Show A STRANGE SCENE IN constantinople STANTIN OPLE if constantinople is truly trully a lingual babylon it is no less a babel respecting the various national costumes habits and religious religions the occurrence of the persian national religious fete celebrated oia OB the ath of this mis month oct so far surpassed other religious denominations that I 1 venture a brief description of an event that has so strangely impressed itself duvon upon my mind the persians are believers in mohammed but differ religiously from the turks by being the followers of ali the cousin and sonin son in law of the prophet and by rejecting the souna sonna or book of commentaries bv the immediate successors of mohammed many precepts and apologues apologies apol which casually fell from tile the lips of the prophet were collected after his death from ear vit witnesses nesses und and transcribed in a book called the souna Sonna fc or oral law hence the origin of tile the yon son to whom the turks belong and the opposition of the ites strongly represented by the persians hostilities tili ties and persecutions have occasionally sio nally taken place between these sects says irvine almost as virulent asthore as those which between catholics and protestants Prot estante have dis disgraced raced chris ti anity 11 among the grandest characters of the tes was casein tue grandson of mohammed by his daughter 1 fatima the wife of ali the ma manner n in which hasten was induced to leave mecca and repair repa r to cufa where according to promise he expected to receive the title of caliph and hi tragic death at herbele Ker Her bela or meshed halien are all prominent features in the history of his sect and to day his torn agat berbela is visited annually by hundreds of persians who consider it an honor and a sanctity to berv banry the bones of departed iela i relatives tives or friends near the tomb of their patron saint the anniversary of his martyrdom aud the solemnity with which it is kept may be inferred from the account related by the se secretaries cretai ies of allot all of the prodigies which attended his death the sun withdrew his light the stars twinkled at af noon day and clashed against each aach other and we the clouds rained showers of blood A supernatural light beamed from the head of the martyr and a hock flock of white birds hovered around it these miracles are declared false by the bon aon who hold ali and his race an abomination on the ath of october the annever sary of the Ilas eins martyrdom was celebrated with great demonstrations by the persians of constantinople ata at 6 in the evening I 1 repaired to stamboul and made my way through throng 11 narrow alleys a and n d ah dismal 1 s m a 1 thoroughfares to the valide val i de khan a i i a persian commercial house with a spa clous court about x yards in dimensions and with a large fountain in the centre of the court around this large paral parallelogram middle way between centre and sides ropes were stretched so as to secure an open space of about 25 feet for the procession on both sides of this temporary aley multitudes had congregated and the windows of the houses around were filled and even the roofs covered by of veiled turkish women while the european women mixed freely in the promiscuous crowds below ow the sides of the buildings were illuminated ted and the elegant glass and porcelain vases hanging lamps and chandeliers produced a somewhat curious display of oriental grandeur prayer over the proc procession estion led by the priests began its pon confused fused and irregular march the music dispensed by fifes cifes drums and cymbals was moi moie e remarkable for its degree of quantity than for its quality andaas and was painfully monotonous following the band came the horses decked with oriental cloths claths ornamented by shield shiel dg scimitars and other ancient implements of war on one of the horses were perched a number of white pigeons in in commemoration of the nock flock of white birds which hovered around the martyrs head bead at his death behind the horses came in black costumes 1 a number num berof ot small boys chanting 1 a persian hymn following these were ten men carrying scourges urges prepared for their bare backs entirely exposed beneath the glaring torch lights each scourge consisted of about fifteen chains the size of an ordinary watch chain and attached to a handle large enough for the grip of both hands last and full of sensational attraction came upwards of persians with heads shaved bare on top in moslem style and with sharp steel gloves between the common butchers knife and sword in length and about the weight of latter urged on by the priests who walked between the two single tiles files these terrible weapons w were ere brandished brandishes bran dished as shouts of vengeance upon the murderers murd eiers ot of casein rent the air in wild enthusiasm the bearers of the swords were dres dressed in white roles robes each person grasping bis big neighbor by the girdle with his left hand as he flourished flouri sli d in angry demonstrations the sword of allah with his right after marching in thus twice around the court th the most horrid and sickening scenes were enacted the men witti wita scourges urges were inflicting violent lashes upon their backs which which it seemed they would beat to a jelly and those with glaves striking their bare heads beads with the keen edge of their ugly wea weapons poEs causing the blood to spurt and flow in streams down then their faces and necks covering their white robes so as to give themselves more the appearance ol of slaughtered beasts than of human beings swinging backward sand forwards in their sidelong movements uttering in deep guttural tos the names ot casein and hassan brother of casein Ha sein they would draw these sharp instruments of barbarity across their bare heads and in exulting exhibitions of self torture display the bloodstained blood stained i blades to a morbidly curious audience behind each of those with swords was an attendant with a cloth wiping from time to time the blood out ot the eyes ef cf these self posing mosill victims of fanaticism and at the sam same time this attendant carried a stick in his hand to prevent the one under nis his care from striking in his frantic zeal a blow which might inight open his skull and produce death those who fell down from exhaustion exhaust iou were taken away an and cared for if it was to represent th shower of blood that rained at th death of their martyr there was bu little wanting in this S last sano sanga minar inai tragedy after r making ak pat the third cir auit clitsome some religious ceremonies wen performed and the bloody vic victims tini themselves were conducted to baths where they were washed a aal al had their heads properly bandage banda gec the men who had ad scourged urged their b a cis so violently were probably in a worse state than the othes others tie th 4 swords are made extremely sharp tw thic the wounds way may more readily heal deal I 1 but on the backs of the pro tube rances rf cf the skin often appear and diseases of the collar bone are not infrequent it was a bloody sight and I 1 can c scarcely efface the horrid impression made upon me besides I 1 wended bended my way back without the slightest curiosity to ever witness the persian fete deleot of constantinople again lest some of these wild fanatics should go beyond bounds turkish soldiers were stationed bix feet apart ground the entire line of procession this fete is permitted not because it is in lo accord with turkish worship on the contrary it Is a demonstration is i against the turks or but because of turkish perfect religious toleration which allows every creed to worship god in its own pecullar peculiar way such religious performances are faid baid to be fanaticism the result of ignorance and barbarity out hen chen these moslems might pertinently ask what causes german students to so wound each ach other as to make it a mark of honor donor to carry ugly scars on their heads and faces it may be the result of 0 what is 18 termed fanaticism but it is no more the result of ignorance and barbarity than that which causes german savants savanis to make brutes of themselves or army officers to shoot one another down in duels is the result of intelligence the european designates his social fanaticism and sinful self golf destructive habits honor pride courage or folly and the oriental fan stoicism he calls barbarity they are ill all human idiosyncrasies which grow out of weakness and of an imperfect understanding in individuals and in society onciel y of the proper relations of in man an to 0 o M man n and of man to god J M in in millennial star istar |