bospTHE BOSPHORUS AT CONSTANTINOPLE
THE BOSPHORUS AT CONSTANTINOPLE
THE BOSPHORUS AT CONSTANTINOPLE
The first settlement at Constantinople, or at Byzantine, as it was originally called in honor of its founder, was made at what is now known as Seraglio Point, an elevation which extends into the Bosphorus between the Sea of Marmora and the Golden Horn. It commands the best view of any place in the city. The historian, Bancroft, visited this spot and was so impressed by the magnificence of the panorama spread out before him that he stood gazing at it for an hour. This was the site selected for the royal palace, and the kings, emperors and sultans lived here until recent years, but it is so exposed to the attack of any hostile fleet that the sultan's palace has, as a matter of precaution, been removed to the hills back of Galata, and Seraglio Point is now a sort of curiosity shop. It is visited with difficulty, permission having to be obtained from the sultan himself, upon application of the diplomatic representative of the nation to which the visitor belongs. By the courtesy of our legation we obtained a permit and found it full of interest. One of the buildings contains a very old library, another is a reproduction of a Persian summer house which, a former sultan having admired, his chief eunuch had removed to Constantinople without his master's knowledge.
The most important building on the Point, however, is the treasury where the crown jewels, ornamented arms, royal gifts and the robes of former sultans are kept. It would require more space than that allotted to a dozen articles to describe even the more important pieces of this collection. One room contains two thrones brought from Persia, one of which must have rivaled the famous Peacock Throne of Delhi. It is of unusual size and literally covered with rubies, emeralds and pearls, arranged in graceful patterns. The seat is of crimson velvet embroidered with gold and pearls. The other throne, while smaller, is even more richly ornamented; it is incrusted with larger jewels and has a canopy, from the center of which is suspended an emerald of enormous size.
Along the walls of one room were exhibited the costumes of thevarious sultans from Mohammed II to the present. Nowhere else have we seen such evidences of Oriental splendor in dress. The robes of state are flowered and figured and heavy with gold; the turbans are huge—sometimes fifteen inches in height and breadth—and adorned with aigrettes of great value. One of these ornaments contains three stones, a ruby and two emeralds as large as pigeons' eggs and without a flaw. With each robe is the sword or dagger carried by the sultan and each has a jeweled handle. While the robes differ in color and design—as star differeth from star in glory—and while the aigrettes and sword handles vary in pattern, all are on the same scale and show lavish expenditure. They are in striking contrast with the last of the series, which is simply a red military uniform covered with gold braid.
smokingSMOKING THE HUBBLE-BUBBLE PIPE.
SMOKING THE HUBBLE-BUBBLE PIPE.
SMOKING THE HUBBLE-BUBBLE PIPE.
The treasury contains numerous portraits of sultans and family trees, presenting the heads of the present royal line. It seems that nearly all of the Mohammedan rulers wore a full beard, and some of them had strong faces.
Besides the swords of the sultans, there are in the treasury innumerable other swords with jeweled handles, and with scabbards inlaid with gold, silver and gems. There are guns also of every description, many of them engraved and ornamented with gold and silver. One fortification gun bears upon the barrel quotations from the Koran written in gold.
Then there are jewel boxes, vessels of gold and vessels of silver, rare china, some of it set with jewels, not to speak of enameled ware and embroideries. Many of these pieces were gifts sent or brought by other rulers, for in the Orient the gift is as indispensable in dealing with the sovereign as "baksheesh" is in dealing with the subordinate Turkish official.
When we had finished the inspection of Seraglio Point, we were conducted to one of the reception rooms and refreshed with a jam made of rose leaves, and this was followed by Turkish coffee. Turkish coffee by the way, is very different from the coffee of the Occident. The berry is ground or pounded until it is as fine as flour; it is then put into water and raised to the boiling point and cooled three times. It is usually served hot, and is very black and so thick that at least half of the small cup is sediment.
The streets of Constantinople are narrow, crooked and dirty. There is no park system, and the cemeteries scattered through the city, being shaded with cypress trees, furnish about the only picnic grounds for the people. It is not an unusual sight to see a gay party spreading its lunch amid the tombs. A Mohammedan graveyard is full of headstones as well as trees, and on top of the stone is often carved a fez or a turban. While most of this stony head wear is unadorned, one sees occasionally a painted fez, red being the popular color.
There is one park, called the Sweet Waters of Europe, and extending along the stream which bears that name, where the Turkish women congregate—especially on Friday afternoon. As might be expected, the men have formed the habit of driving in the park on these days in order to catch a glimpse of the women, for Turkish women live in such seclusion that they are seldom seen. They wear veils, but as we visited the park, we can testify that the veils are not always heavy enough to conceal the features. When the eye is especially lustrous or the face more comely than usual, the veil is occasionally lifted.
The ride to and from the park also gives one an opportunityto see a great many fine teams perfectly matched, for the Turk has caught the Arab's fondness for the horse.
The bazaars of Constantinople repay a visit, though quite like the bazaars of Cairo and Damascus. The booths are more substantially built and more commodious, and the labyrinth of streets and alleys which form the old bazaar are all under roof. As these passages wander about aimlessly, one can easily become lost in them. While one cannot rely upon the first price given, the vendors have a reputation for honesty, and a lady told us of having had her attention called to a mistake of five dollars in change and of having the money returned to her when she next visited the bazaar.
robertROBERTS COLLEGE, NEAR CONSTANTINOPLE.
ROBERTS COLLEGE, NEAR CONSTANTINOPLE.
ROBERTS COLLEGE, NEAR CONSTANTINOPLE.
I mentioned the Oriental dog in speaking of Damascus; he forces himself upon public attention in Constantinople also. The dogs of this city act as scavengers and are relied upon to keep the streets neat—a vain reliance, for while they devour everything that they can digest, they are not sufficient for the task imposed upon them. These dogs are wolfish in appearance and generally yellow in color. Lacking the fidelity which the dog is accustomed to show to his master,these animals roam about the street and haunt the places where food is most likely to be found. The people of Constantinople assert that the dogs maintain a police force of their own, and, dividing the city into districts, enforce their own regulations. If a strange dog comes into the district, he is at once driven out by the canine sentinel on that beat.
The Golden Horn is spanned by two pontoon bridges (if the word spanned can be used in connection with such a bridge) and the one connecting the business portions of Stamboul and Galata is a veritable mint, the income from the tolls amounting at times to two thousand dollars per day. It is owned by the government, and bridge companies have offered to replace it with a good bridge for the income of two or three years, but it is so profitable that it is allowed to remain in its present dilapidated condition.
One can stand on this bridge and see all phases of life and all types of human beings. All nationalities meet in Constantinople and all colors are represented here. Two streams pass each other on this bridge from dawn to dark, and there is no better place to study the tragedies and the comedies of life as they are depicted in the faces of the people.
The haste that is to be seen on the bridge is in sharp contrast with the air of leisure which pervades the coffee houses and the side streets where fezzed or turbaned Turks meet to smoke their hubble-bubble pipes (the smoke being drawn through water) and discuss such topics as are not forbidden by the extremely watchful government under which they live.
Before leaving Constantinople we crossed over to the Asiatic side to visit the American school for girls, which has enjoyed a prosperous existence for more than twenty years. It is another evidence of the far-reaching sympathy of the Christian people of the United States and adds to the feeling of pride with which an American citizen contemplates the spreading influence of his country.
When we recrossed the Bosphorus we bade farewell to Asia, within whose borders we had spent about seven months. They have been wonderfully instructive months, and we have enjoyed the experiences through which we have passed, but we can not say that we have fallen in love with Asiatic food. We have been afraid of the raw vegetables; we have distrusted the water, unless it was boiled, and we have sometimes been skeptical about the meat. The butter has not always looked inviting, and our fondness for cream has not been increased by the sight of the goats driven from door to door and milkedin the presence of the purchaser. The bread was not a rival for the Vienna brand, and the cooking has not been up to western standards. But the hen—long life to her! She has been our constant friend. When all else failed we could fall back upon the boiled egg with a sense of security and a feeling of satisfaction. If I am not henceforth a poultry fancier in the technical sense of the term, I shall return with an increased respect for the common, everyday barnyard fowl. There are many differences between the east and the west—difference in race characteristics, differences in costume, differences in ideals of life, of government and religion, but we all meet at the breakfast table—the egg, like "a touch of nature, makes the whole world kin."
tableAT THE WORLD'S BREAKFAST TABLE.
AT THE WORLD'S BREAKFAST TABLE.
AT THE WORLD'S BREAKFAST TABLE.
I was unable to crowd into the last article all of our experiences in the land of the Turk, so I devoted it to Constantinople, leaving to this paper the discussion of the sultan, his religion and his government. Abdul Hamud Kahn II., is the present sultan of Turkey. He is sixty-three years old and has occupied the throne for nearly thirty years. His family has been supreme in Constantinople for twenty-four generations—ever since the taking of the city by the Mohammedans. He is not only an absolute monarch throughout the domain of Turkey, but he is the spiritual head of the Moslem Church. His power is really due more to his religious position than to his sovereignty. He is credited with doing more for the spread of education than his predecessors, but he can hardly be called an enthusiastic patron of learning. He endeavors to maintain cordial relations with European powers and is on especially good terms with Emperor William. When he wants to show himself friendly to a nation he appoints some representative of that nation to a place in the army, navy or other department of the public service at a high salary, and he gives decorations to such foreigners as he desires to honor.
Every Friday about midday he goes to the mosque near the palace to pray and the occasion is one of great interest to those who are fortunate enough to obtain admission to the grounds, as his journey from the palace to the church is a brilliant pageant. Tickets of admission must be secured through the diplomatic representatives, and we are under obligations to the American legation for an opportunity to be present.
As early as eleven o'clock, bands, companies of infantry, troops of cavalry and bodies of police could be seen marching toward the mosque. From the right, over a hill, came the cavalry mounted on white horses and carrying pennants of scarlet upon their spears; from another direction marched the custodians of the sacred banner, a flag of black silk with texts from the Koran embroidered upon itin silver, then others and still others came. Before time for the sultan to appear several thousand soldiers had assembled and been assigned to their respective stations by officers in attractive uniforms. Drawn up several lines deep, they guarded every entrance to the sacred precincts.
It was a gorgeous spectacle, for the Turk is a fine looking soldier. This may account for the tenderness with which the sultan is handled by the "powers." And there is sufficient variety in the uniforms to lend picturesqueness to the scene. The invited guests occupied a large front room and an adjoining garden, from which they had a clear view of the broad street, freshly sprinkled with sand, and of the mosque about a block away. When all things were in readiness the castle gates swung open and the ladies of the court, closely veiled and accompanied by the children, proceeded to the mosque in closed carriages drawn by beautiful Arabian horses. As usual in Oriental countries, the members of the household were attended by black eunuchs.
At the appointed hour a black robed figure appeared upon the minaret and an echo-like call to prayer floated down the street. This was the signal for which the spectators had waited and all eyes turned at once to the palace gate through which, in double line, marched the high officials, preceded by a band and followed by the sultan's bodyguard and the sultan himself in a carriage with his minister of war. The officers saluted, the soldiers cheered, the visitors raised their hats, and the sultan bowed and smiled.
Hamud II. is mild in appearance and his black beard is but slightly streaked with grey. He does not look strong and his figure seems diminutive when contrasted with that of his minister of war. His imperial majesty, as he is styled, remained in the mosque for nearly half an hour. When he at last came out he entered a phaeton with his eldest son and, taking the lines himself, drove back to the palace behind one of the handsomest teams in Europe. The horses are a very dark, almost black, dappled chestnut sorrel, with silver mane and tail. They are perfectly matched, weigh thirteen or fourteen hundred pounds and the shining coats give evidence of constant care.
We obtained permission to visit the sultan's stables and saw a few, not all, of his more than a thousand horses. The finest, of course, are the Arabian stallions, of which he has quite a number, the best of the breed. In one room we saw a hundred or more saddles and bridles, many of them richly ornamented. In the collection are two Texas saddles presented by Minister Terrell when he represented our government in Constantinople.
Before passing from the Selamlik, as the procession is called, it may not be out of place to remind the reader that the ceremonies were interrupted less than a year ago by the explosion of a bomb close to the line of march. Near the mosque is a large gate which the procession passes. Outside of this gate a guard is stationed, but carriages are allowed to line up back of the guard. On that occasion a new carriage made its appearance and secured a place as near the gate as was permitted. This carriage, having been expressly built for the purpose, had a large bomb concealed under the driver's seat. The man in charge of the enterprise represented to the driver that he wanted to take a photograph of the procession just as the sultan passed, and instructed him to press the button at the proper time. He did so and a number of those near the sultan were killed, but the sultan himself escaped without injury. Greater precaution is taken now than before, but the head of the church still makes his weekly pilgrimage to the mosque, thus maintaining unbroken a record covering nearly three decades.
sonsSONS OF THE SULTAN.
SONS OF THE SULTAN.
SONS OF THE SULTAN.
I hope I shall be pardoned for giving so much space to so militaryand spectacular a performance, but it is a scene that can be witnessed nowhere else and is the last reminder of the pomp and show that formerly characterized all the empires of the east. It may seem a little incongruous that so many swords and muskets should be brought into requisition at a religious function, but it must be remembered that Mohammedanism recognizes the sword as a legitimate agency in the spread of its creed.
I have been tempted to refer to the tenets of Mohammedanism before, for we began to meet the followers of the prophet as soon as we entered Asia, but it seemed more appropriate to consider the subject in connection with the high personage who combines the authority of a temporal ruler with the dignity of Caliph.
The Koran is the book of the law and the Moslem is not permitted to doubt its plenary inspiration. After Mahomet announced that he had been selected as a messenger of the Lord and commissioned to preach he began giving out what he declared to be revelations. They read as commands to him to "speak" and to "say." His central idea was the unity of God and his special mission the overthrow of idolatry. He emphasized the resurrection of the body and the Koran is full of promises to the faithful and as full of threats against the infidel. In the Koran God is quoted as promising: "For those who are devout are prepared with their Lord gardens through which rivers flow; therein shall they continue forever; and they shall enjoy wives free from impurity and the favor of God." For the infidel, which includes all who do not accept the prophet, the following punishment is threatened: "Verily, those who disbelieve our signs, we will surely cast to be broiled in hell fire; so often as their skin shall be well burned, we will give them other skins in exchange, that they may taste the sharper punishment; for God is mighty and wise."
Through the Koran he not only credited God with the creation and with a care for all the wants of man, but he also declared that God deceived and misled some while He guided others aright. In one revelation he makes God say: "They who accuse our signs of falsehood, are deaf and dumb, walking in darkness; God will lead into error whom He pleaseth, and whom He pleaseth He will put in the right way."
He accepted the Old Testament and counted Christ among the prophets. In one of the revelations, he declares that he is commanded to say: "We believe in God and that which hath been sent down unto us, and that which hath been sent down unto Abraham, and Ishmael and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which was deliveredunto Moses, and Jesus, and that which was delivered unto the prophets from their Lord; we make no distinction between any of them and to God we are resigned." In the beginning of his ministry, his revelations were friendly to the Jews, whom he at first attempted to conciliate, but when they rejected him, he gave out other revelations which treated the Jews with great severity. He started out to rely upon reason and an appeal to conscience, and by persuasion he formed the nucleus of his church, but as he grew stronger his revelations became more warlike in tone and at last he committed the Almighty to relentless warfare against the infidel. Here is the language which he imputes to God: "O Prophet, wage war against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be severe unto them, for their dwelling shall be hell; an unhappy journey shall it be thither!" At another time, he told his followers that they would be asked whether it was proper to war in the sacred month and he instructed them to answer: "The temptation to idolatry is more grievous than to kill in the sacred months."
On many questions the advice which he gave through the Koran was all that could be desired. He urged justice in dealings between man and man and strict administration of trusts, care for the orphan and widow and charity toward the poor. He condemned the use of intoxicating liquor and gambling, saying: "They will ask thee concerning wine and lots; answer, in both there is great sin, and also some things of use unto men; but their sinfulness is greater than their use." As to alms-giving the measure was to be, "what ye have to spare."
While plurality of wives was allowed—and Mahomet exercised the privilege to the limit, furnishing a new revelation when necessary to justify a new marriage—the virtue of the women is scrupulously guarded by the Moslem code. The women are not allowed to mingle with men, and this is one of the weaknesses of Mohammedanism. In Mohammedan society the influence of women counts for little and as a result the followers of Islam are sluggards in intellectual pursuits. In the Philippines the Mohammedans form the lowest stratum of the population; in Java they are just awakening to the necessity for education; in India they are behind the Hindu and still farther behind the Parsee; in Egypt they bring up the rear as they do also in Syria and Palestine. Only where they have come into contact with Christian civilization have they been stimulated to the discussion of schools and questions of government.
It must be admitted, however, that some of the customs of Europe and America have tended to prejudice the followers of Mahomet against western civilization. One who was in attendance at a banquetgiven during the recent Morocco conference told me of the astonishment of some of the Mohammedan representatives at what they saw. When the ladies appeared in evening dress they, remembering the veiled ladies of their own land, asked: "Do your women always dress this way?" When wine was brought on, they asked: "Do all of your people drink wine?" And when, after dinner, dancing began, they asked: "Do the women dance with their own husbands only?" The answers to some of these inquiries seemed to astonish them.
turkishTURKISH OFFICIALS
TURKISH OFFICIALS
TURKISH OFFICIALS
While Mohammedanism, as established by its founder, still holds the allegiance of many scores of millions, influencing them for good in many respects and for evil in some; while these orthodox followers of the prophet kneel at stated hours each day and pray toward Mecca, all of them, who have not done so, hoping to make the pilgrimage commanded of them—while these are keeping the letter of the Koran there is a reform at work which may yet leaven the whole lump.
Abbas Effendi, now a political prisoner at Akka, in Palestine, is the head of the reform movement. He was born in Persia and is carrying on the work to which his father and grandfather devoted their lives. He discards force as a means of propagating truth, and while he does not command monogamy, has set the example by having but one wife. While Abbas Effendi's father preached moral suasion his followers were charged with revolutionary designs and the family was exiled. After remaining a time at Constantinople under the surveillance of the sultan, the reform leaders were removed to Akka, a seaport not far from Haifa. Here, surrounded by few followers, the son holds such communication as he can with the rest of the church in Persia, his doctrines having as yet taken but little root among the Turks and Arabs. It is believed in Akka that he receives financial aid from a number of wealthy Americans who have become interested in his work.
We called upon Abbas Effendi as we were leaving Palestine and found him an earnest old man with a careworn but kindly face. His hair and beard are grey and he speaks with animation when his favorite topic is under discussion. His doctrines are something like those of Tolstoy, but he does not carry the doctrine of non-resistance so far as does the Russian philosopher. How much he may be able to do in the way of eliminating the objectionable features of Mohammedanism no one can say, but it is a hopeful sign that there is among the followers of Mahomet an organized effort to raise the plane of discussion from brute force to an appeal to intelligence.
The government of the sultan is the worst on earth. It is moredespotic than the Russian government ever was and adds corruption to despotism. The czar has convoked a duma, the dowager empress of China has sent her commissioners abroad with a view to establishing a constitution, and even the khedive of Egypt has a council, but the sultan still rules by his arbitrary will, taking life or granting favor according to his pleasure. He lives in constant fear of assassination and yet he does not seem to have learned that his own happiness, as well as justice to the people, demands that the government shall rest upon the will of the governed.
While in the sultan's realm, we learned something of the cruelty practiced by his officials—let us hope without his knowledge—for while he is responsible for the conduct of his appointees he may not know all the evil done in his name. Not long ago a young student was arrested and imprisoned because a paper was found in his house which contained Gladstone's statement that the sultan was an assassin. It was only a scrap of paper and had been given him because the other side contained an advertisement for a hair restorer and he, in taking the paper to his house, did not know of the offensive quotation. Another young man was kept in prison until he died because a book was found in his possession containing a picture of the sultan under which some one, unknown to him, had written the word dog. A third man was arrested because in ordering an engine he sent a telegram containing the words: "Seventy revolutions." In his original order he neglected to state the number of revolutions and sent the telegram in answer to an inquiry. A fourth man was imprisoned because he received a telegram inquiring about a burglary, the authorities mistaking the word "burglary" for the word "Bulgaria," where the authorities were expecting an uprising. These instances—and we heard of many more—are given simply to show that the citizen of Turkey is in constant danger of imprisonment, however innocent he may be of any intention to violate the law.
But it is in the realm of the censor that the most amusing cases have occurred. The officials are destroying a great many books just now in Turkey and are very careful about the introduction of new ones. Recently the wife of a justice of the peace, frightened by the confiscation of books in the houses of her neighbors, thought to avoid all possible danger by burning her husband's library, but her hope was vain for her husband was arrested as a dangerous character on the ground that he must have had a library. As he was holding a judicial position the fact that he no longer had books was a sufficient ground for suspicion.
Religious publications are subjected to very strict censorship. Sundayschool lessons have been cut out because they quoted from the Old Testament in regard to the killing of kings and the word "Christian" is often added before sinners in order to make the text exclude Mohammedans. A Sunday school lesson about Joash, the Boy King, was objected to because the authorities did not think it proper to suggest that a boy could be king. The above are actual cases, but they have given rise to jokes that go a little farther. For instance, they say that dynamos are not allowed in Turkey because the name sounds like dynamite and that chemistries have been excluded because the formula for water, "H2O," is suspected of meaning, "Hamud II is a cypher."
I have had a little experience with a censor myself. At Beyrout, one of the Turkish ports, a copy of the Koran and a copy of the Life of Abbas Effendi were taken from me by the censor. I had no objection to his holding them during my stay in the country, but when he informed me that they would have to be sent to Constantinople I demurred, and with the aid of our representative, Consul General Bergholz, not only secured the books, but secured a promise that the right of American citizens to carry books would not in the future be interfered with at that port.
In conclusion, I desire to add that we ought to have an ambassador instead of a minister at Constantinople. According to the custom prevailing in the sultan's realm, a minister is not on equal footing with ambassadors, and as other nations have ambassadors there American interests suffer. We have eighteen cases now awaiting adjustment. According to our law our appointment of an ambassador to any country depends upon that country's willingness to send an ambassador to us. This is a false basis. Our action should not depend upon what other nations do, but upon our diplomatic needs, and we need an ambassador at Constantinople whether Turkey needs one at Washington or not. I understand that the question is already being considered in congress, and from observation I am satisfied that the time has come for the raising of our legation to the dignity of an embassy, that American interests and the rights of American citizens may have proper protection in Turkey, for nowhere is there greater need for the introduction of American ideas.[8]
Southeastern Europe is out of the line of travel and little known to us, if I can measure the knowledge of others by my own. In order to learn something of this section we came northwest from Constantinople through Bulgaria, Servia and Hungary. We passed through European Turkey in the night, and morning found us in Bulgaria, where nothing but an occasional minaret remained to remind us of the Orient. Strange that so great a difference exists between two populations separated for centuries by nothing but an imaginary line. No more the Turk with his wealth of leisure, his baggy trousers and his gay headgear, but the sturdy peasant working in the field with his unveiled wife or trudging along the road carrying his produce to market; no more begging for baksheesh by lame and halt and blind, but a busy, industrious throng, each laboring apparently with a purpose and a hope. All day long we rode past well cultivated fields and tidy villages. The Bulgarians, judged by appearance, might be thought a mixture of German and Italian, but they are really Slavic in their origin. I had the good fortune to meet a former minister, a very intelligent man with a good command of English, and learned from him that there is a strong democratic sentiment in that country and that the people are making constant progress in the matter of education and political intelligence.
He said that during his ministry he had introduced into Bulgaria the American homestead law and that it had resulted in an increase in the number of peasant proprietors. It was gratifying to know that American example had been helpful to people so remote from us. He also spoke of the establishment in his country of state insurance against hail, that being one of the greatest perils the farmer has to meet. He said that the system had worked well. The railroads and telegraph lines are also owned by the state in Bulgaria and are operated very successfully.
The capital, Sofia, is a prosperous looking city, viewed from the railroad, and has an elevation of some fifteen hundred feet.
We crossed the Balkan mountains and the second morning reached Belgrade, the capital of Servia. The city has a fine location on a bluff at the junction of the Save with the Danube. A day's visit here gave an opportunity to see something of the population, as it was Sunday and the streets and parks were filled with well-dressed, well-behaved and intelligent looking people. The Servians, who are also Slavic in origin, are members of the Greek Church, and at the principal church of this denomination there was that day a large congregation and an impressive service. King Peter, it will be remembered, is the present ruler, having been called to the throne three years ago when his predecessor was assassinated. The brutalities attending the murder of King Alexander and his wife were widely discussed at the time, the bodies of the king and queen being thrown from the window of the palace into the park. While the new sovereign was recognized by most of the powers of Europe, England refused to send a representative to his court because the king retained some high officials who participated in the assassination. As Servia has a parliament which controls the ministry, and as this parliament was hostile to the former king, King Peter was powerless to comply with the conditions imposed by England—at least this was the explanation given to me. I heard next day at Budapest, however, that some satisfactory settlement had been reached and that England would soon be represented at Belgrade. King Peter is not of humble ancestry, as I had supposed, but is a grandson of a former king who was conspicuous in the war for independence. Peter himself was in exile in Switzerland at the time of his elevation to the throne, and having during his residence there imbibed something of the spirit of constitutional liberty, is much more popular than was his predecessor. There is quite a close connection between Servia, Roumania, Bulgaria and European Turkey, and it will not be surprising if the last remnant of Turkish territory in Europe is, before many years, released from the sultan's rule and a federation of Balkan states created. A majority of the sultan's European subjects belong to different branches of the Christian Church, and but for their quarrels among themselves they would long before this have been able to imitate Servia and Bulgaria in emancipating themselves.
The ride up the Danube valley from Belgrade to Budapest and from Budapest to the Austrian boundary gives one a view of one of the richest sections of Hungary. While the Danube hardly justifies the poetic praise that has described its waters as blue, it is a majestic stream, and its broad valley supports a large agricultural population.
danubeTHE DANUBE AND PARLIAMENT BUILDING—BUDAPEST
THE DANUBE AND PARLIAMENT BUILDING—BUDAPEST
THE DANUBE AND PARLIAMENT BUILDING—BUDAPEST
No American can visit Hungary without having his sympathiesenlisted in behalf of its people, for theirs is a fascinating history. Their country is one of the most favored in Europe so far as nature's blessings go. The Carpathian mountains which form a wall around it on the north and east, shut out the cold winds and by turning back the warmer winds from the south, give to Hungary a more temperate climate than other European countries in the same latitude, and in few countries has agriculture been more fostered by the state.
budapestA STREET IN BUDAPEST.
A STREET IN BUDAPEST.
A STREET IN BUDAPEST.
The present minister of agriculture, Dr. Ignatius Daramyi, has been at the head of this department for ten years, and being an enthusiast on the subject, he has introduced many new features and brought his department into close contact with the people. During his administration the annual appropriations for agriculture have increased from about eight million dollars to about thirteen millions, and the income from his department has risen from six million dollars to nine millions, leaving the net cost to the state at present some four million dollars per year.
Hungary believes in furnishing technical training to those who intend to farm; she had twenty-two industrial schools, with about six hundred pupils, and these schools are so distributed as to make them convenient for the small farmers. She has four secondary schools of agriculture, with a total attendance of over five hundred, and to complete her system she has an agricultural academy with a student body of one hundred and fifty. In order to accommodate adults who have not had the advantage of these schools, she has short winter terms and traveling instructors. By systematic effort the agricultural department is not only increasing the efficiency of the Hungarian as a tiller of the soil, but it is increasing his general intelligence and raising the standard of citizenship.
The experiment station is also a prominent feature of the work of the department of agriculture. All new agricultural implements are tested and reports are furnished upon their merits; there are several seed-testing stations where farmers can secure at cost price, not only selected seeds, but seed shown by experiment to be suited to the climate and soil of their locality. Then there are a number of model farms located at convenient points, which are intended to be object lessons to the neighborhoods in which they are situated. At these model farms and at other centers breeding establishments are conducted where horses, cattle, hogs and sheep of the best breeds are kept and loaned to the farmers about. These breeding farms have resulted in a marked improvement in the quality and value of the stock.
Nor does the agricultural department confine its attention to stock raising and ordinary farming; it is equally interested in horticulture, vine dressing, forestry, and even bee culture. Government nurseries furnish the hardiest varieties of young trees and vines and train those who desire to give special attention to these branches of industry. Instruction in the pruning of trees and the training of vines has an artistic as well as a utilitarian side, and taste is developed in the ornamentation of the arbors and gardens. Here, as elsewhere in Europe, much attention is given to forestry, and under the direction of the department of agriculture the work of preserving the old forests and of planting new groves is being intelligently and systematically done.
In addition to the work above outlined, the agricultural department has taken in hand the matter of furnishing general information to the farmers and farm laborers. It encourages the formation of workingmen's clubs, co-operative societies and parochial relief funds. It has established more than one thousand free libraries and publishes a weekly paper with a circulation of about sixty thousand. More thanhalf of the copies are published in the Hungarian language, the rest being divided between five other languages, the Slavic coming next to the Hungarian and the German following, although less than ten per cent are printed in the latter language. To strengthen the ties between employers and employés, harvest feasts have been inaugurated and the attendance at these feasts is yearly increasing.
I have gone into detail somewhat in describing the scope of the work undertaken by the agricultural department of Hungary because I think that we might, with advantage, adopt some of its features. Our national appropriation for agricultural purposes bears a small proportion, not only to the amount of taxes paid by the farmer, but to the appropriations made for other departments.
Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is one of the most attractive cities in Europe. In 1896 I received a cablegram of congratulation from a farmers' congress which was at that time in session in that city. I remembered this because it was the only cablegram received from any body of Europeans during the campaign.
Originally there were two cities, Buda on the south bank and Pesth on the north bank, but they were united under one municipal government some years ago, the names of the old towns being preserved in the new. The foothills of the Alps extend to the very bank of the Danube and furnish magnificent sites for villas, forts, public buildings and the royal palace, while on the opposite bank there is a broad plain, which affords ample room for the rapidly extending limits of the commercial and manufacturing sections of the city. Several bridges connect Buda and Pesth so that the river, while a great thoroughfare, no longer divides the business and the official sections. The streets of Budapest are wide, well paved, clean and lined with buildings quite uniform in height, one of the avenues rivaling the Champs-Elysees in Paris and Unter den Linden in Berlin; the parks are large and near the city; the business blocks are imposing and the public buildings models in design and construction. The parliament building, only recently completed, is one of the handsomest in the world.
The Hungarian people are distinct in language and history from all their neighbors. In fact, the Hungarians differ in many respects from all the other people of Europe, the inhabitants of Finland being their nearest kinspeople. Their early history is unknown, but they came from western Asia where the Mongolians, the Turks and the Finn-Ugrians struggled for mastery about the beginning of the Christian era. They were first known as Huns and claim Attila as one of their race. They have more often, however, used the word Magyars to describe their people, that name being a popular one at present.Their occupation of the present territory dates from about the ninth century, since which time they have figured prominently in the history of Europe. About the beginning of the eleventh century Hungary, under the leadership of King Stephen (later known as St. Stephen) became a Christian nation, and since that time she has been conspicuous in all the religious wars of Europe. In the fifteenth century she furnished the leader of the Christian army in the person of John Hunyadi, one of the greatest military geniuses of that period. His prominence in war brought his son Matthias to the throne of Hungary, a king who, when warned of a plot against his life, exclaimed: "Let no king, ruling justly and lawfully, fear the poison and assassin's dagger of his subjects."
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As early as the thirteenth century, Hungary began to inaugurate political reforms, and in 1222 her nobility ended a struggle of a hundred years by securing a concession which is regarded by her people as equal in importance to England's Magna Charta of 1215. It was in the form of a royal letter, issued by Andrew II. and called the Golden Bull, owing to the fact that the seal attached to it by a silk string rests in a box of gold. This document contained certain promises to the nobles and admitted the binding force of certain restrictions upon the king. The Golden Bull was the beginning of constitutional government in Hungary, and while it has not always been strictly observed by her rulers, it has served as a basis for subsequent negotiations. For several centuries they elected their kings.
During the nearly seven hundred years which have elapsed since 1222 Hungary has had a checkered career. Rival aspirants for the throne have fought over the succession and been aided in their ambition by neighboring nations; kings and nobles have fought over their respective authority; the nobility and the peasants have fought over their rights; different branches of the Christian Church have been at war with each other, for Hungary has been the eastern outpost of Protestantism as well as a champion of Christianity; and more recently Hungary has been fighting for her political independence. Hers has been a long drawn-out struggle in which her people, time and again, have almost been exterminated, but she emerges from it all a strong, vigorous and militant nation. She is now a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and her people form the largest homogeneous group in the empire: When we consider the numerous wars between Austria and Hungary, the difference in race, history and language, and the dissimilarity in political training, it is not strange that there should be lack of harmony between the empire as a whole and its largest single member.
When Hungary turned to Austria for help against the Turks and came under the Hapsburg line, she insisted upon a recognition of her national rights and secured a promise that her people should have control of their own affairs. While this alliance did not save her from the Mohammedans, it united her destiny to that of Austria, but she has never surrendered her independence. The crown of Hungary has always been distinct from that of Austria, and the emperor of Austro-Hungary must visit Budapest and receive with the crown of St. Stephen the title of king of Hungary. Joseph II., son of the beloved Maria Theresa, was the first king to refuse to receive the crown and swear fidelity to the Hungarian constitution, and the Hungarians would never call him their "crowned king" until, on his deathbed, he retracted his arbitrary measures and permitted the restoration of the constitution.