Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-02-10

recounting tale Of his own. II say
something, and you say something else,
and we will agree to call it converse
tion." Now in Turkey there are certain
forms or canons of conversation, any
violation Of which is considered an out
rage, and the sum OF which constitutes
their code of politeness as applied to
conversation. | will enumerate these
one by one:
l. Never to interrupt the speaker
while he is talking However long
winded or uninterestlng his conversation
may be to you, politeness requires that
you should wait for his conclusion. You
are not under any obligation to enter
into conversation with him at all; but if
you do, it is an understood condition Of
your conversational treaty that you
should let him have bis say.
M 2. Never to diverge, in the middle of a
conversation, from the main thread of a
discourse into collateral issue. The
breach Of this rule is considered by a
Turk as an objectionable rudeuess. To
drive a red herring, as il were, across
the scent OF conversation is, in his opin-
ion, to confound all thought and render
all profitable consecutive conversation
impossible. This leads as a corollary
| to
3. To allow a short but sufficient
pause between the conclusion OF dis.
cusSion on one subject and the entering
on a new subject.
A. Never to tell a person a thing be
knows already.
5, Not to excuse oneself when convict
ed of being in the wrong. How seldom
you hear in Europe Yes, was in the
wrong, am sorry for it," but in Tur-
key II is considered a violation of princi
pie and breach of politeness to refuse
to be convicted of error. The cause of
this difference lies deep In the character
of the two races; in the absence on the
part Of the Turk of petty vanity and dis
tracing self-esteem. The proudest race
in the world, they are entirely exempt
from vanity.
s When you have nothing TO say, hold
your tongue. They never talk for the
sake Of talking. Empty, idle jabbering
is Frank but not an Ottoman practice
In Europe it is considered de rigueur to
say something, whether that something
is worth saying or not. Not so in Tur-
key; to. say something when you have
nothing to say worth saying is consid-
cred there 3 degradation to yourself aud
a rudeness to your neighbor.
With them, under such circumstances,
If speech is silyern silence is golden. 1t
may be said that these rules are Of uni.
versal obligation, and ought not to be
confined to the limits of Turkey. Ex.
actly So; the only difference is that there
they are practiced aud elsewhere they
are not. The head Of the American mis-.
sion at Constantinople once said to some
jealous young missionaries who had Just
come. to Turkey: Gentlemen, you will
see practiced here the virtues you hear
of elsewhere. u And so it is with these
canons of conversation.
In connection with the subject of con
version and discussion in Turkey is the
noteworthy fact that there are no alb
stract terms in the Turkish language
| They are obliged to express their mean
ing by means Of sdjeetiyes and verbs
Consider now the political strength o.
a nation the Custom-house Of whose
language absolutely prohibits the intro
duction of such wares as Divine Right
llProtection, Liberty, Equality, Civiliza
ltion, i'the Revolutionl" Good heavens
| To gauge the strength Of q nation in 8
high state Of civilization and without al
abstract term in their language To be
beyond the reach Of danger from thai
magazine of smphibologes : abstract
| terms -and the explosions which result
from it, seems to me to be- calculated al
an element of strength-at least equiva
lent to the possession of an army o
100000 men. "You have in your TEN
enas, " said once the profoundest Euro
pean student of the East to q Turk, q
palladium Of political liberty" Here
then, is another palladium in the struct
ure of their language.
So much, then, for the manners Of thu
Ottoman as exempli6ed in his converse
ton, his politeness translated int
speech. Before, however, taking leavi
Of the individual Tufa, | must refer to {
point Of character which / have pur
posely reserved for the conclusion Of ml
remarks on this head, because il is tn,
most important of all, and in certain
sense includes all others. The Ottoman
is not only the politest on earth. he il
also the cleanest. Politeness withou
cleanliness is, in fact, nonsense That
cleanliness is Rext to godliness is, in
deed, 2 Christian dictum, but it is al
Ottoman practice. 1t is intimately con
nected with his religious Duties, anC
must be compared in this respec
to the Jewish rules Of publication
II is not founded on simply hygienit
considerations but is connected with tht
secret springs Of hiS whole moral ant
religious nature, A Eqropeal viii elloy
that that which is tainted with impuritJ
is uneleSp, bpt Turk will maintain thai
that which has been in contact with tha
which has been so tainted is in itsel i'm
pure. One consequence of this refine
ment is that his ablutions, which arC
more frequent than those Of any
other people, must be performed, notiI
stagpapt water, but in running water
THAT which has teen IN contact will
impurity is itself impure Stagnan
water, therefore, on the first contac
with impurity loses its purifying virtue
Rinsing is Of the essence Of washing
EEprther, the house must be as pure an'
undeEleS ss the person, mi iGduu
haze limina tangSt is inscribed II
, brazen letters Of custom op the intel Q
every Turkish house. II is, therefore
no light accident Of manners, no fanci
full mode or fashion, which makes tn
) Turk take pa his shoes s. the threshold
OF his house. His house Is q tomple Q
cleanliness, aud ell impurity from with
opt must be cast of before be yOnture
| into ths shrine within. Applying th
: maxim which kage quoted above-tha
8 that which has been Ia contact witt
impurity is itself impure pa heteFodoi
practice which has among certain "Eu