The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-01-19


Charles Dudley Warner in a chapter
about Constantinople, writes a follows:
The apartment in the seraglio
which is the object of curiosity and de-
sire is the treasure-room. l suppose it is
the richest in the world in gems; it is
certainly most wearisome place, and
gave me a contempt for earthly treasure.
In the center stands a Persian throne-a
chair upon broad platform, and both
incrusted with rubies, pearls, emeralds,
diamonds; there are toilet tables Gov
cred to the feet with diamonds, pipe
stems glistening with huge diamonds, old
armor thickly set with precious stones,
saddle-cloths and stirrups stiff with dia-
mOnds and emeralds, robes embroidered
with pearls. Nothing is so cheap as
wealth lavished in this manner; at first
we were dazzled by the flashing display,
but after time these heaps Of gems
seemed as common in our eyes as pebbles
in the street. / did not even covet an
emerald as large as my fist, nor a sword
hilt in which were fifteen diamonds each
as large as the end of my thumb, nor a
carpet sown with pearls, some of which
were of the size Of pigeons eggs, nor
aigrettes which were blazing with inter
nal fires, nor chairs of state, clocks and
vases, the surfaces of which were on fire
with Jewels. I have seen an old oaken
table, carved in the fifteenth century,
which gave me more pleasure than one
of lapis lazuli, which is exhibited as the
most costly article in this collection;
though it is inlaid with precious stones,
and the pillars that support the mirror
are set with diamonds, and the legs and
claws are a mass of diamonds, rubies,
carbuncles, emeralds, topazes, etc, and
huge diamonds pendants ornament It,
and the deep fringe in front is altogether
of diamonds. This is but a barbarous,
ostentatious, and tasteless use of the
beautiful, ana suppose gives one, an
idea or She jnarfistic magniaeonoe Df s1->'
oriental courts in centuries gone by.
" This treasure-house has, presume,
nothing that belonged to the Byzantine
emperors before the MosIem conquest,
some of whom exceeded in their magnii-
cence of any of the Osmanli sultans. Ar
cadius, the first eastern emperor after
the division of the Roman world, rivaled
in the appointment of his palace (Which
stood upon this spot) and in his dress the
magnifcence of the Persian mOnarchs
and perhaps the luxurious califs of Bag
dad at later day did not equal his splen-
dor. His robes were of purple, a color
reserved exclusively for his sacred per-
son, and of silk, embroidered with gold
dragons; his diadem was of gold set with
gems of inestimable worth; his throne
was massive gold, and when he wentabroad
he rode in chariot of solid, pure gold,
drawn by two milk-white mules shining
in harness and trappings of gold.
@ No spot on earth has been the scene
of such luxury, cruelty, treachery, muir
der, faithlessness of women and rapacity
of men, as this site of the old palace; and
the long record of the christian emperors
the occasionally-interrupted anarchy
and usurpation of a thousand years-loses
nothing in these respects in comparison
with the Turkish occupation, although
the world shudders at the unrevealed Sc
crets of the seraglio. At least we may
suppose that nobody's conscience was
violated if pretty woman was occasion
ally dropped into the Bosphorus, and
there was the authority of custom for the
of all the children of the sis
ters of the sultan, so that the succession
might not be embarrassed"