Armenia and Her People; or, The Story of Armenia by an ArmenianFilian, George H.
History
Armenia and Her People; or, The Story of Armenia by an Armenian
Filian, George H.
Armenia; Armenian question
Murad was too astonished to know what to do or say; but Heussein was
resolute, and Murad reluctantly followed him to the Dalma Bagsh;
there the commander ordered the soldiers to cry out three times
"Padishahum chock yasa" (Long live the Sultan). All this was about
midnight; and meantime printed notices were prepared and scattered
throughout Constantinople that Sultan Aziz was deposed and Sultan
Murad was on the throne. After a few days the commander-in-chief
sent a eunuch and a physician to Cheragan Palace, with orders to
put Aziz to death. They did so by chloroforming him and cutting his
blood-vessels with scissors. Heussein prepared a false report stating
that he had committed suicide, and brought it to Sultan Murad. The
latter did not believe it, and said, "you killed my uncle." Heussein
left the Sultan's presence in great anger, and went to Midhad's
palace to confer with him, calling in also Kaysereli Ahmed and other
officers. While they were together, another officer, Cherkez Hassan
by name, brother-in-law of the dead Sultan, came to the palace,
informing the guard that he had a message from the Sultan to the
pashas, who were in conference. The guard admitted him, and he went
to the parlor. After the usual salutations the commander asked him,
"Hassan, why did you come here?" Hassan replied, "I came to kill you,
dog," and fired three shots at him from his revolver, stretching
him dead on the floor. Then, before the others could assail him,
he killed every one present, except Midhad, who escaped. Hassan
was finally captured and hanged, but Murad was established on the
throne. He was a good-natured and liberal-minded man; he believed in
constitutional government, and organized a working system. There was
to be a parliament, one-third Christians and two-thirds Mohammedans,
elected by the people of the provinces or vilayets. Each vilayet
furnished three members, two Mohammedans and one Christian, all
indorsed by the clergymen. During the elections I was pastor of Adana
in Armenia Minor, and had to endorse our members. The Adana member
was an Armenian named Krikor Bizdigian, the richest man of that
city, perhaps in Turkey; if still living, he must be ninety. When
the parliament was opened in Constantinople, Sultan Murad presided,
and told the members to discuss any questions freely. He said, "We are
here for the good of the country, and the empire needs to be reformed;
how can we reform it?" This was an entire novelty; "government by
discussion" is not the Oriental way, and not the Oriental liking
either. The Mohammedan members were astonished, and they were wrathful
at the Christian members when the latter began to make free and able
speeches. They said, "Are we going to be governed by these heathen
dogs, the Christian hogs? We will have no parliament where every dog
is free to open his mouth. We want the good old ways of Mohammed." They
were like mad dogs, ready to bite. They hated the Christians, and they
hated the Sultan.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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