The Press. — London, England, 1853-10-15 00:00:00

OCTOBER 15. 1833. Yittraturt. Kismet ; or, the DO(110 e rio•key. By Charles Miletilliallt!. Loudon : Bosworth. Ma. MACI AR LANE'S views on Turkey are gene rally known ; and his present work may be regarded as a consistent sequel to " Constan tinople in Is2s" and " Turkey and its I tiny. • It is sufficient for 118 to say that in many respects his opinions differ from our own conclusions, while their practical bearing is tip posed the common and accepted obligation of English statesmen to maintain the Turkish empire. But, with this qualification, we can commend Mr. Mitelarlane's book as a most in structive MIA entertaining contribution to the Eastern controversy. In so far as it is a compibt tion it is compiled with judgment and a matured knowledge of the value ()fits materials. Where the argument is drawn from facts which have been observed by himself the statements are as vivid its the experience is considerable. Mr. MdC farlame has these claims to be heard as a witness to the state of the Turkish empire : I first went to Turkey in the glimmer of lw:7, was there when the battle of NaVlU'illo was fought. and remained in the country until the end of the year IS•2/4. After the long ifttervid of twenty years I returned to the beautiful but desolated country, and combined my reseurehea from the month of August, Isl 7. tee the month of July, let's. had ao other occupatid In or '0W411128,4 to attend tie, and I had every possible facility afforded me for collecting information and getting at the truth. 1 certainly spared no trouble. I examined everything with my own eyes. Except the harems and the n• recesses of the seraglio and the other pahwes of the Sultan, I saw everything in C aistantinople. where I resided about five mouths. I travelled over the best province in Asia Minor, ionweedling as far as Kutayah, and making numerous excursions in various directions. On the E ar ,, ea n side I took a t *refill and iii i t mte survey of all the cowry which lies 1 etwds-u Constantinople and Adrianople, and passed some time at the hater city and a neighbouring village on the kinks of the Ilehms. I occupied myself mainly in 1 . X9- mining the state it agriculture, and studying the elm& ion df the pimple, or the varif leis pefdplea, nations, or races that live tinder the rule of the Sultan. Securely less theit than now I etowsillereil it of the highest pddlitical anise:wade to England that the tote eunditi4sl of the into empire should be made known. Its true condition he regards as the last stage of a decay concealed from European eyes by the bulletins of the journalists in the interests of Redsehid Pacha. The latter statesman, with his plans, he treats as a great imposture, unfairly implying, as we think, that they are of no practical value, because they have not in a single generation procured a complete social as well as political revolution. There is much truth, no doubt, in the representations of Mr. Maefierlane that many of the pretentious re forms of Turkey are a mere Parisian varnish over a rotten substratum, and that the new Turkish system continues to atlcall tee cruelty, obstinacy, rapacity, and lust. We have yet, however, to learn that the energy of the rues and their resources for empire Jire impaired to the degree assumed. Mr. Mac farlane condemns, apparently with good rea son, the equipment and materiel of the Turkish army, important considerattons at this mo ment : with the exception of the ugly, inconvenient, and me healthy fuzz or red skullcap, their nuiforins dm now en tirely European. The hest regiments, the Sultan's guards, would' look tolerably neat but for a terrible sluvenlineaa about the legs and feet. All the soldiers are slipshod : their boots and shoes, which are evidently never notched by brush, much less by blacking, are LAIN made and big and fantasy, and go tar to spoil the whole appearance of the wearers. When cleaned at all. they are pia under the spout of a fountain, and then rubbed over with a hired' broom. Hence a source of constant catarrhs and other ma lathes, which. In the trying climate of Ccustfuitinople, a re very a pt to terminate in bronchitis and consumption. more e pecially among the young recmita, who are dragged over f on' the warm, sunny parts of Asia Minor. In the dreary winter nights of 1517-S it was distressing to hear the pour %cannel, and men at the different corps de garde coughing as if they would cough their lungs den. The soldiers must nut enter the banaekorooms wit h their shoes or boots cu. These are thrown offat the doer: tithe men leave slippers y put them on ; if Old y have not which is usually the CRAY I o-). must walk on the soles of th eir cotton siwks. Rut t . bairn' Obtains everywhere : there is no walking a hundred lards in I :OHM antitatle without being covered wfili mud in winter and dust iii summer ; and then the Musiodnidihs, with almost the strictness of religions obser vance. cousider the carpets and mattings as things to be tioddlen doily by clean slippers or bare feet. Luther matters the tai its dtthe people are stronglyopposed nd th e Earopean c , stiund —id • Mit jneket% and tight pantaloons. Every. Tuck oiddw iu 't ce. or at all connected with the Cloven'. mut, whether in a military or a civil capacity, uvw dresses THE PRESS. utuch Ms we do when out of door , : but. owe tetttruo to luti oWn Inise. the European pith Is thrown asnle. and the louse, easy old tires, of the Turk id put on. I law coalmine is lull►altirlll to thew. an,l till t•Xeceilliii;ly root welt' s of it. 1% herr the uncut hell, oi the Sillt All All' Calliedl trot, or a licte Only' is COIIIIII4IO 11131 Worn fi paella, the awn axe h•lcilibly Nell lasi awl ; hilt corruption *MA 111 C illlll4 IN! 11111Ti11411. . . . ....... ..... ~ldn.l►ul Marmon'. no incompetent ainthotitx, ileclaretl that notiltitg Ctitllll Ul , l'l.l', 111. It 1111111/1 CA114.1114411. 1111411 it TIII kish renew or dela tit,. 41,111 thot them. men ought WA 111 1/4. 141444 11114/11 al. 111014,:, lan merely 14, a 1 w0.% or people 1114.441'111g the 14441111 w Or misery and ..... !nitwit ; soul that, from the private to the colonel, 11 441 4 411 1114114 'dual gst them any coneeptum of his ditty. " Itort.• over, - nails Manama, " the 1111'11 /411. 11111111111114 111 Mid Illst' ; HMI It 1"1.1011.41 111 ap1i4.41114114.1. ; 1111411 111 1111111 Mt' 1.411 p,11111 1 4 for set-islet., and we Sit led to impure Whitt 11141 , IM ruulr nt . that noble 'Turkish people, the lofty, prmwl, mwiestie, haul some race tit' former days ; for now we tied uu tiweeof (Min in the existing troops.- Their cavalry he thinks deteriorated by Euro pean drill : In I++':x, when the regular cavalry was as yet in its in fant stage, under the Ilitinageint . lit of Col .1 Calosso, Pied 'Me t•ltieer, I saw 41 1411011 deal of it, anti cont.- sit.iitly itrtsliettAlliat it would lie 11 fril ire. In Vile of the folltlllOat of the 'lurks for hoists, anti their reputed good horsemanship, it WAS oust 1411 N. 10111111 one of 1114.;441 li•g11• how that liked the itervici• or that mole at all well. The fact is, they were in a constrainetl, hind posit . , with our smooth sailillt•s and long stirrups. The seat we take on horseback is hat twat or nit rilisivally habitual lons ( a hi 4 .11 is nitwit the a • thing), fin . we sit on chaits with our legii extended or pendent: but the 'forks, ell the 4461111'1'y, double their legs under theta. I sit on Ilit•it heels. Then . own mode of tidii.g, with the leg cootariwtoal tu luttls the groin, and th e ir feet suppottril by broad ch, s timlll,s drawn under the bdy, was in accoordance wlii. thew halals and easy to thon, II git most inconvenient and ile-111 0 . NAM& tin' any distance to o n e of us. For myself, I can say that the ti•w times I rode in a Turkish stulale I was in purgatory ; 111111 11111 . 1 . ,111111 . a $llllll journey of (went V•fistir utiles, I thought my legs and hack acre broken. I con clude that our saddle I our posture painful and go:aoroit to the Turks, and I, indeed, saw that homily ally oil the lancers hall a good, !inn. close seat. Calossio hail the greatest iliffietilty to make Owns keep their stirrups at the 'Wiper motet ; tlwy %ITV always for tricking them tip, so as to approach what must call their natural posture; and I several time. saw fellows, despatched fruit: the barracks, thamoiiiii as Komi i g s They wen. out of sight, and take in ' a paw or .ts' to wake sin iutwelrt•s 141111 f/ 11'61111... 1111111 . 11VVY, its NMI -1111.1.11111111 which it is impossible to fall except with the they olii not feel comfortable in Frank saddles, from which a deseent is easy enough, as trey often exemplify in their uwu perr4ellg. The bretsi of horses the author thinks degene rated, owing to the decay of the Turkish gentry and the dispersion of their studs. For the former the military substitutes of n 1411111CriOr grade are Turks with ti perverse tendency to obi.- mity II is one of the intact:laudable cal *tio'a lir till , doomed I.lllloire thtli It% 14.1011 as a 1111111 Attains any lank he I 11111 scarcely remember tip 1110%1' WWII 10 thief pIWIII4. The 111.51SPS of obesity are evident enough. P. granolee st loot rim or ride aloolut like couunou mortals. but must keep his state all day bong on It divan, or broad, low sofa, propped sip with cushions, and toeing attended by a I,IIIIN. OE 1%0 sir otllcl r., sl tenors, and slaves, who do his every bidding at the 'motions of his haul or the glance of his ; and it he walk ilorlOhS sll4` roman two servant!. 1•111 , 1%.11 him by 10114 lug I • limier the si•si-pas; and if he goo almond on horse. back there t loc two mot walking ~is lima at the !wad, tit° rnt the stirrups, and at least two mote ill the scar of the horses tail—thus lie can Hole sally at II walk. If I were reformer in Turkey. I would alter all this : I would loam all thew fattening. indoleneepromoting divans, and olo clare inexorable war against the ash/ ( ettstions ) which make, i t r is kin g an d eti q uette for a man to be busy and grow fat as soon its he attains to a high 11111 k. The Turkish navy is cliaparaged by NIE. Macfar lane in like inaiiiicr, and :cference is made in a note to Captain Adolphus Slade, lt.N., who may be said to have succeeded to the voila tion of Sir Baldwin Walker, We should prefer, however, to have heard Captain Slade's opinion at greater length, and upon the main question ; nor do we think the few words which Mr. llsetiirbine quotes eoulute the current im pression that the Turkish fleet is in an efficient state. We have not space for the ulaboratc and amusing exposure of the tenor of the Sultan's balance-sheet in respect of his cotton and iron experiments ; but we must find room for the following statement as to the growing inelinft tion to dispense with Mahominedimisni which the new rivinic has tended to de% clop : There is a nutnemus and rapidly increasing sect called lioLitoh. According to the ars-omit I received from a liektasliji. some of their tenets bear a certain resemblance to those of the Wahabees, Matsui:mut refoorineis of Arabia : they hold our Saviour to he greater than Malsomet ; they moult with stuns the 11.4lini of an lo ',ohs ary Cali phate, and the claims of the Einirs. or greo ithestol , . too be entitled to reverence as the descendants vi the l'rorhet; 567 they lieltiNC anti all ite• int l eel - 01110mo% whlttsktot c . they esteem chanty, mutual ttevtileitete, trautettlltty. Mid all tttauttutuuring to ‘v bates et Itta I.eteil thew. Ms the Cardillid MIMI P.M tug vtlitte•. Thult titll,ll 'nutted to the belief ill the one I lotl. Nod in Ilto ortnll ly et the suuJ, 1.1 111 01E11 111111 k ,. .111i1 NW 111 IN' I \llll9l N• 4 hr. ,1110.1., a thew ....nand own, nro he tette Iteltashith. • Ithry lilt , 6011111 tio atwitter roll 1111 00:1111001116, Ititil Its .laud Ili till tit route' thstsgt 1 . They hate sit.:ll. hint N !•ltthholetll, Mal NI Mid of it, Met , %lilt II tinytau Make thellt , elVe% k n 0.% it, and tApiv , . thew It, i'llitistim.y. I have apprelletttletl the ettillt.tty. Itttt sit) ittlottotott— It lilVek I. 1111.411W— .4.....111 Mt' I hal .II lie Nell. n u t 'WWI they cett.tioh oval. not %01... e illan the other Tink,, Hr 1.011 resscil Mutt ill the tom 11. 11111111' itt tilt' 1111'11 NIP) 11101.' 11404 •retvily handed together ON I - WM*4l . oh Net, tet y iltlolll%Vil 1111.11, it 11..1 111111tll Melt ale rout Iron 114•Itts4,1tit tor tile) believe not ill a t.0.l --the% site Turkish milt, 1 • , anti I tilll t 4.141 them 11110 111111 1% of 16111. .1114` .. 11 Make th, it 01.1)* Voll*lst rot tug ill the.. 1.w...t0w., liovi ever violent stiul lortltul 11151 kw. lII,' Itek• itistkit prides leittest - If httlhhittig law 1111%,1‘,11• and tlehre.• nut; itleishito . I pow : your true Iteltittslut Is it hittle—o• I nisi, hl' rettetits• mill necessity. - • I hese stela; huts ulNuutdrtl 141 10114411, and in all Ole iv,111141 the lakes of ; 1111., M, ki g .1%% 11 l it be 1111 l •t - ttits att Bruhn lotto' 811 1111'41144h that plaw ; wro Kt ktatitalt, titttl ill the country y l that ell,. • • • • Stn • el 011sti1441 1111 . 111s1•111 • • 4 Nllll 1111 . 41E1'11111 of it %my stritligt• Intik 111 l i 11111 : 11111•1' a littog set les tat 'eats, anti isti t'lllll4' 111 1 11•41•111t . 111 101 Illt• A111 , •111 11 4 .11 and M 111!111 .b;411,, 111 i• great ittispliet %mild tents-it t 1111111. gather ttii the setitlerell I himinent s tit iii.' 1.11i.‘ I'I M tit NI al linnet , 11'1 111111 l 1111• 111191 1111111 1411.1 1111 . 11' 11111'111a %/11.0111*, 111111 glll' 111..111, 1111111111 V Nttlitth 4114, tiostlittioit sot t all the a 'oda wish ta l e rengittil, and one t inlit Aiken, malt., tin INA 'wave anti ha This 61 ill *it its stall ling. Iri pealcilly asked w heftier it was non 16. 11111111 Id' Mill .1 111/11 1,'..t 10010'111 furs' but I was its ettitsittitil, Ostia Hitt it wits on 1 MIIIIOIIII4 , lint .11•!•114----1111. .11.N114 IVOI.SIIIIOI/1.111 it) Ihr 1111isi inns—whom they expected in Iho Inlitess atf time in ennilthie the gi rat wheat' Inch itlit anti had mil) 1 tegtaii. I Call l'ltilitst'llt. HIM 110111 . 111111 HI 110 gitlit instants. tit t 5111. ~line I 1 rtsi mit 111 issittnitt ma tt e g inc i l yntitlt Ito% 111 tile 1 litsi VII of hightsiti St Dant m alt y 'olllll.gt. Sl. Angst/1111r 'atittlisttry, neat to the risittilisll all. of wine,' I lirbl 1%11111• 1111441 . hula—inity Ma ail himself tit thin remarkable Itelier, snail turn it 10 the slat 11 nal ail %. 1515114. T of tin me who elites tails it. The Turkish ptli'llt• 111.'111 0.1114, britkeit up, I rattittillwlievelluit the eiiii%erston ml Ihr INNI1.1•1* 'l'lll . k% 61 liiistianit) %Attila he a work of arty great ilittiesilt). 111 r. Nlitelarlitite, as may lie inferred, antici pates the speedy iliss,,ltition tint Turkipth h respect to the disposal of its constituent duuiiuilllis, he has done Ili the of quoting at full length it letter which appeared in the l'amsm on the 31011 iii' last .1111 y. 'Ili!, letter, we must observe, hall no pretensions to express the views of this., jirurnal, hut was inserted in deference to the writer's rersigniseil ~taties upon Eitstern Our own information certainly, such as it i 9, 1111 CS Mat permit us to I.llll4srse all Mr. lane's einiehisions, though we 11111 sale lyl'lllll - he r" K istuet" to the piddle, as it able, a well timed, 111111 a most entertaining volume. uf Indian (inrei Honesty Being it Selection from the rapers of llenry St. George Tucker, late Director of the East India Cempany. Edited by .1. W. Kaye. A vioso the numerous works which the recent charter discussions have brought to light, on the important question of Anglo-Indian govern ment, this book occupies a prominent place. Whether its tendency be favourable or other wise to the Directors of the East IndiaCoull a lny remains a moot point. On the one, hand we are told that it is altogether a unit that, because one particular member of that body approves himself a statesman of high emlia,- ments and devoted zeal, his individual limit should serve as any kind of shield for the deficiencies of the rest; or that the colleagues who sat. at the council Ward with him. %am coerced his views and counteracted his policy, should ha' Suffered to veil their s hortcomiugs beneath the mantle of his sufficiency. We ale reminded that it is actually to the worst sec. Lion of the Court itself that we are, strangely enough, indebted for having called t'orth Irma the pen of a very able now a series of masterly poicatx. which, fused as they are in a collec• tion of unofficial documents. afibril a valuable addition to out library-table. On the other hand, antagonistic politicians affirm that the Imo), in evil.). page, in every line, powerfully refute~ the i•harges of indolence and illeeted city brought lemur(' against the Court by the