//Ed. note: Prince Abdülmecid was the son of Sultan
Abdülaziz and he was about 20-years-old when this
pen incident occurred around 1888. As fate would
have it, Abdülmecid would eventually become the
last Caliph of the Ottoman dynasty in November
1922.
In March 1924 the Ottoman Caliphate was abolished
by the new Turkish Republic and Abdülmecid, along
with the rest of the members of the Ottoman dynasty,
was expelled from Turkey. He died in Paris in 1944.//
Caliph Abdülmecid in Istanbul.
The Prince and the Pen
Question: Do you have any relationships
with princes?
Answer: First of all, who do you mean by
princes. Might I understand
the question?
Q: Of course. The Ottoman princes.
A:
Let alone relationships, I don’t even know any of them.
Q: One of them sent you a bejeweled pen,
didn’t he?
A: Yes, that is correct.
Q:
Which one?
C: Abdülmecid Efendi, the son of Sultan
Abdülaziz.
Q: If you had no relationship why would a
prince send you a gift?
A: If a prince sends a literary person of
this country a gift is that evidence
of a relationship with that prince?
Q: Well, wouldn’t it be odd for a prince
to just all of a sudden send a gift
to someone he doesn’t know?
A: You’re assumption is a natural one. It
would be more than odd, it
would be very strange. But if the prince decided to send such a gift
couldn’t this simply be good manners, whether or not there is a
relationship or
a connection?
Q: How did it happen?
A: About seven years ago, I sent him a
copy of my “Rebi-i Ma’rifet”
annual which I had been publishing for probably three years at that point,
although not for public sale. Because I
knew enough not to publish
something without first offering it to the Sultan’s palace
(1).
Consequently, at the same time I
announced the publication via the
newspapers, I brought copies to the Sultan’s
palace the same day and
returned to my print shop. Then, one of my employees came to me
and said
that a man dressed like an ‘aga’ (eunuch) had come, saying that
“he sought a
copy of “Rebi-i Ma’rifet” in book stores but found none, so
he wanted to buy
one from you.”
I told my employee to have the man come
into my office and when he
did I recognized him as Ahmed Ağa, who had been in
the service of the
late Kemal Paşa. I
asked him whether he wanted a copy of “Rebi-i
Ma’rifet” for Kemal Paşa. Somewhat bashfully, he explained that Kemal
Paşa had put him in the service of the princes and that he was now working
at
Feriye Palace. He added that Prince Abdülmedid had sent him to get the
copy
of “Rebi-i Ma’rifet” but not finding it
in book stores, he came to my
print shop to buy one. I told him that “Rebi-i Ma’rifet” would not
be
available for public sales until the next day so I offered to give him one
of the fancy copies I had printed for the Sultan’s palace for the Prince.
Ahmed Ağa, being a well-bred man, knew that I
was offering this to the
Prince free of charge.
He took the copy, gave me a gentlemanly salute
and left.
The next day at around noon, Ahmed Ağa
returned and removed a
package wrapped in muslin from his coat pocket. It was gift for me
from the Prince – a gold
writing pen encrusted with rubies on one side
and with diamonds on the
other. Truly a magnificent gift. I still have it.
If you like, you can send
someone to fetch it right now.
(1 (1)Since the “Salname-i Ebüzziya”, which I
published from 1295 (1879),
ha had been seized by the Sultan’s Palace, after that
I had to submit the
annuals I published to the Palace prior to publication.
Q: After the pen, did you have a
relationship with the Prince?
A: No. But Ahmed Ağa came again the following year
and again I gave
him a copy of “Rebi-i
Ma’rifet”. Two months later, on the
first day of the
month of Muharrem, the Prince sent me the bejeweled letter “T”
((for
“Tevfik” probably)) broach that I have pinned on my necktie, as a
“muharremiye” present. In return, I sent
him two bound volumes of my
magazine.
The Minister was content with my
explanation, got up and gave the
interrogation memorandum to Faik Bey, who
boarded a vehicle and
departed en route to the “Mabeyin”. For my part, I was quite curious
about where the episode
concerning me and the Prince had sprung from.
Two months afterwards I happened upon the answer and I will relate
it
later. ((not available))
Philosophical
Discussions
Half an hour after Faik Bey left, at about
1130 o’clock, a young fellow
named Kemal Bey was brought by Ibrikdar Kâmil Bey
and an armed
soldier. Three years
before, Hüseyin Avni Efendi, a teacher at the
Numune-i Terakki school had
brought this Kemal Bey to my home in
Makriköy. He was deep into modern
philosophy to the point where he
would strike up a conversation about it with
anyone he encountered in
hopes of a sparking a discussion. Today, he was carrying the writings
of
((Ludwig)) Büchner, ((Arthur)) Schopenhauer and ((Herbert)) Spencer
under his
arm. Since Nazım Paşa was himself quite
interested in
philosophy, he greeted Kemal Bey with enthusiasm. Those who had
brought Kemal Bey chatted
briefly with the Minister and left.
My questioning came to an end, although
they had still not told me the
reason for my arrest and the search of my
papers. In any event, my
questioners
left and only a few of us remained as cocktail hour
approached. Kemal Bey exhibited no fear or anxiety of any
sort. His
obsession with Schopenhauer’s
“pessimism”, Büchner’s “Force and
Matter” and Spencer’s “evolutionism” had
prompted the “Mabeyin” to
send him to the Minister’s residence for interrogation
and possibly exile.
Yet, Kemal Bey
wasn’t the least bit anxious, saying only “what strange
men! They involve
themselves in what a man is reading!”
While we were in the garden, I asked the
Minister why Kemal Bey had
been arrested.
Smiling, he told me that it was because he reads strange
books. As a result, the Palace had sent Kemal Bey to
Nazım Paşa’s
residence for an assessment, rather than to the Ministry of Public
Security
for interrogation. I was pleased to hear that this young fellow
would be
spared torture and I knew that Nazım Paşa would take him under his
wing,
as he had done for many others.
After dinner, we had quite a discussion
about Büchner’s “Force and
Matter”, with the erudite Kemal Bey holding forth
like an expert in the
field of philosophy.
In fact, he even recited a number of verses from
“Mesnevi” poetry with
fervor and confidence. This prompted me
to
say to the Minister: “For goodness sake, please don’t let this fellow be
interrogated by Hüseyin Hüsnü Efendi!
He’ll either drive Kemal Bey
mad or accuse him of some misdeed and ruin
his life.”
The next day the Minister and Kemal Bey
continued their discussions
until eight o’clock. A summary memorandum was then sent to the
“Mabeyin” at the Sultan’s Palace and at about the time of evening
prayers, the
order for Kemal Bey’s release was received.
The Minister
gave him five or ten pieces of gold and a present, but given the lateness
of the hour and the voracious appetite of both Kemal Bey and the
Minister for philosophic discussions, we all chatted amiably until
midnight.
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