The City of the Sultan ... Second edition

Chapter I

Easter with the Greeks — Greek Church at Pera— Women's Gallery — Interior of a Greek Church — The Sanctuary — The Screen — Throne of the Patriarch — The Holy Sepulchre — Singular Appearance of the Congregation — Sociability of the Ladies — L'Echelle des Marts— Shipping — Boats and Boatmen — Church of the Fanar — Ancient Screen — Treasure Chests — The Sanctuary — Private Chapels — A Pious Illumination — Priests' House — Prison — Remedy against Mahomedanism — Midnight Mass — Unexpected Greetings — The Patriarch — Logotheti — Russian Secretaries — Russian Supremacy in Turkey — Affinity of Religion between the Greeks and Russians — The Homage — Pious Confusion — Patriarch's Palace — Lovely Night-Scene — Midnight Procession — Serious Impressions — Suffocating Heat — Dawn . . Page 1

Chapter II

Feasting after Fasting — Visit to the Patriarch — Gorgeous Procession — Inconvenient Enthusiasm — Indisposition of the Patriarch — The Ceremony of Unrobing — The Impromptu Fair — The Patriarch at Home— The Golden Eggs 21

Chapter III

High Street of Pera — Dangers and Donkeys — Travelling in an Araba — Fondness of the Orientals for their Cemeteries — Singular Spectacle — Moral Supineness of the Armenians — M. Nubar — VOL. II. \?,, A J&1 CONTENTS. IV The Fair— Armenian Dance— Anti-Exclusives— Water Venders- Being a la Franka— Wrestling Rings— The Battle of the Sects 28

Chapter IV

The Mosques at Midnight— Baron Rothschild— Firmans and Orders — A Proposition— Masquerading — St. Sophia by Lamplight — The Congregation — The Mosque of Sultan Achmet — Colossal Pillars — Return to the Harem— The Che'ik-Islam— Count Bathiany— The Party— St. Sophia by Daylight — Erroneous Impression — Turkish Paradise— Piety of the Turkish Women— The Vexed Traveller- Disappointment — Confusion of Architecture — The Sweating Stone —Women's Gallery — View from the Gallery— Gog and Magog at Constantinople — The Impenetrable Door — Ancient Tradition — Leads of the Mosque — Gallery of the Dome — The Doves — The Atmeidan — Tree of Groans — Mosque of Sultan Achmet — Antique Vases — Historical Pulpit — The Inner Court — The Six Minarets — The Mosque of Solimanie — Painted Windows — Ground-plan of the Principal Mosques — The Treasury of Solimanie — Mausoleum of Solyman the Magnificent — Model ofthe Mosque at Mecca — Mausoleums in General — Indispensable Accessories — The Medresch — Mosque of Sultan Mahmoud at Topp-hanne . . . .40

Chapter V

Antiquities of Constantinople — Ismael Effendi — The Atmeidan — The Obelisk — The Delphic Tripod — The Column of Constantine — TheTchernberle Tasch — The Cistern of the Thousand and One Columns — TheBoudroum — The Roman Dungeons — Yir&- Batan-Sera'i — The Lost Traveller — Extent of the Cistern — Aqueduct of Justinian — Palace of Constantine — Tomb of Heraclius — The Seven Towers — An Ambassador in Search of Truth — Tortures of the Prison — A Legend of the Seven Towers . 70

Chapter VI

Baloucle— The New Church— Delightful Road— Eyoub— The Cemetery—The Rebel's Grave — The Mosque of Blood — The Hill of Graves — The Seven Towers — The Palace of Belisarius — The City Walls— Easter Festivities— The Turkish Araba— The Arme- CONTENTS. V nian Carriage — Travellers — Turkish Women — Seridjhes — Persians — Irregular Troops — The Plain of Baloucle — Laughable Mistake — Extraordinary Discretion — The Church of Baloucle — The Holy Well— Absurd Tradition— The Chapel Vault—Enthu siasm of the Greeks — A Pleasant Draught — Greek Substitute for a Bell — Violent Storm 97

Chapter VII

Figurative Gratitude of the Seraskier Pasha — Eastern Hyperbole- Reminiscences of Past Years — A Vision Realized — Strong Contrasts — Marriage Fetes — Popular Excitement — Crowded Streets — The Auspicious Day — Extravagant Expectations — The Great Cemetery — Dolma Batche — The Grand Armoury — - Turkish Women — Tents of the Pashas — The Bosphorus — Preparations — Invocation — The Illuminated Bosphorus — A Stretch of Fancy — A Painful Recollection — Natural Beauties of the Bosphorus — The Grave-Yard — Evening Amusements — Well Conducted Population 108

Chapter VIII

Repetition — The Esplanade — The Kiosk and the Pavilion — A Short Cut — Dense Crowd — A Friend at Court — Curious Coup cl'Œil — The Arena — The Orchestra — First Act of the Comedy — Disgusting Exhibition — Birth of the Ballet — Dancing Boys — Second Act of the Drama — Insult to the Turkish Women — Provost Marshal — Yusuf Pasha, the Traitor — Clemency of the Sultan — Forbearance of an Oriental Mob — Renewal of the Ballet — Last Act of the Drama — Theatrical Decorations — Watch-dogs and Chinese — Procession of the Trades— Frank Merchants — Thieves and Judges — Bedouin Tumblers — Fondness of the Pashas for Dancing — The Wise Men of the East .121

Chapter IX

Succession of Banquets — The Cheik Islam and the Clergy — Sectarian Prejudices — The Military Staff — The Naval Chiefs — The Imperial Household —The Pashas — The Grand Vizier — Magnificent Procession — Night Scene on the Bosphorus — The Palace CONTENTS. VI of the Seraskier Pasha — Palace of Azme Sultane — Midnight Serenade — Pretty Truants — The Shore of Asia — Ambassadorial Banquet — War Dance — Beautiful Effects of Light . . 137

Chapter X

Monotonous Entertainments — Bridal Preparations — Common Interest — Appearance of the Surrounding Country — Ride to Arnautkeui — Sight-loving Ladies — Glances and Greetings — Pictorial Grouping — The Procession — The Trousseau — A Steeple- Chase 146

Chapter XI

The Bridal Day — Ceremony of Acceptance — The Crowd — The Kislar Agha and the Court Astrologer — Order of the Procession — The Russian Coach — The Pasha and the Attaches — The Seraskier — Wives ofthe Pashas — The Sultan and the Georgian Slave 157

Chapter XII

A New Rejoicing — Scholastic Processions — Change in the Valley — The Odalique's Grave — The Palace of Eyoub — The State Apartments — Return to Pera Ifi6

Chapter XIII

Departure for Broussa — Rocky Coast — Moudania — The Custom House — Translation of the word Backschich — The Archbishop of Broussa — The Boatman's House — The Dead and the Living — Laughable Cavalcade — Dense Mists — Fine Country — Flowers, Birds, and Butterflies— -The Coffee Hut — The Turkish Woman — Broussa in the Distance — The Dried-up Fountain — Immense Plains — Bohemian Gipsies — Mountain Streams — Turkish Wash - erwomen — Fine Old Wall — The Jews' Quarter — The Turkish Kiosk — Oriental Curiosity — A Dream of Home . .171

Chapter XIV

Ancient Gate — Greek Inscriptions — Mausoleum of Sultan Orcan — Monkish Chronicle — The Turbedar Hanoum — Inverted Columns — Painted Pillars — Splendid Marbles — Tombs of the Imperial CONTENTS. VII Family— The Greek Cross— The Sultan's Beard— Mausoleum of Sultan Ali Osman— Monastic Vaults— Ruined Chapel— Remains of a Greek Palace — Bassi Relievi — Ruined Fountains— Ancient Fosse— Dense Vegetation— Noble Prospect— Roman Aqueduct- Valley of the Source — Picturesque Groups — Coffee-Kiosks — Absence of Pretension among the Turks — The Tale Teller — Traveller's Khan — Sick Birds — Roman Bridge — Armenian Mother 189

Chapter XV

Orientalism of Broussa — Costume of the Men — Plain Women — Turbans and Yashmacs — Facility of Ingress to the Mosques — Oulou Jame — Polite Imam — Eastern Quasimodo — Ascent ofthe Minaret — The Charshee — Travelling Hyperboles — Silk Bazar — Silk Merchants' Khan — Fountains of Broussa — Broussa and Lisbon — The Baths — Wild Flowers — Tzekerghe — Mosque of Sultan Mourad — Madhouse — Court of the Mosque — Singular Fountain — Mausoleum of Sultan Mourad — Golden Gate — Local Legend — The Tomb-house — More Vandalism — Ancient Turban — Comfortable Cemeteries — Subterranean Vault — Great Bath — Hot Spring — Baths and Bathers — Miraculous Baths — Armenian Doctress — Situation of Tzekerghe — Storks and Tortoises — Turkish Cheltenham 204

Chapter XVI

Difficulty of Access to the Chapel of the Howling Dervishes — Invitation to Visit their Harem — The Chapel — Sects and Trades — Entrance of the Dervishes — Costume— The Prayer — Turning Dervishes — Fanatical Suffering — Groans and Howls — Difficulty of Description — Sectarian Ceremony — Music versus Madness — Tekie of the Turning Dervishes ....... 224

Chapter XVII

Loquacious Barber — Unthrifty Travellers — Mount Olympus — Early Rising — Aspect ofthe Country at Dawn — Peasants and Travellers — Fine View — Peculiarity of Oriental Cities — Stunted Minarets — Plains and Precipices — Halting-Place — Difficulty of CONTENTS. ♦ Ascending the Mountain — Change of Scenery — Repast in the De3art — Civil Guide — Appearance of the Mount — Snows and Sunshine — Fatiguing Pilgrimage — Dense Mists — Intense Cold —Flitting Landscape — The Chibouk — The Giant's Grave — The Roofless Hut — Lake of Appollonia — The Wilderness — Danger ous Descent — Philosophic Guide — Storm among the Mountains — The Guide at Fault — Happy Discovery — Tempest 235

Chapter XVIII

The Armenian Quarter of Broussa — Catholics and Schismatics — Armenian Church — Ugly Saints — Burial Place of the Bishops — Cloisters — Public School — Mode of Rearing the Silk Worms — Difference between the European and the Asiatic Systems — Colour and Quantity of the Produce — Appearance of the Mulberry- Woods 252

Chapter XIX

The Cadi's Wife — Singular Custom— Hai'se Hanoum — The Odalique — The Cadi— Noisy Enjoyment — Lying in State— Cachemires — Costume — Unbounded Hospitality of the Wealthy Turks — The Dancing Girl — Sairyn Hanoum — Contrast .... 258

Chapter XX

Tzekerghe — Bustling Departure — Turkish Patois — Waiting Maids and Serving Men — Characteristic Cavalcade — Chapter of Accidents — Train of Camels — Halt of the Caravan — Violent Storm — Archbishop of Broussa — The Old Palace — Reception Room — Priestly Humility — Greek Priests — Worldly and Monastic Clergy — Morals of the Papas — Asiatic Pebbles — Moudania— Idleness of the Inhabitants — Decay of the Town— Policy of the Turkish Government — Departure for Constantinople . . . 268

Chapter XXI

Death in the Revel — Marriage of the Princess Mih irmah — The Imperial Victim— The First Lover— Court Cabal— Policy of the Seraskier— The Second Suitor— The Miniature— The Last Gift— Interview between the Sultan and Mustapha Pasha CONTENTS. IX

Chapter XXII

Yenekeui — The Festival of Fire — Commemorative Observance — Fondness of the Orientals for Illumination— Frequency of Fires in Constantinople — Dangerous Customs — Fire Guard — The Seraskier's Tower — Disagreeable Alarum — Namik Pasha — The Festival Localized— Veronica — Bonfires — Therapia and Buyukdere — Singular Effect of Light — The Armenian Heroine — A Wild Dream 294

Chapter XXIII

A Chapter on Caiques — The Sultan's Barge — Princes and Pashas — The Pasha's Wife — The Admiralty Barge — The Fruit Caique — The Embassy Barge — The Omnibus Caique — Turkish Boatmen — The Caique of Azme Bey — Pleasant Memories — The Chevalier Hassuna de Ghies — Natural Politeness of the Turks — Turkey and Russia — Sultan Mahmoud — Confusion of Tongues — Aris Bey — Imperial Present — The Fruit of Constantinople — The Two Banners — The Harem — Azime Hanoum . . THE CITY OF THE SULTAN.

Chapter I

Easter with the Greeks— Greek Church at Pera— Women's Gallery — Interior of a Greek Church — The Sanctuary — The Screen — Throne of the Patriarch — The Holy Sepulchre — Singular Appearance of the Congregation — Sociability of the Ladies — L'Echelle des Marts— Shipping — Boats and Boatmen — Church of the Fanar — Ancient Screen — Treasure Chests — The Sanctuary — Private Chapels — A Pious Illumination — Priests' House — Prison — Remedy against Mahomedanism — Midnight Mass — Unexpected Greetings — The Patriarch — Logotheti — Russian Secretaries — Russian Supremacy in Turkey — Affinity of Religion between the Greeks and Russians — The Homage — Pious Confusion — Patriarch's Palace — Lovely Night-Scene — Midnight Procession — Serious Impressions — Suffocating Heat — Dawn. Our own Easter was over.

The last dinner had been eaten, the last quadrille had been danced ; poli tics had succeeded to parties, and diplomacy to dissi pation ; when the Greeks were preparing to celebrate the festival with all the pomp and circumstance of the most gorgeous and glowing of religions. I took this opportunity of paying my first visit to the Greek vol. ir. B *t GREEK CHURCH AT PERA. Church of Pera; an elegant edifice built at the ex pense of the Russian government, and richly decorated with blue and gold ; where the service is performed both in Greek and Russ, all the priests attached to it being Russians. A Greek lady, whose acquaintance I had made, politely offered me the use of her seat, which I accepted the more gladly, that without such accommo dation I must have failed in my attempts to witness the ceremony ; most of the females being obliged to content themselves with hearing the service, without a hope of seeing it.

This difficulty arises from the fact that the women are not permitted to occupy the body of the church, but are confined to a gallery so closely latticed that it is impossible for those below to catch the faintest glimpse of the secluded fair-ones. The appearance of a Greek church differs from those of the Roman Catholics, infinitely more than do the several religions. The Sanctuary, in the midst of which stands the High Altar, is separated from the church by a close screen ; and there are neither aisles nor side chapels. The whole edifice is lighted by chandeliers suspended from the ceiling in three straight lines, reaching from the Sanctuary to the principal entrance : and the screen is ornamented with the effigies of saints, hardly and drily painted; which frequently figure in such sort in their temples as tho roughly to exonerate them from the imputation of making to themselves the " likeness of any thing in THE PATRIARCH'S THRONE. 3 Heaven, or on earth, or in the waters under the earth."

Nor is this all ; for the pious being to the full as prone to make votive offerings to their favourite saints as any Catholic in Spain or Portugal, the staring, wooden pictures are furthermore decorated with gold and silver hands, eyes, ears, or noses, as the case may be ; which gives them so comical an effect that the gravest person cannot contemplate them without a smile. The centre of the screen is closed by a curtain above the low double door opening into the church — the veil shrouding from the eyes of the congregation " the holy of holies," according to the old Jewish use. On the present occasion, the curtain was drawn back, and the High Priest was robing himself in front of the altar. The Patriarch's throne was on the right hand, and immediately opposite to it was the pulpit ; while at the bottom of the church on each side of the door stood two enormous chests of polished wood, containing the church plate and properties.

In the centre of the marble floor was placed the boast and treasure of the chapel — a stone which once formed part of the Sepulchre of tlie Saviour, affirmed to have been brought from the Holy Land, and ultimately deposited here. The crush towards this point was enormous : the dense crowd shoving and elbowing each other most determinedly to secure an approach ; which, when they had effected it, enabled them to cross themselves, according to the rite of their church, seven times sucb FEMALE SOCIABILITY. cessively with a rapidity only to be acquired by long practice, and to kiss each extremity of the stone, leaving a piece of money in the salver of the attendant priest. Huge wax candles of at least seven inches in dia meter were burning in front of the Sanctuary, and on the canopy covering the Sepulchre ; and the glare fell upon a dense crowd of heads, some shaven close, some decorated with a single long tress of hair hanging from the summit; some halfshaved, as though a platter had been adjusted to the cranium of the individual, and that the barber had operated round its edges ; and others with long dishevelled elf-locks falling about their shoulders — the effect was perfectly ludicrous !

Meanwhile, the ladies in the gallery were not idle : compliments were exchanged — inquiries made and answered — and conversations carried on, as coolly as though the interlocutors had been quietly seated in their own houses : while every five or six minutes a priest made his appearance, bearing a salver to receive the donations of the pious and charitable. But I soon wearied of the nasal, monotonous chant of the offici ating priests, which more than counteracted the light and gladsome aspect of the edifice ; and, satisfied with having seen a great deal of paint and gilding, and a rich display of tissue and embroidery, as well as a holy scuffle among the crowd at a particular period of the service, to possess themselves of the candles that had lit up the Sepulchre, I escaped from the scene of pious SHIPPING IN THE HARBOUR. confusion ; and slowly taking my way through the cypress-shaded burial ground, and onward to the Echelle des morts, I gladly stepped into the caique, to share, beneath the hospitable roof of a friend, in the magnificent ceremonials which were to take place in the ancient patriarchal church at the Fanar.

As we traversed the port, I was struck by the various character of the shipping, more than usually conspi cuous under a flood of bright sunshine. The vessels of war, (one of them the largest in the world) were lying like floating cities on the still surface of the mirror-like Bosphorus : the foreign merchant ships, anchored in dense ranks along the shore, with their sails furled, and their slender masts shooting upwards, like the tall stems of a wind -stripped forest — the Arab vessels, with their sharp high prows and sterns, precisely as I had often seen them represented on the antique medals — the steam-packets, dark and motionless like ocean monsters, about to vomit forth their volumes of thick, suffocating smoke upon the clear air; while about, and around, and among all these, darted, and glided, and whirled, the slender caiques of polished and carved walnut wood, with their gracefully-clad rowers, and their minute gilded ornaments glittering in the light ; the sharp shrill cry of " On the European side" — "On the Asiatic side!" — ringing upon the ear every moment, as the boatmen indicated each to the other which course to steer, in order to leave to all a free passage.

SCREEN OF THE SANCTUARY. We landed on a terrace overhanging the water, at the extremity of our friend's garden ; and after taking coffee with the ladies, immediately set forth to visit the church by daylight. Though more limited in its di mensions, and less rich in its decorations, than the church at Pera, it nevertheless pleased me infinitely better ; there was an air of time-hallowed holiness about the whole of its interior, far more attractive than the unfaded paint and fresh gilding which I had seen in the morning. The Patriarch's throne, simple, and even clumsy in its form and fashion, had existed for twelve hundred years, and was consequently respectable from its antiquity ; close beside it stood the raised and high-backed chair of Logotheti ; and about twenty feet beyond, stretched the magnificent screen of the Sanctuary, delicately carved in dark oak.

This screen particu larly attracted me, the workmanship was so minute and elaborate, and the columns which separated the panels in such high and bold relief. Here, as at Pera, dry, hard, savage-looking Saints ornamented the spaces between them, and were equally decorated with the incongruous and disjointed offerings of their votaries. The most popular personage of the whole calendar among the Greeks is decidedly St. George, who had no less than two entire effigies in beaten silver in this church. The pulpit was of mosaic, thickly overstrown with stars of mother-of-pearl ; and two large chests, THE WOMEN'S GALLERY. 7 similar to those which I have already named, were composed of the same materials. The women's gallery was even more closely latticed than that at Pera, and the flood of light without was admitted so sparingly by the high and infrequent casements, that a solemn twilight reigned throughout the edifice, which accorded admirably with its antique and somewhat gloomy cha racter.

Thanks to the guidance under which we entered, the priest who had opened the doors for us was obliging enough to walk to the other extremity of the church, and thus leave us the opportunity of penetrating into the Sanctuary, which the profane foot of woman is supposed never to tread. It consisted of a small cha pel, containing an altar by no means remarkable, spread with the sacramental plate : a high-backed chair of marble for the Patriarch, a fountain for the use of the officiating priests, a few miserable oil paintings, and a vast number of small pictures of Saints and Virgins, placed there during a certain time for " a consideration," to become hallowed by the sanctity of the spot ere they were removed to the pri vate chapels of the different families : every Greek, however limited in fortune, having an apartment in his house fitted up as an oratory.

I was, however, much more amused (for that is the only applicable word) in watching the proceedings of a Greek lady who had accompanied me, than in con templating the portly saints and florid martyrs by POPULAR SAINTS. whom I was surrounded. A slight iron rail runs along the screen at the base of the paintings for the purpose of supporting the tapers which the zeal of the pious may be inclined to burn in their honour ; and my companion was busily employed in lighting a score of these minute candles at a lamp that is constantly left burning for the purpose ; humming in an under tone, while she did so, the barcarolle in Masaniello, which was exchanged, as she commenced her survey of the holy group, for such exclamations as the fol lowing : — " The Virgin — I shall give her four, because my own name is Mary — and look, I pray you, at the pretty effect of her gold hand, and her silver crown, with the light flashing on them.

Now comes St. George — I like St. George, so he shall have two. Who is this ? Oh ! St. Nicholas ; I cannot bear St. Nicholas, so I shall pass him by." I ventured to intercede in his favour. " Very well, then, as you wish it, there is one for him ; but he never was a favourite of mine : there are two saints in the calendar to whom I never burn a taper — St. Nicholas and St. Demetrius." It was, however, finally settled that no partialities were to be indulged on the present occasion, and con sequently the effect produced was that of a miniature illumination. My curiosity being satisfied, and the pious offering of my companion completed, we pro ceeded to make a tour of the vast monastic-looking THE PRISON. 9 building forming one side of the enclosure, and which is appropriated to the priests.

Ascending an external flight of steps, we found ourselves in a wide gallery, whence the apartments opened on the right and left, precisely as the cells are arranged in a convent. One of these small, but comfortable, rooms is allotted to each individual ; and those which we visited were very carefully carpeted and curtained, with divans of chintz, and every luxury customary in Greek apartments. In many of them we found ladies taking coffee with their owners, while servants were hurrying to and fro, full of bustle and importance. Altogether there was an atmosphere of comfort about the establishment, which quite made me over look its otherwise dreary extent ; and as I passed out by another door, having before me the Palace of the Patriarch, I felt no inclination to commiserate the worldly condition of his subordinates.

From the Priest's House we proceeded to the prison,* where we found one miserable urchin of twelve years old, " in durance vile " for an attempt to turn Mus selmaun; he was ragged and almost barefooted, and some pious Turk had promised to recompense his apostacy with a new suit, and a pair of shoes ; but, unfortunately for the cause of the Prophet, the boy was caught in the act of elusion, and delivered up by * The fact of the Patriarch being not only the head of the church, but also the chief magistrate of his nation, will account for the proxi mity of the prison to the Episcopal Palace. B THE PRISON. his exasperated parents to the authority of the Church, which had already kept him a prisoner for eight days, and was about to send him, with a chain about his leg, to spend a month in a public mad-house !

What analogy the good Papas had found between the mosque and the mad-house I know not ; but the punishment was certainly a most original and frightful one. The boy told us his own tale, and then added, with a broad grin, that he would take them in at last. Two other prisoners, accused of theft, were about to suffer their sentence in a day or two : exile in both cases, accompanied by branding on the breast in the most aggravated of the two; and, meanwhile, close confinement. They were a couple of shrewdlooking, desperate ruffians, and laughed in his face as the keeper spoke of them. We were then shown the bastinado, and the rings and chains for insubordinate prisoners ; and, after having made a donation which was received with a surprise perfectly untrammelled with gratitude, I returned to the residence of our hospitable friends, with the rattling of fetters in my ears, and a thousand gloomy fancies floating over my brain.

At half past ten o'clock we repaired once more to the Church, in order to assist at the midnight mass ; where a Greek lady very politely gave up her seat to me, that I might have an uninterrupted view of the ceremonies. The service had already commenced when we entered, and the whole interior of the edifice was one blaze of light. The thirty chandeliers suspended THE MIDNIGHT MASS. from the ceiling threw a many-coloured gleam on the crowd beneath them, from their pendants of tinted glass ; and the huge candles in front of the Sanctuary, and the tapers burning before the saints, added to the brightness of the glare ; which, penetrating through the lattices of the gallery, enabled me to contemplate as extraordinary a scene as I had ever witnessed in a place of worship. The fair tenants of the front seats presented much the same appearance as a parterre of flowers ; there were turbans of every tint, dresses of every dye, bonnets of every form : and such a constant flutter, fidget, and fuss ; such bowing, smiling, and whispering, that I began to fancy there must be some mistake, and that we were, in fact, gathered together to witness some mere worldly exhibition.

But the monotonous chanting of the priests, which had been momentarily suspended, was suddenly renewed; and I turned away from a score of polite greetings, offered by persons of whom I had not the slightest recollection, but to whom I had doubtlessly been presented during the carnival, in order to observe the proceedings beneath me. The Patriarch was seated on his throne, dressed in a vestment of white satin, clasped on the breast with an immense diamond ornament, over which was flung a scarf of gold tissue ; the borders of the robe were wrought to about a foot in depth with portraits of the saints in needlework of different colours, interspersed with gold and silver threads. His crown of crimson RUSSIAN ATTACHES. velvet was nearly covered with immense pearls, fashioned into different figures ; the intermediate spaces being occupied by rubies, emeralds, and brilliants, of great beauty and lustre.

He held his staff in one hand, and in the other the Gospel, bound in white satin, and studded with jewels ; and, at every movement that he made, the tapers by which he was sur rounded flashed back the radiance of his elaborately gemmed habit in a coruscation perfectly dazzling. Beside him, and on a level with the throne, sat Logotheti, in an uniform richly embroidered with silver ; my father was beside him ; and at the foot of his chair stood Vogoride ; while immediately in front of the throne, in a line with the pulpit, four of the Rus sian Secretaries occupied a crimson-cushioned seat. whence they had a full view of the Sanctuary. Among the numerous causes, all working towards the same centre of Russian supremacy in Turkey, one of the most dangerous for the Moslem is the com munity of religion between the Russian and the Greek.

The Autocrat has built a church for the Greeks in the vicinity of Constantinople, and the arms of Russia sur mount the portal ! The attache's of the Russian Em bassy, while the members of all the other Legations are either sleeping or feasting, are meekly kneeling before the throne of the Greek Patriarch, and humbly kissing the hand which is extended to them ! The act in itself is simple. It is the effect that it produces on the minds of the mass which is to be COMMUNITY OF RELIGION. dreaded. The expression of delighted admiration on the countenances of the crowd was a perfect study, as, following in the wake of Logotheti and Vogoride, ere less important persons had an opportunity of doing homage to the Patriarch, the all-powerful agents of all-powerful Russia bent a willing knee to kiss the sacred hand.