The Turks use beads for conversational purposes as well as to count

their prayers. The ordinary ritual of the Mohammedan faith requires

thirty-six prayers and sixteen quotations from the Koran, and the

full ritual embraces ninety-nine prayers. If a mistake is made it is

necessary for the worshiper to begin at the beginning and go over the

whole list again. Hence he is very careful to check off each prayer

that he utters and each quotation that he repeats. Most of the prayers

are very short, however, and consist of the same meaning expressed in

different phrases: “Allah is great. I testify that there is no God but

Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.”

At several points in Constantinople saddle-horses as well as carriages

are kept for hire, and they are much more convenient for certain parts

of the city, where the streets are narrow and the grades are steep. The

owner or the man in charge sends a boy along to bring the horse back.

The number of people who speak English is quite remarkable, but all

orientals are great linguists. They seem to have a faculty for picking

up languages that is not enjoyed by Anglo-Saxons.

Turkish rugs are sold by the bale as they enter the custom-house, and

the purchaser has no opportunity to examine them. He must take them as

they come--good, bad and indifferent, old and new, coarse and fine,

perfect and ragged. The week’s arrivals are usually put up at auction

on Monday morning. The greatest number of rugs comes from the interior

of Asia and is brought down to the ports of the Mediterranean and Black

Sea by caravans of camels and shipped to Smyrna and Constantinople,

which are the great markets. They are packed so many to the bale by

sizes, and if the purchaser knows the name of the seller and the place

from which they have been shipped, it gives him a slight basis upon

which he can estimate their value; but it is always more or less of a

lottery and hence the rugs bring much less than their actual worth. The

sellers might make a great deal more money if they were not bound by

this ancient custom.

The dogs and the firemen of Constantinople are famous, and always

excite a great deal of interest among tourists. There are two popular

errors regarding the dogs--that they are ferocious and dangerous, and

that they are the city scavengers and have a contract for cleaning the

streets, which last is equally false. The dogs are wretched, harmless,

cowardly curs, which never bite unless abused or driven into a corner,

and then only in self-defense. They bark continually, however,

particularly in the night, and newcomers will be disturbed in their

rest for two or three nights until they become accustomed to them. In

this respect, as in several others, they are great nuisances.

So far as street cleaning is concerned they undoubtedly contribute more

filth and unhealthiness because their work as scavengers is limited

to rooting and scratching around for morsels of food in the offal and

other débris, and thus they keep it stirred up when it would be less

offensive if it were let alone. In that offal the dogs find their

subsistence, and they number tens of thousands. Thus their existence

is precarious. Each street has its own band, which is very jealous of

intruders, and when you hear a tumultuous barking you may be sure that

some stranger has strayed into a section where he does not belong and

is being evicted. The dogs are ownerless. There may be a few high-bred

animals kept in the houses by private owners, but the great mass of

them have no home but the street and no owners but the public. They

are allowed to live for superstitious reasons. The Moslem inhabitants

look upon them as a religious institution, as the protégés of the

prophet, and while they do not give them any care they would not injure

them under any circumstances for fear of bringing misfortune upon

themselves. A Mohammedan hackman or cartman would sooner drive around

the block than run over a dog. He will get down from his box and wake

up a cur that lies sleeping in the middle of the street rather than

drive over it, but usually flicks his whip gently to remind it that it

is in the way. The animal, being awakened, yawns and stretches itself

in an indifferent manner and then slowly moves towards the sidewalk.

The children are taught to be merciful to them and to believe that they

are under the special protection of the prophet.

The butchers throw their scraps into the street every morning at a

certain hour, and the dogs that belong in that locality are always

on hand to snatch their share of the morsels. Bakers cut up stale

loaves and toss them out in a similar way. Hotel and boarding-house

keepers are equally thoughtful in putting out their garbage cans,

but nobody ever offers the dogs shelter or attempts to cure them

of the mange, with which the majority are afflicted. Many of them

are repulsive sights. They live entirely upon the streets, each dog

having some shelter of its own during the storms of winter, where it

leaves its litters of puppies until they are old enough to look out

for themselves. When they die their bodies are left lying in the road

or are kicked out of the way by pedestrians. They are mostly yellow,

coarse-haired, wolfish-looking beasts, with long tails and pointed

ears. The guides say that the number is diminishing because the waste

places in which they formerly basked and bred are being rapidly built

over; but other authorities claim that this is a mistake and that the

number is increasing. A stranger would assume that the latter is the

case, because they seem so numerous and occupy so large a part of the

narrow sidewalks and streets. It is not safe to kick them out of the

way because you would be sure to disturb a colony of fleas which might

take refuge upon your own person, even if the cur did not turn and

snap at you. Old residents will tell you that it is not good policy

to kick a dog, because some Moslem might see the act and resent it.

The natives are so accustomed to their presence in the streets and to

their nocturnal barking and howling that they take them as a matter of

course, like the other nuisances of the city.

The animals have a high degree of intelligence. They know their rights

and insist upon them, and the manner in which each cur holds and

defends his own territory is remarkable. The occupants of the same

street never quarrel with each other, no matter how numerous or how

hungry they may be, but lie curled up in bunches on the street corners

in a most affectionate manner. But let a strange animal appear in sight

and every one is on the alert instantly. There is a scurrying of feet,

a series of low growls, a rush towards the intruder and then a tumult

of barking and yelping and shrieks of agony from the injured. It may

end in a dogicide. It usually does. The intruder is not often allowed

to escape alive and his mangled body will be found afterwards in the

roadway.

Abdul Azziz, predecessor of the present Sultan, was a great reformer

and, among other reforms, proposed to exterminate the dogs. Policemen

were sent around with poisoned meat, which was scattered freely

throughout the city, and the next day the streets were blocked by

dead dogs, which were not removed, but their bodies were allowed to

lie and fester in the sun. Instead of attributing the epidemic to the

unquestionable cause, the superstitious Turks construed it as the

penalty pronounced upon them by the prophet for the massacre of the

innocent. Since then no further attempts have been made to exterminate

the curs, which have been held more sacred than ever. There is a story

to account for the presence of the dogs in Constantinople. It is said

that in the Middle Ages their barking awoke the garrison of the city

and warned it of the approach of an enemy, so that it was able to make

a successful defense. At that time, the legend goes, the reigning

Sultan issued an order requiring all dogs to be held sacred, as the

prophet had made them the vehicle of the Divine will.

[Illustration: FIRE BRIGADE, CONSTANTINOPLE]

Sometimes I think the firemen are more interesting than the dogs. Fires

are of frequent occurrence, and often very destructive, because the

greater part of the old city is composed of wooden dwellings, which

are very dry and burn like tinder when a flame is once started. Great

precautions, from the Turkish point of view, are taken to protect them,

but they are only ludicrous to those who are familiar with modern fire

departments in our cities. Watchmen keep a lookout day and night from

three commanding spots which overlook the roofs of the entire city--the

Galata tower in the foreign section, the Serasker tower in Stamboul,

the Mohammedan city, and another tower upon a high hill on the Asiatic

side of the Bosphorus. Cannon are fired from the last-mentioned place

as a warning to the public and a notice to the firemen, but at the

other towers large balls made of bamboo and painted a brilliant red

are hung out in the daytime, and a red balloon at night with a number

of flags of different designs, like signals from a ship, which indicate

to the firemen the section of the city in which their services are

needed.

Upon these towers watchmen with telescopes are always on guard,

walking around the balcony and carefully inspecting every roof within

the limits of their vision. When a suspicious sign is discovered

there is a consultation, and, if it appears to be a fire, half-naked

runners are started to give an alarm through the streets and the

signals are hung out. The runners yell at the top of their voices the

locality where the fire has been discovered. The firemen, who are in

waiting at their various headquarters, strip themselves to a shirt

and a pair of drawers, seize hand engines, which are carried upon

their shoulders, and start at full tilt for the point of danger. They

are spurred to a high rate of speed because of rivalry between the

different organizations. The first to arrive is apt to get the job of

extinguishing the conflagration, but as they receive no pay from the

government, the owner of the house must bargain with them and make the

best terms possible before they will do anything to save his house.

Usually the neighbors, whose property is also in danger, are required

to contribute baksheesh before the pumping begins.

The engine is a small affair, which can easily be carried upon the

shoulders of four men running at a high rate of speed. Others carry the

hose, while the nozzle is handled like the baton of a drum-major by

the captain of the company, who leads the group of runners through the

streets crying “_Yangin var!_” in brazen tones. A company on its way

to a fire is a novel sight, and everybody rushes out to join in the

excitement. When the scene is reached the confusion is even greater.

Men, women and children plunge into the burning building to seize and

save or steal whatever can be reached. The police usually stand by

and watch the spectacle with admirable composure. They never think of

interfering, because their religion teaches them that misfortunes of

all kinds are penalties imposed by the prophet to punish sins, and

hence the houses of none but wicked people ever catch fire.

Pigeons are sacred in Constantinople. No true Moslem will kill a

pigeon, and in certain parts of the city they are found by the

millions. One of the most sacred temples is called the Pigeon Mosque,

because of the number of birds that live there. They are so numerous

that the air is often dark with them. Rich people leave legacies to

pay for their food. At all of the mosques peddlers are found who sell

corn for the faithful to offer to the birds, and it is regarded as a

religious sacrifice. The superstition against killing pigeons is based

upon the belief that the Holy Ghost inhabits the body of a pigeon, and

none can be put to death without a fear of sacrificing the right one.

The pigeons at the Bayezidiyeh, or Pigeon Mosque, which was built in

1497 by Sultan Bayezid, are said to be the offspring of a pair bought

by him from a poor woman in the market near by and presented to the

priests of the mosque. These pigeons are under the special protection

of several priests, who feed them regularly, and every Friday at

eight o’clock in the morning distribute food to the dogs that live in

that quarter. The scene is very noisy and exciting. The dogs know the

dates and appear promptly upon the appointed morning every week, but

woe to the stranger cur that attempts to sneak in for a share. He is

disposed of without mercy, for the legitimate tenants of the district

know each other as accurately as if each had been furnished with a

copy of a census. This food is distributed in obedience to a legacy

left by a Turkish tailor, who died sixty or seventy years ago with a

provision in his will for feeding the dogs on Friday, which is the

Mohammedan Sabbath. Beggars, hungry, ragged and diseased, often appear

when the dogs are fed and try to snatch morsels of meat from them if

possible, but it takes a great deal of courage to do so. The uproar

is tremendous. For half a mile around the barking and yelping can be

heard, but the inhabitants of the neighborhood are accustomed to it.

At the mosque of St. Andrew, Constantinople, which is in charge of

the dervishes, hangs an iron chain which is said to have the power

of detecting deceit and dishonesty, and believers who are accused of

theft or falsehood often demand the right to be tried by that test,

which is usually accorded them. If they are guilty it is indicated by

the vibration of the iron. If they are innocent the chain remains at

rest. A curious story is told of a Jewish debtor who falsely claimed

to have paid his obligations and demanded to be tried by the chain.

Before taking his station he asked his creditor to hold his cane, and

handed him a hollow staff, in which was concealed the exact amount of

money that he owed him. The chain, recognizing that the money had been

passed, declared him innocent--which showed that it is influenced by

technicalities like many other courts.

There are in Constantinople one hundred and eighty khans--immense

stone barracks of two stories covering entire blocks and inclosing

square courts which are usually ornamented with trees and fountains.

These khans are all very ancient, the oldest having been erected in

the time of Constantine and still being used. They are intended for

the entertainment and accommodation of traveling merchants, who are

provided by the government with lodging and sample-rooms in which to

display their wares. Each khan is in charge of a steward, who is the

master of everything under its roof, the representative of the Sultan

and the government, and the superintendent of a gang of workmen who are

employed about the place. A merchant from Persia, Russia, Turkestan or

any other part of the earth, having goods for sale, may apply to the

steward, and, if an apartment is vacant, is furnished with one or more

rooms in which he can sleep and live and receive his customers for a

certain length of time without paying rent. If there is no demand for

quarters he may retain the rooms indefinitely. Attached to each khan

are restaurants and eating-houses at which the occupants may live, but

many of them prefer to cook their own meals. Some bring servants with

them. The khans are the scenes of constant bustle, dealers in all kinds

of merchandise continually passing in and out, and although most of

them are dark, damp and uncomfortable, they have contributed a great

deal to the commercial importance and activity of the city. Men from

the country who are in the habit of trading in Constantinople always

go to the same khan, where they are known and expected, just as we

have our favorite hotels in the cities we are accustomed to visit. But

the khans are open to all merchants, of whatever quality, condition,

country or religion.

The tradesmen and artisans of Constantinople still maintain guilds,

which prevailed elsewhere throughout Europe for centuries until modern

methods of commerce and industry caused them to dissolve by making them

unnecessary. The primitive condition of affairs in Constantinople,

however, makes them of supreme importance, and they are maintained

with the greatest energy and exactness. There were formerly about six

hundred different guilds, but by consolidation the number has been

reduced to two hundred and seventy-five, which are registered at the

office of the minister of the interior and represent a membership of

two hundred thousand. They are managed very much like the trades unions

of the United States, and no artisan, mechanic or skilled workman

can obtain employment in Constantinople without carrying a card of

membership in some guild. The workmen are graded according to their

ability and accomplishments, an idea which it seems to me could be

adopted with advantage by the labor unions of the United States, which

recognize no difference between skill and incompetence, and demand the

same wages for every man regardless of his power of production.

The Turkish guilds are governed by a president and council, and their

funds are derived from the revenues of property owned and fixed

contributions, which are chiefly expended in charity, in assistance to

sick brethren and to the widows and orphans of deceased members. The

discipline is good, the organizations are thorough and extensive, and

the public have long since adapted themselves to their conditions. The

butchers’ guild is said to be the richest, and owns several million

dollars’ worth of property; the bakers and carpenters are the most

numerous. The subdivision of trades is amusing. There is a guild of the

makers of straw-seated stools, who at some time or another seceded

from the guild of the makers of straw-seated chairs and organized

independently. There is one guild for barbers who have shops, and a

separate guild for barbers who go out to serve customers at their homes

or places of business and work upon the public streets. These are the

most numerous of the barber guilds, because it is the fashion for men

to be shaved at their coffee-houses or their homes or offices, and

itinerant barbers go about like bootblacks in our cities. Each guild

has a patron, usually some notable scriptural patriarch, but I have

not been able to ascertain how this happens. Adam is the patron of

the bakers; Eve of the women who work in the Turkish baths; Abel is

the patron of the shepherds; Cain of the grave-diggers; Enoch of the

inkstand-makers; Noah of the shipwrights, which is perfectly natural

and proper, and Elijah of the tailors who make fur coats.

The most interesting places in Constantinople are the bazaars of

Stamboul, and they are peculiarly Turkish. They cover entire blocks,

divided up into sections by narrow streets or corridors, vaulted over

so as to protect from the weather the little booths or shops which

line them on both sides. These shops consist of a single room, perhaps

fifteen by twenty feet in size, seldom larger, without windows or

doors. At night the front is closed with heavy wooden shutters held by

iron bars. Around the walls of the interior are shelves upon which the

stock of the merchant is stored, and it is very limited, scarcely more

than samples of many articles in the same line of trade. One dealer

will have nothing but silk shawls, another nothing but calico prints,

a third nothing but fezzes. The business is all divided and dealers in

the same line of goods occupy the same quarter and sit cross-legged in

their shops waiting for customers. Several hundred merchants are found

in each of the bazaars, who pay a small rental to the government and

are under the control of a superintendent appointed by the minister of

the interior, who is supposed to keep the alleys clean and preserve

order. Ladies of wealth seldom go into the bazaars to trade. Articles

which they wish to purchase are sent to their homes.

There are miles and miles of these little shops, through which one may

walk for hours without crossing his own path, glittering with diamonds

and other precious stones, ivory and mother-of-pearl, costly perfumes,

marvelous carvings in ebony and other cabinet woods, embroidered

slippers and jackets, jeweled pipes, necklaces, rare brocades, furs

and leather, Persian and Indian shawls, Damascus silks, Bokhara table

covers, hammered brass and copper, metal pots and vases covered with

inscriptions, porcelain of all kinds, and an infinite variety of

articles new and old. There is no fixed price for any article, and

a dealer would be disappointed if you purchased at the first figure

demanded, because it would prevent him from showing his ability at

negotiation. Residents tell you that you must not pay more than half

the price asked, and must dicker until the merchant comes down to your

figure. If he does not do so you must walk away, when he will certainly

follow you and tell you that you may have it at your own price.

There are second-hand dealers in some of the bazaars, and during the

month of Ramazan, the Mohammedan Lent, the Turks, who live from hand to

mouth, are so much in need of money that they sell their most precious

possessions, and careful buyers can pick up wonderful bargains among

the second-hand dealers. The ladies of the harems are especially

anxious to obtain money at this season to celebrate the approaching

feast of Bairam, which corresponds to our Easter, when everybody is

supposed to appear in a new dress. When they cannot obtain the money

from their husbands they send their servants to the bazaars with

jewelry, embroideries, rugs, silver plate and other articles of value,

which are sold for almost anything they will bring. On Friday the

Turkish stalls in the bazaars are closed, on Saturday all the Jewish

stalls, and on Sunday those of the Christians, the Armenians and Greeks.

A certain portion of the bazaars is given up to auction sales, which

are very noisy and confusing. It is often impossible for a newcomer to

understand what is going on, because the buyers are not contented with

shouting their bids once, but keep up an exchange of repartee with the

auctioneer as loud as they can yell, which reminds you of the Board of

Trade in Chicago. Sometimes in the middle of an auction the hour of

prayer will arrive, and the faithful Moslem, who imitates the Pharisees

of the Saviour’s time, never neglects his devotions. He will kneel

down in the auction-room, in the street or in any other place when he

hears the muezzin’s voice, and go through his prayers without regard to

publicity.

A friend tells an interesting story about an auction he attended not

long ago, in which an English lady was bidding for some rugs. There

was a little hush in the confusion, of which she took advantage to ask

the auctioneer whether her bid was standing or not. “Yes,” he replied,

“yours was the last bid, and I shall knock the carpet down to you

in a few moments unless that Moslem who is now saying his prayers

offers more.” As Moslem prayers take a long time, the other bidders

became impatient and urged the auctioneer to go on. The praying buyer,

however, heard the conversation and clutched hold of the rug, but went

on bowing his head to the ground and muttering his prayers faster

than ever. When he finished he put in another bid, and the carpet was

knocked down to him.

VII MOSQUES AND PALACES

St. Sophia is one of the great churches of the world, ranking next to

St. Peter’s at Rome in magnitude, majesty and beauty. Three churches of

the same name have stood upon the site of this celebrated sanctuary.

The first was built by Constantine the Great, completed by his son and

successor, Constantius, and dedicated with great pomp on the 15th of

February, 316 A. D. The second, which rose upon the ashes of the first,

was built by the Emperor Theodosius and dedicated in 415. It was burned

during the sedition in 532, and the present edifice was erected by

Justinian the Great, after five years and ten months of labor, and was

dedicated on Christmas day of the year 537. Constantinople was then the

center of the world and the headquarters of the Christian Church, and

it was the ambition of that great emperor to embody in this building

an expression of his adoration for and devotion to the omniscient and

the omnipotent God, to place before the world a symbol combining all

things beautiful, all art--then rescued from paganism--all riches,

all human thought and skill as a tribute to the Creator. Justinian

sought architects, artists, decorators and workmen in every land, and

his biographers say that his authority enabled him to choose the most

competent and skillful of all mankind to execute the noblest of human

enterprises.

The entire world contributed material. As was the custom in those

days, the pagan temples were stripped of their treasures to adorn

the sanctuary of the true God. The shrines of Isis and Osiris were

despoiled to do it honor; the temple of the Sun at Baalbek, of Diana

at Ephesus, of Minerva at Athens, of Phoebus at Delos and of Cybele

at Cyzicus were robbed of their pillars and columns and adornments

of marble and gold. Solomon’s temple at Jerusalem was searched for

architectural glories, and every quarry in the civilized world was

seized and made to contribute. The wonderful columns of dark green

marble which support the galleries came from the temple of Diana at

Ephesus, eight columns of dark red porphyry came from the temple of the

Sun at Baalbek, other columns under the galleries were formerly in the

temples and the palaces of the Cæsars at Rome. The walls of St. Sophia

showed the finest specimens of material and handicraft in existence,

and the magnificence and variety surpassed all other structures.

Every species of marble, granite and porphyry that was considered of

any value in the known world is said to have been represented in the

construction, and the decorations were of corresponding magnificence.

The altar was more costly than gold, for it was composed of a variety

of precious materials imbedded together in gold and silver and

incrusted with pearls and jewels, and its cavity, which was called

the sea, was set with diamonds, rubies and other costly stones. Above

the altar was a tabernacle upon which rested a golden cupola and a

golden cross weighing seventy-five pounds, which, it is said, was so

thickly veneered with diamonds and other jewels that the gold could not

be seen. The seats of the priests and the throne of the patriarchs,

arranged in a semicircle behind the altar, were of solid silver. The

doors of the temple were of ivory, electrum and silver.

We do not know the cost of this wonderful edifice, except that

it weighed heavily upon all classes of the community, for every

soul within the dominions of the emperor, which then comprised the

civilized world, was compelled to contribute. Finally, as it approached

completion, Justinian, who stood by, clad in a cotton tunic, to

encourage the hundred thousand workmen, stretched out his arms to

Heaven and exclaimed:

“Solomon, I have surpassed thee. God be thanked, who has esteemed me

worthy to complete this work.”

And he dedicated it to Divine Wisdom.

The Archangel Michael is said to have been the architect, and revealed

the designs to Justinian in a dream. Celestial visitors frequently

descended to inspect the progress of the work, and, according to the

legends of the time, it could not have been accomplished without them.

When the building was approaching completion Justinian ran short of

money, whereupon an angel appeared, and, leading the mules of the

treasury into a subterranean vault, loaded them with eight thousand

pounds of miraculous gold, which relieved the situation. When a dispute

arose between the emperor and the architects as to how the light should

fall upon the altar, the angel appeared again and instructed them to

arrange a corona, or circle of windows, and dedicate three of them to

the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

It is claimed that the dome was the first of the kind ever erected, but

that is a misrepresentation, for the Pantheon at Rome was built many

years before. The dome rises over the center of the church to a height

of one hundred and seventy-nine feet and is one hundred and seven feet

in diameter. The dome of the Pantheon is one hundred and thirty feet,

those of St. Peter’s at Rome and Santa Maria at Florence are each

one hundred and twenty-six feet, and that of St. Paul’s at London one

hundred and eight feet. The interior of St. Sophia is oval in shape,

the greatest length being two hundred and fifty feet and the narrowest

one hundred feet, with aisles and recesses of eighty feet on either

side, making the entire width from wall to wall two hundred and sixty

feet. There are one hundred and fourteen columns, forty supporting

the galleries and seventy-four the dome. One hundred architects were

employed as superintendents, under each of whom were a thousand men,

including masons, carpenters, laborers, decorators and others.

Externally the building is very ugly--a mass of irregular blank walls

and domes painted a hideous yellow with black stripes, reminding one

of a convict’s garb. But the interior is majestic in its beauty, and,

according to a famous architectural authority, “is the most perfect

and the most beautiful church ever erected by any Christian people.”

The chief charm of the interior is its massive simplicity and perfect

proportions. It is almost entirely without ornamentation, except the

mosaic work upon the walls and ceiling. All the flat surfaces are

covered with mosaic laid upon gold. Compared with St. Peter’s at Rome

it is as empty as a barn. There are no tombs, no statues, no altars,

nothing to obstruct the view in any direction; nothing to conceal the

graceful outlines of the arches and the simple coloring of the walls,

which is a soft yellow, nearly as deep as an orange and traced with

different dark shades of green. I heard a young American critic remark

that there was “nothing to see in St. Sophia,” which is almost strictly

true, in comparison with the other great churches with which we are

familiar. There is a beautiful balcony for the Sultan to occupy in case

he should come to St. Sophia to worship, and he would be sheltered by

gilded screens. The _mihrab_, which corresponds to the altar in Roman

Catholic churches and indicates the direction of Mecca, towards which

Moslems turn in prayer, is a simple recess unadorned, and near by is

the _mimber_, or pulpit. In St. Sophia, as in all mosques which have

been secured to Islam by the power of arms, the preacher still mounts

the pulpit with sword in hand and hangs out a flag as a symbol of

victory and conquest.

The floor of the entire mosque is covered with Turkish rugs of the

richest texture, and at intervals of six or eight feet wooden troughs

made of undressed lumber stretch across the entire area. These are for

the convenience of worshipers and for the promotion of neatness, and

when one selects a place to kneel and pray he drops his shoes into a

trough. The rugs are divided into sections, plainly marked, so that

the faithful cannot have any excuse for crowding each other. At two

large fountains they can perform their ablutions before beginning their

prayers, and above them is the sensible admonition: “Wash thy sins and

not thy face only.”

Nine gates lead into the temple. Over the central one, by which the

emperor entered, is painted an open book on a reading desk, surmounted

by a dove with outstretched wings. Upon the pages of the book are the

words: “I am the door of the sheep. By me if any man enter in he shall

be saved, and go in and out and find pasture.” In the tympanum above is

a mosaic, also dating back to Christian times, representing Christ upon

the throne, with the words: “Peace be unto you. I am the light of the

world.”

The Mohammedans have retained most of the ornamentation of the

Christians, and even here and there a cross is permitted to remain,

although most of them were chiseled off centuries ago. There are also

several relics of Christ which they refuse to return to the Christians.

The most interesting is a cradle of red marble, said to have been used

by Jesus, and a basin in which He is said to have been washed.

St. Sophia for fifteen hundred years has been the theater of some

of the greatest and most solemn ceremonies in history, and was

particularly associated with the Crusades. On one of the piers in the

nave is the mark resembling the imprint of a bloody hand, said to have

been made by Mohammed II. as his war charger stood upon the bodies of

Christian corpses on the day of the capture of Constantinople by the

Turks.

All around the mosques are tombs, schools, baths, fountains, shops

for the sale of chaplets and other religious articles, hospices for

pilgrims, kitchens for the poor and a theological seminary with several

thousand students.

The Sultan has many palaces, all of them constructed by his

predecessors. He has built none himself, although he altered the Yildiz

Kiosk, in which he lives in seclusion, and modernized it a good deal.

Most of his palaces are occupied by his seven brothers and sisters, his

three married children, and other relatives. Only two of the palaces

are ever seen by strangers, and those can be entered only with a permit

from the Sultan himself, to whom application must be made with the

endorsement of your ambassador. Dolma-Baghtcheh Palace, an enormous

mass of glittering marble, with gorgeous gates and a pretty garden

around it, stands not far from the city on the European side, and

Beyler-Bey, on the Asiatic shore. If exquisitely carved marble, carved

wood and gilding, mosaics and mirrors, crystal chandeliers and gorgeous

frescoes, priceless rugs, tapestries, gilded furniture and divans

upholstered in costly damask, all in a prodigality from which taste is

excluded, constitute an ideal palace, Beyler-Bey excels.

[Illustration: BEYLER-BEY PALACE, CONSTANTINOPLE]

At a distance the exterior, shown against the woodlands and the grassy

plateaus of the Asiatic shore, makes an exceedingly pretty picture,

and Dolma-Baghtcheh as a mass is imposing. When you come to examine

the details you wonder without admiration at the lace-work doors, the

massive gilt columns, the barbaric domes and the Saracenic arches and

a crystal staircase, which must have cost an enormous sum of money.

Everything about the place is of the most costly material. The bath

and toilet-room connected with the Sultan’s apartments, which is shown

with great pride, is lined with slabs of alabaster--floor, walls and

ceiling--and the tub is of the same material. There are wash-basins

in nearly all the reception-rooms made of onyx and alabaster, which

we were told were necessary to take the place of finger-bowls after

the people of the court ate sweets. Both the Dolma-Baghtcheh and the

Beyler-Bey palaces are mixtures of Moorish, Arabic, Turkish and French

architecture and decoration, but the big ballroom, where the Sultans

formerly held receptions, is pure French.

We asked the handsome young aide-de-camp, who was detailed by His

Imperial Majesty to conduct us through the palaces, how a ball-room was

used in a country where gentlemen were not permitted to meet ladies. He

explained that in the harems the ladies often danced among themselves

for the entertainment of their husbands, although the latter never

danced with them, but a ball-room was considered a necessary feature of

a palace, and this one had been used on several occasions years ago.

The young colonel showed us through the picture gallery also, where

there is a collection of paintings made by the late Sultan Abdul Aziz,

who evidently knew very little about art. His taste seemed to run to

nude women, horses, and battle pictures in which Turkish legions were

trampling down their enemies. There were several portraits of Sultans

also, notwithstanding the popular impression that the Mohammedan

religion forbids the reproduction of the human face and figure.

People who have read fanciful descriptions of Constantinople, penned by

poets, artists and other sentimentalists like D’Amicis, for example,

who are apt to see more than appears to ordinary eyes, have an

impression that the Seraglio of the Sultan is a palace of mysterious

seclusion; that it has something to do with the harem and other

private affairs of His Imperial Majesty. I supposed so until I came to

Constantinople, but it is nothing of the sort. Literally, a seraglio

means a portico or vestibule surrounding any habitation, palace, kiosk

or mosque, but the term is commonly used as a collective noun, and

refers to a collection of buildings used for different purposes, such

as the residence of a pasha, his harem, his offices, his stables and

the mosque that is attached to all of the large establishments in

Turkey. The Seraglio of the Sultan is a large collection of buildings

inclosed by a mighty wall, covering the extreme point of the peninsula

upon which Stamboul stands, and dividing the Sea of Marmora from

the Golden Horn. In its geographical association it corresponds to

Battery Park, New York, and is the most conspicuous object one sees

upon approaching the city and the last upon which the eye rests when

departing. It is also the most interesting spot in all Turkey from a

historical standpoint. There is no place in the East except the Holy

Land which has so many associations. It is to Constantinople what

the Kremlin is to Moscow, the Escurial to Madrid, Potsdam to Berlin,

Versailles to Paris, and perhaps we may compare it to Hampton Court

near London.

The garden of the Seraglio was the Acropolis of the original city,

the site of the _Palatium sacrum_ of Constantine, the citadel of his

successors, the palace of Justinian and Placidia, queen of the Goths.

Few spots on earth have had a longer or more tragic history. From the

gardens of the Seraglio sailed the fleets of the Phoenicians, the war

barges of the Romans, the triremes from Asia, the galleys of Darius the

Persian, of Xerxes, of Alexander the Great, Philip of Macedon, and I

would not be surprised if Agamemnon, Ajax, Achilles and those bold old

warriors had landed there many a time. The gilded barges of Venice and

Genoa brought their soldiers there and from that landing-place carried

away millions of plunder. The feet of the Crusaders trod the gravel

walks--Richard the Lion-Hearted, Godfrey de Bouillon, and the Frank

emperors made it their headquarters in the time of the Crusades. Since

the occupation of Constantinople by the Turks, the resplendent caiques

of the Sultans have come and gone, some of them bearing candidates for

uneasy thrones, and others, desperate creatures, seeking refuge from a

miserable death.

From the time of Mohammed II., who took Constantinople by storm in

1453, to Abdul Medjid, in 1864, who deserted it for the more cheerful

palace of the Dolma-Baghtcheh on the banks of the Bosphorus, twenty-two

Sultans have been imprisoned or murdered, or died by violence within

the palaces of the Seraglio. For four hundred years the fate of the

sovereigns of Turkey was subject to the caprice of the all-powerful

Janizaries, who made it their headquarters. Up to the beginning of

the last century it was the fashion for the Janizaries to decapitate

unpopular Sultans and ministers and expose their heads upon the pillars

of the gate in order that the public might know what had happened. Two

niches on either side of the Sublime Porte, which is the main gateway

to the Seraglio, were made for that purpose. Sometimes, however, as a

special mark of vengeance or honor, the heads were placed, like that

of John the Baptist, upon a silver charger and left outside where the

public could examine them closely.

Over the Sublime Porte, a stately arch with ponderous gates, is an

Arabic inscription reading: “May Allah ever preserve the glory of the

possessor; may Allah ever strengthen his foundations.”

In the first large court, known as the Court of the Janizaries, is an

enormous tree called by their name, under which they were in the habit

of hatching their conspiracies. It is said to be the largest tree in

Europe, and two stunted columns under its far-spreading branches once

served as a guillotine. There are many buildings within the walls in

addition to the palaces, the harem, the barracks of the soldiers and

those used for official purposes. The mint is there, the arsenal,

magazines for the storage of explosives, a hospital, the imperial

stables, quarters for an army of slaves, several pleasure kiosks and

a mosque. The Greek church of St. Irene, erected by Constantine the

Great, which was converted into an armory instead of a mosque, is a

venerable monument of the Byzantine style of architecture. In the

museum of the armory is the scimiter used by Mohammed II. in the siege

of Constantinople, the sword of Scanderbeg, the armor of Tamerlane and

the porphyry tombs of Constantine, Theodosius, Julian the Apostate and

other early Greek emperors.

The _Chirkau Scherif_, or Hall of the Holy Garment, is the most sacred

place in Turkey, for it shelters the mantle of the Prophet Mohammed,

his staff, his saber, his standard, and, among other relics, two hairs

from his venerable beard, which are inclosed in a casket of gold. The

sacred mantle is a long brown robe of camel’s-hair, made in the same

shape and style and resembling in appearance those worn by Persian

priests. It is inclosed in a frame and covered with cloth-of-gold

for protection, with little slits cut in the covering in order that

the threads may be seen. The standard of Islam is a green flag or

banner, about two feet square, of the finest silk, embroidered with

an inscription similar to those seen in all the Mohammedan churches,

declaring that “there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet.”

This standard is said to have been carried by Mohammed himself and has

ever since been the most significant and sacred egis of the Moslem

world, the symbol of _el jihad_, or call to a religious war, when borne

publicly by the Sultan in the mosque of St. Sophia.

[Illustration: SULEIMAN MOSQUE, CONSTANTINOPLE]

There are many other interesting buildings in the Seraglio, some of

them famous for their decorations and the carved marble used in their

construction. Others are gloomy-looking storehouses for archives and

wardrobes for the robes of state--once carefully kept by black eunuchs,

now all more or less dilapidated and abandoned. The kitchens cover a

large area and are roofed with domes perforated to let out the smoke

instead of having the ordinary chimney, and in the olden days it is

said that 40,000 oxen was the yearly complement, with a corresponding

number of sheep, goats, calves, capons, geese, ducks, pigeons and other

supplies.

In August, 1863, several of the ancient buildings were destroyed and

damaged by fire, and nowadays the most of them are yellow and dingy,

sadly in need of paint and restoration. There is everywhere a look of

neglect. Most of the Seraglio is vacant except for the custodians and

guards, and everywhere there is a pathetic squalor.

The most beautiful of all the buildings, the famous oriental kiosk

known as Tschinili, or the mosque of porcelain, built by the conqueror

Mohammed in imitation of one he saw at Bagdad, remains in an excellent

state of preservation, for which we are duly grateful, and its

portico, with graceful pillars elaborately carved in the most delicate

lace-work, its dome starred with gilt coruscations, and lined from

ceiling to floor with beautiful blue Persian tiles, look as bright and

new as they did on the day they were made. The doors are of bronze, the

woodwork is set with mother-of-pearl and the rugs and hangings are of

the finest silk. It is altogether the prettiest thing in Constantinople.

Across the court, however, is what we came to see,--the treasury of

the Ottoman Empire, or, as it used to be known, the Green Vaults of

Constantine. Here is a display of barbaric splendor and a collection

of treasure and baubles which no Turk is ever allowed to look upon

except the _Aghas_ and eunuchs who are intrusted with its protection,

and even they are spies upon each other. No one can enter this

building without an order signed by Abrahim Pasha, private secretary

to His Majesty. Applications by strangers must be made to the Sultan

personally through the ambassador of their country, and he requires

several days to consider before granting a permit. Perhaps he makes

inquiries as to the character of the applicant, because he is

exceedingly jealous of his treasures and always apprehensive lest they

should be seen by some person who may make trouble about them.

No resident of Constantinople except the families of the diplomatic

corps, no Turk and no person who understands the Turkish language

can be admitted, for fear they might give information concerning the

millions of dollars’ worth of precious stones and other valuables which

would tempt robbers or cause discontent among the poverty-stricken

people. When the Sultan tells suppliants that he has no money they

might ask him to sell some of the diamonds and pearls and emeralds or

melt up some of the gold in his treasury. Very few Turks know what

is there. Few members of the Sultan’s household have ever seen the

collection. Most of them are gifts, heirlooms and trophies of war. Many

have been handed down by twenty-eight generations of Sultans, and it is

claimed that the collection has never been disturbed; but that is an

exaggeration. No matter how hard-pressed the Sultan may be for money

he would not sell any of his treasures, but sometimes he has taken out

some trifle for a gift--a jewel or an ornament; something that would

not be missed.

There is no such useless wealth in all the world except in the Kremlin

at Moscow. That looks larger because it occupies more space and is

better arranged for display. The Sultan’s treasures are crowded into

two little rooms, arranged without any taste or plan of installation,

and the loose and unset jewels, seals and other articles of adornment

are kept in big salad-bowls that will hold a couple of gallons. There

are five bowls full of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, turquoise and other

unset precious stones, perhaps a half bushel altogether, and a large

tray about twelve by fifteen inches in size covered with beautiful

unmounted pearls. One of the emeralds weighs two kilograms and another

is almost of the same size. They are said to be the largest emeralds in

the world.

The most gorgeous and overpowering spectacle in the collection is a

throne said to be of solid gold set, mosaic-like, with uncut rubies,

emeralds and pearls, which formerly belonged to the Shah of Persia,

and was captured and brought to Constantinople as the spoil of war by

Sultan Selim I. in 1502. There are scepters, armor, sabers, scimiters,

pistols, saddles and other equestrian equipments, walking-sticks,

sandals and other articles, some of them imbedded with jewels. A

toilet table of ordinary size is veneered with diamonds, while the

wash-bowl, pitcher and other toilet articles are set thickly with the

most beautiful turquoise. There are cups of onyx, crystal and jade;

stirrups, bridles and other horse-furniture of gold, and in the corner

of a little case is a two-quart bowl filled with diamond buttons, which

some time or another fastened the garments of some extravagant sultan.

Arranged around the wall are effigies of a dozen or more of the great

sultans in their richest robes of state and wearing their favorite

jewels. If those effigies could be stripped of their ornaments they

alone would make a display of the jeweler’s art that would be worth

exhibition. There is no catalogue, and I was prohibited from taking

notes. Newspaper men are never knowingly admitted, lest they should

publish descriptions of the riches of the treasury and give the Sultan

hysterics.

The ceremony of opening the doors was quite interesting. There are two

sets of keys for everything, and they are held by two custodians who

have nothing to do with each other and are supposed to be enemies. Each

has a guard of twenty-four men, who live apart and are forbidden to

associate with each other or have any more than the strictest official

communication. Representatives of each of these squads are on duty at

all times and are expected to act as spies on each other. They are

peculiar-looking people and wear a queer livery--a high-buttoned coat

of black broadcloth like an Episcopal clergyman, with a red fez.

Our card of invitation fixed our reception at 11:30 a.m. We arrived a

little before that hour, to find that the custodians had anticipated us

and had drawn up their guards in two lines facing each other. One of

the chiefs then went forward and unlocked his share of the fastenings.

Then the other came forward and used his keys. Each was accompanied

by at least twelve men, and under the regulations could not turn a

bolt until they all were present. If anyone had been absent we would

have been compelled to wait for him or come another day. And every

one of these guards expected a liberal fee. The cost of looking at

the Sultan’s treasures amounted to $35. After the inspection we were

invited to a pavilion where coffee, sweets and cigarettes were served

with great formality. While we were there an accident happened. Our

courier, in reply to an inquiry, unintentionally dropped a few words of

Turkish, and there was great excitement. One of the officials took him

aside and put him through a close examination, but finally accepted his

explanation that he was not a Turk nor a resident of Turkey, and was

not familiar with the language, but had learned a few words during the

recent war with Greece, when he had served as a dragoman for an English

newspaper correspondent.

VIII ROBERT COLLEGE AND THE MISSIONARIES

Upon the summit of a bold promontory, overlooking the Bosphorus, almost

midway between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora, one hour’s ride

by boat from Constantinople, stands a monument. No man could need or

wish a nobler one. It is called Robert College, and was erected about

forty years ago by a New York merchant, Christopher R. Robert, who was

interested in Turkish trade. It has an appropriate place. A lighthouse

should always stand were it can see and be seen, and Robert College

has done more to enlighten the East than any other agency. Little

passenger boats, like those upon the Thames in London and upon the

Seine in Paris, run regularly or rather irregularly, up and down the

Bosphorus, touching the many little suburban settlements along its

shores. At Bebek, a pretty town much frequented by European residents

of Constantinople, is a Protestant church, where formerly stood a

temple to Artemis Dictynna. After the Turks obtained possession palaces

were laid out there, and at one of them, called “The Kiosk of the

Conferences,” the Sultans used to receive ambassadors secretly, without

the knowledge of their ministers and other officials of the government,

and there several important treaties between the Ottoman Empire and the

European Powers were negotiated and signed. The Bosphorus is only about

eight hundred yards wide at this point. Near Bebek was the celebrated

bridge over which Darius led the Persian armies into Europe. A

throne was hewn in a rock at the top of the promontory on which he sat

and watched his army crossing from Asia. Two pillars of white marble

inscribed with the names of the nations that contributed to his army

formerly stood there, according to Herodotus, but have since been

removed.

[Illustration: ROBERT COLLEGE, CONSTANTINOPLE]

Passengers for the college land from the boats at Bebek and follow an

easy path up a hill beside an ancient cemetery and under the shadow of

the walls of Rumili Hisar, a mighty castle built by Mohammed II. in

1453 while he was besieging the city of Constantinople. Immediately

opposite, upon the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, a similar castle was

erected, and the two commanded the passage so that every ship passing

up and down was compelled to pay toll. Mohammed called this castle

Boghag Kessen (Throat Cutter), for he had a pleasant way with him. The

ruins are as picturesque and extensive as any in Europe, and the towers

are almost perfect after nearly six hundred years, although the floors

and ceilings have long since fallen through. The walls have crumbled

and much stone has been taken away for building material. They were

originally thirty feet thick and thirty feet high, and were built with

the greatest haste and energy. Mohammed employed 1,000 masons, 1,000

lime-burners and 10,000 laborers in the construction, and to each mason

was assigned the task of building two yards of wall in three months. By

this division of labor and responsibility the work was completed in the

time named by the ingenious designs of the engineers, and the outline

of the walls forms the Turkish word “Mahomet.”

There are other interesting places in the neighborhood, but Robert

College is the most interesting of all. The institution is built and

conducted upon the American plan. You might fancy that the dormitories

and lecture-rooms and library of some institution in Ohio or Illinois

had been lifted bodily and transported there. They are of solid

masonry and as nearly fireproof as it is possible to make them. Dr.

Washburn, the president, has a comfortable home within the grounds,

of corresponding architecture and material, and the residences of the

faculty are scattered around the neighborhood inside and outside the

walls. It is not necessary to describe the buildings, for they are so

much like our own. In the basement of the principal dormitory is the

common dining-room at which the boarding students take their meals and

the day students their lunches, and that, too, is conducted upon the

American rather than the Turkish plan. The same can be said of the

dormitories, the library and the gymnasium. The preparatory department

has a new building, the gift of Miss Stokes, of New York, which cost

$40,000. Other buildings are greatly needed, because the present

accommodations are not sufficient for the demands upon them. It is a

lamentable fact that students have to be turned away every year because

there is no room for them. The institution has done incalculable good,

but it might do more. Its usefulness could be materially increased with

a little more room and a little more money.

The gymnasium and playground are considered of unusual importance, as

the faculty encourage athletics not only for physical, but for moral

and social culture. Football, cricket, baseball and other athletic

sports are the most effective equalizers that can be adopted. The

students of the college come from all ranks, castes and from every

social stratum, but social distinctions are not recognized at Robert

College any more than at our institutions at home, and there is always

more or less difficulty in reconciling the representatives of the

favored classes to the doctrine of human equality. The football field,

however, is a pure democracy, where all meet on the same level and the

best man wins the greatest degree of respect and exercises the greatest

influence.

Robert College is not a missionary institution, nor is it sectarian

in any respect. Its object is to afford the young men of Turkey and

the surrounding countries facilities for acquiring such an education

as will best fit them for professional and business life. It aims

to combine the highest moral training with the most complete mental

discipline. The purpose of the faculty is to adapt it to the needs

of the people and develop Christian manliness among the students

without attempting to teach them theology. The plan of discipline

and instruction is the same as in the ordinary colleges in America.

The recitations and lectures are all in English. American text-books

only are used. Students are required to attend chapel daily and

religious services on Sunday. No exceptions are made either for Jews

or Gentiles, Roman Catholics or Mohammedans. They study the evidences

of Christianity just as they study moral philosophy, political economy

and geology. The course of study has been selected with a view to the

practical application of learning, as well as intellectual development.

The regular collegiate department occupies five full years. The tuition

fees, including board and lodging, are $200 a year. Tuition without

board is $40 a year, and tuition and luncheon daily $65 a year. There

are several scholarships which are utilized to the assistance of

worthy young men upon the recommendation of the faculty.

The board of trustees has its office in New York. The president is John

S. Kennedy, the secretary Edward B. Coe and the treasurer Frederick

A. Booth. John Sloane, Cleveland H. Dodge, William T. Booth, William

C. Sturgis, Robert W. de Forrest and William Church Osborn constitute

the board. The faculty is mixed, a majority of them being natives of

the East--Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, Roumanians and Turks--all

graduates of the institution and members of the Protestant faith. Dr.

George Washburn is the president; and his father-in-law, Dr. Cyrus

Hamlin, was the actual founder of the institution. In 1860 Christopher

R. Robert, having visited Constantinople, was deeply impressed with the

necessity for an institution of higher learning there, and invited Dr.

Hamlin to join him in founding an institution which should offer to

young men, without distinction of race or creed, a thorough American

education. Dr. Hamlin opened the college in a rented house in Bebek in

1863. Mr. Robert furnished all the funds to sustain the institution

until his death, in 1878, when he bequeathed to the college one-fifth

of his estate, amounting to about $400,000. Articles of incorporation

were secured in New York in 1864, and in 1869 the Sultan of Turkey

was persuaded by the American minister at Constantinople to issue an

_irade_ conferring upon the institution all the advantages bestowed

by the imperial government upon schools in Turkey. On July 4, 1869,

the corner-stone of the first building was laid by E. J. Morris, the

American minister, and it was completed in 1871. It still stands as the

principal building of the college, and is known as Hamlin Hall.

Other buildings have been erected since with funds contributed by

friends of the college in America, and since the death of Mr. Robert

the endowment fund has been increased by generous contributions from

other American citizens. The college is almost self-supporting. The

receipts from tuition fees cover the salaries of the professors,

leaving a balance to be paid from the income of the endowment fund

which is greater or less according to circumstances. The total annual

expenses are within $50,000 a year, which is a very small average for

three hundred and eleven students, of whom one hundred and eighty-two

sleep and board in the college.

The students come from all parts of Asia Minor, Turkey in Europe,

Greece and the Balkan States--the largest number from the immediate

neighborhood of Constantinople; the next largest from Greece,

Bulgaria and Roumania, but almost every nation is represented. The

Greeks outnumber the rest, having had one hundred and twenty-seven

representatives in 1902, the Armenians one hundred and eight and the

Bulgarians fifty-one. Then came the Turks, Israelites, Roumanians,

Austrians, French, Russians, English and Americans, Assyrians,

Georgians, Persians and Levantines in order. The parents of the

students belong to almost every religious faith represented in

Constantinople, and are willing to sacrifice their religious scruples

in order to obtain the educational advantages of the college.

The policy of the Turkish government makes it difficult and often

impossible for Turks to attend the institution, and hence there are no

professed Moslems among the students. It would be unsafe and it might

be fatal for any student to declare himself a Moslem. It is suspected,

however, that students belonging to that faith have enrolled themselves

as members of others. Young men who have come from different parts of

Turkey to enter the college are often arrested and imprisoned upon

their arrival. Dr. Washburn says, however, that the minister of police

is usually reasonable, and when satisfied that they have come in good

faith he delivers them to the treasurer of the institution and holds

him responsible for their behavior. In 1901 one of the students was

detained in prison for two months on the charge of bringing seditious

literature into the country. The police inspectors found in his

luggage two pieces of music which can be bought at any music store in

Constantinople, but for some reason or another the charge was pressed

against him and it cost his father a large sum of money to obtain his

release.

The graduates are found in high places throughout the East. Many of

them occupy conspicuous positions under the governments of Bulgaria,

Roumania and the neighboring countries. At one time four of the Robert

College alumni were in the ministry of Bulgaria, including the late Mr.

Stoiloff, who was recognized as the ablest statesman in that country

after Stambouloff’s death, and was prime minister from 1894 to 1901.

Eleven different services are held in Protestant churches in

Constantinople every Sunday in four different languages. Three by the

Church of England--one in the chapel of the embassy, for the British

ambassador has a chaplain and a physician furnished by his government,

as well as a secretary; at St. Paul’s Church, which was erected fifty

years ago as a memorial to the English soldiers who died in the

Crimean war, and in a chapel in the suburbs at ancient Calcedon. At

a chapel connected with the Dutch embassy, union services are held

by the Presbyterians, Methodists and Dutch Reformed. There is also

a chapel connected with the German embassy and a Lutheran chaplain.

Besides these there are churches under the direction of the American

Board of Foreign Missions, attended by Protestants at Robert College,

at the American College for Girls at Scutari and at the American and

English colony at Bebek on the Bosphorus. The Scotch Presbyterians

and the Established Church of Scotland each has a house of worship,

and the French Protestants residing in Galata and Pera have a very

pretty church. Protestant missions to the natives are scattered all

over the city and are conducted by British, German, Dutch and American

societies. The American Board of Foreign Missions has one hundred and

seventy-six missionaries in Turkey, including forty men and over one

hundred unmarried women. The British and Dutch Reformed missionaries

are almost as numerous. In all Turkey there are about 50,000 registered

Protestants and 13,000 communicants in the various churches, being

mostly Greeks and Armenians. As we were particularly interested in the

work of the American missionaries only, I did not obtain the statistics

of the others, but the American Board alone has one hundred and thirty

organized native churches, twenty-five of which are self-supporting.

In the city of Constantinople are two large congregations of Armenian

and Greek Protestants, who have already purchased lots to erect houses

of worship and have raised funds for that purpose, but are prohibited

from doing so by the officials. They have made applications for

building permits frequently from time to time during the last eight or

ten years, which have always been denied them, and even the American

minister cannot exert sufficient influence to secure that privilege. No

Protestant church can be erected in Constantinople. No man dare sell

a piece of land for the purpose. The churches already standing have

been erected under the patronage of the different foreign legations and

embassies.

A number of high standard colleges are maintained by the missionary

boards in Turkey, as well as schools of all grades. The colleges are

now educating a total of 3,000 students, and the pupils in the schools

number over 20,000, most of these institutions being self-supporting.

The students come chiefly from the mercantile class, and only about

one-fourth of them are Protestants. The remainder represent all

creeds and races, although the Mohammedan believers are few. More

than three-fourths of the students pay full tuition, ranging from $40

to $250 a year, according to location and circumstances. There are

scholarships for the benefit of poor students, but they are usually

reserved for such young men and women as are studying for the mission

work and for teaching in the mission schools.

From 1856 to 1876, from the Crimean war to the reign of Abdul Hamid

II., the present Sultan, religious liberty prevailed throughout all

Turkey, and, the government encouraging Mohammedans to enter the

schools, they came in large numbers. But under the present Sultan the

policy has been to restrict education and keep the people in ignorance,

and no Moslem can attend a Protestant school without rendering himself

and his family the objects of suspicion and persecution of all sorts.

The father may be arrested upon false charges, sent to prison and

his property confiscated, or the son may be accused of “discontent”

(a crime which is very prevalent) and be sent to prison for months or

years, or some member of the family may be charged with membership

in the “Young Turkey” party, which is an offense punishable by death

or banishment. Any of these things is likely to occur without the

slightest justification, and they are intended as discipline to prevent

proselyting by the Protestants among Mohammedans, and to make the

Protestant schools unpopular. A Christianized Mohammedan cannot live in

Turkey. He is compelled to leave the country, for as soon as the fact

is known he is either assassinated or thrown into prison. Mohammedans

who accept Christianity are very few. A somewhat notable case occurred

recently--perhaps two. I have heard two versions with different names,

but am confident they refer to the same person.

The son of a prominent pasha who held a commission in the Turkish army

became acquainted with an American family and visited them frequently

for the purpose of improving his English conversation. He became quite

intimate with them, accompanied them to church and read books on

religious subjects which were loaned by them. He decided to formally

renounce the religion of his fathers and become a Protestant, but was

compelled to leave the country as soon as his intentions were known.

If his father had not condemned his own son with great promptness the

entire family would have been involved in danger. The young man fled

on an English ship, reached the United States about the time of the

opening of the Spanish war, enlisted in the army, served through the

Santiago campaign, was promoted for efficiency and has since been

appointed a second lieutenant. It is impossible for him to return to

Turkey. He would be assassinated by some fanatic if the government

police did not get him first and arrest him upon some pretext. He would

then disappear and nobody would dare ask questions as to his fate. It

would be dangerous to do so. This case is known to every Protestant

family and throughout the upper classes of Constantinople, and all

other examples of the conversion of Moslems are equally familiar

because they are so few. There is, nevertheless, a good deal of

missionary work done by the Protestants among the Mohammedans, and at

least 5,000 copies of the Bible in the Turkish language are sold in the

Ottoman Empire every year, which shows an interest among the people;

but the government officials and the Mohammedan priests are so vigilant

that the purchasers would not be willing to have their names known.

In fact, the Bible House was prohibited from publishing the Bible in

the Turkish language for many years and was originally compelled by

the censor to print upon the title page a warning that the book was

intended for Protestants only.

The educational system of the Turks is not entirely bad, but is mostly

for religious instruction. The _mekteb_, or primary schools, are

numerous, and afford every boy and girl in the city an opportunity

to learn to read and write and obtain a knowledge of the Koran. Such

schools are attached to every mosque in the empire. The _ibtidaiyeh_,

or secondary schools, afford opportunities for learning geography,

arithmetic, history and the modern languages, but there are only twenty

of these schools in all Constantinople for a million and more people.

The _medresseh_, or colleges, teach philosophy, logic, rhetoric,

theology and Turkish law, and generally take the place of the

universities found in other countries. They are the highest educational

institutions maintained by the Turkish government. There are schools

of law, medicine, mines and forestry, art, and a manual-training

establishment supported by the government, with nine large institutions

for military and naval education. The Greeks, Armenians and Jews each

have their own schools connected with their churches and maintained by

private contributions. Some of them offer a high standard of education

and have fine libraries.

There is a Protestant college for girls at Scutari, on the opposite

side of the Bosphorus, which offers education for young women and

has an average of one hundred and seventy-five pupils. It has been

established for a quarter of a century, and has sent out a large number

of useful teachers of nine different nationalities, who are now engaged

throughout different parts of the Turkish Empire and the neighboring

countries. Miss Mary M. Patrick, the president, is assisted by a

faculty of six American professors and fifteen other instructors. You

must not think, however, that the Americans are the only people who

are doing good in an educational way in the Sultan’s dominions. The

English, the Germans, the Swiss, the French and the Austrians all have

institutions for the education of the natives, more or less supported

by charities.

The editor of a Turkish newspaper is surrounded by numerous

embarrassments, yet, notwithstanding the strict censorship to which

it is subjected, the press exercises a much wider influence than it

is given credit for, considering that the first newspaper was not

published, and that no private printing-office was allowed in Turkey

until during the Crimean war. There are daily papers in all of the

large towns of the interior. Each vilayet, or province, has an official

journal. In Constantinople the newspapers are innumerable--political,

religious, literary, scientific and commercial--and are published in

more different languages than in any other city in the world. There

are papers in Arabic, Armenian, Bulgarian, English, French, German,

Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Syriac, Persian, Spanish and in three different

dialects of the Turkish language. During the Crimean war papers sprang

up in Constantinople like mushrooms, and were free so far as formal

regulations were concerned until a press law was promulgated in 1861,

under which the publication of articles reflecting upon the Sultan, the

government, the church, the police and other officials was prohibited

and certain political and religious topics were tabooed. In case of

violation of the law the responsible editor was punished by fine,

imprisonment or the suspension of his newspaper.

A few years later the minister of the interior assumed arbitrary

authority over the press, and when an article appeared that displeased

him he punished the editor, suppressed the paper and confiscated the

property at his pleasure. This continued until about 1886, when a

preventive censorship was adopted and a press bureau was added to the

private cabinet of His Majesty the Sultan. Representatives of this

bureau are detailed to assist the editors of newspapers and are paid

by them. Liberality is a matter of mutual agreement. The more they

are paid the less trouble they cause, and if they do not receive as

much as they want they generally find means to revenge themselves.

The censors have desks in the newspaper offices and proof slips of

every article must be submitted for their approval, which is indicated

by a rubber stamp and signature. The proof slips thus marked are

carefully filed away for the protection of the editor. The censors

are usually incapable of forming an opinion as to the merits or

effect of a political or economic article, but have a quick eye for

prohibited subjects and words. Editors very soon get to understand

them, and by the exercise of a little tact are able to handle them

without difficulty. But certain rules must be observed. Nobody, of

course, dare speak ill of the Sultan or of his government. Everything

done by them must be approved; foreign relations cannot be touched

upon, and religious discussions must be avoided so far as they affect

Mohammedans. Nothing can appear which relates to political revolutions,

insurrections or disturbances of any kind in other countries. If all

the cabinets in Europe should resign, if a political revolution should

break out in England and King Edward’s throne should be overturned, the

fact would never be mentioned in a Turkish newspaper. No particulars

of the assassinations of King Humbert and of President McKinley were

printed--only the announcement of their deaths, which the readers

would infer were due to natural causes. It is not safe to let the

discontented element in Turkey know that kings or presidents can be

killed. They might take a hint.

Nowhere at any of the courts of Europe do the diplomatic

representatives of the United States appear to so great a

disadvantage among the ambassadors and ministers of other Powers as

at Constantinople, and Congress should do something to improve their

position for the dignity and honor of our government. If there should

be trouble at the Turkish capital to-morrow or next week--and it is

likely to occur at any time--the American minister, the members of his

legation, the consul-general and his staff and their families would be

compelled to take refuge at the British embassy. They might, of course,

go to the German or Russian embassy, but our relations with the British

are more intimate there, as well as elsewhere, because of a similarity

of language and mutual interests. At all capitals the interests of

citizens of the United States are protected by the representatives of

Great Britain when our own ministers are absent, and vice versa, and

the records of our legations and consulates are always intrusted to the

British diplomatic and consular officials, and theirs to ours, whenever

necessary. Our minister and consul-general, with their secretaries and

attachés, would be welcome at the British embassy, which has often

extended its hospitality to their predecessors, but it is nevertheless

a humiliating fact that they are dependent upon other nations for

protection when Uncle Sam is great enough and rich enough to provide

for his own agents in foreign countries.

The doctrine of extra-territoriality prevails in Turkey--that is, the

citizens of each nation residing there are tried for offenses according

to their own laws, and before their own diplomatic and consular

representatives. It does not matter who the plaintiff is. He may be a

Turk or a Dutchman; the nationality of the defendant determines the

court and the law by which an offense shall be tried, for every offense

he may commit, from murder down to petty larceny. Hence court is held

regularly at the various embassies and legations, petty offenses being

tried before the consuls, and those of a more serious character before

the minister or ambassador. The Turkish officials have nothing to do

with them.

Turkish law is founded on the Koran, the teachings of famous Khalifs

and other disciples of Islam, and upon decisions rendered upon

questions proposed to the Sheik-ul-Islam, the head of the Moslem

Church, who is the court of final appeal and has authority to overrule

all magistrates. The teachings of the Koran and the prophet and such

precedents, maxims and decisions are codified and published in a

volume divided into chapters relating to commercial affairs, penal

offenses, etc., and the canon, or ecclesiastic, and common law. To

them are added the _firmans_, or proclamations, of the Sultan, which

permit or forbid certain things among his subjects, and the regulations

provided by the police authorities which generally stand from year to

year. The _kazasskers_, or justices, as we would call them, a body of

theologians, jurists and teachers of Moslem law, are supposed to assist

the Sheik-ul-Islam in the investigation and decision of questions of

law, and prepare briefs for him to sign. There is also a court known as

the Ulema, of minor jurisdiction.

All residents of Turkey are supposed to belong to some religious

society, or _millet_, and are reached through the head of their

particular community. Theoretically each _millet_ is allowed the free

exercise of religion, the management of its own monasteries, schools,

hospitals and charitable institutions and in certain cases judicial

authority. The chief _millets_ are Roman Catholic, Greek, Orthodox,

Armenian, Jewish, Protestant, Bulgarian, Maronite, Nestorian and Greek

Roman Catholic; and each citizen, no matter how humble, is required

to be registered as a member of one of these _millets_. In case he has

committed an offense he has the nominal right to appeal to the head

of his sect for protection, and on the other hand the patriarch or

chief of each _millet_ is nominally the medium through which the laws

and orders of the Turkish government are enforced; but this is purely

theoretical. Men who are accused of crime or misdemeanor are hauled up

by the Turkish police and cast into prison without mercy or justice and

remain there until their friends can raise money enough to buy them out

or the diplomatic agent of their government appears to protect them.

In the embassy courts no account is taken of Turkish law or mode of

procedure, and the proceedings are conducted exactly as they would

be at home. Our consul-general has a clerk of court, a United States

marshal and other judicial officers, whose powers and duties correspond

precisely to those of similar officials at home, and our government

has a prison also for the detention of offenders. The business of the

United States court, however, is very small compared with that of other

legation courts, because we have very few citizens in Constantinople.

There are only about two hundred Americans in Turkey all told, and

they are mostly missionaries, who do not often appear in the consular

courts. But some of the embassies--the Russian, the German, Austrian

and French--do considerable business.

Each of the European Powers, even Holland and Belgium, has a handsome

residence and legation building. The German embassy is one of the

finest edifices in Constantinople. None but the palaces of the Sultan

exceed it in dimensions or pretensions. It stands in a conspicuous

place and may be seen from all parts of the city. The Russian embassy

is an enormous building, surrounded by a high wall, and has a hospital

connected with it. The British embassy is also a fine building. Our

minister usually has to live in a hotel because it is always difficult

and often impossible to rent a suitable residence. At present only

one house in Constantinople fit for the purpose can be secured. It

belongs to an Italian nobleman who has returned to his former home in

Italy, and stands in one of the most convenient and desirable sections

of the city, but the cellar is full of water and cannot be kept dry.

The walls are saturated with moisture, and hence the prospect of

leasing it is not good. Usually the United States minister rents a

residence at Therepia, a suburban town a few miles up the Bosphorus,

where several of the European governments have legations for the use

of their representatives during the hot season, when the heat and the

filth make it impossible for them to live in the city. On the first of

July the entire diplomatic corps moves _en masse_ from Constantinople

to Therepia and remains there until the first of November, when it is

again safe to return. The ambassadors or their secretaries come to

town nearly every day for the transaction of necessary business and to

communicate with the officials of the government, and are provided with

yachts for the journey. Our government is the only one of importance

which does not have a yacht for the use of its minister lying at anchor

near the custom-house. During the summer months he is permitted to

lease a little steam launch, but at the close of the season it is sent

back to its owner.

These yachts have, however, a purpose which is much more important,

but it is not often mentioned. The condition of affairs in Turkey is

similar to that in China, and the members of the diplomatic corps are

exposed at all times to the same dangers that imperiled the legations

at Peking two years ago. When a mob of Moslems, whose religion teaches

them that it is their duty to kill Christians, takes possession of the

city of Constantinople, it does not distinguish between foreigners.

All persons who do not profess the Moslem faith are infidels and must

die, no matter whether they are Armenians or English or Austrians,

and the police and other officials have no means of controlling or

directing the ignorant and fanatical Turks. It is considered necessary,

therefore, that the members of the different embassies and legations

should have means of escape always at hand, and hence the long line

of steam yachts anchored at a convenient situation near the foreign

quarter of the city. Germany, Russia, England, France, Austria and

Italy always have gunboats anchored in the Bosphorus as an additional

protection. The Turkish government requires them to be small. As a rule

it will not permit a foreign man-of-war to pass the Dardanelles, but

these guard-boats, as they are called, are admitted to be necessary by

the police themselves, and by special treaty provision are allowed to

anchor off the city.

Public confidence in the government is so small that nearly all the

European nations have their own mail service. The British, German,

French, Austrians and Russians have distinct and separate postoffices,

because the subjects of those nations residing in Turkey cannot trust

the Turkish mails. This is done with the consent of the Sultan, and

is regulated by treaty stipulations. The postoffices are open to the

public and can be used by anyone. The mail is put into bags, sealed

and shipped by railroad to the nearest convenient point within the

territory of the nation interested. The British mail goes to London,

the French mail to Marseilles, the Austrian to Budapest and the Russian

to Odessa. The seals are broken at those places, and the contents

of the bags are turned over to the regular postal officials. At the

British postoffice British stamps are sold, surcharged with the value

in Turkish money. The same is true of all the other postoffices.

Tourists can no longer visit the great “Cistern of the 1,001

Pillars,” which was formerly one of the most interesting objects

in Constantinople. It was built in the time of Constantine for the

purpose of storing water, is one hundred and ninety-five feet long,

one hundred and sixty-seven feet wide and twenty-seven feet deep. The

roof is sustained by a vast forest of columns, and it is the popular

notion that they number one more than a thousand. It is estimated

that the cistern formerly held enough water to supply the population

of Stamboul for ten days, but it has not been used since 1850 for

that purpose. Constantinople has an excellent water system carried in

aqueducts running to various quarters of the city. For many years this

and several other great cisterns, having been pumped out, were used for

storage of government supplies, but of late they have been practically

abandoned, and certain Armenian manufacturers of rope, carpets and

other articles which required more room than light, have been using

them rent free, because of their large size and other advantages.

During the massacre of 1896, however, the Turkish mob surprised the

Armenians at work in this cistern and killed between sixty and seventy

in cold blood. Their bodies were allowed to remain in the cistern

unburied and are there still. Hence it is not an agreeable place to

visit.

Two thousand children, orphans of people who lost their lives in

that massacre, are employed in a carpet factory in the suburbs of

Constantinople.

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