The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-03 00:00:00

Lecture by Sir Henry Rawlinson.

The lecture-session of the Frome Mechanics' In-
stitution was inaugurated on Tuesday evening by
Major-Gen. Sir 11. Rawlinson, M.P., who gave a
deeply-interesting lecture on " Life in Baghdad,
with details of Oriental Life and Manners." Mr. Le
Gros presided.
Sir H. RAWLINSON commenced by stating that
the reason he appeared before them at so short a
notice was because it had been represented to him
that by opening the session he would be conferring
a benefit upon the institution, and, as an earnest of
his desire to promote its welfare, he consented to
give the first lecture of the session. He had selected
a subject which he hoped would afford his audience
both amusement and instruction. While Asia Minor,
Syria, and Palestine were as familiarto Englishmen
as Greece or Italy, and possessed all the appearances
of European civilisation, the Great Desert cut off
almost entirely all European manners, or if they
were visible at Baghdad they served only to give a
deeper and richer tone to the Oriental customs pre-
vailing there. Having lived 12 of the best years of
his life at Baghdad, when he was a young man and
took a deep interest in public affairs, he was well
acquainted with the country. Baghdad was the ca-
pital of a great province of Asia of the same name,
and called in ancient times Babylonia. It was at
Baghdad that mankind first assembled after the
flood and built the Tower of Babel. It was to the
same city that Abraham belonged, and at that pe-
riod it was an independent monarchy. For. 1,000
years previous to the fall of Nineveh it was allied to
Assyria, and then again it became a separate mo-
narchy, of which Nebuchadnezzar was the king. In
the same place the Jews were held captive for 70
years, and the books of Nehemiah, Ezra, and
Esther gave full details of other important events
which transpired there. For the purposes of culti-
vation, Baghdad possessed some of the richest soil
in the world, the rivers Tigris and Euphrates mak-
ing the plain through which they flowed resemble in
fertility a large garden. The lecturer having briefly
sketched the history of the country from the reign
of Belshazzar to the present time, next described the
various routes by which the travellers proceeded
from Europe to Baghdad. One route crossed the
desert from Damascus, and the journey was accom-
plished on the backs of camels, taking 10 days of
15 hours each ; another route was by the north from
Constantinople ; and a third by the ordinary Turk-
ish post horses, which by dint of continual spurring
would enable the traveller to proceed at the rate of
100 or 120 miles per day. Occasionally, when the
river was high, a good part of the distance might be
accomplished by rafts, Mr. Layard's graphic de-
scription of which mode of travelling the lecturer
read. He next referred to his duties at Baghdad,
as the British Consul-General and Political Agent.
England had always been desirous of maintaining
peace between the two great empires of Turkey and
Persia, and the British Consul had ever been on the
alert to prevent quarrels. Then, there were a large
number of Christians at Baghdad, and as the Eng-
lish Government had taken every opportunity of
speaking a good word in their favour against the
Mohammedans, the Consul had to be ever ready for
that work. The chief population of the country
were Arabs, and it was the desire of England to cul-
tivate amicable relations with them. The benefits
of such relations were observable in laying the over-
land telegraphic wires, as it was owing to the long-
continued friendly relations between England and
Baghdad that the work was so easily accomplished.
There was a considerable trade carried on between
England and that country. While he (Sir Henry)
was at Baghdad, he took an especial interest in its
antiquities, and in the work of excavating some in-
teresting relics which was carried on. The lecturer
next described the everyday life at Baghdad, the
houses, the bazaars, the contents of some of the
principal shops, and the persons traversing the
streets, comprising Arabs, Bedouins of the desert,
the dominant Turks, who filled the chief offices of
the country, Persians, Koords, who inhabit the
mountains, the native Christians of Baghdad and
the neighbouring mountains, (Jews (about 2,000
families), Indians, Greeks, and a goodly number of
Europeans. The lecturer entered into minute de-
tails respecting the peculiar type of Jews to be found
taitansß7hAdranc:lie;ni aannds,the various divisions of the Chris-
the three branches ofN Popishestriancso,nvaenrdts Jacobins,from the s a and
the
The houses were generally built round three sides of
a court-yard, with a fountain in the centre. On the
side facing the street were the gentlemen's apart-
ments, and these contained projecting windows,
through which the inmates could look up and down
the street. The harem, or females' apartments, were
at the back. Sir Henry next described the mode of
paying visits at Baghdad. Shortly after entering a
friend's house, the pipe was introduced, then coffee
of a bitter, black, thick kind was handed round,
then another pipe, next sherbet and sweetmeats,
then a third pipe, next tea in small cups, without
milk or sugar, but with the addition of lemon juice,
and then another pipe. In some of the larger houses
rosewater was next brought, and the guests sprinkled
with it, after which they Passed their hands through
the perfume arising from a censor of frankincense,
and while their hands were laden with perfume they
stroked their beards. The institutions of the coun-
try owed their origin toMohammedanism. Polygamy
was permitted ;- but though the law allowed a man
four wives, as a matter of fact few persons had more
than one. The tradesman could not afford a second,
even if he were master of the first, which was not
always the case ; and some of the men who were in
a position to maintain another wife were afraid to
exasperate
than one
wife the reigning lady. Those who had more
generally had a separate establish-
ment, or a distinct set of apartments for each.
The climate of Baghdad afforded the greatest
extremes of heat and cold. In winter ice
might frequently be seen, and in summer the