calmly considered these as they ought to have done, and not raved and fumed like madmen; placarded their streets with libels on Wilberforce; destroyed the chapels of useful and unoffending sectaries; rioted and threatened the government with their microscopic vengeance; but instead of so acting, silently assented to the measures recommended, and entered into an amicable understanding on the subject; no discontents among the negroes would have been heard of. But there is now a pretty good specimen before the public of what stuff planters are composed, and ample proof of the bad influence of the immediate vicinity of slavery. We see too, that they have never been falsely and wickedly traduced by the friends of humanity and justice, as some of their advocates would have us believe. There was, alas! too much truth in the charges made against, we fear, a very numerous portion of them. That there are many humane and kind slave-owners, good worthy men, in the colonies, cannot be doubted; men who would gladly meet every rational scheme for benefiting the slave; but these dare not speak out for fear of the majority of their fellows, who, we fully believe, will never tolerate any measure that may have the remotest chance of causing the negro or his descendants to be regarded otherwise than as the rest of their stock in trade,—and to the benefits that would result from free labour or the moral instruction of the negro and the bettering of his condition, "they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear." The hatred of the planters to the missionaries arises from the latter mingling more with the negroes and taking a greater interest in their concerns than the stationary clergy. A minister who has acquired his quantum of Greek and Latin at college, is appointed to a living in the West Indies; he goes out there, preaches regularly on a Sunday, or "does duty" as he would at home. Unless he disregard being looked upon by the whites as overzealous and intermeddling, he will not go beyond this, though he may sometimes feel a temptation to do so. The church missionaries, and all others, must be chosen of the most irreproachable character, discreet, zealous, and regardful of nothing but the improvement of those whom they are set over; they must mingle with the negroes, or no good will accrue, devoting their time, their comforts, and wasting life itself in promoting the object they have undertaken. We repeat it, and we know the fact, that little good beyond what may arise from the fulfilment of the common-place routine of duty in the parish church, is to be expected from fourfifths of the beneficed clergy in the West Indies. The friends of slave-abolition must now be content to rest on their oars for a time. As friends of humanity, they cannot wish to increase the miseries of the objects of their sympathy. There are great difficulties to be got over, of which not they, but the colonists themselves must bear the onus. These difficulties the government alone can grapple with any chance of success. But the friends of the abolition, powerful as they are in this country, may exert themselves in distinguishing those colonies which have come into their humane views. Men with sordid ideas must be ruled by the influence of gain. Could a preference be given in the home-market, for example, to the productions of those colonies that had adopted the measures recommended, it would do more in the way of enforcing them than all the humane letters and recommendations of the abolitionists could effect for a century. Slave-holders cannot be acted upon like the members of more civilized communities. The air of slavery is fatal to the milder sympathies of our nature. As the abolitionists, then, cannot wish to see the removal of one evil effected by the operation of another; they must, we repeat it, do nothing more just at present in the shape of active proceeding; they must wait until peace among the negroes be completely restored. But let them never lose sight of their objects, the moral instruction of the negro and his preparation for a better social state, if it be only in those islands where the colonists will tolerate it. Then, if negro freedom should never be achieved by the efforts of the British nation, and continue to be thwarted by the colonists, but should ultimately be effected by those natural but terrible causes which in process of time will inevitably operate to bring it about, they will have done infinite good by lessening the intensity of the reaction and the force of the convulsion. The crown of praiseworthy exertion always comes at last, and is not less brilliant and glorious for being procrastinated. Y. J. STANZAS. THE HEIRESS'S COMPLAINT. WHY tell me with officious zeal, Who breathe their incense at my shrine? Know that I scorn the sordid train Whose loveless vows are bought and sold,- Content to leave the crowd behind. I hear the same false flatteries o'er, But he regards that dross as base, ༔ ད་ན་་ ན་, 2 Yet must I still reluctant wear mos G Oh! never shall the world deride tes M. A. We took boat one afternoon, with two English gentlemen, for Scutari, to see the howling Dervishes. The Mosque was very plain g having taken our seats in the gallery, we waited for some time, while the Dervishes were engaged in drinking, as our guard, a captain of the Janizaries, informed us, to excite themselves to go through the strange exhibition that followed. A young man of the order then mounted on a flight of steps without the door, and summoned, in a very loud and mournful voice, for nearly half an hour, the faithful to attend. The Dervishes all entered, and, ranged in a long line, began to rock their bodies to and fro in simultaneous movement. But this motion soon became more rapid, and Alla and Mohammed, at first pronounced in a low and sad tone, burst from their lips with violence. They then all threw off their outer garments, sprang from the ground, and threw their arms furiously about. As their imaginations became more heated, some stripped themselves nearly naked, others foamed at the mouth; one or two old men, exhausted, sunk on the ground, and the cries of God and the Prophet might be heard afar off. It was a singular spectacle of enthusiasm and hypocrisy combined; but what ensued was more disgusting, for they took red-hot irons and applied them to their legs and feet, and other parts of their bodies, still howling out amidst their pain the name of the Eternal, in whose honour, they would have their credulous assembly believe, they suffered all this. A great part of the Dervishes are notorious libertines and profligates, as the better informed Turks are often heard to call them. They consist of various orders; some live in monasteries, others lead a wandering life through different parts of the empire, chiefly subsisting on the hospitality of the faithful. In the island of Cyprus I met with a young Dervise of this kind; his features were fair and effeminate, and his long hair fell in ringlets on his neck and bosom; on the latter he wore several pieces of stained glass, fancifully disposed; his appearance betokened any thing but devotion. Others are to be seen roving about with thick dishevelled hair, wild looks, and half naked; these profess poverty and selfdenial, and are held most in reverence by the people. Many of these men, however, are sincere teachers, and examples of their religion, and lead the life of pilgrims, or fix on some secluded spot, where they live abstemiously, and repay with their counsels the simple presents of the people. The most eminent of them are termed Santons, and have handsome monuments built on their graves in the shade of trees, which are ever after regarded with peculiar veneration. The fast of Ramadan ended a few days ago. As rigidly kept as that of the Jews the Turk finds it severe enough to remain from one sunset to the next without a morsel; then coffee and his pipe are indeed his solace, for these are permitted. With what tumultuous joy did the believers deport themselves in a coffee-house not far from the English palace. They danced wildly in groups to the sound of the guitar and tambour, embraced one another as they talked of the night near at hand, when the first appearance of the new moon should announce that Ramadan was over, and Beiram was begun. It came at last; on that night every minaret of the grand mosques was illumined from top to bottom with innumerable rows of lamps. You could distinguish those of Achmed, Suleimanieh, and St. Sophia; it was a peculiar and splendid sight; and the vast city and its people seemed to be hushed in the stillness of midnight, waiting for the signal of festivity. The Imauns from the tops of the highest minarets eagerly bent their looks to catch the first glimpse of the new moon; the moment it was perceived, loud and joyful shouts, which spread instantly all over the city, announced that the hour of indulgence was come, and full compensation for all their denials. It was really pleasing to observe, the next day, the looks of kindness and almost fraternal feeling which they cast on each other. The poor man is often seen at this period to take the hand, and kiss the cheek of the rich and haughty, who returns the salutation as to his equal, a brother in the glorious faith of their Prophet, a heir alike to the privileges of his Paradise. Delight was pictured in every countenance; every one put on his finest apparel, and the sound of music was heard on every side, mingled with songs in honour of their religion. We are too apt to divest the Turks of domestic virtues, yet one cannot but be struck with their extreme fondness for their childrer; beautiful beings they often are, beyond those of any other country. In Damascus, I have many times stopped in the streets to gaze at children of six or eight years of age whose extreme loveliness it was impossible not to admire;-and afterwards in Tripolitza, I cannot forget how the love of a Turkish lady to her two youngest children, risked the murder of herself, her son and daughter, and her most intimate friend. The population of Constantinople has been much overrated; according to General Sebastiani's calculation, while he was ambassador, it does not exceed four hundred thousand; and the suburbs of Pera, Galata, Scutari, &c. with the line of villages along the shores of the Bosphorus, contain eight hundred thousand more. A considerable part of the ground the city covers is taken up with gardens. The areas of the mosques are generally planted with trees, and a fountain, sometimes richly ornamented, stands at the entrance, for a Turk sel- . dom enters without first washing his feet, and, laying aside his shoes, he treads in his soft slippers. The solemnity of this people at their devotions is very striking; whether in the mosque or in the open air, they appear entirely abstracted from all around; and you would think from the expression of their features, that the spirit and the senses were alike devoted to this sacred duty; they are generally silent, save that the sound of Alla, pronounced in a low and humble tone, is often heard. The mosques are in general unadorned, and the architecture quite simple; the name of God and passages from the Koran are inscribed in gold letters on the walls. A lofty corridor goes all round the interior of the building; the circular space in the middle, where the pulpit of the Imaun stands, is lighted by a dome at the top. The assembly range themselves beneath the corridor on mats and carpets; the greater part of the time is occupied in prayer. 1 The habits of an Oriental are very simple; the absence of every kind of public amusement and dissipation with his rigid adherence to all the usages of his fathers, makes one day the picture of every other. A Turk of good condition rises with the sun; and as he sleeps on soft cushions, divesting himself but of a small part of his dress, it costs him little trouble at the toilet. He offers up his prayer, and then breakfasts on a cup of coffee, some sweetmeats, and the luxury of his pipe. Perhaps he will read the Koran, or the glowing poetry of Hafiz and Sadi, for a knowledge of the Persian is the frequent accomplishment of the upper ranks of both sexes. He then orders his Arab horse, and rides for two or three hours, or exercises with the jerrid, and afterwards dines about mid-day on a highly seasoned pilaw. In the afternoon, the coffee-houses, where the Eastern story-tellers resort, are favourite places of entertainment; or seated in his cool kiosk, on the banks of the Bosphorus, he yields to his useless but delightful habit of musing. But the decline of day brings the Turk's highest joys: he then dines on a variety of seasoned dishes, drinks his iced sherbet, enjoys probably a party of his friends; and afterwards visits the Harem, where his beloved children are brought him, and his wife or wives, if he has more than one, with her attendants and slaves, exert all their powers of fascination for their lord. The Nubian brings him the richest perfumes; the Circassian, excelling in her loveliness, presents the spiced coffee and the rare confection made by her own hands, and tunes her guitar or lute, the sounds of which are mingled with the murmurs of the fountain on the marble pavement beneath. IN The utter desolation of the unhappy Greeks forces itself on one's notice every day. The spacious quarter of the Fanal, entirely inhabited by them, is now nearly deserted. The animating spectacle, which the Bosphorus often presented at evening, of their pleasure-boats filled with Greek beauty and gaiety, has quite disappeared. Two fine palaces which stood at the water's edge were inhabited by two brothers, who held financial situations under the government. Being suspected, their heads were cut off on the same day; and their palaces, as we sailed by them, were forsaken. The sweet shaded scenes around the hamlets and cottages on the shore, where this once happy people delighted to dance in groups to the mandoline, and sing the songs of their native land, are now mute. At times, in walking along the Bosphorus, you may meet some wretched Greek flying from his pursuers, or see some murdered body floating near the shore. I mingled one day in a group of the lowest Turks, who were gazing on the corpse of one of their victims with an appearance of great satisfaction. One of them took hold of the body with a hook to throw it into the sea; but another wretch instantly stepped forwards, and stripped it first of all its clothing, when it was cast naked into the water. On visiting a fine khan, near the Fanal, which was frequented by the rich Greek merchants, not a being was to be seen save two Persian merchants, seated 1 1 |