m the sultan down to the
smallest custom house official, all must get a squeeze out of the
victim whom they meet in any kind of business. The appellation, "The
Sick Man of the East," presents in brief the picture of an unwholesome
looking man, who is allowed to sit tight on his throne and plunder his
people because the Powers can't agree on the division of his empire.
When one looks at Abdul in his carriage one sees at a glance a
coffee-colored knave who, when he gazes at the crowd from behind the
mask of his face, is simply engaged in scheming a new twist in "graft,"
and wondering whether or not they can stand it and live. The Sultan is
an expert pistol-shot and has killed many native visitors without the
slightest proof that they were about to do him harm; if they made a
suspicious movement of any kind he shot them down in cold blood and had
them thrown into the Bosphorus. Abdul had an eye on the main chance
and did not consider it wise to have all his eggs in one basket, so he
deposited the hundred million dollars he wrung from his people--what is
called his "private fortune"--in banks all over the world. The Young
Turks are after this "pile," and he is not likely to retain it all and
save his neck from the rope. Perhaps his most horrible crime was
instigating the annihilation of 360,000 Armenians: this act alone
places him on the pedestal of infamy for all time. But the pedestal is
rocking, and his hour is near at hand. His territory in Europe has
shrunk from 230,000 to 60,000 square miles. In a little while there
won't be much left to divide, but there are other forces at work, and
these serious natives tell you that nothing can now stop the progress
of the task they are engaged in and that the days of the sultan are
numbered. We believed in their sincerity and determination, and wished
them every success. As a wind-up it will perhaps amuse the reader to
note the high-sounding list of titles that the sultan--this "cutpurse
and king of shreds and patches"--has given to himself. Here they are,
all fresh roasted, with a few added words to fill in the interstices of
his portrait:

THE SULTAN'S TITLES

"Abdul Hamid, Beloved Sultan of Sultans, Emperor of Emperors;"

"The Shadow of God upon the Earth;"

"Brother of the Sun"--(_Times_ and _Tribune_);

"Dispenser of Crowns"--(half-crowns and tu'penny-bits)--"to Those who
Sit upon Thrones"--(and gunny-bags);

"Sovereign of Constantinople"--(and of all its m