exertion earn their liberty. Thus the son of a
slave mother is incontestably free. In fact
slaves represent very closely the condition
of the Russian serf, but appear to be
better treated. In Turkey a master is
compelled by law to feed and clothe his slaves;
he may not ill-treat them; he cannot prevent
or force their marriages. They are simply
servants without wages, and are in most cases
personally and of choice attached to their
masters; yet the condition of the female
slaves is barbarous enough, and very shocking
to any civilised man who may have had
an opportunity of watching their condition,
and the terrible traffic of which they are the
object. Then, the son of a slave, being free,
has an equal chance in the world with the boy
of the most favoured parentage; for in Turkey
there is no aristocracy.

The story runs that one day the Khalif
Omer having received some fine linen from
Yemen, distributed it amongst the Mussulmans.
Every man had an equal piece, Omer
reserving no more for himself than he had
given to the rest. Arrayed in the garment
his share had been made into, he entered a
pulpit and exhorted the Mussulmans to wage
war with the infidels. But a man present
rose, and interrupting the Khalif said, "We
will not obey you."

"Why not? " Omer asked.

"Because you have distinguished yourself
from us all by a particular partiality."

"In what way?" said the Khalif.

"Listen. When you pretended to divide
the linen equally you deceived us, for our
pieces do not suffice to make a garment like
yours. You are a man of great height,
and have retained enough to clothe yourself
from head to foot."

Omer, turning to his son, said, "Abd-Allah,
answer this man."

Whereupon Abd-Allah rose and explained,
"When the prince of believers, Omer, wished
to make a garment of his portion of linen, he
found it insufficient. I found my portion
too much; so I gave him my surplus."

"Very good," the questioner then answered;
"in that case we will obey you."

This spirit predominates to this hour. All
men are equal, by birth, in Turkey; and if a
man becomes a minister for foreign affairs, be
sure that he has good right to the post. Only
the sovereign's position is hereditary, and
only the royal family bears a recognised
family name, and traces exactly its descent.
Thus we find such designations as "Ibrahim
the son of the slipper-maker," common
throughout the country. The only recognised
rank is that of the government officials, who,
as in Russia, have all a military grade. The
rest of the nation is divided into two distinct
classes:—employers and artisans. The artisans
are banded as in other continental states, into
distinct corporations or Esnafs, and are
governed by an inspector or Kiaya. These
bodies are very numerous, and include corporations
of bonnet-makers, pipe-tube manufacturers,
water carriers, boatmen, and others;
the corporation of boatmen being one of
the largest. These men are the cabmen of
Constantinople, and ply upon the waters of
the Bosphorus, in their little varnished
kaïks. They are nearly all bekiars, or
bachelor adventurers, who leave their
homes on the borders of Asia, for two or
three years, to earn enough money at
Constantinople to return in comfort to their
distant villages. Their object being to economise
as far as possible, they generally club
together in bands of five or six, to hire one
large room (which they get for about twenty
piastres, equal to three shillings and
fourpence per month) and therein each member
has his carpet and his bedclothes. They also
give a sum about equal to the rent, to some
old man, who is charged with the arrangement
of the room, and with the preparation of
the boatmen's supper. This old man is well
cared for by his employers, and is their umpire
in disputes. Thus these prudent fellows
gather their modest harvest quickly, and
return to their homes, unless in the meantime,
by the exhibition of some rare talent, they
have been made capitan-pacha.

The capitalists and landowners are
reputed to be a grave, dignified, intensely
prejudiced class of men. They preside
over their farms or business; take great
care of their homes; extend to their neighbours
a bountiful hospitality; pray; give
away abundantly in charity; educate their
children; and, with the well-loved tchibouk
or pipe, enjoy the kef, that irresistible, idle
dreaminess, which the Ottoman loves to nurse,
sitting cross-legged upon his splendid carpet.
He sees the progress going forward in his
country with the look of a hopeless man. He
says, "When the medicinal properties of the
plants revealed themselves to Hokman, not
one of them said to him, 'I can restore life to
a corpse.' Sultan Abdul-Medjid is another
Hokman, but the empire is a corpse. All
true Mussulmans are under ground." If he
be a rich man he will order his relatives to
convey his body to the great cemetery of
Scutari in Asia, that the infidels may not
disturb his bones when they shall have taken
possession of Stamboul. He represents a
large class of men in the Turkish empire.
These men look upon all the reforms which
have been going on during the last fifty
years as so many hopeless attempts to restore
animation to a dead body. They are the
Turkish Tories, longing for the good old times
when the pachas were unquestioned tyrants;
when the slave-market was brisk in the open
squares of Constantinople; and when the
Koran was interpreted in defence of oppression
and of wrong. They are, in short, the faint
type of the Turk vulgarly known throughout
Europe. They are represented as exhibiting
those virtues which characterise the Arab;—
hospitality, religious zeal, and a scrupulously