1000 volumes, all in French. The latter language and Italian are now taught in the higher schools, so that the knowledge of foreign languages, which was once a reproach in Turkey, is now reputed an honourable distinction-a change of feeling which is full of auspicious promise. The extensive apparatus for education, which is described by the author as existing in Constantinople, is quite surprising. To each of the sixteen royal mosques is attached a college, in each of which the number of pupils varies from 300 to 500; there are besides abundance of free and elementary schools, and an English or American stranger will scarcely walk many paces in the Turkish capital without hearing the voices of numerous urchins raised, in repeating their spelling lessons in the schools. The author calculates that the number of these institutions in Constantinople is not under 1000.

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Although the art of printing was not introduced into Turkey until the year 1727, the commencement of the reign of our George the Second, yet the works which are now produced at Constantinople would, in respect of the style of printing, &c., do honour to any city. The alphabet of the Turkish language, however, presents many difficulties, and so unwillingly are those encountered, that many are led to write in the letters of the Armenian language. The Armenians in fact, at least the great bulk of them, speak Turkish, and write it in the Armenian characters. The author mentions that the tract societies send the compositions, which are written in Turkish in the Armenian characters, to the Turks, who cannot possibly understand their own language in this disguise; and he has seen distributed amongst the Turks translations into this Armeno-Turkish dialect, Goldsmith's History of Rome, Young's Night Thoughts, the Sacrifice of Isaac, the Sale of Joseph, the Passion of Christ, and other works.

His next visit was to Dolmabatchi, one of the places to which travellers resort, in the neighbourhood of Constantinople. Here he had the opportunity of spending a short time in one of those vast burying grounds which form the great peculiarity of every Turkish city. At the head of each grave is a stone, with its upper part worked into the resemblance of a turban: and on the more antient of the tombstones the turbans assume a very fantastic appearance. But this taste is latterly abandoned, as is indeed every form of turban whatever, and their place is occupied pretty generally by a representation of a fez, or red cap, now the universal fashion in Turkey. The women's graves have neither turban nor fez, and are altogether different in their shape from those of the men. The inscriptions generally consist merely of the name and occupation of the deceased, and end by a recommendation of his soul to God. Nothing that can even intimate eulogy, or any opinion of the character of the deceased, ever makes its appearance on a tombstone. In the Arme

nian churchyards the tombstones present the marks of more elaborate ornament. The emblem of his trade, or calling, is neatly sculp

tured on the tombs of each of this people; as, for instance, an inkstand for a lawyer, an adze for a carpenter, an anvil for a blacksmith, or a laneet for a doctor. In some instances, where the defunct has made his exit by violence, the manner of his death is faithfully depicted on his tomb. Thus, on one stone, after mentioning the name and date of his death, the deceased is represented on his knees with his head in his hands, while jets of blood spout from his neck in stiff curves, like those issuing from a beer-bottle on a tavern sign. On another the deceased is represented as swinging gracefully from a tree, to denote that he had perished by strangulation. The author mentions, respecting these Armenian churchyards, that there is one little circumstance connected with these tombstones which displays an amiable trait of character. On the upper corner of each stone are two small cavities, which are usually filled with water. The intention of this is to supply a drink to the thirsty birds, and indeed to invite them to take up their residence in the neighbourhood, and by their song to give additional cheerfulness to the spot. It is not, however, exclusively an Armenian practice, for the Turks and other orientals have the same custom ensi

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Amongst the oriental lions, visited by the author during the course of his residence in Constantinople, was the chapel of the dancing, or rather waltzing, dervises. The building provided for them is described as beautiful and tasteful. Having arrived at the chapel, he and his companions took off their shoes and boots, and entered the sacred precincts just as the exercises began. Within a large area, in the centre of the chapel, and railed off from the spectators, five dervises were spinning round like tops, while an instrument like a flageolet, but blown through the nose, poured forth from the gallery a monotonous and lugubrious air. The heads of the dervises were covered with a high conical cap, a tight short jacket enveloped the body, and a coarse loose gown completed their attire. Anlaged dervise stood at the eastern side of the enclosure, and appeared to be at the same time the master of ceremonies, and the chief object of the adoration of the others. While they were performing their gyrations their eyes were closed, their hands stedfastly extended, and their gowns opened out by their revolutions, in the manner of making cheeses," as practised by our little folks at home. Gradually the music assumed a louder tone, and a tambourine and ket tledrum struck in with the wild and plaintive strain. At the expiration of about five minutes the music and the spinning ceased, and then commenced a series of bows, which would have been deemed graceful even in a Parisian salon. After performing several of these salaams with divers ad libitum variations, and the perspiration oozing from every pore, they again began spinning upon the carefully waxed floor, while several male voices now joined in the plaintive chorus. At two o'clock the music, the spinning, the singing, and the bowing ceased; the waltzers dropped on their knees with their faces to the ground, while the attendants threw over them thick

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cloaks to prevent their cooling too suddenly. They left the chapel with mingled feelings of contempt at witnessing such monstrous absurdities, practised under the name of religion; and pity for the audience, who seemed disposed to consider them in the light of divine inspirations.

It appears that by the very extraordinary state policy of the Turkish empire, the princes of the blood are kept strict prisoners, within the precincts of the seraglio, until their death or elevation to the throne. This is a point of policy which has its good consequences, and had it been possible to introduce it into Europe some centuries ago, humanity might have been spared many a year of lamentation. The relative state of the female sex in Turkey is one of the subjects which the author has chosen for his most elaborate inquiries. The domestic state in which husband and wife spend their lives, is thus pleasantly described by him :

'A long room, communicating with several others, is the ordinary living apartment of the women and female domestics. In this room all the household operations, such as sewing, spinning, weaving, &c., are performed, and here, too, they take their meals. Around this room is a range of closets or cupboards three feet high, which contain domestic utensils, clothes, and other articles appertaining to a household. Upon the top of these closets they sleep at night, and, similar to the men, with their clothes on. This unseemly practice they have in common with the Greeks, who do not, however, correct it like the Turks by frequent ablutions, and who are said, at least the lower classes, to wear out a suit of clothes before it leaves their backs. The apartments for the husband and the male domestics offer nothing peculiar, except that they are distinct from those of the women; in some houses the communication is completely cut off, except by a single door, of which the husband and wife have each a key. In others, the food prepared by the women is conveyed into the salamlik by means of a revolving cupboard, similar to the contrivances used in the convents of Europe. The entrance from the streets is equally distinct, and it is needless to add that the women have free ingress and egress. It is probable that the women are quite as much satisfied with this arrangement as the men; and if the truth could be ascertained, it would no doubt be discovered that it originated with the women themselves. They must certainly be rid of those thousand petty annoyances which, we are assured on competent authority, even the best of husbands are but too apt to create in an orderly family. For example, they are free from the nuisance of tobacco-smoke, of entertaining husband's "dear five hundred friends," of being compelled to listen to long-winded prosy conversations on trade or politics, and they are scarcely responsible for husband's appearance when he goes abroad. As they take their meals separately, there can be no sour looks or tart remarks should the beef be underdone, or the soup be parboiled; and as the marketing is done by the women, the poor man must, perforce, receive thankfully whatever is placed before him, and swallow it without grumbling.'-p. 267.

Marriage is looked upon universally with the greatest veneration by the Turks; widows usually marry again, and old maids

have the reputation of being in a permanent state of sin, as transgressors of the divine law. The period of legal marriage is fixed for the male at 12, for the female 9 years. A man, by the letter of the law, may have four wives, but public opinion is entirely against such a number, and there are instances where even a minister became the object of public ridicule for availing himself of the licence of the law. But Turkey, like many other parts of the world, is inhabited by a race whose wishes and practices are modified constantly by the impulses and motives which govern the rest of mankind. Polygamy is one of the most inconvenient of all embarrassments to which a man can be subject, to say nothing of it in a moral and philosophical light. The expensive maintenance of two or three wives, the state of anxiety in which the general husband of these wives is kept by their broils, besides which, in numerous instances, parents foreseeing these consequences, will not allow their daughters to be married to a man already provided with a spouse; all these causes, we repeat, have contributed, and will contribute, to undermine the system of polygamy whereever it is established, and nothing will preserve the existence of an institution so based in error, except a state of absolute barbarism, such as still subsists in the islands of the Pacific. Thus, in Turkey, it is now the practice for a man, when he marries, to enter into a contract with the parents not to take a second wife as long as the first one lives. Marriage is considered as a civil contract, and is performed by the imaun, at the house of the groom, the bride being present only by proxy. To give additional sanc tity, however, to the contract, it is not unusual for both to visit the nearest mosque, accompanied by their relatives, where certain formalities are performed. Presents are of course exchanged beforehand, and a certain time is allowed for the future husband to make arrangements for the dowry to be settled on his spouse. Weddings usually last four days, and this time is consumed in frolicking and feasting. They usually commence on Monday, so as not to interfere with their sabbath, which, as is well known, occurs on Friday.

The author declares, not only as the result of his personal experience, but as the fruit of numerous inquiries from persons well acquainted with Turkey, that the women of that country enjoy a greater share of practical liberty than those of the boasting com munities either of Europe or America. He states, too, as a remarkable proof of the general respect which is paid to the women of Constantinople, that they elbow their way through a crowd regardless of the consequences; a conduct which at once argues a degree of courage totally inconsistent with the notion that such persons could be merged in a state of profound slavery. In their dress alone has the author noticed any great difference between the Turkish women and those of Europe. The out-door head dress of all classes, he describes as consisting of a white handker

chief, covering the head and part of the face; shence they are totally free from all anxiety about the choice of a spring or fall bonnet. A plain cloth cloak, or feridjee, covers the whole pers son, and of course leaves no scope for extravagance in silk or mes rino dresses, to be rejected at the end of the month as vulgar, because their dear friends have already the same pattern. Instead of gloves and stockings, they stain their fingers and toes with khennah, and of course no inconsiderable items of expense is avoided. They give no grand entertainments, where ostentation and display are substituted for friendly intercourse, and, as thea tres, balls, and routs are alike unknown, they usually contrive to reach a healthy old age.olót an

...The slave-market, and the state of the domestic slaves of Turs key, are next noticed by the author, who gives good reasons for the opinion, that, in the one case as well as in the other, the individuals implicated are far better off in Turkey than they could be at home. After a very full account of the negotiation for and ras tification of a treaty between America and the Sublime Porte, the author proceeds to give us an account of the Armenians, who constitute so large a portion of the Christian community of the East. An interesting description of the Turkish naval force, with an estimate of its strength, next follows. The state of disci pline amongst the officers of the navy particularly, is very barbarous, if we are to credit the anecdotes which are related to illustrate its condition. There is no respect or etiquette kept up between the officers of different ranks, and blows are distributed rather more freely among the officers than upon the crew.ok An admiral will pull a captain by the beard, or slap his face, without ceremony; a captain will kick a commandant, the commandant tweak the nose of a lieutenant, and a lieutenant whip a score of middies before breakfast, upon the slightest provocation. Nor is this all; the captain pacha has the power of life and death over all his officers and crews, a power which he exercises without ceremony or responsibility. When a culprit is brought before the present captain pacha, he is questioned as to his crime or fault, and asked to explain. If the fault is trifling, the pacha usually knocks him down by a blow upon the head with a ponderous club, and when he comes to, he finds himself in his own berth, and returns to duty as if nothing had happened. If the crime be a serious one, the pacha orders him to retire, and by a sign intimates the punishment. He is strangled immediately upon leaving the cabin, and his body thrown overboard..

The author describes a Turkish dinner, at which he attended, and which was given by a person of rank. It was remarkable for the great profusion of the viands, there being nearly forty dishes served up in succession. The wines were circulated with great liberality, but the Turks could not be prevailed on to intermits their usual abstinence. It was not until he had been in Constan