Mohammedan it is, " His Lordship, So and So, testi-
fied to the face of God "; in the case of a Christian
it is, " Mr. Blank stated."
In Article 63 of the Treaty of Berlin we read
Turkey's solemn (it is hard to, suppress a smile)
promise to the European Powers in regard to the
rights of Christians before the law: '^ All shall be
alloiued to give evidence before the courts without dis-
tinctions of creedy The practical application of the
above clause is shown in the official reports of
British Consuls.'
Mr. Wilson, Consul-General in Anatolia, writes :
" In the greater portion of Anatolia, though Chris-
tian evidence may be received, no weight is attached
to it. When Moslem and Christian evidence are op-
posed to each other, the latter is disregarded. For
instance, three Christians are travelling along a road,
and one of them is robbed by a man well known to
all of them ; in the action which ensues, the robber
has only to prove an alibi by two Moslem false wit-
nesses to gain his case."
' These extracts are from Bhte-Book, Turkey, No. 8 (1881), pp. 57-
iio, as quoted by the high authority, M. Rolin-Jaequemyns, in his
Armenia, the Armenians, and the Treaties, pp. 74-76. London :
John Heywood, 1891.
Islam as a Factoi^ of the Problem. i 13
Mr. Chermside, Vice-Consul at Sivas, writes:
"As regards the acceptance of Christian testimony,
theoretically is it accepted in all Nizam courts.
Hearing testimony, however, and attaching the rela-
tive importance to it that, from its tenor and con-
sistency, it is entitled to, are very different matters ;
and there is no doubt that, especially in civil cases,
tradition, sympathy, and education prejudice the
Hakivi^ against it — sentimental considerations, how-
ever, are not proof against the love of gain."
According to the latter part of this quotation, the
spirit which animates the courts of Asia Minor may
be defined as fanaticism tempered by corruption.
The following is the opinion of I\Ir. Everett, Vice-
Consul at Erzerum : " The first consideration of the
administrators of justice is the amount of money
that can be extorted from an individual, and the sec-
ond is his creed." The only doubt as to the morality
of the Turkish magistrates appears to be whether
they are more corrupt than fanatical, or more fanati-
cal than corrupt.
The injustice done to Christians even in commer-
cial transactions is shown by Mr. Bilotti, Consul at
Trebizond :
" Christian evidence is accepted in the town of
Trebizond, but I am assured in the districts, that
though the same principle is admitted, no Mussul-
man has ever been condemned on the testimony of
Christians; so much so, tliat the latter are in the
' The Hakim, who is a member of the religious body of Ulemas,
presides over the lower court (Ridayet), which is to be found in every
caza (hundred), and also over the Sandjak or district court.
I 14 The Crisis in Turkey.
habit of having their bonds witnessed only by
Mussulmans."
Much is said in regard to the truthfulness of the
Turks. Consul-General Wilson writes : " From the
peculiar value of Moslem evidence, most of the false
witnesses are Turks."
As a matter of fact, we thus see that the millions
of Christians in Turkey neither are nor can be con-
sidered and treated as citizens of the state, simply
because they do not belong to the religion of the
foreign invaders who rule them. No degree of
loyalty can secure for non-Moslems admission to the
army. Christians are rapidly being excluded from
even the humblest positions in the civil lists also,
except from such as Mohammedans are incompetent
to fill. The status of the Christian before the law is
that of an alien in regard to his own rights, and of a
slave as far as the interests of Mohammedans are
concerned.
And yet we are told that the Ottoman Turks are
tolerant of the members of other faiths. This is true
in the same sense that the stomach is spoken of as
being " tolerant " of certain easily digestible articles
of food. Yes, so long as Christians submit to all
forms of oppression, and make no claims in regard
to rights which are generally supposed to belong to
all men, they are gladly tolerated.
That the discrimination against Christian subjects
is due to their religious belief, is, further, clearly
shown by the fact that Mohammedans, who abandon
the creed of the government, immediately forfeit
their special privileges, and even incur punishment
Islam as a Factoi" of the Problem. 115
as criminals. Apostacy from Islam is treason to the
Sultan. Converts to Christianity are arrested and
imprisoned. In the rare instances when foreign gov-
ernments venture to inquire into such cases, the
Ottoman authorities blandly insist that they care
nothing for the man's religion, but that he must be
arrested for "avoiding conscription," or on some
other fictitious charge. He is, thereupon, hurried off
to some distant military post, or finds a living grave
in an unknown dungeon.
Such is the politico-religious organization called
the Ottoman Government. Can this union of Church
and State be dissolved ? It can not be. The bond
which unites them, according to Mohammedan doc-
tors, is vital, as in the case of the Siamese twins.
Inasmuch as the bond cannot be cut, the only re-
maining hope must be in improving the health of
the two bodies thus indissolubly united. Unfortu-
nately, no change can be hoped for in the case of
either part of this dual patient. JMoliammcdanisiii at
its birth was a malformation, to say the least, and
will continue so even though restored to a state of
perfect health. In the opinion of every orthodox
Mohammedan, the Koran is a " perfect revelation of
the will of God, sufificient and final," and " Islam
is a separate distinct, and absolutely exclusive
religion."
As attempts arc frequently made to convey a con-
trary impression on this point, I quote the words of
President George Washburn, of Robert College,
Constantinople, an impartial student of Islam, who
for thirty-five )ears has observed its practical work-
1 1 6 The Crisis in Ttirkey.
ings in the Ottoman Empire. At the World's Par-
liament of Religions, in Chicago, 1893, he read a
paper on " The Points of Contact and Contrast
between Christianity and Mohammedanism." His
whole treatment is remarkable for its judicial fair-
ness, and his paper is commended to the reader
who may desire a brief, comprehensive, and fair
estimate of Islam.
To the question whether Mohammedanism has
been in any way modified, since the time of the
Prophet, by its contact with Christianity, Dr. Wash-
burn thinks that every orthodox Moslem would
answer in the negative. He adds: "It is very im-
portant to bear in mind that there are nominal
Mohammedans who are theists, and others who are
pantheists of the Spinoza type. There are also
some small sects who are rationalists, but after the
fashion of old English Deism rather than of the
modern rationalism. The Deistic rationalism is
represented in that most interesting work of Justice
Ameer All, Tlic Spirit of Islam. He speaks of Mo-
hammed as Xenophon did of Socrates, and he
reveres Christ also, but he denies that there was
anything supernatural in the inspiration or lives of
either, and claims that Hanife and the other Imams
corrupted Islam, as he thinks Paul the apostle did
Christianity; but this book does not represent Mo-
hammedanism, any more than Renan's Life of Jesus
represents Christianity. These small rationalistic
sects are looked upon by all orthodox Moslems as
heretics of the worst description."
Although the Scriptures of the Old and New
Islam as a Factor of the Problem. 1 1 7
Testaments happen to be mentioned one hundred
and thirty-one times in the Koran, they are only
quoted twice. The fundamental doctrines of Chris-
tianity, such as the Incarnation, the Trinity, the
Atonement, and the Resurrection of Christ are
specifically repudiated in the Koran.
The reform of Islam as a system is, therefore, not
within the range of possibility. How about the
reform of the Ottoman Government? On this point
I yield the floor to the great historian E. A. Free-
man, who will close the debate ' :
" There are some people who say the Turks are
no doubt very bad, but that the Christians are just
as bad, and have done things just as cruel. Now, as
a matter of fact, this is not true ; and, if it were true,
it w^ould be another reason for setting the Christians
free; for if they arc as bad as the Turk, it is the
Turk who has caused their badness. While other
nations have been improving, the Turk has kept
them from improving. Take away the Turk who
hinders improvement, and they will improve like the
others. The slave never has the virtues of a free-
man ; it is only by setting him free that he can get
them.
" When we point out the evils of the rule of the
Turk, some people tell us that Christian rulers in
past times have done things quite as bad as the
Turks. This is partly true, but not wholly. No
Christian government has ever gone on for so long a
time ruling as badly as the Turk has ruled. lUit it
is true that Christian governments have in past times
' The Turks in Europe.
1 1 8 The Crisis in Turkey.
done particular acts, which were as bad as the acts
of the Turks. But this argument, too, cuts the
other way ; for Christian governments have left off
doing such acts, while the Turks go on doing them
still. The worst Christian government is better now
than it was one hundred years ago, or five hundred
years ago. The rule of the Turk is worse now than
it was one hundred years ago, or five hundred years
ago. That is to say, the worst Christian government
can reform, while the Turk cannot.
" It is sometimes said that we ought not to set
free the Christians for fear that they should do some
harm to the Mohammedans who would be left in
their land. Now, if the question were really put.
Shall a minority of oppressors go on oppressing the
people of the land, or shall the majority of the people
of the land turn round and oppress the minority
who have hitherto oppressed them ? — this last would
surely be the lesser evil of the two. But there is no
ground for any such fear. No one wishes to hurt
any Mohammedan who will live peaceably and not
hurt Christians. No one wishes that any man,
merely because he is a Mohammedan, should be in
any way worse off than a Christian, or be put under
any disability as compared with a Christian. There is
no reason why he should be. For the Mohammedan
religion, though it does not command that Christians
shall be persecuted, does command that Christians
shall be treated as subjects of Mohammedans. But
the Christian religion in no way commands that
Mohammedan shall be treated as the subject of
Christian. Christians and Mohammedans cannot
Islam as a Factor of tJic Problem. 1 1 9
live together on equal terms under a Mohammedan
government, because the Mohammedan religion
forbids that they should ; but Mohammedans
and Christians may perfectly well live together
under a Christian government. They do so under
the governments both of England and of Russia.
The few Mohammedans who are left in Greece
and in Servia are in no way molested ; there
are mosques both at Chalkis and at Belgrade. But
it is foolish to argue, as some people do, that because
men of different religions can live together under a
Christian government, therefore they can live to-
gether under a Mohammedan government ; for both
reason and the nature of the Mohammedan religion
prove that-it is not so.
" The Turk came in as an alien and barbarian en-
camped on the soil of Europe. At the end of five
hundred years, he remains an alien and barbarian
encamped on soil which he has no more made his
own than it was when he first took Kallipolis. His
rule during all that time has been the rule of
strangers over enslaved nations in their own
land. It has been the rule of cruelty, faith-
lessness, and brutal lust ; it has not been govern-
ment, but organized brigandage. His rule cannot
be reformed. While all other nations get better and
better, the Turk gets worse and worse. And when
the chief powers of Europe join in demanding that
he should make even the smallest reform, he impu-
dently refuses to make any. If there was anything
to be said for him before the late Conference, there
is nothing to be said for him now. For an evil
I20
The Crisis in Turkey.
which cannot be reformed, there is one remedy only
— to get rid of it. Justice, reason, humanity, de-
mand that the rule of the Turk in Europe should be
got rid of ; and the time for getting rid of it has now
come "
ARMENIAN REBELS WHO WOULD NOT PAY TAXES.
This was written seventeen years ago with refer-
ence to the discontinuance of the Ottoman power in
Europe. Does it not now apply with equal force to
the discontinuance of the same regime in Armenia?
CHAPTER IX.
GLADSTONE ON THE ARMENIAN MASSACRE
AND ON TURKISH MISRULE.
ON the eighty- fifth anniversary of Mr. W. E.
Gladstone's birth, December 29, 1894, a
deputation of members of the National
Church of Armenia presented to his son, the Rev.
Stephen Gladstone, rector of Havvarden, a silver gilt
chalice for the use of the church, in memory of the
ex-Premier's sympathy with and assistance to the
Armenian people. On that occasion Mr. Gladstone
made a long and eloquent speech, in the course of
which — after thanking the deputation for their
token of sympathy and their grateful references to
himself — he said :
" Well, Mr. Stevenson — I address myself now per-
haps more particularly to you and to my own coun-
trymen, to any of them who will take notice of the
deputation. I have said that in my opinion this
manifestation from the Armenian community in
England and in Paris was, on my part at least, quite
undeserved. I have done nothing for you in circum-
stances of great difficulty, and that, let me assure
you, has not been owing to indifference. I will explaii\
the cause in very few words. Rumors went abroad,
growing more and more authenticated, which repre-
121
122 The Crisis in Tiirkey.
sented a state of horrible and indescribable outrage
in Armenia. The impulse of every man in circum-
stances of that kind is to give way to a burst of
strong feeling, but I had the conviction that in a
grave case of this kind every nation is best and most
properly represented by its government, which is the
organ of the nation, and which has the right to speak
with the authority of the nation.
" And do not let me be told that one nation has no
authority over another. Every nation, and if need be
every human being, has authority on behalf of hu-
manity and of justice. (Hear, hear.) These are prin-
ciples common to mankind, and the violation of which
may justly, at the proper time, open the mouths of the
very humblest among us. But in such cases as these
we must endeavor to do injustice to no one, and the
more dreadful the allegations may be, the more
strictly it is our duty not to be premature in assum-
ing their truth, but to wait for an examination of the
case, and to see that what we say, we say upon a
basis of ascertained facts.
" Well, gentlemen, it was, my fate — my fortune,
I think — about eighteen years ago to take an ac-
tive part with regard to other outrages which first
came up in the shape of rumor, but were afterwards
too horribly verified, in Bulgaria ; but I never
stirred in regard to those outrages until in the
first place, their existence and their character had
been established by indisputable authority ; and,
secondly, until I had found myself driven to abso-
lute despair in regard to any hopes that I could en-
tertain of a proper representation of British feeling
Gladsto7tc on the Armenian Alassacre. 123
on the part of the government which was then in
office. You will see, therefore, that my conduct
on this occasion has not been inconsistent with what
I then did (hear, hear), and it does not imply, old as
I am, that my feelings have been deadened in regard
to matters of such a dreadful description. (Cheers.)
" Now I remained silent because I had full confi-
dence that the government of the Queen would do its
duty, and I still entertain that confidence. Its power
and influence are considerable ; at the same time they
are limited. It is not in the power of this country,
acting singly, to undertake to represent humanity at
large, and to inflict, even upon the grossest wrong-
doers, the punishments that their crimes may have
deserved ; but there is such a thing as the conscience
of mankind at large, and the conscience is not lim-
ited even to Christendom. (Hear, hear.) And there
is a great power in the collected voice of outraged
humanity. What happened in Bulgaria ? The Sul-
tan and his government absolutely denied that any-
thing wrong had been done. Yes, but their denial
was shattered by the force of facts. The truth was
exhibited to the world. It was thought an extrava-
gance at the time when I said : ' It is time that
the Turk and all his belongings should go out of
Bulgaria bag and baggage.' They did go out of
Bulgaria, and they went out of a good deal besides.
But, quite independent of any sentiment of right,
justice, or humanity, common sense and common
prudence ought to have taught them not to repeal
the infernal acts which disgraced the year 1876, so
far as Turkey was concerned. (Cheers.)
1 24 TJic Crisis in Tttrkey.
" Now, it is certainly true that we have not arrived
at the close of this inquiry, and I will say nothing to
assume that the allegations will be verified. At the
same time I cannot pretend to say that there is no
reason to anticipate an unfavorable issue. On the con-
trary, the intelligence which has reached me tends to a
conclusion which I still hope may not be verified,
but tends strongly to a conclusion to the general
effect that the outrages and the scenes and abomina-
tions of 1876 in Bulgaria have been repeated in 1894
in Armenia. As I have said, I hope it is not so, and
I will hope to the last, but if it is so it is time that
one general shout of execration, not of men, but of
deeds, one general shout of execration directed
against deeds of wickedness, should rise from out-
raged humanity, and should force itself into the ears
of the Sultan of Turkey and make him sensible, if
anything can make him sensible, of the madness of
such a course.
" The history of Turkey has been a sad and
painful history. That race has not been without
remarkable and even in some cases fine quali-
ties, but from too many points of view it has been
a scourge to the world, made use of, no doubt,
by a wise Providence for the sins of the world. If
these tales of murder, violation, and outrage be true,
then it will follow that they cannot be overlooked,
and they cannot be made light of. I have lived to
see the Empire of Turkey in Europe reduced to less
than one half of what it was when I was born, and
why ? Simply because of its misdeeds — a great record
written by the hand of Almighty God, in whom tht
Gladstone on the Armenian Massacre. 125
Turk, as a Mohammedan, believes, and believes firmly
— written by the hand of Almighty God against in-
justice, against lust, against the most abominable
cruelty ; and if — and I hope, and I feel sure, that the
government of the Queen will do everything that
can be done to pierce to the bottom of this mystery,
and to make the facts known to the world — if, happily
— I speak hoping against hope — if the reports we have
read are to be disproved or to be mitigated, then let
us thank God ; but if, on the other hand, they be
established, then I say it will more than ever stand
before the world that there is no lesson, however
severe, that can teach certain people the duty, the
prudence, the necessity of observing in some de-
gree the laws of decency, and of humanity, and of
justice, and that if allegations such as these are
established, it will stand as if it were written with
letters of iron on the records of the world, that such
a government as that which can countenance and
cover the perpetration of such outrages is a disgrace
in the first place to Mahomet, the Prophet whom it
professes to follow, that it is a disgrace to civilization
at large, and that it is a curse to mankind. (Cheers.)
Now, that is strong language.
" Strong language ought to be used when facts are
strong, and ought not to be used without strength of
facts. I have counselled you still to retain and to keep
your judgment in suspense, but as the evidence grows
and the case darkens, my hopes dwindle and decline ;
and as long as I have a voice I hope that voice, upon
occasions, will be uttered on behalf of humanity and
truth." (Cheers.) '
' The London Tiiites, Weekly Kdilion Jan. 14, 1S95.
126 The Crisis in Tier key.
In a remarkable paper entitled Bulgarian Horrors
and tJic Question of tJie East called forth by the atroc-
ities in 1876, Mr. Gladstone sums up some of the
qualities of the Turkish race and of Turkish rule as
follows : '
" Let me endeavor very briefly to sketch, in the
rudest outline, what the Turkish race was and what
it is. It is not a question of Mohammedanism sim-
ply, but of Mohammedanism compounded with the
peculiar character of a race. They are not the mild
Mohammedans of India, nor the chivalrous Saladins
of Syria, nor the cultured Moors of Spain. They
were, upon the whole, from the black day when they
first entered Europe, the one great anti-human speci-
men of humanity. Wherever they went, a broad
line of blood marked the track behind them ; and, as
far as their dominion reached, civilization disap-
peared from view. They represented everywhere
government by force as opposed to government by
law. For the guide of this life they had a relentless
fatalism ; for its reward hereafter, a sensual paradise.
"They were, indeed, a tremendous incarnation of
military power. This advancing curse menaced the
whole of Europe. It was only stayed — and that not
in one generation, but in many — by the heroism of
the European population of those very countries
part of which form at this moment the scene of war,
and the anxious subject of diplomatic action. In
the olden time all Western Christendom sympathized
with the resistance to the common enemy ; and even
during the hot and fierce struggles of the Reforma-
' Reprinted from The Christian Register, Boston, Dec. i, 1894.
128 The Crisis in Turkey.
tion there were prayers, if I mistake not, offered up
in the Enghsh churches for the success of the
emperor— the head of the Roman Cathohc power
and influence — in his struggles with the Turk.
" But, although the Turk represented force as op-
posed to law, yet not even a government of force
can be maintained without the aid of an intellectual
element such as he did not possess. Hence there
grew up Avhat has been rare in the history of the
world, a kind of tolerance in the midst of cruelty,
tyranny, and rapine. Much of Christian life was
contemptuously let alone, much of the subordinate
functions of government was allowed to devolve
upon the bishops ; and a race of Greeks was attracted
to Constantinople which has all along made up, in
some degree, the deficiencies of Turkish Islam in the
element of mind, and which at this moment provides
the Porte with its long-known and, I must add,
highly esteemed ambassador in London. Then
there have been, from time to time, but rarely,
statesmen whom we have been too ready to mistake
for specimens of what Turkey might become, where-
as they were, in truth, more like hisiLS nattirce, on
the favorable side, — monsters, so to speak, of virtue
or intelligence. And there were (and are) also,
scattered through the community, men who were
not, indeed, real citizens, but yet who have exhibited
the true civic virtues, and v.'ho would have been
citizens, had there been a true polity around them.
Besides all this, the conduct of the race has gradually
been brought more under the eye of Europe, which
it has lost its power to resist or to defy ; and its
Gladstone on the Armenian Massacre. 1 29
central government, in conforming perforce to many
of the forms and traditions of civilization, has oc-
casionally caught something of their spirit. . . .
" I entreat my countrymen, upon whom far more
than perhaps any other people of Europe it depends,
to require and to insist that our government, which
has been working in one direction, shall work in the
other, and shall apply all its vigor to concur with the
other states of Europe in obtaining the extinction
of the Turkish executive power in Bulgaria. Let