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tower of Leander; while from the European shore rises Byzantium in gorgeous magnificence, a vast amphitheatre of reddish-colored buildings, beautifully intermingled with trees and the dark domes of mosques and bazaars, above which rise the lofty minarets, surmounted with the emblem of the Moslem faith, the crescent; the whole standing out in distinct relievo from the dark-blue sky. But enough of description. On landing at Galata, the illusion produced on the mind by a distant view immediately vanishes. Such a compound of filth and wretchedness I never beheld. I was only astonished that the plague should ever cease its ravages in its narrow streets. At Pera the vision brightened, though the appearance of this celebrated Frank quarter greatly disappointed us. Its finest features are its barracks and cemeteries: the latter are indescribably beautiful. Barbarous though we style the Turks, how far superior are they in this point to the more civilized Europeans! There is an exquisite feeling of delicacy and religious respect for the dead, evinced by this people in the construction of their beautiful cemeteries, which must command our warmest admiration. Aware that our stay would be extremely short, we made the necessary dispositions for making the most of it. As a preliminary measure, we engaged an Italian "cicerone" whom we fell in with at an inn in Pera. On the following morning we pulled round the Seraglio Point to see the Sultan going in state to the mosque of the Sultan Achmet. The cortège was splendid, and realized to the fullest extent all my preconceived ideas of oriental pomp and magnificence. Mahmoud was mounted on a beautiful Arabian, and rode on without casting a look either to right or left. It was impossible to gaze on this extraordinary man without a deep feeling of interest and admiration. Nurtured in adversity, unawed by the experience of the past,

fierce and bloody insurrection at home, or foreign aggression from without, with an admirable singleness of purpose and unshaken firmness, he pursues his system of reform. I confess I am one of those who wish him success. A fine spectacle he certainly presents; and bloody and terrific as have been some acts of his career, it would be ungenerous not to give full weight to his peculiar position. The countenance of the wore an expression of sternness and hauteur almost bordering on ferocity, heightened by the most piercing pair of black eyes I ever beheld. Of his figure we could not judge, robed as it was in the ample folds of oriental costume.

Sultan

To one accustomed to the monotony of European towns, the first view of Constantinople produces a singular effect on the mind-pleasing, certainly, from its novelty. The crowds of people of different nations, in their various and picturesque costumes, who swarm its narrow streets and lanes-the absence of horses and wheel carriages -a melancholy and desolate air which pervades everything, interrupted by an incessant noise of hammers and files, which, like many Portuguese towns, distinguish Stamboul-present to the eye of the stranger a picture unique in its kind, though, when the first_charm of novelty had worn off, I think disgust would rapidly succeed. Our cicerone now led us to the seraglio, into the first court of which we penetrated there was as usual a display of human heads. An air of desolation and melancholy seemed to hang over the vast area, the scene of so many bloody tragedies. A few Turks were lounging about with a listless air, which singularly contrasted with the hungry looks which a pack of half-starved dogs directed towards the human heads in the niches above them.

We made a hasty tour of the old town. The remains of antiquity greatly disappointed our expecta

tions. Gibbon we set down as a "romancier." San Sophia, in external appearance, is decidedly inferior to the mosque of the Sultan Achmet and several others. Although the late events have infused into the character of the haughty Osmanlis a certain degree of courtesy towards foreigners, hitherto unknown, we ventured not to penetrate into the interior of any of the mosques. Most travellers complain of annoyance from the canine race, which infest the streets of Constantinople. I know not whether the complexion of the times had infected these animals, but we certainly did not experience the annoyance which the complaints of all visiters to the Ottoman capital had led us to expect.

Every officer of the ship feeling the greatest anxiety to lionize this celebrated capital, I was obliged to take my turn of duty on board, and thus lost two valuable days. On the morning of the fifth day, I started with a party on a trip up the Bosphorus to Therapia, where the Sultan was encamped with his favorite tacticoes. Nothing could surpass the loveliness of the scenery on either side the strait. The defences from the city to the castles at the mouth are extremely formidable, and had been lately strengthened, in expectation of an attempt on the part of the Russians. A British squadron of similar force to Admiral Grey's would most certainly have made a dash he would have had the advantage of a strong current, which Admiral Duckworth had to contend against in forcing the Dardanelles. The Turkish encampment with its various-colored tents had a most picturesque appearance. Nothing could be more beautiful than the scite chosen for it. We were unfortunately disappointed in getting a glimpse of Mahmoud, whom we had been led to expect we should have found engaged in his favorite occupation of manoeuvring the tacticoes. There were assembled at Therapia at the

moment of our visit several battalions of infantry, with some squa drons of lancers and artillery: the material of the latter agreeably surprised us. Upon the whole the tacticoes, to an eye accustomed to the beauty of European troops, cut a most sorry figure. Their firing was rapid and well concentrated, but in every other point they struck me as miserably deficient. Nothing can well be more ungraceful than the uniform of these new troops. Many grave writers have attempted to impute the opposition to the military reforms of the Sultan to a bigoted attachment to ancient costumes for my own part, I am inclined to ascribe it to a very different cause-to the existence of that all-ruling passion, vanity. The Turks are a people passionately fond of dress, and their standard of taste is certainly fixed at an elevated point. With them, rank, privilege, caste, are all designated by the color or cut of a turban. A more dashing uniform would, I am convinced, have rendered the service more popular. What young effendi would exchange his graceful turban, richly-embroidered vest, scarlet pantaloons, and cachmere girdle, with its richly-mounted "handgar," for the red skull-cap and unmartial costume of the tacticoes? Were an order issued from the Horse Guards, conceived in the economical spirit of a Hume, to dress our guards "à la Tacticoturque," almost every officer in the brigade would, I feel confident, sell out in disgust. The dashing uniforms of some of our staff-officers excited the admiration of the young Turks; with whom, as with our young dandies in the west, there is magic in the glitter of an epaulette, and music in the jingle of a spur. Notwithstanding their defective organization, these new troops behaved extremely well in the field, and on some occasions gallantly charged the Russian infantry at the point of the bayonet. There is much yet to be effected. The Ottoman army

has neither commissariat, hospital, or general staff; and they have yet to acquire the two most difficult points of the military art-that of directing, and the still more difficult one of subsisting large masses. We returned at a late hour on board, delighted with our excursion.

We had but one day left, and there was yet a great deal to be seen; but the wonders both of nature and art which enrich this celebrated capital have been too often described to need a repetition. After perambulating the bazaars and bezentians, tired with our walk, we entered a Turkish café. A café Turque has nothing in common with similar establishments in Europe but the name. They are circular buildings, generally with a porch. Elevated tables are ranged along the sides, covered with carpets or mats, on which the Turks sit smoking, or sipping their coffee. We were sufficiently masters of the Turkish language to order some cups of, in Turkey, this delicious beverage, and its usual accompaniment the pipe. One of our party preferred a cigar, which he was proceeding to ignite, when he was politely presented with a small amber tube by an officer of tacticoes seated near us. The Turks, votaries as they are of tobacco, never allow its aromatic leaf to come in contact with their lips. Our companion, in return, handed his cigarcase to the officer, who helped himself, returning, to our astonishment, his acknowledgments in very good French. Our new acquaintance, we found, had been for some time an attaché to the Turkish embassy at Paris. He had only returned to the capital a few days before from Chumla. Contrasted with former periods, he said, everything wore an air of the deepest gloom at Constantinople. We ventured to ask his opinion as to the probable success that would attend the extensive system of reform projected by Mahmoud, and already in partial operation: he answered with an ominous shake of the head. The vices

which are eating the vast edifice of the Turkish empire to the very core are of too inveterate a character to be reformed by mortal hand. Even though it were practicable, he added, the ambitious Muscovite would mar the execution. I could not help remarking that the bias of our friend's opinions, was decidedly unfavorable to the Russians, whom he regarded with mingled feelings of hatred and distrust.

We all regretted that our near departure would prevent our cuitivating his acquaintance, from whom we should have doubtless derived much curious and valuable information relative to his interesting country. The press has lately teemed "ad nauseam " with productions on Turkey, forming an "olla podrida " of conflicting and contradictory statements that must satisfy the most superficial reader that the Turks have hitherto remained totally impervious to the eye of European scrutiny. Of the domestic circle of this singular people, we literally know little more than of the interior of the moon: their external features are alone familiar to us, and picturesque and splendid are they in the extreme. In Turkey, we travel back, as it were, into remote antiquity; at every step we discover traces of the primitive ages of mankind, venerable from their antique character, and interesting from their singular and beautiful contrast with the manners of Western Europe. With all its vices, there is in the Turkish character a native innate dignity which inspires respect, mingled at the same time with many traits well worthy the imitation of their more polished neighbors. I leave it to politicians to decide whether Europe would be a gainer by their being driven from its shores; but as the tall and graceful minarets of Stamboul were receding from our view, I ventured to indulge in the hope, that, should fate ever again lead me to its walls, I might not behold the Crescent of Mahomet replaced by the Eagle of the North.

MAN A WORKING BEING.

THE ample provision Nature has inequalities in the distribution of

made for all creatures, is bestowed upon one indispensable condition; but it is one that contributes to their pleasure, as well as promotes and secures their health it is exertion. To this Catholic law of Nature man is submitted, and in a severer degree, as we may think when superficially viewing the subject, than all the other tribes of life. But to the stricter operation of this law, he owes the exercise of those powers, mental as well as bodily, by which he rises so greatly superior to them all. It is this which is the means of elevating him through the wide gradations of his own existence, from barbarism to the highest state of civilization. Moreover, the peculiar nature of thrat exertion which is required of him, in order to his sustenation, is the cause of that appropriation of the bounties of nature which is peculiar to his race, and which necessarily lays a foundation of those social and civil institutions which conduce so much to his prosperity. This appropriation, however, which was evidently, in the contemplation of the Creator, as necessary to his existence, involves those striking

the bounties of Nature, which have ever existed in human society, especially in its more civilized stages; and these, again, the Creator has anticipated, implanting deep in the hunian breast those sacred inipulses which prompt the fortunate to distribute of their superfluity to the destitute; thereby awaking mutual feelings which heighten into pleasure, and more than compensate for the distresses in which they originate. It is thus that, watered by mingling tears of sympathy and sorrow, the heavenly plant of Divine Charity is seen rising in all its fragrance and beauty, and bearing its perennial fruits, which are for the healing of the nations. But this feeling is peculiar to man, and is evidently given him to remedy the tendencies of that appropriation to which animal creation is a stranger. Political economists, however, contemplate a system, which shall, in great measure, dispense with this distinguishing virtue of human nature, and which, if realized, would therefore rob humanity of its noblest attribute,—that in which it most resembles the Creator,-and leave it only the selfish instincts of the brutes that perish.

MARS DISARMED.

Ay, bear it hence, thou blessed child,
Though dire the burthen be,
And hide it in the pathless wild,
Or drown it in the sea:

The ruthless murderer prays and swears-
So let him swear and pray;
Be deaf to all his oaths and prayers,
And take the sword away.

We've had enough of fleets and camps,
Guns, glories, odes, gazettes,
Triumphal arches, color'd lamps,
Huzzas, and epaulettes;
We could not bear upon our head
Another leaf of bay;
That horrid Bonaparte's dead ;—
Yes, take the sword away.

We're weary of the noisy boasts

That pleased our patriot throngs; We've long been dull to Gooch's toasts, And tame to Dibdin's songs ;

We're quite content to rule the wave,
Without a great display;

We're known to be extremely brave;—
But take the sword away.

We give a shrug when fife and drum
Play up a favorite air;

We think our barracks are become

More ugly than they were;
We laugh to see the banners float;
We loathe the charger's bray;
We don't admire a scarlet coat ;-
Do take the sword away.

Let Portugal have rulers twain ;

Let Greece go on with none;
Let Popery sink or swim in Spain,
While we enjoy the fun;
Let Turkey tremble at the knout ;
Let Algiers lose her Dey;
Let Paris turn her Bourbons out;—
Bah! take the sword away.

Our honest friends in Parliament
Are looking vastly sad ;
Our farmers say, with one consent,
It's all immensely bad;
There was a time for borrowing,
And now it's time to pay;
A budget is a serious thing;-

So take the sword away.

And oh the bitter tears we wept,

In those our days of fame

The home-affections, waged and lost
In every far-off fray-
The price that British glory cost!--
Ah! take the sword away.

We've plenty left to hoist the sail,

Or mount the dangerous breach;
And Freedom breathes in every gale

That wanders round our beach.
When duty bids us dare or die,
We'll fight another day:

The dread that o'er our heart-strings crept But till we know a reason why,

With every post that came

Take, take the sword away.

RECOLLECTIONS OF LIFE IN LISBON.

A FOREIGNER, arriving by sea at Lisbon, imagines, on landing, that he has got among the most passionate and quarrelsome people in the world; for the well-known vivacity of gesticulation with which the Italians accompany their conversation on the most trivial subjects is nothing in comparison with that of the Portuguese. Head, hands, legs, the whole body, are in constant motion. Add to this, that they speak very loud, and with a vehemence of which the natives of other countries cannot have any conception. Napoleon had four or five Portuguese regiments in his Russian expedition. They belonged-for the Portuguese always signalizes himself by personal courage -to the bravest troops of his army; but, from their habit of speaking so loud, the place of their bivouac might always be known by the sound of their voices at the distance of half a league. I have been assured by French officers, that at the distance just mentioned they could find their way, at least in fine weather, to the Portuguese camp, even when thousands of soldiers of other nations were bivouacking about them, merely by following the sound.

To my joy I was met at the landing-place by a friend who was waiting to conduct me to the place of my destination in the great city. We had scarcely gone through two or three streets, when I noticed a custom, which, trivial as it may appear in itself, gave me a favorable 46 ATHENEUM, VOL. 5, 3d series.

impression of the people. Probably the manifold, unusual, and not always agreeable, odors, operated on my olfactory nerves, and I could not help sneezing several times. All the men whom we passed, rich and poor, even though deeply engaged in conversation, instantly took off their cocked hats and ejaculated: Dominus tecum! "The Lord be with thee ! I have since had frequent occasion to observe that, when any person in a large company chanced to sneeze, all the others made a profound obeisance and said some civil thing or other, such as the above, or Viva men senhor!-or if it was a female, the prettiest compliments were sure to be paid. But if the sneezing follows immediately after taking a pinch of snuff, no compliment is expected: the snuff-taker says after the first sneeze: Nae face cazo, he rapé-" Take no notice, 'tis only snuff." During my residence in Portugal I became so accustomed to this salutation that, after I left Lisbon, I was particularly struck by the omission of it in other countries.

With this civility towards persons of all classes, charity goes hand in hand. In the course of the day the Portuguese bestows alms on a host of beggars: but, if he means to give nothing, he takes off his hat to the applicant, with the words: Deos o favorece inmaozinho!

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"God help thee, my brother! to which the beggar responds : Seja pelo amor de Deos!" Be it

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