“MY VERY DEAR SIR,—I have received your letter of November 13th. I was at first surprised and astonished to find that a friend, who ever since my departure from Constantinople had taken care not to send me even a simple greeting, should now have the courage to write me a letter with his own hand; but after having read it I understood the motive. Thank you for having wished to attract the Imperial kindness towards me, and for having replied—‘He wanders, sad and dispirited’ to the question that His Majesty kindly put to you. But at the same time I must point out to you that these words are used for the unhappy and the bewildered. If His Majesty has sent me away from Constantinople and exiled me to Europe, it was in order to put an end to the calumnies which were spread against me in Constantinople, where my presence caused a certain amount of anxiety. As it is neither in keeping with the dignity of the State nor yet with the Imperial will that a man who has occupied the highest rank in the Government, and who has so frequently received the public proofs of the Imperial favour, should be treated as one who wanders bewildered through foreign countries, I think you would have been nearer the truth and also have better pleased His Majesty had you said, ‘Midhat Pasha has retired to Naples, where he is praying for the happiness of the Sultan.’ “As to the rest of your letter, I must beg you to excuse me before I begin to comment on it. You know that I am the son of Hadji Echref Effendi, and that I have no other protector than God. I have worked very hard to acquire knowledge and virtue, but I have not succeeded. I own that my capacities and accomplishments are inferior to those of my colleagues. Now, if under these circumstances I have still been able to reach a rank so much above my merits, it can only be thanks to my plain dealing; and all the difficulties that I have met with during my life, are entirely due to my having spoken the truth.... What has happened, and to what is it due that I have been deceived? It was necessary that there should be a Sovereign at the head of the State after the Sultan Abdul Aziz, and, in accordance with the law, he was succeeded by the Sultan Murad. He became ill—was deposed—and, still in accordance with the law, the Sultan Abdul Hamid ascended the throne. It has been recognised that he manifested a sincere desire and also the necessary capacity to lead the State into the paths of progress; he showed much esteem for everyone, and his esteem and benevolence for me were prodigious. In the report which the late Mustapha Fazil Pasha laid before the Sultan Abdul Aziz, it is stated that the truth is always the last to gain admittance into the palace of Sovereigns, and indeed this is the case. But the more dangerous the word of truth, the more profitable is the result when it is spoken to the Sovereign in the hope of serving the State.