Newspaper Page Text
ABSENCE.
A weary time thou’st been away—-
And yet I see thee, hear thee still :
Thy form is with me night and day,^
And thoughts of thee my bosom fill.
Thine image is to me like air,
For it surrounds me every where.
I never sleep, but thou dost show
Thy lovely face to me in dreams ;
I never wake, but thou dost throw
Thine own bright smile, midst morning s
beams;
And all I think, or feel, or see,
Hath ever something like to thee.
I hear thee in the whispering breeze,
And in the song of forest birds ;
And nature’s richest melodies
Have learn and the music of thy words;
The waters, earth, and heavens agree
- In speaking with thy voice tome.
I see thee in the tall trees, when
They bend to meet the storm,
For in their waving beauty then,
They imitate thy graceful form,
The moon-beams, to thine eyes repair,
And gain more touching softness there.
And noon, and night, and morn, and even,
Have all some loveliness of thine ;
Yet, though such semblances are given,
I still must murmur and repine ;
For ah ! they do no not—cannot give
The joys that in thy presence live.
ENGLISH AND AMERICAN WO
MEN.
From the Yankee—By John JVcal
* * * * Af.er all, iii< ref re, per
haps it would he bette to say of die gen
tewomen of Eng and, that more admirable
and wonderful faces ar to he found there
than lieu-—Lees more wonderful in their
proud beauty, tiieir gravity, and their com
posure; hut then they are not wonderful in
the same way, nor admirable with flu* same
look as our women. The females of Eng
land appear at first of a more heroic aim
self-supported, of a loftier and more showy
style of beauty, with a colder, a loss en
gaging, and a lur less affectionate air.—
They have more of statuary and less of
poetry in their look; more shape and less
fire ; a something more • f the ideal that w
read of, aud a something less of the natme
we hope for. At first, I say : lor such opi
Dions do not abide long in your heart. A,*,-
a while you would be Mire to pern i\
whether you acknowledged it or not, th
an English woman would be more desira
ble as .1 wife, though not desirable as a
play-fellow—more desirable as a motbei,
friend or a companion for yourself, anti
teacher for your children, though not sr
desirable as a creature to make love to, on
a still summer night with the siurs multi
plying themselves above you, and on even
side of vou in the sky and in the air, ami
among the green leaves—perad vent lire 01
the turf, or in the blue sea. And this 1 be
lieve to he owing chiefly to the better phy
sical education of the English woman. Sm
lives better ; she lives longer ; ami ‘lie lives
happier ’han her pale, shy sisier of the
new world Her wisdom and strength an
beauty are immortal, in comparison widi
whai we observe in th.s couiiny, and parti
cularly at the south ; ai <1 they aie pit ser -
ed as riiey are nouusher, by plentiful exer
cise iu the open air, by riding and walking,
and breathing as God meant his children* fj
b th sexes to breathe— not in the over
crowded, enervating atmosphere of a house,
but abroad where the hilis are swept ova r
by the cool winds of the north—where the
wood-tops are bending tor ever to the chan
ges of the sea breeze—where they may dip
their feet in tiie fl tshing biook with impu
nity, or drench then garments without fear
iu ihe morning dew or shake off their heavy
tresses to the summer shower, and walk
unabashed before the spiiit of the um
veise.
But however 1 may regard the beauty
and health of English women, J would not
say that of all—nor no I sny nos all—l am
only trying to give the reader some mea of
what a stranger from this country would
think on ms fi st arrival among the British
fair. By and by, however, he would begin
to perceive that there w.ts mo so mud) k
set them apart from ins country-women os
he believed, when he tird met them—if ei
a long vt;y.tge ; f. r a long voyage is a won
derful quickener of mat a Inch desei ves 10
be called not merely a taste nor a feelig,
but a relisn lor beauty. Alter a twelve
month at sea the <vmen <Jo not appear s>
very block, nor so very hideous and 1
know a man Who b ‘ o that he took co’u
on his arrival at >’ ir is, d’ter a very long
voyage, on hearing the rustle of a silk
gown.
By and by too, lie would meet with Pin
ladelphia girl* their dark hair p.ued >n
their foreheads a heavy shadow ; with
Baltiuioie gills —the rose-limped jftppari
turns, that come and go with a flash aim a
thrill about tile path of the stranger, now
floating by with a gracelul slow motion as
if they had power to sail whithersover they
wou.d with a wish or a thought ; and everv
day he would he thrown into Hie socjfetv i t
others, who Would make him siar! —and
look up—and try to recollect where he was;
so like would thty be to the handsome,
well shaped, and well-educated, though m i
very fascinating (that’s the vvoid now) 01
coquettish England girl.
As he goes more into company, his idea
of tiie character of the English woman al
ters. He begins to itgaid her as moie
loveable but is obliged to admit, if he w,,s
bred hi America, that she is too intrepid,
too sensible, and much too healthy ; that
her chest is too broad her step too frp t ,
and her foot rather large ; for it is a solemn
truth, that an English woman is endowed
with a magnificent breadth of chest ; that
being in the hahi;—one dreads to ask why
—of keeping the step with tall men, she is
rather apt to get astride which is not alto
gether so becoming ; and that thens ei an
generally as large—to say the least of them
as they ought so be. Anti these ate grav
matters—very crave in the view of stran
ger, who was brought up . nioog a peeplt
that either drag their f et af er them, i r
step t>n their toes, or swing their bout
in semi-circles, or jump along the high
way on their heels, with their knees bent
nine times out ol ten, about half us far as
they ought to move at a step, and the tenth
ibove twice as far. The English women
Jo not mince their way to be sure—hut
they straddle about over field aud hedge,
highway and by-path—as our women could
never do. They are not very fastidious
neither : they do not call a child a babe,
nor eating beef taking beef; nor would
they imagine that it was more delicate to
s iy that a neighbor bail a son or a daughter
than that he had a boy ora girl. But then
to he sure, they do not scruple to blow their
noses with aloud report over the dinner ta
ble. And if they do not talk as freely a
bout purges aud physic as a French wo
man, or with so many ridiculous rounda
bouts of speech as a woman of our country,
it is certainly true that t :ey are in the ha
bit of calling too many things by their chi is
tian names, that they do talk at times in a
language that would he thought very coarse
here. Nothing is more common for exam
ple, than to hear a well bred English wo
man talk about being knocked up orfagged
to death, or done up* like a coach horse.
Aud then they are not backward about
speaking wi h old men before their daugh
ters about marriage, and the consequence
1 marriage; and this very frequently with
what, if it were confined to the married or
widowed, might be called a professional
air. They may not nor do they shut them
selves up from the free wind of heaven,
afraid almost to look out of the window., or
|to touch the sweet roses that glitter and
j blow about their windows ; but then—they
1 play battle-door and shutrle cock, in the
iipen air long after they have married off*
iheir children ; and they suffer their grown
up dm liters to trundle hoops in the Fark,t
ifid they do not go aside from the river
path or the sea shore, either by the Canal
or the Serpentine of the metropolis, or at
Brighton, through a troop of naked bo vs
hove the -ge ot puberty, and it may be of
t iijje mei , who h ive stripped to bathe, aie
’ basing eac h other about over the turf or
over the beach, at the distance of only a
few yards. Notwi hstanding all this, hovv-
V ••• the E nglish w -men are neither immo
dest nor indelicate ; and of the two, pee
ps, that nervous and writable sensibility,
hicli we dignify with tlie name of a grace
r a virtue, would he more unw rthy of a
cnsihle, proud, and chaste woman ; for
iiat have such to fear I T tell the truth,
\ am rather inclined to distrust vour very,
watchful and ostentatious—l might say ob
streperous —delicacy ; not :hat 1 believe it
• ffectation in my countrywomen ; hut I be
heve it to he like the shyness of an ;wk
v i rd boy, very easily overcome — and when
overcome, a thing the party is apt to he
o grieved at, or ashamed of, as never to
tiimv where to stop. Such dispositions aie
fwever in the way of trial, they live in a bad j
atmosphere—they breathe fever. h is
unnatural ; nd being so, when they do give
way, they are pretty sure to goto a contraiy
extreme.
* Phrases- by tli • way, that are never heard in
this country out -i the mouth of a decent woman;
yet here, the very poetry and the novels of the
every-day speech, and the favorite literature of
th* l age. abound in others which would be thought ‘
unpardonable over sea—bloody for example
1 1 iiavo seen urge girls—fourteen, fifteen, yea
sixteen years of age. running after a hoop in the
middle of St. James’ Park, in broad day-light.
From the L ndon Magazine.
TIIE AO H THE UN E vOiNTIERS
OF TURK Y.
The various nations of which European
Tm key is composed may he clashed in live
different raee> : Turks. Greeks, Albani
ans, S lavooiajis, and V'lacbiaiis. The
two first are sufficiently well known; not
s< tin- other three, who occupy the norh
< rti provinces of the empre, from the Adri
aiic to the Enxme. Indeed the whole of
that wide h* It extending along the Save and
the Danube, and north of the great chain
of the H mus mountains, is little frequen
ted by travellers, and ns topography ( s but
vaguely ascertained. It is a region ol b n
burously sounding names, inhabited by a
semi-barbarous people, under a more than
baib r us government; and we km w lit
le of such c< unit ies as Bosnia, Croatia,
Bulgaria, and Servia, beyond the mere cn
logue. A*, however, in that struggn
v htch.'sooner or later, must end in liie dis
aemberment of the Ottoman dominions,
liose provinces will necessarily become
die theatre ot war, and as.iheir population*
cannot be neutral in such a conflict, we will
udeavour to throw some light on that con
!used portion ot European statistics.
Albania has been often confounded with
Epirus. The chain of Pindus and the
\croceraunian mount tins, winch are a
branch of the former, divided these two
irovirices ; Albania lying on the northern
cud Epirus on the southern side, of ihe
chain. Albania is the ancient Greek m
M icedonian lTyrmm; it extt lids ior h as
far as Austrian Dalmatia. The Albanian
i iiiguage is peculiar, and quite different
Irom the Sclavonian. It is p ssiblv a mii
ant ot ilie old 11 lyric languages winch have
been lost; but it has, however niai.y
words ol Greek or Latin origin. It has
no written alphabet ; but us sounds have
much similarity with those of the French,
among others the Fiench u and ; Tin
Albanians call their country Skip, and
themselves Skipitar. The name of Arna
ntsofArvani.es, which the Turks have
riven them,* is of Greek origin. The Al
banians make use < t tin* Greek language
in writing, and in all public transactions. —
These people appear to be a very ancient
race, perhaps the descendants of ihe an
cient Illy i. an>, who were once naitly sub
jected to ilie kiiis of acedonia and
Ej irus, and alto wards, in the san e man
lier, to the Romans; their remoteness and
ben mountains protected them from total
‘fib. jug a I ion, as will *is from the subst
i eoi irruption of tiie north) rn haibariaiis.
1 u lie tune ol the crusades, Albania was a
threat thoroughfare for the western Chris
i ins, aim tlit* ciicoiuchn* of the nine spi*ak
‘l*’ Hs populous mid ;i Warlike nation;
many of the people followed the forlimes of
the ciusadtrs and spread themselves over
Gieece. Even now great part of the eas-
tern Greece, and some districts of the
Morea and of the islands, are peopled with
Albanians who have remained Christians;
and, what is more remarkable, there are
Albanian colonists to be found in the other
side of the Adriatic, in tire mountains of
Abruzzo in the kingdom of Naples, who
siill speak a distinct language, and preset ve
the dress and manners of their country.
Albania is one of the most populous
provinces of Turkey It is said to contain
nearly one million of inhabitants. All the
men are soldiers, and they enlist, like the
Swiss, into the service of various countries,
without troubling themselves about the
merits of the cause they fight for. They
have long served in the Ottoman armies;
they form an effective corps in the pay of
the Pasha of Egypt, Mehemed Ali, who is
himself an Albanian by birth : and they
are found also in the service of the regen
cries of Barbary. The king of Naples used
formerly to have regiments of Albanians
who were considered as very good sol
diers. Sober aud economical, hut great
marauders, they amass considerable money
in their campaigns; and those who survive
the fortune of war return to their native
valleys to ei and their in comparative
affluence. The Albanians have often
rendered themselves formidable to the
Porte. In the time of the famous Scan
dcibeg they withstood all its power ;to the
woof the Morea in the last century they
revolted against the Ottomans; and under
ihe late Ail Pasha ihey might have con*
qu-ed Turkey had Ali been less a barbarian.
The Albanians are divided into various
feud and or municipal commonwealths, often
at variance with one another, and they
are de facto independent of the Porte.—
There ar* Turkish governo s in Albania,
among whom the Pashas of Berat, and ot
Scodra or Scutari, are the most impor
tant : but they are generally natives ;
tiieir authority is less arbitrary, find they
aie less dependent on the Sultan; and
their oftice in most cases descends from
fuller to son. The famous Ali Pasiia of
Janninn, having conquered two-thirds of
Albania; had destroyed many of the beys
or feudal despots ; but since his death things
have goto* back to the old system. Omer
Biions is now one of the principal Alba
nian chi fs.
The Christian Albanians, who do not
amount to ooe-thiid of the population,
wear arms aud follow the same pursuits as
tin it Mussulman brethren. In the event
of a gm e: S invasion of the Turkish t mpire
by the Russians, much will depend upon
the conduct of the Albanians; and the
p wer tli. \ shall have them for enemies will
met* with a most formidadle obstacle to its
success. Under a native chie* of trust and
abilities these people might yet j.et a con
siderable put in ihe approaching ciisis in
the east. Little faith, however, is to be
placed in them by strangers, tiieir meicen
ary and ‘awless character being proverbial.
The country of Epirus proper lies to the
south of Albania, and extends to the gulph
of Ambiae hi, which divides ii from Arcau
auia * r western Greece. Epirus is a Greek
country, in manners, leligion and language
although St nn° of is uorthcru and maritime
districts are also p< o le with Albanians,
pari of whom are Mussulmans; but the
iu erior of tiie country is essentially Greek.
S nee Hie Ueaih ot All Pasha this un fort u
n . e country has been the theatre of cruel
persecute ns against the Christian part of
the popular- ii
To tin i.i r.h of Albania is situated the
‘I n kisli j,j. ir.ee of Bosnia, wiiicli is part
ol the ac.eei Mcesia; it is hemmed be
twtii n die Yus ri <n territories of Dalma
iia, C,r alia ..ml Sdavonia, and forms til
most advanced projection of the Ottoma,
domino ns on the side of Get many. Bos
nia ex <. i (is as far as the river Sava, which
divides it from the Austrian dominions.—
! rn- Bosmacs, as well as the Servians and
Bul^aiurns, are of Sclavonian race, and
speak a dialed ofibat language, like the
Dalmatians, Croats, and Sclavonians who
live unuer the Austiian empire. The Bi>s
mes a: e robust and brave their o untry
was for a tong time the seat of vvai between
Aus iia, Venice, and tne Turk; and the
people have s nee remained in a barbar
ous slu e A pasha rules them from bis
residence ~t Serai. They are partly Mus
sulmans and partly Christians The latter
toim the rtiajoiity of the population and
are again subdivided between Catholic and
Greek. Turkish Croatia is a small prov
ince adjoining Bosnia The Mohamedan
Bosmacs still live under a sort of heredita
ry feudal government; tiie chiefs are called
Ag is, and are obliged to serve the ultan
in person, accompanied by a certain num
ber of their vessels. The troops of Bos
nia and of Albania, therefore, constitute a
sort of auxiliary force, like the Hungarian
cavalry in the Austrian service. This
vtuy condition ofihose two provinces, and
the difficult nature ofthe country, render
ilie Bodniacs and Albanians the most vv r
like pi ople of Turkey.
The provinces or kingdom of Sevia is
ilie most civilized of the Turco-Sclavonian
states. The Servian is a written languge,
and is considered as one of the most pol
ished of the Sclavonian dialects * They
make use of it almost exclusively, both for
civil and ecclesiastical affairs. The Sei
vians .ire Christians of the Greek church;
(he Mussulmans among them live in the
towns. At the beginning of the last cen
tury, when Prince Eugene took Belgrade,
pari ofthe country was given up to Austiia
by treaty, but was restored by tbe Turks
n consequence of the bad success of tbe
succeeding wars. Austria however, still
s, H'ins to claim a sort of protectorate over
Servia. In our times tbe famous Czerin
Georges rt veiled against tbe porte; and
*ince lus de.itli the Servians have obtained
pi ivileges, by which they are more inde
* The Servians have poetry A Servi
an of tin* name of Vick has published a
collection of popular poems, printed at
Leipsic, in 1824, in three volumes, fiom
which Mr. Bowring has translated some
pleasing specimens. j
[pendent than the other Ottoman subjects.
They wear arms, and have their own mu
nicipai administrations.
We m ist say a word here of the I urkish
military teudal system.
When ihe Ottoman Sultans conquered
the territories of the Brazautiue ernpho,
they bestowed some of the lands upon Hie
soldieis ; with other portions they endowed
mosques; and another part they gave for
lif? to their own officers, or to those chief- ,
tains who had embraced Islaniism. Fnis
was the case in Asia, Minor, and in Alba
nia, Bosnia, and Macedonia. An aga or
feudal chief can obtain leave, fora sum ot
money, to bestow Lis fief on bis son ; hut
if* lie neglect this piecaution, at his death
the estate is sold by auction, or more often
becomes the subject of a petty war be
tween rival pietenders According to the
original custom, at the death of a feudal
chieftain, his estate reverted to the Sultan,
who, alter drawing one year’s income, bes
towed it as a reward upon some officer, or
on tlie son of an aga; but the exercise of
this right is become obsolete, and even
the courtiers of the Seraglio would not,
among the Albanians, and Bosniacs, or the
Turcomans, of Asia, dare to deprive the
heir of his fathers property. In the As
iatic provinces all the fiefs are become
hereditary by custom. The Turcoman
chiefs live like patriarchs; and, in case of
need, take the field with the whole tribes of
their shepherds and labourers. Hence the
immense number ol Asiatic troops which
the Porte can call to its assistance. This
sortofforce, little available in an offensive
war, would become formidable as a defence
against an invader especially were the war
carried into the heart of the empire,
According to Malte Bum there are more
than nine hundred great fiefs in European
Tukey,and about eight thousand of second
rank, and nearly the same number in Asia
Several families, such as that ot Kara Os
man Oglu, and the Khans of the Crim ea,
have r uled for ages over entire provinces.
The descendants of the latter family, who
took refuge in Romania after the Russian
conquest, have even pretensions to the
throne of Constantinople.
The province of Bulgaria, the third
Turco Scluvonia state extends to the east
of Servia, along the sout ern bank of the
Danube and as far as the B 1 ick Sea. It is
livided on the south from Romania, by
the chain of the Mount Hemus, the last
natural barrier of the Ottoman capital.—
The Bulgarians* are mostly Christians of
the Greek church, speaking both Scluvonia
and Greek; there are, however, more
Mussulmans to he found among the n than
in S-tvi i. The Bulgarians are industrious
peo le; — heir country is fertile, but they
are ignorant and illiterate. Bulgaria has
more th m a million of inhabitants. In the
event of the Russians crossing the Danube,
this piovince will become the theatre of
war. The fortresses of Vidiu, < f Silistria,
and of Rtulschuck, defend the pass of the
river. Bulgaria suffered much during the
last wars; and the Mussulman part of the
population was nearly destroyed, partly by
the sword and afterwards by the plague
It iHav be observed that the Sclavouian
nations have tak< n no part in the present
Greek war. The Albanians have sent
some auxiliary troops to jo a those of the
Sultan, hut they have acted in general with
a sort of reserve and indifference in tiie
struggle.
The vast provinces of Valachia and Mol
davia may he nuvv considered as virtually
detached fiom the Ottoman Empire.—
These two provinces submitted to pay a J
tribute to the O tom m, reserving to them
selves the right of choosing their own na
tional princes to govern them. But at the
beginning of the eighteenth century the
Porte deprived them of this privilege,
and appointed a Greek of Constantinople
to each province, under the title of Hos
podar Since that tune both Greeks and
Turks have enriched themselves at the
expense of the Valachians and Moldavians.
The Hospodars and then courtiers mana
ged to ’mass enormous wealth, while, on
the other side, Turkish inteudnnts came
every year with a firman in hand
to seize sheep, ‘ utter, cheese, and wood,
for the supply of the capital, at the p ice
they choose to fix, for those two provinces
were called the Sultan's pantry. Count
Salaberrv ill this disruption of Valachia,
gives a frightful picture of the condition ;f
the people.—“ The criminals, says hr,
“condemned to work in the mines, could
alone envy the fate of the poor Valachi
ans “
The people ofVilachia and Moldavia
are supposed to be the descendants of the
Dacians, and of their Roman conquerors,
with some admix Ure of Sclav nians.—
Thev speak a dialect, or corruption of
Latin, and call themselves Rumuni or Rum
niasi The people of Transylvania has
the same orgin: hut since their annexation
to the Austtian Empire they have become
much Geimanized Under the govern
ment of the Greek Ilospodars in the two
principalities, many of the native nobles or
boyards have enfranchised their serfs and
enable them to acquire propei ty. The
sons of the boyards frequented the Emo
pean schools, and colleges have been foun
ded at Jassy and Bucharest. The Rum
niasti language has hardly any literature,
except some books of prayers. M. Ros
setti, a gentleman of Bucharest, residing at
Le ipsic ha> lately made an attempt uu’s
t ‘hhsha journal in that language. The
Valacliians ate a fine race, and their wo
men remarkably handsome. They are a
mild and intelligent people, although indo
lent and ignorant. Their country, as well
as Moldavia, is naturally very fertile. Toe
name of Valacliians,winch means, in Scla
vonian, shepherds, was giv< 11 to them in
consequence of the eai ly emigrations of
these people with their cattle to the sou h
of the Danube ; and many of their des
cendants inhabit to this day the chain of
Mount P indns, and several parts of Mace
donia . no Ti.iaciti, where they lead a pas
toral life in ns almost pnmilive simplicity.
They hud built a town iu Macedonia, culled
Voscopolis, which was very flourish’
century ago, but ihe Albanian niai jf ■
destroyed i , and tiie people
Hungary, where the V darhians cor, ‘ ■
ted a considerable part ol the popuht*" l1 *
that kingdom, preserving their | }| ~(>B
and iiiH-.iicrs distinct from the
’ and Magyar, m Hungarian population^ 111 **!
The Valuchiutis and Moldavians a I
most all Christians of the Greek c j lu *1
, and they have adopted the i,! *|
phabet. Valachia reckons somethim’ j’■
than a million of inhabitants, and !• iV-'l
about halt that number. Formely jyj 4
via extended also beyond the Pruth* ‘ I
the Russian conquest fixed that Rive/ ■
the boundary. ‘ 8, 8
The greatest confusion prevails genera’ ! . I
in Turkish statistics. The Turks keej ‘■
registers, and it is c nly by comparison
approximation lb twe can get at ihr |, r .!
able numbers of the population oftheej. |
tries under their dominion. Even thee !
Ration tax is not a safe guide for reckon ~!
the Christian population ; for it an 1
that the gross amount of the tax ui>o. a
whole province being once fixed, no ■
lion is paid to the decrease ol inhabitants!
which has taken place in almostevjry I
kisii country, and the repartition >i)iv tal l
heavier on the survivors. The calcul.tjjl
of travellers and of geographers
therefore, considerable upon tins
Taking a medium, the probable amount all
pears 10 be nearly the following* p
Population of European Turkey.
Valachia and Moldavia 1,400 OiVjl
Servia _ 950’000
Bosnia, Crotia, and Herzegouina 700,000
Bulgaria l 200,’(ty
Albanians 800,000
Epirus - 370,000
Macedonia 500 00<j
Roumelia, or Thrace 2,300 00)
Thessalia 370,000
Gieece Proper, Morea, and I „ „
the Islands ( looc^D
Total , 9,890,000
Dividing this population by iaci>, \ V e
have about three millions of Greeks, two
millions and a half Sclavonians, two millj.
ons Tmks, nearly one mil.ion Albanians
one million and a h If Valachians, or Rum.
niasty. Tin* Greeks and Turks are sc t
tered in every province, and the Alb niam
and Val clnans are also found iu coloniet
out of theii respective countries. Again, if
we classify the population by religions, we
have about three millions of Mussulmans
including ihe Albanian and S lavonianpr -1
selyies, six millions of Christians of the
Greek Church, not quite Uall a million of
Catholics, and the rest Jews.
With regard to Asiatic Tu* key the cal
culations are s:ili more uncertain. Asia
Minor, or Anadouh, as the Turks call it,
is supposed to contain about five millions,
almost all Mussulmans and genui e Turks;
Syria about threfe millions As.meuia a mil
lion and a half, and the country be wiea
Mesopotamia, Irak, and Curdistan, two
millions, making about eleven millions and
a halt iu Asiatic Turkey, and ib ut iiwn v
one millions for this whole Ottoman em
pire, Egypt not included. Out of oil these
immense territoiies, Asia Minor is the only
part where the Turks constitute really the
m iss ot tiie populatioi , as ii was the entitle
of their empire For tiie rest, with tiie ex
ception of Constantinople, they may be
considered as military colonists They
garrison the fortresses, fill up the ( ffices, er
live upon feudal income, government sala
ries, monopolies, and extortions upon th
unbelievers. They ate all armed, and ex
pected to do militaiy duly Few of them
cultivate the grounu. It must also be ob
served, that among the European Turks
only a small proportion are ol Tuikish ori
gin, or Osmanless, their number having
been swelled up by the renegades from all
the countries submitted to tiie.r sway.
At ttie present time, when writers on eas
tern affairs are either infected w ith a re l
or pretended admiration of the Tuikish
charactei, or given to the opposite excess,
of despising, beyond *ll justice, tne peo
ple, their habits and their institutions, we
may refer our readers to an author who
writes sensibly and impartially, and who
was not carried away by any particular
hostillity to the Ottoman T tie late ft.
Ma te Brun, in his memoii ‘On the Great
ness and Decay of tiie Turkish Empire,’
published since the beginning of die nr -
sent Greek war has examined the proba
bilities as to the fate of that state In an
swer to the question, Have the Turks de
generated from what their ancestors were
at the epoch of the conquest ? lie affirm*
that the Turks, as a body have now the
same character and the same qualities
good and had, itli which the authors - t
the fift* enth centurv have
them. Indolent, when at peace, sanguin
ary if irritated, grasping and oppressive
with their subji cts, but honest towards
strangers ; they destroy villages and bniln
hospitals; they respect their oaths, but de
spise our principles of public right: they are
alive to a sentiment of honor but insensi
ble to pity ; they aie attached to the iP ,n *
archy though they rev It against the n i s’ ,m
i sultan ; they are gross nd sensual n
their ideas of pleasure, though moderate* 11
the indulgence of their passions, and they
bear without murmuring, a sudden traps'*
tion from luxury to privations; they are
generally good parents and husband;, |rl
spile of polygamy, which is however, r ot
univeisal among them, and is with most *
matter only of vanity and pomp ; they are
capable of exalted friendships, but f* !so
prone to atrocious revenge ; their c*
is sometimes displayed by an almost ch:v;d
ric temeri'y, and at other times by a sta
cal indifference; thev will rush regard” >
of numbers into the enemy s ranks, or *
low themselves to be slaughtered with tiie
pipe in their mouth; they pass with iu roP ‘
( l ivable calmness from a palace to ex: ’>
from a throne to a scaffold ; they lav di^’j 1
their life with tho same cm • Iness.with w!m \
the*v have immolated their victims, f°‘ V
consider themselves the humble slaves ■
fearful ministers of an irrevocable dcst-iv