The writer describes Abdul Hamid as a man who has so many sides that it
is impossible to say just what he is or is not.

He is kind, amiable, and even attentive to those he likes, and takes
pleasure in showering them with gifts, going to the trouble of finding
out what present will be most acceptable to the recipients of his
favors. At the same time he has such a frightful temper that his
ministers are afraid of him.

Abdul Hamid seems to be a very vain man, and likes to create an immense
impression on his visitors. Any one who is to be admitted to the
presence of the Sultan is therefore conducted through beautiful gardens
and pavilions, past lines of fierce-looking soldiers, and on into a
palace blazing with gold and splendor. Gradually his imagination is
wrought up to such a pitch that he pictures the sovereign he is about to
meet as a person robed in all the gorgeousness of the East, glittering
with jewels, and a sort of Arabian-Nights figure of such splendor that
he will hardly be able to rest his dazzled eyes upon him.

Instead, he is finally conducted into an apartment more beautiful and
gilded than any of the others. Mirrors reflect the light and splendor
from side to side, until it appears to be a veritable fairyland. And
here, waiting for the brilliant Sultan to appear in all his pomp and
majesty, he is suddenly confronted by a slight, pale-faced man, dressed
entirely in black, who stands motionless before him, and gazes at him
with stony, expressionless eyes.

The effect is said to be tremendous. Every one who has seen the Sultan
says that this sudden contrast gives an awe-inspiring impression which