arms, how many centuries elapsed before their extirpation was effected in England. A point of considerable interest in the history of civilization will now be to observe with what comparative facility and speed the colonists-strong in the inventions of social life and the power of co-operation-will effect this object in a country so much more thinly peopled at present than this was at a very remote period. the interior forms à striking contrast with the dull, sombre exterior. The architectural decorations, the articles of luxury and ornament that would offend the scruples of the people and the jealous eye of government, if exposed without, are often found collected and united with no unsparing hand within. HOUSES IN TURKEY AND EGYPT. THE private dwellings in Turkey, and in Egypt, generally present no external appearance of beauty or splendour, however great may be the wealth or exalted the rank of their occupants. Even at Constantinople, with the exception of the Seraglio (or palace of the Sultan), the summer palace on the Bosphorus, and two or three mansions occupied by sultanas or princesses of the imperial family, there is scarcely a house at all striking from its extent, elevation, or architecture. By a precept of their religion all displays of this sort are confined to the mosques or temples, their hospitals, colleges, and other works of public utility. In the strict letter of the law, indeed, no dwelling-houses whatever ought to exceed a certain low elevation, andling water. But water, so essential to comfort in a all ought to be built entirely of wood. The Koran also prescribes extreme simplicity, and the absence of carving, gilding, and every kind of ostentatious ornament, in the interior of houses. But this and sundry other clauses of their sumptuary laws are commonly infringed by the wealthier Mohammedans. The outside of a house in Turkey and Egypt seldom offers anything to the passing eye except dead walls, with here and there a gazebo (or window latticed in the fashion of female convents in Catholic countries), and, in the front of the house, a large folding-door with a shah-nishin, or balcony, completely covered with trelliswork, and rendered almost impervious to sight. The houses are never numbered,—there are no name-plates on the doors, no inscriptions or armorial bearings on the walls. These walls are generally built up to the height of the first story with stone or brick,-the rest of the construction, which seldom exceeds one story above the ground-floor, is made of wood. We are speaking here of the better kind of houses, for the common abodes are built almost entirely of lath and plaster and light timber. The use of such materials may account for the destructive fires so common in Turkey. These fires frequently owe their origin to the discontents of the people, who have long adopted this irrational mode of showing their political feelings. Many of them, however, are accidental, and are easily to be understood, by remembering that the Turks use no fire-places as we do, but warm themselves in winter by placing shallow dishes of burning charcoal under a sort of table called a tandour, which is made of wood and covered by a stuffed cotton cloth or coverlet, and consequently, like the flooring, matting, and nearly all the materials of their apartments, very combustible. Now not only is this brasier or pan liable to be upset, but, through negligence, pieces of ignited charcoal, used by the Turks (who, when within doors, are almost always smoking) to light their pipes, are often let fall upon the floor, and at times prove sufficient to set fire to the house. But, whether arising from accident or design, these conflagrations are invariably dreadful, should a strong wind blow when they happen. Several times within the last half century nearly the whole of Constantinople, with the exception of the mosques and the few strong stone buildings, has been reduced to ashes. On entering within the gates of a Turkish or an Egyptian gentleman's house, the scene certainly improves, and often, by its lightness, airiness, and gaiety, An open court, often in spite of the law, paved with beautiful marble slabs, and always, when the weather is fine, partially covered with matting of pretty variegated patterns, of which the best is made in Syria and Egypt, shelving terraces, and parterres of flowers round parts of this court, and gaily painted alcoves, galleries, pillars, and the hanging roofs of the apartments, flanking the court in other parts, furnish very pleasing features to the picture; and if, as is very commonly the case, a marble fountain shoots up its little columns, and the water plashes in a marble basin in the centre of the yard, and a few tall trees partially shade both the house and the open space, the locality is truly refreshing and delightful. In the country mansions of the rich Mussulmans, the enclosed court or square is often very large, and is adorned with a variety of small detached kiosks or summer-houses, flower-beds, shrubberies, and with several fountains of pure sparkwarm climate, and indispensable to the observances of the Mohammedan religion, which prescribes frequent ablutions, is liberally supplied even in the houses of the poor, or is close at hand in most parts of Turkey. The civil code of the country contains many curious laws on this head. It proclaims, as a sin against God and man, the refusing to supply one's neighbour with water,—it gives a liberal right of property in land to those who dig a well, discover a spring of water, or make either a subterranean conduit or an aqueduct ; and, at the same time, the religious code allots honours little short of saintship to such as prove benefactors to mankind in this sense. The ground-floor of gentlemen's houses is generally given up entirely to the kitchen, offices, and the servants and dependants. A broad open staircase, built invariably of wood, leads to the Diwan-khane, which is a broad corridor or saloon, open in front and commanding the court, and access to all the men's rooms of the upper apartment. In most instances this corridor runs the length, and sometimes round three sides, of the house, though it is not always of the same level; but, in many cases, rises or sinks, the communication along the whole line or lines being kept up by means of stairs, which occasionally give a capricious but rather picturesque effect. At the angles and elevated points, this open corridor is generally ornamented with projecting kiosks, in which the domestics in immediate attendance, cr persons waiting to have audience of the master of the mansion, lounge and smoke their pipes. These kiosks are prettily painted; the prevailing colours are blue, green, yellow and red;--the designs are in the style we call arabesque. Their front panels, as well as parts of the interior walls of the house, are sometimes adorned with paintings of landscape, fruits, and flowers, but representations of the human form are very rarely tolerated. 66 The upper or grand apartment is strictly divided into two, the line of demarcation between which is sacred. One of these divisions, called the Salemlik, is occupied by the master of the house, his sons, &c., and is open to all male servants and visiters; the other, called the Harem, which word signifies a holy place," is devoted to the women, and entrance into it is interdicted to all men. In some of the large mansions there is a sort of neutral ground between the two:-this is called Mabeinn (literally "between two "); but none save the father of the family enjoys access even here. The rooms of reception in the Salemlik that open upon It would be giving the Turks a chance of having attributed to them a merit they do not possess, were we not to mention that these works of art, as well as the building of their houses, kiosks, &c., are almost invariably performed by Armenians, and other Christian subjects of the Porte. the great corridor are frequently spacious, seldom very | ful. Indeed, in many houses, it seems as if all art and lofty, and always exceedingly plain and devoid of orna- ornament were reserved to be lavished on the ceiling. ment, except in the ceiling, the sofas, and the carpets, It is formed of curiously tessellated wood-work, at times or mats on the floor. The walls are painted of a plain, representing a mosaic in wood, dotted here and there light, uniform colour; over the door there is a framed with golden stars; at times painted in the arabesque inscription, in large black letters, or in letters of gold, style with green, blue, and gold, and in the most take. from the Koran; the name of God or Mahomet varied and complicated designs; and at other times in Arabic, and the toughra or monogram of the reign- painted in stripes of white, red, yellow, blue, and green, ing sultan, done in black, red, or gold letters, are some- and ornamented with bouquets of flowers. We have times found in two or three places on the superfices of mentioned only a few of the varieties. An English the walls. There is no tapestry, no fanciful paper; traveller who was detained by circumstances at Aleppo, and paintings and engravings never impart the beauty occupied himself for several weeks in making a drawing and interest we are accustomed to in England. A of the ceiling of a fine room he occupied, and even divan, or a continuous sofa, low and very broad, runs after so much time, so elaborate were the ornaments, round three sides of the room, and this is the only and so beautiful the colours and the gilding, that he stationary piece of furniture. There are no chairs, no left the work incomplete, and in despair of rivalling the footstools, no detached ottomans, no tables, no book- hues of the original. The most beautiful and rich of cases, no looking-glasses;-in short, there is not one of the colours they employ has precisely the tint of the those numerous articles of convenience, luxury, or orna- lapis-lazuli. ment, that are met with in most respectable English houses. His broad easy sofa is almost everything to the in-door Turk; he sits on it, cross-legged, during the day, smoking his chibouk, receiving his visiters, or despatching his business. If he has to write, he requires neither table, desk, nor portfolio: he merely places his sheet of paper on his knees, and so scrawls with his strong reed pen. He takes his coffee and sherbet on the sofa, and when he has to dine or sup, a pewter tray, supported on a small low stool, is brought into the room and set upon the floor; he then descends from the sofa, crosses his legs under him, sits down on the carpet or mat, and so despatches his meal, after which, stool, tray, and everything connected with them, are removed. At night he does not retire, as we do, to a separate bedchamber, nor does he even make use of anything exclusively a bed; his servants or slaves shake up the cushions, lay down a coverlet or a pelisse or two, and the sofa becomes his bed. These sofas, we must mention, are frequently covered with fine woollen cloth, and tastefully fringed. The favourite colour for this eloth is blue carpeting is sometimes substituted for cloth. Above the sofa, and within reach of a person sitting cross-legged upon it, there is here and there a little shelf to hold such things as may be most frequently needed. A great Turk, however, rarely gives himself the trouble of raising his arm, but when he wants anything he summons a slave, not by ringing a bell, but by clapping the palms of his hands together. To enjoy the advantages of air and shade, all the windows, which reach from the roof nearly to the level of the sofa, are furnished with broad wooden blinds, painted green, and which can be wholly or partially closed. The curtains to the windows, when they have any, (which is not often the case,) are of very common printed cotton. The apartments are almost invariably well ventilated, and, in this respect, the architects of more than one Christian country might advantageously study the plans of Mohammedan houses. In Constantinople, where the cold is frequently severe during two or three of the winter months, the windows of the good houses are furnished with glass of rather a common quality, and chiefly procured from Triete; but in many parts of Asia Minor and Egypt, whe, from the uniform mildness of the climate, such a protection is not required, a pane of glass is rarely seen. At the great town of Magnesia, at the foot of Mount Sipylus, the Turks once carried on a good manufacture of stained glass, with which they ornamented their houses and kiosks, but they have long lost this, like so many other branches of industry and art in which they, at one time, undeniably excelled. The ceilings of the rooms, which we have mentioned as among the most ornamental portions of a Mussulman apartment, are frequently exceedingly beauti The carpets on the floors of the rooms are of that good, strong kind so well known in England under the name of "Turkey carpets," and therefore require no description. These carpets are chiefly manufactured in the country behind Smyrna, in Asia Minor, and at Salonica, and its neighbourhood in Europe. They still form an important article of export both to Europe and the United States of America. Turks of very superior wealth or taste, however, generally use Persian carpets, which are finer and much more beautiful both in colour and pattern. The Syrian or Egyptian matting, used at other times, is of a much finer quality than that we have mentioned as being laid down in the court. It is delicately worked, light and cool to the eye, and far superior to anything of the sort we possess. When carpets are used they do not often cover the whole of the room, but are merely ranged in slips near to the sofa; in this case the wooden floor, which in general is neatly put together in the parquet fashion, is kept clean and polished. The matting, on the contrary, almost always covers the entire floor: it is bound at the edges with coloured cloth or gilt leather. Though there are many pleasing features in the interior, the open court and the part of the house very faithfully represented in our engraving, will always be the most striking and agreeable to the European traveller. By attentively examining the engraving, our readers will obtain a good notion of the domestic architecture of the Mussulmans. It is worthy of remark that, throughout the dominions of the sultan, the Christian and other rayah subjects can neither build their houses so high as the Mohammedans nor paint them of the same colour externally. The elevation of an Armenian, a Greek, or a Jewish dwelling, as compared with that of a Turk, must be only as ten to twelve, and it must be painted on the outside with black, or some very sombre colour. The Turks may indulge in gayer hues, but even they cannot build a house beyond a certain height without incurring heavy fines. All these and numerous other particulars that are constantly interfering with individual liberty and taste are strictly defined by laws, and the MimarAghà, or intendant of buildings (a very lucrative post), to whom the execution of these laws is confided at Constantinople, is always looked upon as the most meddling, insupportable tyrant of the place. He exercises an absolute authority over all the architects and builders of the capital and its suburbs, whether in Europe or in Asia. THIS little republic is the only one left of the many | republics into which Italy was once divided, and is the smallest independent state of Europe. A rude, craggy mountain, about eleven English miles to the south of Rimini, and a few hillocks scattered around the mountain's base, comprise the whole of this republican territory, which is nowhere six miles across. The entire population does not much exceed 7000 souls. In the course of my walk, the bold rock on which San Marino stas, its rugged outline, dotted here and there by a church, a convent, or a tower, formed, for a long time, the most striking feature in the landscape. I entered the dominions of the old republic by crossing a small stream, and, after three miles of ascent, in some parts very steep, and in others running zig-zag along the face of the mountain, I reached the "Borgo," which is a small town containing about 600 inhabitants. About threequarters of a mile farther on, and much higher, I came to" La Città," or the City, which is the seat of government, and the residence of the more distinguished members of this miniature commonwealth. It does not seem much larger than the Borgo, but it is cleaner and handsomer, and has some buildings of a considerable size and in a pretty good style of architecture. VOL. III There is not a single shop or inn, as nothing is allowed to be sold in the city. The view from this spat, which is more than 2000 feet above the level of the sea, is particularly fine, and one of the best points whence to enjoy it is the top of the prison. The pleasant town of Rimini, the Marecchia, and the dark Adriatic Sea, lay before me; and turning to the west were the piled-up Apennines, conspicuous among which, from the sugar-loaf form of the mountain it stands upon, was the celebrated fortress of San Leo. Descending from the prison-top, I visited some horrid dungeons, many feet underground, and quite dark. These conveyed a disagreeable impression as to the character of the old republicans, but it was pleasant to learn, and honourable to their descendants, that these dungeons had not been used for many years, and that there was actually only one prisoner in the place, whose offence was rather venial, and his treatment exceedingly mild. I found, however, that the inhabitants still piqued themselves, as in the days of Addison, on their love of justice, and their impartial and rigid administration of it. One of the cittadini told me the following story in point:-A Venetian, to whom a subject of the hill republic owed a sum of money, the 2 D between them, to the few offices of this poor and simple state. The most important of these offices, after that of the commissary, are the physician's and the schoolmaster's. The physician, according to the letter of the constitution, ought also to be a foreigner. He must, moreover, keep a horse wherewith to visit speedily any patient in the country, and his election is only for three years. payment of which had been demanded many times in vain, was at length induced, at the recommendation of a friend, to apply to one of the capitanei, or presidents at San Marino. On arriving at the town, he was soon conducted to this dignitary of the state, whom he found with naked legs dancing in a huge tub, treading out grapes for wine. The Venetian, accustomed to the dignity," the pomp and circumstance," of his own city and government, turned with astonishment from such a At the time of Addison's visit the schoolmaster dispenser of right and might, an I began to repent him must have performed his duty conscientiously, as that of his journey. As he had come, however, he told his elegant writer says, that he " scarcely met with any story, and no sooner was it ended than the capitanco in the place that had not a tincture of learning;" and, despatched an assistant to summon the debtor to his in my time, from what I could observe during a short presence. The man came forthwith; and, on being in-visit, reading and writing seemed common acquirements terrogated, confessed be duly owed the money, but said enough. Addison also had an opportunity of looking he could not pay it. The indignant capitaneo instantly over their collection of laws, which were written in ordered him to prison, and decreed that his house Latin, and had been printed at Rimini, by order of the should be sold to meet the demand. This summary Commonwealth of San Marino, in a folio volume. The sentence very soon produced the amount of the debt book was entitled Statuta Illustrissimæ Reipublicæ from the San Marino man, who, it appears, was not so Sancti Marini.' In the chapter on public ministers, poor as he had pleaded he was, and the Venetian creditor &c., there is a law, mentioned by Addison, which proreturned home wel! satisfied. Some time after, having vides that whenever an ambassador is despatched by occasion to sue another debtor in the courts of Venice, the Republic to any foreign state, he shall be allowed, and having experienced "the law's delay" and its glo- out of the treasury, to the value of about one shilling rious uncertainty, he es claimed (at least so say the per day during his mission! I could not help observing citizens of the hill) "Val più un pistad'uva di San even during the short stay I made, that, like some other Marino che diezi Parruconi di Venezia!"-A grape- republicans and citizens of small states, the people of treader of San Marino is worth more than ten big-wigs San Marino were exceedingly susceptible and puncof Venice. tilions as to any criticisms made by their neighbours on their laws and customs, or on the dignity of their state. An anecdote is current illustrative of this feeling. About the end of the last century a citizen of San Marino heard an inhabitant of Rimini assert that the Republic was nothing more than a place of refuge for thieves, bankrupt traders, and vagabonds. The words of this sweeping accusation were reported to the " Council of Sixty," who immediately passed a law excluding for ever from the territories of the Republic not only the offender but all his relations, and every person, whether related or not, who bore the same name. Thirty years after this, on a dreadfully stormy night, a man and woman who had lost their way demanded and readily obtained shelter in the house of a peasant at Serravalle, a hamlet just within the line of the republican territory. In the course of conversation, the stranger addressed the woman who had arrived with him by her name, The constitution of the republic is rather aristocratical than otherwise. Although an approach to universal suffrage is nominally admitted, and although it is prescribed in their original charters that the sove reign power is lodged wholly and solely in the Arengo, or great council, in which every family shall be represented by one of its members, all authority has gradually fallen into the council, called "of Sixty," but which in reality consists of only forty citizens. Again, half of the Council of Sixty were, by law, to be elected out of the plebeian order, and the other half, and no more, chosen from among the nobility. Now, however, the council is wholly composed of the richest citizens, whose relative antiquity of descent or aristocracy of blood I could not ascertain, The Arengo, or popular body, has sometimes been called together of late years in cases of extraordinary emergency. This is done merely by the ringing of a great bell, whose tones can very well be heard all over the republic. An old law enacts that every member who does not attend the summons he fined a sum about equal to an English penny, and that this fine be paid "sine aliquâ diminutione aut gratiâ." The miscalled Council of Sixty nominate ten of their members, out of whom two are chosen by lot, and named Capitanei Reggenti. One of these capitanei has jurisdiction over the city, and the other over the country. Their power only lasts six months, and they cannot be re-elected to these supreme posts until after an interval of three years. The elections take place in March and in September, but the capitanei only take possession of their office in April or in October. Joined with them there is a commissary, who, according to the old constitution, ought to judge all civil a.. criminal matters; and also (to avoid the partialities or prejudices likely to influence the subjects of so small a state, where every man knows every body, and has numerous family ties and connexions) he ought to be a foreigner-the native of some other Italian state-a Doctor of Laws, and a man of well-established integrity of character. This officer is chosen for three years, and maintained at the public expense. The capitanei, and the Council of Sixty-of which no one can be a member until he is twenty-five years old, and where no two individuals of the same family can sit at the same time-appoint, Signora Bava;"-now Bava was the name of the Riminese calumniator. As soon as the unlucky word was uttered, the peasant started up, exclaiming “Via da casa mia ognuno col nome di Bava!"-Away from my house every one who bears the name of Bava!--and, in spite of entreaties, and notwithstanding the pelting of the storm, the unfortunate woman was turned out of doors. The origin of this poor little republie, which has survived so many mighty ones that have fallen around her, and still looks with freedom from her rocky seat over her prostrate and enslaved neighbour, Venice, is exceedingly curious and interesting. Towards the end of the third centary of the Christian Era, Rimini, then called by its Latin name, Ariminum,- having completely fallen to ruins, the reigning Roman Emperor, Diocletian, undertook to restore the city, which is advantageously situated on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. To this end, he invited from the opposite coast of the Adriatic, which was his native placet, a number of artists and workmen; and, in the words of an old local historian, “ venue ad Ariminum un gran numero * Addison was in Italy in 1699, 1700, and 1701. His book of travels in that country, which was one of his early literary undertakings, may still be referred to with some advantage, though it which now obtain. describes very different policy, manners, and customs, from those + Diocletian was born in Dalmatia of an obscure family. |