FOREWORD

This book was not written in order to catch popular favor at this time of revolution in the Ottoman empire. All except the concluding chapter was prepared some time before the 24th of July, 1908, and the entire work was at that time nearly ready for the press. Much of the material had been used in the Hyde Lecture Course at Andover Seminary and in the Alden Lecture Course at the Chicago Theological Seminary. The chapter, “Turkey and the Constitution,” was written since the overthrow¹ of the old régime, and appeared as an article in The Outlook in September, 1908. The book does not pretend to be an exhaustive study of the Turkish empire and its problems. Such a work would necessarily be encyclopedic in its size and scope.

The purpose from the beginning has been briefly² and clearly to set forth³ the various historical, religious, racial, material, and national questions having so vital a bearing upon all Turkish matters, and which now reveal the forces that have had so much to do in changing Turkey from an absolute monarchy⁴ into a constitutional and representative government. Reformations have never come by accident, and this moral and political revolution in Turkey, the most sweeping⁵ of all, is no exception. To one who traces the entrance and development in the Ottoman empire during the last century, of reformative ideas in the religious, intellectual, and social life of the people, the present almost bloodless revolution presents no mysteries. It is but the fruit of the seeds of intelligence, of righteousness, and of holy ambition, sown in good soil and now bearing fruit after their kind.

J. L. B.

Boston, December, 1908.

1 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

2 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

5 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？