The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-19 00:00:00

the.firestopped at the Steine Thor. Fears were en-
tertained for St. George. I enclose a plan of the city,
with the part marked which has'been destroyed. 'The
new Exchange law been saved, mough surrounded by
the cannot describe the confusion
that 'prevails everywhere. All the gentlemen an-
patrolling like soldiers, for in ne quarter is one in
safety. The S 's were fortMiately iii the country.
Their house in town Wd§ laved by the. efforts of the
firemens Mit has been pillaged by' the mob.
Alinost all the furniture was saved. I haw
seen Madame Swartz since these terrible occurrences,
and she has ralated to me how touching it was to
see the firemen exert their last efforts to save
her houses saye. in, that, having been built by so wor-
thy a man, that house at least should not be burned,
for they knew and loved the good senator, and hold
his memory in great respect. Many of our friends'
houses are 'destro.yed—all our tradespeople burnt out.
All the old jungfernstieg is down. Streit':, 'hotel NV:I,;,
blown up. Poor Mr. Streit was still in the house when
it was done ; he was behind a door, and has been
much injured,
.though still living. Frederick'
sister-in-law, during one of the terrible nights,
gave birth to a child in our travelling. carriage, in
which she had taken refuge. Many women were
taken the same way in the open fields. The
dying breathed their last sigh in the streets .and
highways.. Words cannot tell the miseries we have
witnessed. At present we only think of doing all the
good we can—of saving and cherishing; but the
lower orders now think they may do what they like.
They take possession of all the houses that have
escaped; they transport thither 'the goods they have
saved ; and establish their shops in them. In this
manner our house has became the dwelling of a tailor
and his family ; but that is not all. The master of
an oyster cellar, finding the situation a favourable
one, has brought thither all his merchandise also.
Do not think I have exaggerated the miseries I have
spoken of; no pen or words can even depict the
reality. I shall write again next post, that you may
know how we go on. For. to-day, adieu. Kindest
love and remembrance from us all."

TURKEY,

MEVLOOD, OR PROPHET'S BIRTH-DAY.
CONSTANTINOPLE, APRIL. 27.--11t1101101 this sere
mony is closely connected with the first source of
Mussulman belief, it may be regarded rather as a
civil court pageantry than as a general religious fes-
tival. With the excention of its -.being one of the
three days upon which the Sultan-annually proceeds
in state to the Mosque of Achniet, and of salutes
being fired at the hours of prayer, it is not distin-
guished by any public signs of devotion or respect.
Business is not suspended, shop are not closed, work
is peribrmed as usual ; no special prayers are• offered
up during the clay at the ordinary mosques, and
it is not regarded as a holiday by the common
people, as is the case at Behan's.- The preceding night
is, however, included among the seven holy nights
dedicated to the gSeat mysteries of Islam, during
Which the 'mosques are illuminated within and with-
out, and the faithful, summoned by the silents of the
Muezims, crowd to the temples after dark to perform
their devotions in lieu of saying the prescribed night
prayer in their -houses or- elsewhere. Attendance at
the mosque is not enj&ned by the canonical cede, but
orthodox Mussulinans hold it to be more meritorious
to maintain the observance. Upon this night, called
Leily ul Mevloody, as upon the other six mystic
nights, it is also considered praiseworthy to abstain
from all sensual gratifications. Thus fell, true be-
lievers, not excepting the Sultan, pass the threshold
of their harems from
.sunset until dawn. Indeed, it is
a received opinion that all children born in conse-
quence of the transgression will come into the world
as blind as bats, and go out of it as hump-backed as
camels, and subjected, moreover, to leprosy, rickets,
and divers other bodily afflictions.
Nearly a thousand years elapsed after Mahomet':
birth (A.D. 596), without either caliph or sultan
having thought proper to institute any peculiar pa-
geant or outward ceremony to commemorate the an-
niversary. No inquisition or allusions to that effect
are to be found in the Koran or -sacred writings.
Thence, perhaps, the omission. In fact, many ultra-
rigid Musselmans consider the practice not only as 0
work of supererogation, but as mundane and unor-
thodox. It was not until the year 1556, that is
133 years after the conquest of Constantinople,
and in the 996th year of the hegira, that Sultan
Mourad 111. first ordained the celebration of special
prayers in all the imperial mosques, and a public
imperial procession in order to record and do ho•
amour to the Prophet's nativity. This event, so preg-
nant with important religious and political changes,
took place on the I,2th of the month Rebi-ui-evei,
corresponding this year with the 03c1 of April. The,
day is thence called Mevlood (the nativity). Thence
also the hymn in. Turkish verse composed by a devout
sheik in Sultan Mourad's time, and directed, to be
chausited in the privileged mosques, is termed I\iev-
loodich, or song of nativity.
This hymn is flu- inferior, however, in beauty and
solemnity, to the celebrated Isiorda, or Arabic " poem
of the mantle " written.. in praise of the Almighty
and of the Piophet's immortal glory, by one of his
disciples, Kiab ibna, Shoeir. The Borda was thus
designated because Mahomet rewarded the author
by bestowing and placing upon- his shoulder a
coarse camlet cloak long worn by himself. This
cloak, called Bourdeh Sherif' was, it is asserted, preserved
by the descendants of Ibn Shoeir, until it was pur-
chased for an immense sum by one of the early
Caliphs, and eventually passed into the possession of
the Ottoman dynasty, by whom it was removed from
Cairo to Constantinople. It is now preserved with
rigid care and veneration in an apartment or chapel
of the great seraglio called the " member of the.
holy month among other precious relics of the
Prophet, such as the holy banner (gandjiak sheriff),
one of the four teeth lost by Mahomet at the battle
of Bedr, a.portinn.of his beard, and the impression of
his foot upon a stone. These relics-are forbidden to
be exhibited to unbelievers who obtain firmana to
visit the, great: seraglio.. They are only.disclosed to
the Sultan and grand. functionaries of the empire
upon the 15th day. of Ramazan, and this with exceed-
ing..caution and ,cUrelnony. •
;it is.the Kislar Aghassi also, in the
.character of
Inspector or. Treasurer-General of the' Holy Cities
(Haremain 'ash sheryfain Naziry),. who is deputed to
deliver into the Sultan's hands the reply of the
Sherif of Mecca to the eomplimentary letter annually
addressed to the latter by his Imperial Majesty. This
letter is entrusted to the chief conductor (Surreh
Emini) of the caravan of pilgrims, who invariably
leaves Constantinople upon the 12th of Regieb, and
conveys the Sultan's presents .to the holy cities. The
time usually required for the pilgrimage is about six
months, but as delays and accidents frequently. occur,
the Sherif's answer is forwarded from Damascus by a
special messenger, called:Mouhedshi Bashi (Harbinger
of Peace), who is required to reach Constantinople in
time for the ceremony of the Mevlood, that is within
seven lunar months from the, day of,t4e.caravan's, de-
partnie,frem, Stamboul.
As the Mussuina ari day commences with sun-set, its
last rays had scarcely disappeared behind the heights
of Daoud Paella, now crowned with the green tents of
the numerous battalions encamped around the barracks,
ere a salute from all the ships and batteries announced
the approaching holy night. .Shortly, also, the
clusters of lamps that entwine the circular galleries of
the minarets on both sides of the harbour and Bos-
phorns, were gradually lighted, and sparkled like
groups of stars in the darkness ; the imperial mosques
of St.. Sofia, Achmet, Mahomet, Soliman, Osman,
the Princes, the Sultan Mother, and others, being
diStinguished front the rest not only by their command-
ing position, ,but by their double and tropic illumi-
nated galleries, -whence the Muczim chant forth the
call to prayer. The front of the Imperial Cannon-
gate, at Seraglio point, those of the Arsenal and
Custom-house, those of Sultana's and Pasha's pa-
laces, and of all public buildings, being likewise
adorned With illuminated festoons and devices, sur-
rounded with transparencies, formed a scattered but
pleasing.spectacle; when seen from the water, or from
the summit of the adjacent eminences. During the
Beiram and Ramazan, it is customary to connect the
minaret galleries of the imperial mosques with fes-
toons of lamps suspended to ropes, which, from their
hanging in the shape of half-moons, the points up-
wards, are called Mahizeh (moon crescents), but this
extraordinary illumination is omitted at Mevlood.
The dawn of the festival was ushered in with sa-
lutes similar to those that announced the close of the
previous day. Then all was bustle and movement
throughout the vast city and its suburbs. The
drums and trumpets of the immense garrison and nu-
merous fleet, mingling with the voices of the Muezems,
summoned the soldiers to arms and the pious to their de-
votions. Kaiks belonging to Paellas and public per-
sons, and heavier boats laden with troops of all arms,
glided across the harbour and Bosphorus from Scutari
and other adjacent villages. Led horses, clothed
with rich housings thronged the streets, and the popu-
lation, especially the female portion, thronged to-
wards the points through which the procession usually
passes on its way from the Imperial., Seraglio gate,
near St. Sofia, to the square: of the' Al Maidan. This
crowd, augmented by the double line of guards,
formed up on either side of the narrow streets, resem-
bled a sea of heads, and the portions allotted to, or
taken possession of by, the women might' be com-
pared to the white foam upon the waters, from the
waving to and fro of their snow-white veils. Right
bravely do these ladies cause themselves and their
places to be respected. 'Woe to the individual, Mos-
lem or Ghiaour, their attempts to encroach aipon
their places, or impede their sight. Tongues and
even hands are not wanting there to punish offenders.
This was excmplied, in one instance,, by two or three
elderly dames unmercifully buffetting some marine
soldiers, who attempted to force a passage through their
party, and in another by a Frank gentleman and his wife
receiving most unpleasant hints of noli me tangere from
some younger ladies. Both had the satisfaction to
"eat" a most indigestible dose of thumps and pinches