Presentation of the Address From the Irish Nation to the Sultan at Constantinople

Description

This engraving, published in the June 30, 1849 issue of The Illustrated London News, depicts the visit of Irish representatives to Istanbul to thank Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid for the financial aid he had sent to the Irish people during the Great Famine of Ireland (1845-1852). At this ceremony, which took place at Beylerbeyi Palace, a letter of thanks signed by leading Irish statesmen and noblemen was presented to Sultan Abdülmecid by William Smith O'Brien. The Turkish translation of the address, included in the newspaper article and the news text, is as follows: "A few days since, Mr. O’Brien had the honour of being received by his Majesty, the Sultan, at the Imperial palace at Beglerbey. Mr. O’Brien presented to the Sultan an address, signed by the leading people of Ireland, thanking his Majesty for his generous donation of £1000 for the relief of distress in that country. It is proper that it should be known that the Sultan originally offered to send £10,000 to Ireland, as well as some ships laden with provisions. It was, however, suggested at the time, by his Majesty’s Ministers, that it would not be proper for a foreign Sovereign to make so large a donation, and that £1000, which was half the sum contributed by Queen Victoria for the same purpose, would be sufficient. The money was transmitted to England by Lord Cowley, then British Minister at Constantinople, and whose conduct on that occasion deserves the praise of every Irishman. The address presented was written upon vellum, and was in the richest and most elaborate style of illuminated engrossing. The following is a copy of the address, which was translated into Turkish for the Sultan by Mr. Pisani, dragoman to the British Embassy: TO HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY, ABDUL MEDJID KHAN, EMPEROR OF TURKEY. “May it please your Majesty, We, the undersigned noblemen, gentlemen, and inhabitants of Ireland, beg leave most respectfully to approach your Majesty, in order to testify our deep-felt thanks and gratitude for the munificent act of benevolence and attention lately displayed by your Majesty towards the suffering and afflicted inhabitants of Ireland; and to thank your Majesty, on their behalf, for the liberal contribution of £1000 lately given by your Majesty to relieve the sufferings of the Irish people. It had pleased Providence to deprive this country suddenly of its staple article of food, and to visit the poor inhabitants with privations such as have seldom fallen to the lot of any civilized nation to endure. In this emergency, your Majesty evinced a generous sympathy for the Irish people, thereby displaying a worthy example to other great nations to assist their suffering fellow-creatures in affliction. For this timely and benevolent act, whereby numbers were relieved and saved from perishing, we beg leave again, on their behalf, to testify our grateful acknowledgments to your Majesty, & to express an ardent hope that the vast territories which acknowledge your sway and participate in your bounties will be saved from those privations and afflictions which it has been our unhappy destiny to endure.” The address was signed by his Grace the Primate of Ireland, the Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, the Archbishop of Dublin, the R. C. Archbishop of Dublin, the Duke of Leinster, Marquis of Ormonde, Marquis of Clanricarde, Marquis of Londonderry, Marquis of Waterford, Marquis of Headfort, Marquis of Ely, Marquis of Sligo, the Earl of Charlemont, Earl of Cork, Earl of Fingall, Earl of Leitrim, Earl of Roden, Earl of Gosford, Earl of Caledon, Earl of Bandon, Earl of Enniskillen, Earl of Ranfurly, Earl of Erne, Lord Claude Hamilton, Lord Stuart de Decies, Lord Monck, Sir Lucius O’Brien, General Sir Charles Napier, Colonel Caulfield, Sir Henry W. Barron, Sir R. Packenham, Sir James Strange, Sir G. Hodson; Franc Sadleir, Provost of Trinity College; David La Touche, High Sheriff of Dublin; Frederic Shaw, Record’r of Dublin, &c. In answer to this address, his Majesty the Sultan said he was greatly flattered by the manner in which the distinguished persons from whom it emanated expressed themselves towards himself and the country over which he ruled. “It gave me great pain,” continued the Sultan, “when I heard of the sufferings of the Irish people. I would have done all in my power to relieve their wants. I now feel the sincerest pleasure in hearing that their sufferings have ceased; and I pray God that for the future they may be prosperous and happy, and independent of the aid of other nations. In contributing to the relief of the Irish people, I only listened to the dictates of my own heart; but it was also my duty to show my sympathy for the sufferings of a portion of the subjects of her Majesty the Queen of England, for I look upon England as the best and truest friend of Turkey.”