.1829.] [ 33 ] REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. A Visit to the Seven Churches of Asia, with an Excursion into Pisidia, containing Remarks on the Geography and Antiquities of those Countries, a Map of the Author's Routes, and numerous inscriptions. By the Rev. Fr. V. J. Arundel, British Chap lain of Smyrna. 8vo. pp. 336. wards Chonæ, was long and narrow, and semi-circular at the east end (p. 98). A very ancient arch, with zigzag mouldings, occurs at Chardak (p. 103), At Bounarbaski or Subaski is an old building, which has been called a Khan, but which rather resembles an ancient Church; it stands east and west, and has three aisles, the centre communicating with the side ones by four or five pointed arches (p. 247). Facts like these set the doubtful question at rest. The Greek and Roman theatres were in the stage part nearly alike, as appears by comparing the following passage with the model of that of Herculaneum. Remains of the stage part of Greek theatres are so rare, that they have been supposed merely wooden and temporary; but at Sagalassus or Selges sus (now Aglason) a considerable portion of the proscenium and entrances is nearly perfect. THE Seven Churches (see Revel. i. 11) are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. All that remains of Ephesus is untenanted mud-cottages and heaps of unintelligible stones (p. 27). Smyrna is not described; but well-known. Pergamus has one church, St. Sophia's, now a mosque; Mr. Arundel thinks even earlier than the time of St. John (p. 289); and the Agios-Theologos, conjectured to have been built by Theodosius (p. 287). At Thyatira, which is populous, there are only one Armenian and one Greek church (p. 189). At Sardis there are ruins of two 'Churches; the whole number of dwellings being a few mud-huts and a mill "In the pulpitum was a centre door 15 or two (p. 178). The first Church, feet high and 9 wide, and two smaller doors almost wholly constructed of magni- on either side, of which the nearest was 11 ficent fragments of earlier edifices, is, feet high and 9 wide; but the most remote, perhaps, the only one of the Seven near the ends of the cavea, only five, includ Churches of which there are any dis- ing one of the door posts. The distance tinguishable remains (p. 179). At between the pulpitum and the scene was Philadelphia (now called Allah Sher) 18 feet. From the doors of the pulpitum a populous flourishing town, were were four steps to descend into the ortwenty-five Churches, divine service chestra." P. 143. being chiefly confined to five only, it being more than probable that the remains of the Church of St. John, (stone walls with brick arches), are really those of the first Church in Philadelphia (pp. 170, 171). At Laodicea (now called Eskinissar) are some small ruins of a Church, in which are fragments of a pillar or two of Cipolino marble. P. 87. Greece and Asia Minor, like a land devoured by locusts, is marked by desolation; but we shall decline enumeration of the Pagan antiquities, of which ample accounts may be seen in Mr. Fosbroke's Foreign Topography; and shall, according to our custom, notice curious things. We may find whence came the fashion of our most ancient Churches, from the following conformities — a small Church, recently excavated upon the site of the ancient Colossæ, afterGENT. MAG. January, 1829. Old manuscripts of the New Testament have, it seems, been destroyed through conversion into school books. "Having made a note in my last journey to Sardis of some ancient manuscripts of the Gospels, which were said to be in one of the Churches at Philadelphia, the Bishop, who knew nothing about them, ordered a search to be made. The Priest who was sent on the inquiry told me, on his return, that he recollected to have formerly seen some very old pieces of parchment, but that he had learnt to-day the children (diα) had torn them all up. Mr. Hartley saw two copies of the Gospels on vellum at a school, but they were of no great antiquity. Our inquiries, however, led to the information, that in the neighbourhood of Cæsarea, there is a manuscript of the Gospels in capital letters; and which is held in such high veneration, that the Turks always send for it when they put a Greek upon his oath." P. 172. Could not one of our Universities, 34 REVIEW. Visit to the Seven Churches of Asia. or some of our public-spirited noblemen, effect the purchase of this inanuscript? At Magnesia, Mr. Arundel inquired, "If there was still a manufactory of red stained-glass, as in the time of Chishull, and was disappointed to find the art is at present as unknown in Magnesia as in England. Every other colour has been brought, I apprehend, to the highest perfection possible in England; but, if I am not misinformed, red-glass of a particular tint is still a desideratum; and yet I have often seen it in the stained-windows of Turkish houses." P. 195. We know that this colour is abominably dear and imperfect, for we were obliged to give at the ratio of eighteen shillings per pound for some pieces of red-glass, and that very cloudy and hardly transparent. On the road to Tripolis, Mr. Arundel saw a wood of olive-trees, which, had not the leaf been seen, might have been mistaken for oaks or walnuts. All he had before seen bore no resemblance to forest trees; but these had immensely large trunks twisted and distorted by a thousand inequalities, and most disproportioned to the light and silvery branches. P. 213. An important passage in the New Testament is thus explained: "If, as there can be little doubt, one or both of these grains [dari and maize] were cultivated in Judea, it would be one of these which the disciples of our Lord gathered on the Sabbath-day. Wheat or barley could scarcely afford a nutritious food; and in a hot climate the grain is so hardened as almost to resist the efforts of the teeth to masticate; but a single stalk of either dari or maize affords sufficient and agreeable repast. The latter is constantly eaten with no other preparation than a slight roasting; and in its natural state is gladly relished by the hungry traveller, the dari still more so.' P. 223. We find no dari in Harris's Natural History of the Bible, nor maize, nor Indian corn, nor wheat. Well might Michaelis make an "Oratio de defectibus Historiæ Naturalis, Itinere in Palestinam Arabiamque suscepto, sarciendis," and well might he also say, "Pour bien entendre le Vieux Testament, il est absolument necessaire d'approfondir l'Histoire Naturelle aussi bien que les mœurs des Orientaux." But religionism and theology are distinct things. The latter is not necessary to worldly interests, the former may be [Jan. an excellent tool of trade; but they ought to be inseparable. It is well-known, that whatever extraordinary circumstance occurs in Scripture, it is said to be produced by the agency of an angel. Mr. Arundel presumes, that the pool of Bethesda was a bath with hot waters, He says of one, "There were females within, aud on their retiring, I tried the heat, and found it 108°; but perhaps in the centre, where the spring spouted up, much more. This, like all Turkish baths, is first appropriated to the use of the females, who enter it early in the morning, and occupy it till about noon; during the rest of the day, till evening, tho men bathe in it. Now as the whole night is necessary to suffer the foul water to pass off, it is evident that the benefit arising from the purity of the water and its medicinal virtues, if it possesses any, can only be received by those who first enter it; and there would naturally be a competition for this privilege. I do not know how far this may illustrate the pool of Bethesda, and the case of the poor man, who had no friend to put him sufficiently early into the bath. The spouting, or rather boiling, up of the central spring, may well be termed the troubling of the water; perhaps at Bethesda this was only at intervals, and not continued as in the bath of Tripolis." Pp. 227, 228. We are glad at being able to support this hypothesis of Mr. Arundet. Hammond (New Testament, p. 282), after stating the foolish medicinal notions of the day (that water corrupted with the entrails of animals would cure discases), concludes a long note with "the Christian religion is no way concerned in the miraculousness of this cure, if such it were, it being afforded the Jews before Christ's coming, and continued to them at this time of their resisting and crucifying of Christ." Mr. Bloomfield, in his valuable work (the Recensio Synoptica, III. 150), after rejecting as gratuitous and absurd, the hypotheses quoted by Hammond, says, from Bartholin de Paralyt. N. Test. p. 78, "turbatur aqua thermarum subterraneo calore ebulliens," and that this opinion is further adopted by Dr. Mead, Bishop Pearce, Heuman, Rosenmuller, Kuinoel, &c. &c. At Ushak is conducted the manufacture of Turkey carpets, "in which," remarks Mr. Dallaway, "the excellence of the ancient Phrygian tapestry is continued to this day.' P. 252. We think it very probable that the manufacture was the same, but that 1029.] REVIEW. The Practice of Tenancy, &c. the patterns (as being of figures) were for hangings different. Of Greek tombs at Ushak, Mr. Arundel says: "They have for the most part, within a circular arch, four square compartments, in each of which are emblems, distinguishing the various mechanical employments of the deceased." P. 252. Among the Romans, in the Columbaria, inscriptions commonly occupied the place of professional emblems. This was an improvement of letters over hieroglyphics, but nevertheless such emblems do occur upon Roman monuments. Homer (as quoted by Dr. Clarke) mentions carts with bodies of wicker work. Mr. Arundel saw some, with the wheels regularly English, one neatly spoked, and rimmed with iron, but squeaking horribly from the axle not being greased. (pp. 275-6.) We have in our neighbourhood taxed carts made of wicker work, as to the bodies, and painted. So useful is the "non extinguetur" of archæological knowledge Simple bread in England is an insipid thing, like fish without sauce. But Mr. Arundel says: "During a residence of four years and a balf in Asia Minor, I have never eaten such delicious bread as at Kirgagatch. It is amusing to observe the varied kinds and forms of bread which a traveller meets with even in a journey as short as mine. The common loaf and frangoli (a long roll) are to be met with generally only as you approach within four or five days of Smyrna. Further in the interior, you have large pancakes, as thin as brown paper, which are eaten, either folded up or several doubled together. At Bourdour the bread was of a more singular form, very little thicker than ■good English pancake, but instead of being circular, about a yard long, and four inches wide." Pp. 277-278. Now we do think that a gourmand might consider pancakes, instead of dinner bread, to be a great improvement, for it is evidently the case as to Yorkshire pudding; and we are astonished that the latter is not the universal substitute when roast joints are brought to table. We give this as a verbum-sat for brother epicures; and Chambaud says, why should good living be confined to fools, and bad living be left to sensible men. Camels and horses, on the walk, go very nearly in equal paces, below three niles an hour. P. 279. 35 Mr. Arundel thinks with Hasselquist, &c. that the foxes of Samson were jackalls (p. 309), because the latter are gregarious animals, the fox a solitary quadruped. Ovid says, (Fasti IV. lin. 681), "Cur igitur missæ junctis ardentia tædis Terga ferant vulpes-" -and Apthonius (fab. 38), mentions ficient samples of the interest and in- Arundel's work. A real author traveller is highly to be valued, because he neither writes from his brain, or makes books out of books. He may lines, descriptive of the state of a place, be said to write pictures; and a few confers more accurate, statistical, and of metaphysical disquisition. If a bamphilosophical knowledge, than volumes let or village of England has not a gen formation to be derived from Mr. tleman's house in it, it is evident that it is peopled by farmers and day-labourers, and that it is uncivilized, and the inhabitants ignorant. In the same manner, the barbarizing pestilence of Islamisin is to be seen over the whole East, where it operates like the Circean magic, metamorphosing human beings into the form of pigs, or at the best of only the more intelligent brutes, with no other characteristics of man than the heroism and disregard of danger common to savages. The Practice of Tenancy and Customs of Counties in Great Britain. By L. Kennedy and T. B. Grainger, 8vo. pp. 384. IT is known, that when capital is invested in land, it pays only two and a half per cent, and in trade ten per cent. It is also known that ten tradesmen retire with a fortune, while not one farmer does the same. Setting aside therefore the idea of landed security being better than any other, for it is not to the purpose, it is plain that the profits of Commerce are far beyond those of Agriculture. It is plain too that the manufacturer is not impeded by seasons, or subject to augmentation of rents or poor's rates. It is also true, as our authors say: 36: REVIEW. The Practice of Tenancy, &c. "It is impossible for any state to become great and powerful within itself by means of commerce alone: all history proves that where trade alone was depended upon, though considerable wealth might be accumulated, yet, when the hour of danger came, the state was found to be nerveless and powerless." P. 52. Holland and the Hanse towns prove this position. On the other hand it may be affirmed, that commerce generates a monied capital, which the other does not, and that it makes an estate out of mere industry, and the arts of civilization; and that this monied capital causes a mere petty tax to supersede a requisition; and detracts an immense population from the sole support of the land. In reality, both agriculture and commerce are "hens that lay golden eggs," and neither should be oppressed. But it is evident that there is a jealousy entertained of the far inferior profts of the former. For our own parts, we know that, although there may not exist any revolutionary measure, in a direct form, yet that most efficient mode of effecting that result, by annihilation of the natural consequence and rank of the landowners, and indeed of rendering plebeianism supreme, does exist in an indirect mode. We consider as traps, laid for Government to fall into, certain popular bubbles of the day, because they have an operation similar to that of Parliamentary Reform (though not so obvious), and because men may be killed by poison as well as the sword. If by free trade and anti-corn bills, competition be introduced, then is Peter only robbed to pay Paul; and if, as political economy says, the foreign commodities can only be purchased by inanufactures, and therefore no loss is sustained, it is not the fact, for, as our authors justly say, the farmer has only the home market for his goods, while the manufacturer has both that and the foreign also, and of course the latter has an undue preference. But we must come to figures. The general number of persons in a square mile in 1811 was 175, in the agricultural population only 36. Taking the food of each person to require the produce of three acres, the former wants 58 acres, the latter only 12. And by deducting 36 from 175, it is evident that 139 persons obtained a maintenance [Jan. distinct from the agricultural class. Ac-: cording to Capt. Pittman (Polit. Econ.. pt. i. p. 21.) the average annual cost of food per head for every individual is. 91. 4s.; but, taking it at 97. the annual amount in an agricultural population of 36 persons, is 3241. for a square mile, or 640 acres, out of which only twelve are required for support of the population, at 3 acres per head. It is probable therefore that sixty persons at least are taken off the agricultural population by trade in every square mile, which, taking the whole number of square miles in the kingdom to be about 58,000, makes the population removed to be 3,480,000. Multiply this number by 97. the annual cost of food per head is 31,320,000l. Deduct eight millions for poor's rates (supposing that they are wholly paid by agriculturists), the result is that the agricultural population is eased by trade of 23,320,000l. annually. Of course the balance is great-, ly in their (the agriculturists') favour, which could not ensue if the profits of trade were not far superior to that of land; for, if the surplus population were not thus taken off, an Irish potatoe system must ensue. Add to this that trade alone enables us to man our fleets, furnish an enormous portion of our revenue, and save the agriculturists from bearing the whole expences of the state. In short, if estates are saleable at so low an interest of capital as two and a half per cent, it is evident that nothing but cheapness of money, i. e. a monied capital, could be the means of their obtaining a high price. Subject to the entire burden of the population, and of the expences of the state, what would they be worth? Nothing at all, as a source of independent income or livelihood from rent. People would be content with sufficient lands for family use, and the country be filled with petty proprietors. Through the gross partiality of our authors for the agricultural system, exclusively, we have thus been obliged to strike a balance. But in so doing we are far from supporting current popular notions; it being our opinion that the home trade should not be discouraged. For let it be remembered that under a free trade, if goods must be created to purchase the imports, it is at the cost of a diminution of profits, a consequent increase of pauperism, and a subjection to the caprice of foreigners. The old "Religious instruction, and education accompanying it, are unquestionably most essential; but they are not of themselves, nor can they be, the remedy sought for; "Were the prices of agricultural produce they doubtless frequently enable men to in Great Britain driven down to the low rate which some seem to have contemplated by the too easy introduction of commodities of a similar description, the growth of foreign soils, it is by no means too much to say, that the depreciation in the value of land and contingent property would amount to 600,000,000, and where is the foreign trade to be found, that could by possibility compensate for such an enormous deficit, which must in its effects involve the utter rain of almost every class of the community." P. 48. Our sly jesuitical seditionists, in their hopes of overturning the constitution, by invisible means, are aware of the awful results alluded to in the extract quoted, and utter loud yells against the necessary protection of agriculture, becanse, if it were left unprotected, as they wish, the landowners and their dependants would have no means of self-preservation, and be brought to the work house, a state of things they most ardently desire. We shall indulge only one more remark as to the political part of this work, a remark founded upon that cruel system of the political economists, who, under the phrase of cheapening labour, generate pauperism and crime; for, "All experience proves that there cannot be a more unwise or destructive policy than that which tends to place the workman or the labourer in a situation only, as it were, une degree in the scale removed from starvation. It not only destroys every feeling of independance and respectability, but it operates as a temptation to crime, and too frequently he proceeds from the less to greater offences, till the amount in the aggregate throughout the country becomes fearfully alarming, and, unhappi.y, a generation growing up is presented to view, who are more demoralized than their parents." P. 81. Thus it is. Circumstances are in the actual process of demoralization; as excessive wages, prompting debauchery, are given in some trades, at least for a time, or mere starvation wages in others. The present age takes up nominal religion as the cure for immo bear up against calamity, and resist temptation, but it is impossible they can remove the evils arising from the extreme poverty of numerous classes of the community." P. 121. Mr. Becher has proposed the rational and statesman-like remedy; why is it not patronized? We shall now proceed to the agricultural parts of this work. The chief point urged is the substraction of capital in the valuation outlay, paid by an incoming to an outgoing tenant, a plan which does not exist in the north of England, and there our authors say: "This is all avoided in the North of England, and merely by means of the simple expedient that one tenant has nothing to do with the other. The outgoer acts upon his own system, and disposes as he pleases of any part of the property on the farm, except what he is obliged to use upon the premises. Whilst the incomer has nothing to pay for valuation, no favor to ask of the outgoer; he is enabled to purchase a sufficient stock, wherever he has the best opportunities of making good bargains, and enters the farm completely unincumbered, with the remainder of his capital left, after purchasing his stock, to carry on business with every prospect of success." P. 98. This evil would we think be remedied by the simple method of letting farms at old Michaelmas. The outgoer would then have his crops in, and he might be accommodated with a barn or two for threshing them out till Midsummer. For turniping and winter food, specific clauses might be made by the landlord, which would not affect the incomer. In page 61 is a most useful table of the different counties for poor's rates. sums (in the pound per acre) paid by. These, though increased by manufactures in some degree, are chiefly exaggerated by large towns. We find, that in Westmorland and Northumberland, the amount per acre is only fifteen pence per pound; in Lancashire, the seat of the cotton manufacture, only 9s. 3d.; in Gloucestershire, Somersetshire, Wiltshire, and Yorkshire, the |