The Armenian ladies of Constantinople are renowned for their beauty, which is supposed to lie particularly in the languid expression of their eyes. Both in Constantinople and Smyrna there are many Armenians of both sexes who are well educated, and scarcely to be distinguished from Europeans in society. I was once invited to an Armenian fancy ball, where I was the only European present. Everything was arranged as in civilized society, the stewards were equal to their duties, and the costumes were recherchés and varied. One slight pretty girl, in particular, dressed in the old Turkish costume, produced a great sensation, and was deservingly besieged by partners, for she waltzed to perfection. Many of the ladies and gentlemen spoke English, and nearly all French, and I certainly spent a very pleasant evening among them.
In the privacy of their homes the women, as a rule, are untidy and slatternly. They are exceedingly fond of dress, and, to the best of their ability, copy the Parisian fashions; but their natural want of taste seldom fails to make itself evident in toilettes of glaring and ill-assorted colors, while their hands, arms, and necks are overloaded with jewelry. Out of doors they are shod with boots of Parisian manufacture, on whose high heels they totter along the badly-paved streets; but they exchange them for slippers down at heel on re-entering their homes. Even those who have lived in Europe, and no longer consider themselves Orientals, sit cross-legged on their sofas in the most careless costumes.
The Armenians have advanced but a very little way on the road of education. The most enlightened are certainly those in British India, whilst those of them who are Russian subjects have of late considerably improved. Hitherto, the nation has never had a fair chance, but that it has the possibility of progress in it is shown by the fact that no sooner are the Armenians placed under a firm and wise government than they at once begin to go forwards, in every respect. The progress of the inhabitants of Russian Armenia has begun to work a political revival among their brethren under Turkish rule. A wish for instruction is everywhere beginning to be shown, and it has received a strong and most salutary impulse from the numerous American missionaries now established throughout Armenia. The untiring efforts of these praiseworthy and accomplished workers in the cause of civilization and humanity are beginning to bear fruit, especially since education has become one of their principal objects. They are working wonders among the uncultivated inhabitants of this hitherto unhappy country, where mission-schools, founded in all directions, are doing the double service of instructing the people by their enlightened moral and religious teaching, and of stimulating among the wealthy a spirit of rivalry, which leads them to see their own ignorance and superstitious debasement, and raises a desire to do for themselves, by the establishment of Armenian schools, what American philanthropy has so nobly begun to do for them.
The moral influence that America is now exercising in the East through the quiet but dignified and determined policy of its Legation at Constantinople, curiously free from political intrigues and rivalry, is daily increasing, and has the most salutary effect on the country. It watches with a jealous care over the rights and safety of the missionaries, who are loved and respected wherever they settle, and make their influence felt in the remotest corners of Turkey. Next to Greece, whose educational efforts are naturally greater throughout the country, it is America that will be entitled to the gratitude of the Christians for her ready aid in elevating the ignorant masses to the dignity of civilized beings.
In the Armenian schools, the Turkish, Armenian, and French languages are taught; the two former are generally well mastered by the pupils, Armenians being considered apt linguists; a very fair knowledge of French is also common among them.
Armenians do not show any taste for the arts and sciences. One seldom hears of an Armenian artist, doctor, or lawyer, and the few that do exist attain only mediocrity.
It is difficult to obtain correct statistical information of native Armenian schools, but I can affirm that of late years they have greatly increased in number, and are much improved in their organization and mode of teaching. At Constantinople, Erzeroum, and many other towns where the Armenian communities are large, excellent schools for girls have been founded. In towns where these are wanting, many girls are sent for a few years to the boys’ schools, where religion, reading, and writing are taught them. Turkish, the language with which the Armenians are most conversant, is also taught from books written in the Armenian characters. In all other respects, the education of Armenian girls is very much neglected; from an early age they fall into a listless, aimless existence, and are seldom taught to busy themselves with needlework or any useful or rational employment. Some of the wealthy families at Constantinople and Smyrna are manifesting a desire for improvement in this respect, by engaging European governesses or sending their children to European schools; but it will be long before either sex gets rid of the ignorance and indolence which circumstances, perhaps, as much as nature, have forced upon it.
The Jews dwelling in Turkey are, to a great extent, descendants of those expelled from Spain by the Inquisition and the edict of 1492; their language is a corrupt Spanish dialect; but they are conversant with those of the places they inhabit. Besides these and other native Jews, there is an influential class of European Jews who are certainly in the van of progress among their co-religionists in Turkey. They are educated, liberal-minded men, and, as a rule, a prosperous class. They are untiring in their efforts to develop education among the native Jews by establishing schools, assisting the poor, and setting a good example of conduct by their own higher manner of life.
The native Jews may be divided into two classes, Conservative and Progressive. The Conservative Jews are strict, rigid, and intolerant to their brethren: they keep aloof from the rest of the world, and mix with it only in business transactions. They are cunning and avaricious, and although some possess large fortunes, they are seldom known to use them for the benefit of the community, or for any other good purpose. Strongly opposed to liberal education, the influence they exercise over their respective communities is always employed to counteract the action of the enlightened party. The Progressive Jews, who are becoming pretty numerous among the upper classes, act in direct opposition to these principles and endeavor as much as possible to shake off old customs and traditions.
The chief occupations of the Jewish community are banking and commerce. They excel in both to such a degree that where a man belonging to another nationality can only realize a fair competence, the Israelite makes a fortune; whilst in positions in which other men would starve, the Jew will manage to keep himself and family in comfort. The secret of this well-known fact lies in the unusual finesse and ability displayed by Israelites occupying high positions in the business world, and the cunning and ingenuity of the lower orders, who with moderate exertion make the most of their trade, and extort all they can from those with whom they have dealings.