Lady M. W. Montagu to the Countess of Bute-Constantinople. and people walk here as much for diversion as business. The markets are most of them handsome squares, and admirably well provided, perhaps better than in any other part of the world. I know you'll expect I should say something particular of the slaves; and you will imagine me half a Turk, when I don't speak of it with the same horror other Christians have done before me. But I cannot forbear applauding the humanity of the Turks to these creatures; they are never ill used, and their slavery is, in my opinion, no worse than servitude all over the world. 'Tis true they have no wages, but they give them yearly clothes to a higher value than our salaries to our ordinary servants. But you'll object that men buy women with an eye to evil. In my opinion, they are bought and sold as publicly and as infamously in all our Christian great cities. I must add to the description of Constantinople, that the historical pillar is no more. It dropped down about two years before I came to this part of the world. I have seen no other footsteps of antiquity except the aqueducts, which are so vast that I am apt to believe they are yet more ancient than the Greek Empire. The Turks, indeed, have clapped in some stones with Turkish inscriptions, to give the natives the honor of so great a work; but the deceit is easily discovered. The other public buildings are the hans and monasteries; the first are very large and numerous; the second, few in number and not at all magnificent. I had the curiosity to visit one of them, and to observe the devotions of the dervises, which are as whimsical as any at Rome. These fellows have permission to marry, but are confined to an odd habit, which is only a piece of coarse white cloth, wrapped about them, with their legs and arms naked. Their Lady M. W. Montagu to the Countess of Bute-Constantinople. order has few other rules, except that of performing their fantastic rites every Tuesday and Friday, which is done in this manner: They meet together in a large hall, where they all stand with their eyes fixed on the ground, and their arms across, while the imaum or preacher reads part of the Alcoran from a pulpit placed in the midst; and when he has done, eight or ten of them make a melancholy concert with their pipes, which are no unmusical instruments. Then he reads again, and makes a short exposition on what he has read; after which they sing and play, till their superior (the only one of them dressed in green) rises and begins a sort of solemn dance. They all stand about him in a regular figure, and while some play, the others tie their robe (which is very wide) fast round their waist, and begin to turn round with an amazing swiftness, and yet with great regard to the music, moving slower or faster as the tune is played. This lasts above an hour, without any of them showing the least appearance of giddiness, which is not to be wondered at when it is considered they are all used to it from their infancy; most of them being devoted to this way of life from their birth. There turned amongst them some little dervises of six or seven years old, who seemed no more disordered by that exercise than the others. At the end of the ceremony they shout out: "There is no other God but God, and Mahomet his Prophet; " after which they kiss the superior's hand and retire. The whole is performed with the most solemn gravity. Nothing can be more austere than the form of these people; they never raise their eyes, and seem devoted to contemplation. And as ridiculous as this is in description, there is something touching in the air of submission and mortification they assume. This letter is of a horrible length; but you may burn it when you have read enough, etc. A E. D. Clarke to the Rev. William Otter-Jerusalem. XVI. JERUSALEM. E. D. Clarke to the Rev. William Otter. CONVENT OF ST. SALVADOR, JERUSALEM, July 10th, 1801. The date! the date's the thing! You will thank me for a letter dated Jerusalem; more for that little local honor stuck in its front than for all the fine composition and intelligence it may contain. I hardly yet feel the reality of my being here, and when I reflect, and look back on the many years in which I vainly hoped for this happiness-on my fatigue, and fevers, and toil-I am ready to sink beneath the weight of an accomplishment possessing so much influence on my life; for all my hopes centered here; all my plans, speculations, wishes, were concerned in travels, and without visiting Egypt, Syria, and Greece, my travels, however extensive, would have appeared to me to want that nucleus which, like the heart, is necessary to give life and sensation to the body. If I could repose a little, I should now, I think, be found more quiet for my future life. A stillness must succeed to the gratification of desires which have so long irritated my mind and body. I have done my portion, and am satisfied. If I set down in old England's meadows, I may hope to listen no more to schemes of enterprise, but leave it to younger and stronger men to visit those regions, which I have no longer the wish nor the power to explore. Do not fear that I shall give you a new edition of old Sandys, or Maundrell, or Ranwolff. I came not here in an age of credulity, though sufficiently an enthusiast. But what blind or wilful ignorance has caused the Christians of this place, through several ages, to show a spot as the house of Dives, and another of the Samaritan? converting the parables of our Saviour to realities, and giving the lie to the Gospels. It mat E. D. Clarke to the Rev. William Otter-Jerusalem. ters not, there are antiquities of the highest character around the city. We have been falsely taught to believe that nothing was to be seen here but monks, and monasteries, and relics, and pilgrims, and ignorance, and folly. It is not true! Jerusalem is, of all the cities in the East, one of the most interesting to which our historic traveller can resort for information. Leaving apart the common mummery which occupies its daily visitants, there is enough yet untouched and undescribed to bring pilgrims of a very different description from the universities of Europe to pursue the most important inquiries. If you find that what I shall write is new, and worthy your attention, it will prove what might be discovered here by men having more time and better talents. To me it appears as though the eyes of former travellers had been entirely shut upon their coming here, or that they were so occupied by the monks and their stories that they neglected to go out of the walls. : To those interested in evangelical history, no spectacle can be more mortifying than Jerusalem in its present state. The mistaken zeal of early Christians in their attempts to preserve, has for the most part annihilated those testimonies which might have remained at this day to establish the authenticity of the Gospel, and for which such expense and danger was encounered. Their labors are only calculated to excite regret, if not ndignation; and, sighing over the havoc made by the pious hands of the Crusaders, of the Empress Helena, and Godfrey of Bouillon, you would lament that the Holy Land was ever escued from the hands of Saracens, far less barbarous than heir conquerors. "Quanto praestantius esset Numen aquae viridi si margine clauderet undas; E. D. Clarke to the Rev. William Otter-Jerusalem. The absurdity of hewing the rocks of Mount Calvary into gilded chapels, and disguising the Holy Sepulchre by coverings of marble and painted domes, has so effectually removed or concealed all that might have borne witness to the history of the Crucifixion, that a visit to Jerusalem has often weakened, instead of fortifying the faith of pilgrims, many of whom have returned worse Christians than they came. This may be the case with those who seek for guidance in the works and relations of ignorant monks; but Jerusalem will be no source of incredulity to men who, with the Gospel in their hands, and a proper attention to history, tread over the ground, shutting their ears and opening their eyes. More pleasing is the prospect from the summit of Mount Olivet, Mount Sion, or the insulated top of Tabor, in the plains of Esdraelon. Thence all Jerusalem is presented to your view, and such confirmation of the accuracy of the Scriptures, that the earliest records to which history can refer appear the most authentic. The wild Arab, journeying with his immense family, with his camels, his oxen, his mules, and his asses, is still the picture of patriarchal manners. Customs that were thought peculiar to people who have disappeared in the lapse of ages, characterize, at this moment, the inhabitants of the same countries. Novelty, so adored in Europe, has few charms in Asia. The same habits are transmitted invariably from father to son. A thousand years may pass away, and future travellers find the descendants of Abraham watering their camels by the well of Nahor, while another Rebecca, with the daughters of the men of the city, come down, with pitchers on their shoulders and draw waters from the well; wearing ear-rings of half : shekel weight, and bracelets ten shekels weight of gold. Visit |