Leader (1850-1860), 14th October 1854, Edition Town of 2, Page 979

Page 979

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  The Multeq . ua distinguishes the state of absolute and unconditional slavery ( Kyoolelik ) T the mezoTil , the miikiateb , the mudebl > ir , the raudebberi-ninkiatib , and , lastly , tha nmm . ul velid . ' Ehe > first condition , is ^ rigorous slavery , and bears the greatest resemblance to that obtaining among . the ancients . The slaves called' Meezoun , are those who have received from their masters permission to set up in busine 33 , or - work on their own account . They may buy , sell , acquire , and enjoy property . They may puTchase slaves , and in dealing with their masters ; may compel the latter to pay debts for goods furnished or money lent . They are responsible for their own acts and debts , and may be seized and sold to repay one or the other . But they cannot realise either money or chattels without their master's consent until th « y die . Even in that caae , if they happen to die intestate , or -without Issue , the master is their legal heir . Their children are likewise their masters' property , supposing their father dies -without being manumitted : but , as a set-off , these children , are also M eezoun .
  
  The Mukiatibs are slaves who have , received a Kitabet or contract . Their freedom . is made to depend upon their performance of certain conditions agreed on with their masters , such as the payment of stipulated sums of money , the performance of some given task , the execution of any hazardous enterprise , and so forth—always providing that such services are not contrary to law , In which case the contract becomes void . This is enacted in order to prevent masteTS from inciting their slaves to commit crimes under the promise of liberty . Until the stipulations are fulfilled by the holders of contracts , they enjoy its privileges , with the addition that they caiinot be sold ,, lent , or let out to work . They likewise receive permission , to travel for purposes of ; tradei or pleasure . They can . purchase slaves , and grant them the same advantages enjoyed by themselves , and the moment the slaves accomplish iheir engagement , no matter how soon , they are unconditionally free . On the other hand , should they fail in fulfilling the conditions within the appointed period , their contract becomes , void , and they relapse into unconditional slavery .
  
  The MudebbLrs are slaves whom their masters have freed by a deed called Tebbir , ¦ Which , represents some future period . For instance z if the master returns from a voyage , or , in case of Ms death , this tebbir ; delivered to the slave , and registered at the offiee of the Judge of the . quarter , cannot be cancelled evea by mutual consent . When these con-tracts are made , the slave thus declared " privileged to act conditionally , obtains no immediate advantages or civil rights ; he may be sold , hired out , or lent . But here-the tebbir produces its effect , for the deed remains valid , and , consequently , although the slave be sold and become the property of another ,, his liberty i 3 . insured the moment the stipulated contingency takes place . The MudebbeA / Mukiatib are those slaves Avho have obtained both , a Mtabet and . a tebuip , and enjo-y the advantages of both conditions .
  
  The Ummul Vehd is a class composed entirely of females , "whose children have been adopted or acknowledged by proprietors . The mothers are then called -ummul vM ! d ( mothers of children ) , and are divided into different sections , according to the degrees of paternal responsibility . For instance : if a slave becomes pregnant bv the master s father she is the ummul valid of the former , who is held responsible for her maintenance . J 3 ut if the master ' s son be the parent , the charge of maintenance rests vratt £ the former , that is , where father and son are joint proprietors . In the first case-, the female becomes unconditionally free , and , at the death of the father , the child is the legitimate tear of the deceased . In the second , the child is equally legitimate , tout the mother a dejure . manumission is prospective , -unless legally acknowledged by the survivor . Until this acknowledgment takes place , the civil condition of the nmmul velid differs little from tha * of unconditional slaves , save that they cannot be sold or alienated in any way . It may be laid down as a general rule , that the moment a female slave becomes pregnant , she becomes entitled to all the privileges of an ammul vehd ; and should force , accident , or the visitation of Providence prevent maturity , her title is not vitiated . Tliis class is , therefore , the most general in Constantinople , and though the law does not recognise the woman ' s freedom at once , social practice awards to her all the privileges .
  
  Tha law ,. which distinguishes these six conditions of slavery , has regulated with the most extreme care all the immunities attaching to each ; but , even in the first classy it does not go so far as to pronounce the master ' s absolute right over the slave . The slave belongs to him ; he may dispose oH him , sell or give him away , but he can-Dot put him to death . He cannot either ill-treat him , or beat him unjustly , or mve him work above his strength , or refuse him food and necessary clothing ; if he docs so , the slave has a right to lodge a cpmplaint - with the Cadi . The deposition of a slave is received by tlie Courts : ho may marry , even without his master ' s consent ; but the latter has the right to annul the marriage . The absolute enfranchisement ( Itk ) of the slave , is the result of different degrees in the social scale above described , or is spontaneously effected by the will of the master . The enfranchisement of a female nre < r-
  
  nant slave naturally entails , that , of the infant she bears . Such are the principal arrangements of the Multcqna , with reference to slaves . It will be seen- from our sketch , that : slavery , aa it exists in Turkey , losos almost all ita seventy . _ Slaves , generally speaking , are more happy , bettor treated , and less subject to the accidents-and changes of life , than the free servants in Turkey , and superior in this regard to the general class of domestics in Europe . At any rate , they may be regarded as enjoying absolute felicity , if wo compare their condition with that of the negroes in Christian countries . Male slaves are rarely retained in bondage more than seven or nine years , unless when purchased in infancy or bora in aluvory . Exceptions occur , but are declared reprehensible in a religious sense The great majority of masters liberate tueir slaves at the specified time . If they uro woll-conducted , they are recommended as m or out-door servants . If they have Jearncd ft trade , their mnster cither employs them aa shopmen or journeymen , or elso places thorn with other masters , where their success depends upon their industry ; but , when liberated , thoy mostly prefer serving aa domestic * to working at sedentary trades , or those requiring strong
  
  Sometimes , u ^ eed very frequently , the slave rofuoea the liberty whicli in offered as uw recompense ot his services . lie then continues to reside iu the house : whoa aged , ho is freed from any labour , and conaulorcd to form one of tho flunllv , while his eolo occupation consists iu taking the children out for au uirln K , or playing with them nndor tho one owing name of bubu ( father ) . The alave who has tl . ua refused tho bandits « l manumiSB on , taken tho name of AssudJU-Keull . The celebrated Unjoin Pasha , SLTrr d tO i , , muk of Gnuul Allmi ™ l ' > y tho frlon . ltfhip of his muster fceum HJJ ., novor called lumsolf by any other title in his letters .
  
  m . POPULATION . 1 JW ponul . vti . on of Turkey in Europe consist of a fusion of various nations ; and ffi * a * mnko about thcm wIH bo fi ( l" »" y rof . M-rlI . lu to tlio population of Jwb m * ° ' Ht ^ t ' 4 irdfJ tho TurkH » Tartars , Gxudw , Armenian * , and inhSi ^ J 'J * ° ™ thstnnoo , examine tho nationality of tho various ruccn that i > a ! KJlJ ? T T \ . ™ fm < l thafc tl 10 Turktt only forn > a " »» orit > ' of tha pojjlatlon-, torovon-TurkiHh authorities » tnto them to amount , only to 1 , 100 , 000 , nuiLKl r « fl 3 ti ? thora «* ' 0 U () '" - 800 , 000 . Tl . oy an , mos numorous . ita . awaiiuah . owniuaeUtt ; then iu Macedonia , and Thwsaly ; liw numerous
  
  in Bulgaria and Albania , and only thinly spread over Bosnia . Itr Moldavia and Wallachia , no Turks have been allowed to dwell since 1829 , and in Servia they are confined to the city of Belgrade , where they amount to not more than 6000 . The majority of the population of European Turkey id composed of Slavonians amounting , according to Turkish authorities , to 7 , 200 , 000 , but by others stated to be nearly 9 , 000 , 000 . They are composed of the Bulgarians , Servians , Bosnians ., Croats in Turkish Croatia or Caraia , and the Rlorlachs iu the HerzegQvine . Next in number to the Slavonians are the Rumelians or ltomani , to whom the Moldavians and Wallaekians belong , 4 , 000 , 000 in number , who call themselves Runmryi , and who , though not actually descendants of the Romans , were greatlyinfluenced by their intercourse with that nation , especially as regards the language ,, which is derived from the Latin . This is seen from the fact that if a Moldavo-WalLachian peasant is addressed in Italian , he listens attentively , and recognises the familiar sound .
  
  The number of Albanians or Arnauts is estimated at 1 , 500 , 000 ; for they are not confined to Albania , butaie scattered over several other provinces , although their chief _ place of settlement is Albania , They are descendants of the old . Epirotes or Illyrlans ; other ethnographers , however ; assert that they are descendants of the Albanians , who formerly lived in Caucasus , and . were identical with the Alans . The number of Greeks in European Turkey is assumed to be 1 , 000 , 000 . They ' cannot be regarded as true descendants of the old Hellenes : for centuries they have ; displayed a strong mixture of the Slavonic element . They are very numerous in : Thessaly , Macedonia , the islands , and Constantinople , and , are to be met wifih in all the provinces of the empire . The number of Armenians is estimated at 400 , 000 . The Armeniansj who derive ! their name from their native country in Asia , whence they dispersed over the wholoi world , in order , to devote themselves to their favourite pursuit , commerce , are moafc mimecouB in . Constantinople and other emporiums of trade . The Tartars , who are related to the Turks , though differing from them iu many respects , have taken up their abode principally at the mouths of the Danube , and i n : the valleys of tie Balkan . They number about 23 . 0 , 000 , and are chiefly employed as coiiriers .
  
  The ; number of Gipsies an \ Eurbpean Turkey is estimated at about 80 , 000 . Thejr are most numerous in Moldavia , and Wallachia , and beside this , inhabit--a branch of the Balkan , called after tlem the tchengive Balkan , in the neighbourhood of Phillinpopel . The Jews in European Turkey , where their number is said to be only 70 , 000 , ara principally descendants of the Jews expelled from Portugal and Spain . They speak ; the lingua Franca , a mixture of Italian ,. Spanish , and Turkish , dress ia the Turkish fashion , and chiefly reside in the larger cities . Their chief abode is in Constantinople- , " With reference to religion ,. the population is divided differently from the nationality . ;
  
  The state religion is the Mukammadaii , and this is the faith not oroly of the Turks , ; but also of the Tartars , and a portion of the Bulgarians , the Bosnians , and the Albanians . According to Turlkish statistics they amount to 3 , 800 , 000 . But although ' Muhammadanism is the religion of the state , the Christians form the great majority ; of the population , and they are estimated at 11 , 630 , 000 . Of these nearly 11 , 000 , 000 belong to theGieek Church , and-consist not only of the Greeks , but of the Molda * - yians , Wallachians , Servians , and Montenegrins , the majority of the Bulgarians , and : a part of the Bosnians and Albanians ; The number of Catholics iu European Turkey is calculated at 260 , 000 , aiM to these belong the Croats in Carnia and a part of thai Bosnians , Bulgarians , and : Albanians , as well as a few Greeks and Armenians . Tha number of . Protestants , principally among the Iranks , may amount to 5 , 000 .
  
  We can only give orie . specimen of that portion of the work vrhicbj having- no reference whatever to the title , gives characteristics of Sir James Porter , and some notion of the sort of diplomatic life led in . his day . Here , is an account of an interview lie had with the head of the then all-powerful * Pelhuims , concerning his functions at Vienna , and the English view of the Austrian crisis of 1742 : Wlien I arrived in the month of May , I found the Ministers as undecided aa , they appeared to me when I w-as absent ; Lord Grauville , tlien Lord Carteret , alone had just i < leas of our situation , and the necessity of a formed , determined plan , and as determined an execution . The King was fully convinced of the propriety aud rectitude ef his political sentiments , but as that Minister had neither the Treasury , nor . consequently the power of Parliament in his hands , he was obliged to submit , and to . be drawn by those Ministers who had both .
  
  Iho Duke of Newcastle really , or b y an affected credulity , seemed in a labyrinth ,, unresol ved , undetermined , and by the combined lies of all tho Ministers of the several powers in hostile opposition to the llouso of Austria , who- daily invented , them , had . tho strongest prepossessions that that houso was not -worth supporting , a language he had taken o » it of their iinouths . After many embraces from hi . s gruco on my appearance , ho began his discourse ; expressing his diffidence of tho Grand Duko of Tuscany ' s sobriety , he asked me , " with much emotion , how it had happened that ao accomplished a prince , whom he much uffectioned when he was here a » Duko of Lorrain , could fall into such a low , pernicious vice as that of continual tlrunkunness , that a cloud of evidences had assured him of the fiwt . I asked his grace , with great composure and a smile , whether ho had ever such advice from Mr . ltobhiHou or me ? whether wo shquld not have been inexcusablo in omitting so notorious a circumstance , relating to a character we know made tho object of tho Kins' * 'ukI the national
  
  hope , as a successor to the Imperial dignity ; that 1 could assure jiiin , from the most intimate knowledge of that prince , and from public notoriety , that that report was a most infamous calumny ; that even bo far from any such Hu ' spicion , it waa inoat certain ho could not bear n single glass of wine , or of any liquor stronger than punv water ; that the waters oJ' tho hereditary countries had boon examined by phyaicians , and -weighed , to discover the lightc . it for bin nso , and thut ho never travelled without , a quantity of water produced by a spring in Vienna , called tho ISrindel , which was deemed tho puxest and lightest . I could cvuu further utoj-, that liis phyaleisiu , Dr . Hawaii , who hud been with him from his infancy , often dcplorod with me tlint ho coukl novor persuade his rroynl highimsH to try n gl « , sa of tokuy , -us ho Uum ^ ht it would bo a proper cordial to hi . s constitution , for tho circulation of the blood was very languid , though ho Apprehended a defect in the formation of tho Htcrmini , which waH rather too narrow j beniclen tliat 1 had seen him frequently at his iiioium , without talcing any other liquid but pure water .
  
  I returned to England , fully determined to quit tho Kin ^' n service : to shake hands with ambition in that lino , mid to »« t ; down at home uoiilunLud with ray own nitiiuLiou ; my fortune caay , and tlu > pruupeeti of a largo annual iucwam . ' . J » hiI accordingly fixed my plan , but whether from a prououeuived K *»« < 'j »! iiii >» of n » y zoal , or wliotlior from hirt WjJowty ' H approlmtion of tliat p « j * or I hml yivwi in , 1 fi > uu < l inymjlf obUtfetl by the MlnlHtorn to return to Yiounu , on a mui-o wiliiw'l l >'"" " '"" 1 hlid lj . ( J < ia . ln ) lurc ostonnibly engaged in j tliey cxpro . ised lii « BIiijomI / h ain . l tJioir imn « 1 « mii' « > n tho strongest torm « . I as tlrmly ducliiuxl , an I laity wore ] ir «! n » Intf ; tlu-y thought J por-HiHtcd merely on a viuw of Home connlclm-nhlo demandrt , whluh wortj remote IVom my thoughtH . however , Lord ( Jmnvlllo tomptwl xiw in < h «> Kiug ' ri imnie with « ny character , any honour , or emolument , I hIiouM nak or de » lro . Tlioao had no efiect ;
  
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  OcToaBrERl 4 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 979
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- Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 14, 1854, page 979, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2060/page/19/

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