“If the Conference is only to be an excuse to wear the Turks out, why should we wait, only to fight in the end? A policy of slow death is intolerable. We do not seek war, though we are ready to fight, because we want to build up our country, take care of and educate our people, and give them a little of the comfort and happiness they deserve. Rather than have an unjust vassal-peace,” she concluded, “let us perish altogether.” * * * * * The picture of Halidé Hanoum confronts us on all sides throughout Anatolia. Among the heroes of the revolutions, the Turks reverence her as their Joan of Arc. No history of the Nationalist movement can ever be attempted or thought of without a full record of her courageous loyalty and untiring patriotism. * * * * * I was once asked to suggest the best way of helping forward the cause of women in Turkey. I naturally answered that I would give them England’s _best_: her social and nursing service, but, above all, her literature. M. Henri Taine wrote of us: “The English are a horrible race, but they have done all there is to be done in literature.” It has always made me ashamed to find so few English books in Turkish schools. Of course, at present, our language is not widely known among these people; but, as the nations of the world grow closer in thought and faith, one hopes that they, too, may share the inspiration and moral uplifting so many have found in our best classics. We should surely endeavour to remove the reproach implied by the words of Professor E. J. Browne: “French influence has played too large a part, both in the political and literary field, in the evolution of New Turkey, and French ideas have too long dominated Turkish reformers.” The life of Florence Nightingale and her precepts, our science and the writings of George Eliot, these few names and ideas may serve to indicate the treasure we have for all men. Our literature is a gold mine, which I, for one, long to see given its full honour and pre-eminence in the education and development of the women of Turkey. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XXV HOSPITALS—SCHOOLS—EDUCATION AND THE NATIONALIST WRITERS—THE DAYS PASS, BUT THERE IS STILL MUCH TO BE DONE AND SEEN ONE’S first impression of Angora would lead one to imagine that everything could be seen in a very short time; but the days pass, and there is still much to be done. I have visited the Governor, and congratulated him on the progress of the town’s development, which has advanced steadily, even since my arrival. If there were only peace, one could soon hope for completion.