There are other Powers which are equally to be condemned for conniving at the Sultan's tyranny. From time to time they hypocritically take up the cause of this or that Christian population of Turkey for their own political purposes, and put pressure upon the Sultan, because they know well his 'squeezability,' as a London paper once termed his manner of receiving pressure. In individuals such conduct would be regarded as a species of black-mailing, but it is perhaps compatible with the political morality of civilised States. The conduct of France in the temporary occupation of Mitylene, and of Italy in making an intimidating naval display off Tripoli, in bombarding an Ottoman town on the Red Sea, and in forcibly opening Italian post-offices in Albania, are the most recent examples of this international morality. However, Abd-ul-Hamid will never be much affected by Turkey having to submit to such indignities so long' as his precious person is left untouched and his personal rule unchecked. Never did a self-respecting man carry selfishness so far!
The Sultan has many ways of making his person safe against responsibility and reproach. Among other things, I may mention here his employment of agents of many nationalities in Europe, who constantly write and say nice things about him. Even his oft-quoted presents to other Oriental dignitaries and his innumerable gifts to Europeans are offered from the same calculating motive; no sentimental generosity could be expected from so practical and selfish a man. In order to give an idea of how largely the Sultan employs this method, I will say something about the nature of his presents and gifts. From the moment of his accession up to the present time, Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid has constantly believed that he can win the golden opinions of the humbler and gain the sympathy of the higher members of the political circles with whom he is brought into contact by presenting them with some sort of grants or gifts. In fact, he is firmly of the opinion that everyone has his price, that every person may be bought, if not always by offers of gold, then indirectly by honours or gifts. In order to make his officials submissive, he gives some of them Government appointments of much higher grade than they really deserve; he grants them purses of bakhsheesh, and he decorates them lavishly. To gain some idea of how much the Sultan spends in keeping his creatures submissive, one would have to pay a visit of inspection to the Privy Purse Department at the imperial palace of Yildiz; there one could see greedy-eyed, yet gratified-looking individuals carrying away in white linen purses quantities of the precious metals. Then, if one glances at the pages of the Constantinople papers, one will see that dozens of unknown and probably undeserving creatures are decorated, promoted, or else appointed to some newly created posts. A correspondent of a certain French journal at the Turkish capital once counted the numbers of one particular order distributed, that called _Shefekat Nishani_, which, like many other decorations, has been created by the present Sultan, and is given to ladies of distinction, whether Ottoman or foreign. According to the Frenchman's reckoning, about twenty-five thousand gifts of this order have been made up till now. The old Turkish orders of the _Medjidieh_ and _Osmanieh_ are nowadays being so freely distributed, that the breasts of even the most ordinary Government servants are ornamented by one or other of them.