Weekly national intelligencer., 1847-09-18
FOREIGN LITERATURE.
U'aHfaring Sketches among the Greeks and Turks,
and on the Shores of the Danube. Bya Seven
Fears Resident in Greece

Years Resident in Greece.
The authoress of this volume lady whose family appear
to have settled IN Greece in 1888 passing the winter at
Athens and the hot weather at place in the mountains In
ls45 they departed from sse city," and returned home
ward by way of Smyrna, Constantinope the Black Sea,
and the Danube The volume consists of the narrative Of this
tour and OF some "reminiscences Of the people, climate, and
customs of Greece
There not sufficient novelty of subject make the
interesting for itself alone Athens Smyrna Constantine
% and the Danube have all been pretty frequently visited of
late years. though they quite hackneyed Egypt
and Syria Novelty, however, is given the book by the
more thorough information which residence and knowledge
OF the Romac mpart But the personal character and lite
ary ablyof the fair writer the chief attraction Way
rg Sketches are what the term indicates not the narrative
of tour so much full and rather graphic description of
persons and Incidents mingled with true tales Of the striking
and romantic cast which make the everyday truth of despoc
and oriental countries stranger than fiction To extent
tourist seems to parake Of the social atmosphere and has
pleasant ankness and socably which is not always found
IN Englshmen, or for that NATTER any Western Europeans
She was also lucky in her companions and in the useful lite
ary art OF turning them to The sketches of the
fenchmen the Turks and other persons who formed the
motley crowd on board the steamer and in their brief arry
Places are by Tar the most amusing reading in the book
Some OF the little scenes and incidents have all the effect
comedy from the force and nature with which they pre-
sented The young Frenchman who had gained the college
prize for German but could make himself understood by
walters, &C., with the goodnaured establishment his uncle
at the successive failures the disguised contempt of many
of the Turkish passengers for female till Modified by some
act of cviy the sketches of the Mahometan women with
whom the writer came in contact well the females Of
the Austrian provinces who took passage the steamer
always amusing, and often instructive The breadth
the handling and the slightly dramatic form which the mat
ter presented give power to it than often found in
mere sketches from nature.
The descriptions Of scenery equal to those of man.
and costumes. The writer holds that the beauties of
nature cannot be truly described. Perhaps not the dsn-
gushing traits only successfully indicated by the terseness
OF poetry but thing which cannot be done should not be
otfan ,pfaI che .or.
impression Of pleasure be substituted for graphic dsnctness
The rhetocan predomnaes much both the descriptions
and the numerous reflections.
The tales in the book striking from the variety of for
tune which they present but perhaps they of in
venon from the manner in which they told The con-
cusions OF the writer upon national character opposed to
the general opinion She praises the Creeks and falls heavily
upon the Turks but neither her facts logic of the kind
to command conviction Stripped Of rhetoric, her praise of
the Greeks amounts to little than that they i'm
pessibe people, goodtempered when pleased acting from
impulse, and like all such people, with little in their
conduct Murders rife in Greece they in
land but the sentimental Greeks adverse death punish
men and, by Of stopping them, the public
executioner So systematically this done that the Gov
ernmen had to procure Frenchman, who stipulated for the
conceamen OF his office, from his wife and family
This promised and he to live Of the way in the
island Of Egna There is inconsistency in the open
manner in which his vocation announced the islanders
when ne sent for discharge his function but the de-
nouement is clear enough
His task performed Carpeze returned to Egina to his
home The same powerful guard in requisition
duct him to his house and for greater security they landed at
night for they knew that henceforwad the life of Capeze
must hang upon thread unless he could shield himself from
the certain vengeance of the people Of Egina.
When he arrived at the door Of his house-his only
fuge-he miserable found it closed against him. Within
there was sound Of weeping and praying but the wife he
had deceived long, whose love have to
loahing persisted in shutting him from her house.
tery she had driven him from her heart 1t was in vain
he exposluaed but the fact Of his arrival had known
and thu
towards him in ressess numbers He called his wife
that his fes blood about stain her very threshold and
then her heart melted to the father of her children She OPEN
ed the door, aud he dared whilst the multitude ragged round
his stronghold which they were only prevented from burning
to the ground by the wish to spare his innocent family
'To what home had he returned, poor unhappy man
His wife and children shrunk from mis- presence from
banefu thing; whatever he entered they abandoned
and though he heard their voices and them close hand
he yet utterly alone than the loneest prisoner in
his dungeon.
"One moonless night when it very dark he stole out
of his dear home, where his presence curse and
went to breathe the fresh the beach, He had not ad
vanced hundred yards when he fell PROSTATE the ground
shot right through the heart with aim that he
dead before the shout Of exuaon which followed his sudden
fall had burst from the lips Of his avengers.
"The people had taken it in lie in wait for him
behind certain lofty cypress ree close to his house and the
young beneath whose bullets he fell considered them
selves most fortunate in having been TIE chosen of destiny for
the execution of their purpose"
The fair writer that Greece according to the sta
tistcs exhibits less crime Athens than in any other city of
the population. With such summary way of dispos-
ing Of the officers of justice, however, probable that many
crimes may not find their way into the tables.
The writer's judgment Of the Turks Of the harshest kind
We do dispute its truth but is obviously that of Greek
partisan and religious enthusiast, who jumps from
creed conduct and without adducng any particular facts
beyond their indifference human life, condemns the Mussu
by deduction from the Koran. She throws new
light upon the character Of the although she may
have looked them from the female point Of view and ug-
ed of their wrechedness by her European feelings The
following occurred board the Danube and the
ladies' belonged Bulgarian who going mission Of
some kind
owe had abandoned the ladies' cabin to his family for
there greater deficiency reasonable degree of
nement the Bulgarian than have witnessed among
the natives Of any other country and really impossible
10 remain with them. We were much startled in
the Of the morning by the terrific screams which
suddenly heard TO issue from the cabin and made all
Nv rescue under the belief that the Bulgarian ladies' had
somehow sustained ghtfu injury but found that
the whole disturbance had been produced by the entrance of
waiter amongst them when they all unveiled and when
he questioned the Of his intrusion the origin
of this tremendous upoar proved have been rather amusing
"They had turned the cock which let of the water and
had seemingly been much amused seeing il flow in conse
quence much that they let till il had positively
flooded the whole cabin, and the passing u
der the door had shown the waiter in passage what
going He called shouted and demonstrated
the outside and finally in despair had burst upon them
rectify their mprudencc.
"I paid these poor visit this morning and was
fell fho