A NEW COSTUME AND A NEW CAREER.
I adopt European dress--The standard of
civilisation--English clothes 'made in Austria'--European
dress first adopted under Sultan Mahmud--My vain
attempts to get an appointment--Requisite qualifications
for Government employment, bribery and espionage--The
only livelihood possible for educated men--I become a
lawyer--I penetrate high official quarters.
WHEN I had passed the final examination in the law college I began to
attend the Courts to see and learn the actual working of the forms of
the procedures. I now grew to dislike having to go to the Courts and
Government offices in the _Ulema_ costume, which I still wore. In fact,
even in my class at the college there were only a few persons belonging
to _madrassehs_, and they alone were attired in the semi-religious
dress, and the contrast between our appearance and the rest in the
class, who were attired in ordinary civilian dress, seemed to us to
make us look old-fashioned. So, like most of my countrymen, I was
seized with the ambition of appearing up-to-date, and of dressing in
the more modern manner; that is to say, European costume in all but
the fez. Before I could do this, however, and become, so to speak, an
ordinary layman, I had to leave the life of the _madrasseh_ altogether,
for the people in those ancient institutions regard the discarding of
the academical turban and long cloak, and the adoption of European
clothes, as a renunciation of the profession. Anyone who ventures to
do this forfeits his right to a lodging in the _madrasseh_. I did not
know where to go after leaving my _madrasseh_, as Turkish families
cannot take any stranger into their houses as a boarder, while to go
into a Greek or Armenian family would not do for a young Mussulman, for
many reasons. So I hired two rooms in an inn, which was as filthy as
these inns always are. I went to the European quarter of Constantinople
and bought a suit of clothes from one of the numerous clothiers, who
are mostly Austrian Jews, and who bring the clothes ready-made from
Austria. Their goods are ridiculously cheap, but the tailoring and the
material are extremely bad. It is a proverb in Constantinople that when
you buy a suit of clothes from these Austrian shops and put it on, it
will be worn out before you can cross over the Golden Horn Bridge back
to Stamboul. Curiously enough, some of these Austrians try to pass
their goods off as of English manufacture, as the English-made goods
have a better reputation than the Austrian even in Turkey.
But, bad though they were, I was well content with my new clothes,
as this was a step forward in satisfaction of my craze to dress as
the Europeans did. It is a fact that most people who adopt this form
of dress in the nearer East look upon those who have not adopted it,
or do not desire to adopt it, as incapable of acquiring 'civilised'
habits. Snobbish as it is, no doubt, this idea is not without reason.
A few years ago, when there was an anti-Turkish agitation in England,
I observed in some of the Radical papers remarks to the effect that,
while the Eastern Christians who had been liberated from the Turkish
yoke had adopted civilised methods, the Turks themselves seemed to be
incapable of progress or civilisation. In reality, these 'Europeanised'
Eastern Christians are no more civilised than the turbaned villagers of
Asia Minor; their imitation of civilised methods and habits is merely
superficial; but they manage to make themselves look like Europeans;
and the world passes its judgment on most matters by surface evidence.
Not long ago I saw an article in the Spectator, dealing with the
incapacity of dark races to adopt civilised manners, and, as one of
the examples, it was cited that the late Midhat Pasha used to hate
some aspects of European costume, especially evening dress. It was
a revelation to me that Midhat and his nation were included in the
category of the dark races, and it was also a surprise to me that the
Spectator did not remember that many Englishmen of perfectly civilised
habits and high culture hate some of the grotesque forms of European
costume. It was, however, this sort of feeling among the majority of
Europeans that made us wish to imitate them, at least outwardly, so
that we might not be accused of being unfitted for civilised ways. If
the Turkish Government would make the women of harems discard their
'barbarous' veils, and go about like European women, and urge all its
subjects to put on European costumes, and also hats instead of the fez
or turban, its action would doubtless be hailed in many quarters as the
real beginning of the civilisation of Turkey.
Sultan Mahmud II., the exterminator of the Janissaries, was the first
man who perceived this prejudiced feeling of Europe some eighty
years ago. He knew that the undying hostility of the nations of
Western Europe against his empire was simply because Turkey was not a
Christian State.[7] As he could not accept any form of the religions
of Christendom, he thought he would lessen the old hostility of
Europe which must be lessened if Turkey in Europe were to continue
to exist--by imitating, at least outwardly, the other peoples of
Europe. So he ordered all the officials of the State to adopt European
attire, and himself was the first to give up the old head-dress or
turban and the long robe, and to replace them by a modified kind of
European uniform. The most conservative and religious section of the
Turks raised a howl of protest against this measure, but they could
not support their case by any valid canonical law. The tradition that
"He who makes himself look like the infidels is one of them," which is
attributed to the Prophet, was proved to be spurious. But, in spite
of his innovations, Sultan Mahmud II. could not adopt the European
hat, as his fanatical opponents discovered that the Prophet explicitly
prohibited his followers from wearing the head-dress of unbelievers,
which was at that time three-cornered in shape, the comers signifying
the belief in the 'Trinity,' a belief which is repudiated by Unitarian
Mohammedanism. The objectors, moreover, maintained that a man could not
put his forehead on the ground in prostration during worship with any
form of European hat. So the Sultan, instead of taking the European
head-dress as well, adopted the fez, which was worn mostly by the
Greeks of the Mediterranean Archipelago.
I do not say that Mahmud II. did unwisely in discarding his
forefathers' turbaned crown and long, furred robe. But it was a great
pity that he did not retain the ancient national costumes for special
ceremonial occasions at least, if only for antiquarian interest. In
looking at pictures and drawings illustrating the olden days, one
cannot help admiring those gorgeous old Turkish dresses. Persons
of every class and profession had their big turban of a particular
shape, their long robe, wide trousers, and so forth, and in these
costumes looked not only picturesque, but also imposing and dignified.
Ever since the first change, people in Turkey have been adopting the
European style of costume, and those who now retain the old attire
are only the humbler class of people in the provinces, tradesmen,
peasants, and the class of the _Ulema_.
Following my example, four other men among the students of the law
college who came from _madrassehs_ also changed their costume. Of
course, they had also to leave their _madrassehs_ on account of their
conduct.
* * * * *
After I had secured my exemption from military service, and had got
over the protracted final examination in the law college, I found that
my real troubles in life were only just beginning, for the problem
of making a position for myself lay before me. I was now entirely
dependent upon my own labours to earn my bread. As I mentioned at
the beginning of the book, we had no longer any hope of recovering
our confiscated lands, and the little instalments advanced to me
periodically out of the revenue of those lands during our lawsuit with
the authorities, which lasted fifteen years, were now very irregularly
paid. In fact, I was becoming thoroughly disgusted by the fact that we
had to make the most humble entreaties to the arrogant officials of
the Sultan in order to persuade them to advance the small sums they
owed to us. I wished to obtain some appointment, either in the Courts
or the Ministry of Justice, but there seemed little chance of my doing
so. As I have been endeavouring to show throughout these chapters,
the administration in the reign of Abd-ul-Hamid has been the most
corrupt that our unfortunate country has ever known. No one, however
highly qualified he may be, can get any employment in any Government
department unless he is connected with some highly-placed creature
of the Sultan, or unless he is able to bribe high officials, or is
cunning enough to concoct some grave political charge against others
and denounce them to the tyrant at Yildiz Kiosk. Those who do this
last service are known as 'Palace spies.' I had no relation in the
Sultan's palace who might have obtained a Government appointment for
me; and had, of course, no money to lay out in bribery, and so purchase
an appointment, while the trade of a spy was entirely repugnant to
my feelings. I may be asked why, instead of striving to get official
employment, I did not try to find other work. The fact is that
official employment is nowadays the only way in Turkey in which persons
of any education can earn a livelihood. In order to explain this I
must give some account of the nature of officialdom under the Sultan's
bureaucracy.
As the Sultan has never relaxed his determination to crush the power
and the influence of the well-to-do families, an independent existence
has now been made impossible for them. Therefore everyone of birth and
education must depend upon a Government salary for his maintenance, and
so be at the mercy of the Sultan, who has gradually and systematically
obtained control of all the financial resources of Turkey. Strictly
speaking, there is no such thing in Turkey as a distinct aristocracy.
High titled officials of the State may impress foreign observers as
being members of an aristocracy, but in reality those officials can
be raised even from people of the lowest station in life. There have
always been, nevertheless, good old families in the provinces, who,
though they received the appreciation and respect of the masses, had
no pretensions to any actual superiority over their dependants. The
governing factions, who were appointed and promoted by the central
Government, were quite distinct from either the rich or the poor
populations of most Turkish provinces. This state of society existed
up to the beginning of the present reign. When Abd-ul-Hamid began to
establish his personal rule, and founded the present bureaucracy, he
saw a danger in the independent manner of life of the old families, and
in their democratic and friendly relations with the poorer classes.
At first he tried to demoralise those ancient families by conferring
upon them official titles and decorations, hoping thus to impress them
with an idea of rank, which would bring attendant jealousies, and make
them strive hard to gain higher rank and decorations than the rest
of their fellows. Besides this, the Sultan acquired large tracts of
land in the fertile districts throughout the empire, and, as a step in
his policy of wholesale acquisition, the lands and properties of the
local magnates were gradually taken possession of on some pretext or
other by the administrators of the Civil List. Thus it was that those
who had once been independent landowners received official titles,
and became part and parcel of the Palace official world. They now
depend almost entirely for their living upon salaries paid out of the
public treasury, which treasury is supplied for the most part by taxes
extorted from the poorer provincials and peasant proprietors.
At present there are only two ways in which Turkish subjects can obtain
a livelihood. Either they must be content to pocket their pride, and
labour as workmen, small tradesmen, ordinary craftsmen, farm labourers,
and so forth, or else they must somehow get a Government appointment A
man of education must make a Government salary his ambition in life,
and must direct all his energies to increasing it. It therefore follows
that the number of unnecessary officials in Turkey is enormous, and
consequently their salaries are small, and also constantly in arrears.
Even the payment of a salary due to an official is a matter for an
appeal to the Sultan's benevolence; any increase is naturally even
more so. Only those who are able to show loyalty to the person of the
Sultan get their salaries increased and their arrears paid. The best
form of showing the required loyalty for an official is, as before
stated, to spy upon others, and denounce them as intriguing against
his sovereignty. Those who cannot or will not show their loyalty in
this way are soon reduced to the point of starvation, if not exiled or
imprisoned, or condemned to death. There is no other means of earning
money for a Turk of education in his own country nowadays. No one
can venture to carry on any commerce or any legitimate money-making
enterprise independently, nor can he establish any business relations
with the outside world. He would be instantly harassed by the lying and
intriguing Palace spies, and denounced to the Sultan as carrying on
some treasonable negotiations, under the guise of doing business. All
kinds of industrial, commercial, and financial combinations are most
stringently forbidden to Turks. Even two men cannot make an association
for any innocent and reasonable business purpose, as such a proceeding
would doubtless be reported as the promotion of a conspiracy. If a man
is accused of doing such a thing, he has no chance of proving his
innocence. The spies have a perfectly free hand, and nothing they may
report is censured, however monstrous or improbable it may be; in fact,
the more extraordinary and unlikely it is, the more the spy who brings
it will be rewarded for his zeal.
There was therefore no way in which I could obtain official employment
But my diploma from the law college qualified me to practise as a
barrister, so to that profession I determined to devote my energies,
although even in this liberal profession no independence is possible,
on account of its being under the complete control of officialdom.
Among my fellow law students who received their diploma at the same
time as myself only a few contemplated practising at the Bar; the
remainder sought Government employment Those who wished to earn their
living as lawyers had not the necessary private means for starting in
that profession. I was, however, more fortunate than most. At this
period of my career, when I enjoyed much leisure, I used to attend at
the office of a well known Turkish publisher and littérateur, who has
now been exiled to Konia, in Asiatic Turkey, whose office was called
'Imprimérie Ebuzzia,' after his own name. There I read and corrected
proofs and contributed to his magazine. This was, of course, before
the Sultan's great literary persecution, which resulted in the closing
of several printing offices, the suppression of several journals, the
burning of many books, and the banishment of many persons connected
with the literary world. In this office I made the acquaintance of a
European, who was an old resident in Constantinople, and was acting as
correspondent to the _Times_. This gentleman and his European friends,
who had some business in the matter of concessions to settle with the
Turkish Government, occasionally entrusted me with the drawing up of
their Turkish documents, and with interviewing officials on their
behalf. The documentary work I received from them enabled me from time
to time to have access not only to several high officials appointed
by the Palace, but also to the Imperial Palace itself. I thus had
many opportunities of observing closely the way in which the ruling
clique in Constantinople performs its duties. I will now give some
description of the real centre of authority in the Turkish empire,
which, I fancy, has never been properly understood even by those
English politicians who are interested in the eternal Eastern Question.