Part 6 (2/2)
[Sidenote: DEPARTURE OF THE ACTaeON.] After dining at the palace, I found an opportunity of mentioning to his Lords.h.i.+p that I was invited to return home in the Actaeon, she being supposed to be on the point of sailing; but, if this was uncertain, I should endeavour to find another mode of conveyance. Lord Ponsonby, thus appealed to, acknowledged that there was no chance of the s.h.i.+p sailing till her time was up, for he had written to the admiral of the station, and the government at home, to have the Actaeon fixed at Terapia, at his disposal. As he did not know what might happen between him and the Russians, he thought it right to have a frigate to go away in, if necessary; and he preferred that vessel for the purpose, as he felt a strong personal friends.h.i.+p and regard towards both captain and officers. This communication, which was highly complimentary to my friends, as well as particularly satisfactory to myself, decided me at once, and, on returning home, I announced to my gay warm-hearted companions on board the Actaeon that the painful moment of separation was at hand. The blow was not unexpected, yet some of us would rather it had been deferred. The next morning I started for Pera, and bargained with the directors of the steam-boat for my own and my friend's pa.s.sage to Malta.
[Sidenote: VISIT TO THE MOSQUES.] _Thursday, 20th._--This being the day fixed for the American charge d'affaires' visit to the mosques, at nine o'clock our party sallied forth, and, on arriving opposite the Seraglio Gate, we bought slippers, took our pipes, and squatted in the shade, under the wide-spreading roof of the beautiful fountain in the centre of the square.
St. Sophia was built by Justinian on the ruins of a church of the same name, already twice destroyed; and part of the dome was a third time overthrown by an earthquake. Splendid and various were the treasures it once contained; but these have been long since removed by the desecration and sacrilege of the Latin and the Moslem; and nothing of that description is now left to astonish the pilgrim of either creed, who approaches this sacred temple. Justinian gloried that he had erected a place of wors.h.i.+p which far surpa.s.sed the work of Solomon; and on dedicating it the second time, after the restoration of the dome, he was nearly maddened by joy. What would have been his feelings, could he have foreseen the day when the conquering Latin should defile its altar, and the infidel Turk convert it into a temple for the wors.h.i.+ppers of his prophet, after being consecrated to the pure religion of Christianity for a period of nine hundred years! St. Sophia is thus equally an object of veneration to the Christian and the Musulman.
On the arrival of our American friends, we mustered in a large party before the bronze gates of the church, where we were all for a few moments busily engaged in taking off our boots and putting on the slippers we had purchased. This done, we proceeded into the interior of the edifice, with which I confess myself greatly disappointed; as the _tout ensemble_ displays no magnificence, and the impressions on the gazer's mind, partake of none of that involuntary admiration and religious awe, which the sight of an old English cathedral, or the splendid churches of Italy, never fails to produce. One of its greatest defects arises from want of loftiness in the dome, the diameter of which is one hundred and fifteen, while its height does not exceed twenty feet. There is an immense number of columns, the spoils of various heathen temples. Of these, eight, of porphyry, are from that dedicated to the Sun by the Emperor Aurelian; and the same number, of green marble, verd antique, or _serpentine_, from the temple of Ephesus. Very little of the ancient mosaic now remains, as the devotees, both Turk and Christian, have for ages been in the habit of pillaging it, to make ornaments, beads, and talismans; so that the work of destruction is nearly complete, and a manufacture of these relics, which are composed of gilded gla.s.s, will soon be required. I bought a whole handful for a few paras; and having seen them dug out of their cement by the mufti who sold them, I can vouch for their being genuine.
We now ascended into the upper and lower galleries; in the former of which the Greek women performed their devotions, and the men in the latter. Two doors, one on either side of the pa.s.sage in which we now were, opened into a third gallery, where I was told stood the ”gates of heaven and h.e.l.l.” They are of marble, but the origin of this superst.i.tion I could not learn. The floor of the mosque was covered with beautiful carpets, and the ornaments resembled those I saw in that of Soliman the Magnificent, which is considered a much finer building. St.
Sophia is also surpa.s.sed in beauty by the mosque of Sultan Mehemet, which may be considered as the St. Peter's of the East. The next in size and grandeur are those of Achmet and Osman; but as these buildings very much resemble each other, both in external and internal form and decorations, to see one is quite sufficient: ”ab uno disce omnes.” A greater or less number of elegant, tall, slender minarets or towers, are attached to each mosque in proportion to its size. They are dazzlingly white, like the edifices to which they belong, and are surmounted by golden crescents that flash and sparkle in the brilliant sunbeams of this sultry clime; and, as the number of public religious foundations is immense, independently of thousands of private mosques; the united splendour of so many glittering objects, added to the beauty of the deep blue cloudless sky, contribute to render the view of Constantinople, from a distance, one of the most singular and attractive prospects on the earth.
On quitting St. Sophia, we proceeded to the mosque of the Sultan Achmet, situated in the Atmeidan[17]; but I did not observe any thing particularly worthy of notice, except the court, which is very beautiful and shaded by fine trees. The Osmalie, or ”light of Osman,” is built of pure white marble; and may be p.r.o.nounced to hold the same rank among _giomi_, or mosques, as the Cathedral of Milan among Christian churches.
Its clean and white appearance, the untarnished splendour of the gilded railings which surround that sacred spot, pointing eastward towards Mecca, the burial-place of the Prophet; together with the rich and brilliant patterns of the soft carpets that overspread the floor, called forth unqualified admiration from the whole party. We were equally pleased with the a.s.siduity and politeness of the mufti, or priest, who acted as our conductor, in explaining every thing worthy of notice; as well as the purposes to which the different portions of the edifice were applied.
By this time, our fair American friends had pretty well satisfied their curiosity; and they judiciously resolved not to weaken these favourable impressions, by visiting any less respectable mosque. For my own part, I had been congratulating myself on the pleasure I should enjoy, in making a sort of pilgrimage to that of the lovely, gentle, and virtuous Rose, better known by the name of the Sultana Valide: but the ladies out-voted me; and, after expending a vast deal of eloquence in vain endeavours to inspire them with a portion of my sentimental enthusiasm, I was reluctantly compelled to submit to the disappointment; it being impracticable to get admitted any where without the firman. I therefore made my bow, and returned to Terapia, to complete the necessary arrangements for our intended departure.
_Friday, 21st._--I again visited many of the beautiful spots in the vicinity of my residence, to-day; and crossed over to the Sultan's Valley to bid it a final adieu. In recalling to mind, hereafter, the scenes and occurrences of which I was there a partaker, I antic.i.p.ate even more pleasure than was produced by their actual enjoyment. ”Haec olim meminisse juvabit.”
[Sidenote: FATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.] _Sat.u.r.day, 22d._--To-day is, probably, the last of my present sojourn in a neighbourhood where I have pa.s.sed so many happy hours; and I cannot help reflecting on the important changes which may take place in the destiny of this empire before I visit its capital again, in case it should ever be my good fortune to return. Who can at present decide whether the white-haired Russian or the cunning Egyptian, the subtle Greek or the ambitious Gaul, shall be the future monarch of the Queen of cities, and occupy the throne of the Caesars and the Prophet? Yet, come what may, her glory can suffer but a temporary eclipse; for, independently of the vast political advantages of her position, the beauty of her capacious harbour, which, from the earliest period, has been crowded with the rich navies of the East and West, and which acquired from that circ.u.mstance the appellation of the Golden Horn, points out Constantinople as the mistress of a great empire. ”The genius of the place will ever triumph over the accidents of time and fortune.”
[Sidenote: ARMENIAN PAINTER.] Having bidden farewell to the officers of the Actaeon (the best and worthiest set of fellows whom I ever had the happiness of knowing), and taken leave at the emba.s.sy[18], I glided away on the rapid current; and soon Terapia[19], ”the abode of health,” was entirely lost to the view. After seeing my baggage safely deposited on board the Francesco, I hastened into Stamboul to take leave of Mustapha; and having given the worthy old Turk a hearty shake of the hand, I returned to Pera. The old Armenian, who paints the costumes of the Turks in water-colours, was there in waiting for me; and after disburthening him of all his collection, I copied the portrait of a Georgian slave, which he had in his possession. She was another rare specimen of Eastern loveliness. The evening was finished at Cartwright's, where we took a ”doch'an doras,” and bade farewell to that honest warm-hearted jovial fellow.
[Sidenote: POETICAL DESCRIPTION.] _Sunday, 23d._--At 8 o'clock all were on board; and the Prince having done us the honour to be punctual, in one hour afterwards the anchor was up, the steam on, and away we went round the Seraglio Point; leaving the
”Queen of the morn! Sultana of the East!
City of wonders, on whose sparkling breast Fair, slight and tall, a thousand palaces Fling their gay shadows over golden seas!
Where towers and domes bestud the gorgeous land, And countless masts a mimic forest stand; Where cypress shades; the minarets snowy hue, And gleams of gold dissolve on skies of blue; Daughter of Eastern art! the most divine, Lovely, yet faithless bride of Constantine: Fair Istamboul, whose tranquil mirror flings, Back with delight thy thousand colourings; And who no equal in the world dost know Save thy own image, pictured thus below!
Dazzled--amazed--our eyes, half-blinded, fail, While sweeps the phantasm past our gliding sail.
Like as in festive scene, some sudden light Rises in clouds of stars upon the sight.
Struck with a splendour never seen before, Drunk with the perfumes wafted from the sh.o.r.e; Approaching near these peopled groves we deem That from enchantment rose the gorgeous dream.
Day without voice;--and motion without sound; Silently beautiful! this haunted ground Is paved with roofs beyond the bounds of sight, Countless and colour'd; wrapp'd in golden light!
'Mid groves of cypress, measureless and vast, In thousand forms of crescents, circles, cast, Gold glitters; spangling all the wide extent, And flashes back to Heaven the rays it sent.
Gardens and domes--bazars, begem the woods-- Seraglio, harems, peopled solitudes, Where the veil'd idol kneels; and vistas through Barr'd lattices, that give th' enamoured view; Flowers, orange-trees--and waters sparkling near.
And black and lovely eyes, alas! that fear At those heaven-gates dark sentinels should stand To scare even fancy from her promised land.”[20]
I long'd to see the isles that gem Old Ocean's purple diadem.
I sought by turns--and saw them.
The Seraglio and its dark groves; the gilded domes and their snowy, arrow-like minarets; the Seven Towers, with their fancy-pictured terrors, fade gradually from my sight, as the steam-boat rapidly ploughs the gla.s.sy wave. The eye, straining itself for a last glimpse of the beautiful city, beholds it resting, like a phantom, on the indistinct verge where heaven and the waters meet, until it sinks into the bosom of the unruffled ocean.
[Sidenote: MY FELLOW Pa.s.sENGERS.] What a motley crew! A royal prince; Spanish n.o.bles; Italian counts; French marquises; Dutch chevaliers; and, I may proudly add, English gentlemen. We had also a quack doctor from Paris; a gaming-house-keeper from Milan; a clergyman, poor as an Apostle, from Iceland; a grim-looking student from the University of Gottingen; a Danish baron, music-mad; a singing count from Sienna; a crazy architect from Paris; and two Russian n.o.blemen. There were only two ladies;--a Russian countess, who read nothing but Homer, and made cla.s.sical mistakes; and a Bavarian lady, whose great merit was her inclination to render herself agreeable. Then there were the chief captain, the second captain, and the sub-captain; the manager, second manager, and sub-manager. However, two things most necessary to the establishment were still wanting; namely, a good cook, and an honest steward.
[Sidenote: MARBLE QUARRIES.] The vessel carried a Neapolitan pennant, and was armed with six bra.s.s cannon, a very sufficient stand of small-arms, and a forest of boarding-pikes; in case we should be attacked by any of the pirates infesting the Greek Archipelago. An awning was spread over its s.p.a.cious deck, under which we lived like a swarm of flies, fifty in number, feeding on detestable provender, and sleeping in beds remarkable for uncleanness and their innumerable parasitical tenants. The place marked on our route to be first visited was that part of the Island of Marmora containing the quarries which have supplied Constantinople with building materials from time immemorial; but in reference to the precise spot where they were to be found, there were as many opinions as voices. The truth was plain, no one knew; neither captains, managers, pilots (of whom there were two), nor tourists; and in the midst of our Babylonish discussion, the boat arrived off the town of Marmora; and, of course, on the wrong side of the island for our purpose. Some insisted on returning; others were for crossing the isle on mules, or, if these could not be procured, on foot: but the majority, of which I was one, seemed satisfied with staying where fortune and steam had brought them. When the quarryites landed, they found it would take fourteen hours to visit their _lion_, and, as luck would have it, twelve hours only were marked on the itinerary as the period allowed for the pa.s.sengers to remain at the island. Backed by this powerful argument, we the anti-quarryites demanded a ballot, and an overwhelming majority decided that the boat should start at midnight.
[Sidenote: GREEK DEPUTATION.] Soon after the return of the pa.s.sengers who had landed, a deputation of the inhabitants, consisting of the papa, or chief priest, with some of his brethren, as well as the civil authorities, all Greeks, came on board to compliment the brother of their King. As the Prince did not understand one word of their language, he begged Madame Manochini (the owner of a lodging-house at Smyrna, who had been treated to a pa.s.sage to Stamboul and back) to be his interpretress. After thanking them in his name, she enquired if they had any daughters?
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