The east and the west: our dealings with our neighbours

Front matter

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Introduction

The perversion of ideas through the use of vague and false terms, such as policy, expediency, civilisation, military operations, &c, is the chief cause of the inability to distinguish between right and wrong which leads to the rapidly increasing number of little wars in which the country is involved. These are becoming so frequent, and are so lightly entered upon, that disasters have occurred before the country even knew that its troops were engaged. We have forced our presence upon the Japanese, and have compelled them to admit our consular jurisdiction, though its inefficacy to maintain order had been proved by experience : though Sir Rutherford Alcock has exposed its defects in the first chapter of his second volume on Japan, which is probably only a transcript of his official correspondence, no steps appear to be in contemplation for their remedy.

In 1829 M. Abel Remusat inveighed against the practice of Europeans in adopting a different standard of right and wrong out of Europe, following only their own will and

VI INTRODUCTION.

pleasure; but since he wrote the following passage the evil he complained of has immeasurablv increased : — "A singular race is this European race. The opinions with which it is armed, the reasonings upon which it rests, could astonish an impartial judge, if such an one could be at present found on earth. They walk the globe, showing themselves to the humiliated nations as the type of beauty in their figures, as the basis of reason in their ideas, the perfection of understanding in their imaginations. That is their only measure. They judge all things by that rule. In their own quarrels they are agreed upon certain principles by which to assassinate one another with method and regularity. But right of nations is superfluous in dealing with Orientals."

The necessity of again calling attention to these ills, is the excuse or the justification for the publication of this series of Essays. The fifth of the series does not refer to the above-mentioned subjects; but since the recent startling announcement that Convocation has already taken steps to effect intercommunion between the Church of England and the Russian Church, its publication is not less opportune.

Contents

ESSAY PACK

I. OUR CONSULAR SYSTEM FOREIGN JURISDICTION IN

COUNTRIES HAVING REGULAR GOVERNMENTS . 1

II. Modern Christendom In The Levant

The following Extracts are translated from an Article written by M. John ~N"inet, a Belgian Vice- Consul, and Acting Consul at Alexandria, and published in the Brussels "Revue Trimestrielle" July 1863.

~No doubt that, from a Christian point of view, and taken in the abstract, certain usages of Eastern peoples present themselves to European criticism as real defects and as great vices ; but with a little more of evangelical charity, perhaps, we should judge them less severely. "We should take more into account the influences of origin and climate, and the material necessities and social obligations derived from these usages ; we should take into consideration men and circumstances ; we should be able to distinguish what is good ; and in finding an explanation of what shocks our observation, we should be less harsh in attacking, and more sincere in our judgments. "We should at length, arrive at this conclusion, however unedifying it may be, that, under the cloak of civilisation with which we deck ourselves, we, modern Christians, hide a mediocre body, and a mind more full of hypocrisy than we are disposed to admit.

If, after a general awakening, the Mussulman, Buddhist, and idolatrous nations were suddenly and spontaneously to discover that they could not live without railways, without fermented liquors, without fashionable goods from Paris and London, without European fabrics, &c, and if they opened both their ports and their treasures to the precipitate incursion of the products of manufacturing Christendom, Christendom at the outset would ask for nothing more. The question of religion would very readily, and with joy, be left on one side, saving that it would be brought in later for the purpose of satisfying fresh appetites, sprung from the prey already devoured.*

But we have not arrived at this point. From the outset, and on many points of the globe, the fault was committed of not taking the bull by the

* The author is proved to be right in asserting that Christianity is made the pretext and the cloak for avarice and greed, by the fact that the adoption of it has not saved the New Zealanders from the greed and spoliation of the colonists. — Translator.

PRETENCE OF RELIGION. 57

horns. The bale of cloth was sometimes put on the robe of the Missionary, and the Cross was clumsily sent as the forerunner of the yard measure, with its sequel of odious consequences. The religious feelings of those nations designated as barbarous were wounded, and remained timid and suspicious. From that point to violence and reprisals the distance was not great. Politics became mixed up in the matter, and cannon made itself heard. Christendom, which especially distinguishes itself in the art of imposing its laws, and of mutual destruction by fire and sword, declared the nations who were rebellious against its civilisation to be enemies of the Cross. Thus the human race has dug the abyss which separates nations, from whom true progress might have obtained everything, if no attempt had been made upon their beliefs ; to which they are, and have the right to be, as much attached as we are to ours.

The Japanese, for instance, obstinately refuse to open their country to us. Our inferiors in many accessory branches of manufacturing art, they are our equals and superiors in many others, especially having regard to their wants and tastes. The products of Europe tempt them but little ; and if by reason of some treaties imposed upon them, rather than negotiated, they receive a few specimens adapted to their consumption, it will be in order to imitate them at first, and at the end of a short time to surpass them in quality and cheapness.

Ancient sumptuary laws have early rendered the inhabitants of those islands of a remarkable simplicity in their manners, which makes them reject as useless those gold and silver trinkets to which Christians attach so much value. Moreover, spirituous liquors in Japan are met by a prohibitive duty (35 per cent ad valorem), as being the source of corruption of the people, and of evils of which this nation is still ignorant. In short, they consider themselves happy as they are, governed by their own laws, whether good or bad ; they can live, and do live without us, and beseech us earnestly to leave them alone.

It is not that they disdain all the advances of the Christians indiscriminately. In times long gone by, missionaries from old Europe penetrated into the country, where, thanks to a protecting tolerance, they made numerous proselytes. The Dutch, those cold calculators, merchants in their very souls, whose admirals, ministers, and residents, forestalled the reign of the dollar, whilst acting as buffoons at the court of the Tycoons, had the exclusive monopoly of Japanese commerce for a long time within their hands. But instead of upholding the standard of

PRETENCE OF RELIGION. 59

the Cross above love of lucre, these austere Protestants, preferring Mammon to the religion of mercy, joined with the inhabitants, and assisted them to massacre thirty thousand Christians belonging to the country ! If at that time civilisation showed itself but little scrupulous in the choice of means, when its material interests were at stake, has one the right to require or expect much from it at the present time ? It is, therefore, very allowable to lift with a sceptical hand the curtain which conceals its real designs. There is a desire for the silk, the tea, the wax, and the camphor of the Japanese ; and it is sought to convert them to the products of Europe — to its stuffs, its fashions, its spirits .... let us say it — to its vices. The nation will enrich itself, it is said, and become civilised. Let us be more honest, and add — it will first become corrupt, will become weak, and will be divided, and, sooner or later, it will be conquered.

Meantime, all the European powers are at present seized with a mania for negotiating with Japan. His Excellency Mr. Stampfli, himself, the President of the Swiss Republic, has not escaped from the reigning epidemic. He has just sent to the Tycoon a watchmaking mission, at a great cost, charged with offering to this Prince, who is said to be dead, the compliments of Switzerland — Absinthe of Couvet, cigars which do not draw, watches of Geneva, and bears from Berne : the whole under the Dutch flag, and in exchange for a treaty of commerce to be negotiated.*

Here is certainly wherewithal to hasten the success of the great humanitarian cause ; and if the Japanese do not submit to these wonderful efforts of modern civilisation, it must be admitted that their ears are very dull and very long.

The case has been pretty nearly the same with Turkey and the Osmanlys ; every one uttered maledictions and invectives against them. Even now, it is the fashion to make their funeral oration from time to time, accompanied by kicks, after the manner of the ass in the fable; unless, however, when the requirements of a doubtful policy draw upon them the honour of flattery as exaggerated as it is ridiculous. There is no middle term : the club or incense. But incense is what is least made use of.

Is it then forbidden, or in bad taste, to speak

* The spirit of gain and coveteousness on this occasion made the Swiss as regardless as others of infringing the rights of the Japanese, and as eager to put an unjust pressure upon them as though they had never learned the lessons of William Tell, or as though their own existence as a nation did not depend upon the more or less that ideas of justice may still prevail in Europe. — Translator.

EASTEKN QUESTION INVENTED BY DIPLOMACY. 61

the truth, concerning the Mussulmans ? and may one not do so without being taxed with partiality by some, with lukewarmness in religion by others ?

When a man writes what he knows, and publishes that which is fact, he deserves, at least, some good will ; and his doing so is, at any rate, worth more than perorations on all occasions, upon things which people have not seen, and of which they are ignorant, merely for the sake of putting in a word and making a noise.

In the presence of the surprising and various events which have been unrolled before our eyes since the painful Eastern question has been invented by a diplomacy in quest of strong emotions, since that hidden power has made a rampart of it, behind which she shelters the most unavowable theories of intervention and annexation, would it not be fair to inquire, in good earnest, whether the head, in this so-called corruption, has compromised the soundness of the body? Whether the head and body have not, on the contrary, been cured at Sebastopol ? The efficacity of the remedy applied in the Crimea cannot, however, be considered doubtful. There were there many great doctors — too many, perhaps — assembled later at the Congress of Paris. Now, if the patient is better — which seems to be admitted by everybody, the collateral heirs alone excepted

— would it not be urgent to allow him a better diet, more air, more sun, and more freedom in bis exercise ?

Since tbe Crimean war tbings bave changed their aspect. Those events have been a lesson, and tbe Ottomans have learned that they had friends, and that their religion was admitted to the same privileges which are accorded to other beliefs which respect themselves, and know how to make themselves respected. The veil which interested hands had extended during so long a time over Turkey has fallen for ever, and political life has been restored to a nation which it would be unjust not to recognise as worthy of the sympathies of Europe.

Let us now examine, without passion, political or religious, impartially and coolly, which side has been in the wrong, and, leaving the Crescent on one side, inquire how civilisation, including the rayah element, has behaved itself towards the Mussulmans.

Let us first acknowledge that the most patriarchal hospitality has ever been held in honour by the Mussulmans, for whom it is a sacred duty, which they have never forgotten to practise towards whoever has partaken of their bread and salt. There are features in the characters of nations which may

HOSPITALITY OF THE MUSSULMANS. 63

pass for exaggerated, and which sometimes belong more to the realm of legend than to reality based upon facts. But the noble virtue which we are here speaking of has nothing of a usurped reputation : it is as lively with the lowly as with the great ; and it is general, for it knows no distinction between enemies and friends, believers and unbelievers : it sees only brothers in those who shelter themselves under the tent of the nomad, or who take their places at the table of the powerful.

Here, then, is a national virtue acknowledged and proved ; and which has all the more value since, in the progress which Turkey is going to make, it will be one of the bases absolutely necessary to success. A primitive and hospitable nation is near touching the goal which the march of humanity lays down for it.

Those Europeans who have traversed the Levant as patient and conscientious observers — those who have lived in it, and have directed commercial establishments during many years, will acknowledge with us the manifest inferiority in which the Mussulmans have been placed with regard to protected rayahs and other Christians. This remark applies particularly to the great centres of population, where the European community, being more compact, gives to its members more confidence, and by the same stroke diminishes their discretion and their reserve in their habitual relations with the non- Christian subjects of the Porte.* The Levantines themselves — and here we mean Catholics, Copts, &c, natives of the country, are sometimes no better treated than their Mussulman fellow-countrymen; and they feel all the more the effects of the supe- # riority which the Europeans arrogate to themselves, since they ought, on the contrary, to expect protection on their part with regard to the Mussulmans. In six-tenths at least of quarrels provoked by daily contact, and which are brought before the consulates or submitted to the jurisdiction of the bashaga (police), the Christians are the aggressors. Eight cases out of ten are decided in their favour. To curse one's neighbour's religion, even in joke — the Jew the Christian's, the Mussulman the Jew's, the Christian the Rayah's — is a habit unhappily too deeply rooted in this country, where creeds are as varied as the kinds of animals in Noah's ark. And what a superfluity of base expressions fill the public vocabulary in these cases ! It can hardly be confessed that these are the first phrases which the new-

* After the Treaty of Paris a Turkish squib represented a Syrian Christian insulting a Mussulman, who replied, " How dare you do that? I am your equal now ! " — Translator.

LICENSE OF EUROPEANS. 65

comer hastens to learn to stammer. It seems as though there were a resolution to treat the inhabitants as roughly as possible in all the divers circumstances of business life. "We ask, Of what advantage are the benefits of that civilisation, of that Christianity especially, of which we boast with just cause, if we are only able at the outset to discover in it a pretext to oppress the weak, and whatever person does not think like ourselves?

We are not exaggerating. Europeans all, whoever they may be, show themselves inclined to the sweets of this petty despotism, which makes them consider the usages of foreign countries to which their lot brings them as absurd and heavy to be borne. They hasten, it might be said, to break the bonds which, in their own countries, restrained them within the limits of law and justice.

Look at that fellah, in whose barley you go shooting without license — you and your dogs — whose garden you visit, filling your pockets. He is silent for the most part, to avoid the buffet which your ready hand has in store for him, or the curses which your mouth already murmurs. Would you act thus in Europe, where the game-laws are as numerous as they are vexatious, and where the rights of property are respected under pain of the severest penalties ? From the rights conferred by the capitulations which bear hard upon the self-respect of this nation, we rush to the abuse ; and if some inhabitant, injured in that which is dearest to man — his national and religious dignity — mildly ventures to make a very natural observation, " Civis Bomanus sum," is your reply, whilst you humiliate him with your look and gesture.

Whilst the charcoal-dealer, as was said at Paris in 1830, is master in his own house — whilst the London cockney considers his home as his castle, can we take it ill that the Mussulmans ask for reciprocity ? Their rich empire, so full of resources, so fertile, so well situated, so productive, calls us to its bosom : is it, then, to require too much of the European emigration, as well as of the native Christians, that the one and the other should behave decently towards the nation which to-day tolerates them and might love them to-morrow ? If Islamism is everywhere pitied as the representative of a world of relative ignorance and barbarity, would not our duty as Christians be to seek to ameliorate it by good conduct and by example ? If, in short, Europeans, more skilled and gifted with great perspicacity, have discovered a weak side in this nation, developed by a corrupted financial system, by salaries too low for responsible posts, by a relatively poor mode of living, is it very worthy of more advanced

GOOD FAITH OF MUSSULMAN MERCHANTS. 67

nations to speculate upon these faults and to enrich themselves by converting them into vices ? Example, such is the flag of the real pioneers of civilisation, that which would inevitably lead the Ottomans into a path more analogous to our habits and customs, and more favourable to our dealings with them. This nation, though belonging to different origins, is not the less intelligent, nor less capable of reform and progress.

Less than fifty years ago, the simple word of a Mussulman merchant was worth a bond in the bazar ; his yes, with a clasp of the hand, was his signature, his acceptance ; and on payment becoming due, the collector of the Christian merchant never left the counter of his debtor without being satisfied.

Now it is no longer so, or, rather, such is no longer the rule, but the exception. Consular protections abusively granted, and the resources of our vitiated civilisation, have altered the usages of the good old time. The buyers in the bazar accept, it is true, tamassuks, or bills of exchange on stamped paper, but they pay with more or less regularity, and know all the tricks of the trade ; and even know, if necessary, how to spoil the wool by making a hole in it. They eat out of china, make use of silver plate, their abodes grow handsomer, are adorned with Lyons stuffs, with the finest upholstery, with mirrors, and their tables grant hospitality to the forbidden fruit, but their good faith loses on the one side what luxury and vanity gain on the other. And yet, notwithstanding the ravages of this foreign leprosy, the old dethroned commercial honour is still living; it is to be found amongst the old men, hoary with age, who have continued to be good Mussulmans, fanatical perhaps, but honest.

In fact, what part of our character is it that we Europeans allow to come to the surface and show itself to the eyes of these nations in our transactions with them? An immoderate love of lucre, which deserves in general a baser name. If they are acute, we are cunning ; if they employ cunning, we have recourse to deceit .... Could we remain their equals in anything ? Oh no ! we are Christians ; we must take the lead in everything, even in evil.

In Egypt, the inhabitants name (Dhahah franghi) gold of Europe, the jewels of a false standard, with which the country abounds. The compliment bears its moral lesson with it, and we must own that in many circumstances it is not usurped.

It would not be necessary to go far in order to find amongst the Christian houses, native and others,

COINING OF TURKISH MONEY IN ENGLAND. 69

fortunes of a comparatively recent date, of which the source would not bear examination. These houses would be seen to be mixed up in foul dealings with the Custom-house, which put into their coffers customs dues which have not been paid : these houses have engaged themselves in operations with coin of foreign, and even Eastern fabrication, in dubious transactions, which, better than others, bring out in relief the naive good faith of the Mussulmans. In short, at their base, gigantic tricks might be discovered, which the novelists of real life would lay hold of eagerly for sensational chapters.

In 1858, two Frenchmen were taken up in London, at the request of the Ottoman Government, and convicted of coining false Turkish money: a third culprit, the chief of them, a man who bore a great name and had occupied an honourable position in Egypt, succeeded in crossing the Straits before the visit of the police. The investigation of this affair revealed that a capital of several hundred thousand francs was to be furnished by a great Paris house, in prepared gold, for secretly coining Turkish pounds in England ; the coiners provided themselves with copper on the spot for fabricating small change. At Alexandria, as was stated in a letter forming part of the case, Turkish piastres had been clandestinely struck for a long time ; and what is remarkable is, that at the same time a Greek merchant of Manchester was arrested, at the complaint of the Ottoman Embassy, for having caused Ottoman money to be struck at Birmingham, which he exported to the Levant by the barrel.

This is in what the industrious operations of the French company were principally to consist. The Porte was at that time withdrawing from circulation some old coins, with a large proportion of alloy, which in moments of crisis had received a fictitious value, comparatively very high. This bullion returned to the treasury at a conventional rate much above its intrinsic value — in some cases the double. The margin, therefore, was attractive to the coiners, who had had dies engraved in London, which imitated the coins withdrawn from the currency in all their defects and imperfections ; after that they succeeded admirably in making them old, by the aid of a corrosive liquid. A beshlik, or five piastres, cost these merchants a little less than two piastres; an altmishlik, or one piastre and a half, about a piastre ; and so on.

Let us quote a few other examples out of a thousand. We will keep back the places and dates, and will only mention the facts. To fleece a Turk at the cost of his skin is a practice allowed by the

COLLUSION OF MERCHANTS WITH OFFICIALS. 71

worshippers of the dollar ; it is the rule and the law. Whoever does not follow it is a fool. And then each one keeps as much as he can within the lame clauses of the Code ... of what is possible. In England and the United States, where the blacklegs of trade have raised close shaving and sharp practice to a science, the acts which we relate would evidentlypass for Arabian tales. Truth may sometimes appear improbable.

The government of a large province or pashalik produced a certain manufactured article, of general use. B., the vekil or overseer set over this branch of the public revenue, had a friend C, a famous merchant and a native Christian. C. asked B., Have you manufactured much this year ? Between ourselves, the article is sought for ; be discreet. When you have got heaps of goods ready, get your master to sell, and give me notice ; I will be the buyer, and we shall understand one another." This advice is accepted and acted upon. The conversation then changes its scene, and continues in this wise : — B. says to the Governor, "Our warehouses are full, the treasury is empty, the moment is favourable ; let us sell and replace the goods." The Governor : " Are you convinced of it ? Yery well ! you have full leave." Exit the vekil. Last scene. C. having received notice : "I buy the whole in a mass at the price of yesterday, and pay at once a large sum on account to the treasury. How many pieces ? 500,000 ? Very good. Do not announce the sale before twenty-four hours, and when the bazar presents itself say, 'Too late for this season, my lambs ; come back next year, and we shall see about it : everything has been sold/ They will then be obliged to come to me. I will keep the price well up, and we will see one another afterwards."

The bazar sometimes bought at one or two francs' profit on each piece, and this game was renewed each year. The actors were in too high a position for the complaints of the timid public to reach the ears that were interested in hearing them. However, a day arrived when the master, more suspicious or better informed, demanded the accounts from the overseer, who then disappeared. The fortunate merchant, a Christian not under protection, would find the atmosphere heavy, and the sun burning to his eyes. He would hide by day and travel by night, until a ship took him away in quest of a Russian or Chinese passport ; with the assistance of which, in returning to his country, he preserved his position, and added a padlock to his well-filled coffers. It will, perhaps, be objected, But why does the Mussulman vekil become the accomplice of the Christian merchant? We refer these

EVASION OF THE EXPORT DUTIES. 73

wise critics to the serpent and the apple of the garden of Eden. Do not receivers make thieves ?

On another occasion it is Filan* a protected subject — of England, let us say — who, trusting to established usages, exported a prepared or manufactured article under the name of raw material — thanks to a certain conventional mark. The prepared goods were worth 200 piastres ; the raw material, 90. The export dues were 12 per cent ad valorem, and the quantities exported enormous. An opinion may be formed of the importance of this illicit gain, weighing equally upon the treasury and the honest exporter.

Other skilful practitioners, Europeans let us say, so as to generalise their nationalities, used to sell to the Government . . . colossal lanterns, impossible cannons, first-rate frigates going twenty knots an hour, the proof after the letter. These masterpieces having been delivered, there was some delay before sending in the accounts, of which the profits alone would have sufficed to pay the Greek loan ! Then came the quarter of an hour of Eabelais : the Government cried out . . . protested . . . when the Deus ex machina intervened, with a consular hat on his head, and the treasury paid up. All the wheels having been well greased, the noise ceased, leaving each one satisfied,

* Such a one.

even the injured party, for worse might often happen to it, in the shape of diplomatic complications ! How many trains of artillery, how many bridges, how many whole arsenals, how many railways, what mountains of furniture and of coal, almost a fraction of England, have not been swallowed up — and paid for — without complaint, by this excellent pashalik ! The bottom of the sea from Rhodes to the Bosphorus would literally be paved with these goods. "We will say with the fabulist, I leave aside even better things than these ! "We will willingly join with the common sense of the public, which is already asking, " But why was the Government so simple ?"* Caprice and flattery lead to the tree where perches the crow, and at the foot of which the large family of foxes permanently promenade themselves. The first will always be delighted to hear himself called the phoenix of the dwellers in these woods, and the cheeses which fall into the mouth of the second are always worth a lesson which is never turned to account. Has the commercial world in England forgotten the remonstrances which the Liverpool houses addressed

* The Government was not altogether simple; these abuses were owing to the pressure put upon the Government by Consuls, whom it had to keep satisfied for peace sake. One Consul in Egypt bought two houses cheap to sell them dear to Said Pasha. Other Consuls, or their relations, obtained orders for goods, locomotives, &c, which were highly remunerative and amounted to bribes, or black mail levied by the Consuls. — Translator,

REMONSTRANCES OF LIVERPOOL MERCHANTS. 75

on several occasions to the Foreign Office, on the subject of numerous cargoes of cotton, fraudulently exported from the Levant, without payment of the duty of 12 per cent ad valorem, and which were sold in the above-mentioned town at prices which were ruinous to the honest importers ? The affair is too recent to have escaped the memory of the victims of those culpable operations, which gave a very undesirable notoriety to Christian houses of the first rank.