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+CHAPTER I.
+
+MY HOME IN ASIA MINOR.
+
+
+  My Asiatic origin--My great-grandfather's religious
+  order--His miracles--My grandfather and Sultan Mahmud
+  II.--An ordeal by wine--My father's charitable
+  extravagance--His death--Primitive surgery in Asia
+  Minor--The original home of vaccination--My mother's
+  European ancestors--Writing a forbidden accomplishment
+  for women.
+
+I was born in the ancient town of Angora, Asia Minor, famous not alone
+for its silky-haired cats and goats, but also for its historical and
+archæological importance, and with it my memories of early days, and
+therefore the pages of my desultory journal, naturally begin. Men
+of learning who have engaged in researches into the archæology and
+biblical history of Asia Minor have come to the conclusion that this
+town was once in the remote past the principal centre of a wandering
+branch of the Celtic peoples who ultimately settled in Asia Minor.
+Although, of course, it was conquered and held during later generations
+by the Eastern invaders, it is even nowadays noticeable that there
+is a difference, both of character and physique, between most of
+the inhabitants of our province and those of other provinces, more
+especially of Southern and Eastern Asia Minor. By remarking on this I
+do not wish to seem to be trying to trace my origin to a European race,
+though I am aware that many people in this country are unsympathetic,
+and even, perhaps, prejudiced, where Orientals are concerned. My
+paternal ancestors came across from Central Asia, and first settled in
+Khorassan, in Persia. But as they were devout followers of the orthodox
+creed of the Arabian Prophet they were subjected to the intolerant
+oppression of the Persian Moslems, between whom and the orthodox
+believers the history of Western Asia records many a sanguinary
+feud, the result of their doctrinal antagonism. My ancestors were
+compelled eventually to emigrate to Asia Minor over a hundred and
+fifty years ago, and there they found a more hospitable reception. My
+great-grandfather was the sheikh or head of a religious order called
+_Halvati_, or, to give the name an English equivalent, "those who
+worship in seclusion." The name arises from one of the strict rules
+of the order, that its rites must not be displayed to the outside
+public, doubtless a measure for the prevention of hypocrisy. Historical
+research has traced the foundation of the order to Ali, the son-in-law
+of Mohammed. Shortly after settling in Asia Minor the disciples of
+the great sheikh increased to a number approaching eighty thousand,
+and pilgrims came to his monastic dwelling from all the neighbouring
+provinces. It was not only in Anatolia and Syria that his name was
+honoured; he is mentioned with reverence in the books written in Egypt
+at that time. It must not be imagined that he was a kind of _Mahdi_,
+a name which is familiar in England on account of its having been
+assumed by the late pretender in the Soudan. In the days gone by many
+such Mahdis, or "redeemers," appeared in Western Asia and the Northern
+half of Africa, disguising under this apostolic name their ambition of
+attaining temporal power and worldly glory.
+
+In spite of his having so great a number of disciples, my
+great-grandfather lived, together with his immediate devotees, in
+complete retirement. The Ottoman Sovereign of the time heard of him
+and sent a messenger informing him that he wished to grant certain
+pious endowments to his monastic institution in the little town of
+Tcherkesh, which is situated half-way between Angora and the Black
+Sea coast. My great-grandfather declined to receive such unnecessary
+worldly assistance, and, according to one of the traditions concerning
+his miraculous doings which used to be related in our family circle,
+he struck his staff against the wall in the presence of the envoy of
+the sovereign, and thereupon a stream of precious metal began to flow
+down. He said to the envoy (who became a devoted disciple later on)
+that he needed not such worldly things. There is another anecdote of
+him which was told in my younger days. There was in our house a large
+deerskin upon which my father used to prostrate himself during his
+prayers. I often heard it said that this was the skin of the deer upon
+which my great-grandfather, the holy hermit, was accustomed to ride
+every Friday, the Sabbath day of our people, from his home in Asia
+Minor to Mecca, in Arabia, to attend the Friday service in the sacred
+sepulchre of the Prophet (on whose shrine be blessing!). Of course, I
+quite believed these legends in my childhood. I can make no comment on
+them now. "The responsibility of vouching for the fact lies with the
+narrator," is an Arab saying often quoted by our Oriental historians
+in relating extraordinary events. I must follow their example. It has,
+however, always been a great grief to me that along with the deerskin
+we did not inherit that useful staff.
+
+My grandfather, whose views in his early days on the religious orders
+did not coincide with those of his father, did not become a disciple
+of the great hermit-sheikh, so the latter had to point out to him that
+the rules of the order forbade his remaining any longer in the monastic
+institution. He left the place accordingly, and joined a small caravan
+which was starting off to the town of Angora, where he eventually
+settled. It was a distance of four days' journey on camel-back. This
+town was the centre of learning at that time, and there is there a
+well-known shrine of a saint, whose name is Haji Beiram. Many thousands
+of pilgrims visit his mausoleum every year. My grandfather did not know
+anyone in the town, and had no means of supporting himself. He went to
+the shrine, and after making a prayer at the graveside of the saint,
+he became absorbed in contemplation and eventually slumbered. In his
+dream he saw the saint, who asked him his name, and also whether he
+could read. The answer to the second question was unsatisfactory, and
+thereupon the saint gave him a lesson. On waking up my grandfather
+went out and saw several students entering the adjacent _madrasseh_
+or theological school. He followed them, and in the _madrasseh_ he
+entered into conversation with one of the newly-made lecturers. In
+these old-fashioned centres of learning the reputation of a lecturer
+depends in great measure on the number of students who attend his
+lectures. The lecturer took my grandfather, who was then little more
+than a boy, into his class, and settled him in a room along with his
+few other pupils. He studied in this _madrasseh_ very many years, and
+ultimately became himself a professor of theology, philosophy, and the
+temporal law of the Moslems. He made his fame largely by delivering
+addresses in different mosques on the commentaries of the Koran, which
+attracted large audiences. Many learned men, engaged in kindred studies
+throughout Asiatic Turkey, used to apply to him for the solution of
+difficult points. The representative of the sovereign in this town used
+to pay him visits of respect, but he himself never in his life crossed
+the threshold of a government office.
+
+During the reign of Sultan Mahmud II., who ruled from 1808 till 1839,
+there took place an imperial wedding at Constantinople to which persons
+of distinction in all classes of society throughout the country were
+invited. The chief physician of the Sultan (whose grandson is at
+present attached as councillor to the Ottoman Embassy in London), who
+had been a pupil of my grandfather's, noticed that his name was not
+on the list, and strongly recommended his sovereign to invite him. A
+courier set out for Asia Minor at once, and brought my grandfather to
+the capital. A great banquet was given in the palace in honour of the
+event to all the religious dignitaries and principal _Ulema_, that
+is to say, the learned hierarchy of the realm. Mahmud II. devised a
+curious plan for testing the fortitude and strength of character of
+these pious people. During the banquet servants brought in bottles
+filled with a red-coloured liquid. Several guards with drawn swords
+in their hands followed the attendants, and stood in the entrance.
+The bewildered guests naturally did not know what to make of it, and
+awaited events in anxious silence. Then, to their consternation, it
+was solemnly announced that the liquid in the bottles was wine. Wine!
+an abominable intoxicant, of which it is strictly forbidden to the
+faithful to touch even a single drop! The pernicious fluid, which has
+received from the Prophet himself the name of the "mother of evils"!
+(I must explain, by the way, that Mahmud wished to remodel his empire.
+After getting rid of those formidable opponents, the Janissaries, he
+adopted not only some of the European methods of administration, but
+also some of the Western customs and modes of life, and among other
+things he ordered his officials and army to wear costumes and uniforms
+made after the European style. This policy had already occasioned
+disquietude and suspicion in the pious heads under turbans in Asia.)
+When the wine was brought before that religiously sober assembly, an
+announcement was made that "as the Sultan ruled on European soil he
+wished to bring his country more into harmony with the Franks (all the
+people of Western Europe are so called), and any unwillingness on the
+part of his subjects would possibly hasten the decay of his empire.
+It was, moreover, the desire of the sovereign that narrow-minded
+superstition and the dislike of new things, even though they were
+borrowed from the Franks, should disappear." The announcement was
+concluded by the warning that those guests who should refuse to
+drink wine would be regarded as rebellious against the will of their
+sovereign. Face to face with this somewhat startling alternative,
+the guests became pale of countenance and mute of tongue, for, be it
+remembered, he who gave this order was a real autocrat, who had even
+exterminated the awe-inspiring Janissaries. However, my grandfather
+sprang up from his seat and said, "could not our sovereign find any
+other virtues among the Franks worth imitating?" He pointed out,
+moreover, that the law against drinking wine, the ordinance of the
+faith, was given to them by an authority superior even to that of his
+Majesty. He then started to go out, and while he was forcing his way
+through the servants and guards, Sultan Mahmud, who was watching this
+comedy literally from behind the scenes, suddenly stepped in smiling,
+and, in order to dispel the fear of the white-bearded, green-turbaned
+gentlemen, he said he simply meant to test the fortitude and character
+of the people who were to guide his subjects in the paths of religion
+and rectitude.
+
+The Sultan later granted an audience to my grandfather, and asked him
+to give lessons in the Arabic language to the imperial princes (among
+whom was Abdul Mejid, who was Sultan during the Crimean campaign),
+and urged him to settle in Constantinople, promising that he would
+eventually make him Sheikh-ul-Islam, that is, the head of the religious
+magistrates and learned hierarchy. But my grandfather prayed the
+sovereign to pardon him for not accepting this honour, saying that
+it was his earnest desire to pass his remaining days of life in
+retirement and study. He only requested one boon--that he might be
+granted the vacant headship of the madrasseh or college in which he had
+studied for so many years, and with this, the enjoyment of the lands
+devised to it by the Crown.
+
+When my grandfather had returned to his own town, Sultan Mahmud, who
+understood and appreciated his quiet contentment, wrote out with
+his own hand a saying of the Prophet, had it illuminated, and sent
+it to him as a present Roughly translated it runs as follows:--"The
+Lord loveth the man of learning who is pious, contented, modest and
+retiring." Subsequently, too, he granted my grandfather's request,
+and, as an additional clause to the endowment, he made a provision
+that these lands should be inherited as real estate by his posterity,
+provided that they should, after attaining the age of twenty years,
+qualify themselves by an examination before the proper authorities
+on those subjects in which he was himself so well versed. The royal
+firmans, with the imperial signature on them, beautifully written on
+the finest vellum, are still in the possession of our family. These
+lands came down to me and to my brothers, but, in spite of all
+provisions to the contrary, they were confiscated during the reign
+of the present Sultan, a reign which has been so conspicuous for the
+suppression of the civil rights and the oppression of the person of the
+individual.
+
+We sued the Government to get our property back, and spent all our
+money in different courts over lawsuits which lasted fifteen years,
+but we could not have expected to succeed, for, as a Turkish poet
+has written,--
+
+  When the judge is the defendant and the witnesses
+    are bought,
+  How can you look for justice from the interested court?
+
+When my grandfather died at the age of eighty-two my own father
+inherited the endowed estate; he was not so learned and able as his
+father. His only brother, having entered into the Government service,
+forfeited his share. My father suffered from an excess of charity,
+and in helping others he expended the greater portion of the revenue
+of his own estate as well as a part of my mother's private income.
+His charitable extravagance became at length so inordinate that he
+could not even dine without inviting every day many guests, no matter
+whether their position was humble or the reverse. When he died, killed
+by the murderous attack of a drunken Government official, he left us
+practically nothing but the endowed lands, which he could not have
+sold, and these lands, as I pointed out before, were taken over by the
+Government of the present Sultan. We were relieved from want by the
+fact that the bulk of my mother's property remained intact Fortunately
+my father had not been able to squander it.
+
+I was nine years old when the drunken official attacked him, and
+so caused his death, which happened thus:--One evening a few women
+visitors came to call on my mother. As it is our custom in the East
+to keep our women strictly secluded, my father had to retire before
+these veiled visitors entered. He asked me to come out with him to
+spend the evening with some neighbouring friends, and there we saw the
+intoxicated man. My father had a very great abhorrence of drunkenness
+and drunkards, and he could not bear to be in the same room with the
+man, who was violently drunk and shouting and singing. A quarrel arose
+between them. The man attacked my father, and caught him by his long
+white beard. My father pushed the assailant back, and in doing so
+accidentally put his thumb into the drunkard's mouth, with the result
+that he was badly bitten. Although Asia Minor was the cradle of some
+of the ancient civilisations, it has not profited from the facilities
+afforded to mankind by modern discoveries. There was no surgeon in our
+town properly qualified by scientific training, and so my father's
+thumb lacked proper treatment.
+
+The only medical men were, as a rule, barbers, who added to their
+proper profession that of letting blood for their customers when it was
+considered necessary. Bleeding of course used to be in favour in Europe
+generally, and it is still largely practised in the East. There are a
+great many people in my native country who think that a periodical loss
+of blood purifies the system, and have themselves bled accordingly. The
+early part of the summer is a favourite time for the operation, before
+the season for eating fresh fruit arrives. Blood is let either by a
+lancet, or else by means of leeches which are applied to the arms and
+legs. The men who were charged with my father's treatment were an old
+barber and a professional blood-letter. They used all their choicest
+ointments, making my father's thumb worse every day. They used to
+criticise each other's skill in surgery. The professional blood-letter
+told us that he was once an army surgeon, and it was his boast that
+during the Crimean War he had cut off the arms and legs of dozens of
+wounded soldiers. He doubtless facilitated the departure of these
+unfortunates to the place whither he ultimately sent my father. In
+spite of his experiences, however, he did not amputate my parent's arm,
+which might have prevented the gangrene which proved fatal. My mother's
+efforts to obtain the condemnation of the drunken official, as the
+murderer of her husband, failed. He was only sentenced to a few months
+of imprisonment, and to pay us an indemnity of about five hundred
+pounds.
+
+Perhaps I shall be pardoned for a slight digression here. I laid
+some emphasis on the backward condition of the art of surgery in my
+native town, but I do not mean thereby that Turkey has been altogether
+behindhand in the art of medicine. In some particulars she has even led
+the way. For instance, she may claim the discovery of inoculation as
+a defence against smallpox, and it is worth while recalling the fact
+that Lady Mary Wortley Montagu introduced the treatment into England
+from Turkey many years before Jenner made his first experiment. As Lady
+Mary saw it, inoculation was performed with lymph taken from human
+beings, but according to the _Tarikhi Jevdet_ (vol. ii., p. 341, press
+mark Turk. 9, British Museum Library), inoculation was also performed
+in a manner suggestive of calf-lymph. A Turkoman of the pastoral
+tribes in Asia Minor was paying a visit to Constantinople, and he saw
+the children being inoculated with other children's lymph. He said
+that in his own country the lymph was taken from the fingers of those
+who milked the cows. The book, moreover, states that Lady Mary heard
+of the Turkoman's statement, though she does not mention this in her
+letter.[1]
+
+The Circassians and some of the tribes of Caucasus are said to have
+been acquainted with the uses of inoculation in olden days. They were
+chiefly slave-dealers, and they had to take great care of their young
+girl-captives, more especially as regarded any sort of disfigurement
+which would destroy their good looks, and consequently their value.
+Of the early history of the sickness little is known, but it is a
+well-established fact that the symptoms were first clearly diagnosed
+by the ancient Arab physician, Rhazes, whose name is well known to
+Orientalists and students of medical history. His book is entitled
+_Kitab-ul-Jederee Vel-Hassabeh_, the translation of which is _Treatise
+of Smallpox and Measles_. This work was translated into English from a
+Latin version by T. Stark early in the eighteenth century.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The business-like European manner of investing money is not known
+among our people. Those who do not know what to do with their spare
+money, and who fear it may be stolen, or kindly taken charge of by
+the officials of the paternal Sultan, hide their cash by burying it
+in corners of their houses or fields. But we did not hide the five
+hundred pounds belonging to my mother. Someone suggested to us that we
+should buy mohair goats, of which the hair, cut every spring, would
+yield us an annual income. This was a little after the Russo-Turkish
+War, and in the consequent depression of trade even the silky-haired,
+valuable Angora goat was to be cheaply bought We purchased three
+hundred of these animals. But misfortunes never come alone. In a
+year's time a disease broke out among the greater part of the animals
+in our province, and almost all our goats died. My mother, in her
+simple faith, attributed this to kismet, and consoled herself and us
+accordingly.
+
+My mother is a woman of tact and great natural intelligence, but
+owing to the backward condition of women in the East, due to their
+surroundings, her intelligence has not had the benefit of culture.
+She is, of course, a fatalist, and she believes all she is told by
+her religious teachers, who are not very learned themselves. She is
+not ignorant; on the contrary, she was in her time the most well-read
+woman of our town. Indeed, so far was she in advance of the other
+ladies, that they used to visit her for the purpose of hearing her
+read aloud from the books of sacred legends and hymns which are their
+principal literature. She cannot write at all. This perhaps requires
+some explanation. Formerly girls in Turkey were not allowed to learn
+the mystery of caligraphy. We have had some excellent poetesses in
+days gone by, but none of them could write--they dictated their
+inspirations. The common explanation given of this traditional
+prohibition--for it is a custom rather than a rule--was that if girls
+once learned writing they might have indulged in talismanic pastimes,
+and eventually have become witches. As a matter of fact, the real
+reason was quite different There was a fear, perhaps not ill-founded,
+that having once learned to write they might hasten to make use of
+the accomplishment by composing love-letters to young men with whom
+they could not otherwise communicate, for the strict seclusion of
+females cuts off all intercourse between young people of opposite
+sexes almost as soon as they have ceased to be infants. This absurd,
+in fact harmful, prohibition has of late, and for some time past, been
+losing its force. But it was still strictly observed in my mother's
+younger days, and so she was not allowed to learn to write. In spite,
+however, of her incomplete education, she kept us happy, and by her
+inborn tact preserved the appearance of our social standing. All
+members of my mother's family have a practical business-like instinct,
+a quality which is so conspicuously lacking in those Turks who have no
+strain of foreign blood. I am convinced that there is some European
+blood in the veins of my mother's ancestors. She belongs to a family
+of soldiers who for generations were charged by the Ottoman Sultans
+with the defence of the provinces and the frontiers of Bosnia and
+Herzegovina In those days the Turks used to make slaves of their
+captives in war, just as their enemies used to carry Turks into
+permanent captivity when invading their territory. The antecedents of
+the people so enslaved can be traced even now in Hungary and Austria
+by their Turkish names. But the captives of the Turks, as a rule, had
+to adopt Turkish names, and so the presence of European blood can only
+be determined in Turkey by the personal appearance and characteristics
+of the descendants of the captives. My mother's soldier-ancestors
+doubtless intermarried with European captives. I before disclaimed all
+pretensions or desire to pass myself off as a descendant of a European
+race when I was describing the Asiatic origin of my forefathers. I am
+not, nevertheless, contradicting myself here; for when the pedigree of
+a person is being considered with us, it is only his ancestry on the
+father's side that counts.
+
+My mother passes a most retired life in her town and summer houses. In
+town there is a market-place situated a few minutes' distance from our
+house, which she has never seen in her whole life. She went, however,
+to Mecca on a pilgrimage some five years ago.

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