The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1853-08-24
Correspondence of the Register.


the nuezzn calling the faithful to morn
ing prayers rang out on the still air. 1t
is just the break of day. 1 know not
how many prove their fidelity by turning
out to prayers at this hour, but | neither
see nor hear any. Perhaps the Prophet
himself would be a little ienient this
morning, as it is but three hours and
half since we were aroused from our
slumbers by burst of music from the
various mosques. Were I a poet, I
think that serenades would induce me
at once to mount my Pegasus. To do
scribe it in sober phrase would be unjust.
1t needs no very vivid Imagination to
find something very romantic in music
floating on the night air, unbrokcn by
any other sounds, at any time. How
much less when that music floats from
aerial galleries, over a Mahometan city !
1t lis not a common practice to sere-
made from the minarets at midnight We
are now in the midst of Ramadan. the
great fast of the Mussulmcn. 1t is the
doctrine of the Koran that prayer leads
half way to heaven, .faSting leads the
other half, and g00d 1corks open the
door. There is so much of truth in the
system of Mahomet that it has tre-
mendous power over the minds of men,
although it forbids all domestic happi-
ness, by debasng woman and encourag-
ing polygamy, and gives heaven in
which the chief attraction is the black
eyed houries.
Everything in Turkey is quite new to
a Vermontcr. When I wrote few
months ago, was in that large, noisy,
Babcl-tongued Smyrna. A ride of thir-
ty-six hours, in fine Austrian steamer,
brought me to the city Of Constantine.
Steamboats, have no regard for the rich.
est classic associations. We called at
Tenedos for passengers. Hero the
Greeks hid themselves while awaiting
the sttatagem of the wooden-horsc. The
island is very dcsolate, and the wind
mills on the hill, stretching their long
arms out against the sky, remind one of
Don Quixotte rather than Of Homer.
Ancient Troy is small village, and
Mount Ida seemed moderate hill. At
Constantinoplc, of course. we visited the
Hippodrome, but it is much contracted,
being now $50 by $50 PAGES The Blues
and the Greens no longct contend for the
prize and give the shout of victory, and
if the "Gate of the Dead" is still known,
| did not see it, We entered " the els
tern of thousand and one columns"
which is near the Hippodrome. This
stupendous work is very perfect. l do
not know that there are, indeed, more
than thousand columns supporting its
roofbut the number is immense and judg-
ing from their massy strength the work
must remain, for many ages to come, a
wonder to all beholders. The cistern is
quito dry, and found several boys in it
spinning silk. The only product of the
present age which is indeed worth the
travellers attention is the Gallery of
Costumes This is a work of the reign
ing sovereign and has but just been COM
pleted Here the old Janizaries,who were
extirpated during the last reign, have as
sumed their form and costume again but
in this thanks to tyrant-they no long
er hurt One may there look at the execu
toner with ihe bow string in his hand,
and breathe freely. What wonderful
part that bow-string has acted in the
history Of the great ones of Constantine
pie ! I think the common people need
not envy royalty its privileges Of be-
ing strangled, if it has anything to envy.
At Constantinople we took a steamer
for SAMSON. The beauty of the shores
of the Bosphorus, as they appeared that
winter evening on which we saw them,
cannot be described in short letter.
From the Golden Horn to the Black
Sea, there is an almost unbroken success
sion of villages, adorned with many
splendid palaces and beautiful gardens.
The passage from Constantinople to
Sam,oon takes about thirty-six hours.
The Austrian steamers are very beauti-
full and large, but the officers have moth
ing of that daring and impatient spirit
which so often proves fatal in the of.
6ccrs of our Western steamboats,. The
journey from SAMSON to Marsovan-
performed ON horseback, Of course.-oc-
cupied two days. This brings me to my
first missionary home. Missionaries
have no continuing city or abiding place.
We are to 60 to Kaisery, which lies to
the south of as as far as we can travel
in week. The joys of missionaries
we still believe to be many. Our most
severe annoyance has been, hitherto, from
a very small but efficient insect, viz
the flea. To him YOU are indebted for
this letter this morning, for he acted an
important part in driving me from my
bed at so early an hour Were his only