Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-11-17
PROGRESS IN TURKEY.
Education TO be EnfOrced--SOCial
barriers Disappearing.


barriers Disappearing.
A new law has been promulgated in
Constantinople, which makes education
compulsory for every inhabitant of the
Turkish Empire. The period of instruc-
ton is fixed for girls at six to ten years of
age, and for boys at from six to eleven.
The names of all children are to be regis
tered, and parents and guardians who do
not enforce their attendance at school are
to be fined The primary schools are to
be either Musselmen or Christian, accord
ing to the religion which is most prevalent
in the district in which each school is To-
Gated. The higher schools are to receive
Christians and Musselmans indiscrimin-
ately.
In its way, this is certainly one of the
most striking and important revolutions
which has occurred in Europe during the
present century. The effect which it will
have on the Turkish people, and on the
Turkish government, within the next 20
years, is hardly now to be estimated.
When 35,000,000 of peOple-the fore
fathers of almost all of whom have lived
for centuries in a sort of hereditary ignOT-
ance-are taught to read and write, and
learn to think for themselves, to examine,
TO doubt, and to be eager for change, it
is not unreasonable 10 predict that the
modern progress of Turkey will be much
more rapid than that of England, and
even much more astonishing than that of
France
But these are not the only signs of pro-
gress and modern ideas in Turkey. The
change in the costume of the females is
very significant in its way Talking of
modern Turkish dressing, a correspond
ent of a foreign paper says:
Il am speaking not so much of the
common multitude, but of the ladies who
ride in coaches and are attended by
eunuchs. The veil in most cases is the
merest shadow of pretence, consisting
of one fold of thin muslin bound so loose
" over the forehead and chin as scarcely
TO cast a shadow upon the face. A few
years ago il was the fashion in London
among ladies who desiredtO be conspicuous
TO bind white veil tightly from one side
of their bOnnet-there were bOunets in
those days-tO the other Well, the fea-
lures of these English ladies were far less
visible than those of the MOslem danes.
| saw many ladies upon the promenade
whose wells were 50 sCanty and slight |
had TO look twice to assure myself of their
existence, and did not see one whose fea-
lures yOn could not trace with per
feet ease if you chose to use your eyes
and to look a little longer than would
perhaps be recognized as quite polite in
the West. But, though the ydShnlUk
exposes the face, or at most only softens
the sharpness of the lines and mellows the
tint of the skin, the colOred wrappers, the
ferigheeS, which / have mentioned be-
fore, and which are invariably worn, do,
to a great extent, conceal the figure |
suppose women will cOntrive to spend mo-
ney on milliners in defiance of every diff
Guilty; but, for all purposes of outward
adornment, it is hard to see why
the most extravagant of Ottoman
danes should spend anything on the
garments underneath her wrapper. So
far as / could see, the ladies whom /
passed wore loose linen jackets under
their te1ighees, fastened round the neck
with gold brooches Beyond that, per
sonal observation could avail nothing, but
| was told by an English lady resident in
Turkey, that all the women | saw about
me had shawls bound round their waists,
and long muslin pantalets coming down
to their ankles am inclined, however,
to think that many of the more gor-
geous DANES wore Partisan costumes
concealed beneath their cloaks. I'm
der the folds of muslin which covered
the backs of their heads you could see
chignons and little pork pie hats, and cmls
and flowers. So, too, underneath the
fringe of their dresses, as they sat cross
legged on the ground, you could see every
variety of foot-cOvering, from the old
fashioned wide yellow slipper to the tiny
shoe with the red rOsette above the toe /;
and in more than one instance, unless my
eyes deceived me, saw peeping from
under the Turkish wrapper a high-heeled,
betasseled Partisan boot.
This, to he sure, is but beginning, but
it points to a time when the barrier which
excludes Turkish women from all social
intercourse will be broken down, when
the harem will cease 10 exist, and poly
gamy will be discarded.