The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1849-11-05
Correspondence of the ~ Y. Courier and enquirer
scenes in the East.
CoNsrANTINoPLE, April 10 10

aSu u Iiy ~ ,c"ter- Consfantin0pIe from The
sireetE The Sgagho-SGntG Soph'a- i"e D0Sp''-
rus Belgrade.
Never shall forget that sunny April aiternoUh'
when seated alone on the summit oil the AIroPDns,
W. b,nJred and fifty feet above the plain TOOK
Ion, farewell look Of the most glorious scene 'is
world of ours affords Above me was the maven
- Do rthcuon discolored by time, dlsrnanted oy
sbeG and dcfaced by violence, and yet proudly up,
sn,inoing heavenwards the subhmest material
crention of the human intellect, and the lmperlsha-
ble type Of all architectural periecuon just pc
fore on the same rocky platform, the colonhadeo
Pronylr like a grand frontispece, cast their mas
riye hadows one side, by heverge Oh !ne tIae
whence leaped the despalring fgus' Tue lniasuls s
TepDle of Victory CLEANED like an unmarried
oep, and on the other lay the broken cellars ana
Corridors and porticoes of the Erectheunl, where
grew the sacred olive by which the " oiue-eyea
soddess'' vindicated her title 10 the Attic SOIL,
h,re rested the ashes of old Cecrops, the father OF
n eodlike race and where, poised on orazen
chariot and clad with helmet and buckler, stood
Thai statue whose spear, flashing high ABOVE the
battlements, beckoned the distant mariner on to
The gates of the Immortal City. Away to the north
the Temple of Thesus the magnificent mausoleum
of the friend ofHcrcues, with walls and columns
and fiezes still entire; the Agora, with its moulder
iny monuments yet erect, but robbed OF the little
beauty age had spared by the wretched novels
which narrowly hemmed them in; and far beyond,
the Silly grove of the Academy, where Plato ut
tered those words of wisdom which will go
echong down the vale of Time. To the east, the
stony and now waterless bed OF the llssus; the
plOughed fields where once doomed the gardens oil
the Lyceum; the grass grown hollow in the side,
which was the ancient Stadium, the marbe-cased
arena of and athletes and nearer the sixteen
Corinthian columns, that, stupendous they are,
stand as but a sorry fragment of that famed Temple
of Olympian Iove, which Athens in its infancy
commenced, and Rome in its dotage completed
To the south, the yet distinct outlines OF the theatre
OF Bacchus when the tragic poets first won their
fade less laurels and where the cold man eloquent
thrice received his golden crown; the rock bound
hill where old Museus sung and was buried; and
htOh ,b. Do hon ,yitb
Its divine peplus and consecrated utensils, used 10
wind its giittering way from Eleusis up to the
shrine of the Parhenon. And 10 the west the Pnyx,
where once the Athenlan multitude storned IN de-
bate and the very rock -hewn bema, whence De-
moshenes welded the fierce democratie," ''shook
the arsenal and fulmined over Greece nearer
piercing the solid precipce thevery dungeons where
Socrates yielded up his mighty spirit and nearer
still the Hlof Mars, where attn darkness the death
booming Areopagus, and where, in full view OF the
most splendid edifices humanity dedicated TO
divinity the dauntless Apostle OF the Genties de-
cared to the Of Athens that God Is spirit, and
dwelleth not in temples made with hands, (and
but an hour before had read that mastery address
in the very Greek and ON the very spot.) Hymlt
tus its thymy sides redolent with honey as of old
Pentelicus, its heights vet glistening with their
marble stores-Parnes, It's fortress still bristling
with towers and bastions-the chill Coonos, stern
and strong as when Sophocles first gave II immor-
tality-Anchesmus, frowning as when the Cynics
nAds il their fit retreat-the great olive wood still
~0R bling IN the nreezo-the Attic PLAIN, sweeping
With All ta ltncicu majesty from the mountains 10
tbs .ea,-the Pir,eus, expanding its broad arms as
ssn !. harD,red countless tricremes-and ''uncon-
a sref Salanis," with lis blue waters flashing as
efyuC v uuuer the sun : when they strewed
with Persian wrecks and strcaked with Persian
bloo7: all hed up and coored the magnificent
nsnC anna Never have ] viewed spot where the
taro Past was 80 gioriuusly mirrored III the beau
af1l 2 resent and whe. the works II God and man
had so tremendously united "a produce scene
Nat should enChant the lima gnation, stimulate the
Assrt and crafty every faculty of the soul. sat
~Driu INV sense ached with gazing to behold
III scenes my earliest dreams had dwclt upon, -
tho, sadly turned from that memorable sight for
IT,, next morning, on board the French govern
Kant steamer Rhdmses, ! speeding down the
Uxrornantic shore of Attica to "sunium's marbled
ate ~" the next evening winding among the
mic urezqus Cyclades; and the following afternoon
wa anchored in the mountain girt gulf of Smyrna.
Tt city of smyrna, however justly II was once
sty ed the OF lOnla and the ornament OF Asia,
I'm its only glory now in a sorry old castle,
sT. Aid streets ragged houses, and motley rabble
of 30 600 culOftes Vlllanouslv mounting every
knf Syn III lect under heaven. In brief hour or
tw we were merriiy dashing northward, and the
mo ming rose upon us ceaNIng the same waters
tha once laved the walls of proud lion and washec
Tho keels OF 4 gamemnon's fleet; snow crested ld'
g Il ering as diyncly ever IN the distance, Scam
an, er lazily, AZ Of old, dragging ITS slow Length
ale z the plain, and the huge unsightly burrow o
eal X they call Achilles Tomb, were all that told
us we were looking on the grave Of Trojan glory
Ct rging the fierce ~aters OF me heiiesponi' We
400 IA paszed the strait which AerXes bndged, les
10 ne con fusion Of ancient Greeks than modern
Fr .hrncn, and which Deander swan lor Hero, as
90 clip me Cupid, J near would swim for all th'
be- uiful girls in chrstendom We stemmed I'll
ey, ming the impetuous current Of the Dardanelles
an then glided into the smooth waters Of the sea
OF armora the stars streaming fioodo light above
rnf o. only eastern stars can stream, and threats
nc. aiming the MarSeiidise around only
II, nthmcn's thrOats can scream.
/sI went on deck the next morning, the boa
VIZ at anchor Just in The mouth of the Golden Horn
in all il Inderg rlDabIe uulQue
ne . wa before me. The thick ranged colonnade
an clustering cupplas Of Santa sophia springing
fro n the hillside athwart the sky, the spires ant
piI uaclcs OF the Seraglio cleaning amid evergreen
or ~. the swelling domcs and tapering minaret
ofa audrcd mosques, the dark forests OF espresso
ctr ming like vast unerea palls over thG ceihete
rae die yaily painted kosks mirroring their air.
1oras i'm the waters, the arcaded aqueducts and pa
90. a-roofcd fountains, the bewldering mass o
10, ses and gardens rcceding from every shore 4
the very verge II the horizon, Mount Olympus
ob IA and boar" lifting up his snowy head Tar N
tbe back ground, the innumerabl" caiques hlec
win strange costumes skimming the waves, the
rncpstrous threc-decker- Of the Sultan displaying
bio, a. red flags emblazOncd with the star and The
ere cent the thOu-and mercantile craft With then
co nt forms and barbara stresInerr and the broad
eik er tides of the Golden Horn, the BOsphorus and
fbe N.rrpora sparkling Ia the morning -un, anC
hx, a mighty toll Frightening the wondrOns efiec
o. she wtOic--n all like glorious vision o
The ina gnaton, some failed scene Of eastern story
LANDED and bcheld the city within found th,
str, 81 narrow and rough, the highway OF donkey
an The lair VI dogs, here Oycrhung with shapclcs
mo lderug teneinents, and There hned hgh VI
vat dead mud plastcred walls; yet the long row
oft.arded Turks, picturesque IN attire and sculp
tul sguc in attitude, smoking their chibOuks in tl
oLcu boOths--the Armenisns IN flowing iur-trim
10, robes moving with dguhed step, but earn
sa air about their places of busincss-ue Der
visl a. With coarse brown wrappers and rimcss "a
pui loaf hate the EInirs with their immense greer
for am 10 denote their descent from tie Pro
pb,- tl,a women with their white muslin yashnec.
am linen caitsrns-the heterogeneous crowd D
CIR, eks AIbanans, Tasfars, Balgcrans, Jcws ant
Frsuks that, unsympatb,zing and tacturn, wen
ioepg t,y the oil. recurring cries 10 prayer from
The minarcts responded tu cu all sides by ablu
ti1rg and genuhcSiOns the funeral procession con
y,yinp to the cemetery the expOSed aud nchl,
,l-e - CORPSE With a hurried pace IN order 20 re-
Ie,, the soul from tie torment it suffers III ~
burial Of the body- the blithc companies 81 Cree
dancers for il wa the holidays Of tbeGrcck Easter
N, came tripping down the strtcte, a. -Dng- am
~. ,,,.i. al 'tsfuIs,rip,s and bappipe.- de min