A dark, gloomy city overflowing with beauty
Blue Plaque, Plaque erected in 1972 by Greater London Council at 1 Bryanston Square, Marylebone, London, W1H 8DH, City of Westminster, source: English Heritage web page
At 1 Bryanston Square in Marylebone sits an elegant Georgian building marked with one of London’s trademark blue plaques: “MUSTAPHA RESCHID PASHA, 1800-1858. Turkish Statesman and Reformer lived here as Ambassador in 1839.” This was the first Ottoman embassy building in London, and according to contemporary accounts, it was a meeting place for London’s high society for decades. So popular were the balls, dinner parties, and soirees held here that Ottoman ambassadors were adored and courted by the capital’s foremost figures, soon became celebrities in their own right.
“The most interesting of all the diplomatic corps in London”
The first Ottoman resident envoy, Agâh Efendi, arrived in London days before Christmas in 1793 and took up residence first at the Royal Hotel in Pall Mall and later in the fashionable district of Adelphi. After making his first public appearance on New Year’s Eve at Covent Garden Theatre for a staging of Harlequin Faustus, he aroused such intense curiosity among the Londoners that 200 mounted policemen had to disperse the hordes of people gathered on the streets to catch a glimpse of him as he traveled to the Buckingham Palace to present his credentials to George III. This historical visit was later immortalized by W.P.R. Cope’s composition, “The Turkish Ambassador’s Grand March.” According to his personal account of the four-year-long mission, Agâh Efendi enjoyed riding in his coach in London’s pleasure gardens – particularly Ranelagh and Vauxhall Gardens – and attended the opera at every opportunity.
Yusuf Agah Efendi by Carl Frederik von Breda (1759 - 1818), source: wikipedia
Rüstem Mariani (a.k.a. Rüstem Pasha), who served as the Ambassador for only two years until he died in 1885, was famous for hosting dinner parties and balls that, in the words of a contemporary, “held their own with the most brilliant social functions of the time.” The table would be decorated with roses and ferns, representing the colors of the Ottoman flag and Mariani would spare no expense, hiring the most famous Parisian caterers of the time. The balls were held in the spacious room overlooking George Street in Marylebone and according to Madame Morel, who was part of the Ottoman envoy with her husband, Rüstem Pasha would prefer the majority of his guests to be women: “He received all of them at the head of the grand staircase, in fez and stambouline, all smiles.”
Rostam Pasha "the Italian", 3rd Mutasarrif of Mount Lebanon (1873 - 1883), source: wikipedia
According to Madame Morel, Rüstem Pasha had a stalker and he was genuinely terrified of her. The Ambassador asked Morel to “never allow her near him,” and once, when she called at the embassy uninvited, he hid in one of the upstairs rooms. Apparently, the stalker sent weekly letters to Rüstem Pasha reminding him that every Wednesday afternoon, she would be waiting for him in her house for tea, alone. The Ambassador never responded.
London’s true affaire de cœur
Constantine Musurus, Turkish diplomat
source: mediastorehouse
However, London’s true affaire de cœur was with Kostaki Musurus Pasha, who served as the Ottoman Ambassador for 34 years between 1851 and 1885. Known as a man of remarkably mild and attractive manners and exemplary domestic habits, Musurus Pasha was adored by London’s high society and the soirées he hosted at 1 Bryanston Square quickly became the talk of the town. And it all began in 1856 during a ball at the Ottoman Embassy celebrating the end of the Crimean War. The guest of honor, Queen Victoria shared the opening dance with Musurus Pasha, and the Ambassador’s rise to fame was sealed then and there. Referred to as “a very agreeable figure” by the Queen in her diary and “the most interesting of all the diplomatic corps in London” by Vanity Fair, Musurus Pasha used his charm and good social standing to score diplomatic success, such as securing quite favorable loans in the London market for the Ottoman Empire. He was so highly revered that William Ewart Gladstone, not known for his admiration of things Ottoman, lamented Musurus Pasha’s departure from London as Britain “losing an institution.”
“Even the Thames runs black”
In 1867, novelist, playwright, and political émigré Namık Kemal arrived in London and took up residence at 15 Charlotte Street near Fitzroy Square. He was delighted with his new lodgings (“I feel I’m a gentleman now”) and admired almost everything he witnessed in the capital: The libraries, the wide streets that “took three hours to walk from one end to the other”, the size of factories, hotels, and bazaars, their mastery over nature (“They grow pears the size of watermelons!”) – everything except the gloomy, dark skies that is.
Namık Kemal, source: wikipedia
Initially, Kemal feels it is the persistent clouds hanging over the city that paint London black. But soon, he notices the darkness and the gloom linger about even when the clouds disappear. And so, he realizes that “the darkness that rises from the chimneys is the only true master of this city.”
He is not alone in bemoaning the depressing skies. Mehmet Rauf, a leading existentialist novelist visiting the city in 1851 writes, “The smoke from the chimneys continues to paint the entire city black.” Abdülhak Hamid, a poet and the chief clerk at the embassy during the 1880s blames the sun: “The giant star seems to regret ever having to rise over London.”
Ahmet İhsan Tokgöz epitomizes how the darkness makes it impossible for Istanbulites to truly enjoy London and how, at rare moments they free themselves of its hold, unmerciful gloom at once re-ensnares them. Walking over the bustling London Bridge, Tokgöz for an instant seems to have forgotten all about the darkness that tyrannizes the city – he enjoys the crowd, the design of the bridge, and the hustle that surrounds him. And yet the gloom returns – even more relentless than before: “All the stones they’ve used in the construction of the bridge are black. The buildings around us are black. Even the Thames runs black. It’s all black. It’s all gloom.”
“The Amazons of Hyde Park”
Tokgöz couldn’t be more wrong; it wasn’t all gloom. Not at all. In fact, almost all the young Istanbulites visiting the capital were inundated with pleasure at the sight of the fair women of London.
Abdülhak Hamid'in Gençliği, source: wikipedia
Abdülhak Hamid confesses to finding it nearly impossible to describe their beauty but still gives it a go: “I can easily lose myself in those sultry, dark blue eyes. Gods must have touched their luscious hair. And their faces; they are simply angelic.” It’s not only their physical beauty that dumbfounds Hamid: “The way they carry themselves, the way they dress, move, talk… it all intensifies their beauty.” He is so spellbound by their beauty and aura that he feels inconsolable in their absence: “London is most stunning during the summer. But all the fair women of London have moved to seaside towns, and this place now resembles a paradise without houris.”
One of his close novelist friends and also a clerk at the embassy, Sami Paşazade Sezai echoes Hamid’s feelings. He feels he is in the presence of the most attractive women in the West, as “English beauty is complete and women here are beautiful both on the inside and outside. And, what sets them apart from women elsewhere is their irresistible pride.” Sezai spends June, or in his own words, “the season of pleasure and fervor,” lying in the shades of trees in Hyde Park watching women riding horses around the Serpentine.
The Serpentine, Hyde Park George Sidney Shepherd (1784–1862), Photo credit: Yale Center for British Art
Ever since the 17th century Hyde Park had established its reputation as the place to be seen while horseback riding. At the beginning - in fact almost until the late 19th century - riding in the park was the sole domain of the aristocracy: royals from Britain and elsewhere, foreign diplomats, and elite women.
However, the second half of the 19th century ushered in a wave of democratisation meaning more and more members of the wealthy middle classes also displayed their horse riding skills, or lack thereof, in the park. Horse-riders even created a route for themselves, called the Rotten Row. The name either comes from “Route de Roi”, meaning the King’s Way ’n French or rotteran, a military gathering. Today, the Rotten Row is primarily used for exercising horses of the Household Cavalry.
Taken aback by the beauty of the scene, he writes to his friend Hamid: “The most gorgeous women in the world riding the most gorgeous horses in the world – the Amazons of Hyde Park.”
Further readings
Ahmet İhsan Tokgöz. Avrupa’da Ne Gördüm? Tarih Vakfı: Istanbul. 2017 [1891]
From an Eastern Embassy: Memories of London, Berlin, and the East with Illustrations. Herbert Jenkins: London. 1920