CONDITION OF THE CHRISTIANS.
The Christians under Early Moslem Rule--Mohammed II--General
Oppression--Protection by French Government--Russian Intrigue--Power
of the Greek Church--Reforms under Mahmud II and Abd-ul-Medjid--The
Hatti Humayoun--General Improvement Throughout the Empire.
Up to the time of the capture of Constantinople, the relations of
the Moslem Sultans to the Christians were simply those of tyrants,
who collected what they could and recognized no rights of any kind
on the part of those who refused to accept Islam. The fact, however,
that there was scarcely any organized government of any kind made
matters worse, and soon after the establishment of the dynasty, even
as far back as 1360, just after the death of Orchan, it is said that
some Armenian refugees came to Edward III, at Reading, made complaint
that the Mussulmans were trying to exterminate their people, and
asked leave to live in England and collect subscriptions for their
fellow-sufferers. The king granted the petition, took the Armenians
under his protection, but only so long as the protected should do
nothing injurious to his realm, and should “bear themselves in true
faith and honesty.” But it was not only the Armenians who suffered.
On both sides of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles the Greeks felt the
pressure of Ottoman power, and the situation all through southeastern
Europe was one of terror.
Among the greatest causes for suffering was the organization of the
Janissaries. So long as Christian captives were constantly being taken,
every fifth captive was claimed for the Sultan’s service. The most
robust and handsome were trained for the regular military service, and
formed the basis of the famous body of Janissaries. Later, when the
extension of dominion put a stop to this source of supply, a tax was
laid by which every fifth male child of the Christian population of
the empire was converted by force and added to this company, until it
has been estimated that in the course of three centuries not less than
five million Christian children were sacrificed to this policy of the
Sultans. The effect was twofold; it kept the Christian peoples in a
constant state of subjection and terror, and it served as a heavy tax
upon their actual strength by removing the most virile portion of the
population.
With the conquest of Constantinople there was a measure of relief
in the situation. Yet in one aspect it became even worse. Under the
policy of Mohammed II, by which he sought to strengthen his capital,
there was formed a group of Greeks associated with the Patriarchs,
to whom was granted a special section of the city called then and
still the Phanar or Fanar. These Fanariotes became notorious for
their intrigues and unreliability. Their relations with the Ottomans
seemed to develop the very worst elements of the Greek character, and
there commenced under them that style of life which has done more to
degrade the Christians of the Levant than almost anything else. One
illustration of this is seen in the fact of the very great number of
Turkish officials of Christian origin. Under Mohammed, of five grand
viziers four were Christians--two Greeks and two Illyrians; under
Suleiman the Magnificent, of nine grand viziers eight were of Christian
origin. With such opportunities opened for advancement and wealth, the
great surprise is, not that there were so many defections, but that
there were so few. The recognition of the overpowering tyranny of the
government, the realization that that tyranny could be averted only by
catering to the passions or the cupidity of the ruling class, developed
a servility and treachery that has been the bane of the Christian races
of the Ottoman Empire. The same result was assisted by the peculiar
ecclesiastical rule which was established. The worst features of the
union of Church and State were manifest, and the priests became even
more political leaders than spiritual guides.
The various revolutions noticed in the preceding chapters operated
also to bind still more closely the chains of oppression upon the
Christian populations. Were it possible to learn the detailed history
of those centuries, undoubtedly instance after instance would be given
of heroic defense and of loyalty to their faith on the part of every
class and every church. On the other hand, the barbarism of the age
had its effects upon the Christian chiefs, and both in Europe and in
Asia, though especially in Europe, the Christians of Hungary, Moldavia,
Bosnia and Dalmatia were allied to Turkish Pashas in ferocity.
The commencement of treaty relations between Turkey and the European
powers was the first gleam of light that came to the Christian subjects
of the Sultans. The simple fact that there were Christians recognized
as having rights, in itself gave some encouragement, even to those who
did not share in the immediate benefits accorded to those connected
with the Roman Catholic Church. The appearance of Catholic missions
and convents in the various Turkish States, the protection of Roman
Catholic Christians, especially in Syria, in their pilgrimages to
Jerusalem, gave to all classes--Greeks, Armenians, and others--a degree
of hope that the time might come when their load should be lightened.
In the main, however, the interest of Europe was political rather than
religious, and for the most part the Christians were so thoroughly
left to themselves that almost their only hope lay in securing the
friendship, by whatever means were available, of their Moslem rulers.
When by chance there came a milder governor, especially in the European
provinces, the subject Christians would be found willing to sustain the
cause of the Turks, and in more than one instance the primates were
found to have intrigued in favor of the Porte. The French Ambassador,
De Brèves, rendered noble service when, in Constantinople, he threw
himself between the infuriated Janissaries and the churches of Galata,
declaring that he would defend at the peril of his life the exercise of
the Christian religion; so also when he averted an initial massacre at
Scio and preserved the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to the Christian
faith. It was no vain boast he made when he claimed to have given
liberty to from one thousand to twelve hundred men who had been made
slaves at different times.
A picture of the condition of the Christians a century after the
capture of Constantinople is given by a traveler, who describes them
in 1571 as so depraved and degraded that they hardly dared look a Turk
in the face; the only care of their listless existence being to raise
enough for their maintenance and pay the kharadj and poll tax--all
beyond would be seized by the Turks. In Constantinople only was there
any security, and here at the end of the sixteenth century it is said
that there were not less than 100,000 of them, many of whom acquired
wealth either by trade or farming the revenues. One such was reported
to have the fate of whole provinces in his hands, and the splendor of
his palace rivalled that of the Sultan.
It was perhaps in view of this condition that the French ambassador,
De Brèves, in presenting his defense of the Franco-Turkish alliance
dwelt to a considerable extent on the advantage accruing to the
Christian population from the French influence. He dwelt upon the
number of monasteries permitted by the Sultan in Constantinople,
colleges established by the Jesuits, the number of bishops in the
different Turkish States and the honor coming to the French name by
the securing of the protection of the Holy Places. But it was not
only the Roman Catholics that he felt would be benefited. Reference
was specially made to the Greek and Armenian Christians and to the
Copts of Egypt, all of whom in their pressing necessities and terrible
oppression were glad to have recourse to the powerful support of the
French kings. In connection with this French influence commenced
Jesuit intrigues, and the priests already conceived great projects for
the re-establishment of Roman Catholicism in the East. The English
ambassador denounced them as spies of Spain and alarmed the Turkish
Government; so they were arrested and imprisoned. Their release was
immediately secured, but the Ottoman Government did not hesitate to
declare that it preferred to see ten ordinary priests rather than one
Jesuit in Constantinople. So much did this prejudice increase that
a few years later, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of the French
Ambassador, the Jesuits were banished from Constantinople for the
period of twelve years. At about this same time, the early part of the
seventeenth century, we find the Armenians developing considerable
influence. They had spread throughout Asia Minor and had increased
their colony in Jerusalem to such a degree that they had forced the
Catholic monks from the Holy Places at Bethlehem and taken possession
of them themselves, only in turn to be removed on appeal to the French
Government. Perhaps on account partly of the aggressive action of some
of the French ambassadors, at about the same time, free reins seem
to have been given to the fanatical fury of the Ottomans against the
Christians in different parts of the empire, and even in Constantinople
itself the churches were closed and terror reigned everywhere. Sultan
Ibrahim I gave way to such furious anger in consequence of some
European successes, that he resolved to exterminate all the Christians
in the empire. This, however, was limited, on the representation of
the Moslem Mufti to Europeans only, and next, under the protest of his
ministers, to the Roman Catholic priests. The order for these massacres
was given, and for several days the Franks dwelling in Constantinople
believed themselves doomed to certain death. It was, however, revoked
after much diplomatic pressure.
The general effect of all this was to stir the Catholic world and
arouse the religious zeal even in France for war against the infidels,
and this had no slight influence upon the strange vicissitudes of
Turco-European diplomacy, all of which accomplished practically little
for the general welfare of the Christians. The war in Hungary resulted
in the carrying of nearly 80,000 Christians into slavery and the
general condition was most deplorable. Occasionally there was a little
relief when such men as the Kuprulis held sway and introduced certain
modifications of the bitterness of Moslem rule for the benefit of the
Christian subjects of the Sultan, but in the main fanaticism ruled and
the Christian was looked upon in the typical Moslem style, as a mere
slave who had no rights of any kind, simply duties.
With the peace of Carlowitz came into prominence the power of the
Greek Church. Already there had been more or less of conflict, but
now that assumed very great proportions. Not that there was much of
Christianity in it. The belief professed by the people and even by the
priests was probably the most superstitious form of the faith that had
ever been set forth. The church, however, was led by men and women of
great power, and their Christianity, even though largely destitute of
moral power, was available for some mitigation of the sufferings of
those at least whom they recognized as akin in Christian faith. As
early as 1670 an English historian calls attention to fact that the
Greeks throughout the empire turned to the Russian as their protector
and claimed that according to all their prophecies, ancient and modern,
he was destined to be the restorer of their church and their freedom.
This feeling was industriously strengthened by Russian emissaries.
The Czar issued a proclamation guaranteeing to the Moldo-Wallachians
the exclusive exercise of the Greek religion. A bishop was seen at
Jerusalem circulating a report that the Turks would be driven out of
Europe by the Russian nation, and Peter evidently hoped for a revolt of
all the adherents of the Greek religion. This mingling of politics with
religion, however, accomplished very little for the general welfare of
the people. Indeed in some respects it seems to have made it worse.
It roused the suspicions of the Turkish rulers, and wherever they
were naturally under the influence of fanaticism it assisted rather
than hindered the practice of outrageous oppression. Especially was
this true in the interior provinces. Whatever of relief came was upon
the borders. In Constantinople, Smyrna and in Syria there was some
pretence of protection. But inland this disappeared entirely, and the
description given in previous chapters of the general demoralization
of the Turkish Empire emphasizes the terrible condition of the
Christian population. That they retained their faith and even their
national unity is a marvelous tribute to their character and to the
genuineness--if ignorant and superstitious--of their religious belief.
Still there was growth and the treaty of Kainardji in 1774, as it
opened a wide door for Russian usurpation, opened also a wide door
of hope for the Christian population. The promise of the Porte to
protect the Christian religion and its churches, although vague, really
accomplished something, and even those who refused any association
with the Greek Church reaped, perhaps to a slightly better degree, the
benefits of their fellows. The most, however, that can be said is very
little, and the general condition of the Christian population of the
Turkish Empire at the close of the last century and the commencement of
the reign of Mahmud was one of intense suffering.
About this time the Christians were distributed in the main as at
present. The Greeks occupied the coast both of the Black Sea and the
Mediterranean, extending somewhat inland from Smyrna and Adana and
occupying villages in Central Asia Minor; the Armenians in largest
numbers in their ancestral country, Erzrum, extended from the eastern
end of the Black Sea south to the region of Van. They were also found
in increasing numbers throughout Asia Minor and Northern Syria.
The Syrians of Mesopotamia had fled to a considerable extent to
the mountains where they led a sort of feudal life, scarcely to be
distinguished from the Kurds surrounding them; those on the Mesopotamia
plain, Syrians or Chaldeans, were constantly subject to the oppression
of the Pashas; the Maronites of Syria occupied the Lebanon heights and
the Copts were in the towns of the Nile valley. In European Turkey
attention was mostly drawn to the Servians and Wallachians; the
Bulgarians had as yet not attained any such national power as to bring
them particularly into prominence.
The early part of the reign of Mahmud II accomplished very little
for the Christians. Attention was directed more especially to the
Greeks and their efforts for independence, and foreign nations were
too absorbed in their international politics to pay much attention
to the general condition of the Sultan’s Christian subjects. The
Greek insurrection brought heavy loss upon their communities, and
the massacre at Scio, which left scarce 900 out of 100,000, startled
the whole Christian world and operated strongly to bring about the
independence of Greece, just as, later, the Bulgarian massacres
resulted in an independent Bulgaria. Mahmud’s ideas were tolerant. He
realized the value to the state of the ability and shrewdness of his
Christian subjects, as is shown by his calling numbers of Armenians to
hold positions of influence in the government, and had he been free
to act as he desired, undoubtedly their condition would have been
very much ameliorated. As it was, it improved. One influence that
worked in this direction was the arrival of the American missionaries
at Constantinople in 1831 and their subsequent rapid spread over the
empire. The first effect indeed seemed unfortunate. The preaching of
evangelical ideas aroused the bitterest hostility of the Armenian and
Greek ecclesiastics, and appeared to increase the difficulties. This
very fact, however, aroused attention, and the persecution of the
Evangelicals called out the sympathies of Lord Stratford, who, though
always holding an impartial position, never allowing himself to appear
as the special defender of the missionaries, was able to bring to bear
considerable influence in favor of religious liberty and thus improve
the general condition of the people. The war with Mehemet Ali and his
son, Ibrahim Pasha, was felt very severely by the interior Christian
communities, and when Mahmud II died, in 1839, there seemed little hope
of great improvement.
The reign of Abd-ul-Medjid, 1839-1861, was, at least, so far as
the Christians were concerned, the golden era of the Ottoman Sultans.
He inherited his father’s liberal ideas, and furthermore had the
good sense to call to his aid some of the best statesmen that Turkey
has known, men who cordially endorsed his schemes for the general
improvement of the situation in the empire. Almost his first act was
the promulgation of the Hatti Sherif of Gulhané, a charter of equal
rights for all subjects of the Sultan. This was chiefly political in
its scope, having regard to the relations between the subject and the
government, and is noticed somewhat at length in the chapter on Reforms
and Progress. It was noticeable chiefly, so far as the Christians were
concerned, for its recognition of their right to the same protection
and justice which was accorded to Moslems. The difficulty of carrying
out any such scheme as this was made evident by the terrible massacres
which occurred in Eastern Turkey, when the Nestorians and Jacobites
suffered at the hands of Badir Khan Bey and his Turkish hordes (see
chapter on the Nestorians). In general, however, there was peace, and
on every hand the condition of the Christian population improved.
In 1853 appeared a firman recognizing the Protestant community and
giving them all the rights belonging to any other Christian race. This
was a great advance in the recognition of the principle of religious
liberty, and paved the way for the next step.
In 1856 appeared the most notable proclamation ever issued by a Moslem
ruler, the Hatti Humayoun. This was specially for the Christian races,
and on account of its great importance as well as general interest, is
given below in full.
HATTI HUMAYOUN.
“Let it be done as herein set forth.[1]
“To you, my Grand Vizier, Mohammed Emin Ali Pasha, decorated with
my imperial order of the medjidieh of the first class, and with the
order of personal merit; may God grant to you greatness and increase
your power.
“It has always been my most earnest desire to insure the happiness of
all classes of the subjects whom Divine Providence has placed under
my imperial sceptre, and since my accession to the throne I have not
ceased to direct all my efforts to the attainment of that end.
“Thanks to the Almighty, these unceasing efforts have already been
productive of numerous useful results. From day to day the happiness
of the nation and the wealth of my dominions go on augmenting.
“It being now my desire to renew and enlarge still more the new
institutions ordained with a view of establishing a state of things
conformable with the dignity of my empire and the position which
it occupies among civilized nations, and the rights of my empire
having, by the fidelity and praiseworthy efforts of all my subjects,
and by the kind and friendly assistance of the great powers, my
noble allies, received from abroad a confirmation which will be the
commencement of a new era, it is my desire to augment its well-being
and prosperity, to effect the happiness of all my subjects, who in my
sight are all equal, and equally dear to me, and who are united to
each other by the cordial ties of patriotism, and to insure the means
of daily increasing the prosperity of my empire.
“I have therefore resolved upon, and I order the execution of the
following measures:
“The guarantees promised on our part by the Hatti Humayoun of Gulhané
(No. 188), and in conformity with the Tanzimat (scheme of reform),
to all the subjects of my empire, without distinction of classes or
of religion, for the security of their persons and property, and the
preservation of their honor, are to-day confirmed and consolidated,
and efficacious measures shall be taken in order that they may have
their full, entire effect.
“All the privileges and spiritual immunities granted by my ancestors
_ab antiquo_, and at subsequent dates, to all Christian communities
or other non-Mussulman persuasions established in my empire, under my
protection, shall be confirmed and maintained.
“Every Christian or other non-Mussulman community shall be bound
within a fixed period, and with the concurrence of a commission
composed _ad hoc_ of members of its own body, to proceed, with my
high approbation and under the inspection of my Sublime Porte, to
examine into its actual immunities and privileges, and to discuss
and submit to my Sublime Porte the reforms required by the progress
of civilization and of the age. The powers conceded to the Christian
patriarchs and bishops by the Sultan Mohammed II, and by his
successors, shall be made to harmonize with the new position which my
generous and beneficent intentions insure to those communities.
“The principle of nominating the patriarchs for life, after the
revision of the rule of election now in force, shall be exactly
carried out, conformably to the tenor of their firmans of investiture.
“The patriarchs, metropolitans, archbishops, bishops and rabbins
shall take an oath on their entrance into office, according to a form
agreed upon in common by my Sublime Porte and the spiritual heads
of the different religious communities. The ecclesiastical dues, of
whatever sort or nature they be, shall be abolished and replaced by
fixed revenues of the patriarchs and heads of communities, and by the
allocations of allowances and salaries equitably proportioned to the
importance, the rank, and the dignity of the different members of the
clergy.
“The property, real or personal, of the different Christian
ecclesiastics shall remain intact; the temporal administration of
the Christian or other non-Mussulman communities shall, however, be
placed under the safeguard of an assembly to be chosen from among the
members, both ecclesiastics and laymen, of the said communities.
“In the towns, small boroughs, and villages where the whole
population is of the same religion, no obstacle shall be offered to
the repair, according to their original plan, of buildings set apart
for religious worship, for schools, for hospitals and for cemeteries.
“The plans of these different buildings in case of their new
erection, must, after having been approved by the patriarchs or heads
of communities, be submitted to my Sublime Porte, which will approve
of them by my imperial order, or make known its observations upon
them within a certain time. Each sect, in localities where there are
no other religious denominations, shall be free from every species of
restraint as regards the public exercise of its religion.
“In the towns, small boroughs, and villages where different sects
are mingled together, each community inhabiting a distinct quarter,
shall, by conforming to the above-mentioned ordinances, have equal
power to repair and improve its churches, its hospitals, its schools,
and its cemeteries. When there is question of their erection of new
buildings, the necessary authority must be asked for, through the
medium of the patriarchs and heads of communities from my Sublime
Porte, which will pronounce a sovereign decision according that
authority, except in the case of administrative obstacles.
“The intervention of the administrative authority in all measures of
this nature will be entirely gratuitous. My Sublime Porte will take
energetic measures to insure to each sect, whatever be the number
of its adherents, entire freedom in the exercise of its religion.
Every distinction or designation tending to make any class whatever
of the subjects of my empire inferior to another class, on account
of their religion, language, or race, shall be forever effaced from
administrative protocol. The laws shall be put in force against
the use of any injurious or offensive term, either among private
individuals or on the part of the authorities.
“As all forms of religion are and shall be freely professed in my
dominions, no subject of my empire shall be hindered in the exercise
of the religion that he professes, nor shall he be in any way annoyed
on this account. No one shall be compelled to change his religion.
“The nomination and choice of all functionaries and other employes
of my empire being wholly dependent upon my sovereign will, all the
subjects of my empire, without distinction of nationality, shall
be admissible to public employments, and qualified to fill them
according to their capacity and merit, and conformably with the rules
to be generally applied.
“All the subjects of my empire, without distinction, shall be
received into the civil and military schools of the government, if
they otherwise satisfy the conditions as to age and examination
which are specified in the organic regulations of the said schools.
Moreover, every community is authorized to establish public schools
of science, art, and industry. Only the method of instruction and
the choice of professors in schools of this class shall be under the
control of a mixed council of public instruction, the members of
which shall be named by my sovereign command.
“All commercial, correctional, and criminal suits between Mussulmans
and Christians, or other non-Mussulman subjects, or between Christian
or other non-Mussulmans of different sects, shall be referred to
mixed tribunals.
“The proceedings of these tribunals shall be public; the parties
shall be confronted and shall produce their witnesses, whose
testimony shall be received without distinction, upon an oath taken
according to the religious law of each sect.
“Suits relating to civil affairs shall continue to be publicly tried,
according to the laws and regulations, before the mixed provincial
councils, in the presence of the governor and judge of the place.
“Special civil proceedings, such as those relating to successions or
others of that kind, between subjects of the same Christian or other
non-Mussulman faith, may, at the request of the parties, be sent
before the councils of the patriarchs or of the communities.
“Penal, correctional, and commercial laws, and rules of procedure
for the mixed tribunals, shall be drawn up as soon as possible and
formed into a code. Translations of them shall be published in all
the languages current in the empire.
“Proceedings shall be taken with as little delay as possible,
for the reform of the penitentiary system as applied to houses of
detention, punishment, or correction, and other establishments of
like nature, so as to reconcile the rights of humanity with those
of justice. Corporal punishment shall not be administered, even in
the prisons, except in conformity with the disciplinary regulations
established by my Sublime Porte; and everything that resembles
torture shall be entirely abolished.
“Infractions of the law in this particular shall be severely
repressed, and shall besides entail, as of right, the punishment, in
comformity with the civil code, of the authorities who may order and
of the agents who may commit them.
“The organization of the police in the capital, in the provincial
towns and in the rural districts, shall be revised in such a manner
as to give to all the peaceable subjects of my empire the strongest
guarantees for the safety both of their persons and property.
“The equality of taxes entailing equality of burdens, as equality
of duties entails that of rights, Christian subjects and those of
other non-Mussulman sects, as it has been already decided, shall,
as well as Mussulmans, be subject to the obligations of the law of
recruitment.
“The principle of obtaining substitutes, or of purchasing, shall be
admitted. A complete law shall be published, with as little delay as
possible, respecting the admission into and service in the army of
Christian and other non-Mussulman subjects.
“Proceedings shall be taken for a reform in the constitution of the
provincial and communal councils in order to insure fairness in
the choice of the deputies of the Mussulman, Christian, and other
communities, and freedom of voting in the councils.
“My Sublime Porte will take into consideration the adoption of the
most effectual means for ascertaining exactly and for controlling the
result of the deliberations and of the decisions arrived at.
“As the laws regulating the purchase, sale, and disposal of real
property are common to all the subjects of my empire, it shall be
lawful for foreigners to possess landed property in my dominions,
conforming themselves to the laws and police regulations, and bearing
the same charges as the native inhabitants, and after arrangements
have been come to with foreign powers.[2]
“The taxes are to be levied under the same denomination from all the
subjects of my empire, without distinction of class or religion.
The most prompt and energetic means for remedying the abuses in
collecting the taxes, and especially the tithes, shall be considered.
“The system of direct collections shall gradually, and as soon as
possible, be substituted for the plan of farming, in all the branches
of the revenues of state. As long as the present system remains in
force, all agents of the government and all members of the medjlis
shall be forbidden, under the severest penalties, to become lessees
of any farming contracts which are announced for public competition,
or to have any beneficial interest in carrying them out. The local
taxes shall, as far as possible, be so imposed as not to affect the
sources of production or to hinder the progress of internal commerce.
“Works of public utility shall receive a suitable endowment, part of
which shall be raised from private and special taxes levied in the
provinces, which shall have the benefit of the advantages arising
from the establishment of ways of communication by land and sea.
“A special law having been already passed, which declares that
the budget of the revenues and the expenditure of the state shall
be drawn up and made known every year, the said law shall be most
scrupulously observed. Proceedings shall be taken for revising the
emoluments attached to each office.
“The heads of each community and a delegate, designated by my Sublime
Porte, shall be summoned to take part in the deliberations of the
supreme council of justice on all occasions which might interest
the generality of the subjects of my empire. They shall be summoned
specially for this purpose by my Grand Vizier. The delegates shall
hold office for one year; they shall be sworn on entering upon
their duties. All the members of the council, at the ordinary and
extraordinary meetings, shall freely give their opinions and their
votes, and no one shall ever annoy them on this account.
“The laws against corruption, extortion or malversation shall apply,
according to the legal forms, to all the subjects of my empire,
whatever may be their class and the nature of their duties.
“Steps shall be taken for the formation of banks and other similar
institutions, so as to effect a reform in the monetary and financial
system, as well as to create funds to be employed in augmenting
the sources of the material wealth of my empire. Steps shall also
be taken for the formation of roads and canals to increase the
facilities of communication and increase the sources of the wealth of
the country.
“Everything that can impede commerce or agriculture shall be
abolished. To accomplish these objects, means shall be sought to
profit by the science, the art, and the funds of Europe, and thus
gradually to execute them.
“Such being my wishes and my commands, you, who are my Grand Vizier,
will, according to custom, cause this imperial firman to be published
in my capital and in all parts of my empire; and you will watch
attentively and take all the necessary measures that all the orders
which it contains be henceforth carried out with the most rigorous
punctuality.
“10 DZEMAZIUL, 1272 (February 18, 1856).”[3]
[1] These words, written by the Sultan’s own hand, constitute the
decree a Hatti Humayoun.
[2] On the 18th of January, 1867, a law was passed granting to
foreigners the right to hold real property in the Ottoman Empire, and
on the 28th of July, 1868, a protocol was signed between the British
and Turkish Governments relative to the admission of British subjects
to the right of holding real property in Turkey.
[3] This document, as also the Hatti Sherif, has been taken from Van
Dyck’s report on the Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire, published at
Washington, D. C., 1881.
During the remainder of the reign of Abd-ul-Medjid, and that of
Abd-ul-Aziz (1861-1876), the condition of the Christians throughout
the empire generally improved. Outbreaks were not wanting. There was
the massacre of Maronites by the Druzes in 1860, and the intrigues
of Russia resulted in the Bulgarian atrocities, which, in turn,
resulted in the Russo-Turkish war and Bulgarian independence. For
the most part, however, the situation was far better than it had
been at any time. This, not merely in general prosperity, but in
the relation between Christians and Moslems. Terms of reproach were
heard less. There was greater freedom of worship and education, and
it began to be possible for a Christian to secure some justice in
the Turkish courts. Christians became numerous in administrative
offices, and in the councils in the interior provinces. Taxation,
while heavy, was less unevenly divided, and it became not unusual for
a Christian to acquire property without attracting the notice of the
Turkish authorities, and losing it all through the machinations of
some jealous official. Appeals, also, were more frequently made to
the higher courts, and local magnates learned that there was a power
higher than their own which they must respect. In this, the presence
of the American Missionaries assisted greatly. While not interfering
in the administration of the government, they frequently protested
to the local governors against manifest injustice and assisted in
the forwarding of complaints to Constantinople. The Patriarchs found
cordial support at the hands of the foreign ambassadors, and not
infrequently Turks looked on with envy, saying to the Armenians,
“When an official treats you unjustly, you have some redress. You can
send to your bishop and he to the Patriarch, and he can get the great
Ambassador from Europe to support his plea. The result is, you get
justice. We have nobody to go to. The official is one of us. He will
forward no petitions, and we must simply accept his decision, whatever
it may be.”
This amelioration of their condition was assisted not a little by the
political necessities of the times, and the fact that Abd-ul-Aziz was
so absorbed with his plans for aggrandizement that he thought chiefly
of using every means that came to his hand. He found the Christians
very useful, and advanced them so that they became a great power in
the land. Governors hesitated before they incurred their hostility,
and they were able to do much for their fellow-subjects. This sort of
prosperity, however, had its dangers. Intrigue increased on every hand,
and the coming in contact with the new ideas of the West operated in
some respects quite unfavorably (see chapter on the Armenians).
It must not be supposed, however, that there was no oppression. There
was, and the suffering in many places was intense. It would have been
impossible for even the most enlightened government to thoroughly carry
out such radical reforms as those of the Hatti Humayoun without great
difficulty, and in Turkey this was greatly increased by the fact that
they were bitterly opposed by the entire Moslem population. Turkish
pashas, sheiks, beys, and aghas were not slow to see that their power
was on the wane, and Turkish peasants realized that the Christians were
outstripping them in many of the elements of prosperity. Officials
thus used their power when they could, and Turkish citizens made
their hostility manifest in the most unpleasant ways. The incursions
of Kurds, Circassians, Lozes, and others were also frequent, and the
suffering was intense in many places. Peace and prosperity had by no
means come. Yet, on the whole, the situation of the Christians was far
better when Abd-ul-Hamid II came to the throne in 1876, than it had
been at any time since the establishment of the Ottoman dynasty.
[Illustration:
SULTAN OF TURKEY. Sultan Abdul Hamid II is now fifty-four years old.
Personally, he is a man with whom intercourse is extremely pleasant.
His position has been a very difficult one, and he by identifying
himself with the reactionary party has made himself responsible for
the terrible outrages in his empire.]
[Illustration:
AUDIENCE AT THE PALACE. The Sultan and his Grand Vizier are giving
audience to Sir Phillip Currie, and his secretary. The room is in
the palace of Dolma Baghtche, one of the most beautiful and richly
ornamented in the world. The attendant standing is an interpreter or
palace official.]