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.
