William Eleroy Curtis

“ The grounds of the palace suddenly become an ocean of gold lace and red fezzes.
When a carriage arrived with a black man upon the box in the footman’s place, we knew it brought ladies from the harem with a eunuch in charge. While all black men are not eunuchs, all eunuchs are black. They are brought from Africa and Arabia when children and are purchased like other slaves. The Sultan’s wives and sisters usually attend the Selamlik, but have their own place in the mosque partitioned off by screens. They cannot even enter the same door with their sovereign master. He must pray alone. ”

“ Those who know the Greek character best declare that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the Greeks to permit one of their own citizens to rule over them. The king is democratic enough to suit their tastes. He mingles freely with the people, and while he maintains beyond criticism the dignity that becomes his position, he is nevertheless simple in his habits, unostentatious in his exercise of power and loves nothing so well as to be considered one of the Greeks. ”

“ 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. ”

“ As a result good men are disheartened and are leaving the empire by thousands. Everyone who ever expressed dissatisfaction with the present régime or sighs for reform or change for the better is instantly branded as one of the Young Turkish party and treated as a felon. So the empire has fallen into the hands of the worst elements—parasites and sycophants who are mocking and baffling one another in every department, while the common people are trampled under foot. ”

“ There are plenty of saloons in Constantinople, but they are all found in the foreign quarter. In Stamboul, which is almost exclusively Mohammedan, there are none, and the natives dissipate at coffee-houses, which are as numerous in the Mohammedan districts as saloons in Chicago. The highest joy that a Turk can realize is to sit outside a café, sip a cup of coffee, smoke a nargileh—one of those long-stemmed water pipes—and contemplate the infinite. ”

“ But in recent years the Sultan, by an invidious system of imperial irades or edicts, has filched away every privilege and prerogative of these provincial officials. Constantinople has become a huge auction-market where every position in the empire is bought or sold for a price. Worse than this is the ominous fact that the high provincial officials, who once had the power to punish or remove a disobedient or unworthy subordinate, are now powerless to effect any reform. When an official falls under their displeasure or judgment, the matter must be referred to Constantinople. ”

“ The old city, or the Turkish quarter, as it is called, resembles a patch of Constantinople, and has the low adobe walls, the heavy tiled roofs, the deep windows and the narrow streets of all oriental cities, with long blocks of bazaars kept by Turks and Jews, who have most of their wares displayed upon the sidewalks. This is by far the most interesting section of the town to strangers. The shops are open, so that the visitor is enabled to watch the artisans at their work. ”

“ The Acropolis of Athens is the most famous hill in the universe. The columns of the Parthenon are familiar to all the world. They are the remains of the most majestic monument ever erected by human hands, and did it ever occur to you that it was intended for the honor and the worship of a woman? ”

“ Fearing at that time that the Powers might seek the punishment of these red-handed murderers, the Sultan began a wholesale shifting of them to all parts of the empire, so that in every district we have thousands of these brutes who participated in the killing of 100,000 Armenians. No one was ever punished, no one was ever rebuked. Europe, in her pitiful jealousies, failed to exact punishment for anyone. ”

“ Nearly the entire garrison of Constantinople, numbering 12,000 or 15,000 of the picked soldiers of the Turkish army, appear every Friday in brilliant and peculiar uniforms, line the roadway over which the Sultan passes, surround the mosque in which he worships and are packed into the grounds until their red fezzes and glistening bayonets light up the entire park. There are regiments of Nubians, Soudanese, Albanians, Arabs, Syrians, Kurds, Turkestanese, Bokharans, Georgians, Circassians and other races unknown to us, which cannot be seen elsewhere. ”

“ The palace of the king is an ugly modern structure, of which a nation with the taste of the Greeks ought to be ashamed. It looks like a factory, but the other public buildings are so imposing and appropriate, particularly a group of three—the university, the Academy of Sciences and the library—that they more [334] than offset the atrocity in which the king resides. I doubt if there is a more beautiful combination of buildings in all the world. The academy, designed by a Vienna architect, is asserted to be the purest example of the classic school that has arisen in modern times. ”

“ Western Christians do not appreciate the religious heroism which the poor peasants, not of Bosnia only, but of Bulgaria, Macedonia and other parts of the Balkans, have displayed during all the centuries that they have suffered from the persecution of the Turks. They have lived in daily dread of martyrdom, for the Mohammedans consider that they do no wrong when they kill a Christian. Nevertheless the Greeks and the Roman Catholics clung to their faith when they might at any moment have secured safety, prosperity and position by recanting and accepting the religion of their oppressors. ”

“ It must amuse His Majesty the Sultan to read the signature of the German ambassador at the bottom of the frequent diplomatic notes that are handed to him concerning the misgovernment of his empire, and we can imagine his large, sad eyes grow merry at the farces so frequently enacted at the Yildiz Kiosk, when the representatives of the Powers appear in their radiant uniforms, as they often do, to remonstrate against his inhumanity to his Christian subjects, and the massacres that are committed at his very doors. ”

“ Although the Romans carried away from Greece the choicest works of art to embellish their palaces and temples, and vandals have been following their example ever since, the earth is still full of marble, pottery and bronzes, which are being uncovered daily. But most of the work is done by foreigners. The Greek government is so poor that it can afford to do but little, and the citizens have other uses for their money.
Near the excavations, in front of a low adobe hut, sat an aged man in the native costume, smoking his pipe and rocking the cradle of a child. ”

“ One great trouble in Turkey is the disloyalty of the upper classes. The lower classes are fanatical in their devotion to the Sultan and the Mohammedan Church. But it is the office and not the man they adore. They care very little who occupies the throne and will give their lives cheerfully to support and defend him. The Turkish soldiers are great fighters, if well led, and are absolutely destitute of fear because they are taught from infancy that he who dies in defense of the church or the Sultan goes straight to paradise, which is sufficient incentive for them. ”

“ A little farther on is Ithaca, whose connection with the Odyssey has made it familiar to every student of Greek, for the wanderings and misfortunes, the sufferings and the fortitude of Ulysses, the king of this island, have been handed down to us in one of the most fascinating stories of adventure. His descendants occupy Ithaca to-day, and are distinguished for their bold seamanship, their love of home, their hospitality and their courage, and their mercantile instincts have made them rich. ”

“ The Albanians and the Kurds, after such orgies of lawlessness and bloodshed, rapine and plunder, could never be expected to relapse into law-abiding citizens of any empire, and so they are completely out of hand and at this moment shaking off the last shadow of control from Constantinople. Those parts of the empire which were once safe and law-abiding are now preyed upon by treacherous spies and men whose sense of decency and justice was forever blotted out by their acts in Armenia. ”

“ Every stranger who comes to Sofia instinctively asks an explanation, but Prince Ferdinand, who always has this reproachful panorama before him, seems to be entirely indifferent to it. The palace is a fine building in French style, surrounded by pleasant grounds, and facing a public park that is well laid out with foliage plants and fountains, and is a pleasure ground for the people. ”

“ The education of women is gradually reaching a level with that of men. There are still certain social restraints, due to tradition and the influence of the neighboring countries of Europe, and the old-fashioned method of contracting marriages between families still prevails; but, speaking generally, the women of Greece are to-day quite as independent, quite as influential and quite as well educated as any on the continent, south of Sweden, and it is gratifying to know that the queen herself has been one of the most active and influential agents in bringing about the emancipation of her sex. ”

“ In Servia, Bulgaria, and certain American republics, where the population is less than in Greece, political agitation is even more bitter and a larger number of people give their exclusive time to it.
I have been trying to discover the political issues in Greece, but have given up in despair. They seem to be numerous, but are not well defined. The local complications are too intricate to be untangled by a stranger, and when you bore through into the pith of the thing you find that the ambition to hold office is the ruling motive, as it is almost everywhere else. ”

“ The people are not fit for self-government, while the old policy of trying to reform the Turkish administration is criminal folly. Improvement will appear, however, the moment the curse of centuries is withdrawn, and the ground left free for wise, honest and just administration. Peaceful Moslems should, of course, be permitted to pursue their vocations and practice their religious rites, as in Bosnia. Religious freedom should be the fundamental condition, but the Turkish pashas and bashi-bazouks, and every official of Islam faith should be compelled to disappear, never to return. ”

“ There is no reason why Greece should have an army. If she had none she would be much [356] better off. Her military history is not at all flattering, and during the late war with Turkey it was clearly demonstrated that the people had neither military skill nor courage. If the parliament would abolish the army and navy, leaving just enough soldiers to preserve the peace, and rest entirely upon the protection of the great Powers of Europe, it would be a blessing to the people and relieve them from an enormous burden of taxation. ”

“ Somebody has said that what Greece wants is not men of culture, but men of agriculture, and that is probably true. There are plenty of men to till the limited area between the mountains and the rocky plateaus if they would devote themselves to it, but it is the ambition of every Greek youth to obtain a classical education and to engage in one of the learned [343] professions. No country in the world has so few children in the primary schools in proportion to the young men and women in the academies and universities. One class of the population is under-educated and the other over-educated. ”

“ You frequently hear of Hermes, Alcibiades [336] and Homer, and the Athens city directory reads like the muster-roll of the army of Agamemnon, which you will find in the early part of Homer. Achilles, Ajax, Menelaus, Miltiades, Leonidas, Themistocles, and other names equally familiar to students of Greek, are in daily use among the people.
Greece is a true democracy. No other country in Europe, not even Norway, is so subject to the will of the people, and the democratic spirit is often shown in ways that are disagreeable. ”

“ The Bulgarians have dedicated themselves as a nation to the emancipation of their neighbors and relatives in Macedonia, and are only waiting a favorable opportunity to strike. Their great difficulty is money. Their treasury is empty and their national credit is exhausted, but they will seize every opportunity that is offered for a coup d’état. Politics seems to monopolize the attention of everybody, and the entire Bulgarian population is involved in a perpetual intrigue with the freedom of the Macedonians as its object. ”

“ The columns grow larger and grander and more beautiful every time you look at them, and those who have had the privilege of visiting the Acropolis by moonlight will retain an impression that cannot be effaced from their memory by anything else that may remain for their enjoyment. Age and the salt air from the sea have given the marble a rusty color, which detracts from its purity, but gives it a tone of richness and ripeness entirely appropriate to a ruin. ”

“ Sidewalks for foot passengers are reserved, but pedestrians take the roadway quite as often, and from six o’clock in the morning until nearly midnight the bridge is thronged by two endless streams of humanity passing both ways. At either entrance are groups of toll collectors wearing long white tunics to distinguish them from the rest of the public, and they hold out their hands to receive the coppers from people who walk and people who ride. Everybody has to pay except the high officials of the government—usually great, fat pashas, who are identified by the livery of their coachmen. ”