the importance of fishing as an industry, a fact also established
by outside evidence. Dr. Merrill, in the book above referred to,
says that fish taken were not only sufficient to satisfy the local
demands but were packed and shipped to Jerusalem and even to cities
along the Mediterranean. The supply of fish has not yet been
exhausted. Salim Moussa, of Jaffa, the very efficient Arab dragoman
furnished us by Cook, supplied us with a net when we visited the
sites of Capernaum and Bethsaida and our son caught enough fish
for our lunch. It was a delightful outing that we had that day,
gathering water-worn pebbles from the beach, picking up shells, of
which there are many varieties, and feasting on fish fresh from the
sea and on a lamb bought from a Bedouin who was tending his flock
near by.

[Illustration: MARY'S WELL AT NAZARETH.]

The visit to the Horns of Hattin was reserved for the return trip,
the road from Nazareth to Tiberias passing near the hill which bears
this name. It was in 1157 the scene of a celebrated battle in which
Saladin won a victory over the Crusaders. This hill, by a tradition
which has come down from the time of the Crusaders, is styled the
Mount of Beatitudes. There is nothing to determine just where the
Sermon on the Mount was delivered, but because the Horns of Hattin
have been associated with that wonderful discourse, I was anxious
to visit the place. There is no road leading to this eminence and
the bridle paths can scarcely be followed. The ground is covered by
boulders and broken stones, half concealed by grass and thistles
and flowers. The guide stepped over a large snake before we had
gone far, and as it was of a very poisonous variety, he felt that
he had had a narrow escape. From a distance the top of the hill is
saddle-shaped, and the two horns have given it its name, but on the
top there is a large circular basin, probably two hundred yards in
diameter, and the rim of this basin was once walled and a citadel
built there.

The view from this mount is one of the most beautiful I have ever
seen. To the north, Hermon rises in grandeur, his summit covered
with snow; the intervening space is filled with hills except in the
immediate foreground where the sea of Galilee sparkles in the sun.
At the foot of the mount stretches a verdant valley, and from the
valley a defile runs down to the sea. This opening gives a view
of the shore where Capernaum and Bethsaida are supposed to have
stood, and one of the roads from the sea to Nazareth follows the
stream which flows through this defile. On the opposite side of the
Mount, Tabor can be seen, and beyond, the hills of Samaria. There is
inspiration in this commingling of hill and vale and sea and sky.[6]

  [6] Since my visit to the Horns of Hattin, I am cherishing the hope
  that some Christian organization may some day make it easier to
  visit this inspiring spot, by building a road to, and a rest house
  upon, the summit.

Whether, as a matter of fact, Christ, "seeing the multitude,"
ascended to this place I know not, but it furnishes an environment
fit for the sublime code of morality presented in the Sermon on
the Mount. No other philosophy has ever touched so high a point
or presented so noble a conception of human life. In it purity of
heart is made the test, mercy is enjoined, humility emphasized,
forgiveness commanded and love made the law of action. In that
Sermon He pointed out the beginnings of evil, rebuked those who
allow themselves to be engrossed by the care of the body and gave
to the world a brief, simple and incomparable prayer which the
Christian world repeats in unison.

If in other places He relieved those whose sufferings came through
the infirmities of the flesh, He here offered a balm for the healing
of the nations.

CHAPTER XXXII.

GREECE--THE WORLD'S TEACHER.

Nothing so impresses the visitor to Greece--not the waters of the
Ægean sea, with their myriad hues; not the Acropolis, eloquent with
ruins; not even the lovely site of Athens itself--as the part which
little Greece has played in the instruction of the world. With an
area of less than twenty-five thousand square miles, not half of
which is productive, and with a population of less than two and
a half millions, this diminutive nation has a history without a
parallel.

There is scarcely a department of thought in which Greece has not
been the pioneer, and in many things she has set an example which
subsequent generations have but imperfectly followed. If in Egypt
one is awed by the evidences of antiquity; if in Palestine he is
made reverent by the spiritual association connected with Judea,
Galilee and Samaria; in Greece he bows with profound respect to the
mighty influence exerted by this single people upon civilization.

The signs along the streets recall the alphabet with which the
student of the classics struggles when he takes up the dead
languages--and yet, the Greek language can hardly be called dead,
for while it is the spoken tongue of but a comparatively small
number, it has found a glorious resurrection in nearly all the
languages of Europe. In fact, it has so many merits that we are
constantly complimenting it by returning to it for the nomenclature
of philosophy, science and art.

Of those who still speak the language of Herodotus, Homer, Socrates
and Demosthenes, a majority live outside of Greece, for the Greek
colonies planted around the eastern end of the Mediterranean form a
considerable, as well as an influential, portion of the population.
Greek colonization, by the way, was of an enduring kind. Those
who went out into distant fields did not go as individual bees
(official or commercial) to gather honey and return with it to
the parent hive; they went out rather in swarms to found cities,
develop countries and establish new centers for the spread of Greek
influence. They identified themselves with the land to which they
went; they became an integral part of the population, and, by
virtue of their inherent superiority, they gradually substituted the
language, the ideas, and the customs of their native land for those
which they found. So securely did they build that neither the Roman
nor the Turk was able to obliterate their work. The people bowed
before the storm, but continued Greek, and to-day in Alexandria,
Asia Minor and Constantinople, Hellenic influence is still felt.

[Illustration: THE PARTHENON.]

The ancient Greeks sought to perfect the human form, and it is not
to be wondered at that the marble models of strength, grace and
beauty have been unearthed where the Olympian games inspired a
rivalry in physical development. The games were established nearly
eight hundred years before the beginning of the Christian era, and
during the nation's independent existence they were held in such
high esteem that the laurel wreath of victory was the greatest
reward within the reach of the youth of the country. Each city
had its stadium, some of them of immense size. The one at Athens
seated fifty thousand spectators, and the enthusiasm aroused by
the contests was scarcely less than that which at Rome greeted the
gladiators. By the generosity of a rich Greek the stadium at Athens
has recently been restored at a cost of more than a million dollars.
The race course is six hundred and seventy feet long and a little
more than a hundred feet in width, and the seats are of Pentelic
marble. Notwithstanding its great capacity it can not contain the
crowds that assemble to witness the athletic games, renewed there
in 1896 by the International Athletic Association. Our country has
the distinction of having led in the contest of 1896 and again in
the contest held at Athens last April. Our representatives won
eleven prizes each time, and I found that these victories had very
favorably impressed the people of Athens.

The stadium is not the only splendid monument to the public spirit
of the modern Greeks. The academy of science and the library are
magnificent buildings, each costing more than the restoration of
the stadium. They illustrate the best in Grecian architecture,
reproducing the Corinthian, the Doric, and the Ionic. They are of
Pentelic marble and would be worthy of a place in any city of the
world. The library contains several hundred thousand volumes and has
all the modern equipment. Athens has a population of but little more
than a hundred thousand, and it is doubtful whether there is another
city of its size that can boast of as large an expenditure of
private capital in public buildings. The mountain which has supplied
Athens with marble for twenty-five hundred years is only a few miles
from the city and its quarries are still unexhausted.

[Illustration: THE ACROPOLIS AT ATHENS.]

Modern Athens is very attractive; its streets are paved and clean;
its business houses are large and well built; its government
buildings are substantial, and its private residences give evidence
of taste. We were there in the season of flowers and we saw them
blooming in profusion everywhere. Numerous statues adorn the streets
and parks, the most noted being the statue of Byron, erected in
memory of his unselfish devotion to Greek independence.

The soldiers and policemen have adopted the costume of the ancient
Greeks, but otherwise the people dress like the people of northern
Europe.

As one approaches Athens for the first time, his eye is sure to
search for the "temple-crowned" Acropolis--the hill which art and
religion combined to make immortal. It rises from the plain much as
Chapultepec rises from the plain of Mexico. It is about five hundred
feet high and, at the top, two hundred yards in length. It must have
been surpassingly beautiful when the Parthenon was completed--that
great treasury which has not only supplied the art galleries of the
world with marvels of beauty in stone, but has given law to the
architects from that day to this. Pericles, who deserves the credit
for the construction of the Parthenon, can be pardoned for exulting
in his work.

To-day, the Acropolis is a picture of desolation, but the few
columns that remain bear witness to its departed glory. Lord
Elgin carried away at one time two hundred and fifty feet of the
sculptured frieze, and scarcely any of its columns, capitals,
cornice and pediment would have remained but for the size and
weight of the masses of marble. The pillage that for nearly twenty
centuries has been robbing Greece of her priceless works of art can
be understood when it is stated that one Roman conqueror celebrated
his victory by exhibiting in his triumphant procession two hundred
and fifty wagon loads of Greek pictures and statues, and that these
wagons were followed by three thousand men each bearing some trophy
taken from the cities of Greece.

And yet in spite of the grand larceny which has been perpetrated
against this unfortunate land the museum at Athens contains enough
of the beautiful in marble and bronze to make any nation conspicuous
in the realm of art. Within two years some notable additions have
been made to the collection; a life-sized bronze statue has been
unearthed and a marble figure, half buried in the sands of the sea,
has been rescued. The latter is perfect in the portions protected by
the sand but was disintegrating where it came into contact with the
waves.

The readers of these articles are too well informed in regard to the
discoveries of Dr. Schliemann to make it necessary to refer to his
work in detail. One room of the museum contains the gold ornaments
which he gathered from five tombs, and they are sufficient to show
the extended use made of this metal in the arts. They consist of
ear rings, finger rings, bracelets, necklaces, head ornaments,
vases, cups, coins, etc. A pair of cups which attract special
attention bear in relief the figures of bulls--the animals being
equal in form to the best breeds of to-day. On one cup they are
being led to the sacrifice and on the other they are bound at the
altar.

Besides these statues of renown and the casts of those which have
been removed, there are many specimens of ancient pottery by which
one can trace the rise in artistic taste and skill. Some of the
earliest statues in stone and clay bear a striking resemblance to
those of Egypt.

Second only in interest to the Acropolis is Mars Hill, a rocky
summit two-thirds of the height of the Acropolis. Here the ancient
court of the Areopagus, composed of the most eminent of the
Athenians, held its sessions. Here under the dome of the sky the
most important cases were tried and life and death hung upon the
decree of the court. Here, also, Paul's great speech to the "men of
Athens" was delivered, his text being found in the altar erected to
"the unknown god."

[Illustration: MARS HILL.]

Only a little distance from Mars Hill is the stone platform
from which the orators of Greece addressed the people. A level,
shelf-like space was formed near the top of the hill where a few
thousand could congregate, and here the citizens listened while
the greatest of all public speakers poured forth his eloquence.
It was worth a trip to Athens to view the spot where Demosthenes
delivered the oration on the Crown and the Philippics, which have
been the pattern set before the student for twenty-two hundred
years. In the marshalling of facts, in the grouping of arguments,
in the use of invective and in the arranging of climaxes he is
still the teacher. Someone has drawn a distinction between Cicero
and Demosthenes, saying that when the former spoke the people said:
"How well Cicero speaks," while, when Demosthenes spoke, they said:
"Let us go against Phillip!" Demosthenes' style was more convincing
than ornate; his purpose was to arouse, not merely to please, and
from the accounts that have come down to us his delivery was suited
to his language. He, in fact, gave to action the highest place
among the requisites of effective speech. We recalled the saying
of Demosthenes when we listened to the excited tones and watched
the gesticulations of the boatmen who thronged about our ship in
the harbor of Piræus. The physician who came aboard to examine the
passengers gave us even a better illustration of "action," although
his gestures were more forcible than graceful, possibly because
he addressed himself to the captain of the ship instead of to the
multitude.

[Illustration: DEMOSTHENES' PLATFORM.]

On the shore of the Ægean sea, between Athens and the harbor, at a
place where Demosthenes may have tested his voice against the tumult
of the waves, I gathered some pebbles. I can not prove that they are
the identical ones used by him to overcome the impediment in his
speech, but they are at least a reminder of the toilsome struggle
through which he passed before his name was known to fame.

It was a disappointment to find so little to mark the site of
the academy where Socrates and Plato met their disciples. These
philosophers have made such an impression upon the thought of the
world that I had hoped to find some spot clearly identified as the
place where they taught. An old house now stands on a treeless
tract over which they are said to have walked in their daily
discussions, but it is a modern one. A gate admits to the grounds,
although no wall incloses them. It is much easier to picture
Demosthenes speaking from the rostrum which still remains, than to
imagine Socrates propounding here his questions and elaborating the
method of reasoning to which his name has been given.

There is an old cemetery within the limits of the present city where
recent excavation has brought to light numerous tombs ornamented
with sculpture. Some of the groups of statuary and urns have been
left where they were found, while others have been given a place in
the museum. These are additional proof of the number of those who
handled the chisel in the days of Phidias.

No spot is identified with Herodotus, the Father of History, or with
Thucydides who, with Herodotus, has been the instructor of later
chroniclers. Except the remains of the theatres, there is nothing
to recall the tragedies of Euripides, Æschylus and Sophocles or the
comedies of the Aristophanes; and no place is pointed out as the
site of the studio of Parrhasius or Zeuxis, though the lessons which
they taught the world have not been forgotten. While the guide does
not pretend to know the house in which Homer lived or where he wrote
his deathless songs, the traveler who passes through the Hellespont
can see the plains of ill-fated Troy, and during his stay in Greece
his memory runs over the heroes of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

There are no physical evidences of the life work of Lycurgus and
Solon, yet the laws which they promulgated are the heritage of
mankind. Salamis remains, and if the naval battle which Themistocles
won had had no other effect than to furnish Pericles with a theme
for his great funeral orations, it would still have been worthy
of remembrance. The battlefield of Marathon which gave Miltiades
a place among the world's generals is also unchanged. It is about
twenty-five miles from Athens, and the story, told in marble, of
the Greek who carried the news of the victory to Athens and died
from exhaustion amid the shouts of his countrymen, has led to the
incorporation of a twenty-five mile race in the athletic games when
they are held at Athens. In 1896 the race was won by a Greek (much
to the satisfaction of the audience), who made the run from Marathon
to the city in two hours and forty-five minutes.

The pass at Thermopylæ is also to be seen, and the heroism of the
three hundred Spartans who, under the leadership of Leonidas,
offered up their lives there for their country, continues to be an
inspiration. They failed to stay the onward march of Xerxes, but
who can measure the value of their example?

Corinth, as of old, still guards the entrance to the Peloponnesus;
but notwithstanding the canal, which, at this point, connects the
Ægean Sea with the Gulf of Corinth, the city has only a small
population.

Corinth brings to memory the part Greece played in the spread of
Christianity. It was not enough that this country led the world in
statecraft and oratory, in poetry and history, in philosophy and
literature, in art and in athletics, she was also one of the first
mission fields of the apostles. It was to the Corinthians that Paul
wrote the Epistles in which love is given the first place among the
virtues, and it was Greece that gave her name to one of the great
branches of the Christian Church.

A democrat may be pardoned for cherishing a high regard for the land
that coined the word, democracy. The derivation of the word--from
_demos_, the people, and _kratein_, to rule--makes it an appropriate
one to describe a government based upon popular will. And as
governments more and more recognize the citizen as the sovereign,
and the people as the source of all political power, the world's
debt to Greece will be more and more fully appreciated. She not
only gave to language a word accurately expressing the idea of
self-government, but she proved by experience the wisdom of trusting
the people with the management of all public affairs.

[Illustration: FRIEZE OF THE PARTHENON]

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE BYZANTINE CAPITAL.

It is impossible to convey to the reader any adequate idea of the
beauties of the Bosphorus at the point where Constantine located the
capital of the Byzantine empire. The best way to approach it is by
the sea, and as the traveler usually enters from the west, he sails
through the Dardanelles, known in ancient times as the Hellespont,
passes through the sea of Marmora and enters the Bosphorus between
Constantinople, on the one side, and Skutari on the other. The
Bosphorus itself is between fifteen and twenty miles long and very
deep. It is the connecting link between the Black Sea and the Sea of
Marmora and the hills that jut into it on either side are nearly all
covered with towns and villas. The water is as clear as the water of
a lake, and fish may be seen at a great distance below the surface.
A ride through the Bosphorus reminds one of a trip up the Hudson,
although the former has the advantage in the depth of the stream, in
the transparency of the water, in the height of the banks and in the
irregularity of the course. In fact, the channel contains so many
curves that one seems to be passing through a succession of lakes.[7]

  [7] The traveler is sure to notice some little birds which resemble
  swallows flying up and down the stream. They do not light but
  skim along the water all day long. Their restless and seemingly
  aimless flight has caused them to be called "the lost souls of the
  Bosphorus."

A little more than half way between the Sea of Marmora and the Black
Sea, on the north bank, is Therapia, the summer capital, to which
the officials repair when the warm weather begins, and upon the
same bank, about half way between Constantinople and Therapia, is
Roberts College, an institution for boys, established and maintained
by American philanthropy. It occupies a promontory which overlooks
the Bosphorus at its narrowest point, the point at which Mohammed
II crossed over from Asia, when in 1453 he succeeded in capturing
Constantinople.

The Golden Horn is the name given to an arm of the Bosphorus which,
leaving that strait a few miles from the Sea of Marmora, stretches
northward five or six miles to receive a stream called the Sweet
Waters of Europe. It may have been that the Golden Horn at one time
rivaled the Bosphorus in beauty, but it does so no longer. Full of
ships and boats of every description, from war vessels to canoes,
and polluted by the sewage of two cities, it disappoints as much as
the Bosphorus delights.

The city of Constantinople is divided by the Golden Horn, Stamboul,
the Turkish city lying on the west, and Galata and Pera, the foreign
quarters, lying on the east. Skutari stretches along the Asiatic
side of the Bosphorus, and the navies and merchant vessels of all
the world could ride in safety in the waters adjacent to these three
cities.

[Illustration: ST. SOFIA AT CONSTANTINOPLE.]

In the seventh century, B. C., a small colony of Greeks under the
lead of Byzas settled at Cape Bosphorus, now the site of Stamboul,
and in the rise and fall of the dynasties of the east, it has
played an important part. Being on the boundary line between Asia
and Europe and guarding the water communication between the Black
Sea and the Mediterranean, it possesses strategic advantages which
statesmen and warriors have been quick to recognize. The Persians
always wanted it and several times captured it. The Greeks were
continually taking it and losing it; Phillip of Macedon laid siege
to it and in so doing furnished Demosthenes with a theme for some of
his greatest speeches. There is a tradition that Phillip would have
succeeded, in spite of the aid given by the Athenians, but for the
barking of dogs, which apprised the inhabitants of a night assault.
As the dogs were set to barking, not by the enemy, but by the moon
which rose just in time to save the city, the Byzantines adopted
the crescent as their emblem and it has continued to be the emblem
of Turkey, having been retained by the Turks after their victory.

Alexander the Great became master of the Bosphorus, and later
Byzantium fell into the hands of the Romans. After a checkered
career of two centuries it was taken by Constantine, who decided
to make it the capital of the Roman world, and his own name has
been given to it, although he intended to call it New Rome. No one
can doubt the political wisdom of the first Christian emperor in
putting the seat of government at this place. If Europe, Asia and
Africa are ever brought together under one government or under one
confederation, Constantinople will be the natural and necessary
capital. The shores of Africa, southern Europe and Asia Minor are
washed by the Mediterranean and by its gulfs and bays; the Black Sea
is the outlet of southern Russia and part of Asia Minor, and the new
railroad which is being built to connect Europe with the Euphrates
and India, crosses the Bosphorus here. When this road is finished,
it will be possible to go from London to India in about six days,
and one of the Turkish governors expressed the hope that it would be
completed within six or seven years.

Constantine built a magnificent cathedral, one of the greatest ever
constructed, it being his purpose to surpass any house of worship
that man had reared. It is in the form of a Greek cross and was
originally rich in mosaics, some of which still remain. The dome
is one of the largest in the world. This cathedral, called St.
Sophia, fell into the hands of the Mohammedans when Constantinople
was taken and is now used as a mosque. When hope of successful
resistance was gone, the Christians of Constantinople crowded into
the cathedral--some have estimated the number as high as a hundred
thousand, but that seems hardly possible--praying that the church
might at least be spared, but the leader of the Turks rode into the
building on his charger, and, striking one of the pillars with his
sword, exclaimed; "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his
prophet!" Then followed a slaughter so cruel and bloody that the
Christians never recall the day without indulging the hope that the
building may some day return to the possession of those who cherish
the faith of its founder.

Constantinople is full of mosques, their minarets rising above all
other buildings, but none of them possess for either Christian or
Moslem the importance that attaches to St. Sophia.

The modern mosques lack the stateliness of Constantine's building,
and are not so rich in their ornamentation as some of the mosques
of India. There is one, however, near the upper end of the Golden
Horn which is regarded by the Turks as especially sacred because it
is the burial place of the first Mohammedan (a standard bearer of
Mahomet) who attempted the capture of Constantinople. Each sultan
visits that mosque as he enters upon his reign, and Christians
are not permitted to use the street leading to the mosque. The
sultan visits St. Sophia once a year, but he is in such fear of
assassination that he usually has a street cleared for his passage
and then quietly goes by water to elude the crowd.

[Illustration: 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 the
various 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.

[Illustration: 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 opportunity to 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.

[Illustration: 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
milked in 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."

[Illustration: AT THE WORLD'S BREAKFAST TABLE.]

CHAPTER XXXIV.

IN THE LAND OF THE TURK.

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 it
in 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.

[Illustration: SONS OF THE SULTAN.]

I hope I shall be pardoned for giving so much space to so military
and 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 delivered unto 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 banquet given
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.

[Illustration: 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 more
despotic 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.
Sunday school 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, "H{2}O," 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]

  [8] Since the writing of this article an embassy has been
  established at Constantinople.

CHAPTER XXXV.

HUNGARY AND HER NEIGHBORS.

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.

[Illustration: THE DANUBE AND PARLIAMENT BUILDING--BUDAPEST]

No American can visit Hungary without having his sympathies
enlisted 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.

[Illustration: 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 than half 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."

[Illustration: BUDAPEST]

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.

[Illustration: PRIME MINISTER WEKERLE--HUNGARY.]

In her struggle for liberty Hungary has developed many patriots,
among whom Louis Kossuth is the best known. He and Francis Deak
were the leaders of the revolution of 1848 which resulted in the
constitution of that year. The constitution of 1867 was not quite so
liberal, and these two constitutions form the basis of the present
political division in Hungary; all Hungarians are jealous of the
rights of their nation but the majority of the members of parliament
insist upon the recognition of the constitution of 1848.

The elder Kossuth lived in exile after the revolution of 1867 and
was during his exile enthusiastically received in the United States
by congress and by the people in general. Kossuth's son is now a
member of the coalition ministry, and at a banquet to which I had
the good fortune to be invited, spoke feelingly of the treatment
which his father received in the United States and of the high
regard felt by Hungarians for America and Americans. Count Apponyi,
the foremost orator of Hungary, also paid his respects to the United
States and likened our country to the forwarding station in wireless
telegraphy, saying that the political current was so strong in our
country that its messages were carried to all the world.

[Illustration: COUNT APPONYI]

I happened to be in Budapest at the opening of parliament and heard
the speech of the new premier, Dr. Wekerle. The independence party
has a large majority in the parliament, having shown increasing
strength at each successive election. The emperor, Francis Joseph,
is resisting one of the demands made by the Hungarians, viz., that
the army shall use the Hungarian language instead of the German
language. Some years ago the fight was made and won for the use of
the Hungarian language in schools, in the courts and in parliament,
and the Hungarians feel that their nationality is endangered by the
fact that their army is taught only the German words of command. The
emperor takes the position that the use of the Hungarian language
would destroy the unity of the imperial army. To prevent a rupture
he proposed the formation of a coalition cabinet, to hold until
the suffrage could be extended and the question again submitted
to the people. There is no doubt that the people are practically
unanimous in favor of their own language and that an extension
of the suffrage will not change the complexion of parliament. The
relations between the emperor and Hungary have become very much
strained, and the aversion to the German language is so pronounced
that Hungarians who can speak the German language will often refuse
to answer a question addressed to them in German. For Francis Joseph
himself the Hungarians have a strong affection, and they would be
glad to contribute to the happiness of his closing days, but they
feel that the interests of their nation are vitally concerned and
they are anxious to have the point at issue settled before a new
sovereign ascends the throne. If the emperor were left to himself,
he would probably conclude that a Hungarian fighting force, attached
to the empire and grateful for consideration shown their country,
would form a more effective part of a joint army, even though the
Hungarians spoke their own language, than troops compelled to learn
a language hateful to them. History furnishes many examples of
successful armies made of corps, divisions and regiments speaking
different languages, but less numerous are the instances of nations
successfully held together by force when one part of the empire was
made subservient to the interests of another part. Hungary is being
alienated by insistence upon requirements which do not in reality
strengthen the empire, while she might be drawn closer to the throne
by a more liberal policy. The end is not yet.

[Illustration: MINISTER KOSSUTH.]

CHAPTER XXXVI.

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

Reference has already been made to the attitude of Hungary, in the
article on Hungary and Her Neighbors, toward Austria, and what is
true of Hungary is to a less extent true of Bohemia and the Polish
section of the empire. In fact, Austria-Hungary is held together by
a rope of sand, and there is no telling when that rope may break. It
required the aid of Russia to hold Hungary within the empire a half
century ago, and now that Russia is no longer in position to bolster
up the Hapsburg house, the outlook is not bright for the family of
Francis Joseph, unless the friendship of Emperor William takes the
form of armed assistance. I mention this because the anti-Austrian
feeling in Hungary, the anti-Hungarian feeling in Austria, the
aversion to the German language in Bohemia, and the demands of
the Polish subjects, not to speak of disaffection elsewhere, all
point to trouble ahead for the ruler of Austria-Hungary. I visited
Bohemia with a view to gathering information on the situation
and was surprised to find the hostility between the German and
Bohemian elements. A half century ago the German language was spoken
everywhere in Bohemia, but to-day the Germans and Bohemians have
separate schools and, except where business interest compels it
neither learns the language of the other. So strong is the feeling
that a Bohemian, desiring to master the German language, would,
if financially able, study it outside of Bohemia in preference to
attending a German school in his own country.

It is a great misfortune to the people of Hungary and Bohemia, as
well as to the imperial government, that this hostility to the
German language has become so bitter, for the German is one of the
great languages of the earth, being the spoken tongue of more than
fifty millions and containing in printed form most of the literary
treasures of the world. The German libraries are rich in treatises
on science and art, history and philosophy, government and religion,
and these should be within reach of the people of Hungary and
Bohemia. Whatever may be the merits of the Magyar and the Czech
languages, they are spoken by so few, comparatively, that they can
not possibly furnish so large a store of learning as the German
language contains.

The Austrian government, however, has itself to blame for the
estrangement; for, instead of attempting to win the affections of
the alien people made subject to it, it attempted to coerce them,
with the usual result. Resentment toward the rulers soon turned into
resentment toward the language, and it became patriotic to abhor a
tongue which it would have been advantageous to cultivate. Human
nature is the same everywhere, but kings seem to be as ignorant of
it as they are of the lessons of history.

The Austria-Hungary empire can not exist long under its present
regime; if it is to continue, the bond of union must be a
substantial one and no bond of union is substantial that does not
knit itself about the hearts of both parties to the union. There are
certain advantages to be derived from the association of several
small states together, but these advantages can not be weighed
against fundamental rights or against a strong national sentiment.
Cold, calculating statesmen sometimes underestimate the influence
of sentiment, but they usually discover their error, sometimes
too late, if they attempt to trample upon it. Austria-Hungary
as a federation of states, each absolutely independent in its
internal affairs, would be strong, but Austria-Hungary, composed
of dissatisfied groups, all yielding unwillingly to an arrogant
Austrian influence, is pitiably weak.

The tie which holds Canada, Australia and New Zealand to England
is infinitely stronger than that which binds Hungary and Bohemia
to the Austria-Hungarian throne. And why? Not because they use the
same language, for the American colonies wrote the Declaration of
Independence in the same tongue that George III. employed. Canada,
Australia and New Zealand are loyal to England because England
allows them to do as they please. If a British parliament acted
toward these colonies as the imperial government acts toward Hungary
and Bohemia, even a common language and a common history could not
prevent a separation. "There is a scattering that increaseth," says
Solomon, "and a withholding of more than is meet, but it tendeth
to penury." The proverb can be applied to governments, and Francis
Joseph might consider it with profit.

It must be remembered that Bohemia is no insignificant part of
the empire. It has an area of twenty thousand square miles and a
population of more than six millions, and is rich in minerals and in
manufactures. It is noted for glass works, Bohemian glass having a
world-wide reputation. It has important textile industries also, and
its agriculture has been carried to a high state of perfection. It
has played a conspicuous part in the history of central Europe, is
rich in heroes and possesses a strong national spirit.

Prague, its capital city, has long been an educational center and
is still the seat of its intellectual as well as its political
life. There is a very complete industrial school at the capital,
which contributes in no small degree to the country's prominence in
manufacturing. Just now Bohemia is the Mecca for violinists, America
contributing her quota of students.

John Huss's church is still one of Prague's landmarks, although the
Catholic Church has regained its supremacy. The Hradschin and the
public buildings surrounding the Hradschiner Platz are of historic
interest, as is also the old Jewish burying ground.

Our American consul at Prague, Mr. Ledoux, has inaugurated a very
praiseworthy index system for the collection and preservation of
information of value to importers and exporters. He has converted
one room of the consular office into a reading room where American
trade papers are kept for the business public and where a list of
American exporters with a description of their wares may be examined
by those desiring to purchase. It is an application of the public
library system to trade and struck me as likely to be of value in
increasing our sales.

Carlsbad is only a few hours ride from Prague, and I took advantage
of that fact to visit it. It is built along the narrow and winding
valley of the Tepl and is nearly twelve hundred feet above the
sea. It has been a health resort for some six or seven centuries
and is now visited yearly by more than fifty thousand invalids.
The water is hot, and the numerous springs seem to come from a
common reservoir. The principal spring, called the Sprudel, has
a temperature of one hundred and sixty-four degrees and contains
sulphate of soda, carbonate of soda and common salt. The solid
substances deposited by the water soon form into a very hard rock
which takes a polish like marble. These deposits gather so rapidly
that all pipes leading from the springs, and the springs themselves,
must be frequently cleaned or they would soon be choked up.

Liver complaint is the disease which brings most visitors to
Carlsbad, and I was surprised to find that, instead of being a
fashionable resort, a majority of the patrons are of the middle
classes. It is a city of boarding houses and small hotels with a
few larger establishments. By eleven o'clock P. M., the streets are
deserted and the town asleep, probably because the early morning
is the time for drinking the water. I rose at five and with our
vice consul at Prague, Mr. Weissburger, as my guide, hurried to
the springs; the invalids were even then beginning to come forth,
each with his mug, and soon there was a swarm of them. The city has
erected large pavilions at several of the springs, and at two of
these bands play between six and eight. By 6:30 the streets were
crowded and the pavilions jammed. The numerous attendants were kept
busy filling the mugs (which are put into long handled holders) from
the gushing fountains. At the time of the Lisbon earthquake the
largest spring is said to have ceased its flow for three days.

[Illustration: CARLSBAD]

Riding through Bohemia at this time of the year, one sees a great
deal of fine farming land, the only unpleasant feature being the
number of women at work in the fields and along the roads. The more
one sees of the world, the more he can appreciate the remark of
the witty Frenchman, Max O'Rell, who, in his lecture on "Her Royal
Highness, Woman," declares that if he were going to be born one of
that sex, he would pray to be born in America. Woman's position in
our country is not only vastly superior to her position in Asia,
but very much better than the position of the average woman in
continental Europe.

Vienna is not only the capital of the Austria-Hungarian empire, but
is one of the greatest cities of Europe. It is worth visiting for
its architecture alone, its public buildings combining massiveness
and grace. It is also rich in monuments and statuary and well
supplied with drives, parks and places of amusement. The boulevards
are lined with restaurants, each with a large yard filled with
tables and chairs, the refreshments being served in the open air
during the summer months. These places are thronged in the evening
and on Sunday afternoon, families often bringing their lunch baskets
and buying their coffee or beer at the restaurant.

The coffee houses, as they are found in Vienna, deserve mention.
These are scattered all over the city and are very popular.
Newspapers are usually kept on file and the customers read the
events of the day while they sip their coffee or beer.

Vienna is a musical center, and its theaters are not surpassed
anywhere. We attended a production of Faust there, a French opera
built upon Goethe's great drama, and found the theater constructed
with a special view to the accommodation of a large orchestra. Nor
is it strange that music should be so distinguishing a feature of
Viennese life when it is remembered that it was the home of Strauss,
of Haydn, of Mozart, of Shubert and of Beethoven, not to speak of a
number of lesser lights.

Vienna is also famous for its educational institutions. Its
university has an honorable record of more than five centuries, and
its medical college is attended by students from every land.

Vienna is also an example in the matter of municipal ownership,
it having gone beyond all the other cities on the continent in the
taking over of what are known as the natural monopolies. It finds
it not only possible to own and operate its water works, lighting
plants and tramways, but it finds it profitable to do so; the
profits which, under private ownership, go to the stockholders,
accruing in Vienna to the whole people. So successful is municipal
ownership in practice that opposition to the principle has been
silenced. Those who, in the United States, are struggling in spite
of the influence of organized wealth, exerted through subsidized
newspapers, corrupted councils and sometimes even through a biased
judiciary, to restore the streets of our cities to the public, can
find encouragement in Vienna's experience. The conflict can have but
one end, namely, triumph for municipal ownership. "Sorrow may endure
for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

Austria-Hungary has a well developed system of forestry; I noticed
this on a former visit and made inquiries about it this time.
There is a law compelling the planting of a tree whenever one is
cut down, and not content with maintaining the present number,
the denuded hills are being replanted. It seems difficult to turn
public attention to any subject until some abuse has made action
imperative, but the sooner our country awakes to the danger involved
in the destruction of our timber, the less we shall be compelled to
suffer for the enormous waste committed in our forests.

I have been intending for some time to speak of the matter of
permanent buildings for our embassies, and Vienna is a case in
point. Our ambassador at Vienna, Mr. Francis, has had difficulty in
finding a suitable place for the embassy. I discussed the subject
during my former visit abroad, and my observations on this trip have
still further strengthened the opinion that our country owes it to
itself, as well as its representatives, to purchase or erect at each
of the foreign capitals a permanent embassy building. At present
each new ambassador or minister must begin his official career
with a house-hunting expedition, and the local landlords, knowing
this, are quick to take advantage of the situation. At one place
an American ambassador was recently asked to pay double what his
predecessor had paid, and as he was not willing to do this, he is
still living at a hotel. There are not many suitable buildings from
which to select, and our representative is at the mercy of those who
control the limited supply. Diplomatic requirements are such that
the embassy must be centrally located and sufficiently commodious
to enable the ambassador or minister to return the courtesies which
he receives. Small apartments are numerous, and there are a few
palaces which can be rented, but the former are not large enough
and the latter much larger than necessary. Our government ought to
own a building conveniently located and suitable for the offices and
home of the ambassador. It must either do this or choose between two
systems, both of which are bad, viz., compel the representative to
spend more than his salary for house rent, or continually increase
the salary of diplomatic representatives to keep pace with the
growing rent in the capitals of the world. To throw the burden
upon the government's representative is undemocratic; to risk
constantly increasing rent is false economy. It is not in harmony
with our theory of government to have an important branch of the
public service open to rich men only, and that is the case under the
present system. No poor man can afford to accept an appointment as
an American minister or ambassador to any of the principal countries
of Europe, and as the years go by, the expense of a diplomatic
residence will become greater as the value of urban property
increases. While the telegraph and the cable have considerably
decreased the responsibility of the foreign representative, by
bringing him into closer contact with the home government, still
much depends upon the ability, the sagacity and the discretion of
those whom we send abroad. Our government ought to be in a position
to select from the whole citizen body those most competent for
the work to be entrusted to them, and it goes without saying that
efficiency in the public service is not measured by the amount of
money which an official has either inherited or accumulated.

There is another argument in favor of the building of permanent
embassy buildings which ought to have weight with our people. If
diplomatic representatives are chosen only from those who are able
to spend more than their official incomes, it naturally follows
that some will be richer than others and that the establishments
maintained will differ in expensiveness. In fact, experience has
shown that a new representative is sometimes embarrassed by the
lavish expenditures of a preceding one. The standing of our nation
abroad demands that our ambassadors and ministers shall live in a
style in keeping with our ideas, and extravagance is as offensive
as parsimony. By owning its own embassy buildings our government
can regulate the standard of living and entertainment of those who
represent it at foreign courts. There is no doubt that our nation
must ultimately come to this plan, and the sooner it adopts it, the
better.[9]

  [9] Since the writing of the above congress has appropriated a sum
  for the purchase of embassy buildings, and a beginning has been made
  by the purchase of a building in Constantinople.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

THE DUMA.

There is at least one man in Russia who has reason to feel that
his political judgment has been vindicated and his predictions
verified by the assembling of the duma. It is Count Ignatieff,
who, at the age of twenty-eight, framed the Pekin treaty and who,
as minister of the interior (the highest cabinet position at that
time), in 1881 formulated a plan for a national assembly. His scheme
was to have three thousand representatives elected by the people,
these representatives, gathered from all parts of the empire, to
meet at Moscow and confer with the emperor in person in regard to
legislative measures. In order to avoid the objections raised to so
large an assembly, he proposed to divide the body into groups of
one hundred each, these groups to meet separately. He secured the
approval of the emperor, but the other members of the cabinet were
so strenuous in their opposition that the emperor decided not to
attempt the reform and Count Ignatieff resigned from the ministry.
He warned his associates that a failure to recognize the demands
of the people for representation in the government would simply
delay the change and that it was better to yield before the demands
became more radical, but the members of the bureaucracy, deaf to the
appeals of the people and blind to their own interests, resisted,
and as a result a duma is now in session at St. Petersburg, the
bureaucracy finds itself an object of contempt and loathing, and the
present emperor, like his predecessor, has to bear the sins of his
advisers.

I called upon Count Ignatieff and found him still vigorous in spite
of his grey hairs and advancing years. I was interested in him
not only because he is friendly toward our country and speaks our
language fluently, but more especially because he was a pioneer in
a great movement and foresaw what many of the nobility even now
fail to recognize, viz., that there is no place where arbitrary
power can justify its existence. The tide of progress has swept past
the Count, and he is now classed among the conservatives, but he
deserves to be remembered because he had the courage to speak out
when it required bravery to propose the taking of a step in the
direction of popular government.

[Illustration: COUNT IGNATIEFF.]

The duma is the result of the labors of hundreds, yes, thousands
of Russian reformers, a few conspicuous, but the most of them
unknown to fame, who for more than seventy-five years have been
insisting upon constitutional government. It is one of the most
remarkable bodies of men ever convened in a national capital, and I
have been abundantly repaid for coming here. The duma must be seen
to be appreciated; even more, to understand it one must not only
see the members, but must know something of the struggle through
which they have passed. I am satisfied that the czar himself is
more liberal than his advisers and that, left to himself, he would
long ago have made concessions which would have brought the throne
and the subjects nearer together, but he has yielded so slowly
and given so grudgingly that the people have become very much
estranged. To illustrate this I need only cite the facts, first
as to the election. St. Petersburg and Moscow are the political
centers where the officials and the nobility have the strongest
representation, and yet in the elections the constitutional
democrats won an overwhelming victory in both these cities. In St.
Petersburg the ticket which represented the emperor received only
two thousand votes out of a total vote of sixty thousand, and in
his home precinct, where three hundred voters were sent to the
polls in court carriages, his ticket received only eighty votes!
Could anything more clearly prove the frail hold of the government
upon the people? And it must be remembered that they do not have
universal suffrage in the cities, but a property qualification which
excludes the poorest of the people, the very ones who have most
reason to desire popular government.

The second proof of the feeling against the government is to be
found in the unanimity with which the duma opposes the position
taken by the government's minister. While the members of the duma
are divided among themselves on many questions, they act as one man
in their opposition to the government's policy, insofar as that
policy has been outlined. In fact, the tension has been so great
that I was afraid the body might be dissolved by imperial order
before we could reach St. Petersburg.

[Illustration: THE PALACE WHERE THE RUSSIAN DUMA MEETS.]

The sessions of the duma are held in a palace built by Catherine
the Great for one of her favorites, General Potemkin. It is a
commodious building and has been remodeled to meet present needs.
The largest room, extending the entire width of the building, was
once the ballroom and some notable entertainments have been given
in it--entertainments calling for a lavish expenditure and attended
only by the nobility; now the room serves as a lobby, and peasant
representatives, wearing the usual blouse and top boots, stride
through it as they go to and from the sessions. In another part of
the building there are ample dining rooms where the members of the
duma and the press may secure meals at very moderate rates. The
assembly hall is large enough to accommodate the four hundred and
fifty members, but is badly lighted. The windows are all back of the
speaker's platform, so that the members sit with their faces towards
the light. It would be much better if the light came from above, but
it is really surprising that the accommodations are as satisfactory
as they are, considering the short time the workmen had to make the
necessary changes.

Back of the president is a life-sized painting of the czar in
uniform; on the left is a box occupied by the ministers when
present, and beyond the ministers is a still larger enclosure
occupied by the representatives of the foreign press. To the right
of the president are seats for members of the council of empire who
may be in attendance, and beyond them the enclosure occupied by
representatives of the Russian press. Just in front and a little
below the president's desk is the rostrum from which the members of
the duma address the assembly, and just below this rostrum is the
reporters' table where the stenographers take down the proceedings.
Besides the rooms already mentioned there are committee rooms,
cloak rooms, rooms for the home press and for the foreign press,
etc., etc. In a word, the duma building looks very much like an
American legislative hall or a European parliament building--a
likeness still further emphasized by the presence of men and women
clerks, doorkeepers, pages and spectators. One thing only was out
of harmony with a legislative body, and that was a company of
soldiers stationed in a wing of the building as if in anticipation
of possible trouble. We were present at two sessions of the duma and
found them intensely interesting. The morning session is at present
given up to speeches on the land question, more than a third of
the members having expressed a desire to be heard on this subject.
The speeches are usually short and often read from manuscript.
Hand-clapping is allowed, and there was always applause at the close
of the speeches. Occasionally the president announced that some
speaker on the list surrendered his time and this statement also
brought forth applause, the discussion of the subject having by this
time become tiresome.

By the courtesy of our ambassador, Mr. Meyer, we were admitted to
the diplomatic gallery, from which we could survey the entire body.
There is probably no assembly like it on either hemisphere. It is
made up of all classes and represents every shade of opinion. There
are members of the nobility who have cast in their lot with the
people, lawyers who have temporarily left their practice to devote
themselves to the larger interests of the public, professors fresh
from the universities, business men from the cities, laboring men
from the factories, and there are, most numerous still, peasants
from the farms. Some of the members are near the end of life and
command attention by their years as well as by their words, and
there is a sprinkling of young men who have become the spokesmen of
their communities, but the majority are middle-aged men who have
years of experience behind them, and are yet strong for the battle.
In garb there is also great variety, the black frock coat, the
business suit, the belted blouse, and the clerical robe are all to
be seen. The smooth face seems to be at a discount in Russia; one
would suppose, so plentiful are whiskers, that the barbers were on a
strike. There are many heavy heads of hair, too, sometimes the locks
falling to the shoulders, sometimes cut square about the ears.

[Illustration: PROFESSOR SERGE MURMETZEFF.]

The lobby is a better place than the gallery to study features;
sitting on one of the visitors' seats in this commodious hall we
watched the members passing to and fro and were introduced to a
number of them by the American newspaper men who are reporting the
proceedings for the press of our country. There are also a number
of Americans here studying the Russian situation as a preparation
for university work at home, a son of the late Dr. Harper of Chicago
being one of these. I shall send with this article a number of
photographs of the more prominent members, but I regret that I
cannot bring before my readers some of the faces that we observed
in the lobby, faces which seemed to present an epitome of Russian
history--strong, firm, unyielding faces which plainly tell of the
stern resolve that lies behind the peasant movement. They may
protest, like Mark Antony, that they have neither "wit nor words
nor worth, action, nor utterance nor the power of speech to stir
men's blood," but they can "put a tongue in every wound" of their
countrymen that will almost "move the stones to rise and mutiny."

[Illustration: EDITOR PAUL I. MILIUKOFF.]

This is the first duma, and it has not proceeded far enough to
fully develop the permanent leaders, but, if I may use the simile,
as the basket of pebbles is shaken by debate, the large ones are
gradually rising to the top. The president of the duma is Prof.
Serge Murmetseff, of Moscow, whose learning and judicial temperament
combined to make him the choice of the several parties, no one of
which can claim a majority. The constitutional democrats have the
largest membership and are the best organized. They also have the
advantage of occupying the middle ground between the radicals and
the conservatives. Having about one hundred and fifty members on
their rolls and some thirty more acting with them, they can count
upon enough votes from the more conservative elements to defeat the
extreme radicals, and they can rely upon enough radical votes to
carry out their program. The floor leader of this party is Vladimir
D. Nabokoff, of St. Petersburg, a member of a prominent family and
himself until recently an instructor in the national law school.
He is about thirty-eight years of age, intelligent and alert, and
has the confidence of his party. The orator of the constitutional
democrats is Theodore I. Rodicheff, a scholarly looking man of
fifty. He is polished in manner and persuasive in speech. One of
the most influential of the constitutional democrats is Mr. Maxim
Winawer, a Jewish lawyer of the capital. He is sometimes described
as the "brains" of the party and is credited with drafting the
duma's reply to the address from the throne. He is one of the ablest
civil lawyers in the empire and his election from St. Petersburg,
where there are but three thousand Jewish voters, out of a total
vote of sixty thousand, and his elevation to the vice-presidency of
the national organization of his party, would seem to answer the
charge that there is widespread hostility to the Jews among the
people.

Nabokoff, Rodicheff and Winawer are members of the duma and are,
therefore, prominently before the public at this time, but in
popularity they have a rival in the person of Paul I. Miliukoff,
editor of the "Retch." (The government would probably put a "W"
before the "R" and give the word its English meaning, but in Russian
the word Retch means speech.) Mr. Miliukoff, it will be remembered,
was one of the candidates of his party in St. Petersburg, but the
government compelled the substitution of another name because he
was awaiting trial for an alleged violation of the press laws. He
was acquitted soon afterward and is one of the moving spirits in
the present parliamentary struggle. He speaks excellent English and
has lectured in the United States. No one need despair of reform in
Russia while such a man as Miliukoff devotes his great ability to
journalism.

Next to the constitutional democrats, the members of the "group of
toil" form the largest party. There are about a hundred of these,
and Alexis G. Aladin is their leader. He is even younger than
Nabokoff, but has already shown himself to be a man of force and
originality.

Count Heyden is the leader of the conservative element, if there
is a conservative element in the duma. Perhaps it would be more
accurate to describe him as the spokesman for the least radical
group, for all the members of the duma are reformers, differing only
as to the extent of the changes and the speed with which they shall
be made. He was once considered radical, but he has not moved as
rapidly as public sentiment. Count Heyden bears quite a resemblance
to Uncle Sam as he is pictured in the newspapers. I have spoken
somewhat at length of the leaders in order to show that while the
grievances of the peasants and laborers are at the bottom of the
movement, all classes are enlisted in the effort to establish
constitutional government.

The afternoon sessions are generally lively, for it is at this
time that the ministers make their reports, offer their measures
and answer the questions propounded by the members. The session
which we attended was no exception to the rule. The house was full,
the galleries crowded and the newspapers fully represented. There
were more than forty Russian writers in their corner and not less
than fifty of the foreign press in theirs. When the representative
of the war department, replying to a question concerning some
recent military executions, declared that the minister of war was
powerless to overrule the generals, there were shouts of "Murderer!"
"Assassin!" "Dog!" and other equally uncomplimentary epithets.

[Illustration: SOME MEMBERS OF RUSSIAN DUMA.]

One of the demands made by the duma is for the abolition of the
death penalty. This might seem a very radical measure to us, but
the conditions are quite different in Russia. Here there is no
assurance of an impartial trial, and torture is resorted to to
force an admission of guilt. Only recently three persons were found
to be innocent after they had been tortured and put to death. The
members of the duma feel that the only security to the people is
in the entire abolition of the death penalty, for while those who
are falsely accused still live, there is a chance to rescue them.
In this respect exile, hateful as it is, has its advantages; I met
a member of the duma who was returned from exile by the government
upon the demand of the duma. In the torturing of prisoners for the
purpose of extorting a confession Russia is even behind China, bad
as China is, for in the latter nation it has been abolished, except
where one is charged with murder, and is only permitted then after
the guilt of the accused has been established by other evidence.

[Illustration: MEMBERS OF THE RUSSIAN DUMA.]

There are a number of important measures which are very little
discussed in the duma because they are certain to receive the
approval of the government; one of these provides for universal
education. The program of the duma also includes legislation
guaranteeing freedom of speech, freedom of the press, protection
for the Jews and local self-government for the Polish portion of
Russia. As the women have taken an active part in the agitation for
constitutional reform, all of the parties are committed to woman's
suffrage.

Just now the land question is paramount. About one-third of the
entire acreage of land in the empire is in the hands of the czar,
the government and the nobility, and the peasants demand that it
shall be turned over to them. At this time they are willing to have
compensation made to the owners, but the more they think about it
and the more vehement their demand becomes, the less they are likely
to consider compensation. There is no doubt that there are enough
cases of injustice and contemptuous indifference to their needs
to arouse resentment among the peasants, if we take human nature
as we find it. They tell of instances where whole villages have
been compelled to pay toll, generation after generation, for the
privilege of crossing some nobleman's land to reach the land farmed
in common by the people of the village. Powerless to condemn land
for roads, as it can be done in other countries, they have grown
more embittered year by year until some of them feel that patience
has ceased to be a virtue. It is now intimated that the government
will offer a partial distribution of land as a compromise.

[Illustration: MAXIM WINAWER.]

The opponents of expropriation seek shelter behind the excuse that
the peasants attack the principle of private ownership. While it
is true that there are socialists in the duma who prefer communal
holdings to private ownership, the object of the peasants is not to
dispossess small holders, but simply to give the peasants access
to the large estates. The situation resembles, in some respects,
the situation in Ireland, except that in Russia the land is to
be turned over to the communities. I made some inquiry regarding
the question of joint ownership and learned from one of the best
informed men in Russia that there is a growing sentiment in favor
of individual ownership. Ownership in common does not give to each
individual that stimulus to improve his land, which is the important
element in individual ownership. In riding through a country one can
distinguish with considerable accuracy between the farms cultivated
by their owners and those cultivated by tenants, because the
tenants, as a rule, are unwilling to make permanent improvements.
One Russian economist estimates the income from the owned lands
of Russia at thirty per cent above the income of the same area of
communal lands. He attributes it to the ability of the land owners
to supply themselves with proper tools and to furnish or borrow
at low rates the money needed for cultivation, but it is possible
that this difference may be in part due to the fact that ownership
makes the incentive to labor greater, and offers a richer reward to
superior effort.[10]

  [10] The Czar has just issued a decree which according to the press
  dispatches, permits the communal holdings to be converted into
  individual holdings.

[Illustration: GROUP OF RUSSIAN DUMA WITH MR. BRYAN IN CENTER]

There is an upper house, or council of empire as it is called, which
shares the legislative power with the duma, but it does not receive
much attention because its composition is such that it cannot
reflect public sentiment, and cannot oppose the will of the people
except at the risk of its existence. Half of the members of this
council are appointed by the emperor and the other half elected by
different interests. The nobility elect some, the universities some
and the zemstows some.

The duma does not recognize the council of empire as a co-ordinate
branch of the government and will not be slow to express itself in
favor of a radical change in the method of selecting the members of
this upper house, or even its abolition, if it stands in the way of
measures which have a large majority in the duma.

What will be the outcome in Russia? A Russian would hardly venture
a prediction, and for an outsider, prophecy is even more hazardous.
The situation could scarcely be more complicated. Generations of
misrule have brought an accumulation of questions, all pressing
for solution. The duma wants a great many things done and wants
them done at once, while the government, if it remains under the
influences of the bureaucracy, will give as little as possible. So
far, the government has been unfortunate in that it has delayed
making concessions until still greater concessions were demanded.
The program of the present ministry has been so completely
repudiated that the emperor may find it easier to appoint a new
ministry than to humiliate the present one by compelling it to
propose what it has heretofore refused. If a new ministry is formed
and the duma is consulted about its personnel, Ivan Petrunkevich
will probably be the premier. He is a member of the duma and the
head of the parliamentary organization of the constitutional
democrats. He has already proposed a constitution to Nicholas II.
If the duma is disregarded and a ministry formed from the emperor's
present advisers, it will at least be more liberal than the one now
in office.

[Illustration: IVAN PETRUNKEVICH.]

The duma is a permanent institution; it could not be abolished by
imperial decree without endangering the crown itself, and it cannot
be dissolved or prorogued with safety.[11] The government must,
therefore, treat with the duma and agree with such compromises as
may be necessary to maintain peace between the executive and the
people. The officials, too, are learning from the duma something
about the science of government. When there was no one to speak
for the people, the czar could claim to voice their sentiments. He
can claim this no longer. When the people were denied a hearing,
the officials could deny that the people desired reforms, but the
officials cannot put their unsupported opinions against a unanimous
duma. The elections have shown how insignificant a support the
government has among its subjects, and these figures contain a
warning, which even the bureaucracy cannot entirely disregard. Does
the government rely upon the army? The soldiers are drawn from the
people and serve for three years, a half million raw recruits being
enlisted each year. Is it possible that they can be different
in sentiment from their fathers and brothers? In three years the
Russian army will be made up of men in hearty accord with those who
speak through the duma. Without an army to rely upon, what answer
can the bureaucracy make to the legislature?

  [11] Soon after this letter was written the duma was dissolved, with
  a promise of another election, and as this book goes to press a
  second campaign is in progress.

The czar has already suffered much at the hands of his advisers;
he is no longer the idol he was, and reverence for the Church has
abated somewhat, as reverence for him, its temporal head, has
decreased. What can he do? There is but one course open to him.
He asked the people what they wanted and they have told him. As
he cannot doubt that they have told him the truth, he must either
accept their answer or confess that he does not intend to consider
their wishes. If he would appoint a new ministry, propose a measure
guaranteeing freedom of speech and freedom of the press, recommend
an agricultural bank to protect the peasants from the small money
lenders, recall the exiles, release political prisoners and invite
the leaders of the duma to confer with the ministry in regard to the
land question, he would be restored to the affection of his subjects
and have no reason to fear bomb-throwers or hostile criticism. He
would find a hundred and thirty millions of loyal subjects a much
stronger bodyguard than a few hired soldiers. His position is a
difficult one because his environment is unfriendly to the masses,
but having burned the bridges behind him, he must go forward.

Russia is not decaying. She has extent of territory, abundant
natural resources and an immense population. To be sure, a majority
of her people were serfs until a generation ago, but there is
no race distinction between the nobility and the peasant, and
with education the extremes of society are being drawn closer
together. That Russia has a great future is not open to doubt.
What experiences she may pass through before she emerges a free,
self-governing and prosperous nation no one is wise enough to
foresee, but the people who have sacrificed as much for liberty
as have the Russian patriots have in them the material of which
mighty nations are made. The duma is ready to do its part; will the
government rise to the occasion? Time alone can tell.

     NOTE--Since this article was written the Duma has been
     dissolved, and a second Duma is now in session.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

AROUND THE BALTIC.

The discussion of the duma occupied so much space that I was
compelled to omit from that article all mention of Russia in
general, and to St. Petersburg in particular; I shall therefore
begin this article with a brief reference to the Moscovite empire.
Two and a half years ago, when I saw Russia for the first time, I
entered by the way of Warsaw and went to St. Petersburg from Moscow.
While considerable territory was covered, the winter's snows made
the whole country look barren and uninviting. This time our course
lay through the Baltic provinces, and as farming was at its height,
the country presented a much fairer picture. The cities and villages
through which we passed were busy with life and each had its church,
for the Russians are a church-going people.

St. Petersburg is a fascinating city. The Church of St. Isaacs,
with its great granite monoliths on the outside, its pillars within
covered with malachite and lapsus lazuli, and its immense bronze
doors, is among the world's most imposing places of worship; the
equestrian statue of Peter the Great is famous, and the art gallery
is of rare merit. Russia's bronzes are most excellent, and her
stores exhibit a large assortment of furs.

In St. Petersburg I found myself, as on my former visit, admiring
the horses, they being, upon the whole, the best that I have seen
since leaving America. Possibly the fact that so many stallions are
driven singly and in pairs may account, in part, for the handsome
and stylish animals seen upon the streets, but certain it is that
the Russian horse is a splendid representative of his breed. There
is a large park, called the Point, near the city, and in the evening
this park and the approaches to it are thronged with carriages and
droskies. As the sun does not set there at this season of the year
until between nine and ten and is followed by a long twilight, the
drives are gay with life until midnight. We did not reach our hotel
until eleven o'clock, although we were among the first to leave the
park.

Speaking of horses, reminds me that the Russian coachman has an
individuality all his own. His headgear is peculiar, being a squatty
beaver with a spool-shaped crown, but one soon forgets the hat in
contemplation of the form. The skirt of the coachman's coat is very
full and pleated, and the more stylish the equipage, the broader
is the driver. Beginning at the shoulders, his padding gradually
increases until about the hips he is as broad as the box upon
which he sits. This padding is carried to such an extreme that the
coachman sometimes has to be lifted upon the box, and it is needless
to say that he is practically helpless, as well as useless, in case
of an accident. It may be that this style of dress is designed for
a wind break for those who are seated behind the wearer--this was
one of the explanations given--or it may be that it, like some other
fashions in wearing apparel, has no foundation in reason.

[Illustration: A VIEW OF STOCKHOLM.]

I found to my disappointment that Tolstoy is not contributing
materially to the political revolution that is taking place in
Russia. Being revered throughout the land not only because of his
philosophy, but also because of his fearless arraignment of the
despotism that has afflicted Russia, he might be a powerful factor
in giving direction to the popular movement, but believing that
individual regeneration furnishes the only complete emancipation
from all forms of evil, he takes but little interest in what he
regards as the smaller and less important remedies proposed by the
duma. It remains to be seen whether it is wiser to secure that which
is now within reach, and then press forward for other advantages, or
to reject piecemeal reforms in the hope of ultimately gaining larger
ones. Probably the pioneer in thought and the practical reformer
will never be able to fully agree upon this point.

The boat ride from St. Petersburg to Stockholm is one of unsurpassed
beauty. It requires about thirty hours to make the trip, and of
that time but two hours are spent in the open sea, the remainder of
the route being between islands that fill the Baltic and the Gulf
of Finland as the stars stud the sky. Just out of St. Petersburg
is Russia's most important naval station, where we saw a number of
warships and were informed that the crew of one of them had recently
refused to comply with a sailing order, answering that it was
waiting to see what the duma would do.

Until about a hundred years ago Finland was a part of the Baltic
Empire, of which Sweden was the head, and of the three million
inhabitants of Finland, something like twenty per cent are of
Swedish descent. As might be expected, the Swedish element was not
only the official element, enjoying to a large extent the titles
of nobility, but it is still the wealthier and more influential
portion. The Finns proper are not Laplanders, as their northern
position would suggest, neither are they in race closely akin to the
Slavic or Scandinavian population. As mentioned in the article on
Hungary, they came from western Asia and are quite distinct in race
characteristics from their present neighbors. They acquired from
their Swedish conquerors a fondness for the public school, and the
percentage of illiteracy is much less in Finland than in other parts
of Russia, under whose dominion they unwillingly came in 1808.

Our boat stopped at Helsingfors for a few hours, and we had an
opportunity to visit the principal points of interest in the capital
of Finland. It is a substantial and prosperous looking city with
large school houses, attractive public buildings and commodious
churches. We passed several small parks where children were playing
and where numerous comfortable seats beckoned the weary to rest
beneath the shade. I confess to a partiality for the small city
park; it is much better to have these breathing spaces so scattered
about through densely populated sections that the children, as well
as the adults, can find in them a daily refuge than to have the
entire park fund lavished upon suburban parks, which can only be
visited occasionally. It is a pity that space is not more often
reserved for these parks in the laying out of towns, for the ground
not only becomes more valuable in proportion as these small parks
are the more needed, but the opening of them in the heart of a city
brings a large unearned increment to those who own land adjacent to
them.

We could not help noticing the contrast between the market of
Helsingfors and those which we visited in Asia. At the former neatly
dressed peasants, men and women, exposed for sale from the end of
their carts a bountiful supply of vegetables, meats, butter, eggs
and cheese. The eggs were stamped with the name of the owner and the
date of laying, the butter was packed in wooden buckets of various
sizes, and the cheese was of many varieties. Some of the carts were
filled with stacks of black bread baked in large flat cakes. The
radishes presented a temptation that I was not able to withstand;
the fondness for them, restrained during the months of travel
through the Orient, overcame me, and at the risk of being thought
extravagant, I purchased five dozen at a gross outlay of about five
cents and lived high until they were all gone.

[Illustration: KING OSCAR OF SWEDEN.]

The Finns are rejoicing over the autonomy recently secured, and they
have signalized their partial independence by creating a single
parliamentary body whose representatives are elected by the entire
population, male and female, above the age of twenty-four. No one
can understand the persistency with which the Finns have struggled
for constitutional government without recalling that, as a part
of Sweden, their country long enjoyed the right to representation
in the nation's councils. The people have always resented Russian
methods, and only a few years ago the governor general sent from St.
Petersburg was assassinated by a young Finn who, having thus given
expression to his nation's hatred of despotism, immediately took his
own life. The death of the governor was followed by the suspension
of such few privileges as the people had been enjoying, but when
last year the whole of Russia seemed about to rise in rebellion, the
czar announced his willingness to grant all that was asked, and now
one can travel through Finland without being harassed by soldiers or
bothered about passports.

If Constantinople can claim to be the natural capital of the eastern
hemisphere, Stockholm can with equal justice claim to be its natural
summer resort. It is situated at a point where a chain of lakes
pours its flood into the Baltic, so that the citizens of Sweden's
capital have their choice between the fresh water and the salt. As
the lakes and the sea are filled with innumerable islands, each
family can have one for itself. Summer homes are probably more
numerous near Stockholm, in proportion to the population, than
anywhere else, because during the winter months the people live in
flats. One is immediately struck with the compactness of the city
and with the absence of single dwellings surrounded by yards. Owing
to the severe cold and the long, dark days of winter, the people
huddle together in great blocks and thus economize fuel, and they
are at the same time close to their work. As soon as spring opens
there is a general movement toward the islands, and as we approached
Stockholm from the Baltic and left it through the lakes, we saw a
great many summer cottages and watched the boats carrying their
cargoes of passengers to and fro.

Sweden's lakes are so numerous and so large that about eight per
cent of her entire area is given up to these internal waterways,
and they probably account for the fact that her people had a large
domestic commerce before the era of railroads. These lakes are so
situated that by connecting them by canals water transit has been
secured between Stockholm on the east coast and Gothenburg on the
west. The boat trip through these lakes and canals is one of the
most pleasant to be found in Europe.

The Swedes who have come to the United States are such excellent
farmers that I was surprised to find but twelve per cent of the area
of Sweden devoted to agriculture and fifty-one per cent described as
woodland. Only fifty-five per cent of the population is now engaged
in farming, the proportion having fallen from seventy-two per cent
since 1870, while the proportion engaged in other industries has
risen from fifteen to twenty-seven per cent.

Lumbering, fishing and shipping each gives employment to a large
number of men, and iron mining, long a leading industry, is still
important, although, owing to the development of mines elsewhere,
Sweden now furnishes but one per cent of the entire output of ore
as against ten per cent in the eighteenth century. The fact that
she had such an abundant supply of the raw material early gave
her a conspicuous place in iron manufactures, and the familiarity
with this metal may be due to the fact that Sweden was quick to
take advantage of the railroad, the telegraph and the telephone.
In electrical appliances she now claims a second place among
the nations. A large use has also been made of the water power
with which the country abounds, notably at Norrkoping, where an
industrial exposition is now in progress.

We spent a day at this exposition for the purpose of gathering
information in regard to industrial Sweden. While the agricultural
display was not ready, the exhibit of the products of the factory
was exceedingly interesting. The articles shown included metal
work of all kinds and varieties, from heavy machinery to parlor
ornaments. In one section canned fruit was displayed, in another
great rolls of linoleum and oilcloth, and in still another textile
fabrics. The cloth was especially worthy of notice, being of
superior quality and of every color. There was also a complete
assortment of dairy implements and farm tools. So skillful is
the Swedish artisan that the International Harvester Company has
recently established a branch factory at Norrkoping, and with the
aid of American foremen is preparing to manufacture reapers and
mowers there, not only for Sweden but for northern Europe.

In addition to the machine-made exhibits, there were specimens of
the handwork of peasants and students. These included many varieties
of needlework, wood carving, and decoration on leather and bark.
Peasant girls in native costume presided over these displays