MAP
of EUROPE.
THE
Habitable World
DESCRIBED.
Inscribed by Permission to His Royal Highness Frederick
DUKE OF YORK, &c. &c.
HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE
LONDON: Published as the Act directs, by the Author. No . 62. Wardour-Street, Soho.
1788.
THE HABITABLE WORLD DESCRIBED, OR THE PRESENT STATE OF THE PEOPLE IN ALL PARTS OF THE GLOBE, FROM NORTH TO SOUTH; SHEWING The Situation, Extent, Climate, Productions, Animals, &c. &c. of the different Kingdoms and States; Including all the new Discoveries: TOGETHER WITH The Genius, Manners, Customs, Trade, Religion, Forms of Government, &c. of the Inhabitants, and every thing respecting them, that can be either entertaining or informing to the Reader, collected from the earliest and latest Accounts of Historians and Travellers of all Nations;
With some that have never been published in this Kingdom;
And nothing advanced but on the best Authorities.
WITH A great Variety of MAPS and COPPER-PLATES, engraved in a capital Style, the Subjects of which are mostly
new,
and such as have never yet been given in any English work.
BY THE REV. DR. JOHN TRUSLER.
VOL. XI.
LONDON:
Printed for the AUTHOR, at the LITERARY-PRESS, No. 62, WARDOUR STREET, SOHO; and sold by all Booksellers.
M DCC XCII.
UNITED NETHERLANDS.
CHAP IV.
Of the Provinces of Zealand, Utrecht, and Friesland.
ZEALAND consists entirely of islands, formed by the outlets of the Scheld; it is bounded on the north by the province of Holland, east by Brabant, south by Flanders, and west by the North Sea; its name sufficiently indicates its position. It is said, that these islands formerly joined, and were separated from the continent only by a small channel, like that which separates the island of Anglesea from Wales: this province extends thirty miles in length, and twenty in breadth: its population is by no means considerable; the number of inhabitants are estimated at ninety thousand. The harbours in general are good, and very conveniently situated for commerce.
The islands on the western coasts are defended from the violence of the sea by sand-hills, and on the opposite side by large dykes, which have a breadth of 25 German ells at bottom, and are so wide at top, that two carriages may pass a-breast; their height is also proportionable to their thickness; notwithstanding which, in high tides and stormy weather, the waves force a passage, and even flow over them in many places.
The construction of these dykes is calculated to have cost 17 millions of florins. The annual repairs of them alone, are supposed to absorb all the profits of the lands. If placed in a straight line, they would form a length of forty miles.
Though the inhabitants of the other provinces and foreigners complain of the atmosphere being thick and heavy, yet no people enjoy a more confirmed state of health, or look better, than the natives who are born and bred up here. The soil, too, is very fruitful, and famed for its excellent wheat, as likewise for its madder, the cultivation of which furnishes great employment to the inhabitants of Zealand. It abounds also in good fruits, and its rich pastures are covered with flocks of fine sheep. The sea supplies them with plenty of fish, particularly with oysters, lobsters, and muscles, all of uncommon size and goodness. Fuel is very scarce here; but this is in some measure remedied by the quantities of coal imported from England and Scotland.
The inhabitants are reckoned the most wealthy in all the Netherlands, in a great measure owing to their traffic by sea; and for this indeed they have every convenience that can be desired. Their numerous privateers in time of war, are supposed to have brought great wealth into the country.
The soil of this province is extremely rich, but not applied to pasturage. There is much corn, which appears to be fine and clean; and also some large fields of madder, which is a particular article of culture in this country; it grows on flat lands, formed into regular oblongs by small trenches, and in rows about a foot asunder. It is an odd straggling plant; they keep it very clean by repeated hoeing and weeding, for scarce a single weed is to be seen in a large field; it lyes three years in the ground, unless the growth is very quick, and then it comes up in two; the root is its valuable part, which, when dry, makes a very fine dye. It is esteemed a more profitable plant than any other article of husbandry; but the ground must be picked for it, as it will grow only on certain kinds of soil. The great point is, to find out land that is both dry and fertile; for no soil can be too rich for it. Great quantities are exported from Zealand to London, as the growth does not succeed well in this country, notwithstanding the great endeavours that have been used to cultivate it.
An acre of madder growing near Middleburgh, will produce, one time with another, from three to four hundred florins, if it is in the ground for three years; but then the expences of the management of it, run very high, and several considerable buildings are necessary for manufacturing it: but it is notwithstanding esteemed a more profitable article than either corn or grass.
Middleburg, which is the capital of the province of Zealand, is one of the most considerable cities in the United Provinces; it is very large and well built; the streets are broad, regular, well paved, and kept so very clean and neat, that they are frequently strewed over with sand, and it is customary here for the women to walk about in slippers; the public edifices are striking, and some of them very magnificent. Here are twenty churches, among which that called the New Church, is most admired for its beauty; it has a very handsome cupola over it, and there is great merit in the architecture. Merchant vessels come into the center of the city, by means of a canal, a mile and a half long from the sea: so that Middleburg enjoys a very great commerce, particularly in Spanish and French wines, which are reckoned the staple of the place.
The houses of this place are painted of different colours, some red, some white, some green, and some blue. And every year, as in North Holland, they are all fresh painted. In the summer, it is usual for the maids to get up every morning at 6 o'clock to wash the outside of the windows, by squirting water against them, which they throw up from pails as high as the second floor; and it is pleasant to see a range of industrious wenches through a whole street, striving who can squirt the highest and the furthest.
Flushing, the town of next notice in this province, was famous some years since for the immense contraband trade that was carried on with this country in teas and brandies; and to which the commutation-act was a death blow. Several of the Dutch men of war are laid up here, and its harbour is capable of holding 50 or 60 sail of the line. It lyes three miles from Middleburg, to which there is a paved road lined with trees.
The inhabitants of Middleburg frequently make excursions to this place, to which there are stage-coaches going and coming at certain hours of the day. The town is but a small one, merely surrounding the harbour, over which there is a bridge of boats, that rises and falls with the tide.
This was one of the cautionary towns which the States-general put into the hands of queen
Elizabeth,
for defraying the expences of this nation, in defending them against the king of Spain. It was afterwards restored to them by king
James,
when under his difficulties, for a very small part of the sum which remained due by them to England. This is one of the three places which
Charles
V. advised his son
Philip
II. to preserve with great care. The Zealanders are in general very much attached to the
Orange
family.
The women in the Island of Walcheren are clad for the most part in red cloth, and wear straw hats. When any one dies there, if it is a man, they lay a great bundle at his door; if a child, a little one; if a male, it is put on the right side; if it is a female, on the left. When a woman is brought to bed, they give notice of what sex the child is to the neighbourhood, by tying a piece of lawn to the knocker of the door, made up in the shape of a puppet, and representing the sex of the new-born child.
The province of Utrecht is almost entirely environed by those of Holland and Guelderland. It is esteemed one of the pleasantest and most healthful of the United Netherlands; for here we may be said to tread on firm ground, whereas the maritime provinces are nothing but bogs, rendered habitable by incredible labour and industry. It is about five and twenty miles in length, and nearly as much in breadth.
Utrecht, the capital of this province, stands in a delightful fine corn country, on the river Rhine, which here divides into two branches; it lyes about twenty-five miles south-east of Amsterdam, and as far north-east from Rotterdam. The origin of this city has never been traced out, nor the precise epoch of its being built; it is known, however, to have taken its rise from one of those fortresses which the Romans built, when they conquered this country, as winter-quarters for their legions; but whether by
Julius Caesar,
or by
Drusus,
is uncertain. It is rather conjectured to have been begun by
Drusus,
because the castle of Utrecht went formerly by the name of
Antonia,
who was the wife of
Drusus.
This is one of the first cities in the United Provinces; and as it stands in an healthful air, is much resorted to by persons of distinction, who have fine houses here: it is spacious and very populous. The chief streets, which are regular and well built, are cut through with two canals, called the New Gracht and the Vaert, which run through the whole city, having no fewer than thirty-five bridges over them. Utrecht is larger than the Hague, and next to it is the principal residence of the nobility and people of fashion who live on their fortunes.
The cathedral is in ruins, nor are there any public buildings that deserve notice. The steeple however of this church is one of the highest in Holland, and from the top of it may be seen an extensive prospect over five of the seven provinces, and a great way further towards Cleve in Germany. In a clear day more than fifty walled towns may be seen, not above a day's journey from this city. Among other pious curiosities, they shew in one of the churches a shift without any seam, said to have been worn by the Virgin
Mary.
One of the most agreeable sights here, is what they call their Mall, similar to the Mall in St. James's Park, as it formerly stood, about half as long, and half its breath, and consists of some parrallel walks, regularly planted with lime trees: but that in the middle is properly the mall, with a ring at the end, and enclosed with wooden kirbs to keep in the ball, it being the ground for a Dutch game. Here the best company in Utrecht parade backward and forwards, especially on Sunday evenings in the summer.
Utrecht being on the side of two hills, with a valley between, one canal runs west into the city in this valley, and low houses are built on each bank, so as that their tops are on a level with the streets on both sides above; and there is an arched way under one of the streets, by which carts pass to this canal, as if going into a vault. The sides of the canal above the houses on its banks, are defended by a parapet wall.
The environs of this city are very pleasant, being full of gardens, orchards, canals, and walks; but the soil is too sandy for the rich verdure of meadows, and therefore there are arable lands very near the city.
The fortifications are not strong, by which means, in 1672, the French took it without firing a gun. They kept it in their possession near a couple of years, and were preparing to build a citadel here, when the Germans coming to the assistance of the Dutch, they were obliged to retire; but not without having first levied a heavy contribution on the inhabitants, to the amount of 200,000 pounds. In this city the peace in 1713 was concluded between France, England, Portugal, Prussia, Savoy, and Holland; and here the union of the seven provinces was begun in 1579.
Their university, which was at first only a public school, and founded in 1636, is now in a very flourishing situation. It is very much frequented by Germans, and by some English, who come here for the sake of education and degrees, which are to be obtained here sooner than in England. The students wear their ordinary dress, and board in the town; there being scarce any endowed colleges in Holland, where they live together in societies as they do in our English universities.
In the neighbourhood of Utrecht is the village of Zeyst, which strangers generally visit on account of the neatness of the place, and the great harmony in which the inhabitants live together, who are a society of people termed Moravians, that form a separate community from the rest of their neighbours. This sect, which made a great noise in Europe some years ago, had its origin in Moravia, as far back as the fifteenth century, under the title of
Unitas Fratrum,
or the United Brethren. In the sixteenth century they had upwards of 200 places of worship; but not being permitted to exercise the function of their religion openly in Moravia and Bohemia, where were their principal establishments, they took refuge in the territories of the Count
de Zinzendorf,
who openly espoused their cause, and their sect has now expanded itself in all parts of Europe, and even in Africa and America.
The brethren have adopted the Augsburg confession of faith in their synods. Any minister, whether he be a Lutheran, a Calvinist, or a Moravian, may administer the sacrament among them, without separating himself from the particular sect to which he belongs.
Their service does not last above three quarters of an hour. They sing Lutheran hymns, read one or more chapters of the Bible, and preach. Their church music is the organ, the violin, and the French horn. When the clergymen administer the sacrament, they are dressed in long white garments, tied round with red ribbon, and a violet coloured cap on their head. They keep those festivals observed in the protestant church, besides some few of their own.
They bury their dead in tombs made on purpose, and on Easter Sunday at sun-rise, they go in procession to their burying grounds, which are not, as in other places, distinguished to the sight, but places of repose ornamented and cultivated like pleasant gardens.
What they call their communities, are handsome buildings, inhabited only by themselves. One of them
Louis
XIV. resided in during his stay in the province of Utrecht. They are divided into different classes, which they call choirs. Their classes are, the unmarried men, the unmarried women, the married persons, the widowers, and the widows.— These latter are distinguished by a white ribbon; the unmarried women wear a pale red, and the girls a deep coloured red; the married women a blue. Each class has its habitation apart, under inspectors of their own sex, except the married people, who live by themselves. The superiors of these communities can inflict no punishment besides excomunication and expulsion from the society.
The finances of the society consist in a voluntary contribution every three months. Every member contributes only what he thinks proper, without any question being asked him; yet this confidence is not abused, for the fund of the society is very great. And here let it be observed, that the term
Brethren
is not a mere name; they perform very scrupulously all the duties of brethren.
This sect is composed chiefly of artists; yet those who are in a much more elevated station, frequently become members of it; but every thing is so well regulated, that the rich are not to insult over the poor. Equality is the grand principle which regulates all their actions. The strongest arm assists the weakest. The most industrious administers with his talents to the assistance of those towards whom Heaven has been less bountiful. Violence and oppression do not snatch away the substance of the unfortunate, the widows, and the orphans.
A brother of the unity can only marry a sister of the unity, else he renounces the society. He has not even the liberty to marry whom he pleases of the society. He must take the wife they give him. An American woman sometimes marries a German, and both are ordered off for Asia, or some other place. In other respects, they conform in their marriages to the customs of the country where they live. It is considered as a kind of disgrace to live single.
Amersfort, the second town of the province, fifteen miles north-east of Utrecht, stands in a fruitful country abounding in corn and pasture-ground. At this port are shipped all the goods brought out of Germany by the Hessian waggons, which are consigned to Amsterdam. But what is most remarkable in this neighbourhood, there is a hunting seat of the late king
William,
abounding in game, which stands in a forest, near ten miles in length and five in breadth.
Friesland is so called from the Frisons, an ancient martial people who formerly possessed most of the territory of the United Provinces, and even some parts of Germany. It is bounded by the German ocean on the north; by Groningen on the east; Overyssel on the south; and the Zuyder-sea on the west. Its extent is about forty miles from north to south, and twenty-five from east to west.
Friesland, in its air and soil, very much resembles Holland, especially in the north-west part, which is lower than the sea, and is particularly remarkable for its fine pastures; in which, besides excellent oxen, cows and sheep, are numerous breeds of large horses, which are in very great esteem, and are exported to Germany, and other countries. In the more elevated parts, are good corn lands, and the wheat produced in them is very much admired for the fineness of the ears, and its white flour. The Friesland peas have likewise an agreeable taste, superior to most others.
Their best and almost their only firing is turf, which burns as white, and gives as good a heat as wood: these turf meadows, it is said, being mixed with a bituminous matter, have taken fire at different times, and burnt up the country for several leagues.
The inhabitants, for want of sand-hills along the sea coast, are under the necessity of securing themselves against the sea by dykes. When these dykes were repaired at the expence of the proprietors of estates bordering upon them, they were built very low, and frequently suffered to go so much to decay, as to be unable to withstand the impetuosity of the waves driven against them by a north-west wind; and from the breaches that have been made, the whole country has been frequently laid under water, and great numbers of persons perished, not to mention the loss of their cattle. In order to preserve themselves as much as possible, when under these calamities, the inhabitants raised several eminences from twenty to twenty-five feet high, and of considerable circumference, to which, unless they were intercepted by the rapidity of the inundations, they betook themselves with their cattle and household furniture, and remained there till the flood had subsided.
These eminences at first were called Waerd, or Werd, afterwards Terp. In process of time, houses, or rather whole villages and towns, were built on these mounts, and hence it is, that the names of many places in Friesland end in Werd and Terp. These dykes however, are now constructed at the public expence, and being consequently made higher and wider, the eruptions of the sea are less frequent.
In the number of the canals with which it is intersected, Freisland may vie with Holland. These canals, as in Holland, serve not only for carrying the superfluous waters into the sea, but for the facility of commerce.
The inhabitants still retain that strong passion for liberty which distinguished their ancestors, together with their old customs and manners of living, even to the ancient Frison dialect and accent; which make their language as unintelligible to the rest of the Dutch, as the Welch language is in England.
The people of this province are, for the most part, martially inclined, and chuse to follow the camp rather than apply themselves to trade. Their nobility and gentry, in particular, are very averse to marry into the families of merchants or mechanics, and delight in dress and magnificent equipage more than their southern neighbours. In their fashions the better class of people follow the French; but in their hospitality and convivial mode of living, the Germans. The lower class dress as do the peasants in Guelderland.
Friesland, however, is not without some manufactures, and is more particularly famous for its linen ones, which are esteemed the finest in Europe; the price at prime cost being no less than twelve Dutch guilders an ell.
Though the majority of the inhabitants are Calvinists, yet there are a great many Catholics, and still more of the Mennonites in this province: this is the less to be wondered at, as
Menno Simon,
from whom they derive their name, first propagated his doctrines in this province.
Leuwarden, which is the capital of the province, is surrounded with some slight fortifications; its streets are regular, well built, and kept very clean; and in some part of it there are canals, as in the towns of the other provinces, with rows of trees. It was formerly the residence of the Stadtholder, who has a palace here, which, however, contains nothing in it worthy of of being noticed. The states still continue to assemble here. There was formerly a bay extending from the north sea up to this city; but being gradually dried up, the ground has been cultivated and built upon. There is likewise a canal from this place to Dockum, a town which is only remarkable for having a bridge, lofty enough to admit ships sailing under it full masted.
The south-east part of this province is but poor land, much of it sandy, and not so well inhabited as the rest. Their farmers are in general reckoned good ones, and though not equal to the best in Flanders, yet they cultivate several articles in greater perfection than in that famous territory; particularly carrots and turneps. In manufactures, the province of Holland exceeds them much, though they possess some considerable fabrics of woollen cloths, besides their famous one of linens, which we have already noticed.
CHAP. V.
Of the Provinces of Overyssel, Groningen, Guelderland, &c.
THE province of Overyssel is bounded by Groningen on the north, by Munster on the east, by Guelderland on the south, and by the Zuyder-sea on the west; it extends near sixty miles in length, and forty in breadth. Till the year 1540, it made part of the province of Utrecht, and in ancient times it composed part of Friesland. This country is by no means peopled in proportion to its extent. The soil is for the most part marshy, and yields nothing but turf, but along the Yssel there is some very good corn land, and some pasture ground, but it falls far short of the richness of the pastures in the other provinces; and instead of being the property of particular persons, belongs in common to the inhabitants of the nearest villages; it is also a fine sporting country. The climate resembles that of Westphalia very much, on which it borders; and like that part of Germany, it has very extensive commons, which produce little or nothing.
The nobility of this province are more numerous than any other; and a nobleman, in order to be admitted into the assembly of his class, must not only prove his descent, and that he is of the Calvinist religion, but likewise shew that he is twenty-four years of age, and that he has an estate in the province sufficient to qualify him to be summoned to the assembly, that is to say, of 25,000 guilders. Any nobleman likewise, who is in the army, and is possessed of these qualifications, is capable of being a member of the regency, provided he be not below the rank of captain; but when military affairs come into consideration, he must quit the assembly.
The principal towns in this province are Deventer, Campen, and Zwoll.
The country about Deventer is rich and well cultivated, but there are some marsh lands and sandytracks in it. The city carries a tolerable appearance of trade though nothing in comparison of what it possessed when it was a Hanse Town. There are many people of fortune here, who make it their residence, which renders the town chearful, and the more agreeable to strangers; but the public buildings have nothing in them deserving notice; though strangers are shewn an uncommon old tower of great antiquity, called the Tower of Nuremberg, built with brick and stone, the walls of which are near twenty feet thick; a remarkable fortification before the invention of that destructive compound with salt-petre. In this city is brewed an excellent beer, of which great quantities are exported; and the Deventer cakes are celebrated all over these provinces.
Zwoll was anciently a Hanse Town: this was the birth-place of the celebrated
Thomas à Kempis.
It is a very considerable city, and lies between two rivers, a branch of one of which runs through the town. The streets are regular, and well built, and there are several public edifices that will catch the attention of a stranger; the fortifications are its greatest ornament, from being planted all round with trees; it is also a very strong place, being surrounded both with a wall and ramparts, strengthened by large and good bastions, and several outworks; exclusive of three forts near the Yssel to the south-west, which communicate with each other, and with the town by strong lines. The view of erecting these forts in case of a siege, was to secure to the town the means of receiving reinforcements from Gelderland. Without the Kampen, Saen, and Dieser gates, are very handsome suburbs.
Campen has nothing to recommend it but a wooden bridge over the Yssel, of a very curious structure, being 723 feet in breadth, and 20 broad, and built on piles, which are at so great a distance from each other, that the bridge seems suspended in the air. Though, according to the modern system of fortification, this town may not be ranked among the fortresses, yet on an emergency, they can lay all the country round under water.
The PROVINCE of GRONINGEN
Is bounded on the north by the German ocean, on the east by Emden, and on the south by Overyssel. It extends thirty miles in length from east to west, and about twenty from north to south.
In air and soil it bears a very near affinity with Friesland. The land for the most part lyes low, and abounds in fine pastures, though there is some arable land which, says
Marshal,
seemed well managed; for the crops were clean, and the fallows well tilled. On the south side of the province, towards Drenthe, the ground is heathy, sandy, and interspersed with forests. The whole country is exceedingly well peopled. The people seem remarkably chearful and happy. This happiness and content among the lower classes makes travelling very agreeable; for nothing is so miserably irksome as moving through a country whose inhabitants are oppressed with poverty and rags.— These great distinctions are owing to variations of government: arbitrary power spreads nothing but poverty and misery, while a free government makes all the people happy who live under it. All the parts of Holland are much more heavily taxed than any country in Europe where arbitrary power reigns; that is, a given number of people pay more to the state, and yet the individuals are less oppressed and more wealthy.
Absolute power impoverishes so heavily, that the people have nothing to pay; the money torn from them by irregularity and private oppression amounts to infinitely more than all the wealth which goes into the monarch's coffers. The king tyrannizes over the nobility; the nobility over the gentry; the gentry over the tradesmen; and all of them combine to fleece and oppress the countrymen. In such a system from whence can property come? Nothing can exist with security but estates in land; for labour, industry, and ingenuity can only create an income sufficient to pay heavy taxes. As wealth, therefore, is so much the idol and pursuit of all the monarchs in Europe, it is strange that some scheming head has not fallen upon the means of qualifying the effects of arbitrary power for an increase of their subjects wealth.
The great objects that a traveller, especially one who proposes to publish the result of his travels, ought to attend to, are those which have the greatest probability of being useful to his country. It is on this principle we occasionally enter into their mode of agriculture, as well as their police and other circumstances, and it is for the same reason we shall extract the following conversation with a farmer on the eastern part of this province, from
Marshal,
on the management of his land.
This man's farm consisted of 160 acres, in which were included pasture and arable land, as well as marsh and a sandy waste, besides an extensive right of common, for which he paid after the rate of six florins an acre. In walking over a piece of poor sandy ground with him, I enquired whether he could not improve that soil; he answered, it was already very valuable, for the fallow year yielded him, without any tillage, a great crop of fern. This appeared strange; that plant being represented in England as a pernicious weed; but he explained himself by saying, that this fern served him in the most ample manner for littering down his cattle in their winter stalls; by which means this piece of sandy land yielded a very large quantity of manure for his better lands, and at the same time furnished better litter for his cattle than straw, which they wanted in feeding. Upon being told that our farmers kept their cattle in the field during the winter as well as the summer, he seemed surprised, and said all the cattle in his country, both old and young, and of all sorts, were regularly kept in house through the winter. Upon my observing, says
Marshal,
that this must prove an expensive management, he replied, No: but that if it was so, it was absolutely necessary; first for the good of the cattle, which he asserted would be so pinched by the frost in winter, that twice the quantity of food would be insufficient to keep them in heart; and such beasts as were very tender, he thought, would not out-live the winter in the fields. But, says the old man, how is your dung raised, if the cattle in England are kept all the winter in the fields? By keeping our cattle housed, says he, we not only preserve them in good health, but also raise a large quantity of manure, with which we improve those fields that will probably pay the best for it. We very commonly, said he, feed the cattle with hay, turneps, and winter cabbage, and litter them down at the same time with straw; but those among us who have fern on our lands, give the straw to our cattle of inferior value, and litter all sorts with fern, which we find an improvement of the most valuable kind; for it enables us to substitute straw as food; instead of hay, to great part of our stock.
Another material point is the value of dung; we find from experience, that fern makes better manure than straw, and that two loads of dung made with fern, are equal in value to three made with straw. Fern manure will likewise last much longer in the soil than straw. This information, says
Marshal,
I considered as very valuable; for I remember, that in England a great deal of fern grows on very extensive commons, and that no use whatever is made of it; being left to rot in the commons and warrens, as if it was impossible to turn it to any account.
This very intelligent farmer assured me he was the more attentive to this application of his fern, because he found the goodness of his crops depended entirely on the quantities of such manure; and that he should not be able to make any advantage of his farm, if he neglected raising as much dung as possible in winter. He not only made use of his fern for this purpose, but he likewise procured a vast quantity of rushes nd flags to the amount of several waggon loads, from a marshy bit of land he had, which was so much overflowed, that no cattle could get at it, except for about two months in the height of summer. These he applies to the same use as his fern, that is, for littering down his cattle, in which he finds an equal advantage. Another circumstance he made me acquainted with, which it may not be amiss to mention, was a method he had in the management of his dung; when he litters his cattle down with fern or rushes, he strewed sand among it, in pretty large quantities. This, he said, would increase the quantity of manure, and also the quality of it, by absorbing all the urine, and that it was not of the least prejudice to the cattle.
His management of sheep is exactly on the same plan; for, instead of folding them in the fields, as is the custom in England, he all the winter folds them near his barn, and litters them down in the same manner as he does his cows. The old man observing me very attentive to his conversation, extended his walk to shew me his crops, which seemed to be very good; he had fields of most sorts of common grain, and one or two of buck wheat, which he said was very profitable. The only peculiar one, not known in the fields of England, was carrots; he had a long field of them, in which he had a great number of women and children weeding. This be said was the most profitable crop on his farm.
Groningen, the capital of this province, is very handsome, and a remarkably regular built city; the streets cross each other at right angles; having numerous houses, that make a very good appearance; and the public buildings add much to the beauty of the place. It is surrounded with a fortification, which the inhabitants reckon very strong, principally because the out-works were planned by
Cohorn.
St. Martin's church is worth seeing; they have a remarkable organ in it, which is shewn to strangers; and they conduct them to the top of the steeple, from whence there is a very extensive prospect over the adjacent country, and well worth viewing, from its being a country chiefly of rich land, intersected with canals. The great square is remarkably handsome, regularly laid out, and well-built. Here also, though Groningen is an inland place, is a beautiful harbour for ships, well fenced with quays, whereon is a good appearance of business. The canal that brings up these ships is a very noble one. There being other canals which branch every way from hence, the town carries on a good trade with all the neighbouring countries, and pretty far into Germany. Upon the whole, says
Marshal,
I have not, since my arrival in Holland, seen a place that pleased me better.
The PROVINCE of GUELDERLAND
Is bounded by the Zuyder-sea to the north, by Brabant on the south, by Munster on the east, and the Province of Holland on the west. Its extent is about fifty miles from north to south, and nearly as much from east to west. This Province is usually subdivided into three lesser districts; the Veluve, the Betuwe, or ancient Batavia, and the county of Zutphen. The air of this province is for the most part better than in any of the rest; and the soil in general good; though the middle part of the Veluve consists of sandhills, heath and furze. The county of Zutphen is also heathy, but there is such a plenty of apples, pears, and cherries, as to supply all the other provinces with their fruits. Though this province has precedence of all the others, because it was decorated with the title of Duchy at the time of the Union, yet it is at present one of the least important of any of them.
It bears great resemblance to that part of Germany with which it lyes contiguous, except in the state of slavery and misery of the peasants. In no part of the United Netherlands do we see the peasants groaning under the weight of their burthens, and earning a miserable subsistence with the sweat of their brows. The peasants in Holland are always at their ease, and oftentimes rich. They frequently do not deign to reap their own corn, but leave this task to some inferior Germans, who come into these provinces ready to undertake any work.
The republican peasant is well cloathed, his dress ornamented with little gold or silver buttons to his coat and waistcoat, all the way down, placed close to each other, like those on the garment of a Romish priest, with immense silver buttons on the waistband of his trowsers, enormous silver buckles to his shoes, and a large silver watch to shew the hour; he has also a gold button or clasp at his neck before, and garter buckles of the same metal. Many of them drive about in their cabriolets, and the height of their pleasure is to go full trot at the risk of the unfortunate foot passengers who happen to be in their way, to whom they pay no regard.
The female peasants, whose taste of dress is different in different provinces, deck themselves out with bits of gold in their hair, and a kind of gold temple springs that press the temples from behind, as our temple spectacles do from before, and wear a gold or diamond cross hung round the neck, and pendant on their bosom.
With all these ornaments their dress appears ridiculous, and without taste; for dress ever appears ridiculous when it is not suitable to the station of the wearer. With all these appearances of splendor their repasts are economical in the extreme. Some of their peasants even eat their meals without any drink, and wait till they have their tea, before they take any thing to quench their thirst.
Nimeguen is a large and considerable city, strongly fortified, being considered as one of the keys of the United Provinces, and is the capital of that of Guelderland. It is built in the form of a crescent, on five small hills, by the river side, and is very populous, having several manufactures that are flourishing. In St. Stephen's church is a very fine monument of
Catharine
of Bourbon, wife to
Adolph
VII. duke of Guelder. The Stadthouse is a considerable edifice, but has nothing elegant in it. From the old castle, there is a very beautiful prospect of the adjacent country.— Within this castle are most delightful walks planted with several rows of lime trees. This place is much noted for that famous treaty of peace negociated between France and the Confederates in 1678 and 1679, called the treaty of Nimeguen, and of which Sir
William Temple
has left so excellent an account. In 1702, Marshal
Bouflers
formed a design of seizing this place, as being at that time destitute of a garrison; but the Dutch general, the Earl of
Athlone,
made such expedition to its relief, that the Marshal's scheme was frustrated.
Arnheim is another fine city extremely well-built, with several beautiful streets, and delightfully situated on the banks of the Rhine, about ten miles to the north of Nimeguen. It lyes at the foot of the Veluve hills, about two miles from the place where the Yssel and the Rhine divide their streams. Over the latter of these rivers, it has a bridge of boats leading to the Veluve, and before the Rhine gate is a commodious harbour of a quadrangular form. The fortifications on the land side were considerably enlarged in 1702, by that skilful engineer General
Cohorn,
who also inclosed within a strong line an eminence to the west of the town, which, in case of a siege, might have been a great annoyance to it, but is now capable of containing a small camp for its defence. The walls are delightfully planted with lime trees, and may be walked round with ease in an hour and an half.
It is made the winter residence of many persons of fortune and distinction, who spend the summer on their estates in the Veluve. The place is lively, having a greater air of chearfulness and ease than most of those that are to be met with in Holland. I here was treated well, says
Marshal,
and served with a table that almost deserved the epithet of elegant, and yet the expence was not extravagant.
From this place, says he, I made an excursion to see Loo, the famous favourite seat of King
William.
The whole is a vile country, all heaths and forests, and in the midst of which stands the palace; it contains nothing to attract the admiration of an Englishman, who has seen the fine buildings of his own country. The gardens are what the Dutch most admire; but these are quite in the old style, with water-works, basons, and regular cascades; but they shew you the shady walks with a kind of exultation, as if none such were to be met with anywhere else. They are indeed very well planted, and the trees are very large, but all is clipt and regular. This was the seat where King
William
used always to retire, when the affairs of state would permit him; the whole country round abounding in game. West of Loo lyes Adel Lake, noted for its inexhaustible breed of fish.
Zutphen is situated in the midst of drained fens, but is yet reckoned by the inhabitants to have a very wholesome air; it is a large well-built town, and strongly fortified; the public buildings are handsome and deserve notice, particularly a bridge over the Berkel. The old church is a fine building, and the steeple very high; all the towns in Holland have their Stadthouses, as well as Amsterdam; but many of them are very mean edifices, like our town halls in English corporation towns, which are generally heaps of rubbish. This of Zutphen, however, deserves notice. The ruins of a palace are still to be seen here, which, according to the tradition of the place, belonged to the ancient Counts of Zutphen; and near it there is a high brick tower of a pyramidal form, one of the greatest ornaments to the city. The monasteries which were formerly here, are part of them demolished, and the rest converted into hospitals or other secular uses. There are several pleasant walks, particularly on the ramparts, which, like all the others in this country, are planted with trees. The suburbs for the most part consist of little pleasure-houses with small gardens, elegantly laid out in the Dutch taste. It was formrely a Hanse-town. Like most of the towns in this province, it was taken by the French in 1672. Most of the country of Zutphen, and a great part of Guelderland, consist either of marshes, heaths, or but half improved lands: indeed the people are very unequally distributed; the province of Holland is full of cities and towns, and every inch cultivated; but these parts being much more out of the way of trade, are not so thronged with people.
CHAP. XI.
Generalité Lands.
BY the Generalité Lands, is meant that part of the Netherlands which the Seven United Provinces have subdued by force of arms, and which have been solemnly ceded to them by treaties and conventions. This appellation was given to them, on account of their belonging to the United Provinces in general. The nobility and towns of these countries, have frequently solicited to be declared members of the state, and to be permitted to vote as a distinct province in the assemblies of the states-general, but have as often met with a repulse. They retain, however, all the rights and privileges, which they enjoyed when they came under the power of the republic. The hereditary Stadtholder of the United Provinces, is likewise governor-general over all these countries. The established religion in these countries is the Calvinist, as depending upon the states-general; but the Catholics being much more numerous, they are likewise permitted an entire freedom in public worship; processions and other open solemnities excepted.
Bois-le-Duc, which is situated in this district of the United Provinces, is one of the grand frontiers of Holland; it is extremely well fortified by art, and still better by nature. This fortress is situated on a rising ground, in the middle of an extensive marsh, through which there would be no possibility of approaching the place, if there were not causeways made through the marsh, and these are strongly fortified by redoubts. The town is five miles in circumference, and seated on the confluence of the three rivers, Domel, Aa, and Drese; from this place passage-boats go regularly to Rotterdam, as our boats go from London to Gravesend; the ditches round this place are filled by the waters of the rivers, which contribute much to its strength; and forms several very fine canals, which run through the heart of the city; over these there are fifty stone bridges. Ten good streets center in the principal square, which has a fine effect; but this square being surrounded by timber buildings, gives it a mean appearance.
As to public buildings, the church of St.
John
is a very noble one; but the clock, which is shewn with much ostentation, has nothing in it very striking. The Stadthouse is a handsome edifice, raised on the plan of that of Amsterdam, but on a much smaller scale. Here are several very flourishing manufactures, particularly in the linen and woollen way; and some of knives, and other hardware, and also of needles. The linen trade is not so flourishing as formerly, but even this has no reason to complain. The country for some miles to the south-east of this town, has many extensive tracks of waste land, which would answer the expence of cultivation, but the inhabitants do not in general seem attentive to this business, notwithstanding the success that some individuals have met with, who have attempted it.
Breda deserves the traveller's attention; it is large, populous, and well built; and one of the strongest towns in Holland; the fortifications are very regular, and kept in excellent repair; the situation of the place is low; for the sea can be let into the ditches, and from thence over most of the country, which must render an army's access to it very difficult. The whole barony and town comprehending 17 villages, belong to the Prince of Orange, who is the sovereign, and has a castle, which was rebuilt here by the late king
William;
the river Mersk running round like a moat; and a small park with some fine gardens.
The great church is a magnificent structure, and adorned with several beautiful monuments, two of which are of black and white marble, and of such curious workmanship, that sculptors have come from Rome, on purpose to view them. That of
Anglebert
II. count of Nassau, who died in 1504, is reckoned inimitable, being a perfect copy of nature, and adorned with statues and inscriptions, suitable to the occasion. The spire of this church is very handsome, and 362 feet high; but scarce any of the other public buildings are worth notice.
The environs of this city are very pleasant. At the distance of about a couple of miles from this town, at different angles, are three delightful woods, which are cut through in all parts into walks and vistas, particularly the Liesbosch, which is the finest of the three.
In 1667, the treaty, so often mentioned in history, between England, France and Holland was concluded in this place, under the mediation of the King of Sweden. This place is likewise famous for the treaty negotiated here, to restore
Charles
II. to his throne, and for the manifesto that was issued hence to his subjects in Great Britain.
Bergen-op-zoom has long been celebrated as a strong fortress; its wall, which is about four miles in circumference, is defended by five bastions and ten horn works. The adjacent country can also be laid under water; and as long as Zealand continues clear of enemies, any supplies or reinforcements may be thrown into it, by means of the Scheld. The city is large, and the streets regular; the church and the palace were fine buildings before the siege, in 1747. The large square is very handsome, but the fortifications are the principal objects in it. The Dukes of
Parma
and
Spinola
found this place too strong, notwithstanding the great force they brought against it, which occasioned the title of the Virgin Fortress to be given to it, as being impregnable; for such it was considered, till Marshal
Lovendahl
came before it, who took it in 1747, after a two months siege, by surprise.
It stands in the midst of marshes; so that every advantage of situation is united with those of
Cohorn,
who was long employed to construct whatever works he thought necessary, to make it as strong as possible. A canal keeps open the communication with the sea; and to defend this canal, there are redoubts, forts, palisadoes, &c. without number, and a village strongly fortified in the midst. In short, no expence has been spared to render it impregnable; and it is the general opinion in Holland, that it really is so; and that the French would never have taken it with their cannon, had they not loaded them with golden balls.
There is a curious tower in this city, which gradually grows wider towards the top. The least breath of wind will put it in motion, so that it appears to be tumbling down; it formerly terminated by an arrow built in the same direction; but this the Count de
Auvergne
pulled down, at the request of the inhabitants. They would gladly have seen the whole tower demolished, which he would not consent to, but made a platform on the top, which he surrounded with a balustrade. A considerable trade is carried on in this place in anchovies, which are got out of the Scheld.
The States-General keep a large garrison in this city, and the governor is always a person of distinguished reputation.
Maestricht is one of the most ancient and remarkable cities in the Netherlands; it lyes on the Maese, by which it is divided into two parts, joined to each other by a grand stone bridge.
Pollnitz
relates, that a young French nobleman of high rank, once leaped over this bridge, on horseback, into the Maese, as a proof of his love for his mistress. He was, it seems, urging the warmth of his passion, whilst one day riding by the side of her carriage; when she told him there was not a word of truth in what he said, and that she would venture a wager he did not love her enough to leap his horse into the river; he accepted the wager, and won it, at the risk of his life; for he was so fortunate to keep his feet firm in the stirrups, and his horse carried him safe to shore. But after he had taken this dangerous leap, reflecting on her capricious humour, he broke off his courtship, which was the least she deserved.
The circumference of Maestricht is about four miles; and the fortifications, which are in the modern way, may be reckoned among the best in Europe. The great market place and other squares, are very beautiful; the streets broad, and the buildings in general make a handsome appearance.
The town-house is a magnificent structure, all of free stone, and has one of the finest towers or steeples in the low countries. It has also a good library, both of printed books and manuscripts, and other curiosities, worth a traveller's attention: as for the neighbouring country, it abounds with game; and there is scarce a town in Europe where provisions in general, and all the conveniencies of life, may be had cheaper than at Maestricht; it is a pleasant voyage down the river here from Liege. Maestricht is not only one of the strongest fortresses belonging to the republic, but likewise one of the principal keys on the Maese. Some defects having been observed in the outworks,
William
IV. about four weeks before his death, took a survey of them, and a plan was formed for their removal. Its cloth manufactory, which was formerly so considerable, is now gone to decay.
The sovereignty of the town belongs jointly to the States-general, and the Bishop of Liege; but the former alone garrison it, and are likewise possessed of the sole power over the convents and ecclesiastics in general; by virtue of which, they grant privileges and immunities of all kinds. In other respects the town is under the joint government of the States and the Bishop; and the townsmen are divided into two departments, each electing half the magistracy, which consists of an equal number of Calvinists, Brabanters, and Papists; the latter are natives of the Bishopric of Liege.
About two musket shots from this place, stands the St. Petersburg, being much higher than the town; and having been very detrimental to it in a former siege, in 1701, the States-general caused a very strong fort to be built on it, under the name of St. Peter's fort: this fort lying within the territory of Liege, the Bishop complained loudly of their procedure; but in 1717, the affair was accommodated. On the hill is an excellent horizontal quarry, with an entrance to it close by the Maese, so that carts go in and unload at the banks of the river. Within this quarry are long horizontal passages, supported by innumerable square pillars, which are every where twenty feet high, and in many places more: it has several vent-holes, cut in it, as also some small reservoirs of water, and in war time, it is a safe retreat for the country people, who being acquainted with all its meandrings, secure their cattle and valuable effects in this subterranean repository, which affords convenient room for 40,000 men.
Ellis,
who went into the quarry, says it is more wonderful than has been described; it is three leagues or nine miles in length, and one league or three miles broad; and capable of sheltering 100,000 men; that its excessive coldness cost him a fit of the ague, and that the stone dug from it, is like our kettling stone. A stranger who should visit it without an experienced guide, would be in danger not only of bewildering himself, or of stumbling against the corners of the pillars, but likewise of being suddenly shot by villains lurking in it. The upper part of the hill is good corn land, and on the side towards the Maese stands the monastery of Slavante.
This city revolted from Spain about the year 1570, and was besieged by the Duke of
Parma,
in 1579' when after a very brave defence, it was surprized in the night, and the inhabitants were treated with great severity. It was taken by the Prince of
Orange
in 1632, after an obstinate siege of above two months, and from that time it continued in the hands of the Dutch, till 1673; when it was taken by the French king in person, after thirteen days open trenches.
The siege of Maestricht in 1676, by
William
prince of
Orange,
afterwards King of England, is very memorable. The garrison consisted of 8,000 men, and the besiegers were 30,000, who carried on their attacks with such intrepidity for three weeks, that it was generally supposed the place would at last be taken. During this siege, the English gave signal proofs of their valour; but Marshal
Schomberg
advancing to the relief of the city with a superior force, and the reinforcements which had been promised him from Germany not arriving, the prince was obliged to rise from before the place, after fifty-two days open trenches, and the loss of 8,000 men. This city however did not continue long in the hands of the French, being restored to the states of Holland by the treaty of Nimeguen, in 1678; in whose possession it has ever since remained.
Sluys, termed in Flanders
l' Ecluse,
is the largest town in all that part of the country, belonging to the States general; it is of considerable circumference, but the greatest part is taken up with gardens and bleaching grounds; it is a place of great consequence, being strongly fortified, and the most commodious part in Flanders: exclusive of its strong fortifications, the country round it to the south and south-west, may be laid under water; but the north side being higher, it has a double wall on that part; being fenced by the Zwin a morass, which every flood is under water. Zwin is the name of the bay on which this city stands; at its mouth, it is called the horse-market, from the supposed resemblance its roaring bears in stormy weather, to the noise of a market filled with those animals. All the efforts of an enemy cannot hinder its communication with the sea, by which it can receive all necessary supplies and reinforcements; its air however is so unhealthy, an inconvenience common to it, with all the towns in this part of Flanders, that the garrison is changed every year.
There is an old canal between Sluys and Bruges; but since the Dutch have had possession of Sluys, and consequently able whenever they please to obstruct the communication of Bruges with the sea, a navigable canal has been cut between that city and Ostend.
CHAP. XII.
Of their
MANNERS
and
CUSTOMS.
THE climate in all countries has such an effect upon the inhabitants, that some striking and distinguishing marks will be found in their characters in all ages.
Tacitus,
who was so accurate an observer of men and manners, has given many striking touches of character in his accounts of the ancient Germans, Gauls and Belgi, that are almost as applicable to the present French, Germans and Dutch, as they were to those ancient nations; although the invasions of the northern kingdoms, on the destruction of the Roman Empire, made such a total change in all the provinces of the empire, in arts, manners, languages, opinions, and other circumstances. In a word, a new people appeared in Italy, France, England, Germany and Holland; nothing therefore can be a greater proof of the influence of climate on the inhabitants of a country, than to find the present people of those countries bear, in many particulars, a striking resemblance to the ancient inhabitants.
But these strong national characters, which form the great distinction between different nations, are not the objects to expatiate on; since their being so strong, is alone a sufficient proof that the authors of preceding ages have given us as just accounts as any in the present can do. Sir
William Temple
has given us as judicious and satisfactory an account of the Dutch in the last ages, as can be met with in any nation. Indeed, that writer was possessed of a truer philosophic spirit, than most of the authors of his age and country. All his works are equal proofs of penetration, integrity and reflexion.
If we form an idea of the Dutch in the last age from his writings, and those of some other authors of credit, we shall find a people emerging from a most consummate national frugality, and beginning to enjoy the wealth they had been heaping together for two centuries; but in that gradual change even luxury was parsimonious; it made none of those gigantic strides with which it overwhelms monarchies; its approaches were proportioned to the equality of a republican government.
In the present age, the Dutch are very much changed; luxury has made as great a progress as it can make in any country that is not under a monarchical government, and in which the landed estates are not very considerable.
Holland is one of those countries which contains no persons of large landed property. The most considerable part of the people are engaged in some trade or lucrative profession; they hardly know what a landed interest means; so that the number of idle persons who are rich, consist almost entirely of people in office, the military and foreigners. Hence arises that moderate degree of luxury found in the principal cities, particularly the Hague, which is the great place of dissipation. In London and Paris there is an immense expence lavished upon every art and every means of enjoyment. In these cities may be seen costly operas, splendid theatres, academies, exhibitions, and such a variety of diversions as would puzzle an inhabitant to name them all. Every day rears new temples of pleasure, each more costly than the former; but at the Hague it is the very reverse. They are expensive in concerts and private assemblies; but even in these, the cities above mentioned far exceed them. There is more expence lavished in concerts at London in one spring, than at the Hague in a couple of years.
In their edifices, the people of large fortune in Holland are expensive, but not magnificent; they build great houses with immense apartments; but compared with the rooms of our English palaces, they are but barns; and more deficient in the article of fitting up and finishing, than can well be conceived. In the palaces of London and those which ornament our counties, there is to be found every exertion of taste and magnificence. In Holland, the furniture is what would be called handsome in England, but not to be named with that which ornaments the houses of our nobility, and rich gentry. Here however let it be observed, that the national cleanliness of the Dutch, though by no means carried to that excess which the common people delight in, renders their apartments much more pleasing than those in Italy and France, which are ornamented in the most superb taste.
Thus we find in the above articles, there is no comparison in point of expence, between Holland and the great kingdoms of Europe; it must not however be taken for granted, that every thing is conducted in Holland in a mean style, or in the manner of the last age: on the contrary, they are all in a much more elegant taste; great improvements have been made in all. A plainness and simplicity were found in all these, and a humility; but now a desire of making a figure is prevalent among them, which shews they want nothing but the wealth, to equal the greatest exertions of our richest nobles.
The principal expence of the Dutch is their table; for in their entertainments, their tables are spread in a most elegant and plenteous manner, and their wines are much more numerous than is common in France or England, with persons of equal or even of superior fortune. Four courses, and a rich desert, are often seen at the tables of persons whose income does not exceed 4,000l. a-year; and their courses are not like ours, of eight or ten dishes only, but of twenty-five or thirty. Plate is more common at the Hague than might be imagined; for many of their rich nobility, and others retired from business, or from office, eat off very superb services.
The number of their domestics is not in general equal to those of persons of the same fortune, in France or England. In the latter country, we have within these few years, discontinued the abominable custom of suffering them to receive vails; but in France, says
Marshal,
the custom still continues, and in Holland I have fee'd, says he, no less than seven attendants at a single dinner.
They make great feasts in Holland on certain occasions, such as weddings, the birth of a son and heir, the arrival of a son or friend from the East-Indies, &c. in which they exhaust every species of luxury their fortunes will allow them to indulge in. I was present, says the above author, at one of these feasts at Amsterdam, where there were eight tables four times covered, and each course above a hundred dishes.
In England, people of large fortune divide their time between London and the country; their house in London and their seat in the country, form a perfect contrast; yet great expence is lavished on them both. Great improvements are made in rural beauties; the whole neighbourhood is ornamented; private roads are constructed at great expence; but in Holland the country seats are all snug compact boxes, with scarce any appearance of territory about them, resembling very much in that respect, the houses our London citizens have erected twenty miles round the capital. They are neat and small, with gardens of no extent, but with much clipt regularity; every thing is in the taste of England fifty years ago, but not quite so expensive. Their gardens, too, have many fountains in them, which are as preposterous in their cold, damp country, as they are agreeable in the sultry climes of Spain or Italy.
Relative to their youth, the Dutch have followed the French, though with some variations. Their education consists in their colleges, and subsequent travelling under a German tutor: on their return home, they either get some honourable and lucrative post, or enter into the army, or live at home upon their income; these are their young nobility, or persons of large independent fortune; but the inferior ranks of people are very fond of sending their children to some of their own universities, though it should be but for a year or two; rather to boast of it than for any real advantage. The number of persons in compting houses, who have had what they call a learned education, is very great; but then it must be observed, that there is not that variety of dissipation and expence, at their universities, which are the disgrace and bane of those of Oxford and Cambridge: a young man may, though designed for trade, be ventured to Leyden or Utrecht, without the danger of its giving him such a relish for literature, as to induce him afterwards to think of any other books besides his journal and ledger; but a merchant in this country, who designs his son for trade, had better hang him than send him to one of our universities; he acquires such a taste for extravagance, as to be ever after totally unfit for the prudence and economy of commerce: nor is this all; for the morals of the youth at the Dutch university, are much purer than those at the English ones; which
Marshal
is pleased to say, are little better than the seminaries of vice.
It is astonishing, says he, that a new system of education is not introduced into England, for the education of such youth as are not intended to be fine gentlemen; for the sons of these parents who wish to preserve the morals of their children, as well as their Latin and Greek; the present method is diametrically opposite to it. The principal school in this kingdom is in the capital, and the boys are lodged at private houses; and this, says he, is an early introduction into all the vice of London; instead of this, a school should be in as solitary a place as possible; never in a town, or even in a great village, but in a retired spot, to keep boys from the mischiefs which the capital every moment presents to their youth and inexperience; the same rule should be followed at college: instead of crowding them together, and forming a great town, they should be single, and in the country; this would be taking from their eyes constant examples of extravagance and expence, which all the neighbouring college must exhibit. Youth should spend their time in study and recreation; but what recreation proper for them does a town yield? Do not the adjacent fields, commons, or forests, exhibit a much better scene of amusement to brace their strength, confirm their health, and keep them active and lively?
For young men, whether educated at college or in private, Holland abounds in numerous masters, who teach the French, and other living languages; and the polite exercises, such as dancing, fencing, and music; all which are easily learned at the Hague, and their other cities; and they are generally fond of these accomplishments. Their daughters are most assiduously educated in every polite embellishment, even with more care than our own are in England; consequently all the women of any fashion, affect very much the manners of the French.
It is a great mistake to suppose, that in this trading republic, whose people have so long been famous for their frugality and modesty, a knowledge and acquaintance with all those embellishments of life which luxury has spread through Europe, is wanting. On the contrary, though the Dutch are very much changed, their frugality is still more national than in other countries; but it is confined to the lower classes, or to people of small fortune; but among those of higher rank, and those who are rich, there are scarce any people who spend their money more freely, in order to pass the time agreeably, and enjoy whatever their rank and fortune entitle them to. Large and well furnished houses are everywhere to be met with; also plentiful and elegant tables; numerous servants; equipages, as in other countries; rich dresses, and some public diversions; and in the education of their children, no expence is ever spared.
With regard to the temper and disposition of the Dutch, I shall not, says
Marshal,
pretend to analyse them. It is an invidious task even for travellers who have long resided in a country, and much more so for one who makes only a short stay. I shall therefore only remark, that I observed a great variety of characters, at which I was not surprised; for the vast number of foreigners of all nations and ranks, who are resident in Holland, must certainly very much take off from the appearance of a uniformity of national character. However, the Dutch are certainly a valuable people, and in general possessing as many good qualities as their neighbours. They are friendly and sincere; and the better ranks have a politeness and unaffected ease, which render them very agreeable. Nowhere are there to be found more learned men, or such as have seen more of the world, than in Holland. Literature is much cultivated there, and the presses of the country are continually teeming with editions of all the capital books printed in France, Germany, Italy, or England; and though this is often done with views of exportation and trade, yet it serves to spread a general knowledge and taste for literature and the sciences. Such are
Marshal
's remarks on the genius of this people, whose writings breathe much more the air of a gentleman than those of most of our modern travellers; but these remarks seem more applicable to the higher ranks of people, than to the subjects at large. With respect to the lower class, when their passions are once worked up, there seems to have been in all ages a sanguinary ferociousness of character among them, which knows no bounds in its cruelties. For example, among other horrors which history has traced back, was the murder of
Woleferd
de
Borselen,
whom the populace of Delft tore to pieces in 1299, under the reign of count
John,
one of their last counts of Holland. Next, the massacre of
Barend Provis,
Burgomaster of Utrecht, in the time of the bishop of Zwedere, whom the people had the barbarity to hack to pieces whilst he was in bed, without paying any respect to the holy sacraments, which were profaned in the hands of the priest who was administering them to him. Afterwards the massacre of
Nicholas van Ruiven,
high bailiff of Haerlem, in 1492; who was torn to pieces alive in the Hotel-de-Ville, and whom his assassins had the cold-hearted cruelty to cut in pieces and pack up in a basket, which they sent to his widow with this horrible inscription:
Mrs. Ruivan, eat these limbs. Witness the assassination of the
De Witts
in
1672,
whose remains were thrown about the streets with the utmost indifference for several hours after.
It is only in these provinces, says some French writer, that the common people have the courage to tear the human heart in pieces and eat it. At the siege of Leyden, a sailor devoured the heart of a Spaniard; part of one of the
De Witts
was also bit off; and if history does not misinform us, the heart of Admiral
Coligne
was likewise eat up by the people; add to this, the risks which so many brave citizens have run; the insults they have met with for having served their country, and the disturbances which are so frequently made before the magistrates' houses; and likewise before those of foreigners of distinction, if any trifling boon which they think proper to solicit is refused them: nor should the inhumanity with which they treat their pickpockets be omitted, whom the lower class of people treat with such a barbarous severity, if ever they happen to get hold of them, that it is very seldom a pickpocket escapes alive out of their hands; or if he should, the miserable wretches generally die of their wounds. All these incidents and marks of cruelty, at such distant intervals from each other, demonstrate an invariable and indelible character, which nothing can root out.
This ferociousness seems the more surprising, when contrasted with that phlegm which predominates in their temperament. A people, from whose appearance we might suppose them grave, tranquil, and even dull, could never be suspected to possess so much irascibility; but anger assumes force and energy, in proportion to its concentration, by its re-action on the springs of the machine. Almost every author asserts, that the Dutch are laborious; but it is rather by perseverance, than activity. This may be seen in the watermen, who pull gently, hang on their oars a long time, rub through the day in this employ, and return to it the next with alacrity; and without complaining of their profession; slow and sure; nor does this slowness prevent their arriving at perfection. Philosophers pretend to say, it is their hot drinks, such as tea and coffee, which has weakened the nerves of the Dutch. The lower class of people, however, who live at a distance from great towns, are a plain, civil, kind of people, and will readily hear reason, if sufficient time be given them for that purpose. As a proof of their honesty, should a stranger give them a shilling for what is worth but a groat, they would return him the change, and ask him Why he could be such a simpleton? Their food is chiefly roots, herbs, or milk; and they seem to have no further views than to supply themselves with what nature requires, and make some small addition to their stock. It may probably be owing to their diet that their strength and vigour is not answerable to their bulk; for they are in general tall and apparently strong built, but very unwieldy and awkward in their motions, both women as well as men. The seamen are a much rougher kind of people; surly and ill-mannered, which is mistaken for pride, but proceeds from their conversing with the winds and waves: sailors being a set of people that seldom chuse to use more words than are necessary. As for the mechanics and the lower order of merchants, their wits are much sharper than either of the above classes; and like the Scots
Aubergiste
at Middleburg, exert all their skill, to take advantage of the folly and ignorance of those they deal with. This anecdote is as follows; and the editor of this work was present when it took place.
A Frenchman went to the house of a Scots landlady and called for some coffee, the price of which in Holland is a penny a dish; he drank three.—What had he to pay? Not understanding Dutch, nor his hostess French, as she pretended; he takes from his pocket some double-dutchee pieces, of the value of twopence each, and began to count them into her hand; one, two, three; looking her in the face all the time, and then stopped;—our landlady not content, nodded, and pointed to him to go on; he did, but more slowly than before, as with greater reluctance; stopping at every interval, as much as to say. Is not that enough? She nodding at him to go on; when he came to eight or nine, his patience was exhausted; at which she roars out with great impetuosity, for she then could speak French:
Croyez vous que je serai contente avec ça?
And thus made him give her two or three more. Being asked by an English gentleman present, when the Frenchman was gone, how she could in conscience take near half-a crown for three dishés of coffee, value only threepence? She replied, with a significant smile—as he had never been in Middleburg before, it was proper to make him pay his footing.
The members of the states will sometimes employ their money in commerce, by keeping houses and servants for that purpose; but the generality of them live upon the pensions of their offices, and the rents of their land or houses; and it is seldom that these families get great estates, though they are continually in the magistracy, the salaries of their office being very inconsiderable. The nobility, as has been observed, are not numerous in Holland; many of their families having been extinguished in the wars with Spain: and it does not appear, that there is any power lodged in the States-general or the Stadtholder to create fresh nobles. They affect rather the garb of the neighbouring courts, than the popular air of their own country. They look upon it so dishonourable to marry beneath their rank, that they will scarce submit to it, to patch up a broken fortune. Frugality, all ranks of people possess more or less. This enables them to bear the heavy burthens that are laid upon them. And from hence proceeds the beauty and strength of their towns, the magnificence of their canals, and public buildings, their pleasant shaded walks, to all which a Dutchman contributes with as much alacrity as people in other countries expend their property in the embellishment of their private estates.
Certainly nothing adds more to the beauty of their cities, as well as of the country in general, than the plantations of trees, for the public use and pleasure. In England things of this sort are often done, but more for private gratifications than the general delight of the people; so that the lower classes are more apt to crowd to gardens, where they pay their money, waste their time, and sometimes debauch themselves with excesses. We may observe, however, to the honour of Great-Britain, that within these thirty years, great inprovements have been made in many parts of the kingdom. Works of this nature, for the public recreation, are worthy of the best citizens, the most zealous patriots, and the greatest princes.
The accuracy of the Dutch in casting up their expences is so just, that no person engages in any thing he is not prepared for. And it is very unusual to hear of any public or private building not being finished by the time it was agreed on. Their charity is rather national, than directed to the common objects of compassion; hospitals they have out of number; but there are none perhaps more admired by all foreigners than the one established at Enchuysen for aged seamen, which is so contrived as that those who have passed their lives in the dangers and hardships of a sea-faring life, should enjoy in this retreat every satisfaction and convenience which old age is capable of.
The Dutch, says
Hanway,
are distinguished for the number and economy of their useful charities, which seem to exceed those of England, not in extent; for in beneficence the English have hardly any bounds, as if they meant in good earnest to cover a multitude of sins; but in regard to discipline and wholesome severity, we have not supported it so well as the Dutch, who make all their poor perform some useful labour. It does not, indeed, seem possible to engage the lowest sort of people of any nation to work from a sense of duty. If they are left to their choice, or the materials of labour with-held from them, it cannot be expected that they will work; but, if the make and constitution of man render labour necessary to his support, it follows, that he who can work and will not work, shall not have food given him. Charities founded on principles not consistent with this rule, instead of drawing down blessings, produce calamities, as is often experienced.
All passions, that of avarice excepted, run in general lower and cooler here, than in other countries. Quarrels are very rare, revenge seldom heard of, nor is jealousy scarce ever known. Their tempers and dispositions are not airy enough for joy, or strains of humour; nor warm enough for love. This is indeed, sometimes talked of by young persons, as a thing they have heard of, but never felt; and as a discourse that becomes, rather than affects, them. Some writers account for this indifference to the sex as proceeding from the heaviness of the atmosphere, which renders them less susceptible of more refined passions; others consider it as the close application which every man gives to his own concerns. This uncommon assiduity is remarkable in every thing they undertake. There are instances of persons who have bestowed between twenty and thirty years in making and finishing a globe; others a still longer time in the mere inlaying of a table. Nor is it to be conceived how much this assiduity of application, in never giving over what they have once taken in hand, may have contributed to the atchieving of those wonderful actions which they have performed: not committing that fault which people of a more volatile disposition are apt to run into, the leaving of one pursuit to follow another. This constancy of employment and coldness of complexion, and perhaps the nature of their food also, may contribute to their being but little given to gallantry. The same causes may here have had the same effect among the married women, who have the whole management of their domestic concerns, and who are generally of a very irreproachable character; chastity being hereditary and habitual to them. The men place such confidence in their wives as to make them acquainted with all their private affairs, and seldom undertake any thing without their knowledge and approbation. Another writer, speaking of the middling ranks of life, says, that the women have the reputation of being very faithful to their husbands, though they do not seem to pay much regard to chastity before marriage. Some of them have good complexions, though not very beautiful; and their teeth are in general bad. Their children, for the most part, till they arrive at the age of eight or ten years, are weak and sickly; and indeed the women seem so incessantly employed in cleaning their houses and other offices, of which some are in common with their husbands; that they do not appear to afford themselves rest enough to breed children, or at least give sufficent attention to them, after they have brought them forth. The women in this country seldom breed after the age of thirty. As the men are remarkable for the many breeches they wear, so are the women for wearing one pair; they use pots with live coals of wood or turf, which they set in boxes bored full of holes, and put between their legs, to warm them in cold weather; this is not only apt to make them old from the waist downward, before the time ordained by nature, but the smell of the coals is offensive: and they have a proverbial saying in Holland, that the dirtiest piece of furniture in the house of a Dutchman is his wife.
Whether it be the remains of any jealousy which they have retained since the time of the Spanish government, or the mere effect of prudence, I could not help observing, says
Hanway,
that many of them will not mention their wives in company, nor do they seem pleased that others should speak of them, though in the most respectful terms. It might be presumed, that where the laws are so favourable to the women, as to give them at least an equal share of dominion with their husbands, that conversation should be more free; this conduct, however, may be imputed to that incommunicative manner of life, in which the lower and middle sorts of the people are bred up.
As a proof of the extraordinary neatness of the Dutch, which is fully expatiated on, under the article of North Holland, as well as the ascendency which women have over their husbands, Sir
William Temple
relates, that being at the house of one of the burgomasters of Amsterdam, whilst he was ambassador in Holland, and having a severe cold, he observed every time he spit, that a clever handsome wench, who stood in the room, with a clean cloth in her hand, presently wiped it up and rubbed the board clean. Sir
William
expressing some uneasiness at the trouble he gave, the master of the house told him, if his wife had been at home, he would not have come off so well; for that she would probably have turned him out of the house, notwithstanding he was an ambassador; adding, that there were two rooms in his house which he durst never go into, and he believed they were never opened but twice a year to be cleaned. Sir
William
remarking that the wives of Amsterdam generally governed their husbands, and that this seemed part of their constitution; the burgomaster replied, It was true, and that all a man could hope for was an easy governess. This occasioning many pleasant stories to be told concerning the extragavant neatness of the Dutch ladies in their houses, the secretary of Amsterdam who was present, pointed to a house opposite, where he said one of their magistrates went to pay a visit to the mistress, a strapping North Holland lass, happening to open the door to him, and observing as he was coming in, that his shoes were not very clean, the wench took him by both arms, threw him on her back, and carrying him through two rooms set him down at the bottom of the stairs, and then pulling off his shoes and putting a pair of slippers on him, she told him, without having said a word to him before, that he might walk up to her mistress who was in her chamber.
With respect to their dress, the tradesmen, merchants and higher class of people, dress very much after the manner of the English and French, as will be hereafter noticed; with this difference, that their cloaths do not vary according to the seasons as in France, any more than the furniture of their houses, which are covered with carpets in midst of summer as in winter. The dress of the lower class of people to an Englishman appears clumsy and awkward, though it is admirably well adapted to the coldness and moisture of their climates. Their coats have neither shapes nor plaits, and their long pockets are fixed as high up as their ribs; they are also remarkable for wearing very large breeches. But the dress of the women appears still more singular; their cloaths coming only half way down their legs; head-dress they have scarce any, but content themselves with tying up their hair, and wearing three black knots on their head, and sometimes a hood. Their ladies of pleasure who frequent the Spill-houses, are generally dressed in a coat and jacket, very much resembling the riding habits worn in England. Their burgomasters like our counsellors, usually dress in black, full trimmed, with a flowing wig.
As to diet, that of the hushandman or boors, consists, as we have already said, chiefly of roots, herbs, sour-milk, and pulse; in towns, the common people fare something better. About November, the country people purchase an ox, or sometimes more than one, according to the largeness of the family; this they salt, and afterwards smoak-dry it to eat, with bread, butter, and sallad. Pickled herrings, Bologna sausages, and other savory dishes, are much admired by the Dutch; when they have fresh fish, it is generally eaten with oiled butter, which those who are accustomed to it, prefer to good melted butter: they have several other methods of dressing their fish, to which a little use will reconcile an English palate; slounders they dry gradually, and eat them with salt, without any further dressing. Their butter and cheese are esteemed very good, of which the common people are so very greedy, that they seldom travel without a butter-box in their pocket; this box is made in the shape of a churn, and will hold about half a pound of butter. As they travel on their canals, a peasant with his roll and butter-box, and half-a-pint of gin, makes a very comfortable meal; and so extravagantly fond are the Dutch of this article of diet, that they will sometimes eat it by spoonfuls; but the Dutch do not now feed upon that simple diet they were accustomed to formerly; and the dishes of every neighbouring nation are to be met with in Holland. The tabled'hôtes in the first repute at Amsterdam, and the Hague more particularly, are furnished with a profusion of eatables and delicacies, fit for the table of a nobleman. Among the higher class of citizens they carry their luxury to a great pitch. In the article of poultry alone, it is customary in the month of March, to give a guinea for a green goose, which at that season of the year in Holland, is very scarce. The method to rear them is by keeping them in a large barn, in the middle of which they have a pond and a large fire.
In liquors they have very much the advantage of us; for they have not only good beer, but also wine and brandy, equally good and in great plenty; their geneva also, to which the common people are known to be no enemy, is equally good and cheap. Sir
William Temple
observes, that it is necessary these people should tipple, as well for the improvement of their understanding, as the preservation of their health. For though excess of liquor may clog the parts of those who live in better climates, and are of a warmer constitution; yet it benefits those who are of a cold constitution and live in a heavy atmosphere; and perhaps may be even necessary to thaw the frozen and inactive spirits of the brain. Yet the magistrates and persons of high office, are seldom addicted to this vice. As for the merchants and tradesmen, with whom it is not unusual, they never drink in the morning; and will not even offer a stranger any liquor in a morning, but excuse themselves on account of the time of day.
The diversions of the Dutch are bowls, billiards, chess and tennis; games of chance they seldom play at. Angling in summer, and shooting wild fowl in winter, make another part of their recreation. In winter when their canals are frozen, skaiting and being drawn along in sledges, is an amusement of which they are very fond; it is incredible with what rapidity some of them will move with their skaits, so that no running horse can keep pace with them; the women as well as men are accustomed to this exercise in Holland, and will frequently skait with their goods on their heads, 20 miles to market, and return in the evening. Their sledges are either drawn by a single horse, or pushed along by a person with skaits on. When the snow is on the ground, and the streets frozen, the young persons of rank in the republic, appear abroad in magnificent sledges. Every gentleman drives his own horse, which is covered with a rich skin, and the horse likewise is adorned with a fine tuft of feathers, and the gentleman and lady, for there is generally a lady in the sledge, behind whom the gentleman sits, wrapped up in furs. The sledges are of various shapes, finely painted, gilt, and varnished, and the horse's harness very rich and glittering. Numbers of these are frequently seen in Amsterdam making a very long train, and which appear a very beautiful sight; we have given a plate of such
traineaus
in our description of Vienna. In summer, multitudes of people may be seen walking on the banks of these canals, which are shaded by trees, or on the sea shore, or in the public gardens. But at the end of every walk is the tavern, where they do not fail to meet with a thousand little amusements, and agreeable entertainments; such as cool summer-houses, and grottos; excellent wines, and other liquors, with fruits and cakes; to which are added musical instruments of all kinds; nor are these pleasures dear; ordinary workmen may indulge themselves in these recreations, whilst in other countries it is observed, that this class of people generally wants bread to eat. Nor are the same distinctions kept up in Holland between the wealthy traders and the mechanics, as in other countries. They converse very much on a level, and it is not very easy to know the man from the master, or the maid from the mistress; such liberties do they allow to their servants, who may not be struck or corrected by them; but the dispute must be settled before a magistrate, it not being proper that any one should be judge in his own cause. They will sometimes take a boat and go with all their family to a considerable distance, in order to eat river-fish at some tavern in the country. Nor should it be forgotten, that the drinking of tea has long been universal among all sorts of people, and not esteemed one of the worst of their entertainments.
NORTH HOLLANDERS
It is not unpleasant to see an Amsterdam girl going to a tea-house without the city, with her gallant. Figure to yourself a large, bouncing wench, square built, with her arms dangling by her side, trimming up her head, and taking pains to distort her figure; she turns in her toes to walk, as she thinks, genteelly. On her little head is a plain muslin cap, that scarce covers her ears; and a black silk hat stuck on behind, on the crown of her head; a muslin handkerchief hermetically closed with a pin before, and crossed and pinned under the arm; on her neck, above the handkerchief, hangs a gold or gilt bead-necklace; her rump is enclosed in a hoop that gives her a barrel form below; and a pair of stays that rolls her into the form of a smaller tub, above; her upper garment is a short striped, cotton bedgown, laced before, that drops just below her hips, and a red or green stuff petticoat, strutting a foot and a half on each side the waist; the whole forming a bulky contrast to her little head; this petticoat is short enough to expose a very thick leg and large foot, which scarce enters a small black shoe, with red heels, and fastened on by an enormous buckle on the toe. Her gallant, with his hair rolled up above his ears; his large hat right up and down, three quarters of a yard from corner to corner; coat buttoned tight over the breast, strutting before her with his hands in his pockets, leaves her to follow him all the way on the road; and when they have got there, he funks her with tobacco, though in a sultry hot evening.
A TRECHSCHYT
Marriage, in this country, is considered as a civil contract; it is the magistrate who publishes the banns, and joins the parties; and there are many persons who consider the minister's blessing as no longer necessary. The ceremony of marriage is made as simple as possible; the only distinction is wealth. When a couple therefore present themselves to the magistrate to be joined together in holy matrimony, he gives them a paper divided into different classes of riches, in which each couple names the column they chuse. There are five of these columns, the first are for those who are immensely rich, the second for those who are very rich, the third for those who are less rich, the fourth for those who are still less so, and the fifth and the last class for those who are poor. The column being fixed on, the tax is in proportion to the wealth of the parties, who seldom fail inscribing their names in a column above their real situation. There is likewise an additional tax to be paid, for coming to the town-house in a carriage.
The processions for the burials in Holland are similar to those in England. They usually inter their corpses as in Scotland, about the middle of the day, with a long train of coaches following the hearse. In Holland there is a particular person in every parish whose business it is to go round and give notice to the friends of the deceased, of his death, and invite them to the funeral; they are called
Bidders.
This man, accompanied with the footman of the family, goes, dressed in black, with a cloak, a large hat, and disshevelled hair, and gets a deal of money by this means; the greater signs of grief he shews, the more money he collects. They likewise give notice of the day of baptizing any child, to the friends and acquaintances of the parents, who are to be invited to the baptismal festival, and in this service they are distinguished by a large white cravat, with gloves of the same colour.
We should not, however, omit the singular customs which takes place at the burial of the
bourgeois.
—The persons who have escorted the corpse to the burial ground, return back to the house of the deceased, in order to pay their compliments to the widow, or the husband, or the children. These by custom, are obliged to give drink to sixty or an hundred people, which is the number that generally attends a funeral. After having drank two or three glasses, every one returns home, except the intimate friends of the deceased, to whom an elegant entertainment is served up, at which it would be very indecorous for the widow or widower not to be present, and even to do the honours of the table. All the guests of course, do their utmost to console the afflicted party, the glass goes circling round, bumper after bumper, the fumes of the wine mount to the brain, and from drinking they fall to singing and dancing till the next morning day-light; and it is not infrequent to see a widow, at their entertainments, all in tears, and dancing with the greatest glee imaginable. The ancient laws of Overyssel forbid the custom of drinking at burials.
CHAP. VII.
Of their Commerce.
THE trade of Holland was raised chiefly on the ruins of Antwerp, once the mistress of the commercial world, till the fiery zeal of priests and the insolence of military authority, trampled equally upon justice and humanity, and lastly upon commerce, the support of nations. Towards the sixteenth century, the Portuguese also, from being the greatest traders to the east, began to decline in their commerce; which gave the more room to this new colony of merchants, who had many of the requisites, to carry trade to its highest pitch, though their country does not produce a single material for building ships.
But to consider things as they stand; Amsterdam is a prodigious magazine of timber, corn, wine, and many other commodities of foreign, European productions. The inhabitants excel in dying, sugar-baking, bleaching of linen and wax, manufacturing of paper and sail-cloth, with no inconsiderable quantity of silk and wool. Their whale-fishery generally produces great riches, and their East-India trade is of the highest importance to them, both in Europe and Asia; the article of spices only, is a mine of gold, which they have preserved with more care and assiduity, than if it had been really such. Here are also great repositories of gold and silver, precious stones, and choice drugs from different parts of the world. In regard to the balance of trade between Great Britain and the United Provinces, the linens, flax, sail-cloth, tiles, juniper berries, &c. which this nation takes of the Dutch, much exceed in value, the lead, tin, tobacco, and coals which they take of British subjects.
I must not forget, says
Hanway,
from whom we give this extract, that their herring fishery is a source of riches to them. Persons of every age and denomination delight in this sort of food; there is hardly a family in the United Provinces but consumes a barrel. The quantities which they send into foreign markets, and convert into money is very great. One would imagine that the happy situation of the British subjects should have rendered this trade unnecessary.
Such is the concise account which this writer, distinguished for his commercial, as well as literary abilities, gives of their trade. But as this is an object of much research, it may not be amiss to dilate a little more on this subject, by making some extracts from another writer,
Marshal,
the principal bent of whose travels was to lay before his readers such accounts of the agriculture, manufactures and commerce of the countries he had passed through, as had never before been presented to the public. Navigation, the fisheries, commerce, and manufactures, says
De Witt,
are the four columns o
the state, and these
Marshal
seems to have treated with brevity, accuracy and judgment. He divides the Dutch commerce of Europe into the different countries to which they trade.
The country with which he begins, is the Baltic: before the act of navigation, (made in
Cromwell
's time,) took place in England, the commerce of the Baltic employed near 1,200 Dutch ships annually, which for the most part went half loaded, and returned wholly so. Norway alone employed three hundred ships every year. This act having restrained the carrying trade of the Dutch to the commodities produced in Holland, their commerce to the north at once suffered a great diminution, and the increase of our marine augmented in England the consumption of the commodities of the north, proper for the construction of ships, which weakened the commerce of the Dutch in the north sea, by the competition of the English. The number of ships we now send to Petersburgh, is more than double that of the Dutch. The principal trade which the Dutch have at present in the Baltic is with Dantzick, from whence they bring amazing quantities of corn, and in return, supply Poland through that city with more commodities than any other nation in Europe, particularly East-India goods, wines, brandy, and all sorts of manufacture.
The trade of very considerable tracks in the north of Germany centers at Hamburgh, but the central and southern parts of the empire are supplied in a great degree by the Dutch: they have also a large trade with Bremen and Embden, for the supply of the interior country; but the commerce of the Rhine is most considerable. This navigation goes far into Switzerland, and by means of the Moselle, the Maine and the Necker, a prodigious extent of populous country, with many great town, are connected and trade immediately to Holland. The industrious city of Nuremberg sends a variety of manufactures, particularly toys, of which in England there is a vast consumption, and which are called Dutch toys, because we have them from Holland.
By means of the navigation of the Rhine, the Dutch serve the four electorates of the Rhine, Sarbruck, Deux-Ponts, Baden, Wirtemberg, the Brisgau, Spireback, Alsace, almost all Switzerland and the greatest part of Lorraine, with all sorts of spiceries, drugs, oils, rice, whalebone, tin, copper, brass wire, sugar, tea, coffee, the wines of France and Spain, brandies, dried fruit, and dried salted fish, &c. Of most of these commodities there is an immense consumption through all this extent of country. Holland maintains, by her commerce, that of Frankfort, which is only a grand magazine subordinate to those of Holland; so that almost all the connexions, all the correspondence and commerce of that city, which extend themselves far into Germany, are nothing but a commerce at second-hand, of which that of Holland is the first.
The Dutch also furnish a variety of different articles to the Austrian Provinces, particularly wine, East-India goods, and the produce of Italy and the Levant. The commerce of th
se Provinces is one of the most advantageous branches of that of Holland. The administration of the Austrian Netherlands has made several efforts from time to time, for drawing their commerce out of the hands of the Dutch; but these attempts are yet too weak, for giving a sensible decrease to the Dutch trade: though they have laid heavy duties on the importation of herrings from Holland, and taken every precaution for having all the Spanish wool that is wanted, imported at Ostend, which the manufactures of Verviers and Aix-la-chappelle draw at present from Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
Holland formerly carried on a very considerable trade with England; this has declined very much since 1651, the epoch of the act of navigation in England. The Dutch take of England tobacco, tin, woollen goods, jewels, hardware, corn, lead, &c. from Scotland and Ireland salt-beef and salmon, butter, tallow, hides, coals, &c. This commerce is almost entirely in favour of England. The exports from Holland being nearly reduced to spices.
The commerce of Holland with France has always been very considerable, and of great importance to both nations, particularly to the French; from the prodigious quantity of merchandize the Dutch draw out of that kingdom for their own use, and for exportation. It may also be truly said, that this commerce is of great consequence to the Dutch, not only for their home-consumption, but by losing this trade, they would lose the benefit of their exportation to France; and in their importations, the benefit of their assortments for the north, a branch of freight and navigation very extensive.
The interior consumption of Holland founded on luxury takes many commodities imported from France. For although economy reigns among the Dutch, the consumption in their tables and their dress is infinitely increased. And this importation from France furnishes a rich re-exportation. It was estimated before the last war, that the returns from America to France, in sugar, coffee, indigo, and cotton, amounted to between six and seven millions sterling. Near hall those commodities is sent into Holland either on account of the Dutch, or to be sold on commission: all this rich part of the commerce of France is employed in re-exportation; for Holland draws from her own colonies as much as is necessary for her own consumption in all these articles.
This immense importation from France is made entirely by Dutch ships; thus, in leaving to the advantages of commerce, the uncertainty which accompanies the result of buying and selling, we ought to calculate a very great sum, by which the riches of the republic are increased, with a physical certainty; that is in the freight, importation and exportation, the customs, loading and unloading in the ports of Holland, the duties of stowage, &c. and the commission.
The French have made great efforts to get the trade of the north into their own hands. But this commerce demands very considerable sums to be advanced for a long time on very moderate profits, whilst the interest paid for money in the commerce of France is always reckoned at six per cent. Few of the French merchants have funds sufficient to wait the return for so little profit: They are used to trade on small capitals, and make their greater operations on their credit, rather than on their capital; but in the commerce of the north, nothing can be done by credit, especially in Russia, where they must give a year's credit in selling, and, in buying, pay a year before-hand, in order to trade to the best advantage. There are but few merchants in France able to sustain so long a credit, so as to do Holland any mischief by competition.
The Dutch have also a very great trade to Italy; it is a capital market for their merchandize of the Indies, of America, and of their fisheries; and for almost all the merchandize which they import from Germany, and the north. This trade is principally carried on at the ports of Genoa, Leghorn, Venice, Naples and Messina; these five places being the magazines of all the merchandize, which the rest of Italy furnishes to foreign countries, and of that which they receive in return.
Of the commerce of freight, those of banking, commission, and insurance, are the best branches of the Dutch trade, but particularly those of freight and commission, which are always sure, and accompanied with no risks; but these branches have their source in the aggregate of all the other branches of commerce in the state, so that their increase and decrease vary according as the general trade in the state is more or less flourishing.
Since the act of navigation in England, we may observe a decrease in the commerce of Holland.— They are not the importers or exporters of our manufactures to other countries.
The Dutch East India company, says
Marshal,
is without exception the most considerable trading establishment that ever appeared in the world: The conquests of the Portuguese in the Indies were atchieved under the command and power of the crown, and were extended to an amazing degree; but with all the regal attention of the Portuguese, they never equalled the dominion which the Dutch have gained under the direction of a private trading company.
We are not to wonder at the superiority of this company over all others; for succeeding to most of the Portuguese acquisitions, on the downfal of their power in the East, they laid such a foundation of future power for themselves, that no other company ever had such auspicious beginnings.
Their acquisitions were so extensive and so very important, that the company found it absolutely necessary to keep up a very stronge force by sea and land in the Indies; this has given rise to the very magnificent descriptions we have had of the great armies, navies, and state of the governor-general at Batavia: some of these circumstances are exaggerated, but many of them appear to be true. The number of islands, some of them the largest in the world, which are in their possession, or in their power, make it necessary, that great fleets and considerable land-forces should be in readiness at Batavia, and other settlements, in order to protect and defend such numerous coasts and countries.
But, notwithstanding these advantages superior to those of any other country in the Indies, this East India company has been long on the decline; this has been principally owing to the establishment of so many others; the English have robbed them more than any other country. France had for a few years a company that flourished so much, as to prevent all importation from Holland, except spices; and even exported a great quantity of eastern merchandize to Spain, Germany and Italy; Denmark and Sweden have between them supplied their respective inhabitants; so that the Dutch company has not the benefit of the markets she once totally supplied.
In the last age, there was no place comparable to Holland for numbers of flourishing manufactures. In the principal cities of the province of Holland, were found the finest and richest fabrics of all sorts of stuffs; of silk, in every variation of gold, silver, &c. of wool, and linen of all sorts; colours and dies, the finest and most rare; ribbons and laces of gold, silver, and silk; velvets, gauzes, flowered, and plain, tapestries; leathers gilt, &c. All these manufactures exist at present, but with less eclat than formerly; they are, especially in those of wool, silk, gold, and silver, rivalled by the competition of Genoa, Venice, France, and England.
The cloth manufactures of Leyden, and Utrecht, support their reputation; the superfines are as good and as fine as those in foreign manufactures; and the blacks of Utrecht are always superior; the camlets of Leyden equal those of Brussels. There is a difference between these fabrics and those of France;
Verviers
and
Aix-la-chapelle,
of nine or ten per cent, which in foreign markets is an immense disadvantage to the manufactures of Holland; this disadvantage to them is in common with those in England, in the same kind of goods.
The manufactures of linen in the provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Overyssel, are always equally supported. The fabrics of France, Flanders, and Germany, make none that approach them. The linens which are called Dutch, are distinguished as much by the whiteness, the fineness, the grain, the equality, and the goodness, as by being measured by the ell or manner of folding; the most famous whitening grounds in Europe, are at Haerlem; they give their linens the lustre and fine white, that distinguishes them; they also enable the Dutch merchants to appropriate to themselves foreign manufactures, which they buy in Westphalia, Flanders, and Brabant; and which being whitened at Haerlem, are produced in commerce under the name of Dutch linens; for this whitening adds a new price to the linen, when it is of good fabric; they take care in this whitening, without the assistance of any regulation, not to give the linens an artificial length, as is done in the whitening grounds of Flanders.
The manufactures of a paper are in a flourishing state; it is surprising they have been able to sustain themselves, since they have been multiplied so much in France, and in the Austrian provinces, where the price of labour is low, which is a great advantage in a manufacture that employs a great number of hands.
But the manufacture of all others the most important, the most extensive, the richest and most necessary, is the construction of ships. The timber-yard of the Admiralty and of the India Company are immense; but they are not comparable to those of the village of Sardam, which
Peter
the Great chose as the first school of Europe, for the construction of all sorts of naval buildings; and where he remained a long time unknown, in the quality of a simple workman, for the instruction of himself, and for raising a marine in his vast empire.
The manufacture of coloured linens and printed cottons, has lost prodigiously its former advantages. They have been too much multiplied in countries where labour is at a low price, as in France, Switzerland, and the Austrian Low Countries. This is a competition, which it is impossible Holland should stand against.
The city of Amsterdam possesses a manufacture which is sheltered from the effects of competition; at least she has only that of London to fear, who to the present time has been very weak in it; and that of Antwerp and London, is scarce any thing: it is the cutting of diamonds. Amsterdam is the only city that possesses in any very high degree of perfection, this art; and also that of reducing into small diamonds, those large ones that are degraded by black spots and flaws. This art is supported by the merchants of Amsterdam, who give very much into the commerce of rough diamonds, both in the East Indies and Brasil; by which they fix the art among them: for independent of the diamonds brought from the East Indies, they purchase the rough ones from London and Lisbon; and if a person buys rough diamonds in any other country, he is under the necessity of sending them to Amsterdam to be cut; on her side Amsterdam has not much to fear, says
Marshal,
from the desertion of the workmen, who could not find work elsewhere. This trade is an object, every year, of many millions of florins.
Bookselling was heretofore in a very flourishing state; we still see in Holland great fortunes, which have no other source but this branch of commerce; and the editions of
Elzevir
shew, that the art of printing has been carried on there to the highest degree of perfection. This branch of commerce is at present very much fallen; it nevertheless maintains a great number of printing-houses, especially at Amsterdam, Leyden, and the Hague; and a foundry of characters at Haerlem, which is renowned, and merits its reputation.
The superiority gained by the booksellers of France, has restrained those of Holland very much. The Dutch booksellers have many disadvantages. Paper is dearer than in France, and they have fewer opportunities of procuring good manuscripts than the French booksellers; they are likewise more liable to receive prejudices from counterfeit editions. The recourse of this trade in Holland, is in the fairs of Leipsic, of which books make the principal riches. Leipsic is an immense magazine of books: all the booksellers in Europe trade there in person, or by commission, if we except those of France and England, who having a great consumption, attend little to the commerce at Leipsic; booksellers there, sometimes get a sale for intire editions; they make exchanges and many sales, for which they get credit from one fair to another, that is to say for six months. There is perhaps no branch of commerce which is executed in a manner so simple, so easy, and with so much good faith.
But before we quit the subject of Dutch commerce, we think it necessary to remark, that there are two ideas respecting it in England, both of which are erroneous. Some persons imagine that the commerce of the Dutch is sunk to such a degree, that her decline is swift, and foretels at no very distant period, the desolution of the state, or at least its subjection to some neighbouring power; others, on the contrary, who have heated their imagination with the ideas of the great commerce they once possessed, will not readily allow the declension it has experienced; but consider the republic equal in wealth and power, to what it was the beginning of the last century. Few persons make due allowances for changes, nor will they willingly steer a mean course, when extremes are so much more dazzling and brilliant. The truth is, the Dutch still possess a very considerable commerce; it is however much inferior to that of England. Within these last thirty years, the trade of England has increased very much, and that of Holland has been on the decline; the other powers of Europe have likewise increased their commerce; France indeed, has not, except in a few branches; but the Spaniards, Italians, Germans, Danes, Swedes, and Russians, are all very much advanced in their trade, and at the expence of the Dutch: were this quite general, the Dutch commonwealth would soon sink into inanity. This declension of commerce has not altogether arisen from the rise in the manufactures; but from the spirit in every country of supplying itself. When kingdoms and states are bent upon becoming trading nations, they do not enquire into the prices of labour in Holland, but take every measure for supplying themselves with those manufactures and products, formerly taken of foreigners.
But notwithstanding these general causes which have, and still continue, to operate towards the decline of the Dutch commerce; that nation is in the exclusive possession of some branches, which will continue them in a great trade, whatever opposition they may meet with. First, the spice-trade, which is totally theirs, without any competition, and amounts to between one and two millions sterling
per annum.
This is the only instance of a monopoly we meet with in the world. Spice is generally sold all over the world, and yet the profits of an absolute and complete monopoly do not amount to two millions a year; some writers value it at no more than one million. Monopolies have in their very vitals, the principles of decay; prices must and ever will be so raised, that the consumption will generally decline, and the vast expence of preserving it will reduce the profit to a much smaller sum than could have been imagined.
The herring-fishery is another most important article, of which the Dutch have so great a share, that it not only brings in immense sums to the republic, but also breeds them an infinite number of excellent sailors; and the same observation is applicable to the whale fishery, in which they carry on a great trade.
CHAP. VIII.
Of the Government, &c.
DEATH OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE.
Most of the cities in Holland are constituted on a plan somewhat similar to Amsterdam, and governed by a regency, sending deputies to the assembly of the states; which deputies are obliged to vote in that assembly, according to the instructions given them by the regency. As the members of the regency hold their places for life, and likewise elect each other, it plainly marks the government of the republic to be aristocratical. It is not, however, true that they always hold their places for life; there being instances of their being removed. Sometimes alterations have been made in cases of gross misconduct; sometimes by the Stadtholder, in pursuance of the unanimous resolution of the provincial state; and sometimes, as in the unhappy disturbances which took place in Holland about four years since, by an armed force, which assembled tumultuously for that purpose.
And it was by this means that the Stadtholder was deprived of some of his functions in the state, and driven from the republic. The majority of the lower class of people in Holland have always been strongly attached to the Stadtholder's party. It is chiefly the higher class of traders, with their adherents, which composed the party of patriots. These people, who in their sphere of life correspond with many of our justices in the counties round London, and consist of persons who have acquired wealthy fortunes by commerce, when once they can become members of the regency in any town in Holland, would, if there was no Stadtholder, acquire a patronage and consequence equal to that of our first nobility, which makes all men of this description in the province of Holland very averse to the office of Stadtholder. In the other provinces where the people chuse the regents, the opposition to the Stadtholder is very inconsiderable. The body of the people who are then the electors, being very much attached to that office.
By a late regulation which has taken place in the Dutch government, on account of the last disturbances, the Prince of
Orange
has a power of making such alterations as he may think proper, in the mode of electing the regencies of those cities in the province of Holland, which sends deputies to the states-general. That is, the regents instead of being elected by each other shall be chosen by the burghers, which was the ancient custom, and which seems much more rational and just. This regulation has taken place in consequence of the King of Prussia's marching a large army into Holland, to demand reparation for the affront offered to his sister, the Princess of
Orange,
who was stopped in her journey to the Hague, where she was going to mediate between her husband and the states-general, during the time of his being suspended, and very indignantly treated, and kept prisoner several days, by the persons who stopped her in her journey. The states at first attempted to justify the conduct of their officers in this business, as a matter which the circumstances of the times rendered expedient; but the Duke of
Brunswick,
marching to the gates of Amsterdam, after having taken possession of Utrecht, which the patriots deemed their strong fort, and which was evacuated without the firing of a gun; the regency of Amsterdam and the states of Holland, who were the principal fomenters of the disturbances, thought proper to lower in their demands, and consent to the satisfaction required, which was, that the senators, in the different cities, who had been the principal instruments in this business, should be deposed, and the Prince's friends restored to their offices in the state; and further, that a committee of the state should wait on the Princess to apologize for the indignities that had been offered to her. In consequence of which, the Prince's friends being restored to their offices in the state, the Prince of
Orange
re-assumed his function, and things now continue to go on in their former channel.
Thus much seems necessary to premise, before we enter upon the government of the United Provinces, which arose to such grandeur in the course of fifty years, as to rival the most formidable powers in Europe, and even to dispute the dominion of the sea with England, who had raised them from obscurity, and enabled them to engross almost every valuable branch of commerce.
We will now proceed to their government. The United Provinces are a confederacy of many independent states; for not only every province is sovereign and independent of any other power; but there are, in each province, several lesser republics, independent of each other, which are not bound by the degrees of the states of the province till such acts are ratified by each particular city or republic, which sends deputies to the provincial assembly. The several republics according to the ancient rank stands thus: Gelderland, Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Friesland, Overyssel, and the city and territory of Groningen; and the country of Drenthe is also under their protection. The collective body of deputies of the United Provinces, who are invested with the conduct of public affairs, bear the title of the Assembly of the States-General of the United Provinces. Affairs of daily occurrence, or little moment, and such as admit of no delay, are determined by them without their being particularly empowered to do so, or even so much as previously acquainting the provinces; but in matters of importance they are obliged to refer to their respective provinces for instructions how to proceed.
Sir
William Temple
relates, that during his embassy in Holland, he had the good fortune to prevail with the States-general to ratify their treaties within the space of five days, without passing the essential forms of their government, in having recourse to the provinces, who must likewise have had the consent of the several cities. And he assures us, that the deputies by concluding these alliances without commission from their principals might have lost their heads, if the treaties had not been approved. But the necessity of using this expedition being apparent, they were so far from being censured, that they even gained great applause.
The deputies of Holland are allowed by their provinces after the rate of four florins a-day, and those of the other states, six. The place where this august assembly is held, is the palace of the old Counts of Holland at the Hague. Each province may send what number of deputies it pleases, the charge attending it being its own; but all together are possessed only of one vote, the number of votes being always equal to that of the provinces, that is to say seven. But notwithstanding this, the number of deputies sent frequently amounts to forty or fifty. In this assembly of the States-general no ceremonials of precedence are observed, every province alternately succeeding to the presidentship in its week. They sit also throughout the whole year, without adjournment. The Stadtholder may come into their assembly to lay before them any overtures on public concerns, but he has no seat in it.
Their power too is so far limited, that without the unanimous consent of all the provinces, they neither make war nor peace, levy troops, impose taxes, or conclude alliances with foreign powers; and if they are possessed of the legislative authority, the laws they enact are only binding in those provinces that gave their consent to them. But notwithstanding these limitations, the power of the States-general is still very considerable: war and peace is made in their name, and it is they that send and receive ambassadors and other foreign ministers. The commander in chief for the time being, and other military officers take an oath of fidelity to them, and in war-time, some of their members or of the council of state, follow the army, sit in the council of war, and so far represent the united Majesty of the seven provinces, that, without their consent nothing of any importance can be undertaken. In time of war, the states likewise grant licences and protections, lay duties on goods imported or exported, and pardon deserters. The States also confer divers commissions on the members of their assemblies. The title assumed by them is that of
Hogen mogen,
high and mighty Lords, and in public addresses, they are styled their High Mightinesses.— Their arms are ruby, a lion rampart holding in one paw a sword, and in the other a bundle of seven arrows; beneath the shield, which is surmounted with a ducal coronet, is the following motto,
Concordia res parvae crescunt.
Concord makes small things great.
The states of Holland are composed of the deputies of the nobility, and of eighteen cities, or great towns, making in all, nineteen voices, of which the nobility and gentry have only one.
The nobility who are not numerous in Holland, being such as were created before they became a republic, are called
Graafs,
or Counts: they are represented in the provincial state by eight or nine of their own number, and when one of them dies, they elect another to succced him; but these altogether have only one voice, equal to the smallest of the abovementioned towns. They are very considerable, however, in the government, as they possess many of the best posts both civil and military; and as they vote first in the assembly, they influence the towns very much, who give their voices afterwards. These nobles are called the Equestrian Order.
The grand pensioner of Holland, who sits with them, delivers their vote and assists in all their deliberations, previous to the general assembly. He is always a person of great credit, and seldom removed, though, by their constitution, he ought not to remain in that post more than five years. His place is behind all the deputies, or representatives; being, in fact, but the servant of the province, though he frequently influences the rest of the deputies, for he proposes all matters that are to be debated by the states, collects their opinions, and digests their resolutions, like the speaker of the House of Commons in England, and sometimes assumes a power of delaying and postponing the most important affairs, though a majority of the assembly are for the question, pretending it will be of bad consequence to the province.
The representatives of the cities are elected from the magistracy and senate of each town, and their number is more or less, according to the pleasure of those they represent, though they have all but one voice, and are paid by the towns who send them.
The council of state, the admiralty, and the treasury, are subordinate to the States-general, and very nearly resemble the same councils established when these provinces were subject to their several princes, or united under the houses of Burgundy or Austria.
The Stadtholdership, which was originally elective, was in 1747 made hereditary in the house of Orange, and like the crown of England, to descend to the female line, in default of male issue. Many persons were of opinion that it would be politic to offer the sovereignty of the United Provinces to the Prince of
Orange,
but he chose rather to decline it. The high and indelible obligations which the Dutch owe to
William
the Great, and the renowned patriotism and fidelity of the illustrious house of Orange through every succeeding generation, have ever thrown the choice on this family, as a kind of necessary consequence.
Notwithstanding their having made the Stadtholdership hereditary in the family of the Prince of
Orange,
the people of Amsterdam, and of the province of Holland in general, the lowest class excepted, are by no means reconciled to that high post being made perpetual and hereditary in the republic; they conceive a Stadtholder to be an office necessary only in time of war, or when the country is threatened with an invasion.
The office of Stadtholder is not a barren title destitute of any emoluments; on the contrary, he has wherewithal to support a very brilliant court.
It is very difficult to find out exactly what his appointments amount to. The prince is paid by every province for being Stadtholder; he is paid for being captain-general. He presides in the councils of state, at the head of the different admiralties, and in all the courts of justice, except in the grand council of Holland: and he is paid for part of these honorary presidencies; for example, as president of the council of state, he receives twenty-five thousand florins; he is likewise paid for being governor of the East and West India companies. He is grand forester of some of the provinces, which forms a tribunal and separate judicature in each province, and this charge is not without some advantage: the amount of all these different charges is very difficult to be ascertained; but it is in general computed at three hundred thousand florins, or nearly fifteen thousand pounds a-year. In time of war they mount much higher. He is further intitled to a tenth of the prizes taken in wartime, which he has generously given up to be divided among the ship's crew. To these considerable appointments, he adds an immense patrimony, which renders him the richest prince in Europe.
The present Stadtholder has a court equal to that of the most sovereign prince; he however, conformable to the characteristic of the nation, takes very little state upon him; he constantly attends the parade every morning; and if any foreigner or reputable merchant is introduced to him, will take him by the hand, and invite him to dine with him. The prince has the command of all their forces, by sea and land; as admiral and captain-general, he has in consequence the disposal of all military commands. The constitution has likewise invested him with the power of pardoning criminals; and it is asserted, that when there is no Stadtholder, that indulgence is not vested in the States-general. The soldiers are likewise obliged to take an oath of fidelity to him after having taken one to the States; but the Stadtholder has no power of raising troops but by their order. Previous to
Cardinal Richlieu
's time, the Stadtholders had only the title of Excellency given them. It was he who first ordered the French minister, at the Hague, to address the Prince of
Orange
with the title of Highness, in order to carry some favourite point; which title has been continued to every succeeding prince, as well by the Dutch as by foreigners.
It is a common observation, that if the ancient sovereigns of these countries had imposed half the taxes the people groan under at present, they would never have borne it, but now their governors consisting of the principal men in every great town and province, have such an influence over the whole, that it is next to an impossibility for the common people to form themselves into a body, so as to endanger the state. Their sovereigns are always on the spot, and should the mob prevail in one city or province, if they do not meet with the like success in the rest of the provinces, they must expect to be very soon reduced to subjection. So that a rebellion, or what others denominate a noble struggle for their liberties, is almost impracticable by the subjects of Holland, be their oppression ever so great. Holland being indeed a country which depends entirely upon trade, navigation, and manufactures, and in all which their governors are some way or other interested, they must naturally be supposed to promote them to the utmost of their power; consequently, that part of its subjects which is concerned in these, which it must be admitted are by far the greater number, is sure to meet with all manner of encouragement.
If we consider a government of so complex a nature as that of the United Provinces, in which such a variety of interests and inclinations is necessary to support it in full force and efficacy; we shall wonder how it has lasted so long, rather than be surprized that of late years it has tottered, and been in danger of subversion. It is no mean entertainment to trace this republic to its origin. Historians seem to agree, that the people of which it is composed, so early as the Roman time, when the common-wealth gave laws to great part of the world, were, in the highest degree, impatient of any encroachments on their liberty. The vigilance, sobriety and industry of the Dutch, supported their revolt against the crown of Spain, and after many years spent in laborious trials of their own constancy, they formed at length that plan of government which now exists. How long it will last, is hard to say; the foundation of it does not appear very stable. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Whilst these people are not agreed concerning their first magistrate, they will never invest him with power sufficient to answer all the various exigencies to which the state is subject.
It seems evident from their late conduct, from the present condition of that state, and from the nature of their constitution, that they are in no happy or secure situation. Hence they require the help of a first magistrate, whose power, though limited, shall be sufficient to support him as the umpire of all their interior contests, and who by a proper direction of their strength, may restore them to a real independency.
Sir
William Temple
remarks, more than a century ago, that the Dutch had passed the meridian of their trade; and from the events of the last fifty years, nothing is more evident than the declension of their power. In the middle of the last century they were a match at sea for the combined fleets of France and England; but in the successive war, their navy was much sunk; and in that of 1741, their maritime force was not to be compared to that of England. At present it is quite sunk, if we consider it as a navy, which, when put in competition with that of England, was called a maritime power. That they have a fleet, cannot be denied, but their ships are very few in number, in bad order, and scarcely have they any force ready for real service; so we may safely speak of it as an annihilated marine. It is true, they have a great number of sailors, but these alone do not constitute a force at sea: ships regularly built in succession, and kept in excellent order, stores, magazines, yards, docks, timber, and an hundred other articles, all different from what trade employs, are necessary, and must be kept regularly, or a powerful fleet will never be constituted. The marine of England costs an immense annual sum, and yet the best judges of it assert, we are much too sparing of our expences on that head; but in Holland the expence of the navy is so retrenched and curtailed, that it is hardly an object in the finances.
With respect to their laws, those learned civilians
Grotius, Noodt, Huber, Vinnius,
&c. have done their utmost to improve upon the ancient civil laws of nations. The president
Schorer
took a wiser course, he has proved that the Roman laws, which are the basis of the civil laws of those provinces, have no connection with the physical and moral circumstances, the manners, habits, commerce, and character of the people of the present day. Yet there is less reason to complain here of the Roman law, than of the forms which the lawyers oblige their clients to undergo, and which incur expences and delays to which there is no end. The judges here decide very impartially, and as far as the weakness of human understanding will permit, with great integrity. Besides the Roman law, they place great confidence in the light of reason, juster far than all written laws; they also follow the municipal laws of the towns and provinces, and the ordinances of the states.
Although it is no small sum that is requisite to defend a cause in any of the different courts of justice, yet there is a very good regulation. Those persons who are poor, can obtain from the judges the privilege of pleading for nothing, and the youngest advocate is generally pitched upon to plead their cause. But what renders this institution still more commendable, is that this privilege extends to strangers as well as to natives.
The sheriffs are the ordinary judges of the inhabitants; an appeal lyes from their sentence to the courts of justice, established in different parts of the province. And although the decrees of these latter are without appeal, yet by an address to the states of the province, a revision of their decrees may be obtained, which is done by commissioners appointed under the authority of the states for that purpose.
The criminal code of these provinces is very severe. The party accused, whether guilty or innocent, undergoes two examinations, one called the ordinary, and the other the extraordinary; except the accused be immediately convicted and own his guilt, the extraordinary one takes place.
The grand bailiff, whose business it is to prosecute, questions the prisoner in the presence of the magistrates. If there are strong proofs of guilt, and he refuses to confess, the judges order the preparatory question, which is commonly put in their presence. When a confession of guilt has been forced from the prisoner by torturing him, the definitive question is put to him, which the sentence pronounced against him mentions. But if he will make no confession, notwithstanding his being tortured, his trial continues, but he cannot be put to death. When the trial goes on in the usual manner, both parties plead one against the other, according to forms prescribed by the state. The prisoner's cause is pleaded by an advocate; and it is by such causes as these that the young lawyers rise into fame. The judges hear both parties, examine the evidence, and determine accordingly. This trial may be re-heard in any of the superior tribunals, at the request of the person convicted; but then it must be done at his expence, being looked upon only as a civil action, though death may be the result of the verdict; yet this is a sentence very seldom pronounced. The judges are very much inclined to shew lenity, and always mitigate the punishment where the criminal has not been guilty of murder. If the criminals are robbers or coiners, against which the law has decreed the punishment of death; they are exposed on a gallows with a rope about their neck, and whipped or marked, and then confined for life, or for a limited time; which punishment the Burgomasters often remit, when they visit the prisons.
By the laws of the country, no person can be imprisoned but one against whom some crime has been alledged; as soon as convicted, imprisonment ceases; whipping, banishment, or branding, are the only punishments that can be inflicted; yet the judges are not supposed to transgress this law, when they doom a person to perpetual imprisonment, whose crimes merited death: as in these cases, imprisonment is a favour which the judges are supposed to shew a criminal.
The prisons where these criminals are confined, are called rasp-houses, which are noticed under the article of Amsterdam; they are there employed in sawing Brazil wood, if they have strength; if not, they are put to some other work. The ordinary task is to saw three hundred pounds of wood a-week; the saws are taken away from the prisoners every evening, lest they should do some mischief with them. By a privilege granted to the houses of correction, no person is allowed to have this wood sawed elsewhere on his own account.
What is very singular, if a person is attacked by another who endeavours to murder him, it is not permitted here for the person so attacked to kill the other, though in his own defence; except he has behind him a wall or canal which he cannot swim over, or some other obstacle which prevents making his escape. Some years since, an officer was beheaded at the Hague by this very law, having killed another in his own defence, who had first attacked him, with an intent to murder him.
Notwithstanding the severity of the laws against murderers, the common weapon of attack in Holland is a large pointed case-knife, called a snicker-snee, which the lower class of people carry about with them, and use as familiarly in the skirmishes with each other, as the common people in England do their fists. Having however learned the art of handling these weapons, in which, as in all others, there consists a science; it is very rare that they kill one another. There is however a very severe penalty denounced against any one who makes an assault on another with these weapons, though it is seldom inforced with that rigour which such a law seems to demand.
No citizen can be taken up or imprisoned for any trivial crime, on giving bail to the sheriff. The high bailiff cannot even oblige any citizen to appear before him, without sending a formal summons, much less can he imprison him without leave of the Burgomasters, except it be for some very heinous offence; such as murder, setting fire to a house, or the like, and even then there are certain forms which he must comply with. To take up a citizen, he must go himself, with two or three other magistrates, to his house. A citizen's habitation is a sacred asylum, which cannot be violated under pretence of making any search. The officers of justice have only the privilege of entering taverns and public-houses. A citizen must be summoned three times before he is obliged to appear.
For a very trifling sum any person whatever, may purchase the right of a citizen; he likewise acquires it, by being married to the widow and daughter of one. A man however enjoys none of the privileges of a citizen, till he has been made one a twelvemonth; and even then he must have occupied or had an apartment during that time, in the city where he inscribed his name. It is strictly speaking, only the son of a new-made citizen, who can be elected into the magistracy, which opens a door to strangers for their children; they seldom however get elected, except they ally themselves with some of the principal families in the magistracy.
There is an old custom in Holland, which had its rise so long ago, as during the time when the Dutch were shaking off the Spanish yoke, and which is continued to the present time, though the necessity of it no longer remains; and this is, that the magistrates are authorised by a particular law to send away suspected inhabitants without assigning any reason, or ever allowing them to be heard in their own defence. The states, however, have decreed that such a right shall only be exercised in cases of great emergency; and have even offered to receive any petition on that head; but having no power to act further than as mediators, not arbitrators, the banished citizen still remains exposed to the envy and malignity of the person who had prosecuted him. This abusive privilege does not extend to all the provinces; it is more particularly in Holland, where its baneful influence is felt.
The laws respecting bankrupts bear some analogy to those of our own; and from the great facility with which traders in Holland get relieved from their incumbrances, it is said, there are many people in that country, whose object in setting out in trade, is to embezzle their creditors effects, and then make their fortune, by declaring themselves bankrupts. When a person cannot pay his debts in Holland, he carries an inventory of his effects, with the state of his affairs, to certain commissioners, delegated by the magistrates, to examine and arrange all the concerns respecting bankrupts. There, as in England, the lesser number is obliged to follow the greater. Three-fourths of the creditors, and two-thirds of the debt; or three-fourths of the debt, and two-thirds of the creditors, are required to make a man a bankrupt. A failure being declared, the debtor has six weeks allowed him to arrange his affairs, after which time he must keep at home, if he will not run the risk of being arrested. Though a person should have contracted. debts in different countries, yet he becomes liable to them in Holland; but the difficulty of recovering them increases in proportion to the distance, provided the debts have not been contracted by bills of exchange. The expences which a person must make himself liable to, before he can arrest a citizen, are very considerable, and are still much more so, if the creditor should live at any considerable distance. When a person fails in Holland, if there is no surmise of fraud, it is said to be customary for the states to allow a certain sum to the bankrupt, to assist him in launching out again in the world; and that without interest.
The amount to which taxes are carried in Holland, forms a very remarkable criterion of government. Are we to esteem the countries where taxes are low as the most free and happy; or those where they are the highest? It is amazing that this question cannot be answered in the manner which the first consideration of it dictates; which is, that the lower the taxes are, the more free and happy are the people. But this is not all; taxes run higher in some of the free states of Europe, than in any of the absolute monarchies: of this, Holland is a strong instance; for in that country a given number of people pay double what the same number of people used to do in France; and in England, though the people are not so high taxed as in Holland, yet they pay more than they used to do in France; this shews evidently that taxes are not inconsistent with liberty: and yet arbitrary power is not able to squeeze out of the people, so much as a free government gets with ease.
The imports in Holland are divided into three capital branches; the duties upon exportation and importation; and the duties on valuation, which under that denomination is not a useless title, but an additional duty upon exportation and importation. This is the first branch of taxes, and the only one which is paid alike by all the inhabitants of the seven provinces; and this import is laid on by the direct order of the States-general, and its produce carried into the treasury belonging to the republic. The two other principal branches consist in duties upon weights in the provinces and cities; in duties upon consumption, and in others personal and real. The whole of these taxes are estimated at 120 million of florins. The manner in which the taxes are collected, renders them liable to great fraud; but whenever it is discovered, there are very heavy punishments inflicted, of fine, imprisonment, and corporal chastisement. Holland is perhaps the only country in which a traveller can go in and come out, and not be molested by those harpies of custom-house officers, who exercise their power with such tyranny in other states. The expences in collecting the taxes are so great, that they consume nearly half of what is collected.
Beside the duty on merchandise imported or exported, almost every article of home-consumption pays an excise to the amount, in many of them, of one third of their value, such as bread, beer, wine, turf; especially in the province of Holland; servants, horses, coaches, chaises; pleasure-yachts pay taxes, as well as fruits; and there is likewise a tax on horned cattle.
Every family pays a sum of money in proportion to their circumstances, even for the privilege of drinking tea, or coffee. The proprietors of estates and houses likewise pay an annual tax for them, according to their supposed value, which generally amounts to two and an half per cent. When the state is pressed for money, this tax is doubled, and sometimes trebled, which becomes very burthensome to the renters. All public sales, legacies, collateral successions, as well as those in a right line, are subject to a tax of from five to thirty per cent. Marriages and funerals likewise pay a very heavy duty, in proportion to the opulence of the parties to be wedded or interred; these two taxes seem very curiously regulated. When the parties present themselves for marriage, which in this country takes place before a civil magistrate, a tariff is presented to them, consisting of a number of columns of different classes of riches; in which every person is free to set their name down in what column they think proper, and the tax is proportionate to the property which they rate themselves worth.
The tax on funerals is upon a similar scale. Those who are interred before two o'clock in the afternoon, pay scarce any duty; but after that hour has struck, there is a duty of 25 florins; at half past two, it amounts to 50 florins; if the time exceeds three o'clock before the corpse is brought to be interred, it is 100 florins; at half past three, 200 florins; and so it continues augmenting proportionably every half hour. It is usual likewise to pay the bearers of the corpse from thirty sous to fourteen florins each, according to the rank of the person.
These taxes, as well as those on lands, houses, carriages, public sales, legacies, &c. are very proper objects of taxation, as they do not attack the industry of the people; they fall only upon wealth and superfluity, and might be imitated with great advantage by the other nations of Europe.
But with regard to the excise laid on the consumption of necessaries, though it is less burthensome in the commercial cities than elsewhere; it is nevertheless very destructive, especially in cities, where the commerce consists of buying and selling. These excises evidently render the necessaries of life much dearer to the people, and consequently increase the prices of labour; and from thence another bad consequence arises, that all the works required in the navigation and shipping become dear; and the maintenance of the crews likewise in proportion dearer, by which the nation loses the advantage of a low freight. The fishing likewise becomes dearer for the same reason.
The influence of excise from commodities of the first necessity, is much more sensibly felt in cities at a distance from maritime commerce, where the evil has made a much more rapid progress, and produced a failure of all manufactures, which are not supported by interior consumption, or which cannot support the competition of foreigners, through the single effect of the dearness of labour. This has visibly diminished the population and consumption of the states, which must necessarily tend very much to weaken it.
CHAP. IX.
Of their
ARMY
and
NAVY.
AND first with respect to the army, which though perhaps of less importance to the state than their navy, has in most countries the precedence. The Dutch stand in need of a considerable military force for their defence, notwithstanding which, it has not hitherto been put on a proper establishment. Every province keeps on foot as many soldiers as it can conveniently maintain; but the Swiss regiments are paid by the States-general. In times of peace, the forces of the republic seldom exceed 40,000 men, and their number is very often less. On the peace of Westphalia, in 1648, the army was reduced to thirty thousand; in 1713, it was 40,000; and in 1717, thirty-two thousand. After the treaty of Aix-la-chapelle in 1748, the reduction was made gradually; first, the greatest part of the hired troops were dismissed, then the new raised regiments. The number of men in each company of the national, Scotch, and Swiss regiments was also considerably reduced. In 1752, some further reductions were introduced, which made the standing army very low; but in lieu thereof, a better discipline was introduced among the troops. Perhaps the time may come, when it shall be perceived, adds
Busching,
of how little service new raised regiments are, and how detrimental it is to a state to disband veteran troops, how great soever may be the savings it is attended with.
In time of war, the republic takes into its pay some of the regiments belonging to the German princes. The chief command of the army is vested in the Stadtholder, as captain-general; but the executive part, particularly in war-time, is filled by the field marshal general. The expences attending the military establishment amount to about ten millions of guilders annually.
The pay of a common soldier in the Dutch service, is four stivers, or four pence sterling a-day, cloaths deducted, for which one stiver is taken off; so that their full pay is three shillings a-week, or thirty-five stivers, with some small allowance of bread. The captains are likewise allowed twelve hundred florins a-year, for cloathing their company, with which they are obliged to furnish their men with a new suit of cloaths every year. The uniform of the Dutch regiments is blue, similar to that of the Prussians, with this difference, that the cloth in the Dutch regiments is of a quality superior to that with which the king of Prussia's soldiers are clad. The serjeants of the guards have silver-laced regimentals. The Dutch are distinguished from the Hessians and Swiss by white breeches. They make a fine figure on the parade, their hair being dressed very neat, in the manner of the Prussian soldiers, and their cloaths not quite so short. They perform their exercise with great exactness, and are examined every fourth day, in order to see if their arms are kept in proper order, and little faults are punished in the ranks by a certain number of blows on the back with the major's cane; they wheel out of the rank on their heel at the word of command to receive the punishment, and then wheel into the rank again. The invalids have pensions nearly equal to the half pay of a private soldier in England; amounting to 84 florins a-year. The Dutch seldom punish any of their soldiers with death; desertion in this country, different from all other states, being only punished by making the deserter work on some of the public works. It should be mentioned however that there is no other country that pays their troops so liberally as the Dutch; so that a soldier is sure not to benefit himself by deserting from this service to enter into any other. There are three Scotch regiments in the Dutch service, most of the officers of which are from Scotland. In our late war with the Dutch, they were incorporated with the national regiments.
The soldiers of the States-general cannot be quartered in any of the cities belonging to the different provinces without their permission, which was the chief reason of their losing so many towns in the French invasion of 1672; for while the magistrates of the different cities were deliberating whether they should receive the soldiers under the orders of the States-general, the French took advantage of their dissentions, and made themselves masters of some very important places, without the delay of a formal siege. The forces of the republic are, for the most part, quartered in the conquered country, or what is called the
Generalité
lands, and not in any of the seven provinces, except at the Hague. Most of the capital cities in the Dutch Netherlands have respective militias of their own. Amsterdam, in particular, has a body of two or three thousand troops in its pay, who regularly mount guard, and to whom the defence of the city is intrusted.
The naval force of the republic made formerly a great figure, and in some of their wars the Dutch have had no less than an hundred sail of the line in commission; but the usual number kept up in time of peace is not more than thirty; and those are not always properly equipped for service. It is however very certain that the different admiralties can, in a very short time, equip fifty or sixty sail of the line. The ships in commission, in time of peace, are generally employed to cruize in the Mediterranean, in order to protect their trade against the corsairs, or else as convoys to the homeward bound East-Indiamen.
The admiralty colleges, which from the heavy charges attending the employing so many clerks and other superior officers, corresponding with our lords of the admiralty, are looked on as a burthen to the state; provide for the safety of the sea and rivers, and likewise for the shipping in general; equip men of war, and appoint convoys for merchant-ships. The number and rank of these colleges, are as follows: First, the college of Rotterdam; secondly, that of Amsterdam; thirdly, that of Zealand or Middleburg; fourthly, that of West Friesland or North Holland, and, lastly, that of Friesland. Each of these colleges extends to that part of the navy assigned to it, and these several expenditures gave rise more particularly to the duties on exportation, which are accordingly levied by the admiralty colleges. In time of war, and in cases of extraordinary naval equipments, heavier duties are laid on the several imports and exports, as likewise on all ships coming in or going out of the different ports, exclusive of large contributions from every province. The Stadtholder of the United Netherlands is likewise high admiral of the naval force of the republic. He sits also as president in the admiralty colleges, and sometimes even issues orders for the conduct of the fleet or particular ships. When a fleet is fitted out for sea, the vice-admiral, general, or any other commanding officer, usually divides it into the van, center, and rear.
The deputies of the different colleges have 1000 florins a-year appointment, besides their apartments; and when they are in employ, an additional four florins a-day, besides the expences of their journies to and from the different sea-ports.
When the States-general have resolved to equip a sleet, the council of state sends orders to the different colleges to fit out their respective quota of ships. If the different colleges of admiralty have not wherewithal to fit out a fleet, the respective provinces make good the deficiency, or give the admiralty leave to borrow the sum that is necessary.
It is incumbent on the several colleges to assign the complement of men requisite for each ship, after which the captain uses his utmost diligence to procure as good hands as possible to man them, and undertakes to provide provisions and all other necessaries for his ship's crew. The college for this allows him a fixed sum per day for each man. This occasions great emulation among the captains, and is one of the best means possible to get a ship well and speedily manned. There is not a set of people who fare harder than the subaltern officers in the Dutch navy, such as lieutenants, &c. their appointments are very slender, and they have no more than the ratios of two foremast men. The lieutenants of men-of-war in the Dutch service are appointed by the different colleges, according to a plurality of voices.
In time of war, the States-general give permission to their subjects to fit out armed ships, to cruise against the enemy; but they must besides have a special commission either from some of the admiralty colleges, or from the States, otherwise they are considered as pirates.
The neglect of their marine is a most impolitic conduct in the Dutch; for a trading power to rely more on its land-forces than on its navy, is such an insatuation, that nothing but a very favourable complexion of affairs among its neighbours, can prevent extreme ill consequences from ensuing. The Dutch army has generally proved insufficient for their defence, in a land-war, whereas their fleet have more than once brought them off in triumph, and concluded their quarrels to their advantage.
CHAP. X.
On their
RELIGION, LEARNING, ARTS, SCIENCES,
and
LANGUAGE.
AT the time of the reformation, the inhabitants of the United Provinces declared for Lutheranism, adhering only to the Augsburg confession; but in 1562 a different system of articles, corresponding with those of Geneva, was drawn up for the Netherland churches. And in 1583, the States of the United Provinces unanimously resolved, that the Calvinist doctrine alone should be supported, without tolerating the exercise of any other religion; but the last clause never obtained the force of a law. In 1571, the Calvinist doctrine, as set forth by the synod of Dort, received the sanction of the states of each province, notwithstanding which, the Jews are more numerous than the Christians; who, agreeable to that rational maxim of dominion over the conscience belonging to God alone, enjoy liberty of conscience and the free exercise of their religion; provided they do not oppose that of the state, and attempt to discharge subjects from their obedience to the civil power. The Calvinists alone, however, are admitted to any share in the government. The ecclesiastical persons here consist of four orders; of prosessors of divinity at the universities, of beneficed ministers, of elders, and deacons. All matters respecting religion are canvassed in different assemblies, called consistories, classes, and synods. In every parish there is a consistory, composed of the ministers, elders, and deacons, in which are discussed all matters more particularly relating to that parish. It should be observed here, that the parishes in Holland are not like those in England, comprehending a small district with only one minister, but there are several belonging to one church. The classes are meetings similar to our archdeacon's visitation. The synods seem to have great affinity with our houses of convocation.
In the ecclesiastical government there is no dignity or rank higher than that of minister of a parish. The ministers are likewise independent of each other. They have no other distinction among them than that of longest standing. When they have been ministers sixty years, they are generally declared approved; and preserve their appointments during life, though they no longer perform the duties of their office, Their largest stipends do not amount, according to some writers, to more than two thousand florins, or about a hundred pounds a year, others make them a hundred and fifty; this salary is paid them by the magistrates. As to tythes and church-lands, the states took possession of these when they first established their independence, and have retained them ever since; so that the Dutch clergy depend entirely on their magistrates; and if they disapprove the doctrines of their minister, or dislike his preaching, it is said, as a signal to get rid of him, they send him a pair of shoes and a staff, by which he is to understand that it is their pleasure he should quit their territories: and he is not permitted to offer any exculpation of himself. None of the clergy in Holland are permitted, as with us, to hold a plurality of benefices. The professors are indeed allowed the privilege of having church preferment. The widows of the clergy likewise enjoy a pension for their life, besides one year of their husband's stipend.
To be elected a minister or clergyman in the Dutch church, it is necessary to undergo two examinations in one of these synods. The first is, to obtain that rank in their church which corresponds with that of deacon of England; and which gives an authority to preach, but not to administer the sacraments. When there is a vacancy in any church, the consistory desires permission of the province or city to which it belongs to appoint another minister. They then proceed to the election of one, in the same manner as the fellows of colleges in our universities fill up their vacant fellowships, by plurality of voices. This election of a new minister by the consistory must afterwards be approved by the magistrates of the town or district, or else the consistory must be obliged to proceed to a fresh election.
The duties of a parish priest in Holland are similar to those in England, except that in Holland they are forced to preach two or three times a-week. The minutiae of their functions are more attended to in Holland, such as catechising in their churches, examining into the lives and characters of their parishioners, and visiting their sick.
The elders in Holland are persons distinguished by their years, their morals, and rank in life, who are elected generally from among the magistrates, to inspect into the affairs of the church, and visit the different parishes. They are removable every two years.
The deacons are elected and removable in like manner. Their business is to collect and distribute the charities to the poor. The collections for the poor are made by them while the minister is preaching, at which time they go round the church with a purse, and a b
fastened to the end of a staff, in order to make contributions. And what is very singular, all those places of worship which are not of the established religion, are obliged to give part of the money they collect for their own poor, to the poor of the established church. Perhaps there is no country in the world where there is so much money collected in charity, as in Holland. Every city and every sect has its establishment apart, where both the old and the young are received and taken care of. The revenue of the abb
es and convents, which were suppressed at the reformation, have ever since been employed for this purpose. In some cities they likewise levy particular taxes for these institutions. No children are received in any of these charities above fifteen years old. They have masters who teach them to read and write, and they are afterwards instructed in some branch of business. The old people admittde into these establishments must, at least, be fifty years old. Each institution has its different rules and customs. In many of these charities they are admitted without any expence. In others a sum of money is previously required.
The Dutch churches are seldom without organs, and no part of their service seems to delight them so much as singing psalms. The psalms to be sung in the course of the service, are usually written down on slates hung up in different parts of the church. The Dutch are not very strict in their observance of the sabbath, after the duties of the day are over; but will follow their recreations in the evening more than the Presbyterians in this country.
With respect to their marriages, before they take place in Holland, there is a solemn contract made between the parties in presence of their friends, by which their choice is so far determined that there is no receding from it; and after this ceremony has been gone through, they make no scruple of living together as man and wife, and the woman is frequently pregnant before the marriage has been solemnized in a church. There are in some towns commissaries chosen from the principal citizens, who take down the names of the persons who wish to be married, in order to see if they have the consent of their friends; after which they deliver the names of those who are to be married, to the minister of the parish, if approved, who publishes the banns three times in the church, before or after sermon, according to the custom of the place. It is said, if a parent or guardian refuses his consent, without just cause being shewn, that the commissaries will not only permit the marriage to take place, but also oblige the parents or guardians to advance a sum sufficient for the maintenance, or setting up in business of such persons, according to their station in life and circumstances. As for those who are not of the established church, it is the custom to publish their banns before the town hall, in the presence of two senators, though this is sometimes dispensed with, and their marriages are suffered to be solemnized when the banns have been published in their respective places of worship.
Though the Dutch women in their bloom are very handsome, yet applying themselves after marriage to all sorts of drudgery, their beauty usually goes off by five-and-twenty. If the husband be a tradesman, his wife manages every thing in the shop, and her man, as she calls her husband, has very little to do within doors, and can scarce indeed be called master of his family. His very children insult him, especially if favourites of his wife, and from his servants he has but little respect.
At the burials of the Calvinists there is no funeral service read, nor any bell rung to give notice of the interment. In some places both men and women attend their friends to the grave, in others, the women are prohibited. The time of mourning for a parent, a husband, or a wife, is a year and six weeks.
The Catholics and Lutherans in Holland lay great stress in tolling a bell at the death and burial of their friends, and having them interred in consecrated ground for which the government makes them pay very dear. Indeed, there are no rites, how superstitious soever, the Dutch will not tolerate, if they are paid for it.
The Roman Catholic churches in the United Provinces are about three hundred and fifty, and the proportion of them is still greater in the
Generalité
lands. The Papists in this country are admitted to military employment; but no person of that sect, is ever created field marshall. They are computed at one-third of the inhabitants.
The Lutherans are likewise permitted the free exercise of their religion in the towns; and their places of worship, in the external appearance, look like churches; but an edict of 1655 prohibits them from having any churches in the country, though in some p
aces they are connived at. They are, however, rendered incapable of all posts and employments.
The Quakers, at present, in this country are dwindled to a very small number; but the Moravians form a very considerable body of people. The American Christians likewise enjoy the free exercise of their religion. The many other sects, which have no settled congregations, we pass over in silence.
The Jews have been permitted the public exercise of their religion, ever since the year 1619, and have many privileges in common with the rest of the inhabitants, except, that they are excluded from most trades. It is usual to divide them into Portuguese and Germans, the former of whom came from Portugal in great numbers in 1530, and 1550, and were very kindly received here.
As to the state of learning in Holland, it cannot be expected that a nation so absorbed in commerce as the Dutch, should bestow much time or attention on works of literature. This country has, notwithstanding, produced eminent men in the commonwealth of learning. such as
Grotius, Spinosa, Vossius,
who was afterwards canon of Windsor,
Van Swieten, Meursius, Erasmus, Helvetius,
and
Boerhaave,
who is said to have acquired above two millions of florins by his profession. Besides the above-mentioned illustrious literary characters who were born in the country, there have been many other eminent men invited there, who have made it their place of residence. There are no less than five universities in the United Provinces, Leyden, Utrecht, Harderwyck, Franecker, and Groningen; with two Gymnasiums, one at Amsterdam, and another at Deventer; besides several grammar-schools of note; and in Haerlem, there is an academy of sciences.
Dutch writers are generally censured for an intemperance of learning. Most of them load their writings with such numerous extracts and quotations, that if any person was to select the original ideas of the author, there would probably often be found not more than a few lines in a large volume.
Extracts are certainly useful in works of jurisprudence and medicine, to assist the reader, and enable him to have recourse to authors from whom they are taken. But in the belles-lettres they only serve to load the sentences, and to divert the attention of the reader from the original idea. It is in these provinces that politics have been most learnedly treated of. The most eminent civilians have been Dutchmen, or such as have been invited from other countries to preside in their seats of learning. The ornamental parts of learning have never been cultivated with success. They have neither poets nor orators. At least they have none that would be esteemed as such in other countries.
In the fine arts, the Dutch have chiefly distinguished themselves in painting and engraving, though they are not without skilful statuaries. Their school of painting, says
Sherlock,
deserves to be viewed, in order to have an idea of the height to which the mechanism of the art may be carried. Their finish is much more perfect than that of the Italians. But as they only servilely copy an ungraceful nature, one of their pictures never makes us wish to see it again. Their absurd want of taste makes them despise all that belong to the Italian school. The antique with them is a term of ridicule. And if an artist were to work there on those ideas, he would die with hunger.
Rubens,
to whom nature by mistake gave birth in their neighbourhood, is not relished by the Dutch, and the proof of it is that no young painter imitates him. If they value his pictures, it is because they sell well: and if some of his pictures still remain among them it is because travellers will not give six times more for them than they are worth.
The languages of the United Provinces is a dialect of the High German, but more corrupt and clownish. The people of fashion usually speak French. Their Lord's prayer runs thus:
Onse Vader, die in de hemel nzyn: uwen naam worde gehey light: uw'koningkryk kome; uwe wille geschidè gelyek in den hemmel zoo ook op den arden, ons dagelicks broot geef ons heeden, ende vergeeft onse schulden gelyk ook wy vergeeven onse schaldenaaren: ende in leid ons niel in versoekinge maer verlost on van den boosen.
Amen.
A DESCRIPTION OF TURKEY IN EUROPE, FROM
Busching, Baltimore, Tott, Craven, Chishull, Habesci, Montague, Chandler, Savary, Peysonnel, &c.
CHAP. I.
Of the Seas, Climate, and Country round Constantinople.
THIS empire consists of European, Asiatic, and African possessions; and is thought to be the largest in the world. Some affirm it is 2,000 miles in length from east to west, and 1,750 from north to south. Turkey in Europe is divided by the mountains of the Castagnas into north and south.
MAP of TURKEY in EUROPE. from D' Anville.
It is proper, in this place, to add, likewise, the nations who are or were allied in a particular manner to the Porte, without being entirely subject to it. These are the Tartars of the Crimea and the cantons of Barbary. The Precopite Tartars, inhabitants of the Chersonnesus, now called the Crimea, or Little Tartary, and who are likewise called Nogayan Tartars, are a people dependent on the Ottoman Porte; but they rather deserve the title of allies, savs
Habesci,
for there exists between them and the Porte a reciprocal convention, that if the male line of the Ottoman emperors fails, the Khan of Crimea shall succeed to the empire, and in the same manner the Ottoman monarch shall inherit the Crimea. This convention was the cause of that strict union which has always subsisted between them. The Grand Signor does not treat despotically with them as he does with his other subjects, and as he had in former times begun to do even with them. When he sends any order to the Khan, he does not make use of a
Firman
or absolute mandate, but written letters, expressing his will and pleasure, which, however, are always complied with.
Though these people are not under any obligation to pay tribute, they very often send presents to the Sultan and the Grand Vizier. The present state of the Crimea is very different to what it was some years ago: for in the last war between the Turks and the Russians, the latter conquered the whole country. At the peace, however, every thing was nearly restored to its former state. A principal article of the peace was the independence of the Crimea, and the free election of the Khans. But of the two chief candidates on the death of the reigning Khan, one was partially supported by the Porte, of which the Russians complained, as an infraction of the article of independence. The memorials of the court of Petersburgh were not listened to; upon which the Russians supported vigorously the party of the other competitor, whose name is
Sahib Guerai.
The enemies of
Guerai
were overpowered, he was elected Khan, and Russia actually reigned in the prince she had protected. All the fortresses were in the power of the Russians, Caffa, the principal town in the Crimea, not excepted; the Black sea is full of Russian vessels, and every effort of the Turks to drive them out has been ineffectual.
The country comprized under the name of Little Tartary, contains besides the Crimea, the Cuban, a part of Circassia, and all the lands which separate the empire of Russia from the Black sea. In this latter district lyes the important fortress of Oczakow, at the influx of the Dnieper, into the Black sea, which was lately taken from the Turks by the Russians, and which the empress stipulated to be ceded to her as the basis of a treaty of peace concluded with the Turks, together with the territory surrounding it, from the Bog to the Dniester; inhabited, but only in the vallies and by the sides of the rivers, by the Tartars, called Nogayan Tartars, and subject to the Khan of the Crimea. These Tartars are even more numerous than those in the Crimea. This country is likewise sometimes called Oczakow Tartary. But of these countries we shall afterwards speak more fully.
The states of Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli are almost on the same footing with the Porte as the Crimea. These barbarians often receive orders from the Porte, which they do not attend to, when they clash with the respective interests of each state. They are, however, obliged to join the Ottoman fleet with all their maritime forces in time of war. The same compact obliges the Porte to support them with all its forces against any enemy who shall attack them. They do not pay any tribute, but send presents every three years, like the Crim Tartars, to the Grand Signor, and he, in return, sends them some armed sloops and frigates properly equipped for sea, except being manned. These states, therefore, are more properly considered as allies than subjects.
The Turks are of Tartarian or Scythian extraction. This appellation having been first given them, in the middle ages, as a proper name, it being a general title of honour to all the nations comprehended under the two principal branches of Tartar and Mongul: nor do even the Turks appropriate it peculiarly to themselves, both the Monguls and the Tartars, properly so called, esteeming it a mark of honour due to them; the word
Tur,
as an adjective, meaning sublime and pre-eminent, and as an appellation, a governor.
Turci,
therefore, may import both the governor of a hord (
Ki
among the Tartars signifying a hord or company) as well as the hord itself. The Scythian or Tartarian nation, to which, as we have before observed, the name of Turks has been peculiarly given, dwelt between the Black and Caspian seas, and became first known in the seventh century, when
Heraclius,
emperor of the East, took them into his service, under whom they distinguished themselves so much, that the Arabian and Saracen caliphs not only had particular bodies of them for their guards, but their armies were likewise filled with them. Thus they gradually got the power into their own hands, and set up and dethroned caliphs at their pleasure. This happened about the ninth century. By this strict union of the Turks with the Saracens or Arabs, the former were brought to embrace the Mahometan religion; so that they are now become intermixed, and have jointly extended their conquests.
We shall now enter into a detail of Turkey in Europe. Nature has blessed the inhabitants of Turkey beyond measure. Its soil is luxuriant without dressing. Its air is salubrious. The seasons are regular and pleasant, and the waters are so pure and delightful, as to invite them to frequent bathings in all parts of the kingdom.
It would seem, says Lady
Craven,
in her description of the beautiful climate of this country, that every thing in nature which has remarkable advantages attending it, should likewise have certain disadvantages to counterbalance them, so as to reduce the portion of happiness to a level for mankind. This beautiful enchanting country, the climate, the objects, the situation of it, make an earthly paradise; but the plague— the earthquakes—subjects that would make the rational part of mankind fly it for ever, render it terrifying to every mind. If things and persons may be compared, is it not like a beautiful woman, handsomer than most of her sex, with accomplishments equal to her beauty, whom the world, her very inmates envy, but yet whom the base passions that surround her communicate a horror to her best admirers, and frighten them from her bewitching charms?
Though the air of Turkey is so very healthy in itself, pestilence is brought there from Egypt, and has more than once swept away one fifth of the inhabitants of Constantinople; yet from the prevalence of custom, and the Turkish doctrine of fatality, they give themselves very little concern about it.
The provinces, says
Busching,
are universally fruitful, though with some difference, insomuch that both agriculture and graziery turn to great profit in this country. Great quantities of excellent grain and fruits are exported every year into foreign states; but of this we shall speak more at large in the separate description of each country. All the necessaries of life are equally good and cheap in Turkey.
The mountains in the different countries of this empire, are the most celebrated of any in the world, and many of them at the same time the most fruitful, Mount Athos lyes on a peninsula, running into the AEgean sea; the mountains Pindus and Olympus celebrated in Grecian fable, separate Thessaly from Epirus. Parnassus, so famous for being consecrated to the muses, is well known. Mount Hemus is likewise often mentioned by the poets; but most of the other mountains have changed their names; such as the mountains Suha, Witoska, Staras, Plamina, and many others. Even the most celebrated mountains above-mentioned have had modern names given them by the barbarians in their neighbourhood. But of these mountains we shall treat more particularly when we come to the respective countries in which they are situated.
The principal seas in this quarter of the globe are the Black sea; the
Palus Moeotis,
or sea of Asoph; the sea of Marmora, which separates Europe from Asia; the Archipelago, and the Ionian sea. The Black sea, formerly called the Euxine sea, lyes between Europe and Asia; it is bounded on the north by Tartary; on the east, by Mingrelia, Circassia, and Georgia; on the south by Natolia; and on the west by Romania, Bulgaria, and Bessarabia; thus reaching from the Crimea to within twenty miles of Constantinople, to which and the White sea, it is joined by a very narrow strait. It is about 150 miles across from the Crimea, but wider in some places, and 780 miles in length, and has some good harbours; and several currents, such as those of the Danube, Boristhenes, Tanais, and several other less considerable rivers which throw themselves into it, run quite across it. These currents occasion ships to be tossed backwards and forwards, and oftentimes, by the violence of the storms, to be dashed against the rocks.
About the mouth of the Euxine sea, where the passage is narrowest, about twenty miles from Constantinople, lyes a rock in the shape of an island, about fifty or sixty yards from the shore. Here formerly stood a pillar of white marble, called Pompey's pillar, because, according to the received opinion,
Pompey
erected it after he had conquered
Mithridates,
as a lasting memorial of his victory. Near this rock are several lesser rocks, of which the ancients have related such a number of fabulous stories, asserting they floated on the water, at the mouth of the Bosphorus. Near these rocks, the sea appears to be black all round the horizon. It is supposed to have had that name given to it by the Turks, from its being very dangerous to sail across. The Turks call the sea
Mauro-thalassa.
The Turkish word
Mauro
signifies, likewise, sad and lamentable, as well as black. Perhaps also it may receive its name from the black clouds, which rise up here more frequently than in other places; for the waters of this sea are not blacker than those of any other. But violent storms very often come on so suddenly, that it is impossible to be guarded against them, and these will sometimes rise up instantaneously in the finest weather. Lady
C.
who traversed this sea from the Crimea to Constantinople, relates, that there is a large rock on the European shore, near the spot on which Pompey's pillar stands, but so far distant from it, that unless a map or pilot directs the mariner how to steer, he must infallibly take it for the entrance of the Bosphorus or canal of Constantinople. Several hundred Turkish boats are wrecked upon it yearly.
Baron
Tott
says, that when he was at Constantinople, seventy sail of ships loaded with corn, were cast away in one night, by missing the mouth of the straits; which brought on such a scarcity of corn within the city, as nearly to have occasioned a very serious insurrection. This event, however, he attributes more to a species of abuse and iniquity, which will scarce appear credible, than to the dangers of the sea. For, says the baron, two light-houses very lofty, and placed at the mouth of the Black sea, on the head-lands in Europe and Asia, have been erected to point out to sailors the entrance into the straits. The oil they consume is furnished by government, and persons are appointed to light them up and keep them in order. Yet this same government permits the fabrication of charcoal all over the coast; though it is easy to perceive that under this pretence, the inhabitants frequently kindle fires, which, in bad weather, deceive and mislead the mariner. Nay further, the keepers of the towers frequently hide the lights, says the baron, to procure shipwrecks, which they very well know how to turn to their advantage.
From the Crimea to Constantinople it is usually a passage of two days, or a little more; but I have told my company, says Lady
Craven,
"I expect to be seven. Why I have chosen the number seven, I cannot guess. I can give you no other reason than that I have long resolved in my mind to expect a treble dose of any bitter draught I am obliged to swallow; and I assure you in this method of calculating events, I shall not be so often disappointed as I have been, when the natural chearfulness of my mind made me always
foresee prosperous g
l
s.
Near this spot, there are a great many
S
acall
s
or wild dogs, which resemble a fox very much, especially about the snout. They are supposed to have been engendered from wolves and dogs. In the evening, and sometimes in the middle of the night, they set up a dreadful howling, especially in bad weather, or when it is very cold; and in winter, when food is scarce, they are as fierce and ravenous as wolves.
Map of CONSTANTINOPLE
and its ENVIRONS.
References
1
Constantinople.
2
Soraglis.
3
S'Sephia.
4
Ahmed's Mosque.
5
Seren Towers.
6
Greek Chapel.
7
Naval Arsenal.
8
Garden T
lmanbachisa
.
9
Castle & Village.
10
Dardanels.
11
Greek Monastery.
12
Pompers Column.
13
Country House of the Sultan.
14
Country Palace of the Sultan.
15
Village In
sc
ti Key.
16
Launders Tower.
17
Scudar Ser
alic.
18
Garden Penerbachis chassi & Fare
18
Light Ships in the White Sea.
19
Village Ma
e.
20
Village Se
dere.
21
Island Kenals.
22
The Principal
near Constantinople.
23
K
than
a Paper Mill a Village.
23
Old Country Palace of the Sultan.
24
Village Bellgrad.
25
Old Aqued
.
26
Pera &
.
It does not appear, however, that the current is in the least troublesome in the canal, as part of what are called the suburbs of Constantinople stand, on the opposite side, in Asia. Nothing, says Lady
Mary Wortley Montague,
can be pleasanter than the canal, and the Turks are so well acquainted with its beauties, that all their pleasure seats are built on its banks, where they have at the same time the most beautiful prospects in Europe and Asia; so that there are near one another some hundreds of magnificent palaces. For an extent of twenty miles, as far as Pompey's pillar, the Asiatic side is covered with fruit trees, villages, and the most delightful landscapes in nature; the canal winding all along in a serpentine figure from the Euxine sea. On the European side, stands Constantinople situated on seven hills, with a great number of seraglios, fine gardens and pleasure-houses, called by the Turks, Kioshs; so that both these shores make a most enchanting and delightful prospect.
The Bosphorus takes a sudden turn at Bouyukdere, says Lady
C.
who approached it from the Black sea: "but my pen will but feebly repeat what Mr.
Gibbon
in his account of the singular situation of Constantinople, has described, in language majestic as the subject deserves. But I am certain no language can amuse or please, in comparison with the view which the borders of this famed straits compose; rocks, verdure, ancient castles built on the summit of the hills by the Genoese, who once possessed it; the modern kioshs, or summer-houses, with blinds all round, minarets and large plantane trees rising promiscuously in the vallies, large meadows, multitudes of people, and boats swarming on the shore and on the water; and what is particular, nothing to be seen like a formal French garden. The Turks having so great a respect for natural beauties, that if they must build a house where a tree stands, they leave a large hole for the tree to pass through and increase in size, conceiving the branches of it to be the prettiest ornament for the top of their house; in truth, contrast a chimney to a beautiful foliage, and judge if they are right or wrong. This coast is so safe, that a large fleet of Turkish vessels is to be seen in every creek, masts of which are intermingled with the trees, and a graceful confusion and variety, make this living picture the most picturesque scene I ever beheld."
The sea of Marmora, Propontis, or the White sea, for it has all these different names, extends from Constantinople to Gallipoli. It is called White sea in opposition to the Euxine, or Black sea, and it derives its name of Marmora from some islands so called in the middle of it. This sea of Marmora is properly a large gulph, communicating both with the Black sea, by the canal of Constantinople, and with the Archipelago by the Hellespont or Dardenelles. It is 120 miles in length and 50 broad. There is scarce any part of the world, except Holland, that can shew within so small a circumference so many large cities, as are to be seen round this pleasant sea. The famous Chizico, the celebrated Nice, the pleasant Apamia, the charming Nicomedia, the unfortunate Chalcedon, and several other cities which Asia could formerly shew on the banks of the Propontis, are sufficient marks that in this quarter of the globe nothing was wanting to render the sea-shores beautiful.
In the Propontis there are several islands which give name to the whole sea. The principal one Marmora, is about ten leagues in circumference. The
Caloyers,
or Greek monks have here several convents or hermitages. There are also three others which go by the same name, and which lye at a small distance from each other. These islands abound in cattle, corn, wine, fruits, cotton, &c. They have also great quantities of fish. Nearer to Constantinople lyes another cluster of small islands. Were these islands in the hands of the Christians, they would be so many gardens of paradise; but being exposed to the ravages of the Turks, who go there on parties of pleasure, and frequently plunder the gardens and vineyards of the Greeks, when elevated with liquor, they lye almost wholly uncultivated.
From the straits of the Bosphorus to those of the Hellespont, is a distance of about 50 leagues, the last twelve of which are those of the Hellespont, dividing as does the Bosphorus, Europe from Asia. The intermediate space between the two, is the little sea of of Marmora, where the waters have considerable breadth, and contains the isle of Marmora (exceeding high ground) so called from the quarries of marble contained in it, and lying about twelve leagues from the straits. Its ancient name was Proconesus. The sea of Marmora and the Black sea, have been called the two breasts of Constantinople; for let whatever wind blow, it is always furnished, by one or other of these seas, with abundance of provisions.
On the narrowest part of the Hellespont, next the Archipelago, where the strait is not more than half a mile wide, (called the Dardanelles, so called from
Dardanus,
formerly a king of that country) two castles are erected on each shore, where every ship that passes from the Archipelago is examined, and they thus become a key to Constantinople. On a rock in the middle of the Hellespont stands a town, in which the Turks have some small cannon. The Turks use it as a watch-tower, and it is a good sea-mark to steer by. In the middle of this rock is a spring of fresh water.
This famous strait is said to have received its name from
Helle,
daughter of
Athamas
king of Thebes, who with her brother
Phrixus,
endeavouring to escape from the treachery of their mother-in-law
Ino,
perished in these waters.
Chandler,
in sailing through the Dardanelles towards Constantinople says, we now saw a level and extensive plain, the scene as we conceived, of the battle of the Iliad, with barrows of heroes. The narrowness of the Hellespont, the smoothness of the water, and the rippling of the current reminded me of the Thames.
Xerxes
but slightly degraded it, when he called it a salt river. He crossed it 3000 years ago, with an army almost innumerable over a bridge of 700 boats. The Turks crossed it since with more success.
The Hellespont was the strait across which
Leander
tried to swim; and they have a town on the Asiatic coast, that still bears his name. When Lady
Miller
saw the short distance between the two shores, she saw nothing impossible in the story of
Leander,
or any thing wonderful in
Xerxes
's bridge of boats. It is so narrow a gut, says she, that 'tis not surprising a young man should attempt to swim across it, or an ambitious king to pass his army over it. But then being so subject to storms, 'tis no wonder the lover perished, and the bridge was broken. The months of July and August are most unfavourable for passing them.
The Hellespont,
Xerxes, Leander,
and
Hero!
says
Bisani.
What a contrast of ideas do not these names excite in us!—How much is the fate of
Leander
to be envied!—
Xerxes,
thy greatness was but smoke; for tormented by ambition, thou hadst no enjoyment of any thing; but
Leander
was loved, his passion constituted his happiness!—These ideas present themselves so naturally on our passage through this celebrated strait, that, for the moment, we feel love superior to ambition.
The principal rivers of Turkey in Europe are the Danube, which runs into the Black sea by different
embouchures;
the Dneister on the western borders of Oczakow Tartary, running a little above the Danube into the Black sea, and the Dnieper, on the eastern borders of the same country, which likewise falls into the Black sea at Oczakow. There are also the Don running into the sea of Asoph, and the Save, which empties itself into the Danube below Belgrade. The course of these rivers has been treated of already, when we spoke of Russia and Hungary. There are also many other smaller rivers which have been celebrated by the poets and historians, particularly in Natolia and the Morea, of which we shall take occasion to speak hereafter, when describing Greece.
The lakes are not very remarkable, nor are they mentioned with any degree of accuracy either by ancient or modern writers. The principal ones are those in Albania, communicating with each other. The largest called Lago di Scutari, remarkable for a town, in one of its islands, which was formerly the seat of the kings of Illyricum. In the Morea are likewise the Stymphalis, well known for the many ravenous birds that frequented it; and the Phineus, which was the source of the river Styx, whose waters were of such remarkable coldness as to freeze those persons to death who drank of them. They also corrode iron and copper; for which very singular virtues, the ancient poets feigned this river to be the river of hell.
The principal cities of this empire, are Constantinople, Adrianople, Smyrna, and Belgrade. Belgrade we have described when speaking of Hungary. The other three we shall describe in their turns.
The province in which the two great cities of Constantinople and Adrianople stands, is the ancient Thrace, of which such frequent mention is made by the Greek and Latin historians. What is very remarkable, is, that though so near each other, these are the two principal cities in the whole Turkish empire, and the only cities of any celebrity in European Turkey. This province was anciently divided into twenty nations, who according to Pliny, were afterwards made tributary to the Macedonians. It was conquered by the Romans under
Caius Stribonius Curio,
the proconsul, and possessed by the eastern emperors, till it fell under the dominion of the Turks, about four hundred years since.
The country is for the most part level, though interspersed with some large and remarkable mountains; the most considerable of which is Mount Hoemus, dividing the province to the north from Bulgaria. The next in size is Rhodope, celebrated by the ancient poets for the catastrophe of
Orpheus.
Hoemus and Rhodope, the former of which will be more fully noticed in our account of Bulgaria, are two long ridges of mountains, extending from the frontiers of Macedonia to the Black sea.
The only river of any note is the Mantza, anciently the Haebrus, which rises at the foot of mount Rhodope, on the borders of Macedonia, and running eastward by Philippopoli and Adrianople, turns to the southward, and runs into the Aegean sea.
CHAP. II.
Of Constantinople.
CONSTANTINOPLE is doubtless one of the largest and most celebrated cities of Europe. Its situation at the eastern extremity of Romania, is the most agreeable and advantageous that can be imagined. The strait which separates it from Asia is nearly as broad as the Thames at Gravesend. The city stands on more ground than that of London, and the inhabitants are computed at a million and a half, including those of the suburbs of Galata, Pera, and Scutari.
Its original name was Byzantium, and it was built by
Pausanias,
king of Sparta. The emperor
Severus
demolished it, to punish the rebellion of the inhabitants. But
Constantine
the Great rebuilt it, and called it after his own name. In the year 330 it was consecrated by him for the seat of the Roman empire, a more eligible situation than its ancient capital, Rome. After the division of the empire, it became the seat of the eastern emperors, from whom in 1209, it was taken by the Venetians and French, but recovered by the Paloeologi fifty years after, and fell into the hands of the Turks on Whitsunday, 1453, who have kept it ever since.
Byzantium, in its pristine state, consisted of no more than that triangular spot, of which the present seraglio forms one of its angles, and whose two sides are washed by the harbour and the sea of Marmora. So that was
Constantine
alive at this day, he would not know the place. Constantinople, in its present form, is one of the finest cities in the world for its situation and its port. It is frequently called the Porte by way of eminence. The prospect from it is noble. It abounds with antiquities. The mosque of St. Sophia, once a Christian church, is thought to exceed, in grandeur and architecture, St. Peter's at Rome. The city itself is built in a triangular form, with the seraglio standing on the point of the angles, from whence there is a delightful prospect of the coast of the Lesser Asia, which is not to be equalled. It stands, like ancient Rome, on seven hills, and by an express order, inscribed on a stone-pillar, was called New Rome; but so little of the ancient city remains, that
Constantine,
as I have observed, would scarce know it again. Though ancient Byzantium was reckoned the most delightful, and at the same time the most convenient place for trade in the whole world; yet of the present Constantinople, it may be said, that nothing can exceed it in point of situation and neighbourhood.
PLAN
of the CITY of
CONSTANTINOPLE.
References.
1
The great St . Sophia
2
Yale Kia
k one gate of the S
3
The Egyptian Market Place
4
Eugi Jami
5
Vali de Jami ormosque
6
The Vixir Az
m Palace
7
Jami of Sultan Ac
met
8
Jami of Ibraham Ch
9
Hippodromus or At Maiden
Riding Place
10
Seraglio where the deposed Emperor are con
11
The Little St . Sophia
12
Great Be
es
in a Market
13
Va
i de kan a great S
re
o. for Foreign Merchants
14
Vali de Cararansera or public Inns where Travellers & others are receiv'd gratis
15
Eski Serai or the Old S
formerly Omph
l a great Palace
16
Great Bazar a Market
17
The New Jami a Mosque
18
Kan a Market for For
19
Jami of Sultan Bajax
20
Jami of Shasade
21
Jami of Forhad Basha
22
Jami of Or
23
Jami of Sultan Soliman
24
Palace of the Aga of the Janis
25
Jami of K
llis
26
Jami of Aya formerly St . Ana
s
27
Fin
a Ca
e of the Gr
an Patriarch & also the Coll
ge where the Greek Tongue is taught in its Original puri
28
Fin
a
by which Mahomet II took the Town
29
Jami of Dragoman
30
The Ruins of Constantines Palace
31
Jami of the Sultan
32
Jami of the Fel
a formerly called Almighty
33
Jami of Sultan Mahomet formerly called Holy Apostles
34
Barracks of the Janissari
s
35
Jami of David Ba
haw
36
Jami of the Arabs
37
Seven Towers Gate
38
Powder Magazine
39
Gardeners Lodgings
40
Fish Market
41
Sidan a Prison for Debt
42
The Sea Arsenal
43
Custom House
44
The Great Seraglio
45
Leander's Tower
46
Light House
47
The Great Seignors
S
bles
48
The Seven Towers
49
St . Euph
ria Greek Church
50
Andrinople Gate
51
in
dani where they learn to throw Darts on Horse-back
The harbour is an arm of the sea, running from the canal of the Black sea, and washing one side of that triangular piece of ground on which Byzantium stood. To form a better idea of this description we must refer the reader to the plan annexed. This harbour is about three miles long and one broad, capacious enough to hold 1200 sail of ships, and so deep, that ships of great burden may unload at the very quays. It is necessary only to throw out a plank to get on shore. The harbour is in the form of a crescent, north of the city, and a small river of fresh water empties itself into it at the upper end. Here the fresh water is dammed up for convenience, and formed into square basons to imitate those of Marly. The noblest view of this metropolis is either taken from the middle of the harbour, or from the suburbs of Galata on the opposite side. From hence, as the city standing upon ground rising gradually from the water's edge, a considerable way back, and the houses being so disposed, that one does not obstruct the sight of another, the whole forms a circular and magnificent amphitheatre, so as that the whole may be seen at one view; and when the sun shines upon it, the multitude of glittering domes and gilded spires seen, intermixed with groves of cypress and ever-greens, exhibits a sight unparalleled in any part of the globe.
The seraglio, as we have observed, stands on the point of the triangle, which runs out between the White sea and the harbour; and underneath this palace, on the declivity of the hill, are the gardens. At the other angle on the White sea, stands the castle of the seven towers, built before the city came into the possession of the Turks, and used as a prison for state-criminals. On the third angle, at the extremity of the harbour, are the ruins of
Constantine
's palace.
The harbour of Constantinople, says
Sertini,
is about two miles in circumference, and the city about twelve. The number of gates that we reckoned up, in making the tour of the walls, including those which go into the seraglio and into the gardens, amounted to twenty-five.
We must say something more of this harbour, so worthy admiration. Its entrance being placed between the White and Black sea, whose streams are opposite each other, when the wind prevents ships from coming to the city by one of these channels, it serves to bring them down by the other. For there are but two sorts of wind that blow here, the north and the south. When the north wind blows, nothing can be brought from the White sea to Constantinople, because vessels cannot get into the canal or Bosphorus; but then ships coming down the canal from the Euxine or Black sea, having a fair wind, can get up to the city, and furnish it with provision and whatever else is wanting. On the contrary, when the wind is in the south, nothing can be brought from the Black sea, but any ship may sail up the canal from the White sea, so that these two winds may be considered the two keys of Constantinople, which open and shut up the passage.
The air in summer would be very hot and sufficating, were it not for a breeze which comes every afternoon from the mouth of the harbour; yet the city is so very healthy, that no diseases are known here besides the plague; but it is very subject to earthquakes, two of which are sometimes felt in a day.
This city is of uncommon extent, having twenty-five gates, six of which are on the land side, and nineteen towards the sea. There is a double wall on the land side, each of which has a large trench belonging to it. The cannon and the port-holes are near two-hundred and fifty in all. The inner wall is at least eighteen feet high, so that it serves to defend the outermost wall: both of them are built up in some places with free-stone, and in others with brick.
This double wall is said to have been built under the reign of the younger
Theodosius,
by
Cyrus
the governor, with which the people were so pleased, that they gave public demonstrations of their joy, and made verses in its commendation, which were sung about the streets. They said
Constantine
had indeed erected the city, but that
Cyrus
had enlarged and adorned it. They even went so far as to propose changing its name into that of Cyrople. At this,
Theodosius
was so jealous, that he ordered
Cyrus
to be confined in a monastery, where he died of grief.
The style of the architecture of these walls and towers, says Lady
Craven,
is exactly like that of Warwick and Berkeley castles; but many of the square towers which serve as gateways, are mouldering away under the negligence of the Turks; most of whom believe in an ancient prophecy, which announces that the time is near, when the Empress of Russia is to make her public and triumphal entry through one of these towers, as Empress of Greece, into Constantinople. Many of the Turks have even made up their minds, and already taken measures to transport themselves across the Bosphorus into Asia; nay, some go so very far, as to point to the very identical gateway, through which the empress is to proceed. To some nations it would be very agreeable, that the Turkish empire were driven from a situation, which seems by nature formed as an universal passage for trading nations, which the inactivity of the Turks has too long obstructed. And it is to be wished by all those who bear any respect to the best monuments of sculpture, that Athens, and all it yet contains, might not by Mahometan ignorance be entirely destroyed; at present, ruins that would adorn a virtuoso's cabinet, are daily burnt into lime by the Turks, and pieces of exquisite workmanship stuck into a wall or a fountain.
Situated at the eastern extremity of Europe, near the Black sea, it is only separated from Asia by the Bosphorus of Thrace, which channel forms a communication, as has been before remarked, between the two seas, and discharges, on the south side, that surplus of waters which the Black sea pours into it from the north. As the current runs first into the harbour, and circulates round it, before it rejoins the stream into the White sea, the port of Constantinople is continually cleansing itself, from all the rubbish and filth with which it is daily encumbered.
If ambition, desirous of universal dominion, had consulted a map of the world, to discover the most proper situation for the capital of its empire, that of Constantinople, without doubt, had been preferred. Placed between two seas, this city would be, at once, the centre of agriculture, commerce, arts, and sciences; did not the infatuated hand of despotism break every instrument of culture and industry for twenty leagues round. Constantinople, inclosed within the circle of its ancient walls, presents the traveller with nothing on the land side, but an appearance of dissolution; while towards the sea, a thousand vessels in the centre of an immense amphitheatre are continually arriving from all nations, to bring that tribute which the whole world owes to its metropolis. Ancient Byzantium, the walls of which serve at present for the boundaries to the seraglio of the Grand Signor, placed on the extremity of the cape, which forms and shuts in the port, presents to the eye a forest of cypress-trees, the tops of which, surmounted by an infinite number of cupolas, covered with lead, and ornamented with gilded globes, form a pyramid with the tower of the Divan which rises above them. This group, strongly shaded, seems to detach itself from the rest of the picture, which presents no other variety, but that of some scattered edifices, that heavily overpower the objects by which they are surrounded. The port, from the headland of the seraglio to the fresh waters, the name given to that river which falls into the sea at the bottom of the port, extends above two thousand fathoms farther in length than the other sides of that triangle by which Constantinople is bounded.
On the opposite shore are the immense suburbs which inclose the city of Galata, and these present a picture, the richness of which is still farther increased and diversified, by the successive villages which unite and blend themselves on the edge of the Bosphorus, for six leagues towards the Black sea. This chain of buildings, continued on the coast of Asia, rejoins at Scrutari; which city being only a little more than a mile from the entrance of the port, to which it is opposite, is as it were another suburb to Constantinople, and affords it a most enchanting prospect. The boats which incessantly traverse the space that lyes between the two cities seem to unite Europe with Asia. In the morning other boats convey the villagers of the Bosphorus to the labour of the capital, by which they are maintained, and bring them back to their houses in the evening. An infinite number of small vessels are likewise employed for the convenience of the inhabitants; and if we add, the transports, passing and repassing, and carrying those provisions to the capital, which the Black sea and the Archipelago daily furnish, together with the activity of foreign commerce, pouring in perpetual supplies for elegance and luxury, we shall have some small idea of the motion which constantly agitates this busy scene.
How shall I give you an adequate idea, says
Sertini,
of the prodigious quantity of different kinds of vessels which are to be seen in the harbour of Constantinople? The number of persons continually going from Constantinople to Galata and other places, is so great, that the harbour has more the appearance of a high road crowded with passengers, than of a sea; the boats most frequently made use of, are so light that they are only to be kept in a proper equilibrium, when sailing, by the watermen skilfully humouring their oars, and the position of their bodies, to the motion of the wind.
But though nothing can please the eye more than the external appearance of Constantinople, the charm is immediately dissolved on entering the city. The narrowness of the greater part of the streets, where the over-hanging roofs of the houses scarcely leave a passage for the light; the flinty pavement of which no care is taken; and the want of every kind of cleanliness are, says baron
Tott,
among the smallest faults of this capital.
The number of houses in this city must needs be prodigious, since one fire alone has been known to burn down 30,000 in a day, without greatly changing the aspect of the city. They compute about 3770 streets in the city, small and great, but they are seldom or ever clean. To add to the inconvenience of being narrow and dirty, they are likewise slippery, as they in general run along some declivity, and most of the houses are low, being built only of wood and plaister, yet crowded with inhabitants. The best houses stand in places which are least subject to any great concourse of people, and where the city is most thinly inhabited; and the finest buildings are without the city near the harbour. The street called Adrianople is the longest and broadest. There is no order, no architecture, no dignity, to be found in the houses, says
Habesci;
the mosques or churches alone merit the attention of strangers, and of these there are 934, great and small. Ten of them are called royal mosques and are truly superb. But after viewing that of St. Sophia, which we shall hereafter particularly notice, there is little to be seen in the rest; for they are all built on one plan; however, their situations are delightful, and not incumbered with surrounding buildings as in other cities, and on that account they attract the notice of passengers. St. Sophia is nearly opposite the great gate of the seraglio, from whence the Ottoman court takes the name of the Sublime Porte.
There are a great number of large squares in Constantinople, but only two of them kept in good order; the rest are filthy and quite neglected. The principal and the most beautiful, is the square of Sultan
Achmet,
in the centre of which are two superb, marble pyramids; one ornamented with hieroglyphics, the other plain; the bases of these pyramids rest upon four large, marble globes, which repose upon fine square pedestals. In the same square, are the remains of a noble column, in the form of a serpent, made of brass; which the Turks when they took Constantinople, mistaking for gold, began to demolish, but were prevented by their officers, on finding it to be merely base metal.
The square which
Habesci
calls the square of Sultana
Achmet,
is called by the Turks
Atmeiden,
or a place of horses, and by the ancients the hippodrome or circus. In the time of the eastern emperors this was the place where the horse-races were held, and on extraordinary occasions, public shews were exhibited. The custom of exercising horses in this place still continues. Feats of activity are likewise displayed by the Turks here, in throwing the
Gerit
or dart on full gallop. Its dimensions are still the same as formerly, 400 paces long and 100 broad, forming an oblong square, flanked on three of the sides with houses, and on the fourth with the walls of the mosque of Sultan
Achmet.
Between friends, says Lady
Montague,
our squares would make a pitiful figure compared with this, as our cathedral of St. Paul's would with the mosque of St. Sophia. The account which Lady
M
— gives of the column and pillar, seems so much more accurate, and more to be depended on than that of
Habesci;
that we shall take the liberty to notice it. In the midst of the hippodrome is a brazen column of three serpents twisted together, with their mouths gaping—'Tis impossible, says she, to learn why so odd a pillar was erected; the Greeks can give nothing but fabulous legends, when they are asked the meaning of it, and there is no sign of its ever having had any inscription. At the upper end is an obelisk of porphyry, probably brought from Egypt, the hieroglyphics all very entire, which by many persons are considered as so many ancient puns. It is placed upon four little brazen pillars, a pedestal of square free stone, full of figures in bas-relief on two sides; one square representing a battle, another an assembly. The others have inscriptions in Greek and Latin.
It is supposed this obelisk was built in the time of the emperor
Constantine.
From the inscriptions it appears, that the emperor
Theodosius
caused it to be set up again, after it had lain a long time on the ground, and the engines which were made use of in raising it, are represented in bas-relief. The obelisk is described to be of granite or Thebaic marble, composed on one single shaft about fifty feet high, and terminating in a point.
The Turks, says
Chishull,
inform travellers that this brass serpentine pillar was erected by the Emperor
Leo,
as a charm against the malignity of those dreadful serpents, which at that time infested the city and neighhood. Others imagine, that by the three serpents, are symbolically represented the three parts of the world; for the fourth was not then discovered, and that the union of them into one, represented the union of three parts of the world, which at that time was but one body, by the union of the eastern and western empires.
In the great street which runs from the gate of Adrianople to the seraglio, there is another column without any sculpture, but yet much richer than any of the former, because it is of porphyry. At present it is scarce possible to distinguish it from common marble, it being very much discoloured by a fire that many years since burnt down the houses surrounding it. This pillar, says
Chishull,
has been defaced by different conflagrations, and has been bound with seven rings of iron, by the Emperor
Manuel,
as an inscription upon its summit denotes.—
Habesci
says, it is of a surprising height, and the chief material is bitumen, but badly put together; yet it appears, says he, to have been purposely constructed in that rude manner: upon the whole, this column is a great mystery, for no person can explain its meaning. The Turks hold it in veneration, and different sultans have occasionally alighted from their horses, and descended into the subterranean chambers under it, to view its curiosities. The Christians, likewise, venerate this column, and pretend that there may still be seen in the cavern, those baskets which our Saviour ordered to be filled with the fragments of loaves and fishes, after he had fed the multitude in the desert. The Mussulmen do not deny this; but they add, that in the said cavern there are, in a small box, made of a single brilliant, some drops of the seed of Mahomet, and that whoever touches this box is sure to have children.
There stood another pillar in this city called the Historical pillar, now no more. It dropped down, says Lady
M
—, about two years before I came into this part of the world. It was a column in honour of
Arcadius,
and being almost the only vestige of antiquity in that famous city of the world, we shall relate
Chishull
's account of it, who saw it. This lofty and aspiring pillar, says he, is of the Doric order, and built with wonderful regularity and exactness of architecture, bearing on the basis, and on the whole shaft from top to bottom, various warlike figures of men in arms, chariots, gallies, and other ornaments, which in a spiral manner encircle the whole pillar; every figure being so well proportioned to the distance, from whence it is seen, that those at the top, the middle, and the bottom, appear to the eye exactly of the same size.
It is called the Historical Column, because all the remarkable events during the reign of
Arcadius,
were represented on its different sides, in the same manner as those of
Trajan
are represented on his pillar at Rome. But this latter is only 123 feet in height, whereas the former was 147 feet high, according to
Gyllius
's account, who hath given so accurate a description of Constantinople. It is a pity that so remarkable a monument, should have been suffered to have perished by the negligence of the Turks, to which it was probably more owing than to the barbarous hand of time.
Spon
and
Wheeler
mention their having discovered in the house of a private Turkish nobleman a column of the Emperor
Marcian.
It is entirely of spotted marble, about fifteen feet high, and its capital, of the Corinthian order. Upon its top is a square hollow stone, adorned with four eagles at the four corners, in which the heart of that prince is supposed to be deposited. Two verses at the foot of the column acquaint the reader also, that the body of
Marcian
lyes beneath the column.
The square of Sultan
Bajazet
is not quite so large as the former, but it is delightfully situated on one of the seven hills on which Constantinople is built. This square is ornamented with some stately buildings, particularly with the mosque of Sultan
Bajazet,
and the old seraglio; which was formerly the palace of the emperor
Constantine
the
great,
and of some of his successors. The house of the
Aga,
or commander in chief of the Janissaries stands upon the ascent to the square, and on this account is much frequented by persons of rank; fairs are likewise kept here, which makes it the resort of merchants and traders.
Near the
Kom-capi,
or sand gate, there is a small mosque, formerly a Christian church; every Christian is prohibited entering the street in which it is situated, under pain of death; and the reason given for this by the Turks is, that the prophet occasionally shews himself in this mosque in all his glory, and delivers his special orders to his faithful disciples. There are Mussulmen, says
Habesci,
above the common sort, who assured me very sincerely, that they had had the happiness to see the sacred prophet; but that the splendour of the rays with which he was surrounded, deprived them for a short time of their sight.
After having passed the gate of the seraglio, which leads to the first court, on the left-hand, there is a large building, which was formerly the private church of the patriarch St.
John
of Chrysostom; but at present used as a repository for the arms and banners taken from the enemy in the time of war. In the gallery of the second floor is the tomb of the holy patriarch, and his effigy in stone; from the tomb issues a spring of water, which the superstitious esteem as a remedy for all diseases. The Christians make use of it, and pay the Turks very dear for this medicine. Near this tomb is a large chamber, which is always kept shut, and is said to be full of the bodies of saints; the Turks keep a lamp constantly burning in it. It was upon the square before this church, that the Empress
Eudoxia
caused her statue to be erected, that she might be held in veneration by the people; which occasioned the ruin of St.
John
of Chrysostom.
Those who wish to see enormous columns of marble, larger than any to be found elsewhere, may visit the square of
Abla Sultana,
before the seraglio, in which great quantities may be seen lying on the ground; there are also two lions made of one block of marble, with the pedestals on which they are supported.
Many other curiosities were dispersed in different parts of this city, but the Sultans
Osman, Mahomed,
and
Mustapha,
took them to adorn the side of their seraglio, where they are hid from public view.
The exchanges, says Lady
M.
are all noble buildings, full of fine alleys; the greatest part supported with pillars, and kept wonderfully neat. Every trade has its distinct alley, where there are shops in the same order as in Exeter-change, at London. The
Bisisten
or jeweller's quarter, exhibits so much wealth, such a profusion of diamonds, and all kinds of precious stones, as to dazzle the sight. Whilst the
Porte,
says Lady
C.
delays erecting batteries upon the most important posts, under the pretence of wanting money to purchase materials necessary for the defence of the empire, the jewellers cannot find diamonds enough to supply the demands of the
haram.
But it is the quantity, not the quality of this stone that they prize— scarcely any other than rose diamonds are to be seen here. The embroiderer's quarter is also very glittering, and the people walk here as much for diversion, as business. The markets are most of them handsome squares, and admirably well provided, perhaps better than in any other part of the world.
The
Bazars
and the
Khans
deserve to be noticed for their public utility, though they are plain simple edifices, that do not add to the splendour of the city. These are stone buildings well secured from fire and thieves. The
Bazars
contain two rows of shops, all supported by arches, and which receive their light from the cupolas at the top; they are shut every night with iron gates, and guards are placed within. Each
Bazar
has an
aga
or superintendant, who lets the shops at a high price, but which is paid with chearfulness, on account of the safety of the effects.
The
Khans
are a different kind of buildings, which serve for the residence of foreign merchants, and as warehouses for their commodities. They very much resemble the convents of friars in Christian countries, having cloisters open to an interior quadrangle, in which each merchant has a little chamber to sleep in, a kitchen, and one or more rooms for his merchandize. There are likewise large vaults under these cloisters, to which the merchandize may be removed in case of fire; but it was never known to be necessary; for as the whole building is of stone, supported on arches, and every necessary precaution taken, no instance can be given of any damage happening, from either fire or thieves, to the effects lodged in a
Khan.
A merchant has only to apply to the superintendant, and he will assign him a lodging, on paying down a quarter, or half a piaster, which is about four shillings, besides two or three aspers a-day, whilst he remains there. An asper is something more than a half-penny, so that the demand is not very exorbitant. The noblest Khan is that called
Valide Khan;
it was built by a dowager empress. Here foreigners always find accommodations on very easy terms; and a quilt or two, a carpet, and some cushions, are all the furniture requisite. The revenue arising from these khans, is usually applied to some pious or charitable institution.
There are some khans appropriated entirely to travellers, where they are not only lodged
gratis,
but are also furnished with rice and flesh, if they will accept it, which is seldom taken, provisions being so exceedingly reasonable in this metropolis.
The new seraglio, most of the mosques, the bazars, and the khans, are the only stone buildings. All the private houses are built with wood; they are painted on the outside with different colours, which gives them an air of gaiety, and the novelty of the sight cannot but be pleasing to strangers. Though the houses are built only of wood and plaister, as has been observed before, they are very convenient and richly furnished; most of them command fine prospects towards the sea. There are no carriages for the transportation of goods in this city; porters are the general vehicles made use of, except for timber, which is carried on the backs of horses.
The inhabitants are extremely clean and well dressed, especially the Turks, in gay colours, and the cleanest turbans: each person here is distinguished by his dress; and the variety of different shaped turbans denote the situations of the different wearers.
The ladies wear robes of green, red, yellow, and blue, covering their under dress entirely, which is very rich; they wear a large wrapping piece of muslin over their head, as low as their eye brows, and another on their chin, reaching, says Lord
Baltimore,
to the top of their nose, so that their eyes only are uncovered; they walk very much about the street, contrary to the received opinion hitherto of their never stirring from their houses, and the boats on the canals are full of them.
The market-places and large streets in the city of Constantinople, says his lordship, are almost covered with sheds; the merchandize is set forth in the neatest manner, but the dust among such a number of people being confined, is exceeding troublesome. The quantity of boats in the canal is very great; the boats themselves, adds his lordship, are the best built he ever saw, and the rowers most incomparable.
The streets of Pera and Constantinople, likewise, remarks Lady
Craven,
are so narrow, that few of them admit a carriage; the windows of every story project over those under them; so that at the upper story, people may sometimes shake hands across the street. No Turk makes a visit, if it be only four doors from his own house, but on horseback; and on my arrival here, says her ladyship, I saw one who landed in a boat, and had a fine grey horse led by four men, that went a long way round, which he mounted gravely, to alight from in a few moments.
The ravages made by fires at Constantinople are not to be wondered at, when it is considered, that wooden houses are destroyed in a few minutes, and that the flames meet with no interruption from party walls. Sometimes the communication has been so rapid, that all efforts to stop the devastation have been fruitless. In the reign of Sultan
Mahmud,
12,000 houses were destroyed by one fire; and the sultan finding every effort to prevent the spreading of the flames unsuccessful, at last cried out, that he was convinced the fire came from Heaven, and ordered the workmen who were endeavouring to stop it, to desist. But the most remarkable circumstance concerning fires in this city is, that after the destruction of four or five thousand houses, the whole is rebuilt again in twenty or thirty days, and no appearance remains of the calamity.
There are several causes of the frequent fires in this place. Very few of them happen by accident, though the houses are of wood; but it is this circumstance which is the great temptation to setting them on fire wilfully.
The principal incendiaries are the Janissaries. When they are discontented with the administration, but more particularly when they dislike the Grand Vizir, they set fire to different parts of the city at once, and repeat this villany till they oblige the Grand Signor to remove his prime minister: fires from this cause, have even been the signal for deposing the sultans, when their wishes were not gratified. Upon the breaking out of a war, they will likewise set fire to the city, or suburbs, that they may pillage a booty sufficient to defray the expences of the campaign. Before they marched against the Russians in the last war, they set fire to three different quarters of Galata, and raised a considerable sum of money, at the expence of the poor sufferers. Yet such was the weakness and timidity of the government, that no example was made, though undoubted evidence was given of the fact.
The slaves, when they can place a confidence in each other, and can get together secretly in any number, set fire to particular quarters, to revenge themselves on their masters, and for the sake of plunder. Lastly, the timber merchants, and ironmongers, whose fortunes depend on frequent fires, are strongly suspected of employing private agents to promote these diabolical practices.
To effect their purpose, says Baron
Tott,
they commonly use
coundaks;
these consist of a small bundle of splinters of pine wood, in the middle of which is a piece of
amadoue,
a kind of combustible fungus like tinder, wrapped up in cotton, and dipped in sulphur. These
coundaks
they secretly place behind any door they find open, or put it within side of a window, and having set it on fire, make off. No more is necessary, he adds, to cause the most terrible ravages in a city, where the houses being built of timber and painted with oil of aspic, are easily reduced to ashes by the first villain who makes the attempt.
Lady
M.
mentions their extraordinary way of warming themselves, as another cause of frequent fire, which is neither by chimnies nor stoves, but by a certain machine called a
tendour,
about two feet high, in the form of a table, covered with a fine carpet or embroidery. This is made of wood, and they put into it a small quantity of hot ashes, and sit with their legs under the carpet. At this table they work, read, and very often sleep; and if they chance to dream, and kick down the tendour, the hot ashes will then set the house on fire. Most families, says her ladyship, have had their houses burnt down once or twice; and when fires of this sort happen, the owners seem not at all concerned at their misfortune; but put their goods into a bark, and see their houses burn with great composure; their persons being very seldom endangered, having no stairs to descend.
The vizir and all the great officers of the Porte are obliged to hasten on the first notice, to any place where a fire breaks out, in order to give such directions as may be thought necessary; and if it increases to any alarming degree, the Grand Signor himself never fails to attend. The means of his conveyance are always at hand; horses stand saddled, and boats are kept in readiness both by day and night for this purpose. The great officers, likewise, take the same precautions, and are frequently awaked out of their sleep to attend on these occasions.
Certain watchmen are appointed at the different quarters, whose business it is to give notice of any fire, on the appearance of which, they run through their district, beat the pavement with great staves, headed with iron, and awake the inhabitants by the cry of
yanjenvar!
(there is a fire!) and tell in what part of the city it is. There is likewise a watchman placed in a very lofty tower, built in the palace of the Aga of the Janissaries which commands a prospect of Constantinople, and another in a tower of Galata, whose vigilance is employed on the same object. From these towers an alarm is given by beating on great drums, which is presently spread a long way round, and brings together great numbers, but too deeply interested in the accident, and who often arrive too late at their several shops to prevent their being either burnt or plundered.
Baron
Tott
mentions a conflagration, which, during his residence, destroyed the palace of the Grand Vizir, and above two-thirds of this prodigious city. The fire broke out near the sea, and the walls of the seraglio. The wind which blew from the north, drove the flame along the walls, and about seven o'clock they reached the palace of the Vizir. The Grand Signor had gone thither, but neither his orders, nor the endeavour made to save this immense edifice could preserve it; and the embers it afforded, by giving a fresh activity to the flames, continued to extend the fire with great rapidity. It was, nevertheless, hoped, that when it reached the mosque of
Sancta Sophia,
that massy building would have proved its boundary; every exertion was therefore made in that quarter, and the prospect of being able to put a stop to the progress of the flames became probable, when the lead of the Cupola, melted by the flaming atmosphere, streaming down the stoney gutters, on the guards and assistants, formed an open field for the fury of the fire.
From that moment all hopes of restraining it were given up, and it was suffered to destroy every thing, quite up to the walls, near the sea, on the other side of the hill. The consternation now became general, yet it seemed some consolation, to suppose it had reached its utmost limits; when the wind suddenly changing to the east, and blowing strong, took this line of fire of more than 1,200 fathoms in length, crossways; and driving it towards the centre of the city, divided it into thirteen branches, the roots of which successively uniting, presently rendered Constantinople, one continued dreadful sheet of flame.
A whole regiment of Janissaries, employed to pull down the houses at the end of one of the branches where the fire spread, was hemmed in on every side, and perished by the rapid advances of the flames. The cries of these unhappy wretches, with those of the women and children, who underwent the same fate, the noise of the falling buildings, the crackling of pieces of timber, driven into the atmosphere by the violence of the fire, the tumult of the inhabitants, whom the conflagration threatened on every side, and who to secure themselves from the miseries of want, hazarded their lives to preserve some part of their property, all concurred to form a scene of horror which no language can describe.
The environs of Constantinople are delightful. Galata is the principal suburb, and Pera is properly speaking the suburb of Galata. These are the places in which the Christians have fixed their residence. All the foreign ministers inhabit Pera; it stands upon an ascent from which there is a distinct view of the greatest part of the city. The streets of Pera are so full of Europeans, as to give it the appearance of a capital town in some Christian country. The canal, says
Habesci,
which separates this fine country from Natolia in Asia, is about twice the breadth of the Thames at London; and the opposite shore presents the same chain of villages that commence with Scutari, which is opposite the seraglio; and precisely on the point of land is the tower of
Leander,
as it is called, which is at present a light-house for ships coming in, and going out of the canal, and on the coast of the Black sea. This tower, says
Le Brun,
which the Europeans call the tower of
Leander,
and the Turks the tower of the Virgin, lyes between Scutari and the seraglio, but nearer to the coast of Asia than that of Europe. It is a very strong place, well fortified, and serves to defend the pass between the Black and White seas. Why it should be called
Leander
's tower, does not appear, since it was not there, but at the Dardanelles, where
Leander
swam over to see his mistress
Hero.
The name which the Europeans give it, would make us believe that they supposed it to have been formerly the habitation of
Hero,
but we must be very cautious in these kind of conjectures, to avoid being exceedingly absurd. Some travellers have placed a Pompey's pillar at the mouth of the Black sea, which was never visited by that illustrious Roman. They have called by the same name another column at Alexandria, which he certainly never erected: and, to return to Constantinople, there is to be seen near the Euxine sea, an ancient tower, still remaining among the ruins of several others of the same kind, which, built in a line, at proper distances from each other, were formerly used to repeat signals on the approach of the vessels of the Cossacks, who had made themselves dreaded by their piracies on the Black sea. This desolate tower wanted a name, in that country of ignorance and barbarism; and our Europeans, who have the opposite folly of seeming to know and explain every thing, have called it the tower of
Ovid.
Scutari, though situated in Asia, on the opposite side of the canal, is generally considered as making part of the suburbs of this immense city. It is the rendezvous of the merchants and caravans which come to Constantinople from Armenia and Persia, and is the only considerable town on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus.
There is a way from the city of Constantinople to the suburbs of Galata and Pera by land, in making the tour of the harbour, but then there is the small river to cross, which we have noticed before, at the upper end. In going this way, the road lyes over a spacious plain, called the
Ocmeidan,
where the Turks exercise themselves with their bows and arrows, and where they go in procession at the commencement of a war, to implore success on their arms. Near the water-side is their great arsenal, where the principal officers belonging their marine reside. The inhabitants of Galata are chiefly supported by the taverns and public-houses with which this town abounds, and where wine is drunk as customarily as in other cities, strangers not being here under the least restraint, either in their mode of living or of worship. Even the Turks themselves will sometimes come here in order to carouse. The private houses in Pera are much more splendid than those within the walls of Constantinople, and chiefly tenanted by the Greeks of high rank, as well as by the foreign ambassadors. Two of these ambassadors, we should have observed, are privileged to reside within the walls of the city; those from the Emperor and the King of Poland; so that necessity as well as choice obliges the rest to reside here. Pera being upon a prominence overlooks, as it were, Tophana, which is situated under Pera on the canal opposite the seraglio. The houses of Galata, Pera, and Tophana, are so situated, from their being one higher than the other, that they form a kind of amphitheatre, which commands a pleasant view of the city of Constantinople, the harbour, and the sea.
In the burial place of the Dervises at Pera, is the tomb of the famous Count de
Bonneval,
whose debts and extravagances obliged him to leave France, and turn Mahometan. The inscription mentions him
to have been a person highly esteemed by the Franks, who besides having had the good fortune to embrace the only true religion, had likewise the additional happiness to die on the anniversary of the Prophet.
A proof, says
Bisani,
that the Turkish
beaux esprits
may very justly put in their claim for the honour of founding an academy of inscriptions.
To avoid being circumcised, this celebrated character, in the French annals, had recourse to artifice. He never went to public prayers, not even on Fridays, but kept an Iman in his house, whom he used to term his father confessor. He dined frequently with the foreign ambassadors, where he partook of every thing that was brought to table, without exception; but at home he eat no pork, not drank any wine, and kept the fast of Ramazan very rigorously. He had a French cook in his service, and any foreigner of his acquaintance, that chose to dine with him, had only to say
Pilau,
and a cover was laid for him. To shew what a singular kind of man he was, we will mention some
traits
of humour in him, which seem rather puerile, but which will help to form some idea of the eccentricity of his character. In his
salle à manger,
there was a prodigious quantity of birds, among other kinds a great many parrots. As soon as the company were assembled, and began to talk, the birds immediately set up their notes, and the parrots in particular, accompanied them with a noise that perfectly stunned every one; and this harmonious music used to delight the count beyond expression. Afterwards, before the dinner was served up, he had a very large dish brought to him, full of bits and scraps of meat. On a signal given, all the cats in the neighbourhood were collected together, to the number of above three hundred; he then threw out these scraps of meat to them, which the cats, in contending for, used to fight and scratch, and tear one another to pieces. This skirmish among the cats pleased him very much. Among them there was one very small and entirely white, but which, contrary to the usual custom of cats, was very dirty and filthy. The count called this, the king's son.
This extraordinary man was always singing,
Jouissons du present, l'avenir est des sots, &c.
i. e.
Let us enjoy the time present, and leave futurity to fools.
Ambition was the rock he spilt upon, and made him commit faults which he could never after retrieve. One evening while there was a concert at the ambassador's, he was seen in tears. As our first ideas, like our first habits, present themselves again to our imagination as old age comes upon us, and the present moment no longer occupies our thoughts, so it was with the count; he began at last to grow tired of his situation, and to regret his country and his religion. He accordingly wrote to his friends to obtain his pardon. Measures were, in consequence, concerted to procure him his liberty, and the Pope was already disposed to receive this prodigal son again into the bosom of the church, whom necessity had obliged to abjure his religion. But fate, which so often counteracts the best concerted plans of mortals, did not permit him to enjoy this happiness: for the gout, to which he was subject, attacked him afresh in his stomach, and he died. A priest had been sent to him in disguise, but the Turks finding out who he was, would not suffer him to remain in the house. He died in a kind of transport, saying,
Quand les cochons sont sortis de l'etable, il faut en fermer la porte;
i. e.
When the pigs have quitted their sty, the door should be shut.
Which shews, says
Bisani,
that his thoughts were turned towards Christianity, for it is well known the Turks do not like this animal, and never keep any of them. He was made a Bashaw of two tails, and had an income from the Porte of 12,000 piastres a-year.
Tophana, which is the remaining part of the suburbs, has its name from being the foundery of cannon, and artillery, for the Turkish empire, which are all cast here.
Including these suburbs, Constantinople is about thirty miles in circumference; but within the walls it is not calculated to be more than eleven or twelve, exclusive of the seraglio, which makes an additional three or four miles. There is also another seraglio, two miles in circumference, called the old seraglio, and which is the residence of the sultanas belonging to former emperors.
The unequal heights of this city, says Lady
M.
make it seem as large again as it is, though one of the largest cities in the world, shewing an agreeable mixture of gardens, pine and cypress trees, palaces, mosques, and public buildings, raised one above another, with as much beauty and appearance of symmetry as ever was seen in a cabinet adorned by the most skilful hands, where jars shew themselves above jars, mixed with canisters, babies, and candlesticks. This is a very odd comparison, but it gives me, says her ladyship, an exact idea of the place.
Nothing can be imagined more delightful than the approach to Constantinople by water. One is in the midst of three large arms of the sea, of which one comes from the north-east, another runs to the northwest, and the third, formed of the other two, throws itself into the White sea. These three arms of the sea wash as far as one can see, fields which terminate in little hills, covered with gardens, and villas; and the nearer these channels approach the city, the more houses stand upon them, which seem to be raised one above the other. Among these houses, the fronts of which are painted after various manners, is to be seen an incredible number of large domes, cupolas, and minarets, or circular turrets gilt, which overlook the rest of the buildings.
The verdant foliage of the cypresses and other large trees, which are in most of the gardens, add very much to the delicious prospect. The many ships which lye in the harbour, make a spacious circle of trees, whose leaves seem stripped off on purpose to give the spectator a full view of all the beauties that lye behind them. And the prodigious multitude of
Caicks,
gondolas, and other smaller wherries, to the number of above 16,000, some with sails, others with oars, some on parties of pleasure, and the rest for the necessary intercourse of the inhabitants; continually represents a sort of sea-fight.
In short, let a person cast his eyes in whatever direction, when in the middle of the harbour of this great city, and he will not cease to admire how much nature has contributed towards the beauty and ornament of its situation.
No wonder, therefore,
Constantine
could so easily give up the pleasures of Rome, to transfer the seat of his empire to Byzantium, and call it by his own name. There is not in the universe a city more proper to be the seat of an emperor of the world. It overlooks at once, two of the most considerable districts, and in less than a quarter of an hour, orders may be dispatched from Europe, in which it is situated, into Asia, that seems to approach it so near, in order to be subject to its laws. And should art and nature combine to form a situation where beauty and plenty might meet, they would never succeed better than in making Constantinople what it is.
The land produces all kinds of delicious fruits, which can either please the eye or gratify the taste, nor is any thing wanting that conduces either to the comforts and conveniencies, or to the luxuries of life. The water both fresh and salt furnishes every thing that can be required from that useful element. The air is admirable, and the continual chirping of an infinite number of birds on the trees, in the gardens, and upon the cottages, seem to proclaim this climate to be the finest in the world. The amphibious creatures, which live sometimes in the water, sometimes on the land, and sometimes in the air, are very numerous, which would induce one to believe, that these three elements are here in the highest degree of perfection and temperature.
This prodigality of nature in her gifts, made the Emperor
Justinian
say, it was better to abandon all the rest of the world to live at Constantinople, than leave so pleasant a country depopulated, which had been the fate of several other great cities. On this idea he changed its name into that of the Everlasting city. However, these were not the only names it has received, having had almost as many names as masters.
The castle of the seven towers, which joins these walls, is the first building on the landside, and forms one of the angles of Constantinople, that catches the eye in approaching it by the Propontis or White sea. It was formerly one of the gates of the city, and consisted of four large turrets. The ancients called it the gilded gate, either because the decorations with which it was adorned, were really gilt, or because the public entries were generally made through this gate.
To the four ancient towers of this gate
Mahomet
II. added three new ones, in order to make it strong enough to keep the treasures of the empire. It is built of free-stone, and environed with a wall and several smaller towers, some of which in the year 1754 fell into ruins. It is at present used as a state prison.
The beautiful remains of this gate are still admirable, says
Chishull,
though suffered by the Turks to be almost concealed by a dead wall, and the shade of the neighbouring trees. It is a regular and carved arch of white marble, supported by two beautiful pillars, adorned in the pilasters with a sculpture, representing several military atchievements, and flanked on each side the pillars with twelve tablets of carved work, extremely well performed, containing many poetical stories. Among the rest is that of Hercules and the Nemaean lion; the beast prodigious and terrible, but confessing its conqueror by an agreeable posture; Luna and Endymion; a winged pegasus managed by some of the muses; a portraiture of the known combat of whirlbats, and an imperial figure, crowned by two celestial machines.
This city excels in fine mosques. The most remarkable is that of St.
Sophia.
It was built by the Emperor
Justin,
and afterwards enlarged and beautified by
Justinian.
The dedication of it, was to the Divine Wisdom, and for that reason, it was called
Sophia,
a title which the Turks still retain. This church, says
Le Brun,
which is square without, and round within, is alone worth the trouble of a journey to Constantinople, to have a view of it. The situation is very advantageous, being upon an eminence, in the finest part of the town, from whence there is a gradual descent to the sea. It consists of a spacious court, enriched all round with fair and regular cloisters formed by pillars, some of whose shafts are carved with white marble, some with serpentine stone, and some with porphyry; but all the capitals are of the modern Turkish figure. Next is the body of the mosque covered outwardly with domes, and supported inwardly with four massy pillars, from the tops of which rises a regular cupola, forming the roof of the whole mosque. This dome is not to equalled in the world. It resembles that of St. Peter's at Rome, only of a much greater circumference, and is said to be one hundred and thirteen feet in diameter, built upon arches, sustained by vast pillars of marble, of which the pavement and staircase are likewise marble. It has two rows of galleries by pillars of parti-coloured marble, and the whole roof is of Mosaic work; its composition a kind of paste, with which counterfeit jewels are made.
A portico or piazza, thirty-six feet in breadth, supported by marble columns, extends the whole length of the front: this in the time of the Greek emperors served for a vestibulum. This piazza has a communication with the church by nine large folding doors, the leaves of which are brass, and adorned with bas-reliefs extremely magnificent. The church was painted after the Mosaic manner, with crosses and images of our Saviour, the Virgin
Mary,
and other saints, which appear still, though the Turks have defaced the heads of them, suffering no images in their mosques. There is a tomb in this church, which they imagine to be that of
Constantine.
On the day of their
Bairam
or passover, there are generally above 40,000 persons assembled in it; at which time there are above seven thousand lamps lighted up in the church, besides above three thousand in the minarets.
The minarets have the appearance of pillars, and are little hollow towers, four or five feet in diameter, rising of an equal thickness from the corner of the mosque, as high as the cupolas, where a gallery, projecting about twenty or thirty inches, communicates with the winding staircase, leading there by a small door, always directed eastward towards Mecca; the minaret, then diminishing about a quarter of its thickness, continues to rise a fifth or sixth part higher, and ends in a pointed top, covered with lead, and terminated by a kind of crescent; the two extremities of which, curved like spirals, and brought near together, commonly enclose the name of God cut in metal.
The floor of this and indeed of all the mosques, is fine marble, and covered with mat, the Mahometans being expressly enjoined to take off their slippers when they enter them, agreeable to our text of scripture, "Take thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."
Different sultans have built small chapels round this mosque of St. Sophia, which serve as tombs for themselves and their families; in these oratories lamps are continually burning, and persons paid to pray for the souls of the deceased. These persons live there, lest they should lose time in going and returning. It must be acknowledged, however, in order to counter-balance this superstition, that the custom of giving considerable sums daily to the poor at this mosque, at certain hours, is meritorious and exemplary.
There are some other mosques, says
Chishull,
which claim the admiration of strangers: the mosque of Sultan
Achmet,
which exceeds that of St. Sophia in dimensions, and is built of very fine marble brought from the ruins of Troy and Chalcedon. The mausoleum of its founder and his sultana, are placed in one of the chapels; the coffin is covered with fine embroidery, representing the town of Mecca, and at the head is placed his turban, decked with a tuft of herons feathers, and enriched with precious stones. The whole chapel is also illuminated with an immense number of lamps, and tapers, kept constantly burning. Secondly, that of Sultan
Bajazet,
which though less in circumference than the former, is more to be admired for its ornaments and workmanship. In this mosque on great festivals, the Turks are accustomed to display the name of the Grand Signor, or some besieged town on the walls with parti-coloured lamps.
At the festival of the great
Beiram,
the Grand Signor goes in procession to this mosque. The cavalcade which issues from the seraglio on this occasion, is one of the finest sights in Europe, says Lord
Baltimore;
it consists of vizirs, bashaws, and all the great civil and military officers of the empire, who go to pay their respects to the sultan. They begin to issue forth from the seraglio at four o'clock in the morning, and the procession continues till nine. When the Grand Signor appears, there is a deep silence every where. The Janissaries line the street, from the palace to the mosque; they are without arms, and stand with their arms across, bowing themselves down only to the Grand Signor and the vizirs, who return their salute. I asked a captain of the Janissaries, says his lordship, why they had no arms? "Arms!" said he, "you infidel; they are for our enemies: we govern our subjects by the law."
That of Sultan
Solyman,
says Lady
M.
is an exact square, with four fine towers in the angles; in the midst is a noble cupola, supported with beautiful marble pillars; two lesser at the ends, supported in the same manner; the pavement and gallery round the mosque of marble; under the great cupola is a fountain adorned with such fine coloured pillars, that I can hardly think them natural marble; on one side is the pulpit of white marble, and on the other a little gallery for the Grand Signor. A fine staircase leads to it, built with gilded lattices. At the upper end is a sort of altar, where the name of God is written; and, before it, stand two candlesticks, as high as a man, with wax candles as thick as three flambeaux. The pavement is spread with fine carpets, and the mosque illuminated with a profusion of lamps. The court leading to it is very spacious, with galleries of marble with green columns, covered with twenty-eight leaded cupolas on two sides, and a fine fountain in the middle.
This description, says her ladyship, may serve for all the mosques in Constantinople. The model is exactly the same, differing only in size and the thickness of the materials.
In passing by a mosque, says
Sertini,
which the present sultan is building, we saw in one of the angles a public fountain, very elegantly decorated, with a great number of beautiful marble columns from Seravezza and Arabia. This fountain is surrounded with an iron grate or bars, in the inside of which are a great number of silver embossed goblets, and a Turk who stands there to fill them with water for any person who may wish to quench his thirst. This service is performed
gratis
to every one, for such was the will of the founder. The Turks, says the above author, are naturally inclined to these acts of public beneficence: there are even some who will leave legacies, as we have before remarked, for the maintenance of cats and dogs; others again, who will lay out their money in purchasing birds, merely to give them their liberty, by letting them fly.
About six miles from this city are some famous aqueducts, built by
Valentinian,
and repaired afterwards by
Solyman
the Magnificent. The most remarkable of these forms three great and lofty fabrics, that are built over so many vallies, between the hills, in order, to convey the water from one hill to another, till it reaches the city. These vallies being very deep, and no arch being sufficient to raise a structure high enough, one bridge is, as it were, erected upon the back of another, arch over arch, till the top of the bridge is on a level with the mountain, a hill from which the water flows. On this upper bridge, is a canal to convey the stream, and on each side of the bridge is a colonade, through which foot passengers can pass and repass.
These aqueducts which supply Constantinople with water, often serve for a boundary to the excursion of the Turks; but it will easily be imagined, it is neither to admire the architecture, nor judge of the salubrity of the waters that they go there in crowds. They take great care to carry wine, and every thing with them on which they chuse to regale; and take their post in some ruined kiosks, which the emperors built at the same time with the edifices, intended to collect the rain water, and convey it to the capital.
These aqueducts, which the Turks have been obliged to substitute for the ancient cisterns, are so ill-constructed, that a comparison between them and those of the Greeks, must make the latter appear a work of great merit. Yet this edifice, built in the time of
Justinian,
is no ways remarkable, either for the boldness or the lightness of its construction; and still less so for true taste. The architect seems to have studied only to deceive the eye by a number of masses, which appear as if hanging in the air, resembling invented cones, with too great an angle at the base; for as the valley spreads above, the upper part of the bridge is considerably longer than the lower.
CHAP. III.
Of the Police and the Slaves.
THE guard of the city consists of a body of Janissaries, with their colonel at every gate. In all the frequented parts there is also another corps, and in each of the streets another party of two or three men, and a patrole, continually going their rounds day and night. These men are armed only with cudgels, but they manage them so skilfully, as to be dreaded as much as if they had fire-arms. In almost all the streets, there are likewise gates which cut off the communication with other streets. Such is the manner in which this immense city is guarded, where murders seldom happen, and where malefactors are almost instantaneously discovered on their commission of any crime.
If a robbery or an assault is committed here, all the inhabitants of that street are doomed to bear a part of the punishment—such is the invariable law. From whence it follows, that every inhabitant exerts himself strenuously in driving out any person, who begins a dispute, from the street where he lives. They are also careful that no thief or pickpocket introduces himself among them; and being all responsible for each other, it is very difficult that any crime can be committed with impunity.
This law seems rather severe, and in some cases, is very much so: for instance, if a dead body is thrown up on the sea shore, which has been strangled or murdered, the inhabitants of the village nearest to the place where such dead body is thrown up, are obliged to pay a certain fine, if they do not discover the parents of the deceased.
Each quarter has its tribunal where justice is administered, in which a
Cadi
or judge, attended by his clerks, sits the whole day, to hear complaints and administer justice, which is brought the more speedily to an issue, because the payment of the expences immediately follows.
One of the most respectable officers of the civil police is the
Stambo-Effendi,
whose power is similar, if not superior to the lord-mayor of London, or the lieutenant of police at Paris. This post is considered as the first step of a professor of the law, to those great offices of the state, which are in the nomination of the Grand Signor, without any respect to seniority of rank. This person has the inspection of all saleable commodities, and particularly of the provisions of the capital. It is his business to procure an abundance of whatever is requisite for the subsistence of the inhabitants; and if any particular article begins to get scarce, he endeavours to make an equal distribution of it, according to circumstances. This post is always filled by some person of consummate prudence and integrity. It is highly lucrative, as there is not a single article or necessary of life consumed in Constantinople, from which he does not draw some revenue.
He fixes the prices of all kinds of commodities, proclaims them publicly, and takes care, either by himself or his officers, that the weights and measures are just and honest. He generally goes round the city once a-month, or oftener, on horseback, preceded by four Janissaries, dressed in their habits of ceremony, with their staves in their hands, with one of his attendants by his side, holding the scales, whilst another carries the weights, a third the hammer; and the rest who accompany him are provided with cudgels and other weapons, to punish those who are found guilty.
This troop is always preceded by persons in disguise, who unexpectedly seize on the bread of some shop, or the weights and scales of some fruit-seller, or vender of any other commodity, that may convict a fraudulent dealer.
The bread is then brought to the magistrate, and put into the scale against the weights it ought to weigh, whilst the baker, already seized, and in the presence of the judge, is waiting the sentence which is to acquit or condemn him to the bastinado, if not to some more severe punishment; such as having his ear nailed to his shop, or even to be hanged, according to the caprice of his judge. But what is most remarkable, is, that the real baker, the proprietor of the oven, he whose knavery should be punished, is not concerned in this affair; he quietly preserves the daily profits of the false weight, which incurs punishment, and leaves to one of his journeymen or the foreman of his shop, all the danger and trouble of this shameful practice; who for double pay agrees to personate his master; and this advantageous post is immediately solicited by some other, when the first gets hanged; for such a trifle discourages no one. Punishments of this sort, however, are by no means so frequently inflicted as they merit.
To these precautions, intended to insure honesty in the sale of provisions, the government adds the right of fixing the price. But things are not paid the less for on that account. The multitude is easily deceived; they think they have obtained their end, when to remedy the dearness of provisions, the vizir commands them to be sold at a lower price; and going out
incognito,
perhaps, orders some baker's journeyman to be hanged. No one enquires on what evidence the wretch was put to death, but every one thinks the bread better.
Is it not singular so great a contempt for humanity should be accompanied by the most absurd benevolence towards animals the least useful to society? While government enforces the most rigorous monopoly of the corn consumed in the capital, by an exaction ruinous to the cultivator, and a distribution less burthensome to the baker than the consumer, it allows so much per cent. in favour of turtle doves. A cloud of these birds, says Baron
Tott,
constantly alight on those vessels which cross the port of Constantinople uncovered, in order to carry the commodity to the magazines, or the mills. The boatmen never oppose their greediness. This permission to feed on the grain, collects them together in great numbers, and familiarises them so much, that I have seen them standing on the shoulders of the rowers, watching for a vacant spot where they might fill their crops in their turn.
The Turks are great lovers of order. He who brings his provisions to market first, has the privilege of vending them before those who come after him; but then he is not to exact more than a fixed price for them. If he sells any kind of provisions whatever, dearer than the price put upon them by the proper officer appointed for that purpose, he is liable to be punished. This punishment is of three kinds, according to the nature of the offence; hanging, the bastinado, or some pecuniary fine. The bastinado is inflicted on the soles of the feet.
The Divan is a tribunal open to every one; to strangers as well as natives. A grand council is always held once a-week, on Tuesday evening, in the seraglio of the Grand Signor, who is present, without shewing himself, at a latticed window above the place where the grand vizir sits, which is opposite the door of the council-room where every one enters. In this manner he can hear the debates and the orders given by the grand vizir, and the rest of the ministers, without being seen.
There is, perhaps, no monarch so accessible as the Grand Signor. All his subjects indiscriminately, Mahometans, Christians, and Jews, may present him a petition every Friday as he goes publickly to the mosque. The form usual on such occasions, is singular, and merits being described: Those who imagine themselves aggrieved, and determine on preferring a complaint immediately to the sultan, range themselves in a line in the square fronting the great gate of the seraglio. Each person carries a kind of match or wick on his head lighted, and smoaking, which is considered as the allegorical emblem of the fire that consumes his soul. When the emperor passes along and sees the smoke, he stops, and gives orders to some of his attendants to collect the petitions, which he receives and puts in his bosom.
Mustapha
III. who was very attentive to public business, always used to read the petitions himself, and has frequently, in consequence, performed some very exemplary acts of justice, that do honour to his memory.
In their courts of judicature, there have sometimes been bold and resolute pleaders, who seeing or suspecting some prevarication in the judges, have had courage to cry out in open court,
Hassir yakarum,
"I will light up the match."
On each side of the grand vizir are the two chief justices of Romania and Natolia, and the rest of the judges, according to their respective rank; but these are not seated. No advocate is employed in any suit; every one pleads his own cause. When a memorial is presented to the grand vizir, if the request it contains be granted, he signs it with his name; but if it is refused, he tears the memorial in pieces, and there the matter ends. All causes are decided very expeditiously, because in general they depend upon
viva voce
evidence; but if any cause should be at all intricate, the grand vizir refers the inspection of it to some officer under him, and directs him to make his report upon it within a limited time.
Every thing relative to religion and the morals of the people, the grand vizir leaves to the decision of the two chief justices without appeal. Mondays and Fridays are vacation days; but on all other days the divan is open either at the seraglio, or at the grand vizir's. Nothing is more astonishing, says
Habesci,
than to see a grand vizir, who has, oftentimes, had scarce any education, direct so vast an empire as the Ottoman, and govern it perfectly well.
Lady
C.
relates, that while she was at Constantinople, the captain pacha introduced a lion into the divan, which he had taught to follow him about like a dog; but the ministers were so terrified, that some of them jumped out of the windows, and one of them was very near breaking his neck in flying down stairs; and the high admiral and his lion were left to settle the councils of the day together.
Great misrepresentations having been made respecting the state of slavery in the Ottoman empire, we shall take this opportunity, though it does not come immediately under the article of police, of removing an odium from a condition of life, which by the degrading appellation given to it, has induced men to believe that slaves in general lead a life of sorrow, pain, and oppression.
The slaves who suffer hardships in Turkey, are either criminals sent to the gallies, or prisoners taken at sea by the Ottoman corsairs; the government sends out two or three zebecks in a year, more to keep up an ancient custom than with the view of taking prisoners. The commanders have strict orders to attack none but Maltese vessels; and if they take any of the inhabitants of that island, they are brought in triumph to Constantinople, amidst the acclammations of the Turks, and are sent on board the row gallies to hard labour, being chained to the oars. The number of galley-slaves is likewise increased, by those sent annually from the states of Barbary to the Grand Signor, amongst whom there are subjects of almost every European nation; but the major part of them are Neapolitans, Genoese, and Spaniards. Among those sent by the Tunisians a few years since, was a grandee of Spain, who was known at Constantinople by his dignity of deportment and solemn gravity; for some private reasons, his friends would not ransom him, and no foreign protection could save him from the gallies, where he worked several years; however, on a peace with Russia, some persons found means to interest Prince
Repnin
in his favour, and he was released; but it is supposed the change of air, and a different mode of life, hurt his constitution, for he died at an inn on the road as he was returning to Spain. Another species of slaves are those stolen by the Turkish marauders from Georgia, Mingrelia, and other Greek settlements, in their infancy. The servitude of these is not severe, for the merchants clothe them well, and feed them with the best provisions that they may sell them, to the greatest advantage. A handsome girl is sold to some Turkish lord, who treats her according to her beauty and good behaviour; she may or may not chance to be his concubine, and by good fortune she may be his wife. As to the boys they are sold to masters, who instruct them in such accomplishments as are proper for young Turkish gentlemen; they are genteelly cloathed, well fed, and sleep upon excellent beds; their whole service consists in waiting in the antichambers to carry in pipes, coffee, sweetmeats, &c. to their masters, and in taking care to keep the apartments and the wardrobe in order. If they are faithful and good mussulmen, they generally marry their master's daughter. By this channel they rise in the state, especially if they are distinguished for personal valour; and at this present time, most of the bashaws of provinces, and great officers of the Porte, have originally been slaves.
A third sort of slaves in Turkey, are prisoners taken in time of war. In the late war with Russia, all the prisoners taken by the Turks were sold as slaves. They took a great quantity from different countries, who were all confounded under the name of Russians, because they were not mussulmen. One of the articles of the peace stipulated, that all the prisoners of war should be released on both sides. The individuals among the Turks, who had bought great numbers of Russian prisoners, were very much embarrassed by this article, but they relied on the difficulty of their being discovered by the Russian ambassador, as they were concealed in their houses, and dispersed all over the Turkish empire.
An intrepid little man, however, a Georgian by birth, named
Sergio,
undertook the difficult task of being agent for the Russian prisoners at Constantinople. Armed with the
Firman
of the Grand Signor, he went about in search of Russian slaves, and took away by force even those who had embraced the Mahometan religion. Amongst the rest was a Russian girl, who had been taken prisoner during the war, and having been brought to Constantinople, was sold to a scherif of the race of Emirs, who had married her. The husband enraged at the pretensions of
Sergio,
turned him out of doors, and was on the point of caning him; but the undaunted
Sergio
instantly repaired to the vizir, to whom he shewed the Grand Signor's mandate, which allowed no exceptions of religion or situation; the vizir was very much perplexed, but at length replied, if the woman persisted in being a Mahometan, it would be impossible to recover her; but if she would voluntarily turn Christian again, the Emir must give her up. Her husband was very rich and very fond of her; he therefore made no doubt she would remain firm in the Mahometan faith. This confidence made him readily obey the summons of the vizir to attend him at the divan, and bring his wife with him, to answer the claim of
Sergio.
Being come before him, the vizir asked her if she would remain a Mahometan, or return back to her old religion; she replied, she would live and die a Christian. The vizir on this, decreed that
Sergio
should take away the woman: the husband was quite distracted, and the more so as his wife was with child. As his last resource, he insisted the child should not be removed out of the Ottoman empire, "For it is mine, said he, and belongs to the sacred family of Mahomet, wearing green turbans."
Sergio
had the courage to reply in full divan—"If the child is born with a green rag upon his head, it will be a certain proof that it is a descendant from Mahomet; if not, Mahomet has nothing to do with it, and it belongs to Christ." There was no standing the force of this argument, and the woman was given up, and sent to her Russian friends.
This
Sergio
made all the Turks tremble, and they dreaded him much more than they did Prince
Repnin;
though before he arrived at Constantinople, they thought of nothing less, than that he was coming to swallow up the city, and enforce every article of the peace with the utmost rigour.
Their apprehensions of his excellency arose from an extraordinary incident that happpened at Adrianople. By the preliminary articles of peace, it was agreed, that the Russian ambassador, who should be sent to Constantinople to conclude the definitive treaty of peace, should have a certain number of troops in his suite, and that they should be allowed to pass through the towns and cities of the Ottoman empire sword in hand. In consequence of this stipulation, Prince
Repnin
and his attendants, marched into Adrianople in this manner: it struck the Janissaries that this was the etiquette of conquerors; they considered it as a national affront, and flew to arms; the Russians were not to be intimidated, and fought their way through the Janissaries, though greatly inferior in numbers; several of them were killed in the skirmish, and two or three of the Russians; after which the prince continued his journey to Constantinople, but sent a courier to inform the Porte of what had happened. The vizir was in the utmost consternation, and hardly knew how to impart this humiliating intelligence to the Grand Signor; at length, however, a secret council was held, the result of which was, that the vizir and the aga of the Janissaries set off privately for Daud Bacha, a pleasant village, where it is usual for the foreign ambassadors extraordinary, to stop a little, in order to adjust the formalities of their entrance into Constantinople, as it is only a few miles distant. But the negociation could not be kept secret; the Janissaries at Adrianople had contrived to send information of the insult, as they termed it, to the Janissaries at Constantinople, who vowed vengeance against the Russians, if the prince should attempt to enter the capital sword in hand. The arrangement of this delicate affair took up several days. In the end, a medium was resolved upon, which satisfied both parties. The Porte, however, issued strict orders that no person should be in the streets when the ambassador make his entry, intending thereby to avoid the exposure of the imbecillity of government in suffering such an article to be inserted in the preliminaries; and the meanness of evading it in part by the following modification: It had been settled between the prince and the vizir, that the former, in consideration of a few purses should enter the city with his sword only half drawn out of his scabbard, and that his soldiers should observe the same formality with their sabres.
In this manner the procession, which was very splendid, passed through the streets of Constantinople, crowded with people of all ranks, notwithstanding the prohibition. As for the Janissaries, they were satisfied with having humbled the pride of the Russians; and the ambassador, like most other ambassadors, made the glory of his nation give way to his private interest. This entry likewise changed the sentiments of the Turks respecting him; for when they saw him in the midst of his splendid and numerous retinue, and upon such a solemn occasion as an embassy for concluding a peace between two potent empires, indulging himself in all the levities of a French
petit-maitre,
eager only to pull off his hat every instant to the Greek ladies, who were at the windows, and kissing his hand to some, and bowing to others, as he passed along, so contrary to the Turkish idea of dignity, their fear was turned into contempt, and the sequel will shew they were not mistaken: for although the empress had given very positive orders in her negociations with the Porte for a restitution of prisoners of war, and had allowed half a piastre a-day for their support, till they were sent to Russia, (each piastre is four shillings) yet Prince
Repnin,
says
Habesci,
would scarce receive the slaves who ran away from their masters, and took shelter at his hotel soon after his publick entry. I saw forty-three women lodged very miserably in three chambers, with only straw to lye on; to whom his excellency allowed only the sixteenth part of a piastre, or five paras a-day; for their subsistence. The consequence was, that the greater part of these poor women stole away to the Turks, and eighty-one persons of his excellency's retinue deserted from him, and embraced the Mahometan religion.
However, such was the dread of the Turkish government, lest any fresh misunderstanding should happen between the two courts, that when Prince
Repnin
was on the point of returning home, the Porte, adds
H.
offered to restore him all the Russians who had quitted his service, which was an infraction of their laws; for having embraced the Mahometan religion, they were become Turkish subjects.
The number of black and white slaves brought yearly to Constantinople, is said to amount to near 20,000. None but Turks are allowed to purchase any, under the most severe penalties. The slavemarket is in the middle of the city. It forms a quadrangle, surrounded with apartments for white slaves, and in the area underneath, sit the black ones almost naked. The white female slaves are dressed up in very gaudy colours when they are exposed for sale, and some of them fetch a great price, and are very proud of it. They are by no means unhappy; from being next to savages they are well fed, well dressed, and treated with great urbanity. They are taught a variety of things, get into good families, women as well as men, and oftentimes acquire great riches.
With respect to their being in a state of slavery, many situations in life, says Lord
Baltimore,
are much more so. If a slave is determined to quit his master, he is obliged to dispose of him to some other person; and as far as I could observe, says his lordship, if they are in the least handsome, they are excessively proud, haughty, hardened, obstinate and ferocious; and require, indeed, a Turk to have to deal with them. The Turks inspire them with the utmost disdain and hatred of the Christians.
It may not be amiss to give some idea here of the Georgian and Circassian slaves, whose beauty is so much celebrated. Georgia and Circassia are not more enslaved than any other province, more immediately subject to the Grand Signor. The slaves from these provinces are furnished by the Lesguis Tartars, who are situated between the Caspian and Black seas, and are perpetually at war with the Georgians and Circassians. These Tartars carry over to the eastern coast of the Black sea, the slaves they have taken, and sell them to the Turkish merchants, who come thither at certain times. It is usual, likewise, for parents in these countries to sell their own children to the merchants, who afterwards educate them in such accomplishments as will enhance their value: an indecent dance accompanied by castanets is the most valuable of all others
This method of dealing for Circassian women, we have represented in our description of Tartary, and given a plate upon the subject, to which we refer uor raeders.—
See p. 194, vol. IV.
.
Georgia is divided into two parts, one of which was subject to the Ottoman emperors, and the other under the dominion of Persia. At present they are entirely independent, having thrown off the yoke of the Turks as well as the Persians.
Tott,
says
Peysonel,
should not have neglected informing his readers, that Circassians alone have the honour of being admitted to the sultan's bed. The Turks, says he, have an anecdote universally believed among them, that one of the Ottoman emperors of the last century, having slept part of the night with a Georgian slave, asked her towards morning, if it was almost day? She replied with vulgar simplicity, she believed it was, because she felt a certain pressing necessity, which she usually experienced about break of day. The emperor was disgusted, and dismissed her. A few days after he put the same question out of curiosity to a Circassian, who supplied the place of the disgraced Georgian. She answered, she perceived the approach of Aurora, for the morning zephyr already wantoned in her hair.
The prince delighted with the delicacy of her reply, declared with an oath, no Georgian should, from that time, be admitted to the bed of himself or his successors.
Neither the Greeks, the Armenians, nor even the Jews, are subject to a natural slavery any more than the Turks. The despotism of the sultan cannot seize the person of a young girl, whatever desires she may have excited in him; and though we still find among the Greeks the same beautiful forms, which served as models to
Praxiteles,
the Turkish annals furnish no example of such an enormity.
Lady
M.
has a similar remark in one of her letters. You desire me, says her ladyship, to the person to whom she is addressing herself, to buy you a Greek slave, who is mistress of a thousand good qualities. The Greeks are subjects and not slaves. Those who are to be bought in that manner, are either such as are taken in war, or stolen by the Tartars from Russia, Circassia, or Georgia; and are such miserable, awkward, poor wretches, that you would not think any of them worthy to be your house-maids. 'Tis true that many thousands of them were taken in the Morea; but they have been most of them redeemed by the charitable contributions of the Christians, or ransomed by their own relations at Venice. The fine slaves that wait upon the great ladies, or serve the pleasures of the great men, are all bought at the age of eight or nine years old, and educated with great care, to accomplish them in singing, dancing, embroidery, &c. and their patrons never sell them, except it is as a punishment for some very great fault. If ever they grow weary of them, they either present them to a friend, or give them their freedom. Those that are exposed in the markets, are always either guilty of some crime, or so entirely worthless, as to be of no use at all.
CHAP. IV.
Of the Court, Seraglio, &c.
IT is difficult to form a just idea of the Ottoman empire, without being previously made acquainted with what is meant by the SERAGLIO and the PORTE; they having both so intimate a connexion with the government, that it is necessary to understand them thoroughly, to comprehend the system of Turkish policy.
When the Turks speak of the seraglio, they do not mean the apartments in which the Grand Signor's women are confined, as we are so apt to limit the meaning of the word, but the whole inclosure of the palace in which the Ottoman monarch resides, together with his household; that is to say, all the officers, guards, women, and slaves employed in his immediate service. The extent of this vast inclosure might very well suffice for a moderate town; it entirely occupies the ground upon which the ancient city of
Byzantium
stood, that is to say, one of the seven hills on which Constantinople is built. Its circumference is very near six English miles; there are nine courts within it, most of them large quadrangles; the buildings have never been exactly numbered, as no person is permitted to take down an exact account of them; but the number is almost incredible, and they are most part of brick; but the kitchens and what is called the treasury are very superb, and built of stone or marble: the whole is covered with lead, and the domes and turrets are ornamented with gilt crescents. The arch which surrounds the seraglio, is thirty feet high, with battlements, embrasures, and towers, in the style of ancient fortifications. It is called the new seraglio, to distinguish it from the old one, built by
Constantine.
It is situated opposite to Scutari, except one part, which is at the very entrance of the harbour, and faces the arsenal at Pera. On this side, at a small distance upon, the sea shore, there is a
Kiosch,
or summer-house, for the recreation of the Grand Signor iti sultry weather. It is an irregular building, of about sixty feet in circumference, and twenty in height, consisting of one large saloon, very magnificently furnished, and having a seat of massy silver, so placed, that the monarch can have a view from both sides of the hall, as well as from the door.
There are nine gates to the seraglio, but only two of them can be called magnificent; the first is the entrance from the square of St. Sophia; this gate is very superb, and will be frequently mentioned hereafter, as it is from this
Porte
or gate, that the Ottoman court takes the name of the Porte, or the Sublime Porte, in all public transactions and records. On one side of this gate may be seen the pyramids of heads that have been cut off, with labels denoting the crimes of the owners, fastened upon the sculls. The second gate leads to the first interior court, and is supported by marble pillars, but it is not so stately and magnificent as the first. The rest are not worth notice, except a little gate on the side next Scutari, through which the grand vizirs are let out privately, when they are sent into exile, and at such times they have generally a large barge ready to convey them away without being seen.
A person may walk all round the wall that surrounds the seraglio. In that part which rather leans over the sea, facing the arsenal, there are two chambers with three latticed windows, where the Grand Signor frequently places himself, and hears what the passengers say as they go along, without being seen.
There is an Arabic inscription over the great gate in gold and azure, signifying that that gate, and the palace of the seraglio, were built by
Mahomet
II. The guards who do duty here have no other arms but a small staff, which they carry in their hands. Even the Janissaries themselves are seldom seen with any offensive weapons, and ridicule the Franks for wearing swords as part of their dress, asking them if they mean to attack the dogs with them, by which they are sometimes pursued in troops, and forced to draw in their defence. This circumstance is attributed to the novelty of their dress. But to return to the seraglio; through this gate we enter the first court, which is open to every one. Here stands the infirmary, in which people are so well attended and taken care of, that they will frequently, it is said, counterfeit sickness to get admittance. They have, likewise, the privilege of drinking wine in all the Turkish hospitals, and this is another inducement: wine being considered by the Turks as a kind of medicine.
On the left side of this court stands an old building with a cupola, that was formerly a Greek church, in which their armour and trophies are deposited. In this square are also the mint, and apartments on both sides, for the inferior servants of the seraglio. The second court, into which any person may enter, is occupied by the court of the Divan. The walls are paved with marble, and there are several large grass plats in it, surrounded with trees and fountains in the middle. All round this court there is a piazza of no great height, but not ill built, supported by a great number of marble pillars. On the opposite side is the
Asna
or treasury, and the stables, in which are some of the finest horses in the world, kept purposely for the Grand Signor's own riding. It is impossible to conceive any thing more splendid and brilliant than the bridles, saddles, housing, and other furniture, with which the horses are equipped on any public occasion, being enriched with precious stones and refulgent with gold, silver, and other ornaments. But neither the treasury or stables, where this rich furniture is deposited, have any thing very magnificent in their architecture.
The kitchens are also on the left hand of this court, which contain several large handsome buildings, with cupolas over them, but with no chimnies, holes being made in the cupola to let out the smoke; for the hearth is always in the middle of the room, as used to be the custom in our great halls, and is still so in our colleges and inns of court.
No person but the Grand Signor, is allowed to ride through the second court; and there is such an universal silence observed through the palace, that notwithstanding the immense number of people who resort to it, there is not the least appearance of noise and bustle, but every thing is as hushed and still as if no person lived in the seraglio; and the conversing by signs, contributes to this not a little; for if any person wishes to advance himself at court, he must accustom himself to such sort of conversation, and which the Grand Signor is said to understand extremely well.
At the bottom of the upper court is the divan, in which the councils of state are held, and where justice is likewise administered. And beyond this court no strangers are admitted, except ambassadors, who pass on to the hall of audience where the Grand Signor's throne is erected, and which is encircled with pearls and precious stones. This room is very magnificently furnished; its roof and sides glitter with gold and azure, besides being adorned with very fine paintings, after the Persian manner.
Some travellers, it is said, have found means of visiting the more interior parts of the seraglio, and among others, one who attended a clock-maker that had been ordered to repair some of the curious clocks which had been presented to the Grand Signor. They were conducted by a black eunuch into the hall of the haram, where there was an English clock out of order. The whole hall, says this traveller, was lined with China tiles, and the cieling of the cupola adorned with azure and gold. In the middle of the hall was a fountain, the bason of which was of fine green marble, having the appearance of Jasper.
These artificial fountains are very frequent in the Turkish apartments, and serve for the ablutions which precede their prayers, as well as to entertain the eye; especially in the harams of the women, who never go into their mosques without having the Alcoran previously read to them, in such places as these, which serve as so many chapels. These halls have large windows, which are not only glazed, but they have, likewise, bars or lattices before them, and sophas all round the room, or elevated wide seats covered with rich carpets, where the ladies sit and amuse themselves with viewing the gardens, and enjoy the refreshing breezes which are occasionally wasted into them from the Propontis.
From this hall, our traveller was conducted through several little rooms, like the cells of monks, only excelling them very much in the richness of the furniture; particularly in one, where there was a fine pendulum that wanted putting to rights. The clock stood on a massy silver table before a looking glass, the frame of which was silver, gilt, and curiously carved, and embellished with foilage in bas-relief. Two lofty stands of massy silver stood on each end of a rich sopha, which had a covering of plain green silk, under which, on its being uncovered, there appeared a very rich brocade with a gold ground, the cushions being of green velvet very richly worked. This chamber was adorned more than the hall, with paintings and ornaments; but the lowest part of the window frames were higher than the tallest man could reach; the glass was likewise painted, but without any living creature represented upon it. On his return back he was led through several fine halls and chambers, the floors of which were covered with rich Persian carpets, and the rooms ornamented with fine sophas and gilded cielings. The gardens he went through, were full of groves of cypress trees and different kinds of evergreens, planted without any order or regularity. About twenty yards from the staircase, leading into the gardens, was a pillar of granite marble. It consisted of one single shaft, larger in circumference, and about one third higher than
Marcian
's pillar, and stood upon a square pedestal, adorned with some mutilated festoons and Latin inscriptions; but they were so defaced, that it was impossible to discover any thing upon them but the name of
Justinian,
it being dangerous to stop long enough to copy any of the inscriptions.
These gardens, says
Chishull,
are wild and uncultivated, affording nothing pleasing to the eye, but what nature has furnished them with; an admirable situation rising into convenient ascents, and capable of infinite improvement, if they were in the hands of any Christian prince. The whole plat of ground, called the gardens of the seraglio, is so covered with cypress and other trees, as to resemble a grove, through which shady walks are cut, where pleasure-houses of various sorts are seen; the most eminent and remarkable of which is that called the Blue Kiosh, fronting the town of Scutari.
In the sides of one of the kioshs are three orbicular stones of fine porphyry, the middlemost of which is curiously polished, and serves to reflect the prospect of the seraglio and adjoining city, like a looking-glass. At the farther end of these gardens are the entire walls of an ancient Christian church, and near it the Grand Signor's aviary, where are kept the hens of Grand Cairo, that are remarkable for having blue gills and feathers, curiously coloured with grey circles, and in the centre of each circle a spot of black.
Besides the above buildings, there are many others in which the inferior officers reside, and where all the provisions and necessaries for the seraglio are deposited; particularly on the left hand of the entrance quite down to the water side, there are prodigious piles of wood, which some thousands of
Baltagis
or wood cleavers are continually employed in cutting into billets, and carrying to the different apartments. On the opposite side is a large square, where those who are intended for military employments are taught their exercises, at which the sultan is sometimes present.
The number of persons inhabiting this immense pile of building, is in proportion to its size. On the best authority, says
Habesci,
that of personal knowledge, I can say that nearly 10,000 persons constantly reside in it. The grooms and those who constitute the corps of guards, make the major part of that number.
The following is a very exact list of the inhabitants and their respective employments:
For the sevice of the stables
3,500
Bostangis,
that is to say, gardeners
2,000
Baltagis,
that is, carriers of wood for the use of the seraglio
400
White eunuchs
120
Black eunuchs
300
Women
1,600
Es-oglans or pages
900
Cooks and confectioners
190
Menial servants
400
 
9,410
This is the number of persons who usually reside in the seraglio, except that of the women, which is increased or diminished according to the taste of the reigning sultan.
The provisions in the seraglio are dressed by such of the agliam-oglams as are brought up to cookery. They begin their business early in the morning, for the Grand Signor rising early, there must always be something ready for his breakfast. His dinner hour is ten o'clock in the morning, and he sups at six in the afternoon, both summer and winter. His manner of sitting down to table, is with his legs across, after the Turkish fashion, with a rich embroidered napkin spread before him. He carves for himself, but uses neither knife nor fork, his meat being so tender and delicately dressed, that he easily pulls it in pieces with his fingers. He makes use of two wooden spoons; with one he takes his soups, and with the other his syrups. Dinner or supper over, he washes his hands in a gold bason set with precious stones. He scarce ever speaks at table, except to some favourite aga, to whom he sometimes throws a loaf as a mark of favour.
The queen and sultanas are served at the same time, but in copper dishes, except the sultan be with them. Their food may truly be said to come from far. Their sherbet is made of snow water, brought to Constantinople at a very great expence, and kept under ground. Their only cheese is Parmesan furnished from Venice. The bread is made of wheat brought from Bursa, reckoned very white and savoury; the rest comes from Greece. Their rice, lentils, and other pulse, are the produce of Egypt. Great quantities of sugar are used in sherbets, but they eat very little spice except pepper. The honey served up at the sultan's table comes from Chio, but the rest from Walachia and Moldavia. Their oil is had from Greece, but that which the Grand Signor eats comes from Candia and Zant. Their butter comes from the borders of the Black sea and the Crimea. They eat scarce any butter or milk, except it be in clouted cream. Very little fish is eaten at Constantinople by the Turks, though the sea yields great plenty, and therefore the Christians purchase it very cheap. The seraglio is plentifully supplied with fruit from the sultan's garden; and as large presents are frequently made to him, a great deal of it is sold, and the money given to the Grand Signor for his pocket-money. The utensils of the sultan's kitchens are of brass, but kept so clean and bright as to do the eye good.
It must be observed, that the individuals who compose this immense household are most of them born of Christian parents, who have been made captives in time of war, or stolen at a very early age in time of peace. It being a maxim with the Ottoman empire, to be served only by persons who are unacquainted with their native country, their parents, or their religion; they being the more likely to be attached to the prince, by whom they are protected and well taken care of.
When one of these children is presented to the seraglio, they first examine very minutely if he has any corporeal defect; if so, he is not accepted, though his countenance should speak very much in his favour; the Mahometans believing that a brave mind cannot exist in a body materially deformed. But on the contrary, if they meet with such a person as they wish for, they write down his name, and the country he comes from, in a register which remains in the chancery of the private treasury of the Grand Signor, and give the treasurer an order to pay him his daily pension, which is four aspers a-day. He is then sent to be educated in one of the old seraglios, either of Pera or Constantinople. Here it may be necessary to remark, that there is a seraglio at Pera, to which the Grand Signor goes two or three times a-year to spend the day; and it is chiefly in this edifice, that those slaves who are destined for his personal service are brought up. Those that remain in the seraglio of Constantinople for their education, are principally those who are raised to posts and dignities of the greatest consequence, after having gone through the usual exercises.
Such was the custom when the Turkish conquests furnished a considerable number of these children as substitutes to those who were promoted to other employments. But as at present the Christians are more careful to guard their children from the rapacious hands of the Turkish emissaries, this source for slaves has failed, and they are obliged to confine their ancient custom of furnishing the seraglio with Christian slaves to pages only. Those Christian princes who formerly presented a certain number of boys and girls, as an annual tribute for the service of the Grand Signor, have refused to pay this tribute any longer. Prince
Heraclius,
who governs Georgia so admirably, shook off this inhuman tribute during the late war between the Turks and the Russians; and since that time, none but the pages are children of Christians.
We will now relate the manner in which the seraglio is guarded; it being well known that it is watched very strictly. The whole circuit is confined to the care of the
Bostangis,
or gardeners, who form the first guard: the second is composed of the
Baltagis,
or of those who are employed in furnishing the firing for the seraglio, these are armed with an axe; to them succeed the guard of the white eunuchs; and the fourth and last corps are the black eunuchs, who are nearest the person of the monarch.
The number of 3,500 persons which are employed for the service of the stables, will at first seem very great; but if the great quantity of horses to be taken care of is considered, our surprize will instantly vanish. These horses, which belong particularly to the monarch, and which no other person must mount, are in number 3,000, which number can neither be increased nor diminished: such being the law or custom. Whenever a good horse is presented for the personal service of the Grand Signor, and is accepted, they part with that which is of the least value: and when a horse dies or loses any of his good qualities, he is parted with, and another immediately purchased in his room; by this means the fixed number of three thousand is always kept up. These horses are all procured either from Arabia or Egypt, as being in much greater estimation than those in Natolia or Romania.
In order to insure the best horses for the service of the Grand Signor, there is an old law enjoining, under pain of death, that all persons who bring any horses to Constantinople, with a view to dispose of them, shall first make an offer of such horses to the equeries of the seraglio.
All the horses are divided into three separate stables; the first contains 1,800, the second 700, and the third 500. There are also 400 mules in another stable, kept for transporting the sultan's baggage and that of his suite, when he goes into the country. Such a number of mules is the more necessary, as there are no waggons in Turkey.
To the number of horses which more particularly belong to the Grand Signor, must be added those that belong to the principal officers of the seraglio, which are very numerous. The
Kislar-Aga,
or chief of the black eunuchs, has 300 for his own private use, and the rest of the ministers in proportion. Even the pages have each of them no less than three horses. We may therefore reckon, says
Habesci,
without the least exaggeration, that there are 6000 horses in the Grand Signor's stables.
This number, it is true, would not require 3,500 persons to look after them; but as these men are obliged to go and come different ways, and have likewise to take care of themselves, as well as their horses, such a number seems indispensably necessary.
The environs of this place, says
Sestini,
are very mountainous, and the vallies full of pastures for the horses and mules of the Grand Signor's stables. These horses, which come chiefly from Arabia, are some of the finest that the world can produce. The grooms for the most part are Tartars, Bulgarians, or Arabians. They live under tents during the time that the mules and horses are ordered to remain out at grass, which gives a very picturesque view to the country round.
The day that these horses are first brought to grass, the groom observes some kind of ceremony on entering the pastures, at the conclusion of which, one of their horses has all his hair shaved off, and is even
écorché;
the horse which comes in last, always undergoes this ceremony, which they do with a view to avert what they call the
evil looks,
and every other misfortune that may befall these animals. This superstition, though equally singular as it is ridiculous, may be traced back to the most remote antiquity.
The neatness of these grooms round their tents is so great, that little square buildings on the borders of the canal, at different distances, are appropriated for privies, so constructed, that the water may carry every thing away with it.
The
Bostangis,
who form the first exterior guard of the seraglio, have their chief, who is called
Bostangi-Bashaw;
he is in general superintendant, not only of the imperial gardens that are in the city of Constantinople, but likewise of all the other buildings, fountains, gardens, and delicious places destined for the Grand Signor's amusement. The jurisdiction of the Bostangi-Bashaw extends to the mouth of the Black sea; and having under his inspection all the villages on the coast of Constantinople and the Bosphorus, he draws very great revenues from his office. When the sultan goes upon the water, it is the Bostangi-Bashaw who has the conducting of the barge; he is seated behind the sultan, and guides the helm according to his orders; having an opportunity by this means to converse freely with the Grand Signor, he is particularly esteemed and respected. The Sultan
Mustapha
caused the heads of three Bostangi-Bashaws to be cut off, because the barge had been agitated too much by the sea.
The Bostangi-Bashaw lives without the walls of the seraglio; his habitation, however, communicates with the seraglio itself. It is in the palace of this minister that the torture is applied to malefactors, or such as are suspected to be so. Among all the people who compose the seraglio, the Bostangis are the proudest, rudest, and most cruel.
To the Bostangis succeed the
Baltajir,
or cleavers and carriers of wood to the different apartments of the seraglio. This class forms the second guard; they wear the same uniform with the others, except, that the Baltagis have a little blue collar, distinguishing them from the Bostangis, by its very long point which descends to their breasts: and they both wear a large scarlet cap above half a yard high. These wood cleavers are very expert in the exercise of running, leaping, and boxing; and above all, are very skilful in throwing the lance, and in all other bodily exercises that have a tendency to make them robust and active.
The cooks and confectioners are likewise taken from this corps. The former wear a very fantastical cap made of shining hair, forming a point turned backwards. The latter wear a cap of camels hair, in the shape of a sugar loaf, and of a dark yellow colour. The butchers were likewise formerly taken from this corps, and wear the same kind of cap with the confectioners. There are also a great number of domestics in livery, who wear a short dress made of gold stuff, with a cap of gilt metal, ornamented with a large plume of feathers, which originally belonged to this corps; as were the menial servants of the officers belonging to the seraglio. But Christian slaves being now grown very scarce, the Turks are obliged to be served in all the above-mentioned offices, by poor people, who obtain their places for a livelihood.
Of all the oriental nations, none give way to their sensual inclinations so much as those who profess the Mahometan religion. This accounts for the sultans having their women guarded always by eunuchs; for love and jealousy are their strongest passions. All the Turks of rank and fashion adopt a similar custom.
In the seraglio, the white eunuchs form a kind of body-guard to the sultan: and the black ones to the women of the Haram. The chief of the white eunuchs has command over all the pages and white eunuchs of the court: three very considerable officers, the Grand Chamberlain, the principal
Major Domo,
and the governor of the pages are dependent upon him. There are also inferior officers belonging to the white eunuchs. From the white eunuchs are selected some of the curates of the royal mosques, who are very glad of these appointments, which generally yield very fine incomes; one mosque in particular produces an hundred ducats a-day.
The black eunuchs are employed chiefly to guard the women; formerly they were imperfectly castrated much in the same manner as the
castrati
of Italy. But Sultan Mustapha, predecessor to the reigning emperor, having entertained some suspicions, ordered that from that time all the black eunuchs should be entirely cut, which method is still followed. Their chief is called the
Kislar-Aga,
that is, the Aga of the women of the seraglio, as he has the general superintendance of the Haram, which is that part of the seraglio where the women are kept. Besides the income he draws from the royal mosques, he has a thousand ways of amassing immence riches. The blackest of the eunuchs are brought from Africa.
All the pages of the seraglio are the sons of Christians made slaves in time of war. The incursions of Turkish robbers in the neighbourhood of Circassia and other Christian countries, afford means of supplying the seraglio, even in time of peace with such children. The city of
Akeska
was the rendezvous of these robbers; its situation in the vicinity of Georgia was very convenient for them; as they could assemble two or three thousand horsemen, and make unexpected irruptions into Georgia, and carry off the inhabitants, and every thing they could lay their hands on: they afterwards brought those slaves that were fittest for the seraglio to Constantinople, and the rest were sold at Zoserum, from whence they were dispersed all over the Turkish empire. But since Prince
Heraclius
has refused the accustomed inhuman tribute already mentioned, and put a stop to the irruptions of the Turkish banditti and the Tartars, the Georgian slaves are seldom to be met with, and it is with the utmost difficulty that the usual number of pages can be kept up.
When one of these Christian children is first admitted into the service of the seraglio, he is put under the direction of the chief of the white eunuchs, who places him either in the great or little school. In the great chamber or school, there are usually 600 children, and in the lesser 300. These children are brought up under a very rigid discipline, and taught first of all, modesty and politeness. They are then instructed in the Mahometan religion, and in the Arabian and Persian languages, in order to enable them to speak the Turkish with greater propriety, and as it is spoken in the seraglio. Their cloathing is very neat, and their diet good and wholesome. They lye in large chambers, and have separate beds placed in rows; between every third or fourth bed, there lyes a white eunuch; these eunuchs watch them very closely to keep them from unnatural vices, which the people in the seraglio are very much given to. When these youths are old enough to bear the fatigues of strong bodily exercise, no pains are spared to render them robust, active, and valiant. They are likewise instructed in the mechanic as well as liberal arts.
From these chambers they take the bravest and most capable, to employ them about the person of the Grand Signor: they afterwards distribute the rest, according to their capacity, either in the service of the treasury of the seraglio, or in the repository for drugs and cordials, which are carefully prepared for the use of the Grand Signor and his women. From the service of the treasury and this repository, are taken those who are esteemed most worthy to be promoted to more important charges in the seraglio. By virtue of their employments, they are admitted to the presence chamber, and to the private apartments of the seraglio, so that they can see and speak to the Grand Signor almost at any time.
In the room of him who quits the seraglio entirely, another is appointed from the body of the pages. Such is the order of rotation to the offices of the seraglio, and the gradations of services through which they pass before they quit it, that it seldom happens any officer leaves the palace before he is turned of forty; a time of life when he may be supposed most capable of conducting the weighty affairs of state, with which he may be entrusted. Most commonly on leaving the seraglio, they are raised to the dignity of bashaws, or agas of the Janissaries, or generals of the cavalry, and sometimes instantly appointed grand vizirs. It is pleasing to see them take leave of their friends and acquaintances in the seraglio, adds
Habesci,
as the ceremonies they use on such occasions demonstrate a very refined taste, and nothing further would be wanting to convince a bye-stander that the Turks were a most polite people.
Contrary to the ideas of all other civilized nations, the Turks set little value on the sciences; they always prefer men of valour to men versed in the sciences, for any high office: yet, notwithstanding their slight opinion of the sciences, they cultivate some of them in the schools. They teach the youth of the seraglio to read and write; they then make them learn Arabic, as their books of religion and the laws of their empire are written in that language. It is not till they have perfectly learnt the Arabic, that they are taught the Persian language, which being melodious and sprightly, corrects the harshness of the Turkish. They then teach them arithmetic, and by suffering their reading Persian novels and romances, replete with gallantry and lively animated expressions, the youth acquires a gay and sprightly turn of mind. Besides these studies, some of them apply themselves to learning the Alcoran by heart, others translate valuable books from the Arabic and Persian into the Turkish language, and each youth makes his remarks and annotations on them for the instruction of the ignorant: many apply themselves to the Persian and Arabic poetry, and succeed admirably well. The study of music, likewise, occupies a good part of the time allotted for the instruction of these young men: most certainly the Turkish music is barbarous with respect to the terrible noise it makes; but it is also certain that it has its softness, and harmony which may very well be relished. Except the above-mentioned sciences, and a slight knowledge of medicine and astronomy, the Turks are, in general, extremely ignorant.
That nothing may be wanting to the splendour and ostentation of the Ottoman court, there are a number of mutes and dwarfs kept. Persons of this description, who, in other courts, serve only to amuse the prince, at the Turkish court are employed, not only for the amusement of the sultan, but to instruct the pages in an art which is not practised in other countries. This art consists in making themselves understood by signs, out of respect to the Grand Signor, that he may not be disturbed by the sound of their voices. There are in the seraglio 140 of these mutes, who being born deaf, cannot express themselves but by signs. At night they lye in the great chamber of the pages, and are in the schools in the day, where they teach the young Christian slaves to comprehend very long discourses on different subjects in this manner. Two or three of the oldest of these mutes are admitted to the chamber of the sultan for his amusement. The dwarfs are employed in the same manner. If a dwarf happens to be a mute, he is very much prized; and if an eunuch, likewise, he is considered as a prodigy, and no pains or expence spared to procure such a rarity. We will now speak of the women.
All the women in the seraglio are for the service of the Grand Signor. No persons whatever are permitted to introduce themselves into the first gate that encompasses the haram, that is, the apartments in which the women are shut up. It is situated in a very remote part of the inclosure of the seraglio, and looks upon the sea of Marmora. No person can possibly see these women, except the sultan and the eunuchs. If any of them goes out of the seraglio, on an excursion into the country, with the Grand Signor, the journey is made either in a barge or in a close carriage; and there is a kind of covered way made with linen curtains from the door of their apartment to the place of embarking, or getting into the carriage. All these women have the same origin as the pages, and the same means which are employed to procure the boy slaves, are used to supply the haram with women. The handsomest only, or those who give hopes of being such, are received into the seraglio, who must all be virgins. They, like the pages, are divided into two chambers, and their manual employment consists in learning to sew and embroider. With respect to their mental and personal accomplishments, they are taught only music, dancing, voluptuous attitudes, and such other allurements, as decency forbids expatiating upon, by which, says
Habesci,
they endeavour to excite the passions of the sultan. The number of women kept in the seraglio, depends on the pleasure of the Grand Signor. Sultan
Selim
had near 2,000, Sultan
Mahmud
had but 300; and the present emperor has nearly 1,600.
These two chambers have windows, but they look only on the gardens of the seraglio. Among such a great number of women, there is not a single servant; and the method in which they wait on one another is not a little peculiar: the last entered waits upon the one who entered before her, and likewise upon herself, so that she who is at the head of the list, is served, without having any one to wait upon, and she who entered last, has no one to wait upon her. They all sleep in separate beds, and between every fifth, there is a preceptress stationed to superintend their conduct. Their head governess is called
Katon Kiaia,
or the governess of the noble young ladies. If there is a sultana mother, she forms her court from their chamber, having liberty to take as many young ladies as she thinks proper.
The Grand Signor very frequently permits them to walk in the gardens of the seraglio. On such occasions all the workmen are ordered to retire, and black eunuchs are placed in every corner, with drawn sabres, and others ordered to walk round the gardens, to prevent any person from looking at them. Should any one be found in the gardens at this time, either through ignorance or inadvertence, he is instantly put to death, and his head brought to the feet of the Grand Signor, who rewards the eunuchs very liberally for their vigilance. Sometimes the Grand Signor himself goes into the gardens when the ladies are there, and it is then, that by dancing, singing, enticing attitudes, and other alluring gestures, they practise all their little arts to endeavour to ensnare his affections.
It is generally imagined the Grand Signor may take to his bed all the ladies of the seraglio whenever he is so inclined; this is a vulgar error; it was so in former times, but the immense presents which it is usual to give to those ladies who are so favoured by the Grand Signors, determined them to make regulations, that have been adopted by all their successors, in which the number, time, and etiquette of cohabiting with them is limited. It is true the sultan can, if he pleases, break through these rules, but he seldom does, especially, as besides the immense expence in presents, it may likewise cost the lives of those girls whom the prince is so partial to. In the reign of Sultan
Achmet,
above 150 women were poisoned, who, by their allurements, had enticed the Grand Signor to be connected with them, contrary to the established etiquette. The sultan is not permitted to take a virgin to his embraces, except upon some extraordinary festival, or great rejoicings. On these occasions, if he wishes a fresh companion for his bed, he goes into the ladies apartment, who are ranged in files by their governesses, and intimates the one he wishes to have: the ceremony of the handkerchief, which the sultan is said to throw to the favoured fair, is an idle tale, without any foundation. When the Grand Signor has fixed on the lady he has destined to be the new partner of his affections, all the others follow her to the bath, washing and perfuming her, and after having dressed her very superbly, conduct her singing, dancing, and rejoicing to the Grand Signor's bed-chamber, who, on such occasions, is generally already in bed to receive her. As soon as the new-elected favourite enters the chamber, introduced by the principal eunuch upon guard, she kneels down, and when the sultan calls her, gets into bed at the foot, except the sultan should order her, as a special favour, to approach at the side. After a certain time, on a signal given by the sultan, the governess of the ladies enters the apartment with her suite, and conducts her back to the women's apartment: if, by good fortune, she becomes pregnant and is delivered of a boy, she has the appellation of
Asaki Sultaness,
or sultana-mother. On the birth of the first son, she has the honour of being crowned, and the liberty of forming her court. Eunuchs are also assigned her for her guard. No other ladies, though delivered of boys, except the first, are either crowned or entertained with any extraordinary magnificence; they have, however, separate establishments, with very handsome appointments.
Thevenot
says, that in the Grand Signor's bed chamber, there are large wax tapers burning all night, and Moorish women sitting by them. And that on these nights he sleeps in a chamber belonging to the haram, or women's apartments. And, in the morning, on his rising, changes all his dress and leaves them to her he slept with, besides whatever money was in his pockets; and that on his returning to his own apartments, he sends immediately a present of jewels, money, and magnificent dresses of greater or less value, according as he was captivated with her charms.
After the death of the sultan, the mother of the male children are shut up in the old seraglio, from whence they can never come out, unless one of their sons ascend the throne. The old seraglio was the palace of
Constantine
the Great: it is situated nearly in the centre of Constantinople; there these sultanas are confined, as also those ladies of the new seraglio who are indisposed. Those who are brought to bed of girls, are allowed the privilege of marrying, when the sultan dies, of which they generally avail themselves, to some of the principal persons of the empire, who are very glad to have them for their riches, and the connexions and patronage which they generally have in the seraglio.
Lady
M.
mentions a favourite sultana, who on being presented with an absolute order to leave the seraglio, and chuse herself a husband among the great men of the Porte, at the decease of the sultan, threw herself at the feet of his successor, and begged him to poignard her, rather than use his brother's widow with that contempt. She represented to him, in agonies of sorrow, that she was privileged from this misfortune, by having brought five princes into the Ottoman family; but all the boys being dead, and only one girl surviving, this excuse was not received, and she was compelled to make her choice. She chose Bekir-Effendi, then secretary of state, a Turkish nobleman above fourscore years old, to convince the world, that she firmly intended to keep the vow she had made of never suffering a second husband to approach her bed; and him she chose as a mark of her gratitude, since it was he that had presented her, at the age of ten years, to her late lord. But she never permitted him to pay her one visit, though she had been fifteen years in his house when lady
M.
visited her, and she was then but thirty-six, but passed her time in uninterrupted mourning, with a constancy very little known in Christendom.
All those ladies who have been connected with the deceased sultan, but borne no children, are shut up for life in the old seraglio; those with whom he has had no intercourse, remain in their apartments for the new Grand Signor.
Baron
Tott,
in his remarks on the Ottoman empire, says, that the daughters and sisters of the Grand Signor, when married to the vizirs and great men of the empire, dwell in their separate palaces; but that all the male children, who are born to them, are instantly smothered by the person who delivers the mother. This, says he, is the most public of all their laws, and that which is least infringed. No attempt is made to conceal these horrible assassinations; a despicable fear is the cause of them, more than the interest of the throne.
The daughters, who alone escape this murderous law, only preserve the title of sultana, by adding to it that of
hanum,
common to all women of tolerable fortune; and their children of both sexes, whom these princesses may preserve, now enter into the general class of the people, and are not distinguished by any title. Born of a grand-daughter of the emperor, the influence of paternal notice, no longer reaches them: the great grandfather has lost sight of them in the obscurity of their birth.
It may not be amiss to observe, before we finish this account of the seraglio, that unnatural vices reign in it to excess, not only among the pages, but also among the ladies. The violent excesses of the pages, and their shameful amours with those who are placed about the persons of the monarch, might lead to very dangerous consequences, if fire and sword were not employed to restore tranquillity. But notwithstanding the utmost vigilance of the eunuchs and their governors, these vices are not to be entirely eradicated. Indeed, how can it be expected, when it is well known, says
Habesci,
that almost all the sultans have themselves been guilty of such crimes. Sultan
Amurath
was so enamoured of a young Armenian, that he made him his sword-bearer.
Mahomet
IV. paid such public homage to a young Greek, that all the court noticed it; he was declared chief favourite, with great ceremony, and became despot of the empire. We could produce examples more modern and very recent, but those already mentioned sufficiently prove the contagion is ancient, and deeply rooted, and that it can never be extirpated. It is too general among the Mahometans.
The most indecent practices are also very common in the apartments of the ladies. Nor is it to be wondered at, in girls well fed, leading an idle undisturbed life, and whose chief employ is to prepare themselves for sensual delights. Notwithstanding the fatal doom that awaits them on discovery, the violence of their passion hurries them precipitately to their ruin. Alas! how many of these unhappy girls are thrown, tied together, in guilty couples, from the seraglio into the sea! In the reign of
Mustapha
III. some hundreds thus fell victims to their incontinence; and not a year passes even at present, though their governesses are ever on the watch, without some such sacrifice, so shocking to humanity!
CHAP. V.
In continuation.
HAVING now given as full and descriptive an account of the seraglio and its interior regulations, as is to be met with; it remains, only to speak of the pomp and splendour with which the sultan gives audiences to the ambassadors of foriegn powers, and of the grandeur and magnificence which attend him on other public occasions.
The Turks take care that no ambassador shall be admitted to their audiences, but at certain times, when the Grand Signor is prepared to display all the pomp and splendour of the court. For this reason, they are commonly appointed on the days of paying the military establishment. The formalities of such audiences merit a detail, and we shall fix on one given to a Venetian ambassador, as surpassing those of the ministers of other nations.
The reader should be apprized that the Ottoman court retains all the ancient oriental magnificence, in its numerous train, sumptuous apparel, costly jewels, and luxury, so often described by other writers; and that it is fond of displaying every external appearance of grandeur that can impress the minds of its subjects or strangers with awe, surprize, and terror. A hint necessary to be given to reconcile to the reader that great and unbecoming haughtiness so visible in some part of their conduct on these public occasions.
On the day appointed for the royal audience, the ambassador with his dragoman and secretary, embarks on board a very superb galley, from the arsenal at Galata, belonging to the Grand Signor; its chief ornaments, and the entire outside of which, are of pure massive gold. Upon their landing, the ambassador and all his train, (for he is preceded not only by all his houshold, but by all the Venetian subjects either at Pera or Constantinople,) are received by the
Chiaus Bachi,
or commanding officers of the police, who conduct them to a building on the shore near at hand, to which the Grand Signor occasionally resorts to enjoy the cool sea breezes; here refreshments are provided, and some time is spent, while the order of the entry is adjusted. The procession then moves on slowly, in the following manner:
First, three hundred Janissaries on foot, dressed in their habits of ceremony, the chief article of which consists of long bonnets of white cloth, which descend a considerable length over their shoulders; their head cook closes the rear, habited in a black pellice, covered with silver chains, to which are suspended in miniature, and likewise in silver, all the utensils of a kitchen. He is followed by sixty chiaus on horseback, headed by their officer. After them thirty-six slaves belonging to the ambassador, dressed in his liveries, with their chief. Next to them, the ambassador's master of the horse, his horse led by six grooms in rich liveries. Then the major-domo, and another officer on horseback, at the head of fifty-six horsemen belonging to the ambassador, covered with liveries still more superb than the former. Next, his excellency's chief page on horseback, followed by ten other lads who are linguists, and six dragomen or interpreters on horseback. A colonel of the Janissaries surrounded by six chiocadars leads up the second division of this procession. Last of all, follows the ambassador in a robe of purple velvet, embroidered with gold flowers, wearing a ducal cap, and mounted on a stately horse, richly caparisoned, and sent to him by the Grand Signor: on each side of the ambassador's horse, six slaves in rich liveries. Three noble Venetians, two secretaries of embassy, and two others follow his excellency, and after them, all the Venetians on horseback. This procession passes on in this order to the seraglio, and lasts two hours from the time of the ambassador's landing.
Having entered the Sublime Porte, in the first square an immense number of guards are drawn up, through the middle of which, as they fall back, his excellency passes on horseback to the gate of the second square, where he alights; no person, except the sovereign, being permitted to pass that gate on horseback. There he is met by the dragoman of the Porte, and after a few minutes passed in the second square, his excellency ascends the flight of steps leading to the divan chamber, preceded by the
Chiaus Bachi,
and the master of the ceremonies, very richly dressed, and both carrying silver maces, which they strike against the ground like walking sticks. The grand vizir being already seated on his sopha to receive petitions and memorials.
The divan chamber resembles Westminster-hall, but is neither so long nor so lofty: the breadth appears nearly the same. It is badly lighted by a large dome in the centre, and at the upper end are the tribunals of the grand vizir, exactly in the same position, and raised in the same manner above the hall, as the passage between the courts of chancery and king's bench, leading to our house of commons. Behind the vizir's sopha, and no great height above his head, is a small window, grated with iron bars double gilt, within which the Grand Signor is seated; he cannot be distinguished, but it is known when he is there, by the brilliancy of the large diamonds in his turban. In one angle, at a distance from the vizir, but at the same end of the hall, are seated on sophas, the two chief-justices of the Ottoman empire; their heads covered with large turbans, the one white, the other green. From an opening in the wall at the left angle, there is an entrance into a second hall, which seems united with the first; and in this there are a great number of other high officers of state seated on sophas according to their rank.
But the poor ambassador has a great deal to suffer in the divan chamber before he proceeds any further. The audience of an ambassador is the time of all others chosen to present, publicly, a great number of petitions and memorials to the vizir, purposely to shew his authority. While this business goes forward, the vizir sends the dragoman to his excellency, with complimentary messages to fill up the time. The next trial of his patience is, issuing the money for payment of the military establishment for six months. And as a proof of their ostentation, it will often happen that the day of giving audience to an ambassador cannot be put off till it is due; in which case, to the great joy of the military, it must be paid in advance, for they will not omit this display of their riches. It may indeed, happen the six months are expired, and then the payment is put off to the day of audience.
The money is all brought into the divan chamber in bags called purses, and flung upon the ground without any order. The grand vizir orders one of them to be opened and counted
pro forma.
The first troops to be paid are the Janissaries, of whom not less than 20,000 are assembled in the outward courts, before the Sublime Porte, upon occasion of the audience of an ambassador, as impatient to receive their pay as to have the order given to receive what they call the
Ministers;
being a kind of rice soup, given to them on such days, by the Grand Signor. The colonel of the oldest regiment of the Janissaries appears first, at the door of the divan chamber, when he is called in, and as many bags as will pay him and his men, are flung out of the door down the steps, upon which he retires bowing all the way, and constantly facing the tribunal, so that he walks out backwards. The colonel of every regiment does the same; but before the second enters, the money belonging to the first must be cleared away, which is done by throwing the bags through an aperture like a window into the square below; where the Janissaries of his regiment count the money again, and then carry it off to their quarters as fast as possible; he who can carry away most being most esteemed by his officers. This absurd ceremony lasts three hours, and it requires the patience of a Stoic to sit it out.
When this business is finished, three tables are covered for dinner, one before the vizir, another before the
Tefterdar,
and a third before the
Nissangi.
The ambassador alone dines at the vizir's table, and his suite at the other two. This repast is very short, though the number and variety of the dishes are inconceivable. These are all served up in green china, and one at a time according to the Turkish fashion, but then they are removed every two of three minutes; the servants, however, who attend, use equal dispatch in laying the best parts on the plates of their guests, who, if they like what is served on their plates, may let the next dish pass without exchanging it. After dinner the ambassador returns to his seat, and the
Reis-Effendi
presents to the vizir his memorial requiring an audience of the Grand Signor. The vizir reads and signs it, then wraps it up in a piece of embroidered silk, and seals it; over this cover he puts a sheet of white paper and a private mark; and then delivers it to the
Chiaus Bachi,
who carries it to the Grand Signor. Upon the return of that officer with the sultan's answer, the vizir quits his sopha, and goes to the door of the divan chamber to receive it. He touches it with his forehead, as an act of submission; then returns to his place, opens and reads it, after which he gives orders that the ambassador should be conducted through the second hall, where the other great officers are a
ra
ged, as before mentioned, and where the
Chiaus Bachi
attend with the presents brought by the ambassador for the Grand Signor; from thence he proceeds to an open saloon, the door of which opens into the Grand Signor's apartments. Here his excellency and his attendants put on their caftans. As soon as the proper officers have opened this door, the ambassador is introduced by the grand vizir and the aga of the Janissaries, supported on each side by two
capici-bachis.
In this manner his excellency and his train enter the presence-chamber, where the Grand Signor is seated on his throne, consisting of a sopha raised several feet from the ground, and placed in the upper corner of the room, on the right hand; with upright cushions to support his back and arms, if he chuses it; these cushions are richly embroidered, and adorned with pearls and other jewels; the canopy over the throne is extremely magnificent; made of crimson satin, lined with white satin, and faced with plated gold, interspersed with brilliant diamonds and pearls. But nothing can exceed the splendour of the sultan's dress, his turban and caftan being almost covered with jewels: the ambassador then bows to the Grand Signor, and addresses him in a short harangue, in the Venetian language, the purport of which is to assure his sublime highness, that the republic of Venice ardently desires to cultivate an eternal friendship with his highness and all his subjects. His credentials are then delivered to the grand vizir, who places them on the throne. Upon this the sultan speaks a few words to the vizir, charging him to deliver an answer on his part to the ambassador, that he will grant peace, friendship, and protection to him and his countrymen throughout the empire. The ambassador then makes his bow and retires.
As the ambassador and his train reach the second court, where their horses are left, before the vizir can get ready with his immense suite, his excellency is obliged to wait some time before this parade is adjusted; for, upon this occasion, the vizir and all the other great officers of the seraglio go before the ambassador to conduct him out of the Porte on his return; after which they separate, the ambassador and his train proceeding towards Pera, and the vizir attended by the other officers going to his own house. The procession, therefore, from the second square of the seraglio to the street, though short, is very magnificent.—Such was the etiquette attending the reception of an ambassador from the republic of Venice.
A remarkable political axiom in the Turkish laws respecting their imprisoning the foreign ministers, has been totally overlooked by all writers upon their system of government, which we think it right to notice: perhaps they were ignorant of the fact. The Ottoman court considers every ambassador as having two distinct characters, the one representative, the other personal. In the exercise of the first, they view him as representing his sovereign, and in this light treat him with great respect, and even allow that he may assume the tone of a master, and state his demands to the Grand Signor, complaining of any infringement of treaties, or acts of injustice committed by the Turks against the subjects of the state he represents, and even to insist upon satisfaction in the most peremptory terms.
But if he offers to threaten them with an approaching war, or proceeds nearly to a declaration of it, before he leaves their dominions, they say he has a personal character, which is that of hostage given by way of assurance and security to the court to which he is sent, and where he resides, that he will not violate the treaties subsisting between them; and in this capacity they make him responsible for the rupture with which he threatens them; and justify their disregard to the universal law of nations, which declares the persons of ambassadors to be sacred, even in time of war.
Though there is no distinction of title between the foreign ministers residing at Constantinople, yet greater honours are shewn to some than to others. As soon as the Imperial ambassador arrives on the Turkish frontiers, he and all his suite are maintained at the expence of the Grand Signor till his return, be his stay ever so long. The same conduct was observed with respect to Prince
Repnin,
ambassador-extraordinary from Russia; but this was upon a very particular occasion, namely, to negociate a peace, and is no precedent for other ministers from the same court. The Imperial ambassador, likewise, brings very rich presents to the Grand Signor, who sends back to the emperor presents still more valuable by his ambassador at Vienna; whereas the ambassadors of France, England, and Holland, make very considerable presents to the sultan, who makes no acknowledgments whatever in return. These presents the Grand Signor lays a kind of claim to from those powers for the permission granted them to send ministers to reside at his court, and for the protection and privileges allowed to their trading subjects.
There is a peculiar distinction shewn the Venetian ambassador, besides that of a public entry, namely, to fire a number of mortars on St. Mark's day, according to the age of the doge, and to keep the festival with as much noise and mirth as his people shall think proper. This is never permitted to the ambassador of any crowned head, even on such occasions as the birth-days, marriages, or coronations of their respective princes.
The homage they pay the emperor of Germany is very great; and in cases where they have had reason to complain of the conduct of the Imperial minister at Constantinople, they have suppressed their complaints, and quietly submitted to the violation of their most sacred rights.
An instance of this kind occurred during the late war between the Russians and the Turks, of so singular a nature, that it merits an ample recital of all its circumstances. The ceremony of exposing the sacred standard of
Mahomet,
by carrying it in grand procession through the principal streets of Constantinople, previously to its being transported to the camp, is a solemnity held in the highest veneration by the Turks, and so sacred, that they will not permit any person of what ever rank or religion, besides Mussulmen to see it; on which account, three days before the day of the procession, heralds are sent into every street of Constantinople, to proclaim, that on such a day the standard of
Mahomet
will be carried through the city, on its way to the army, and that no person who are not Mahometans are to be in the streets, through which it passes, or even looking into them, from any of the houses, on pain of death. Notwithstanding this public prohibition, the Imperial minister, unmindful of his public character, which should have made him more delicate than a private individual on such an occasion, was persuaded to gratify the curiosity of his wife and two daughters, who were determined to see this grand procession. For this purpose he hired a chamber in the house of a
moulah
or lawyer, the price of which was fixed at fifty piastres; two days before the solemnity was to take place, the minister found out a more convenient apartment, at an inferior price, which he immediately took, and relinquished the first. The moulah in vain represented that Europeans generally kept their word, but more especially ministers in public characters; he was refused every kind of satisfaction, and dismissed with taunts, the minister well knowing that no tribunal would dare to proceed against him; and that though the order of
moulahs
have the most powerful interest with the government, yet their dread of offending his royal master was superior to every other consideration. The moulah submitted in appearance, without murmuring, but secretly vowed vengeance, and only waited a proper opportunity to gratify this darling passion in the breast of a Turk.
In the very moment that the holy standard was passing through the street in which the ambassador, his lady, and two daughters had taken a chamber, and as it approached the house, from a window of which, half opened, they were looking at the splendid shew, the moulah set up a loud cry, that the holy standard was profaned by the eyes of infidels, who were viewing it through the latticed window of such a house. The multitude, which was immense, as all ranks of people attend such a solemnity, instantly took the alarm, and a party, consisting of near three hundred enraged Janissaries, detached themselves from the procession, and broke open the door of the house, determined to sacrifice to the prophet, those daring infidels, who had profaned his holy standard. The imprudent minister in vain represented to them, that he was the Imperial ambassador; he was instantly knocked down, and the inner doors being forced, they found the ambassadress, whom they stripped of her jewels and cloaths, and nothing but her age protected her from further insults. As for the young ladies, they had fallen senseless upon the floor in a swoon, from which they were only recovered by the extreme torture of having their ear-rings torn from them with such violence, that part of their ears went with them; they were likewise stripped to their shifts, and what they suffered besides, no mortal can tell: it was reported that some of the Janissaries had compassion on their youth and beauty, and the wretched situation to which they were reduced, while another party were deaf to all entreaties: be this as it may, after they had plundered them, they retired, and in the evening this deplorable family were secretly conveyed to Galata.
As soon as the grand vizir received information of the horrid outrage committed on the person of the ambassador and the ladies, he communicated it to the Grand Signor, who condescended to send him compliments of condolence and excuse in his own name, accompanied with a rich pelice, which is a distinguishing token of peace in Turkey; and as his sublime highness knew the minister loved money, a very handsome sum was sent to him privately, and separate purses to the ladies, besides jewels far superior to those the Janissaries had taken from them. Having received such ample indemnifications, the whole family seemed perfectly satisfied; and the young ladies related the adventure to their Christian friends, in a manner that did no great credit to their modesty.
Had the piece finished with this act, all would have been well; but, unfortunately, the Divan thought something was due to public decorum, and that an example of severity was requisite in point of policy, that other foreign ministers might be assured of the safety of their person and property. The strictest search was, therefore, made to discover the individuals guilty of these personal insults and indignities to the ambassador and the ladies, without effect: but the heads of 300 persons, Janissaries, and others concerned in the riot, were cut off, and information sent to the ambassador of this bloody execution, with a request to know, if that would satisfy him? To which he replied, so far as respected his own person and family, he was satisfied; but that having sent dispatches to Vienna on the subject, he could say no more till they arrived. The courier, impatiently expected by both sides, at length arrived, and brought such an answer as might be expected from so discerning a prince as the emperor. It contained no complaints against the Porte, but an order of recall to the minister, couched in such terms that struck him to the heart, for he instantly fell sick, and either died by his own hands, or a natural death, in a few days. His wife and daughters soon after returned privately to Vienna, where the story of the young ladies had arrived long before them, and was represented in such a light to the Empress Dowager, then living, and absorbed in devout exercises, that they were ordered to retire to a convent for the remainder of their life.
Baron Tott
relates a singular trait of the late emperor, which accords little with that immense state and splendour with which the Turkish emperors receive ambassadors from foreign powers. This prince, says he, violent and hasty in his temper, but weak, impatient, and curious to excess, exhibited to us, on our return from the seraglio, when Mr.
De Vergennes
had his audience as ambassador, a very singular scene. We saw him disguised like a professor of the law, accompained by two of his officers, who appeared as footmen; he had stopped in a street to see us go by, and as we passed on into the Acmeidan or Hippodrome, we presently perceived he had overtaken us, and was running by our side, but slackening his pace when he came up to the ambassador, he accompanied him to the end of that square, and then beginning to run again, he crossed the street in front of the procession, and entering one of the gates of the seraglio, went out of it again near the sea, to meet us when we were to take water. There he remained till our departure, and then returned again to his palace; and we saw no more of him.
I remarked, adds the baron, during the whole time this prince kept us company in the Hippodrome, where we were surrounded by numbers, whom curiosity had drawn together, no one gave the least sign or intimation which could discover him, though every one knew him and trembled at his presence: but depotism tyrannizes over every thing, and forces its slaves to dissemble even the very fear it inspires.
On the opposite side of the canal, nearly adjoining to Scutari, is a very magnificent kiosh or pleasure-house of the Grand Signor's, situated at Chalcedon, a town of ancient note of which, but little remains are to be seen. It had formerly two very celebrated temples, dedicated, one to
Apollo,
the other to
Venus.
When Chalcedon was an eminent city, Scutari was an ignoble village; but by the contrary events of fate, the former is now reduced to nothing, and Scutari is a fair and spacious city. Its canal, among other names, had that of
Fretum Chalcedonium.
The situation of this kiosh is very pleasant; it is in the centre, and on the highest spot of a very fine garden. Most of the walks are shaded with trees, and there are several noble parterres of very considerable length. They all end at the kiosh, from whence there is a most delightful prospect.
It was the natural beauty of this place that inclined
Soliman
II. to build this kiosh, where he might retire occasionally with some of the ladies of the seraglio. And for this purpose he had a stately sopha built in a place a little higher than the rest, furnished with quilts, cushions, and rich carpets, and surrounded with marble balustrades. This sopha is a square and placed in the middle of a large bason of the same form, which is insensibly filled with a great many cascades, so high as to be fit to bathe in.
Soliman,
who took as much pleasure in the delights of
Venus,
as he did in those of
Mars,
had this place enriched with all the voluptuous ornaments, which the skill of Mahometan artists could invent, and often crossed over from his seraglio at Constantinople, that he might indulge himself more freely in those extravagant pleasures to which his inclinations prompted him.
From Lady
C.
's late account of Constantinople and its environs, it should seem these kioshs are no longer the reigning taste. The sultans, says she, formerly built different palaces or pleasure-houses, on the borders of the canal, which are now forsaken. There is one on the Asiatic side, in the midst of a fine garden, falling to ruin very fast: there are, however, some very magnificent looking-glasses and furniture still remaining in it, and what seems very absurd, these are not removed, but suffered to fall and perish as it may please the wind and rain. No one being permitted to touch or remove any thing, the Porte and the public are equally losers; the garden, large enough to make a beautiful park, is left quite wild, and as no person goes into it, one of the most beautiful spots on that coast, just facing the seraglio, is lost to every one. This is the case with every royal residence, which when abandoned by the caprice of the sovereign, is neither demolished nor even unfurnished, but suffered to continue in the same manner as if it was inhabited.
That we may enable our readers to form some idea of the splendour of the country seats of the great men of the Ottoman empire, we shall give Lady
M.
's description of one on the banks of the canal, belonging to a Grand Vizir, who married a sultana, daughter of the reigning sultan. It is situated, says she, on one of the most delightful parts of the canal, with a fine wood on the side of a hill behind it. The extent of it is prodigious; the guardian assured me there are near eight hundred rooms in it; it is certain the number is very large; and the whole adorned with a profusion of marble, gilding, and the most exquisite painting of fruit and flowers. The windows are all sashed with the finest chrystaline glass brought from England, and here is all the magnificence that can be supposed in a palace founded by a vain luxurious young man, with the wealth of a vast empire at his command.
But no part of this palace is more to be admired, than the apartments destined for the bagnios. There are two built exactly in the same manner, answering to one another; the bath, fountains, and pavements, are all of white marble, the roofs gilt, and the walls covered with Japan china. Adjoining to them are two rooms, the uppermost of which is divided into a sopha, and in the four corners are falls of water from the very roof, from shell to shell of white marble, to the lower end of the room, where it falls into a large bason, surrounded with pipes that throw up the water as high as the room. The walls are in the nature of lattices, and on the outside of them, there are vines and woodbines planted, that form a kind of green tapestry, and give an agreeable obscurity to those delightful chambers. I should go on, says she, and let you into some of the other apartments, all worthy of being described; but it is harder to describe a Turkish palace than any other, being built entirely irregular. There is nothing that can be called front or wings; and though such a confusion is pleasing to the sight, yet it would be very unintelligible in description. Suffice it, therefore, only to add, that the chamber, destined for the sultan, when he visits his daughter, is wainscoted with mother of pearl, fastened with emeralds like nails. There are others of mother of pearl and olive wood inlaid, and several of Japan china. The galleries which are numerous and very large, are adorned with jars of flowers, and porcelane dishes of fruit of all sorts, so well done in plaster, and coloured in so lively a manner, that it has an enchanting effect. The garden is suitable to the house, where harbours, fountains and walks are thrown together in an agreeable confusion. There is no ornament wanting, but that of statues. Thus it may be seen, that those people are not so unpolished as they are represented. It is true their magnificence is of a different taste from that of Europeans, and perhaps of a better. One is apt sometimes to think they have a right notion of life. They consume it in music, gardens, wine, and delicate eating, while we are tormenting our brains with some scheme of politics, or studying some science, to which we can never attain, or if we do, cannot persuade other people to set that value upon it we do ourselves. It is certain what we feel and see is properly, if any thing is properly, our own; but the good of fame, the folly of praise, are hardly purchased, and when obtained, poor recompence for loss of time and health. We die and grow old before we can reap the fruit of our labours; considering then, what short-lived weak animals men are, is there any study so beneficial, as the study of present pleasure?
The Grand Signor's dress differs very little from that of other persons, except in length and richness. His turban is like that of the bashaws, except only that he wears plumes and breeches, which they do not. He sleeps upon velvet mattresses, or such as are made of gold cloth, covered in summer with sheets, embroired with silk, and in winter with furs. When he sleeps in his own apartments, two old women keep watch in his chamber to light him, if he chuses to count his beads at the hours of prayer, which are twelve at night, and two hours before day-break. The women's dress is much like that of the men's, for they wear breeches and buskins, and sleep in them, wearing thin ones in summer, and thick ones in winter.
When he goes to the mosque on Fridays, he is accompanied through the city by all the bashaws and grandees, besides a large retinue of servants who walk by his side. The people, as he goes along, follow him with repeated acclamations of health and happiness, which he returns by a nod. If he goes abroad by water, he is carried in his barge covered with crimson velvet, richly embroidered, under which he sits, his officers standing all round him. If by land, he is always on horseback.
It appears even at other times his retinue is very splendid. I went, says Lady
M.
to see the Grand Signor, in his passage to the mosque. He was preceded by a numerous guard of Janissaries, with vast white feathers on their heads, as also by the spahis and bostangis—these are foot and horse guards, and the royal gardeners, which are a very considerable body of men, dressed in different habits of fine lively colours; so that at a distance, they appeared like a parterre of tulips. After them came the aga of the Janissaries, in a robe of purple velvet, lined with silver tissue, his horse led by two slaves richly dressed. Next him the
Kislar-Aga,
(this is the chief guardian of the ladies of the seraglio) in a deep yellow cloth, which suited very well to his black face, and lined with sables. Last came his sublime highness arrayed in green, lined with the fur of a Muscovite fox, supposed to be worth a thousand pounds sterling, and mounted on a fine horse, decorated with jewels. Six more horses richly caparisoned, were led for him; and two of his principal courtiers bore, one his gold, and the other, his silver coffee-pot on a staff; another carried a silver stool for him to sit on. It would be too tedious to tell all the various dresses and turbans by which their rank is distinguished, but they were all extremely rich and gay, to the number of some thousands.
CHAP. VI.
Of Adrianople.
THIS city is 144 miles from Constantinople, and was anciently called Orestes, but now receives its name from the Emperor
Adrian;
it was the first European seat of the Turkish empire, and has been the favourite residence of many sultans. Its situation is very fine, and the country round it very beautiful; but the air is extremely bad, and the seraglio itself is not free from the ill effects of it. The town, gardens included, is eight miles in compass. The river Maritza, anciently the Hebrus, on which the city is situated at the place where it receives the Tunsa and the Harda, is dried up every summer, which contributes very much to make it unwholesome. In winter it is a large and spacious river, but with a slow stream. There are two noble bridges over it. The city which is fair and compact, rises gently from the banks of this river; the exchange is very spacious, being above half a mile in length; the roof arched, and kept extremely neat. It holds three hundred and sixty-five shops, furnished with all sorts of rich goods, exposed to sale in the same manner as at Exeter-'change, in London, but the pavement is kept much neater, and the shops are all so clean, that they seem just painted. Idle people of all sorts, walk here for their diversion, and amuse themselves with drinking coffee or sherbet, which is cried about as oranges and sweetmeats are in our play-houses.
Near it is the
Sherski,
a street of a mile in length, full of shops of all kinds of fine merchandize, but excessive dear, nothing being manufactured here. It is covered on the top with boards to keep out the rain, and that merchants may meet conveniently in all weathers. The Besisten near it, is another exchange, built upon pillars, where all kinds of horse furniture are sold; and glittering every where with gold, rich embroidery, and jewels, it makes a very agreeable shew.
In most of our accounts of Turkey, says Lady
M.
it is observed, that their houses are the most miserable pieces of building in the world. On the contrary, says she, the manner of building here appears to me very agreeable and peculiarly adapted to the country. 'Tis true they are not at all solicitous in this city to beautify the outsides of their houses, and they are generally built with wood, which is the cause of many inconveniencies, but this is not to be charged to the ill taste of the people, but to the oppression of the government. Every house, at the death of its master, is at the Grand Signor's disposal, and therefore no man cares to enter into any great expence, which he is not sure his family will be the better for. All their design is to build a commodious house, that will last their lives, and they are very indifferent if it falls down the year after. Every house, great and small, is divided into two distinct parts, joining together only by a narrow passage. The first house has a large court before it, and open galleries all round it, which to many people will appear very agreeable. The gallery leads to all the chambers, which are commonly large, and with two rows of windows, the first being of painted glass; they seldom build above two stories, each of which has galleries. The stairs are broad, and not often above thirty steps. This is the house belonging to the lord, and the adjoining one is called the haram, that is, the ladies apartment; it has also a gallery running round it towards the garden, to which all the windows are turned, and the same number of chambers as the other, but more gay and splendid, both in painting and furniture. The second row of windows is very low, with grates like those of convents, the rooms are all spread with Persia carpets, and raised at one end of them, about two feet. This is the sopha which is laid with a richer sort of carpeting, and all round it a sort of couch raised half a foot, covered with rich silk, according to the fancy or magnificence of the owner. Some are of scarlet cloth, with a gold fringe; round about this are placed, standing against the wall, two rows of cushions, the first very large, and the rest little ones; and here the Turks display their greatest magnificence. They are generally brocade, or embroidery of gold wire upon white satin. Nothing can look more gay and splendid. These seats are also so convenient and easy, that a person accustomed to them will never endure chairs again whilst he lives. The rooms are low, which some people think no fault, and the cieling is always of wood, generally inlaid or painted with flowers. They open in many places with folding doors, and serve for cabinets, more conveniently than ours. Between the windows are little arches to set pots of perfume, or baskets of flowers. But what is most pleasing, is the fashion of having marble fountains in the lower part of the room, which throw up several spouts of water, giving at the same time an agreeable coolness, and a pleasant dashing found in falling from one bason to another. Some of these are very magnificent. Each house has a bagnio, which consists generally in two or three little rooms leaded at the top, paved with marble, with basons, cocks of water, and all conveniences for either hot or cold water.
The harams, or women's apartments, are always built backwards, removed from the sight, and have no other prospect than the gardens, which are inclosed with very high walls. There is none of our parterres in them; but they are planted with high trees, which give an agreeable shade, and a very pleasing view. In the midst of the garden is the kiosh, that is, a large room, commonly beautified with a fine fountain in the midst. It is raised nine or ten steps, and inclosed with gilded lattices, round which vines, jessamines, and honeysuckles make a sort of green wall. Large trees are planted round this place, which is the scene of their greatest pleasures, and where the ladies spend most of their hours, employed by their music or embroidery. In the public gardens there are public kioshs, where people go that are not so well accommodated at home, and drink their coffee, sherbet, &c. Neither are they ignorant of a more durable manner of building; their mosques are all of free stone, and the public khans or inns, are extremely magnificent; many of them taking up a large square, built round with shops under stone arches, where poor artificers are lodged gratis. They have always a mosque joining to them, and the body of the khan is a most noble hall capable of holding three or four hundred persons; the court extremely spacious, and surrounded by cloisters, that give it the air of our colleges; and this, no doubt, is a more reasonable piece of charity, than the founding of convents.
The greatest beauty of this city, and as some think of the whole empire, is the mosque of Sultan
Selim
the second, built by him out of materials brought chiefly from the ruins of Famagusta in the island of Cyprus. Yet the area not being square, nor supported with such rich or correspondent pillars, four only excepted, that adorn the front, I esteem it, says
Chishull,
inferior to the two noble mosques of
Solyman
and
Achmet,
at Constantinople.
It is situated very advantageously in the midst of the city, and in the highest part of it, making a very noble shew. The first court has four gates, the innermost, three. They are both of them surrounded with cloisters, with marble pillars of the Ionic order, finely polished, and of very lively colours, the whole pavement is of white marble, and the roof of the cloisters, divided into several cupolas or domes, headed with gilt balls on the top. In the midst of each court are fine fountains of white marble, and before the great gate of the mosque, a portico with green marble pillars, which has five gates, the body of the mosque being one prodigious dome. It has two rows of marble galleries on pillars, with marble balustrades, the pavement is also covered with Persian carpets. It is no small addition to its beauty, that it is not divided into pews, and encumbered with forms and benches like our churches; nor are the pillars, which are most of them red and white marble, disfigured by the little tawdry images and pictures, that give Roman Catholic churches the air of toy shops. The walls seem to be inlaid with such very lively colours, in small flowers, as to give them at first sight the appearance of precious stones. In the midst, hangs a vast lamp of silver, gilt; with at least two thousand of a lesser size. This must look very glorious when they are all lighted; but being at night, no women are suffered to enter.
Under the large lamp is a great pulpit of carved wood, gilt, and just by, a fountain to wash, which is an essential part of their devotion. In one corner is a little gallery enclosed with gilded lattices for the Grand Signor. At the upper end of a large niche, very like an altar, raised on two steps, and covered with gold brocade, are two silver gilt candlesticks, the heighth of a man, and in them white wax-candles as thick as a man's wrist.
This mosque is adorned with four regular and beautiful minarets, each of which has 244 stairs leading into the uppermost balcony. Each minaret has three balconies, that imitate the capitals of pillars, between which the whole body of the column is regularly channelled. One of them is remarkable for having three staircases winding one within another, so that three priests may ascend to each of the balconies without meeting one another. It is from these balconies that the Imans call the people to prayers. From the uppermost of them, says
Chishull,
we had an opportunity of viewing the several parts and precincts of the city, the plat of the seraglio, the course of the rivers, and the face of the country below, with the busy cares of the several mortals wandering about like so many ants on that spot of earth then subject to our eye.
Adjoining to one of these mosques is a mad-house, a noble building of a circular figure, covered with a regular cupola, and having a large area in the middle, with a cistern of water; but conveniently divided all round into chambers made arch-ways, and opening on one side into the area. Here the madmen are kept, who are all furnished with clean mats, and tied close down to the pavement by an iron chain fastened about their necks for greater security.
For some miles round this city, the whole ground is laid out in gardens, and the banks of the rivers are set with rows of fruit trees, under which the better class of people divert themselves every evening, not with walking, that not being one of their pastimes; but a set party of them chuse a green spot, where the shade is very thick, and they spread a carpet, on which they fit drinking their coffee, and are generally attended by some slave who has a fine voice, or plays on some instrument. Every twenty paces one of these little companies may be seen, listening to the dashing of the river; and this taste is so universal that the very gardeners are not without it. I have often seen them and their children, says Lady
M.
sitting on the banks of the river and playing on a rural instrument, perfectly answering the description of the ancient fistula, being composed of unequal reeds, with a simple but agreeable softness in the sound. There is not a single instrument of music, she adds, among the Greek or Roman statues, that is not to be found in the hands of the people of this country. The young lads generally divert themselves with making garlands for their favourite lambs, which they paint and adorn with flowers; and who are lying at their feet all the time they are singing or playing. Such are the ancient amusements here, and which are as natural to them as cudgel-playing and foot-ball to our British swains: the softness and warmth of the climate forbidding all rough exercises, which were never so much as heard of amongst them; and naturally inspiring a laziness and aversion to labour, which the great plenty indulges. These gardeners are the only happy race of country people in Turkey. They furnish all the city with fruits and herbs, and seem to live very easily. They are most of them Greeks, and have little houses in the midst of their gardens, where their wives and daughters take a liberty not permitted in the city, that of going unveiled. These wenches are very neat and handsome, and pass their time at their looms under the trees.
To those who visit this province of Turkey,
Theocritus
will no longer be looked upon as romantic: he has only given a plain image of the way of life among the peasants of his country, who, before oppression had reduced them to want, were probably employed as the better sort of them are now. Had he been born a Briton, his Idyllium would have been filled with descriptions of threshing and churning; both which are unknown here, the corn being all trodden out by oxen, and butter unheard of.
Many of the customs, and much of the dress, recorded in the writings of
Homer,
will still be found retained by the inhabitants of this country. The princesses and great ladies pass their time at their looms, embroidering veils and robes, surrounded by their maids, who are always very numerous, in the same manner as we find
Andromache
and
Helen
described. The description of the belt of
Menelaus,
exactly resembles those that are now worn by the great men in Turkey, fastened before with broad golden clasps, and embroidered round with rich work. The snowy veil that
Helen
threw over her face is still fashionable. Their manner of dancing is certainly the same that
Diana
is said to have danced on the banks of the Eurotas. The great lady still leads the dance, and is followed by a troop of young girls, imitating her steps; and if she sings, make up the chorus.
THE VISIT TO FATIMA.
My first surprize being over, I vainly endeavoured by nicely examining her face to find out some imperfection, and was clearly convinced of the error of that vulgar notion, that a face exactly proportioned, and perfectly beautiful, would not be agreeable; nature having done for her with more success, what
Apelles
is said to have essayed by a collection of the most exact features to form a perfect face. Add to all this, a behaviour so full of grace and sweetness, such easy motions with an air so majestic, yet free from stiffness and affectation, that could she have been suddenly transported upon the most polite throne of Europe, nobody would think her other than born and bred to be a queen, though educated in a country we call barbarous. To say all in a word, our most celebrated English beauties would vanish near her.
She was dressed in a caftan of gold brocade, flowered with silver, very well fitted to her shape, and shewing to admiration the beauty of her bosom, only shaded by thin gauzes. Her drawers were pale pink, her waistcoat green and silver, her slippers white satin, finely embroidered; her lovely arms adorned with bracelets of diamonds, and her broad girdle set round with diamonds; upon her head a rich Turkish handkerchief of pink and silver, her own fine black hair hanging a great length, in various tresses, and on one side of her head some bodkins of jewels.
Her fair maids were ranged below the sopha, to the number of twenty, very much resembling the pictures of the ancient nymphs. I did not think all nature could have furnished such a scene of beauty. She made them a sign to play and dance. Four of them immediately began to play some soft airs on instruments, between a lute and a guitar, which they accompanied with their voices, while the others danced by turns. Nothing could be more artful or more proper to raise
certain ideas.
The tunes so soft;— the motions so languishing! accompanied with pauses and dying eyes!—half falling and then recovering themselves in so artful a manner, that the coldest and most rigid prude upon earth, could not have looked upon them without thinking of a something not to be spoken of.
When the dance was over, four fair slaves came into the room, with silver censors in their hands, and perfumed the air with amber, aloes wood, and other scents. After this they served me coffee upon their knees, in the finest japan china, with
soucoups
of silver gilt. The lovely
Fatima
entertaining me all this while in the most polite and agreeable manner. When I took my leave, two maids brought in a fine basket of embroidered handkerchiefs; she begged I would wear the richest for her sake, and gave the others to my woman and interpretess. I retired through the same ceremonies as before, and could not help thinking I had been some time in Mahomet's paradise; so much was I charmed with what I had seen.
This description of Lady
M.
's reception by the fair
Fatima,
may serve to give some faint idea of the beauty, splendour, and elegance that reign in the harams of the Turkish officers of state, not only in Adrianople, but throughout the east. Beauty in general, adds Lady
M.
is more common here than with us. It is even surprising to see a young woman that is not very handsome. They have naturally the most beautiful complexions in the world, and generally large black eyes. They generally shape their eye-brows, and both Greeks and Turks have the custom of putting round their eye-brows a black tincture, that at a distance or by candle-light, adds very much to the blackness of them.
The ladies in this city have in reality more liberty than we have. No woman, of what rank soever, is permitted to go into the street without two murlins, one that covers her face, all but her eyes; and another that hides the whole dress of her head, and hangs half way down her back. Their shapes are also wholly concealed by a thing they call a
Ferigée,
which no woman of any sort appears without; this has strait sleeves, that reach to the fingers ends, and it laps all round them not unlike a winding sheet, reaching to the feet. In winter it is of cloth, and in summer of plain stuff or silk. In this dress there is no distinguishing the great lady from her slave. It is impossible for the most jealous husband to know his wife, when he meets her, and no man dare touch or follow a woman in the street.
This perpetual masquerade gives them entire liberty of following their inclinations without danger of discovery. The most usual method of intrigue is, to send an appointment to the lover to meet the lady at a Jew's shop, which are as notoriously convenient as our houses in London, where they sell India goods; and yet even those who don't make use of them, do not scruple to go to buy pennyworths, and tumble over rich goods, which are chiefly to be found among that sort of people. The great ladies seldom let their gallants know who they are; and it is so difficult to find it out, that they can very seldom guess at her name, whom they have corresponded with for half a-year together. It may easily be imagined the number of faithful wives is very small in a country where they have nothing to fear from a lover's indiscretion; neither have they much to apprehend from the resentment of their husbands: those ladies that are rich, having all the money in their own hands.
Most of the rich tradesmen in this city are Jews. That people have incredible power in this country. They have many privileges above all the natural Turks themselves, and have formed a very considerable commonwealth here, being judged by their own laws. They have drawn the whole trade of the empire into their hands, partly by the firm union among themselves, and partly by the idle temper and want of industry in the Turks. Every bassa has his Jew, who is his
"homme d'affaires;"
he is let into all his secrets, and does all his business. No bargain is made, no bribe received, no merchandize disposed of, but what passes through their hands. They are many of them immensely rich, but they take care to make little public shew of it; though they live in their houses in the utmost luxury and magnificence.
Horses are not put here to any laborious work, nor are they at all fit for it. They are beautiful and full of spirit, but generally little, and not so strong as the breed of colder countries; very gentle, however, with all their vivacity, and also swift and sure-footed. The beasts destined to the plough are buffaloes. These are larger and more clumsy than an ox; they have short thick black horns close to their heads, which grow turning backwards. It is said this horn looks very beautiful when it is well polished. They are all black, with very short hair on their hides, and have extremely little white eyes, that make them look like devils. The country people dye their tails, and the hair of their forehead red, by way of ornament.
They carry all their burdens on camels. These animals are much higher and far swifter than the fleetest horse, but very ill shaped, and disproportioned. They are never thoroughly tamed; the drivers take care to tie them one to another with strong ropes, fifty in a string led by an ass, on which the driver rides. There are sometimes three hundred of them in one caravan. They carry the third part more than a horse; but 'tis a particular art to load them, because of the hunch on their backs.
The seraglio is built in a flat verdant plain, at the foot of the city, between the Hebrus and the Tunsa; but more immediately on the banks of the latter. It is surrounded almost on all sides with a thick grove of beech and elm, which forms the resemblance of a park from within the walls of the seraglio, and from the city affords a very beautiful prospect, the whole country round being very bare of wood. A square wall encloses the fabric, which is truly mean, and of a confused intricate figure; but, as it is commonly said, well contrived for convenience. The walls are plain free stone, and the covering lead. Nothing can be more grateful to the eye, than the sight of this level verdant situation; and yet on account of its lowness and too near approach to the rivers, no situation can be more unwholesome. It seems to stand on the very spot where
Constantine
gave that famous defeat to
Licinius.
Philippopolis is a pretty large town near this city, situated on a rising ground in the way to Constantinople from the lower part of Germany. The country from hence to Adrianople is the finest in the world. Vines grow wild on all the hills, and the perpetual spring they enjoy makes every thing gay and flourishing. This town was first founded by
Philip
father of
Alexander
the Great, from whom it received also its name. In 1360 the Turks made themselves masters of it. The neighbouring country abounds remarkably in rice. The flourishing state of the sciences and
beaux arts,
among the Greeks, has been chiefly owing to the Thracians; but at present there is scarce a person of any eminence in literature through all Romania.
In this town there is a sect of Christians that call themselves Paulines. They shew an old church, where they say St.
Paul
preached, and he is their favourite saint, after the same manner that St.
Peter
is at Rome; neither do they forget to give him the preference over the rest of the apostles.
CHAP. VII.
Of the People, &c.
THE number of inhabitants in this great empire is very disproportionate to the extent and goodness of the country; and may be attributed to three causes: pestilence, polygamy, and war. This accounts for such large tracks of fine soil lying waste; though the avarice of the governors is likewise in part culpable for this desolation.
Some years since, owing to the tyrannical oppression of the bashaws of the provinces, the people removed their persons and effects to the capital in such numbers that it was impossible to find room for them and the old inhabitants: the divan, therefore, published an order, that all those families who had not been established twenty years in the city should leave it, and guards were placed at the gates, to prevent the arrival of any more subjects from the provinces.
The inhabitants consist of various nations, of Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Servians, Bosnians, Bulgarians, Walachians, and Tartars, with no small number of Jews, especially at Constantinople and in Sclavonia.
The Turks are stigmatized among the Christians as a slothful, stupid, and inhuman people; but they by no means are so wicked and dreadful, as the French and other writers have thought proper to represent them. Turkey is not without men of talents, probity, and honour; and there are many very benevolent, liberal, ingenious, and enlightened characters to be found in every part of the empire. No people are more punctual in their dealings than the Turks. In compassion and love towards our neighbour, they excel all the rest of mankind. One striking mark of their charity, is their building khans or public inns, called by the Asiatics
caravanseras,
for the accommodation of travellers, which are to be met with in almost every little village. In these every traveller of whatever religion or country he be, may continue three days
gratis;
and in many of them he is, likewise, found in victuals. The Turks are very fond of erecting these buildings, considering it to be a work of charity, and which will be acceptable to God.
With the same laudable view they search out the best springs, and dig wells, which, in those countries, are a luxury to the wearied traveller. In their demeanour the Turks are rather hypocondriac; they are grave, sedate, and passive; but when their minds are agitated by passion, they are furious, raging, and ungovernable: in matters of religion, tenacious, superstitious, and morose. The morals of the Asiatic Turks are said to be far preferable to those of the European. They are more hospitable to strangers, and if there be any vices among them, those of avarice and inhumanity reign chiefly among their great men.
Not only the caravanseras, and wells, or cisterns, but likewise the roads and bridges in Turkey are kept in repair by the labour and industry of private individuals, who consider it a work of charity which will be highly accepted by Heaven, to provide for the entertainment and comfort of the weary traveller; even those who live by their daily labour, and have nothing else to contribute, will spend part of their time gratuitously in this employment; and it is said in the eastern part of the empire, that the hospitable natives, like
Abraham
of old, will invite strangers as they pass through their towns to their tents and houses, and contend for the honour of entertaining them.
Piety, says
Peysonnell,
and not superstition, as
Tott
affirms, has multiplied the
Namas-Giahs,
and the fountains have been constructed by humanity and charity. Those who founded the latter, very justly esteemed it a highly meritorious action to relieve the thirsty passenger in the streets, or the parched traveller on the roads, and to supply them witth the means of making those ablutions which must infallibly precede their prayers. Many have even carried their benevolence so far as to assign sums of money for furnishing snow during the summer, that those who drink at these fountains, may render the water more cool and refreshing.
To the slaves and servants who are about them they behave very commendably, and frequently much better than the Christians do to theirs. In the first years of their servitude these people suffer most, especially if they are young; as the Turks endeavour partly by fair means, and partly by threats, to bring them over to their own religion; but these trials being over, captivity is nowhere more tolerable than in Turkey; insomuch that if a servant understands any art or trade, the only thing he can want is his freedom, being supplied with every other thing he can wish for.
As there is a great mixture of inhabitants throughout the empire, so is there more particularly in the capital. If Constantinople had no other inhabitants than Turks, it would not be half so populous as it is. The Greeks, Armenians, and Jews form a considerable body of its citizens. The Greeks are the most numerous; and though they have lost the confidence of the Turkish government as a nation, they still preserve as individuals an influence greater than that of any other Christian subjects of the Ottoman empire. The governments of Moldavia and Walachia are always bestowed on Greeks, where they exercise a sovereign authority almost independent of the Porte. There are at Constantinople many descendants from the ancient families of Greece; who have preserved their pedigrees entire, but they bear no other marks of their antiquity than the names of the illustrious persons from whom they descend, and a few useless privileges which they enjoy in consequence of their noble birth. Almost all the great and opulent Creeks live at Fanari, a suburb at a small distance from Constantinople, but which joins the chain of buildings continued on from the walls of that city, in the same manner as Newington and Vauxhall are adjoining to London.
The dragomen of the Porte, and of all the towns on the frontiers, are Greeks. The Turks place a great confidence in these men, knowing their family connexions, and that all their hope of life are centered in Turkey.
Great numbers of Greeks, likewise, embrace the ecclesiastical life, and by means of patronage at the Porte, obtain benefices in the Greek church and the dignities of bishops and patriarchs. Other Greeks shut themselves up in the numerous monasteries throughout Turkey. Such are the resources of the better sort. As to the common people, they are engaged in commerce and the mechanic arts; the sea service also employs great numbers, and many of them work in the arsenal. In general they are very poor; and as they despise the Armenians and all other Christians, not of their own church and nation, they have a great number of enemies.
It may not be amiss to observe in this place, that there are about forty ancient Greek families residing in Constantinople, called
Motsellemin,
that is, Remitters. They are the descendants of the malcontents, who, at the fall of the Greek empire, betrayed their country and their sovereign, by joining with the Turks, who laid siege to the city, and putting it into their hands, from which circumstance they have derived their name. They enjoy to this present time, the privilege of wearing yellow slippers and red drawers like the Turks, and are exempt from the annual tribute paid by other Christians subjects of the Ottoman empire. Trifling immunities, says
Hahesci,
for so great a crime! They are, however, universally detested, and are obliged to live secluded from society; for if they attempt to mix in company, they are immediately reproached with the treachery of their ancestors.
The Greeks, says
Busching,
who are the ancient inhabitants of the country, live intermixed with the Turks, and in several places, particularly in the islands, outnumber them. In Constantinople alone, it is computed there are no less then four hundred thousand. They are accustomed to servitude, and prefer living under the Turkish exactions, to the spiritual tyranny of the Pope; but they must be very cautious of not giving even the least colour for suspicion of their holding correspondence with the enemies of the Porte, or of meditating a sedition. It is usual, for greater security in case of war with the Christian powers, to disarm them. All Greeks from the age of fourteen, pay annually, at the beginning of the Turkish feast of Bayram, a capitation tax, which amounts to about a ducat, and receive a note of it. The ecclesiastics are assessed higher; a deacon paying two ducats and an Archimandrite four; but the bishops, archbishops, and patriarchs pay large sums, generally as much as the arbitrary avarice of the grand vizir and bashaws shall think proper to require. The taxes on merchants are estimated according to the value of the commodities they import. The Turks every where lay hold of all opportunities to extort money from the Greeks, but especially from the clergy. In return for this tribute they enjoy the protection of the Ottoman Porte, and are maintained in the quiet possession of their properties, insomuch that no Turk is to insult them, take any thing from them, or intrude themselves into their houses against their will; and in case of any such injuries, they are certain of expeditious justice against the delinquents. The Greek women are exempt from all taxes, as are likewise great numbers of other Greeks who serve in the navy, or elsewhere. It sometimes happens, indeed, that a Greek girl of distinguished beauty, is taken away, and carried to the seraglio; but it is a mistake to suppose that Christian women in general, are forced away from their parents to be brought up in Mahometanism: when any thing of this kind is done, it must be in provinces remote from Constantinople.
The Armenians, another people subject to the Turks, contribute greatly to the population of the capital. Their number in the city and its environs is computed at 60,000. The major part are merchants, and in general they are very rich. Most of the bankers are Armenians. They are sectaries following the doctrine of
Eutyches,
who denied the existence of two natures in Christ, the divine and human; maintaining that the first only existed under the appearance of the latter. They have their patriarch at Constantinople, a numerous priesthood and several churches: a great part of them profess the Roman Catholic religion; these have no churches, but resort to the chapels of the foreign ambassadors. The Armenians, in general, bear a very good character; they are pious, faithful, honest, and polite to every one; but the Turks will not employ them in any service whatever; yet they avail themselves of their opulence by extorting money from them under various pretences.
The Jews come next under our consideration. Their number in and about Constantinople is astonishing; they reckon 40,000 families, which on a moderate Calculation make 200,000 persons. They are subject to a kind of aristocratical government among themselves; and it seldomor ever happens that they appeal from the sentences of their own judges to the Turkish tribunal. They possess great riches, and live as much at their ease, as they can do in a Christian country; for the Turks esteem them much more than they do Christians. There is not a single branch of art or commerce which they do not carry on. Every Turkish family, as well in Constantinople as Adrianople, who are of any note, have Jews familiar in their family. One may judge from this, of the number and quality of their protectors—a circumstance which makes them haughty and insolent to the Greeks and other Christians. All the inferior officers in the customs, are Jews. The factor to the Aga of the Janissaries is a Jew, and perhaps the most considerable one in the city. They are not permitted to purchase lands, which is the only privilege refused them. Their intercourse with the Turks of rank gives them a knowledge of their private affairs, and of their secrets, which they turn to no small account as pimps and spies. A foreign ambassador may know more of the state of the Turkish cabinet, by gratifying the avarice of a Jew, that being his ruling passion, than from any other channel whatever.
With respect; to the external constitution of the Turks, they are generally robust and well shaped, of a good mien, and gracious countenance, and patient under hardships; this renders them fit for war, to which they inure themselves from their youth. Persons of rank seldom train up their children to any other profession, from an idea, that no glory is comparable to that acquired in war. It seldom happens that any Turk is lame or crooked;
Le Brun
remarks, that one may meet with more crippled ill-shaped people in one town of Europe, than in all the Grand Signor's empire. They almost all arrive to a great age, for which this very natural reason may be assigned, that they never eat any thing but what is good and wholesome, without attending like Christians to the delicacy and variety of dishes, which is often very prejudicial to the stomach and the more noble parts. Hence it is, that they are seldom indisposed, and scarce ever troubled with those disorders so common among us, such as the gravel, stone, gout, &c. This is owing in part to their baths as well as to the temperance of their diet. The women are no less well shaped than the men. Lady
M.
has remarked that they have naturally the most beautiful complexions in the world.
They generally shape their eye-brows with a black tincture, and dye their nails of a rose colour. Baron
Tott
says, that the drug so much used in Asia for this purpose is a black impalpable powder, so volatile as to spread itself like a fine down, upon a small brass wire, fixed in the cork of the bottle which contains it. The method of using it is to take out the wire, to which the cork serves for a handle, without its touching the edges of the bottle, which would rub off the powder, and apply its extremity to the interior corner of the eye, resting upon it the two eyelids, and drawing it softly towards the temples, in order to leave within the eyelids two black streaks, which give to fine eyes a harshness they do not naturally possess, and which the Turks take for an air of tenderness.
What will appear much more extraordinary, is, that the men themselves, and even old men, are guilty of this coquetry. The use of the
Surma,
is almost general. It is true, they pretend it strengthens the sight, but it is more certain that its effect is not very pleasing. Every thing in this country which can contribute to preserve beauty, or supply the want of it, is eagerly sought after.
The custom of tinging the eyebrows and eyelashes is not so frequent among the common people, and seems to belong more peculiarly to opulence, and a kind of inactivity necessary for this species of beauty; for it is certain that this impalpable powder, placed so carefully on the edge of the eyelids, would spread itself very disagreeably on any profuse perspiration. Yet the lower rank of people, whose labour impose daily a tax on wealthy idleness, have also their peculiar decoration: it consists, as in most uncultivated nations, in covering their arms and legs, and sometimes their breasts, with figures drawn by punctures, and which, before they are indented, are rubbed over with some colour that sinks, and is retained. The blue colour produced by gunpowder is the most common, and prejudice furnishes most of the subject matter for this strange ornament. The names of Jesus and Mahomet distinguish the Christians and the Turks, who are fellow-labourers; and gallantry comes in forks share in the embellishment. Amorous verses are often to be seen mixed with passages of the Koran; but the species of gallantry intended, is not always so precisely ascertained as that it may not be mistaken.
The Christians are not more sickle in their manner of decorating their persons, than the Turks are constant to their peculiar mode of dress. They do not so much as know what it is to make any alteration in their fashions. That kind of dress which was worn many centuries ago is still in use among them. It is grave, manly, and pleasing to look at, and contributes not a little to let off the handsome shape and mien of both sexes.
A stranger who arrives at Constantinople and sees such a concourse of different people all dressed in the oriental habit, must be at a loss to distinguish one from the other. There are some distinctions however; though their dress to a stranger may appear uniform. The Greeks wear a kind of turban of black lamb's skin, narrower on the crown than that of the Armenians, with black drawers and black slippers. The Armenians, on the contrary, wear purple drawers and red slippers. The Turks wear yellow slippers; and Sultan
Mustapha,
who forbid any Christians to wear the same under pain of death, ordered, likewise, that they should wear red slippers; but the haughty Greeks, resolving to be distinguished from the Armenians, presented a petition to that monarch, that they might be allowed to wear black, which was granted on consideration of a pretty large sum paid into the emperor's private treasury. The Jews wear drawers and slippers of a sky blue colour; their turban is entirely different from that of the Christians, and they have two bunches of hair hanging down by the sides of their ears. These people are very fond of appearing what they are, lest they should be mistaken for Christians. But there are some privileged persons both Greeks and Jews, who are allowed to wear yellow slippers, and scarlet drawers, the same as the Turks; such as the dragomen or interpreters, and the
Motsellemins,
those Greeks we have already noticed, and who are likewise exempted from any annual tribute. As the city of Constantinople is crowded with inhabitants, it is very easy for the Greeks and others to disguise themselves in the Turkish dress, to avoid paying it; but if the former are discovered, their heads are struck off, unless they turn mussulmen. But if Europeans are found disguised in a Turkish habit, their effects alone are confiscated, unless they will redeem them on the same condition.
To shew how rigorous they are in enforcing this law, the reigning Grand Signor was walking one day in disguise through the suburbs of Fanari, attended only by two favourite domestics, a black and white eunuch, when he met a young man who wore three pelisses one above another, and who had, likewise, a very rich pipe in his mouth, and to add to this luxury, he had on yellow slippers; the sultan imagined he must either be some dragoman, or the son of some bey, or at least some privileged Greek; curiosity induced him to order an enquiry to be made, and it was found that he was only the son of a Greek butcher at Fanari, upon which be ordered his attendants to put him instantly to death upon the spot. Such is the strictness with which laws and ordinances are enforced in that empire. Stern people contend, it is the least cruelty never to pardon the infringement of any law which has once been transgressed.
But to return to their dress; they wear their drawers next to their skin, and over the drawers is their shirt; next to that, the doliman, a kind of cassock reaching down to their heels with strait sleeves which they button on the wrist. In summer this doliman is made of callico, or striped muslin; and in winter of satin, or some such stuff, which is usually quilted. They then girt themselves about the waist with a silk scarf, or leathern belt, which is about three inches broad, and fastened by a gold or silver buckle. At their belts they generally hang a couple of daggers, the handles of which are inlaid with gold and silver, and sometimes with precious stones.
Bisani
mentions a pacha having one that cost ten thousand guineas. Over the doliman they wear a ferigée or night-gown, which, in winter, those who are rich enough, have lined with valuable furs. This ferigée is very much like our loose great coats, only longer; it reaching to the heels; it has also very large and long sleeves, and being thrown loosely over the doliman, serves instead of a cloak. The lower part of the body is not only covered with the drawers and the shirt, but the men wear over these, a pair of red cloth breeches, which come down to their heels like trowsers, and at the bottom are fastened to leathern pumps, of a yellow colour, which they call
Mestes.
The
Papouches
are of the same colour, and made very much like our slippers. The heel of their
Papouches
is even with the rest of the sole, except that it has a semicircle of iron, in the form of an horse-shoe upon it. The
Mestes
correspond with our socks, and the
Papouches
with our shoes, except that they do not draw up behind. Their heads are covered with a crimson velvet cap, without brims, about which they wind a white or red turban, made of a scarf of very fine muslin or silk stuff many ells long, and by the fashion of it, the rank and quality of any person is known. No one, but a Turk, is allowed to wear a white turban. This part of their dress they never take off but when they retire to rest. The privilege of wearing a green turban is only granted to those persons who can prove themselves descended from their prophet
Mahomet.
These are called
Scheriffs
or
Emirs,
which signify nobles, and there are great numbers of them: because, if the daughter of an Emir is married to a Turk who is not so, and has a son, he is an Emir by his mother's side, and enjoys the same privileges as if he was descended from the male line. The women who are of this descent are distinguished by a piece of green stuff, fastened to their
Talpock
or head dress.
The attire of the ladies of Constantinople, has a singular air of grandeur and magnificence in it, far surpassing the dresses of the women of other countries, and much more becoming.
The first part of the dress is a pair of drawers, very full, that reach to the shoes, and conceal the legs more modestly than petticoats. Mine, says Lady
M.
in a description of part of her own Turkish dress, were of a thin rose-coloured damask, brocaded with silver flowers. Over this hangs a shift of a fine white silk gauze, edged with embroidery. This shift has wide sleeves hanging half way down the arm, and is closed at the neck with a diamond button; but the shape and colour of the bosom is very well to be distinguished through it. The antery is a waistcoat made close to the shape, of white and gold damask, with very long sleeve sfalling back, and fringed with deep gold fringe; this generally has a diamond or pearl button. The caftan of the same stuff with the drawers, is a robe exactly fitted to the shape, and reaching to the feet, with very long strait falling sleeves. Over this is the girdle of about four fingers broad, which all that can afford it, have entirely of diamonds, or other precious stones; those who will not be at the expence, have it of exquisite embroidery, on satin; but it must be fastened before with a clasp of diamonds. The
curdée
is a loose robe they throw off, or put on, according to the weather, being of a rich brocade, (mine, says Lady
M.
is green and gold) either lined with ermine or sables; the sleeves reach very little below the shoulders. The head dress is composed of a cap called a talpock, which is in winter of fine velvet, embroidered with pearls or diamonds; and in summer of a light shining silver stuff. This is fixed on one side of the head, hanging a little way down with a gold tassel, and bound on, either with a circle of diamonds, (as I have seen several) or a rich embroidered handkerchief. On the other side of the head, the hair is laid flat, and here the ladies are at liberty to shew their fancies; some putting flowers, others a plume of heron's feathers, and in short, what they please; but the most general fashion is a large bouquet of jewels, made like natural flowers, that is the buds of pearls, the roses of different coloured rubies; the jessamines of diamonds, the jonquils of topazes, &c. so well set and enamelled 'tis hard to imagine any thing of that kind so beautiful. The hair hangs at its full length behind, divided into tresses, braided with pearl or ribband, which is always in great quantity. I never saw in my life, says Lady
M.
so many fine heads of hair. In one lady's, I have counted a hundred and ten of the tresses, all natural; but it must be owned that every kind of beauty is more common here than with us.
The head dress of the Turkish ladies, says
Le Brun,
is so contrived, that they can put it on and take it off without undoing it, and it will serve them for several days together; after which they give it a different fashion, according to the several tastes and the fancies of the wearers. This head dress is so heavy, on account of its largeness, that it is a perfect burthen to them in summer. There are some of the Turkish ladies, who only wear a fur cap on their heads, others again wear a large round platine after the fashion of the Jewish women, except that it leans on the forehead, rises up behind, and has on each side, a feather fastened to it, and large plumes of black feathers hang from the ears, which dangle down on their bosoms. Others again encircle their heads with a cap made up of a great many handkerchiefs of different colours, worked in gold and silver, to which they fasten all sorts of trinkets, composed, as Lady
M.
has remarked, in the shape of nosegays, and which are made of wrought gold, and set round with precious stones, while others wear only natural flowers, such as pinks, &c.
Lady
Craven
describes the dress in which the Turkish ladies walk about the streets, as consisting of a large loose robe of dark green cloth, covering them from the neck to the ground, over that, a large piece of muslin, which wraps over the shoulders and the arms, and another that goes over the head and eyes; such coverings, says she, confound all shape and air so much, as to give them the appearance of walking mummies; and men or women, princesses or slaves, may be equally concealed under them.
The dress of one of the sultanas that Lady
M.
went to visit, apppears to have been so surprizingly rich, that the particulars of it, we believe, will not be uninteresting. She wore a vest called
Dualma,
which differs from a castan by longer sleeves, and folding over at the bottom. It was of purple cloth, fitted to her shape; and thick set, on each side down to her feet, and, likewise, round the sleeves with pearls of the very best water, of the same size as their buttons commonly are, that is about the bigness of a pea, and for these buttons there are large loops of diamonds, in the form of those gold loops so common on birth-day coats. This habit was tied at the waist with two large tassels of smaller pearls, and embroidered round the arms with diamonds. Her shift was fastened at the bottom with a great diamond, shaped like a lozenge, her girdle as broad as the broadest English ribband, entirely covered with diamonds. Round her neck she wore three chains which reached to her knees; one of large pearl, at the bottom of which hung a fine coloured emerald, as big as a Turkey egg; another consisting of two hundred emeralds, close joined together of the most lively green, perfectly matched, every one as large as a half-crown piece, and as thick as three crown pieces; and another of small emeralds, perfectly round. But her ear-rings eclipsed all the rest. They were two diamonds, shaped exactly like pears, as large as a big hazle nut. Round her talpock, she had four strings of pearls very large, the whitest and most perfect in the world, at least enough to make four necklaces, fastened with two roses, consisting of a large ruby for the middle stone, and round them twenty drops of clean diamonds to each. Besides this, her head dress was covered with bodkins of emeralds and diamonds. She wore large diamond bracelets, and had five rings on her fingers, except Lord
Camelford
's, the largest I ever saw in my life. 'Tis for jewellers to compute the value of these things, but according to the common estimation of jewels, her whole dress must have been worth an hundred thousand pounds. This I am sure, that no European queen has half the quantity, and the Empress of Germany's jewels, though very fine, would look extremely mean near her's. This is the sultana who threw herself at the sultan's feet, on being ordered by him at his coming to the throne, to leave the seraglio, and chuse herself a husband among the great men of the Porte; and requested him in agonies of sorrow rather to poniard her than treat his brother's widow with that contempt.
Though the Turks are so sumptuous in their dress, yet they are not in general so expensive in their diet; and if Europeans are so absurd as to hurt their constitutions by their luxurious mode of living, it is not so with the Turks, who for the most part are satisfied with a slender bill of fare, and carry, as it were, their kitchen along with them. Their most usual food, which they call pilau, is rice, boil'd up with the broth of a fowl, or some other meat. This is suffered to boil till all the liquor is evaporated, and the rice becomes perfectly dry. If they have no meat (according to
Le Brun
) they boil up their rice with butter and water; sometimes they put curds into it, and add a little saffron in order to colour it; at other times they put honey into their rice. But the most usual method is to season it with a great deal of pepper, in order to give it a relish. Those who can afford it, put a fowl in it, or a piece of beef or mutton, which by this means eats very tender.
Their table is the ground, or else a small table raised about a foot from it, round which they all sit cross-legged like so many taylors. Their table-cloth is a large piece of Spanish leather, which they call the
Sofra,
and instead of a napkin, they make use of a long piece of blue linen, which goes all round the table. When they are seated, the usual grace before dinner is,
Bismillah,
that is, in the name of God. When they have dined, their grace is equally short, and similar to the snortest of ours: for they only say
Hamah dilah,
i. e. God be praised: and immediately wash their hands.
If they have any other dish, besides their boiled rice, which among the common sort of people seldom happens, then this is served up last, as is the custom at the tables of people of fashion; and it is eaten with wooden spoons. Fowls are served up whole in the
pilau,
and pulled to pieces by one of the company: as to beef and mutton, whether it is roasted or boiled, it is always cut into small pieces before it is served up. The Turks seldom drink at their meals; but when dinner is over, a large jug of water is placed on the table, of which every one drinks as he likes, and then grace is said. Among people of quality, instead of a table they have a kind of large raised dish with a little brim, which they call a
Sime.
This they put on the
Sosra,
and upon this
Sime,
those dishes that contain the victuals are placed one after another; for the Turks never place more than one dish at a time upon the table, and when the last dish is taken away, the
Sime
is likewise remo
d, and the desert served up of the
Sofra.
They make their bread fresh every day, and, in order to have it exceedingly light, put into it a great quantity of leaven. It is generally very coarse and not unlike our sea-biscuits in shape and size, only a little thicker. The common people make it serve for a plate to put their meat on, and thus eat both at once.
They have a way of roasting their meat which gives it a very delicate taste; this is by cutting it into small pieces and putting them upon a thin spit, with a slice of onion between each piece; for the onions of this country have incomparably a more delicious taste than those that grow in more northern climes. The Greeks frequently eat them as we do cheese or butter at the conclusion of their meals. In all the parts of Turkey that I travelled through, says
Le Brun,
I furnished myself with these onions when I could meet with them, and found that eating them with a little bread and salt made a very dainty repast. This makes me no longer wonder, he adds, that the Egyptians should have laid out such large sums on this vegetable, during the building of their pyramids, as historians informed us they did.
Oil is likewise an ingredient which they very frequently use as a sauce to most of their meats, without its being in the least offensive. For the oil in this country is very clear, sweet, and pleasant to the palate; so that with a little salt it maybe eaten upon bread instead of butter. A little juice of lemon or a few drops of vinegar put into some oil, and mixed up with a little pepper and salt, make an excellent sauce for many kinds of fish; and this in time becomes so palatable, that a person, who is a little used to it, can do very well without butter, were it ever so good. For, in short, custom is second nature, and in general, what is agreeable, and pleasing, in the use of different kinds of food, consists only in this. Those things to which we have been used from our childhood, seem natural to us as long as we live; and each country has something peculiar to itself, which it knows not how to part with, merely from the force of habit. I have often observed, adds
Le Brun,
who was a Dutchman, that the Greek women in Constantinople married to our merchants, would never eat any of the cheese and butter sent them from Holland, though it was generally some of the best of the kind, but would prefer eating olives and blanched beans, though they were half rotten, in the same manner as the Italians eat small artichokes with pepper and vinegar. The Turks, likewise, roast artichokes upon a gridiron with a little oil, pepper, and salt put between the leaves, which give them a very great relish, and take off that flabby taste which they have, when boiled, a
is our manner of dressing them. The Turks have, likewise, another method of dressing them, and that is by cutting them into quarters and frying them. The common people live very much upon raw cucumbers and melons, for a great part of the year; which they eat without any kind of previous preparation; and instead of bread, they eat cakes, made of meal, which they bake upon the hearth, and carry along with them when they travel. Their diet, in short, like their fashions, never alters from one century to another; and though no people are more extravagant in their dress, there are none more temperate in their food than the Turks.
The dinner which is served up to the Grand Signor, says
Le Brun,
is presented by the gentleman sewer, in a large dish all at once. He sits at table after the Turkish fashion, and has a rich embroidered napkin put before him to preserve his cloaths, and another is tied round his arm with which he wipes his hands. The dishes and plates are all either china or
Terrasigillata,
which is said to be good against poison.
There are some who pretend he is served in gold plate; but this seems rather improbable, as the Turks look upon it to be a sin to eat off gold or silver, which is the reason they use wooden spoons.
When the sultan removes to any of his other palaces, he is always served in china, and so are the foreign ambassadors, when entertained by the grand vizir, previous to their public audience.
TURKS
The Turkish coffee-houses are generally built like their
kioshs,
admitting the air on all sides, which makes them exceedingly cool. They are the rendezvous of the indolent in every station of life. The vizir, the captain pacha, and the sultan himself, frequently go there in disguise to hear what is said of them; for the conduct and most minute actions of the people in power, are equally the topic of conversation, and scrutinized with as much rigour in Turkey, as in any other countries.
Their other liquor is sherbet, which is their usual drink; this is made either of honey and water, with the juice of lemon, and a little rose-water to give it an agreeable perfume; or else of lemon, water, and sugar. This liquor is very pleasant, and a person may make a kind of paste or cake from the different ingredients, to take with him on his journey, which requires only a little fresh water poured upon it, to make a very agreeable and refreshing liquor.
The most important and respectful of the ceremonies in waiting upon a Turkish nobleman, is the presenting of sherbet, which is always followed by an aspersion of rose-water and perfumes of aloes. This sherbet, says Baron
Tott,
so much talked of in Europe, and so little known, is made of conserved fruits dissolved in water, but with so much musk as almost to destroy the taste of the liquor. Thus the vase once filled, suffices for the visits of the week. I used it very sparingly, says he, as I likewise did the conserves brought with the coffee, and in the serving of which, they never change the spoon. The same ceremony was repeated in the anti-chamber in favour of my lacquey, who was far from practising my abstemiousness on this occasion: his appetite less delicate, refused nothing; he ate whatever they gave him; ginger, comfits, and conserves; and swallowed at a single draft all the sherbet.
This sobriety of the Turks does not suit the genius of the northern nations, who love plenty of wine and strong liquors, as well as good eating. A sack of rice every year, with a few jars of butter, and some dried fruits are sufficient provision for a very numerous family. And it is to this temperance, chiefly, that the people of the east are indebted for their healthy and robust constitution.
The Turks are likewise passionately fond of sweet-meats, and all kind of perfumes; which they have in much greater perfection, than in the southern parts of France, and Italy.
We shall conclude this account of their mode of living, as to their diet, with Lady
M.
's dinner at the widowed sultana's, whose profusion of jewels we have already noticed. She gave me a dinner, says Lady
M.
of fifty dishes of meat, which, after their fashion, were served up one after the other, and was extremely tedious. But the magnificence of her table was correspondent to her dress. The knives were of gold and the hafts set with diamonds. But the piece of luxury which grieved my eyes, was the table-cloth and napkins; these were all tiffany embroidered with gold, in the finest manner, in natural flowers. It was with the utmost regret I made use of these costly napkins, which were as finely wrought as the finest handkerchiefs that ever came out of this country. It is needless to mention, they were entirely spoiled before dinner was over. The sherbet, which is the liquor they drink at meals, was served in china bowls; but the covers and salvers were massive gold. After dinner, water was brought in gold basons, and towels of the same kind with the napkins, which I very unwillingly wiped my hands upon; and coffee was served in china, with gold
soucoups
or saucers.
The first week, she adds, their cookery pleased me extremely, but after that, I began to grow weary of their table; but I attribute this to custom, and am very much inclined to believe that an Indian, who had never tasted of either, would prefer their cookery to ours. Their sauces are very high, all the roasts very much done. They use a great deal of very rich spice. The soup is served for the last dish; and they have at least as great a variety of ragouts as we have. The entertainment always concludes with coffee and perfumes, at the tables of the sultanas; and after this ceremony, they command their slaves to dance, and play on their guitars.
The luxury of the bashaws and great men of the Porte, in regard to the furniture of their houses is excessive. Baron
Tott
's description of the chamber in which he and his lady slept at a country villa belonging to one of the Grand Signor's dragomen, where he went for a few days on a visit, will serve to give some faint idea of the general magnificence of the apartments of their great men, added to what we have already extracted from Lady
M.
respecting the palaces of the sultanas in Adrianople. The time for taking our repose was now come, and we were conducted, says he, into another large room, in the middle of which was a kind of bed without bedstead or curtains; though the coverlid and pillows exceeded in magnificence the richness of the sopha, which, likewise, ornamented the apartment. Fifteen mattresses of quilted cotton about three inches thick, placed one upon another, formed the ground-work, and were covered by a sheet of Indian linen, sewed on the last mattress. A coverlet of green satin, adorned with gold embroidery in embossed work, was in like manner fastened to the sheet, the ends of which turned in, were sewed down alternately. Two large pillows of crimson satin overlaid with the like embroidery, in which there was no want of gold or spangles, rested on two cushions of the sopha, brought near to serve for a back, and intended to support our heads. A small octagonal tower inlaid with ebony and mother of pearl, stood by the side of the bed, and served for a table; upon it was placed a large silver candlestick, which held a yellow wax candle two inches thick, and three feet high, the wick of which, nearly as thick as one's finger, produced a very disagreeable smoke. Three china salvers, filled with conserves of roses, flowers of orange, and lemon peel, with a little golden spatula, the handle of tortoiseshell, to serve for a spoon, and crystal vessel full of water, surrounded this obscure luminary, which was intended to burn all night: a precaution not to be neglected in a country where there is so much reason to fear the ravages of fire. Such were our accommodations at the dragoman's; and I could not but expect to pass a very indifferent night. The taking of the pillows entirely away would not have been a bad resource, if we had had any bolster, and the expedient of turning the other side upwards only served to shew they were embroidered on both sides. We at last determined to lay our handkerchiefs over them, but this did not prevent our being sensible of the embossed ornaments underneath. It will readily be supposed we were no sluggards; and indeed it was with no small satisfaction we saw the morning appear, resolving to procure more commodious pillows the night following.
In their customs, adds the baron, they seem as fond of imitating us, (the French) as the French are of imitating the English. I have seen a Greek lady at Constantinople, take olives up with her fingers at dinner, and afterwards put them on a fork, to eat them after the French fashion. If the drinking of healths be no longer the mode with the French, it is not the less agreeable to find this ancient practice still remaining in other countries. Our Greeks did not omit this ceremony, and the men even performed it standing, with their heads uncovered: and what may appear less refined, the same tumbler of wine served the whole circle of guests. After dinner, in which there was more profusion than elegance, the company seated themselves upon a sopha, in the same room in which it had been served up. Pipes succeeded coffee; they began a conversation on the fashions, which concluded in scandal, and in this too I found their imitation of French manners very perfect. In the mean time the young girls amused themselves with a swing, hung at the other end of the room, which some slaves put in motion; the women, likewise, expressed a desire of partaking in this amusement, and were placed in the machine, and their places when vacant, were supplied by our gentlemen with long beards. The games of backgammon, chess, and panguelo, a kind of berlan, concluded the diversions of the day.
This Greek, as well as all those who are sufficiently opulent to imitate the Turks, was accustomed to sleep after dinner on his sopha, while a woman by driving away the flies with a great fan made of feathers, rendered the air he breathed cool, and refreshing; other slaves, on their knees at his feet, rubbed them gently with their hands. This Asiatic luxury would, no doubt, permit suspicion to go greater lengths, with respect to these particulars; and his ill usage of the slaves for the most trifling offences, should convince us that where the facility of gratifying our desires is unbounded, all sense of delicacy and feeling is lost.
The Turks have seldom any chimnies in their houses, but they have something far better and more agreeable to warm themselves by in winter; this is a chafing-dish placed under a table covered with a large quilted counterpane: those who are desirous of warming themselves put this counterpane upon their knees, and by that means a very agreeable warmth is communicated to all parts of the body. In the houses of the Turkish nobles, a small covering of silk or satin brocaded in gold or silver, is thrown over the large one, worked by some of the ladies of the family.
The middle rank of people among the Turks, have no other chamber to sleep in, than that which serves them to live in during the day. A slave comes about the time that the family usually retires to rest, and spreads a mattress for each person, over which he puts a quilt for a covering, and a pillow to rest the head upon. The Turks do not undress themselves, as we do; but sleep in their drawers and waistcoats. In the morning the slave comes again, rolls up the mattresses and quilts in a bundle, and carries them to the closet from whence he took them.
The usual mode of salutation among the Turks is, a little inclination of the head without taking off the turban; and laying the right hand to the breast. Their usual expression on this occasion is,
Peace be with you;
to which the reply is nearly similar,
Peace be with you, and the mercy of God.
It appears from scripture, this was the ancient manner of salutation, and is a very grave one. When it is a person of distinction whom they salute, they bow so low as to take up the hem of his garment, and kiss it.
Among other things in which the Turks differ from us, is the place of honour; they look upon the left hand to be more honourable than the right, because it is the side on which the sword is worn, and consequently a person has the command of his arms who walks on the right hand. No Europeans, however, as we have observed before, wear swords in Turkey, nor do even the Janissaries themselves ever wear their sabres, except they are going on actual service. Another particular in which the Turks differ very much from the Christians, is the shaving of their heads and letting their beards and whiskers grow to a great length; and the larger and longer they are, the more a man is esteemed. They even swear by their beard, and look upon it as a great affront to touch any person's beard, though it should be in saluting him, which is a common custom among them. As strange as we may think it to see them with their long beards, they think it equally so to see us with our long tails and perukes. They have a saying, that the Devil nestles in a large head of hair; and it is for this reason, says
Le Brun,
that they leave on their heads, only a small tuft of hair.
TURKISH LADIES BATHING
I was here convinced of the truth of a reflection I have often made—that if it were the fashion to go naked, the face would be hardly observed. I perceived that the ladies of the most delicate skins and finest shapes, had the greatest share of my admiration, though their faces were sometimes less beautiful than those of their companions. To tell you the truth, I had wickedness enough to wish secretly that Mr. — the painter, could have been there invisible. It would have very much improved his art to see so many fine women naked in different postures, some in conversation, some working, others drinking coffee or sherbet, and many lying negligently on their cushions, while their slaves, generally young girls of seventeen or eighteen, were employed in braiding their hair in several pretty fancies. In short 'tis the woman's coffee-house, where the news of the town is told and scandal invented. They generally take this diversion once a-week, and stay there at least four or five hours.
All the men who go into these baths, either shave themselves clean from hair, or extirpate it by a preparation, and go into the water naked, except a napkin round their waist. After they have been some time in them, one of the slaves comes and stretches their legs and arms, bending them backwards and forwards several times to make the joints supple. He then carries him to another place where are several cocks of hot water, with which he washes him all over with soap and water, and then rubs him thoroughly dry with a camblet bag or some such coarse stuff. These bags are square, and serve to cleanse the body from all manner of filth. They answer the purpose of flesh brushes, used by the ancients, which were of metal, and every person is at liberty to bring his own rubbing cloth. But the Turks who are not very scrupulous in drinking after one another out of the same glass, and eating off the same plate, or even in wearing the cloaths of one who died of the plague, make no scruple of being rubbed with the same cloth which another has used, provided it be only rinced once or twice.
The obligation which their religion imposes on them to bathe frequently, has occasioned all their nobles, and great men, to build baths in their own houses; and they are so expert in the management of them, that the same fire not only heats their baths, but serves also to dress their victuals.
The Mahometans are so extremely particular in their ablutions, that left any accidental dirt upon their bodies should pollute them, they not only wash themselves thoroughly in the ordinary bath, but cleanse every part of their bodies thoroughly.
Even waste paper is held in great veneration among the Mahometans; they never putting it to any sordid use, nor even do they tread on it, lest any part of it should contain those letters with which the name of God is written. If they find a piece in the street, they take it up, kiss it, and even put it very respectfully in some hole of a wall. This respect that they have for paper proceeds from the veneration they have for the Alcoran, which when they carry about them, they never suffer to descend lower than their girdle.
The cleanliness so strongly recommended by the laws of their holy religion, has made them erect necessary houses in different parts of the city, and especicially round about the mosques, which in their language they call
dophano
or places of shame. These houses are kept very neat and clean, with either a fountain of clear water running through them, or water let into them with a cock and bason.
Was this custom adopted in the great cities of our Christian monarchs, it would tend very much to their ornament as well as to their cleanliness.
CHAP. VIII.
Of their Character, Customs, Manners, and Amusement.
THE morality of the Turks consists principally in works of charity: they extend their practice of this v
rtue so far as to build, as we have already observed, public
nns for the convenience of travellers; bridges to pass rivers, and aqueducts and reservoirs to provide water for public use. They, likewise, erect public schools and
s
itals for the sick and poor. Persons of rank,
sh to immortalize their names, build a mosque at their own expence. But their cha
ty in some
ate and superstitious. For
for feeding dogs, and
or any beast of burthen to the extreme of what they can carry. That part of their morals most worthy of imitation is their extreme resignation to the will of God; they have no word in the Turkish languish to express blasphemy, such is their veneration for the Deity; and they never speak of undertaking any thing without saying "if it please God."
Usury is looked upon as a great sin, and never practised. They are guilty, however, of great extortion upon the Franks, but then it is generally through the instigation of the Jews and Christians, who envy one another, and seek each other's ruin.
They are ever loyal to their prince, whom they highly reverence, and to whom they pay implicit obedience; are never known to betray him, but ready to die for him whenever he commands it, and never quarrel or fight among themselves, owing to that wise precept of
Mahomet,
commanding the Turks to abstain from the use of wine.
The Turks never engrave any thing upon their seals but the name and age of the person who is to wear them; their religion forbidding them either to engrave any figure or even to keep any by them. The form of their cornelians is different from ours; they generally wear the rings on their fingers cut in the shape of a square.
If there are many simple and absurd customs and opinions among the Turks, there exists likewise much generosity and magnificence in their conduct, when in an opulent situation. No minister of the Porte has an interview with a foreign ambassador, or stranger of any rank, without making him some presents; which they return according to their opulence or inclination to be noble.
The manner of living of a Turk, sufficiently wealthy to have nothing to do, is to go out every day, and take his seat in the shop of a dealer of tobacco. There, under the pretence of trying the different sorts, he smoaks several pipes without paying any thing; and besides enjoys the prospect of the passengers; who on their part, admire the indolent gravity of the Turk, and the respectful demeanour of two or three servants who stand by his side, with their hands crossed before them. In this position, the first liver-seller who passes, stops, and brags of his ability to bring together all the cats in the neighbourhood, cracks a sew jokes to divert his excellency, and obtains permission to begin his operations. The passengers gather round; by some art of his, the cats assemble, in a twinkling; at the watchword the shoulders of the dealer are covered with them, they hang about his cloaths, and he makes haste to feast his friends for their alacrity. The important personage for whose diversion the scene is intended, pays the performance; and the European, who does not understand the language, or understands it but ill, and does not live among the Turks to study their genius and manners, believes he has seen an act of charity, publishes it as such, and only propagates an error, says
Tott,
who seems to view every action of the Turks with an evil eye.
As a proof of their excessive indolence, Lady
C.
mentions having seen a Turk lying on cushions, striking slowly an iron, which he was shaping into a horse-shoe, his pipe in his mouth all the time: nay, what is more, among the higher order of the Turks there is an invention which saves them the trouble of holding the pipe, two small wheels are fixed on each side the bowl of the pipe, and thus the smoaker has only to puff away, or let the pipe rest upon his under lip, while he moves his hand as he pleases. Perhaps it is fortunate for Europe that the Turks are idle and ignorant; the immense power this empire might have, were it peopled by the industrious and the ambitious, would make it the mistress of the world. At present it only serves as a dead wall to intercept the commerce and battles which other powers might create with one another.
The quiet and passive Turk will sit a whole day by the side of a canal, looking at kites flying or children's boats. I saw one, says Lady
C.
who was enjoying the shade of an immense plantane tree, his eyes fixed on a kind of bottle, diverted by the noise and motion of it, while the stream kept it in motion. How the business of the nation, under such indolence can go on, seems extraordinary: the cabinet is composed generally of ignorant mercenaries; the Vizir was only a water-carrier to the high-admiral, the high admiral himself only a servant in Algiers:—This was in the year 1776. Places are obtained at the Porte by intrigue; each placeman, each sultaness has her creatures to provide for, and their plots to promote them. Versailles has not more intricate intrigue than the Porte; is it to be then wondered at, that the Turk is a predestinarian in most things, since it is neither birth nor abilities that give him place or power, nor is there generally any visible or just reason why heads are struck off?
The populace at Constantinople are more insolent than in other countries; so much so, that it is by no means safe for a stranger to walk the streets unaccompanied by a Janissary. A Greek lady, says
Bisani,
returning home through a great crowd of Turks that were assembled together on some occasion, one of them said, in the hearing of her interpreter, Oh! how I should like to blow out the brains of that infidel! At another time a Turk having met a poor Greek as he was walking out, stopped him, and said this day I promised to offer up to God and his prophet
Mahomet
the head of an insidel, and immediately shot him dead. He kept out of the way for a few days, but having in the mean time obtained his pardon from the relations of the deceased, by means of a sum of money, appeared again with more insolence than ever. When we were at the Dardanelles, adds this author, one of my friends walking by himself on the sea-shore, was knocked down by a party of Turks without the least provocation, merely as they said, for the sake of buffetting a Christian. Such is the character of the common people, who always carry their zeal for religion to great lengths.
The fury of the Turks, however, rarely breaks out in hasty violence; they never fight duels, but they assassinate; and it is in this manner all their quarrels terminate, for they seldom if ever come to an accommodation. The offended party publickly sharpens his knife or prepares his fire-arms; some friends endeavour to appease, others to excite and encourage him to the murder; but no means are taken to prevent the crime threatened by these preparations. Its commission however must be preceded by intoxication. Wine inspires the Turk with the courage necessary for the gratification of his revenge; having worked himself up to the proper pitch, he sallies forth from the tavern, and from that time the offender has no hopes of safety, but from the unskilfulness of his antagonist. If the murder be effected, and the guards who never have any other arms but staves, pursue the assassin, he will then give proofs of real courage, and defend himself like a lion; guilt seems to have ennobled him; and if he be overpowered, the threats of his comrades terrify the relations of the deceased into an accommodation, which leaves the criminal in full enjoyment of the high esteem he has acquired by this heroic action. This is no exaggeration: Such a one has killed this or that man is never said, but by way of panegyric; he who has killed ten, is the hero of his quarter; there is no merry-making without him; his friendship is esteemed a safeguard.
It is therefore only some hired assassins, among the Turks, some Christians or Jews who furnish examples of public punishment, as an atonement for the crimes they have committed. In this case, the culprit is brought to the Porte, and there receives his sentence, the execution of which, is attended with no solemn parade; they may even be seen sometimes pushing through the crowd, and talking all the way with him, who is to execute them. The criminals only have their hands tied, and the hangman holds them by their girdle; then is the time to negociate with the friends of the deceased, and to endeavour to bring about the accommodation. There have been bargains of this kind broken off merely through the avarice of the person condemned. Such assertions seem beyond the bounds of probability; but if they be true, it is doubtless, because under despotic governments, riches are of much importance, life of but little.
Nothing is wanting to complete the barbarity of the Turks, says Baron
Tott,
but to imitate the late custom of the French, in extending the punishment of a crime, so as to load with infamy those innocent persons who have the misfortune of being related to the criminal. But they, on the contrary, engrave on his tomb-stone the name of the deceased, and the punishment he suffered. I have known, continued he, a European very ill received by a Grecian lady of consequence, whose husband had been hanged for some intrigue at court; because he thought proper to lament her misfortune, and dwelt particularly on the kind of death the deceased had suffered. What kind of death would you wish him to have died? cried the lady in a rage: know, sir, that no person of my family ever died like a Baccal. A baccal is a retail grocer; they commonly die in their beds; it is this low station of life which is usually opposed by the Turks to the most distinguished. The European was thunderstruck, and left her, wishing each of her relations a like reputable end.
Murder is never pursued by the king's-officers as with us. It is the business of the next relations to revenge the dead person; and if they like better to compound the matter for money (as they generally do) there is no more said about it. It is natural to suppose that this desect in their government, should make such tragedies very frequent; on the contrary, they are extremely rare; and proves that the people are not cruel by nature. I do not think, says Lady
M.
they deserve, in general, the barbarous character we give them. I am well acquainted with a Christian woman of quality, who made it her choice to live with a Turkish husband. She was a Spaniard, and at Naples with her family; coming from thence in a felucca, accompanied by her brother, she was attacked by the Turkish admiral, boarded and taken. The same accident happened to her that happened to the fair
Lucretia
so many years before her. But she was too good a Christian to kill herself as the heathenish Roman did. The admiral was so much charmed with the beauty and long suffering of the fair captive, that, as his first compliment, he gave immediately liberty to her brother and attendants, who made haste to Spain, and in a few months sent the sum of four thousand pounds, as a ransom for his sister. The Turk took the money, which he presented to her, and told her she was at her liberty. But the lady very discreetly weighed the different treatment she was likely to find in her native country. Her relations (as the kindest thing they could do for her in her present circumstances) would certainly confine her to a nunnery for the rest of her days. Her infidel lover was very handsome, very tender, very fond of her, and lavished at her feet all the Turkish magnificence. She answered him very resolutely, that her liberty was not so precious to her as her honour; and as he could no way restore that, but by marrying her, she requested him to accept the ransom as her portion, and let her have the satisfaction of knowing that no man could boast of her favours without being her husband. The admiral transported at this liberal proposal, sent back the money to her relations, saying he was too happy in her possession to need a reward to keep her. He consequently married her, took no other wife, and the lady as she herself declared, never had the least reason to repent the choice she had made. It may be said that she fell in love with her ravisher; it is, however, more candid to presume that she acted wholly on motives of honour, though she might naturally be struck with his generosity—a principle found among the Turks of rank.
It is a degree of generosity to tell the truth, and it is very rare that any Turk will assert a solemn falsehood. I don't speak of the lower sort, for as there is a great deal of ignorance, so there is very little virtue among them; and false witnesses are much cheaper than in Christian countries; such wretches not being punished (even when they are publicly detected) with the rigour they deserved.
In order to avoid the effects of debauchery among the common people, the taverns are shut up on their solemn festivals. The seal of police is affixed to the door of every tavern; but a little wicket is contrived underneath, which affords an entrance, and requires only a little stooping to evade the law, and get drunk unmolested.
The three days of the Bayram, occasion some solicitude on the part of government, to prevent the disorders which may arise from intoxication. The Ramazan, which precedes the holidays, is the lunar month, appointed for a fast, and the time when it happens annually, advances eleven days. The time of abstinence, which
Mahomet
has copied from the Lent of Christians, consists among the Turks, as that did in the primitive church, in taking no nourishment while the sun is above the horizon. It is therefore easy to perceive, that the Ramazans, which fall near the winter solstice, are much less difficult to observe than those which happen in the midst of summer, from the excessive heat and length of the days which accompany this season of fasting. But the class of labouring people seems alone to bear all the rigour of the Ramazan. Deprived during the day of a glass of water to quench their thirst, or even refresh their lips, the setting of the sun only brings them a frugal repast and short repose, to be shortly interrupted by the hour of prayer, and quick return of day.
This fast wears a quite different appearance among persons of fortune; it is only luxury sleeping in the arms of hypocrisy, and awaking merely to give itself up to good cheer, music, and whatever can recompence sensuality for the uneasiness of abstinence.
Obliged to wait the time prescribed by law, and anxious to see it arrive, a Turk, during the Ramazan, is perpetually counting the hours and minutes, surrounded by all the clocks and watches he possesses. It is then that Geneva receives the greater part of that tribute which its industry imposes on the Turks. But the most regular watch is not sufficient to determine the moment of the ending of the fast. It is announced by the criers of the mosques placed in the galleries, the minarets, who observe there the disappearance of the sun, and he of Sancta Sophia gives the first signal. At that instant the impatience of the Turks knows no bounds, and they instantly seize on their pipes, this being the first of their wants.
Yet if the Turks wait till the sun disappears before they allow themselves any nourishment, they take no less care to ascertain the commencement of their new moon, when the Ramazan begins. They have in general but little confidence in astronomical calculations, except as the commencement of a festival. It is also remarked, that the moon dedicated to abstinence has commonly but twenty-eight days, and the persons appointed to observe this planet always perceive a little of the latest, the first ray of light of the Ramazan moon; but, to make amends, are far less scrupulous in announcing the appearance of that which begins the Bayram, and is ushered in by a discharge of artillery from all the different batteries.
The season of the Bayram is also a season of luxury; every individual procures, gives, or receives new dresses. It is likewise the time for parties of pleasure of all kinds, which usually produce disorders and oppression on the part of the Turks; who, new cloathed and well armed, are spread in every village for three or four leagues round Constantinople, and think they may commit every extravagance with impunity, and exact what they please from the unfortunate Greeks.
There are no theatres, no masquerades, nor any public amusements at Constantinople, except the
Donalma,
or rejoicings on the birth of the Grand Signor's children. Fourteen days festivity are allowed when the first child is born, whether prince or princess; and seven for the rest. All the bezars, khans, and other public buildings, are illuminated, not excepting the mosques, upon whose turrets lamps are placed, and kept burning all night. The streets are, likewise, illuminated, and the shops kept open, to display every rare and splendid commodity, not for sale but for ornament; no trade being suffered during these public rejoicings. The common people are every where in perpetual motion, running up and down the streets, and entering the houses of persons of rank, who sit upon sophas in an outer apartment, finely illuminated, to receive all kinds of visitors, who may freely seat themselves on the sophas of the first officers of state, even upon that, on which the grand vizir himself is seated; who is obliged to offer refreshments at his own expence to all comers, in honour of the emperor, who may possibly be one of his guests in disguise. This circumstance, and their knowing if he is not present, that he is well informed of every thing that passes, makes the Turkish nobility, and particularly the great officers of state, exert their utmost efforts to display the greatest magnificence and hospitality possible on such an occasion; for their fortune often depends on the expence they put themselves to, in honour of this festival; some of them having been promoted on account of their liberality, and others turned out of their office, and disgraced, for their penuriousness.
An infinite number of little troops of dancers and singers distribute themselves in all parts of the city, and are well paid for contributing to the public joy. No person can be taken up for any crime during the
Donalma,
and prisoners are set at liberty, provided they can find security for returning to their prisons when the rejoicings are over. In a word, it is a perfect carnival, and more splendid than that of Venice. But the persons who distinguish themselves most on these occasions, are the foreign ministers, who do it at the expence of their sovereigns, and at the same time gain the good will of the Grand Signor. Prince
Repnin,
ambassador from Russia, was too great a politician to be sparing of expence during the
Donalma
that happened in his time. On the contrary, says
Habesci,
he far surpassed all his brethren. The illuminations at his hotel were so magnificent and costly, that they attracted the admiration of all ranks of people: the Grand Signor himself went twice to see them, and entering the hotel with other strangers, passed through the apartments so well disguised as not to be known.
We see practised again, says Baron
Tott,
at these rejoicings, the manners of ancient Rome during their
Saturnalia.
Slaves enjoy a respite from their labours, and are permitted to be merry in the presence of their masters, and even at their expence. New actors come forward on the stage, and present the great with a view of their follies, while they, now on a level with the rabble, are obliged to join in the laugh.
END OF VOLUME XI.
Note.
The Directions given at the end of Vol. X. for placing the Cuts of Vol. IX. are wrong, two Maps being omitted. Fresh Directions will be given.