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No. 9
Sir Stratford Canning to Mr. Addington.—(Received November 23.)
Sir, Buyukderé, November 3, 1843.
A delay in the departure of the messenger affords me the opportunity of transmitting to you at once the inclosed report addressed to me to-day by M. Pisani. Though not official, it shews the strong impression which has been made upon the Porte by a knowledge of the sentiments entertained throughout Europe with reference to the Armenian lately executed. The Porte will probably seek to avoid replying ostensibly to the remonstrances of the several leading Courts, but means will, no doubt, be taken to prevent the necessity of practising such atrocities in future. A degree of success so important, though limited, might reasonably encourage the allied Courts to enter into a more complete understanding for the removal of other blots from the legal or political practice of the Turks, in their intercourse with Christians.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) STRATFORD CANNING.
Inclosure in No. 9.
M. Pisani to Sir Stratford Canning.
Excellence, Péra, ce 3 Novembre, 1843.
J'ai conformément à vos ordres remis à Rifaat Pacha la traduction en
Turc des instructions du Comte d'Aberdeen et de la lettre de votre
Excellence, avec une copie de votre lettre.
Rifaat Pacha a lu la traduction des deux pièces qu'il a trouvées très-importantes. Il m'a dit qu'il mettra les instructions de Lord Aberdeen sous les yeux du Grand Vizir et du Sultan.
Rifaat Pacha m'a dit confidentiellement que les mesures qu'il est question de prendre sont, d'ordonner à toutes les autorités à Constantinople et dans les provinces, d'avoir désormais soin, lorsqu'un Turc qui était Chrétien, se fait Chrétien de nouveau, et lorsqu'un Turc dit des injures contre Mahomet ou contre les Prophètes, ou vomit d'autres blasphèmes, de ne pas permettre qu'il soit traduit et jugé devant un Mehkemé quelconque; mais si le cas arrive à Constantinople, d'envoyer l'accusé à la Porte, et s'il arrive dans un pays hors de Constantinople, de l'envoyer au Pacha de la province, sans aucune espèce de jugement préalable. De cette manière-ci, dit Rifaat Pacha, la Porte et les Pachas au-dehors songeront aux moyens de terminer ces sortes d'affaires sans éclat, et (j'ose inférer des paroles de son Excellence) sans recourir à la peine capitale.
Rifaat Pacha a ajouté que la Porte ne peut faire aucune réponse par écrit sur cette affaire sans se compromettre, soit vis-à-vis des Puissances Chrétiennes, en disant qu'elle est obligée de mettre à exécution la loi qui regarde les Chrétiens qui, après avoir embrassé l'Islamisme de leur propre gré, y renoncent et redeviennent Chrétiens, et qui encourent par là la peine de mort,—soit vis-à-vis de la loi, en déclarant qu'elle ne sera pas exécutée à l'avenir dans un cas semblable à celui de l'Arménien.
Mais Rifaat Pacha m'a paru convaincu qu'après le bruit que l'Europe a fait, une scène semblable à celle de l'Arménien ne se renouvellera point. Les mesures que le Gouvernement se propose de prendre ont pour but d'éviter un jugement; et sans jugement on ne peut condamner personne à mort. L'Arménien avait été jugé au Mehkemé dit du Stambol Effendi, avant d'être envoyé à la Porte. Le Kiatib qui est en prison pour avoir dit des injures contre Mahomet, a été jugé au Mehkemé de Salonique, avant d'être envoyé à Constantinople; et le Conseil suprême l'a déclaré digne de mort, quoiqu'il n'ait pas été juridiquement et formellement condamné ici encore. La circonstance que le Kiatib a été jugé déjà et convaincu d'avoir blasphémé le nom de Mahomet, expose ses jours au plus grand danger.
J'ai l'honneur, &c.,
(Signé) FREDERIC PISANI.
(Translation.)
Excellency, Pera, November 3, 1843.
In conformity with your orders, I placed in the hands of Rifaat Pasha the Turkish translation of Lord Aberdeen's instructions and of your Excellency's letter, with a copy of your letter.
Rifaat Pasha read the translation of the two documents which he considered to be of great importance. He told me that he will lay Lord Aberdeen's instructions before the Grand Vizier and the Sultan.
Rifaat Pasha told me confidentially that the measures which it is proposed to take, are to order all the authorities at Constantinople and and [sic] in the provinces henceforth to take care that when a Turk who was a Christian, becomes again a Christian, and when a Turk speaks insultingly of Mahomet or the Prophets, or utters other blasphemies, he shall not be allowed to be given up to, and judged by, any Mehkemé whatever; but if the case occurs at Constantinople, the accused shall be sent to the Porte, or if it occurs in a district beyond Constantinople, he shall be sent to the Pasha of the province without any previous judgment. In this manner, said Rifaat Pasha, the Porte and the provincial Pashas will devise means for terminating affairs of this kind without noise, and (I venture to infer from his Excellency's words) without having recourse to capital punishment.
Rifaat Pasha added, that the Porte can give no written answer respecting this affair without compromising itself either as regards the Christian Powers, by stating that it is forced to execute the law regarding Christians who, after having of their own accord embraced Islamism, renounce it and become Christians again, and thus incur capital punishment,—or as regards the law, by declaring that it will not for the future be executed in cases similar to that of the Armenian.
Rifaat Pasha, however, seemed to me convinced that after the noise which has been made in Europe, a scene similar to that of the Armenian cannot be renewed. The measures which the Government are about to adopt have for their object to avoid a trial, and without a trial no one can be condemned to death. The Armenian was tried at the Mehkemé called that of the Stambol Effendi, before being sent to the Porte. The Kiatib who is in prison for having uttered blasphemies against Mahomet, was judged at the Mehkemé of Salonica, before he was sent to Constantinople; and the Supreme Council has declared him worthy of death, although he has not yet been judicially and formally condemned here. The circumstance of the Kiatib having already been tried and convicted of uttering blasphemy against the name of Mahomet puts his life in the most imminent danger.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) FREDERICK PISANI.
No. 10
Sir Stratford Canning to the Earl of Aberdeen.—(Received December 5.)
(Extract.) Buyukderé, November 17, 1843.
I am happy to state that a serious and salutary impression has been made upon the Turkish Government by the communication of your Lordship's instruction respecting the Armenian decapitated in the streets of Constantinople. Preceded as that communication was by the delivery of M. Guizot's impressive note, and followed, as I believe it to have been, by the presentation of Baron Bülow's instruction to M. de Le Coq, the Porte has felt, even in the absence of any similar declaration from the Austrian and Russian Legations, that she cannot with prudence or safety repeat an atrocity tending so directly to excite the indignant feelings of Christendom against her. I have not received, nor indeed have I yet demanded, an official answer to my remonstrance. M. de Bourqueney, though, like myself, without instructions on that point, has made the demand, but, at my request, he has abstained from pressing it, agreeing, on reflection, with me, that it would be advisable at all events to afford time for M. de Titow to hear from his Government, and to take a step more or less in harmony with ours. It remains indeed to be considered whether it would be prudent, even with that advantage, to insist upon receiving a formal answer. I have already forwarded to your Lordship's office the substance of Rifaat Pasha's remarks, and they convey an assurance that the Porte will in future find means to avoid the application of the law in cases like that which proved fatal to the unfortunate Armenian.
The apparent consequences of what has been done in this matter are, a Ministerial understanding that occasions of calling the law into action as to religious offences involving a capital punishment are for the future to be avoided, and a proclamation addressed to the Turkish authorities in Roumelia for the better treatment and protection of the Sultan's Christian subjects.
I venture to believe that your Lordship will derive the same gratification which I do from this result.
No. 11
Sir Stratford Canning to the Earl of Aberdeen.—(Received December 18.)
My Lord, Buyukderé, November 20, 1843.
I have the satisfaction to state, that the Russian Envoy has informed me of his having received an instruction from his Court on the subject of the Armenian youth decapitated at Constantinople. His Excellency has given me to understand that the terms of this instruction are in harmony with the sentiments of Her Majesty's Government; and I presume that he will make me a more complete communication of its contents the first time we meet.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) STRATFORD CANNING.
No. 12
Sir Stratford Canning to the Earl of Aberdeen.—(Received December 24.)
(Extract.) Constantinople, December l, 1843.
Having sounded Rifaat Pasha as to his intention of answering the representations of the Five Powers concerning the late religious execution, I was told by his Excellency that, although the Porte wished to avoid any recurrence of that atrocity, yet, as such executions, divested of the objectionable forms which accompanied the Armenian's death, were obligatory under the law considered by Mahomedans divine, and might be forced incidentally upon the Government, it would be embarrassing to give an official declaration to that effect. Some ostensible record of the Porte's intention to avoid religious exeutions [sic] in future would, I humbly conceive, be satisfactory to Her Majesty's Government, and it would not perhaps be impossible to frame a reply, which might convey the required security without coming into collision with the Mussulman faith. There is reason otherwise to apprehend that the advantage now obtained will be of very short duration.
P.S.—There is reason to fear that another religious execution has recently taken place in the Pashalic of Brussa.
No. 13
Sir Stratford Canning to the Earl of Aberdeen.—(Received January 5, 1844.)
(Extract.) Buyukderé, December 17, 1843.
I have the honour to state, and I do so with much concern, that the rumour, which has for some time prevailed, of another execution, similar to that of the Armenian youth, having taken place by order of the Porte, is now confirmed. The statements inclosed herewith describe the circumstances as far they are known. One of them is an extract of a despatch addressed to me by Her Majesty's Consul at Brussa, which is at no great distance from Biligik where the Greek was executed. The other was communicated to me by one of my diplomatic colleagues.
Rifaat Pasha in conversing with me some time ago alluded to this execution, of which I had then scarcely heard the rumour, and he spoke of it as a kind of accident, which had occurred prior to the late remonstrances respecting the Armenian, and which was not to be taken in proof of an objectionable policy at the Porte. With a variation of terms, and in some degree of facts also, he has offered the same kind of vague excuse to others, and I believe in particular to the Internuncio.
I presume that your Lordship would not approve of such an occurrence being thrown into oblivion without an attempt at explanation, and I am persuaded that any backwardness under such circumstances would only serve to confirm the Porte in her present infatuated course of policy. I have, therefore, communicated upon the subject with my colleagues of Austria, France, Russia, and Prussia, and finding them all substantially of the same mind, I have drawn up the instruction of which a copy is here inclosed, and sent it to Rifaat Pasha by M. Pisani. Similar instructions were sent in by the others, though neither collectively, nor simultaneously, and perhaps not in writing by the Austrian and Russian Ministers.
Your Lordship will observe that we ask for a distinct assurance from the Porte that measures shall be taken to prevent the recurrence of such revolting punishments in future. In proposing to make this demand I had in view the corresponding passage in your Lordship's instruction, communicated to Rifaat Pasha, and I thought to satisfy M. de Bourqueney, who had presented an official note in the former instance and applied for an answer, without exceeding the limits which my other colleagues were prepared to observe. Their joint acceptance of the suggestion, and their engagements to make the same demand, induce me to hope that the Porte's reply will prove satisfactory, though I cannot yet speak with confidence in that respect.
Inclosure I in No. 13.
Mr. Consul Sandison to Sir Stratford Canning.
(Extract.) Brussa, December 9, 1843.
A fresh instance, I learn, has unfortunately occurred about a week ago of the sanguinary spirit of the Turkish law and people against relapsed proselytes. A young Greek at Biligik in the adjoining district, who had become a Mussulman and returned to his own creed, has been put to death by hanging. He must have been a willing victim from what my informant states, as his profession of Islamism had been complete according to the usual rites.
P.S.—The execution of the Greek at Biligik took place, I further learn, after the return of an answer from the Turkish Government to a report on the case from the municipality of Biligik.
Inclosure 2 in No. 13.
Extract of Letter communicated by M. de Cordoba to Sir Stratford Canning.
Constantinople, 6 Décembre, 1843.
Un jeune Grec s'était fait Turc dans un moment de mauvaise humeur; revenu a lui, il était allé trouver un prêtre et avait témoigné le désir de rentrer dans sa croyance. L'ecclésiastique, approuvant sa pensée, lui dit qu'il devait réparer sa faute en revenant publiquement sur son erreur. Le jeune homme, âgé de 22 ans, fit la chose comme elle lui était ordonnée. Aussitôt les autorités Turques s'emparent de lui et le mettent au secret: ceci se passe aux environs de Brousse. L'on rapporte le fait à Constantinople: ici, en dépit des notes Française, Anglaise, &c., on tient conseil, et l'ordre est envoyé de l'exécuter, et en effet il y a quatorze à quinze jours cet infortuné a été pendu publiquement à Biligik. L'effet qui cet événement a produit sur les habitans Turcs du lieu a été tel que le Gouverneur a dû prendre les plus grandes précautions pour empêcher le massacre de tous les habitans.
(Translation.)
Constantinople, December 6, 1843.
A young Greek turned Turk in a moment of ill temper; having come to himself, he went to a priest and evinced a desire to return to his faith. The priest, approving his intention, told him that he must repair his fault by a public retractation of his error. The young man, who was twenty-two years of age, did as he was ordered. Forthwith the Turkish authorities lay hold of him and shut him up: this happens in the neighbourhood of Brussa. The transaction is reported to Constantinople: here, notwithstanding the French and English notes, &c., a Council is held, and the order to execute him is sent off, and in fact this unfortunate person was publicly hanged at Biligik fourteen or fifteen days ago. The effect which this event produced on the Turkish inhabitants of the place has been such that the Governor has been under the necessity of taking the greatest precautions to prevent the massacre of all the inhabitants.
Inclosure 3 in No. 13.
Sir Stratford Canning to M. Pisani.
Sir, Buyukderé, December 16, 1843.
It is with sentiments of deep concern that I have received unquestionable intelligence of another religious execution, similar in principle to that of the Armenian Avakim. In stating this circumstance without delay to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, you will lay before his Excellency the substance of the two accompanying papers, which contain a relation of the principal facts. You will express the surprise and disappointment which I feel in the contemplation of so revolting an act, after the very distinct communications which had recently taken place between his Excellency and myself respecting the previous case. A full knowledge of the sentiments entertained by Her Majesty's Government, and also by four other leading Cabinets of Europe, has not to all appearance prevented the Porte from again publicly outraging the principles of humanity, and again exposing herself to the just animadversion of those friendly Powers.
Under these circumstances, and referring to the instructions of my Government already communicated to Rifaat Pasha, I deem it an indispensable duty to invite the explanations of the Porte, and to state my expectation that the Turkish Government will not only declare its regret for the two executions in suitable terms, but that it will accompany the declaration with an assurance, admitting of no question for the future, that effective measures will be immediately taken to preclude the recurrence of such unwise and odious acts.
You will conclude by leaving with Rifaat Pasha a copy of this instruction, and by calling upon his Excellency to lay it before the Sultan, and to apprize you on an early day of the answer sanctioned by His Majesty, for the information of my Government.
I am, &c.,
(Signed) STRATFORD CANNING.
