in time I found these functions distinctly advantageous.
We looked forward with more than usual interest to the evening of our
dinner at the Persian embassy. The Persian ambassador's wife had been a
Circassian slave, whom he was said to have bought for L300 with a horse
thrown into the bargain. The ambassador's wife was, of course, typically
Circassian; chalky white skin, soft black eyes, small features, an
unattractive figure unattractively dressed, with whom conversation was
almost nil because she knew only Persian.
The streets of Pera, the European part of Constantinople, are
exceedingly narrow and very hilly, for the city is built on several
hills, like ancient Rome; in addition they are poorly paved and dirty.
This makes driving dangerous and, as in mediaeval times, sedan chairs
were quite generally in use as a means of conveyance for the ladies of
the diplomatic corps and the wives of the higher Turkish officials,
especially at night to dinners and other official functions. Two sinewy
porters carry these chairs, one in front and the other behind, and they
shuffle along with considerable rapidity. Usually the lady is carried
while the gentleman, preceded by his _cavass_ in the case of a diplomat,
walks alongside, except in inclement weather when he follows also in a
chair. I am reminded of the wife of the German ambassador at the time, a
large, heavy woman, whom the porters quite justly charged double. She,
however, was entirely oblivious of her extra avoirdupois and always
complained of the injustice of these porters! The Austrian and Russian
embassies were particularly difficult of approach by conveyance other
than the sedan.
We certainly were living in a new sphere of life, in a strange land
among strange people, with customs and habits that brought to mind the
age of the patriarchs. There was much to see where some thirty
nationalities lived and did business as if in their own homes--much to
wonder at, much to deplore, much to praise and admire. The natives are a
peculiar people, with many admirable characteristics; they are kind and
hospitable, comparatively honest and reliable, especially the lower
classes, and they manifest a most sincere devotion to their religion.
The lower classes are poor, very poor; yet they are content and
reasonably happy because their wants are few. Their poverty is not a
suffering condition and they seemed to be better off than the poor
elsewhere. Their religion strictly interdicts the use of alcoholic
drinks, and as they are true to it and live faithfully up to its
principles, they are spared all the evils that fall in the train of
drunkenness.
[Illustration: MRS. STRAUS IN TURKEY]
During the weeks that I waited for my audience with the Sultan I devoted
my time to studying in detail the various questions in regard to our
diplomatic relations, so that I might be better informed when they came
up. This study was very interesting from an historical point of view,
for some of the questions were related to capitulations that dated as
far back as the fall of Constantinople in 1453. My legal training also
proved valuable in enabling me to understand and handle matters.
* * * * *
On our first Friday in Constantinople we witnessed Selamlik, the
picturesque ceremony held with great pomp every Friday, attending the
Sultan's going to the mosque. The Sultan's mosque is on the top of a
hill commanding the most beautiful view of the city, from which can be
seen the Bosphorus and, farther on, the Sea of Marmora. On the roads
surrounding the mosque as far as the eye could see were ranged ten or
more regiments of infantry and cavalry, each dressed in glittering
uniforms according to the section of the empire from which they came,
the most resplendent being the Nubian and the Arabian. The Sultan
arrived in an open landau, and opposite him Osman Pasha, distinguished
soldier, hero of the Battle of Plevna in the Russo-Turkish War, and
Grand Marshal of the Palace. The coachman was magnificently dressed in
scarlet and gold, and following were the aides-de-camp, also beautifully
dressed, one, an Armenian, all in white and gold. As the Sultan entered
the mosque a priest chanted a call to prayer which sounded not unlike
the old Hebrew chants in some of our synagogues. The mosque was so
crowded that we could see many Moslems kneeling and salaaming on the
streets outside the doors. The service lasted about twenty minutes,
whereupon the bands played and the Sultan reviewed his troops from one
of the windows of the mosque. He then returned to the Palace in a
beautiful top phaeton drawn by two horses, which he drove himself, again
with Osman Pasha opposite, followed by his aides and the carriage that
had brought him. Usually several carriages, open and closed, also
several saddle horses, are brought from the royal stables to the
mosque, that the Sultan may take his choice for his return to the
Palace.
It is expected as a display of good will that the ministers and
ambassadors occasionally attend this ceremony. It was practically the
only occasion on which Abdul Hamid appeared in public, for he constantly
feared assassination, and his expression showed his timidity. Following
Selamlik he quite frequently arranged to receive in audience. In the
kiosque or small house beside the mosque, there is a special suite of
rooms reserved for the diplomatic corps. An aide informs the Sultan what
diplomatic representatives or other persons of distinction are at the
kiosque, to each of whom His Majesty then sends some gracious message.
While prayers are being said in the mosque, the guests at the kiosque
are served coffee and cigarettes.
* * * * *
One of the persons whom I met shortly after my arrival in the city was
Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, who was in Constantinople as Britain's special
envoy to negotiate a convention regarding the withdrawal of British
troops from Egypt. He had a suite at our hotel where we saw each other
frequently and became very good friends. Drummond Wolff, as he was
usually spoken of to distinguish him from the several other prominent
Wolffs, was certainly a remarkable and clever man, and a great
_raconteur_. He was then in his late fifties, had had wide experience as
a diplomat, and was thoroughly familiar with the Turkish temperament. In
fact, he was at home in all that part of the world. He was born in
Malta, the son of the famous missionary, Rev. Joseph Wolff, a Jew who
became a convert first to Catholicism and then to Episcopalianism, being
ordained as priest in the Church of England. While in America he
received the degree of Doctor of Theology from the College of St.
John's, Annapolis, Maryland.
Sir Henry advised me in dealing with the Turkish authorities always to
be patient, pleasant, persistent. He also impressed upon me the
importance of maintaining the most cordial relations with my colleagues
and of returning all hospitalities; that a well-disposed colleague can
often be of incalculable assistance in inducing the authorities to
accede to any proper demand one might have to make. However, his own
relations with the British ambassador, Sir William White, were not so
friendly. The estrangement between them was quite evident, caused no
doubt by personal jealousy, which is so likely to result between a
special envoy and the regularly accredited representative of the same
country in a given territory.
We stayed at the Royal only about ten days, and then moved to summer
quarters in a hotel at Therapia, a name given to the district some three
thousand years ago by the Greeks because of its healthful and balmy
climate. Here, too, Drummond Wolff had a neighboring suite, and later,
when by reason of a longer stay than anticipated he was obliged to give
up his apartment before he was ready, we put a portion of ours at his
disposal, which he much appreciated. It was a very pleasant arrangement,
and diplomatically no less profitable. We dined together every evening,
and often in our party were also Prince Ghika, Roumanian charge, and the
Princess; Baron Van Tetz, Dutch minister, and the Baroness. The Baron
was later accredited to Berlin, and then made Minister of Foreign
Affairs in his own country. He has now retired and at this writing he
and the Baroness still live at The Hague. They are charming people.
On June 21, 1887, the entire diplomatic corps was present in official
dress at services in the English chapel, in honor of the Queen's
Jubilee. The chaplain of the English embassy, the Reverend George
Washington, officiated. He said he was of the same family as our own
George Washington.
* * * * *
The day before my audience I presided at the commencement exercises of
Robert College at Roumeli-Hissar, by invitation of the venerable
president, Dr. George Washburn. The college in 1887 had about one
hundred and eighty students, mainly Bulgarians, Greeks, and Armenians,
with two or three Turks. The commencement was quite similar to those at
home, except that the orations were delivered in the various languages
of the East as well as in French and English.
I took this first occasion to refer in a larger way to the aims and
purposes of Robert College and similar American institutions. The Turks
had not been able to understand the benevolence that prompted the
establishment of schools and colleges by Americans throughout the
empire. They were suspicious, and their attitude was founded on
experiences with various institutions and societies of several of the
other nations, notably the Greeks, who, under guise of scientific and
benevolent activity, had fostered political design. The Turks believed
that behind our institutions lay a purpose inimical to the sovereignty
of Turkey, a belief stimulated by Russia and by some of the French
Catholics, who were opposed to the extended use of the English language
and the influence of Protestant English and American ideas in the East.
This gave rise to many of the vexatious questions that the legation had
to solve. By way of throwing some oil upon these troubled waters,
therefore, I said, during my address:
For centuries the tide of progress and civilization has been making
its way toward the West. Its course has been marked by blood and
carnage. The history of the Middle Ages and of modern times
chronicles the nations and empires that have sunk in this mighty
current, and the new life and new civilization that have sprung up
over the ruins of the old. That flood tide, pushing its
irresistible course onward, still swept on, until in our day it
mingled its waters with the Great Pacific Ocean. The Ultima Thule
having at last been reached, the great ebb-tide began to course its
way backward; and America, the youngest of nations, in gratitude
for all the past, as a token of her amity and her friendship, has
sent back on the advance current of this return tide not ships of
war nor armed troops, but her most cherished institutions, a fully
equipped American college.
So that here, to-day, on the beautiful and picturesque shores of
the classic Bosphorus, on the very spot where the nations of the
East four and a half centuries ago erected and left the
well-preserved monument of their passage to the West, stands Robert
College. What a tale and what a history! Robert College here and
the Towers of Roumeli-Hissar there! The one the fortified remains
of bygone wars, the other the tranquil emblem of returning peace.
What a double tale do these two institutions speak to one another!
The tie that unites them is one of love and peace, a league more
puissant than army or navy for the welfare and happiness of
nations. When centuries shall have rolled by and another Gibbon
shall come to write of empires, may it be his privilege to record
no longer the decline and fall, but the rise and rejuvenation of
this Orient to which we look with affection.
And now that I had been received and entertained by about everybody in
Constantinople, it was time for my audience with the Sultan, who came
last like the prima donna. Official functions at Yildis Palace, as the
Sultan's residence is called (Yildis meaning star), were always most
dignified and punctilious. Royal carriages were sent from the Palace
with escorts for myself and staff. At the entrance to the Palace we were
met by the Introducer of Ambassadors; then we proceeded to the salon of
the Grand Master of Ceremonies, where I was met by the Minister of
Foreign Affairs and conducted by Osman Pasha, Grand Marshal, into the
presence of His Majesty.
The Sultan was standing ready to receive me. He was a small man, of
rather spare frame, sallow complexion, dark eyes that sparkled with a
furtive expression, prominent aquiline nose, and short full black beard
which later, when it turned gray, he dyed reddish with henna. He had on
a black frock coat that buttoned to the neck.
According to custom I handed him the letters of recall of my
predecessor, then presented my credentials, and made a brief address, a
copy of which in writing I left with him. It read as follows:
The President of the United States has been pleased to charge me
with the distinguished honor and agreeable duty of cultivating to
the fullest extent the friendship which has so happily subsisted
between the two Governments, and of conveying to Your Imperial
Majesty the assurances of his best wishes for the welfare of Your
Imperial Majesty and for the prosperity of Turkey.
As the faithful representative of my Government, charged with the
duty of protecting the interests of her citizens, permit me to
express the hope that Your Imperial Majesty's Government will lend
me its kindly aid in the efforts I shall at all times make to
maintain and further cement a good understanding for the
development of the relations of amity and friendship between the
two Governments, and that the same courtesy and cordiality may be
shown me which were so generously accorded to my honored
predecessors.
The time has at last come, through the progress of science, when
all nations by reason of the facility and rapidity of communication
have been brought nearer together, so that their mutual interests
and relations verily entitle them to be called one great family.
In the spirit of that relationship I have come to dwell near the
Government of Your Imperial Majesty, and to greet you in behalf of
and in the words of our Chief Magistrate as his "Great and Good
Friend," with the hope "that God may have Your Imperial Majesty in
His wise keeping."
Which is the customary language of such documents, with the exception of
the third paragraph. His Majesty replied in a brief address, expressing
his pleasure in receiving me. He then sat down and bade me do likewise,
whereupon we were served with cigarettes and Turkish coffee, the latter
in egg-shaped cups resting in jewel-studded holders. The Sultan speaks
only Turkish, and I spoke English, so we understood one another by means
of the dragoman, Mr. Gargiulo, who had been for twenty years the very
able Turkish adviser and interpreter of the legation and remained at
that post for ten years thereafter.
The audience concluded, we returned to the legation in the same stately
fashion we had come, following which we gave a reception to the American
colony, composed almost exclusively of the missionaries resident in
Constantinople, together with the president and faculty of Robert
College and of the Home School for Girls, then located at Scutari,
across the Bosphorus. I was now ready for the official business of my
mission.