sider Constantinople under a totally different aspect, this week, from what it was before the appearance of this newspaper. How many Periot fables have we listened to within the last six months, which are destroyed at one blow by the appearance of this gazette. We will give only one

instance.

The recent fête of Ibrahim Aga was, we were assured by at least twenty Franks, given for the express purpose of circumcising the heir presumptive to the throne, and all the lads of the same age throughout the empire were to undergo this interesting operation on the same day. The newspaper appears; it contains a minute account of the fête, but not a word is said of this ceremony, although all the priesthood of Constantinople and its environs were present to perform it if necessary.

Since writing the above, we are pleased to be enabled to add the following information. The Turks have received. this newspaper with great pleasure, and the subscription list has nearly doubled among them; the government, on the other hand, have been so much pleased with the success of this experiment, that they have made arrangements to publish it in Arabic, Persian, Greek, and Armenian. The Greek patriarch of Constantinople has issued a circular, in which he warmly recommends this paper to his countrymen.

CHAPTER XLII.

Walls of Constantinople-Their utter Uselessness-Turkish Fleet outside -Dying and Printing Establishment-Greek Church of the Repose of the Virgin Mary-Separation of the Sexes-Anecdote-Palace of Justinian-Ballata-Jews-Preference for their Turkish Masters-Hatred between them and the Greeks-Shisherhannay, or Glassworks-Greek School at the Fanar.

WE followed this morning the course of the wall which lines the city of Constantinople along the Sea of Marmora. One of the most quiet, clean, and agreeable streets in the city runs along this wall through its whole extent. The houses here are usually of three stories, in order to overtop the walls, and are quite of a superior character. The wall, although apparently of great strength, is in fact the reverse, and a half-hour's cannonade would knock the whole to pieces. Independent of its gradual decay from the lapse of time, it was originally very slight; for, with a height of twenty feet, it is scarcely four feet thick in many places, although it has the appearance of being much more. This appearance of strength is kept up by large square towers distributed at certain intervals along the whole line of wall; but nothing can be more deceptive, for these towers are hollow, and are in the same ruinous state with the rest of the structure. If this wall was levelled, and its materials employed in the construction of a quay, it would form one of the most delightful promenades in the world. It would contribute to health, and would besides be more easily fortified; although to a Turk the destruction of this useless wall would appear as if Constantinople had lost its proud, but unmeaning, title of the well-defended city. At certain distances stairs of gradual ascent lead to the sum

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mit, for the convenience of the city scavengers, who throw over the walls the dirt and rubbish of this part of the city. From the top we had a delightful view of the Sea of Marmora, with the picturesque Prince's Islands and snowy Olympus, and the other lofty mountain chains of Bithynia in the distance. A part of the Turkish fleet, just returned from assisting in quelling the rebellion of the Pacha of Scutari, is lying off at the distance of three miles, and consists of twelve vessels, of which three are three-deckers, six frigates, a brig, and two sloops of war. The appearance of this armament, with the numerous small craft which at all times cover the Sea of Marmora, gives an air of life and animation to the scene. There are a few places along the line of the wall which are open to the sea, and small quays near them admit the market-boats which belong to various ports along the Sea of Marmora. We noticed here a large establishment, similar to that already mentioned at Scutari, and, like that, managed by private individuals. The gayly printed calicoes, suspended in the air, give the idea of some festive celebration, and were among the first objects that attracted our attention when we coasted along these walls, upon our first entry into the metropolis.

In the course of our stroll we came to a small Greek church, situated on an eminence back of the Fanar, which had frequently been noticed from the harbour, and had given rise to many conjectures from its singular antique appearance. It was a circular tower, with numerous subsequent additions, and is said to be one of the oldest Greek churches in the capital. Its Greek name is not recollected, but it is dedicated "to the repose of the Virgin Mary." We were permitted to enter it, and found it to be nearly covered with the pictures of saints, angels, and martyrs. The Greeks abhor statues as an abomination; but their pictures are not very far removed from what we should conceive to be graven images. The drapery, hands, and indeed almost every part of the picture, except the face, is covered with

plates of silver, carved out to represent the parts which they hide; and these pictures, half-paint and half-silver, present an odd and grotesque appearance, equally at war with good taste and true devotion. In this church, as in all others of the same persuasion, the women are not only separated by a partition of lattice-work from the body of the church, but they have even a separate and distinct place of entrance. I recollect, upon one occasion, visiting a Greek church with an American lady, and although the church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and her picture in every variety of costume and complexion was multiplied on the walls, yet the disguise would not permit my female companion to enter a particular part, although its most conspicuous ornament was a brimstone-looking picture of the Virgin. When asked the reason, this polite descendant of Themistocles replied, that it was not permitted, for women would defile it. So much for that reasoning animal-man.

From this church we proceeded to what is called the palace of Justinian, near the land walls of the city. From the top of the wall we could distinctly perceive the triple line of wall alluded to by travellers. It is not, however, triple along its whole length, but only in particular points; at least, such was the impression made upon us. These walls, although much more formidable in fact than those along the Sea of Marmora, would be crumbled to the dust by modern artillery in twenty-four hours. We have heard many foreigners converse on the probable consequences of an attack upon Constantinople by the Russians: they unanimously agreed that the true policy of the enemy would be to stop the aqueducts which supply the city with water, and it would be compelled to surrender without a blow. Nothing remains of this huge structure but the ruinous walls, built of stone and brick. Within the walls temporary sheds are erected, which are inhabited by the wretched

descendants of the children of Israel.

There are said to be

inscriptions within; but such is the superstitious fear which

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the Greeks entertain of the Jews, that our guide refused to trust himself within the walls, and persuaded our party to relinquish the attempt.

We are now in the Jewish quarter, called Ballata, from having been formerly a park in which the Greek emperors were accustomed to take the diversion of hunting. It is pre-eminently distinguished by its dirt and filth over every other quarter of the metropolis, and is not less loathsome than in the days of Christian Constantinople, when the tanners emptied the disgusting contents of their pans before the doors of this degraded and persecuted race. The wise tolerance of the Turks has contributed to increase very much this part of the population: two hundred years ago, a mild and tolerant traveller says that there were more than 20,000 of that accursed and contemptible people in Constantinople, and, as we have before mentioned, their numbers now equal 60,000. They pay the same taxes with other rayahs, and are allowed to collect the haratch by their own officers. They appear to be an inoffensive race, whose degradation seems to be owing chiefly to their gross ignorance, and their unwillingness to undertake any thing which requires hard manual labour. They are, of course, despised by the Turks for their personal nastiness; but at the same time are protected as useful citizens. They are very naturally attached to their tolerant masters, and if the Russians were to menace the capital, the Jews would, we apprehend, be found fighting under the banner of the crescent. To this they would be urged by various considerations, arising out of coincidences between the Jewish and Turkish habits and feelings: they are both of oriental origin, both worship the one indivisible Deity, and both (although in various degrees) attribute to the Old Testament a divine origin. The Jews are, besides, well aware that the severities of their Turkish masters would be far preferable to the tender mercies of the Greek church. Between them and the Greeks there exists a deep feeling of hatred, which shows