charge, it was urged so successfully by the schismatics, aided by the timely application of the omnipotent bakshish, that a decree of banishment was issued against them. By this decree, which took place in 1827, ten thousand Catholic Armenians were banished from Constantinople, and ordered to leave within twelve days. A nunnery containing twenty or thirty enthusiasts was ordered to be abolished; and to fill up the cup of their misery to the brim, another measure was adopted which gave a farcical character to the otherwise harsh decree. The daughters of some of the wealthiest Catholics, who had long sighed in utter hopelessness for young heretic Armenians, were ordered to marry them immediately. To the daughters this was of course an agreeable mandate, but it was gall and wormwood to their bigoted parents. They were allowed to sell their moveable property, but their houses were taken possession of by the government. To alleviate in some degree the rigour of their exile, they were permitted to return to the places from whence they originally came, and they accordingly selected Angora, Brusa, and Adrianople, for their future abodes.

At the expiration of two years and a half they were all recalled, chiefly, it is said, through the instrumentality of the French ambassador, Guilleminot, who succeeded in convincing the Turkish government that the decree was equally cruel, impolitic, and unjust. The exertions of this benevolent gentleman were the more praiseworthy, as he had not the sympathy of a coreligionist to induce him to use his influence in their favour. He was a decided Protestant.

At the time of their exile, a commission had been appointed to sell the houses and lands of the Catholic Armenians. They were necessarily sold very low, and in many instances entirely sacrificed. As a necessary accompaniment to the act of justice which produced their recall, they were permitted to take possession of their houses, but were

required to refund to the actual holders the sums for which they had been originally sacrificed. This bore very hard upon the Turkish proprietors, who had in most cases spent large sums of money in decorations and improvements, all of which were of course entirely lost. The Turks, aided, it is said, by the schismatic Armenians, put all manner of impediments in their way, and succeeded in obtaining an order from the Nazir, or superintendant of buildings, that all houses which were painted red should not be restored, as this colour denoted Turkish occupancy.

An amusing scene ensued. All was bustle, hurry, and confusion during the night succeeding the publication of this absurd decree; and on the following morning it was scarcely possible to recognise the same neighbourhood, for it was discovered that whole streets had assumed the same uniform orthodox colour. The order of the Nazir was rescinded, and he was punished for his impertinent presumption. The secretary of the sultan, Mustapha Effendi, gave the first example, by surrendering up without any remuneration several magnificent houses which he had acquired at the public sales, and his example found numerous imitators. The effect of this rapid succession of owners gave rise to several curious occurrences. Among others, we were informed of a Frank physician who had been rewarded for his professional services by the present of a house, valued at five thousand dollars. It was a noble fee, and the physician spent a large sum in various alterations to render it more commodious and worthy of the generous donor. The patient died, but the substantial fee remained; and the worthy doctor was snugly established in his comfortable mansion, waiting patiently for a new subject, when the decree of the sultan was promulgated. The original proprietor appeared, and was received with great courtesy by the doctor, who prescribed immediately for some chronic disease of which the Armenian complained. The sum of $500 was put into his hands with great for

mality by the pseudo patient, and he stopped the grateful doctor's thanks immediately, by informing him that this sum was not a fee, but an equivalent for the original purchase-money of his house, which he civilly requested him to evacuate as soon as possible. The matter was not adjusted when we left Constantinople, owing to one of the parties being a European; but the doctor's professional brethren, who of course sympathize deeply on such occasions, said it was the bitterest dose the doctor had ever prescribed or tasted.

We have hinted at the fact of the Armenians having sided with the Russian army when they occupied Adrianople. Upon the withdrawal of that army, conscious how far they had committed themselves, they fled the country by thousands, and taking refuge on the frontiers, abandoned their houses, farms, and property of every description. From mixed motives of policy and humanity the sultan issued a decree shortly after the conclusion of the war, in which we find these remarkable words: " It is my imperial will that you (the governors, &c.) gain their confidence, and induce them to return to their occupations. I wish you to employ all the means in your power to conciliate and gain their good-will." All inquiries into their past conduct were forbidden, and a due tribute of praise was accorded to their valuable qualities as citizens. We were informed that many thousands returned under the protection of this decree, which they found to be an ample safeguard, and very different from those atrocious documents issued by the governments of Spain and Austria under the name of amnesty, by which they inveigle their victims under false pretences within their grasp, and then securely glut their vengeance.

The Armenians are more addicted to letters than the Turks, and we have seen many book-shops in Constantinople groaning under their productions in various departments of literature. Unlike their oriental brethren, they devote much attention to the literature of Europe, and the

accuracy with which they write and speak foreign languages is truly surprising. An Armenian, Joseph Asker Oglou, a ripe and a good scholar, who now acts as second. drogoman to the American mission, we may adduce as a remarkable instance of the facility with which our difficult and abnormal pronunciation may be conquered. In the course of a fortnight this gentleman was enabled, with little instruction, to read a chapter from the Bible with the perfect accuracy of a well-educated American. The greater part of their literature, it must be confessed, is wasted upon the barren and unprofitable field of sectarian polemics; but they have also authors in their own language worthy of any country. D'Ohsson, an Armenian, has written, according to the testimony of competent judges, the very best history and description of the Turkish institutions that has yet appeared.

CHAPTER XXXII.

Arsenal-Galley-slaves-Dry-docks-The largest Ship in the World— Condition of the Navy-Discipline-Rations-The Capudan Pacha-His History-Foreigners in their Service.

In pursuance of an invitation from the commandant of the arsenal, we visited this morning the navy-yard, where we were gratified with a sight of the operation of letting in the water to one of the dry-docks containing a ship of the line. The navy-yard, or arsenal, as it is termed here, covers a large extent of ground, commencing just above Galata, and extending along the Golden Horn for nearly a mile and a half. It has a noble range of storehouses and workshops solidly constructed of stone, and contains also ropewalks, a hospital, and a prison. It is under the control of the Reis liman bey, or intendant of the arsenal, and the Tershannay emini, or secretary of the navy, has also his office within the walls. About 500 labourers are usually employed, independent of numerous galley-slaves. These latter are cutthroats of every grade; but the greater number are Albanian desperadoes, a fierce and truculent race, eternally warring with their neighbours, and rarely giving or asking quarter. Their religious ideas are so vague that the Christians consider them as Mohammedans, and the Turks believe them to be "no better than Christians." They certainly possess the bulldog quality of courage in a remarkable degree, which led Byron, in speaking of them, to ask, "Who ever saw their backs?" As they assisted us out of the boat in hopes of a trifling gratuity, we felt a shudder at being in close contact with such ferocious and desperate