Mosque of Sultan Bayazid

Mosque of Sultan Bayazid, called by travellers The Pigeon Mosque, on the Seraskerat Parade Ground, is interesting solely on account of its courtyard, which is the finest and most picturesque of any mosque court in Constantinople. The columns supporting the numerous domes of the arcade running round it were taken from Greek monuments and churches ; in the centre is a beautiful ablution fountain surrounded by trees. This courtyard serves as a place of business for numerous public letter-fariters, seal-cutters, vendors of rosaries and Oriental perfumes.

During Eamazan it is crowded with tents containing stalls for the sale of all kinds of Egyptian and Persian sweets. The building derives its nickname of the ‘Pigeon Mosque ’ from the vast number of pigeons kept in its precincts, all descended from a single pair of these birds, bought from a poor woman by Sultan Bayazid and presented by him to the mosque. Travellers wishing to do so are allowed to feed the birds with grain, which can be procured for a piastre or two at the grain stall kept on purpose in the yard. The food of these birds is, however, provided for out of donations and funds bequeathed to the mosque for that purpose by pious Moslems.

Rustem Pasha Mosque, at Yemiss Iskelessi, just beyond the Egyptian bazaar, is remarkable for its tile-work, and will be found interesting by connoisseurs of this branch of art. Admission 10 piastres (Is. 8d.) each; less is also accepted.

Valideh Mosque, called Yenl Valideh Jamesl by the Turks, stands close to the Stambul end of Galata Bridge. Entrance through the gate opposite the Turkish General Post Office; only the galleries and Sultan’s private pew are visited; admission 5 piastres per head. This mosque, commenced in 1615 by the wife of Ahmed I. private tour istanbul, was completed in 1665 by the mother (Yalideh) of Sultan Muhammad IV. Its walls are covered with beautiful blue tiles, and the stained-glass windows in some of the rooms are very beautiful indeed.

Shah Zadeh mosque

The Tomb of Shah Zadeh (The Prince’s Tomb), in the garden of Shah Zadeh mosque, was erected in 1543-48 by Suleiman the Magnificent in memory of his son Muhammad who died at the age of eighteen. Admission 5 piastres per head. Travellers who are pressed for time should give this tomb the preference; its walls are faced with beautiful tiles of all colours, and a wooden railing in the centre of the building encloses three tombs. The middle one is that of Prince Muhammad (1525-43). The high wooden erection over the grave is said to have been put up by Suleiman’s orders, in allusion to the throne his unfortunate son would have occupied had he lived On the stool by the grave the deceased prince’s robes, said to be richly embroidered, are exhibited once a year during the month of Ramazan. The tomb on the right of Muhammad’s is that of his brother, Prince Mustapha ‘ Zihanghir,’ that on the left contains the remains of his sister.

Visitors should ask to see the beautifully illuminated Koran kept in this mausoleum, and said to have been transcribed by Prince Muhammad, who, however, did not live long enough to complete the work.

The Tomb of Sultan Muhammad II., the Conqueror, situated in the cemetery attached to the mosque of Muhammad II. Admission 10 piastres (Is. 8d.) per head. The tomb is an octagonal building with an interior almost as plain as its exterior. The walls are painted various colours, and are embellished with inscriptions. In a frame hanging before the window facing the door is a transcription of Muhammad’s prophecy, ‘ Thou shalt take Constantinople ; happy the prince, happy the army that achieves this.’ The conqueror’s grave is in the centre of the building, solitary, and surrounded by a wooden railing inlaid with mother- of-pearl. At the head is an enormous turban. On the left when entering, and near the window, is a box said to contain two of the prophet’s teeth lost in battle, and a portion of his beard, which are exhibited to the faithful on the 15th of Ramazan.

SEGMENTS OF A BELT

31. 6. SEGMENTS OF A BELT (?)

Odessos 6th century Gold, pearls, opal, green enamel 35,2 x 0,75 cm; 39,8 g Varna, Regional Museum of History,

32. PECTORAL CROSS – ENCOLPION

34. NECKLACE

A reconstruction 5th – 6th century Rock crystal, cornelian Tsarevets Hill, Veliko Tarnovo

35. TREASUREFROMAK-ALAN,TURKEY

Five belt appliques, 420 gold and 2 silver coins Byzantine workshop 7th century Gold 28,82 g total weight of the appliques; 22 carat gold Accidental find on March 1913, during the Balkan War, while digging trenches at the Chatal Tepe po-sitions, next to the village of Ak-alan, Turkey

The coins belong to Maurice Tiberius (582 – 602), Phokas (602 – 610), and Herakleios with his son Her-

akleios Constantine (610 – 641). Most probably the treasure was buried about the mid 7th century during one of the raids against Constantinople tour bulgaria.

Byzantium 10th -11th century

Silver 5,4 cm; l. of the rosette 0,013 cm

Discovered during the archaeological research of the administrative centre near the fortress of Per- perikon Kardzhali, Regional Museum of History,

37. MODEL OF A MATRIX FOR PRODUCING A METAL ICON WITH THE SCENE OF THE ANNUNCIATION

Constantinople? 12th – early 13th century Bronze 10,5 x 12,7 x 1 cm Provenance unknown Star a Zagora, Regional Museum of History,

38. MEDALLION FROM AN ICON

Byzantium First half of the 12th century Bone gold plated Diam. 2,8 cm; t. 0,2 cm

Discovered together with three more medallions from the same icon during archaeological research of the Medieval fortress of Assara near Zvezdel Mine, Kardzhali region Kardzhali, Regional Museum of History,

A round plate bearing the bust image of an angel in relief.

39. MEDALLION FROM AN ICON

Byzantium First half of the 12th century Bone, the gilding now damaged Diam. 2,8 cm; t. o,2 cm

Discovered in the Medieval fortress of Assara near Zvezdel Mine, Kardzhali region Kardzhali, Regional Museum of History,

A round plate bearing the bust image of a saint – warrior in relief.

40. MEDALLION FROM AN ICON

Byzantium

First half of the 12th century Bone gold plated Diam. 2,8 cm; t. 0,2 cm Discovered in the Medieval fortress of Assara near Zvezdel Mine, Kardzhali region Kardzhali, Regional Museum of History,

A round plate bearing the bust image of a saint – warrior in relief.

41. MEDALLION FROM AN ICON

Byzantium

First half of the 12th century Bone gold plated Diam. 2,8 cm; t. 0,2 cm Discovered in the Medieval fortress of Assara near Zvezdel Mine, Kardzhali region

A round plate bearing the bust image of Christ Pantokrator in relief.

42. PLATE Restored

Probably Corinth Second half of the 12th – early 13th century Ceramics, engobe H. 4,8 cm; diam. 24,4 cm

Discovered during archaeological research in Paleocastro area, Anhtalo, Burgas regton

Three animal figures engraved on the bottom – a horse, a running rabbit above it, and likely a similar figure below the horse’s legs. Coiling ivy (or wine) sprouts on both sides of the horse

River Kamchiya

South along the E-87 highway is the mouth of the River Kamchiya which flows through the Longoza reserve. A monument erected where the river flows into the sea commemorates a group of political immigrants who came to Bulgaria by submarine in 1941 to take part in the struggle against fascism.

The Kamchiya tourist complex combines all the qualities of a seaside resort with the beautiful scenery of the Longoza reserve. The Kamchiya and Longoza hotels offer 500 beds,

while the Rai campsite, the largest campmg ground in Bulgaria, has accommodation for 6,000, and the Pirin and Kamchiya camp sites have accommodation for 1,000 each. There are two restaurants, bar, food pavilions and souvenir shops. There are five other restaurants – Kamchiya, Kamchiiska Liliya, Kamchiiska Sreshta, Piknik and Nestinari which serve fish dishes city tours istanbul.

Four kilometres from the turning to the Kamchiya resort complex is the village of Staro Oiyahovo and the nearby resort, Skorpilovtsi with two camp sites, three restaurants, various pavilions and shops. The beach is of dunes and the sea is clean and shallow. The Horizont and Izgiev camp sites have accommodation for about 3,500, bungalows for 200 and two restaurants.

26 kilometres along the highway is Obzor (pop. 1,8001 with a wonderful combination of seaside and mountain resort. It has three restaurants and two camp sites, Prostor and Sluntse, in its surroundings.

About 35 kilometres further along the E-87 is Slunchev Bryag, the largest Bulgarian seaside resort. It has 106 hotels, with a total of 25,500 beds, 41 large restaurants, three places of entertainment and three camp sites accommodating 3,200,

Slunchev Bryag

Slunchev Bryag is an exotic resort and is a favourable with foreign tourists. Here the sand is finer, with small dunes on the beach, the water is shallow, the sandy seabed slopes gently and the sun is perfect. It is only four kilometres from the fairy-tale peninsula town of Nessebur.

The buildings successfully combine the traditions of old Bulgaria with modem conceptions. Glass facades admit the maximum amount of sunshine, while vaulted and yokesbaped eaves, walls and verandahs covered with vines and quiet inner courtyards provide an ideal environment, attractive to thousands of holidaymakers from all over the world.

The beach here is six kilometres long and more than 150 metres wide in places. The temperature in July averages 22°C rarely reaching more than 30°C. Gentle sea breezes keep the air fresh and the nights are cool.

The medical clinic is some 200 metres from Diamant Hotel, left of the main road leading to Varna, There are also two pharmacies, one next to the clinic and the other near the post office, both open from 8,00 a,m. to 8.0 pm.

Slunchev Bryag is a children’s paradise. Day care centres are organized under the supervision of qualified teachers, trained nurses and doctors. For a minimum fee, children can be looked after in kindergartens near Hotels Persenk, Balkan, Gramada. Trakia. Continental, Zornitsa and Mercury.

Near the Hotels Sokol and Iskur tennis courts are open from 7.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. The mini-golf course next to Hotels Sever, Iskur and Balaton is also open from 7.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.

A small electric train links Fregata Bar at the southern end with the night club Vyatarna Melmtsa (Windmill) at the northern. There is a bus service between Fregata Bar and the Hanska Shatra Tavern. Bicycles may be hired at the information bureau near Ropotamo Hotel.

Before Vama

Some 18 km before Vama, is the Stone Forest — a semidesert area covered with yellow sand and groups of stone columns up to 6-7 m high. They are supposed to have been formed as a result of the action of the wind, water and sand, which eroded the softer rocks, leaving the hardei ones. Recently another group of stone trees was found near the village of Beloslav.

SOFIA – KARLOVO – KAZANLUK – MOUNT SHIPKA – SLIVEN – ROURGAS – SLUNCHEV BRYAG (440 km)

This route runs along one of Bulgaria’s most modem mo-torways, E-772, between the Balkan Range and Sredna Gora mountain towards the sea, crossing the famous Valley of Roses. The road climbs the Sarantsi saddle and Gulubets hill and then descends into Zlatitsa-Pirdop valley to the town of Srednogo- rie (pop. 15,800) which was founded in 1978 by merging the towns of Zlatitsa and Pirdop and has refineries for copper, blue vitriol, rare and white metals. 20 km south is the Pana- gyurski kolonii resort.

Bulgaria’s largest Coppermine (Medet) is nearby.

16 km from Srednogorie a detour leads to Koprivshtitsa (pop. 3,600) situated on both sides of the Topolnitsa River at an altitude of 1,060 m. Every street and every house here is a monument to the heroic past of this region. It was here that the first shot was fired on 20 April 1876 to mark the outbreak of the April Uprising against the Turks. Many historical and architectural monuments from the National Revival period have been preserved. The houses of Koprivshtitsa. are particularly interesting — higti spacious buildings with carved wooden decorations, solid stone walls and heavy wooden gates. The oldest architectural monument is the Pavlikenska House, early 18th century. Other buildings include craftsmen’s writers’and revolutionaries’houses. Koprivshtitsa was the first town liberated by the partisans on 24 March 1944.

Hotels: Koprivshtitsa, one star, tel. 21-18; Barikadite — (18 km southwest, 3 storeys, 30 beds, restaurant, night club and national taverna. Tel. 20-91).

The next stop along the E-772 isKlissoura (pop. 2,000) — a small mountainous town burnt down during the April 1876 Uprising. The village of Rozino follows, famous for its rose gardens and rose-distilleries. Next is Sopot (11,000), buried in greenery and steeped in the romanticism of the National Revival period. The patriarch of Bulgarian literature — Ivan Va- zov (1850-1921) was bom here and his birth place is now a museum of the National Revival Period, The Museum of Ivan Zagoubanski, courier for the underground Iskra newspaper published in Munich. Balkantourist hotel — Stara Planina — 2 stars, accommodating 84, restaurant. Tel.: 21-23 and 21-25.

Karlovo (pop. 26,000) is situated in the centre of the Valley of Roses and is an important transport junction. The town was well-known in Vienna and Egypt during the National Revival period, thanks to its trade with attar of roses and craftsmen’s goods. The revolutionary during liberation from Ottoman domination — Vassil Levski (1837-1873) was bom here and his birth place is now a museum sofia guided tours.

Koprivshtitsa. The monument to GeorgiBenkovski

Balkantourist hotel — Rozova Dolina, accommodating 105; a restaurant. Sofia hotel, a tourist hostel. The next town in the Valley of Roses is Kalofer (pop. 6,000), situated on both banks of the Toundja river, 17 km from Karlovo. It was founded in the 16th century, by refugees after the Ottoman invasion. It developed rapidly probably as a crafts centre. It is the birth place of the poet-revolutionary Hristo Botev (1848 -1876). Roza hotel 2 stars, 2 floors, 50 beds, a tourist hostel.

Further east 39 km from Kalofer is Kazanluk (pop. 58,0) , founded in the 15th century. It was known in the past only as a producer of attar of roses, but today it is an important industrial centre as well.

ARCHITECTURE

Bulgaria has architectural monuments from the Thracian period (settlement, tombs, fortress walls), from the Ancient Greece (a settlement along the Black Sea coast — Messemvria — present day Nessebur), from the Odessa (Varna), from Ap- polonia (Sozopol); from the Roman Empire — Escus (now the village of Tigel), Nikopolis ad Istrum (village ofNukyup), Ab- ritus (Razgrad), Trimontium (Plovdiv). The greatest medieval structures are in Pliska, Veliki Preslav, Tumovgrad, and Boya- na. National Revival buildings of some note are in Rila, Bach- kovo, Troyan, Plovdiv, Kotel, Tryavna, Koprivshtitsa, Zheravna. Of special interest are the buildings by the master builder Kolyu Ficheto (bridge near the village of By ala, Trinity Church in Svishtov, Nikoli Inn at Veliko Turnovo). More recent architecture can be seen in the buildings of the National Assembly, Ivan Vazov National Theatre, the mineral baths building, market hall and the National Museum in Sofia, theatres in Rousse and Varna, etc. Many public buildings, theatres and stadiums have been built in recent years, all pointing to a very high standard of imagination and inspired functionalism.

MUSIC

From earliest times songs recounting actual events have been handed down from generation to generation. Yoan fcoukouzel, the Angel-voiced, was an important composer in the 14th century. From modem Bulgarian composers as Manolov, Dobri Hristov, Petko Stainov, Pancho Vladigerov should be mentioned. Bulgarian choral works, operas and instrumental music have gained popularity on a world scale daily tours istanbul. Many Bulgarian opera singers perform in the greatest opera houses of the world.

THEATRE

The first theatres in Bulgaria were founded during the Ottoman domination (mid 19th century) and starred as amateur ensembles. Professional theatre dates from 1892 when the Suiza i Smyah Drama Company was established, it became the National Theatre in 1904.

AMATEUR ART

A wealth of folk songs and dances is kept alive in every town and village in Bulgaria. Folk art is an essential ingredient of life in Bulgaria.

CINEMA

Although films were produced in Bulgaria prior to 1944, Bulgarian film has developed greatly only post 1945.

They are the original Bulgarian teaching institutions which played a prominent part in preserving national traditions and the identity of the Bulgarian people during the Ottoman domination. The first theatrical performances, the first public libraries, the first choirs and orchestras originated in these dubs. Many of them have valuable collections, art galleries, radio and film clubs, photography, literature and drama circles and schools for foreign languages, music and ballet.

Physical Education and Sport. In recent years, sport has gained popularity in all walks of life and among the young in particular. The National Spartakiades are very popular and enlist the participation of thousands. Bulgarian sportsmen and women have been particularly successful In rhythmic gymnastics, wrestling, weightlifting, track and field events (women), basketball and volleyball.

Previously established plan

The city was built after a previously established plan. Two gates, well defended — one by bastions, led to the centre of the city from the north and the west. Two principal streets led to it, intersecting at right angles at the city square (agora). The remaining streets ran parallel to the main thoroughfares, and were consequently perpendicular to each other. The houses are most interesting as regards plan. They usually have many rooms arranged around a central court. Some of the houses were two-storeyed and had balconies supported by wooden columns.

Among other features, the pastas type of house, the predecessor of the Greek peristyle house, is also found here. Water was supplied by wells. Nor was a drainage system lacking, as both domestic and city drains are found. The ruler’s residence was the most important building, with a 40 m. front; it was a two-storey building, richly decorated and possessing among others, a vast chamber, decorated with incrustations in many colours. Many coins were found in the city — Thracian, Macedonian and so on. Trade and the crafts were well developed here. The population outside the town was mainly occupied with farming, cattle raising and fishing. Many objects were found in Seutho- polis, especially vessels, mainly pottery both locally made and imported. Oil and wine were imported from the Island of Thasos, as evidenced by the numerous Thasian amphora-stamps.

Seuthopolis, founded by Seuthes III , the Thracian ruler, contemporary of Alexander the Great and Lysimachus, only existed up to the end of the 3rd century travel bulgaria

, when it was burnt down and destroyed.

History of Thrace

The 3rd century was a most stormy period in the history of Thrace. The wars of the Diadochi and the Epigoni more than once affected the Thracian lands to the South along the coast. Here, the Seleucids, the Ptolomids and the Macedonians all contended for supremacy with the Attalids. To these wars were added the invasions of the Celts, who maintained themselves in Thrace for about 60 years, where they founded a state of their own.

Its last ruler (Cavarus) minted bronze and silver coins, established relations with the Greek colonies and interfered with their relations, as was the case with Byzantium, for instance. Other objects of Celtish origin besides the coins of Cavarus are found in the Bulgarian lands. The capital of their kingdom, Tyls, has not yet been discovered. Certain tumuli are attributed to the Celts, but they are absolutely poor. One of the most beautiful finds discovered so far and certainly of Celtic origin, is a gold torque of considerable size found at the village of Archar, Vidin district.

At the end of the 3rd century B. C. the Roman state appeared in the Western part of the Mediterranean as a new world power, and after defeating Carthage, its most dangerous rival, it intervened in the relations of the Hellenic states in the east. The Balkan Peninsula, with its fertile plains and natural wealth, with its freedom-loving and militant peoples and tribes, stood in their way.

The struggle between Rome and the Balkan peoples lasted for over two centuries until the peninsula was conquered. The Thracians were the last to lay down their arms. The highly developed military technique and organization of the Romans got the better of the bravery and self-denial of the Thracians. Out of their lands were formed the two Balkan provinces of Moesia, about 15 A. D., and Thrace about 46 A. D. An extremely numerous army was placed in the Roman camps and fortresses, mainly along the Danube. It was ready to appear at any threatened spot, moving rapidly along the newly made roads, and to crush any attempt at an uprising on the part of the subjected peoples.

Church of St. Sophia

Another building in Sofia, preserved from the end of the antique period, is the Church of St. Sophia of which further mention will be made. The excavations undertaken many years ago around, and pariicularly in the church itself, established that the present building, which is a vaulted basilica with a cupola, was built only in the 6th or 7th century A. D. on the site of two smaller 4th or 5th century churches, which had been consecutively destroyed by the invading Huns and Goths. This was a cemetery church situated outside the city walls. The floors of both the older churches were covered with beautiful mosaics. Numerous graves were found around the churches at the time, as well as masonry tombs, some of which were richly decorated with mural paintings. The necropolis is Early Christian and dates back to the 3th or 6th century. There are also graves of the 10th to 14th century.

Although very rarely, certain ancient buildings were preserved for a long time, and even up to the present day in certain other towns. Thus, for instance, even to this day the ruins of a big building, called the Roman tower, are to be seen in Varna; its walls bear traces of having been built and re-built many times at later dates. Passages of tremendous length now form deep basements beneath this building. It was probably a big public building or fortified palace of the 3rd century A. D. which was later partly destroyed, only parts of it being used in the Middle Ages and preserved to the present day travel bulgaria. In Plovdiv the remains of Trimontium’s (the Town of Three Hills) walls have been preserved on Djambaz Tepe; they show traces of extensive repairs at a later date. However, the walls of the former Roman city of Augustae — today known as Hissarya Spa near Levskigrad, are in the best state of preservation.

The southern city gate, known as the «Camels» impresses the approaching traveller with its colossal body, rising on the road leading to the town, although it has lost the two square towers that formerly flanked it, and its upper part. Its plan, and particularly its superstructure, with a tower in the centre, brings to mind the images of city gates found on the coins that were minted in the cities of Thrace and Moesia in the 2nd and 3rd centuries B. C Far more important ruins of the old Roman fortifications were preserved up to the 19th century at many places in the Bulgarian lands, particularly along the Danube. The ruins of Trajan’s Gate in the Ihtiman Pass were particularly imposing; however, as absolutely nothing was done to preserve these ruins before the Liberation from Ottoman bondage and in the years immediately following it, a large part of them was completely destroyed.

The town of Pomorie

One of the most interesting and massive monuments of funeral architecture in the period of Roman rule has been preserved under a mound near the town of Pomorie (ancient Anchialo). The tomb is distinguished both by its plan and its size, as well as by its construction and the original disposition of its space. It consists of a covered vaulted passage, 22 m., long, flanked on both sides by square chambers; the passage leads to the funeral chamber, which is round and has a diameter of 11.60 m., with a brick column in the centre, 3.5 m. in diameter, hollow on the inside with an opening on the south side opposite the passage, and at its top.

The space between the column and the walls of the tomb forms a ring-shaped corridor, 4.05m. wide, 5.50m. high, and semi-cylindrically vaulted, with the column supporting the inner side of the vault, and thus forming a funnel-shaped extension. The tomb is a real mausoleum. Despite the new manner of construction and the new architectural conception, certain elements of the architecture of the old Thracian cupola tombs have, nevertheless,, been preserved in it. The mausoleum may be dated back to the 4th century A. D.

TROYAN MONASTERY

It is situated in the folds of the Balkan Range, some 12 km from the town of Troyan. It was built in the year 1840. The frescoes in its church were painted by the best icon-painters of the Samokov School, including Zahari Zograph. Tourist accommodation is available in the monastery.

ALADJA MONASTERY

It stands 14 km northeast of Varna and 3 km west of the Zlatni Pyassatsi resort complex, in one of the most picturesque areas of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. It is an old monastery carved out of the rocks, consisting of an upper and a lower part. The cells are two and a half metres wide and two metres deep. The length of the church is 11.70 m and its width – 5 m. It is barely 2 m high. On the eastern wall is the altar, in which there are two niches with the comparatively best-preserved mural paintings. Although poorly preserved in general, the murals of the monastery reveal a remarkable development of mediaeval pictorial art. The monastery was most probably founded in the 13th-14th century private tour guide ephesus. 300 m from the monastery are the catacombs – rooms carved out of the rock which were probably used by the monks as dwellings.

The monastery can be reached from Zlatni Pyassatsi on foot along a forest path, or by bus along a panoramic road. From there the road goes on to Varna via Vinitsa village. There are souvenir shops and pavilions for snacks and drinks as well as a fountain.

ZEMEN MONASTERY

It is situated 25 km from Kyustendil on the railway line to Sofia, and is well known for its fine mural paintings dating from the middle of the 14th century. They are very well preserved and among the frescoes which are portraits of contemporaries are those of Deyan, a feudal lord of Kyustendil, and of his wife Doya, patrons of the monastery.

One can travel to the monastery by train as well as by car from Kyustendil or Sofia.

BOYANA CHURCH

At the foot of Mount Vitosha and 10 km from Sofia, stands a unique monument of Bulgarian art — the small Boyana Church, built in the 11th and 13th centuries. Exceptional mural paintings have been preserved in it in an excellent condition. The, unknown Boyana master has succeeded in expressing character traits on the faces of more than 300 large and small human figures, harmoniously distributed in two small compartments. He went beyond the conventionality of the period and became a precursor of the European Renaissance.

Unbroken evolution of human civilisation

There is something alien to the true historic spirit in any race jealousy and ethnological partisanship. History is the unbroken evolution of human civilisation; and the true historians are they who can show us the unity and the sequence of the vast and complex drama. Theories of race are of all speculations the most cloudy and the most misleading.

And to few nations are they less applicable than to England. Our ethnology, our language, our history are as mixed and complex as any of which records exist. Our nationality is as vigorous and as definite as any in the world; but it is a geographical and a political nationality; and not a tribal or linguistic nationality. To unwind again the intricate strands which have been wrought into our English unity, and to range them in classes is a futile task. If we exaggerate the power of one particular element of the English race, one source of the English people, one side of English institutions, one contributory to the English language, we shall find it a poor equipment for historical judgment.

Professor Clifford

Race prejudices are at all times anti-historic. Professor Clifford used to talk about morality as an evolution of the ‘ tribal ’ conscience. Assuredly confusion is the only possible evolution for a ‘tribal ’ history. The Carlylese school, and the Orientalists turkey sightseeing, and the Dentsch and Jutish enthusiasts, bid fair to turn our language and its literature into an ungainly polyglott. Their pages bristle with Bretwaldas and Heretogas, Bnrhs and Mitnds, Folkfriths and Tungere- fas; or with Reicks, Kurffirsts, Pfalzes, and Kaisers.

All this is very well in glossaries, but not in literature. How absurd it is to write — ‘ The Kurfiirst of Koln or ‘ The Ealdorman of the Hwiccas ! ’ It is as if one wrote — ‘The Due of Broglie was once Ministre of the Affaires Etranghes ’; or that ‘ Wellington defeated the Empireur Napolion and all his Mardchauxjust as they do in a lady’s-maid’s high-polite novel. Why are Deutsch and Jutish titles to be introduced any more than French or Spanish? In glossaries they are useful; but histories of England should be written in English. And it is pleasant to turn to a great book of history, like that of Bishop Stubbs; where, in spite of the temptations and often of the necessities of a specialist dealing with a technical subject, the text is not needlessly deformed with obsolete, grotesque, and foreign words.

A wide range of ethnology and philology shows us that these origins and primitive tongues were themselves the issue of others before them, and are only a phase in the long evolution of history and language. These Engles, and Saxons, and Jutes, these Norse and Welsh, had far distant seats, and far earlier modes of speech. They were no more ‘Autochthones’ in the forests of Upper Germany than they were in Wessex and Caint.

Their speech has been traced back to Aryan roots current in Asia. And there, by the latest glimmerings of ethnographic science, we lose all these Cymric, and British, and Teutonic tribes in some (not definable) affinity, in some (not ascertainable) district of Central Asia, with some (not recoverable) common tongue of their own. So that these war cries about the White Horse, and Engles, and Jutes, turn out to mean simply that a very industrious school of historians choose to direct their attention to one particular phase of a movement which is in perpetual flux; and which, in time, in place, and in speech, can be traced back to very distant embryos in the infinite night of conjecture.

It is treason to our country and to scientific history to write, as Mr. Greene ventured to do in his fine and elaborate Making of England, that ‘ with the landing of Hen- gest English history begins.’ The history of England is something more than the tribal records of the Engles. The history of England began with the first authentic story of organised communities of men living in this island: and that most certainly existed since Caesar narrated his own campaigns in Britain.

The history of England, or the history of France, is the consecutive record of the political communities of men dwelling in the lands now called England and France. The really great problem for history is the assimilation of race and the . co-operation of alien forces. And so, too, the note of true literature lies in a loyal submission to the traditions of our composite tongue, and respect for an instrument which is hallowed by the custom of so many masterpieces. Loyal respect for that glorious speech would teach us to be slow how we desecrate its familiar names with brand- new archaisms; how we ruffle its easy flow with alien cacophonies and solecisms, and deform its familiar topog-raphy with hieroglyphic phonograms.

London defies adaptation and adjustment

Size and numbers are not necessarily bad things per se. But unhappily the size and numbers of London have alarming consequences of their own. Great cities have to grow organically, with some kind of self-adaptation to their development. But the increase of London defies adaptation and adjustment. The 70,000 new souls a year arrive before London has time to consider what she can do with them. The bricks pour down in irregular heaps, almost as if, in some cataclysm or tornado, it were raining bricks out of heaven on the earth below. The huge pall of smoke gets denser and more sulphurous, stretching out, they say, some thirty miles into the country, till Berkshire, Bycks, Herts, and Kent are beginning to be polluted by its cloud. From Charing Cross or the Royal Exchange a man has to walk some five or six miles before he can see the blessed meadows or breathe the country air. Few of us ever saw more than half of the city we live in, and some of us never saw nine-tenths of it. We all live more or less in soot and fog, in smoky, dusty, contaminated air, in which trees will no longer grow to full size, and the sulphurous vapour of which eats away the surface of stone.

Our once silver Thames

The beautiful river — our once silver Thames — is a turbid, muddy receptacle of refuse; at times indescribably nasty and unwholesome. The water we drink at times comes perilously near to be injurious to health. Our burying-places, old and new, are a perpetual anxiety and danger. Our sewers pour forth 5,500,0 tons of sewage per week, almost all of it waste- fully and dangerously discharged. An immense proportion of our working population are insufficiently housed, in cheerless, comfortless, and even unhealthy lodgings. Not a few of these are miserable dens or squalid cabins unfit for human dwelling-place sightseeing turkey. Every few years some epidemic breaks out which carries off its thousands. In some four- fifths of London the conditions of life are sadly depressing and sordid, with none of the advantages which city life affords. The amusements, such as they are, are often unworthy of us; the resources of health and recreation are too few; whilst the dangers to life, to morality, to the intelligence, are very real and ever present.

Is this monster city again to double and treble itself? its water supply to get still more precarious and defective, are its dead still more to endanger the living, its dreariness to grow vaster, and its smoke even thicker? It is a strange paradox that, whilst those who have the means are always seeking to get away from London, those who are destitute are perpetually pouring into London; whilst it is the ambition of every well-to-do Londoner to retire to freedom in the country or in the suburbs, it is the instinct of every countryman in distress to find his way up to London.

Constantine discovered on the Bosphorus

1. Nothing further need be said as to the unique source of strength, both for offence and for defence, which the genius of Constantine discovered on the Bosphorus. The removal of the seat of empire from the Tiber to the Bosphorus was the only mode in which the Empire could have been preserved, whilst, at the same time, this made possible its political, religious, and moral transformation. The exact steps, details, and ultimate type of this transformation are precisely the points on which we need light. We see the stupendous machine which this bureaucracy and State Church became, but we know very little about its actual working and its inner life.

We judge its power by results only, and by the startling paradox that the machinery of a most disparate organism goes on working undisturbed by fatuity, strife, and anarchy in the supreme centre. Whatever the vices and follies which raged in the imperial palaces for generations together, disciplined and well-armed troops, powerful navies, military engines and stores, skilful generals, able governors, and expert diplomatists, rise up time after time in infinite succession to save the empire, hold it together, restore its losses, and increase its wealth, and this over the whole period of eight centuries from Theodosius to Isaac Angelus.

2.The material source of this strength in the empire was primarily its sea-power and its command for five centuries of the commerce of the whole Mediterranean. When we study the campaigns of Heraclius and of Nicephorus, when we follow in Leo the Deacon the great expedition to recover Crete, we are struck with the vast maritime resources, the engines and ships of scientific war which the empire possessed in the seventh and tenth centuries. Nothing in Europe at that date could produce any such sea-power. As Nicephorus Phocas very fairly told the angry envoy of Otto ephesus daily tour, he could lay in ashes any sea-board town of the Mediterranean. When the cities of Italy succeeded to the commerce of Constantinople, they held it in shares and fought for it amongst themselves. But until the rise of Venice, Pisa, and Palermo, Constantinople ruled the seas from Sicily to Rhodes, and relatively to her contemporaries with a far more complete supremacy.

Central position in the Bosphorus

3.It was this maritime ascendency, this central position in the Bosphorus, and this vast Mediterranean commerce which was the foundation of the wealth of the empire — a wealth which, relatively to its age, exceeded even the wealth and maritime ascendency of England in our day, which for eight centuries hardly ever suffered a collapse, and was continually being renewed. We must discount the petulant sneers of the irritable Bishop Luitprand, when baffled by the fierce Nicephorus. The silk industry, the embroidery, the mosaic, the enamel, the metal work, the ivory carving, the architecture, the military engineering, the artillery, the marine ‘appliances, the shipbuilding art; the trade in corn, spices, oil, and wine; the manuscripts, the illuminations of Byzantium, far surpassed anything else in Europe to be found in the epoch between the reign of Justinian and the rise of the Italian cities. Much of what we call mediaeval art decoration and art fabrics had their real origin, both industrial and aesthetic, on the Bosphorus, or were carried on there as their metropolitan centre.

Nowhere else in Europe under the successors of Clovis and Charlemagne could such churches have been raised as those of the Holy Wisdom and Irene, such palaces as that beside the Hippodrome or the Boucoleon, such mighty fortifications as those which stretched from Blachernae to the Propontis. Nowhere could Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries produce such enormous wealth as that possessed by Theophilus, Basil i., or Constantine Porphyrogennetus, or equip such fleets and armies as those of Nicephorus, John Zimisces, and Basil.

We are accustomed to compare the art and the civilisation of the Byzantine Empire with those of much later ages than its own, mainly because we have nothing else wherewith to compare it of its own epoch. If we honestly set it against the contemporary state of Europe, from the era of Justinian to that of the Crusades, it will be seen to be not only supreme in the traditions of civilisation, but almost to stand alone. In the eleventh century, without doubt, Western Europe was organised, and began its triumphant career, with the Catholic Church and the feudal organism in full development; and from that date the Byzantine Empire ceased to be pre-eminent. But its vast resources and the splendour and civilised arts of Constantinople still continued to amaze the Crusaders, even down to the thirteenth century.

The indigo the current grape

The climate, the continuous blaze of the sun, the long months of complete drought, the dusty plains and dry water-courses, the aloes, the date palms, the cotton, the indigo, the current-grape, the jackal, the cha- maeleon, and the small crocodile — even the camel which has been seen in use — are Eastern and Southern rather than European. When we land in Greece, we find ourselves in the middle of the week before last, that is to say, they still use the Calendar of the Eastern Church, and are twelve days behind us in Europe. And in A.D. 1900 this will have become thirteen days, for in the West we shall omit that leap-year and gain another day. In Greece they talk of the post coming in from Europe, which it only does when a ship arrives, and they speak of European things, in the sense of foreign. In spite of the conventional statements of the geographers, Greece is not in Europe; but a half-. way house between Europe and Asia.

Another important fact, which the geographers ignore, is this — that Greece is an island for any practical purpose — or rather an interminable string of islands scattered along the Eastern Mediterranean over a space of sea that may measure some 500 miles, both north and south, east and west. The maps may show Greece as a prolongation of the Balkan Peninsula; but it would not be practicable for an ordinary traveller to reach Greece except by sea. Athens, though it is a capital city of Europe, cannot be reached by the continental railways.

The train will carry us direct from Calais to the furthest extremities of the Spanish, Italian, Austrian, Russian, and even Turkish dominions in Europe. But railways do not reach in the Balkan Peninsula south of Salonica, in Turkey. The Romans and the Turks had roads into Greece proper; but it is now unsafe, very fatiguing, and costly, to travel by land from Salonica to Athens, and nobody does so. Hence, practically, socially, politically, and economically speaking, Greece is an island, a vast cluster of islands placed in the Egean Sea, very far East and very far South. Athens lies east of Poland and of Hungary. The whole of Greece lies south of Naples and Taranto; and Crete lies south of the Algerian coast and of any point of Europe bulgaria trips.

Greece by sea

We must go to Greece by sea: and the sea voyage is most instructive. There is a long, lonely, restless stretch of sea, some 400 miles broad between the coast of Sicily and sight of the mountains of Attica. When the vast pinnacle of Aetna, with its trailing pennon of smoke, a pinnacle which hour after hour seems to rise in the sky, at last fades out of sight in the west, a long reach of unbroken sea has to be ploughed. Long before we sight the mountains of Taygetus or the headlands of Taenarum or Malea, between which lies the vale of ‘Hollow Lacedaemon,’ one has come to realise that we have left Europe far behind and are entering on the land of the rising sun. The old saw ran — ‘ When you have passed Cape Malea, make your will and say farewell to your kindred.’ That is no longer necessary or even prudent. But by the time that we have rounded Cape Malea and are steering north-east instead of south-east, it breaks upon us that we have left Europe some distance behind us.

Whatever geographers may pretend, there is not any such country as Greece—and there never was. There is no definitely marked portion of Europe inhabited by a people politically and socially one, with national traditions and habits. There is not now, and there never has been in ancient or in modern times. If we take a list of the illustrious Greeks of antiquity, we shall find that far the larger part of them belonged not to continental Greece proper, but to Greek communities spread out over the world from the coast of Spain to the banks of the Euphrates, from the Euxine to the coast of Africa.

Ancient City was dark enough

The obverse to the bright picture of the Ancient City was dark enough. If the citizens engaged in war, and war was always, until the consolidation of empire by Rome, a possible event, defeat meant the risk of having the city razed to the ground, or turned into an open village; sometimes a general massacre, or slavery for man and woman. Or, if in domestic politics, a crisis occurred, which with us means a change of government, in Greece or Italy it might imply to the losers at the ballot confiscation and exile; and the defeated party, be they democrat or aristocrat, lost home and country, and became outcasts and outlaws until they could get a reversal of the sentence.

Furthermore, it must be remembered that the full privileges of citizen belonged only to a portion of the inhabitants of the city — a portion which might not exceed one-tenth, whilst ninety per cent, of the actual dwellers within the walls might be slaves, freedmen, aliens, strangers, clients; and camp-followers. And the slaves in the public service, in the mines and factories, or in the farms, docks, ships, or warehouses led a life too often of appalling misery and toil. Even the household slaves who shared the intimacy of their master or mistress, who were often their superiors in culture and refinement, were liable to horrible punishments, to bodily and moral degradation, and to any cruelty or insult which brutality and caprice might inflict city tours istanbul.

During the brilliant age at Greece

During the brilliant age at Greece, and at last under the empire at Rome, domestic life in our modern sense was stunted or corrupt. At Greece, the wife was too often the drudge or the appendage of the household; at Rome, she too often became the tyrant. Female society in its higher meaning was unknown, unless in a depraved sense. Vice, indolence, indecency, were not only things not involving shame, but things which in an elegant form were a matter of public pride.

Thus this apotheosis of the City had both black and brilliant sides. But there is no essential connexion between its bright and its dark aspect. This religious veneration of the City, this worship of the City as the practical type of religion, was extravagant, anti-social, and inhuman in the wider sense of patriotism and human duty. But it had elements of fixity, of dignity, of reality, and of moral and religious fervour, that are wholly unknown to our city life, inconceivable even by us, elements to which our tepid Patriotism makes but a feeble approach.

The citizens were not indeed the members of a great nation, but a very close, jealous, and selfish civic aristocracy. Within their own order they gave the world fine examples of equality, simplicity, sociability, and public devotion, such as are hardly intelligible to modern men, such as no republican enthusiasm has ever in modern days attempted to revive. In the horror of dirt and the religion of personal health and perfection, they gave the world inimitable examples at which we look back in wonder and awe. For the love of beauty we have taken to us the love of comfort; for the profusion of art we have substituted material production; for the religio loci we prefer the vague immensities of the Universe; in place of public magnificence and social communion, we make idols of our domestic privacy and private luxuriousness.

ANCIENT MEDIAEVAL MODERN IDEAL

Since this essay appeared in 1890, Miss Betham-Edwards has published her own most valuable and interesting survey, her France of To-day, 2 vols., 1892-94. This book is the result of her exhaustive study of French agriculture, over twenty-five years. It forms the pendant to Arthur Young, and as being a study exactly one hundred years later, over the same ground and embodying an even more extensive knowledge of France than that of the old traveller, it becomes a work of rare value to the student of history and of politics. Miss Betham-Edwards is also the well-known author of several other books of travel in France; and her readers rejoice to learn that her life-long labours have received most honourable recognition from the Government of France as well as that of England.

Fluctnat nec mergitur should be the motto not of Paris but of France. The indomitable endurance of her race has enabled her to surmount crushing disasters, .losses, and disappointments under which another race would have sunk. She bears with ease a national debt the annual charge of which is more than double that of wealthy England, and a taxation nearly double that of England, with almost the same population — a permanent taxation (exceeding 100 francs per head) greater than has ever before been borne by any people. She loses over one war, a sum not much short of the whole national debt of England, and she writes off, without a murmur, a loss of 1,200,000,000 francs, thrown into the Panama Canal. If France is thus strong, the backbone of her strength is found in the marvellous industry and thrift of her peasantry. And if her peasantry are industrious and thrifty, it is because the Revolution of ’89 has secured to them a position more free and independent than that presented by any monarchical country on the continent of Europe city tour istanbul.

THE CITY: ANCIENT — MEDIAEVAL — MODERN — IDEAL

The life that men live in the City gives the type and measure of their civilisation. The word civilisation means the manner of life of the civilised part of the community of the city-men, not of the country-men, who are called rustics, and once were called pagans, or the heathens of the villages. Hence, inasmuch as a city is a highly organised and concentrated type of the general life of an epoch or people, if we compare the various types of the city, we are able to measure the strength and weakness of different kinds of civilisation.

How enormous is the range over which city-life extends, from the first cave-men and dug-out wigwams in prehistoric ages to the complex arrangements and appliances of modern Paris (which we may take as the type of the highly organised modern city of Europe). How vast is the interval between one kind of town-life and another kind ! — say comparing Bagdad with Chicago, or Naples with Staleybridge.

The differences in the humblest forms of rural life are far less apparent, whether we deal with different epochs or different races. The ploughman and the shepherd to-day on the Cotswolds, or the Cheviots, certainly the tenants of mud-cabins in Connemara or Skye, do not, in external modes of material life, differ so greatly from their predecessors in the days of the Crusades or even of the Heptarchy; and a herdsman of Anatolia, of La Mancha, or of Kerry, eats, sleeps, and works in very similar ways. But how vast is the interval between the habits and conditions of the Londoners who built the Lake-village of Llyndyn, or the Parisii who staked out the island of Loukhteith, and the modern Londoner and the modern Parisian !

Most assuredly the close of the eighteenth century

Let us avoid misunderstanding of what we are now speaking. Most assuredly the close of the eighteenth century in France displayed a convulsion, a frenzy, a chaos such as the world’s history has not often equalled. There was folly, crime, waste, destruction, confusion, and horror of stupendous proportions, and of all imaginable forms. There was the Terror, the Festival of Reason, the Reaction, and all the delirium, the orgy, the extravagance, which give brilliancy to small historians and serve as rhetoric to petty politicians. Assuredly the revolution closed in with most ghastly surprises to the philanthropists and philosophers who entered on it in 1789 with so light a heart.

Assuredly it has bequeathed to the statesmen and the people of our century problems of portentous difficulty and number. But we are speaking now neither of ’93 nor of ’95, nor of ’99, of no local or special incident, of no single event, nor of political forms. We are in this essay dealing exclusively with ‘ the ideas of ’89/ with the movement which at Versailles, on 5th May 1789, took outward and visible shape. And we are about to deal with it in its deeper, social, permanent sofia sightseeing, and human side, not in its transitory and material side. The Seine, the Loire, and the Rhone have washed away the blood which once defiled their streams, the havoc caused by the orgies of anarchy has been effaced, years make fainter the memory of crimes and follies, of revenge and jealousy. But the course of generations still deepens the meaning of ‘the ideas of ’89,’ of the social, intellectual, economic new birth which then received official recognition, opening in a conscious and popular form the reformation that, in a spontaneous form, had long been brooding in so many generous hearts and profound brains.

No reading of merely French history, no study of the reign of Louis xvi. by itself, can explain this great movement—no political history, no narrative of events, no account of any special institution. Neither the degeneration of the monarchy, nor the corruption of the nobility, nor the disorder of the administration, nor the barbarism of the feudal law, nor the decay of the Church, nor the vices of society, nor the teaching of any school, nor all of these together — are adequate to explain the revolution.

They are enough to account for the confusion, waste, conflict, and fury of the contest — i.e. for the explosion. But they do not explain how it is that hardly anything was set up in France between 1789 and 1799 which had not been previously discussed and prepared, that between 1789 and 1799 an immense body of new institutions and reformed methods of social life were firmly planted in such a way that they have borne fruit far and wide in France and through Europe.

Religious fanaticism

Nor do any of these special causes just enumerated suffice to explain the passion, the contagious faith, the almost religious fanaticism which was the inner strength of the revolution and the source of its inexhaustible activity. What we call the French Revolution of 1789, was really a new phase of civilisation announcing its advent in form. It had the character of religious zeal because it was a movement of the human race towards a completer humanity.

Rhetoricians, poets, and preachers have accustomed us too long to dwell on the lurid side of the movement, on its follies, crimes, and failures; they have overrated the relative importance of the catastrophe, and by profuse pictures of the horrors, they have drawn off attention from its solid and enduring fruits. In the midst of the agony it was natural that Burke, in the sunset of his judgment, should denounce it. But it was a misfortune for the last generation that the purple mantle of Burke should have fallen on a prophet, who was not a statesman but a man of letters, who, with all Burke’s passion and prejudice, had but little of his philosophic power, none of his practical sagacity, none of the great Whig’s experience of affairs and of men.

The universal bonfire ’ theory, the ‘ grand suicide ’ view, the ‘ chaos-come-again ’ of a former generation, are seen to be ridiculous in ours. The movement of 1789 was far less the final crash of an effete system than it was the new birth of a greater system, or rather of the irresistible germs of a greater system. The contemporaries of Tacitus, Trajan, and Marcus Aurelius could see nothing but ruin in the superstition of the Galileans, just as the contemporaries of Decius, Julian, and Justinian saw nothing but barbarism in the Goths, the Franks, and the Arabs.

six volumes of Latin Christianity

The whole of the closely-packed six volumes of Latin Christianity are possibly beyond the limits of many general readers. But we can point to those parts which may be best selected from the rest. The Introduction in the first book, and the General Survey which forms the fourteenth book at the end of the work, are the parts of the whole of the widest general grasp. To these we may add the chapters which treat of the greater Popes: Leo the Great in Book ii., Gregory the Great in Book iii., Hildebrand in Book vii., Innocent the Third in Book ix., Boniface VIII. in Book xi. — the chapters on Theodoric, Charlemagne, the Othos, the Crusades, St. Bernard, St. Louis — those on the four Latin Fathers, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory, the monastic orders of St. Benedict, St. Dominic, and St. Francis—the Conversion of the Barbarians, and the Reformers and Councils of the fifteenth century. As is natural and fortunate, the Dean is strongest and most valuable just where Gibbon is weakest or even misleading.

Auguste Comte recommended as the complement of Gibbon

In his Library, Auguste Comte recommended as the complement of Gibbon, the Ecclesiastical History of the Abb6 Fleury. But it seems in vain to press upon the general reader of English a work in French so bulky, so unfamiliar, and so far removed from us in England to-day both in date, in form, and in tone. It was published in 1690, more than two hundred years ago, and is in twenty volumes quarto, and only in part translated into English. It contains an excellent narrative, which was warmly praised by Voltaire. But it is entirely uncritical; it is of course not on the level of modern scholarship; and as the work of a prelate under the later reign of Louis xiv., it is naturally composed from the theological and miraculous point of view. The Abbe gives us the view of the Catholic world as seen by a sensible and liberal Catholic divine in the seventeenth century. The Dean has painted it as imagined by a somewhat skeptical and Protestant man of the world in the nineteenth private turkey tours.

When we pass from Mediaeval to Modern History, we are confronted with the difficulty that modern history is infinitely the more intricate and varied, and that, as we advance, the histories become continually more and more devoted to special epochs and countries, and are minute researches into local incidents and chosen persons. The immediate matter in hand in this essay is to direct attention to great books of history, meaning thereby those works which take us to the inner life of one of the great typical movements, or which in manageable form survey some of the great epochs of general history. Such surveys for the last four centuries are exceedingly rare. There are many valuable standard works, which are supposed to be in every gentleman’s library, and which are familiar enough to every historical student. But they form a list that can hardly be compressed into one hundred volumes, and to master them is beyond the power of the average general reader to whom these pages are addressed. We can mention some of them: though they are hardly ‘great books,’ and neither in range of subject, in charm, or in insight, have they the stamp of Herodotus or Gibbon.

Victory followed upon victory

Victory followed upon victory, and the whole Greek race expanded with this amazing triumph. The old world had been brought face to face with the intellect which was to transform it. The Greek mind, with the whole East open to it, exhibited inexhaustible activity. A century sufficed to develop a thoroughly new phase of civilisation. They carried the arts to a height whereon they stand as the types for all time. In poetry they exhausted and perfected every form of composition. In politics they built up a multitude of communities, rich with a prolific store of political and social institutions. Throughout their stormy history stand forth great names. Now and then there rose amongst them leaders of real genius. For a time they showed some splendid instances of public virtue, of social life, patriotism, elevation, sagacity, and energy. For a moment Athens at least may have believed that she had reached the highest type of political existence ephesus sightseeing.

Barren struggles and wanton restlessness

But with all this activity and greatness there was no true unity. Wonderful as was their ingenuity, their versatility and energy, it was too often wasted in barren struggles and wanton restlessness. For a century and a half after the Persian invasion, the petty Greek states contended in one weary round of contemptible civil wars and aimless revolutions. One after another they cast their great men aside, to think out by themselves the thoughts that were to live for all time, and gave themselves up to be the victims of degraded adventurers. For one moment only in their history, if indeed for that, they did become a nation. At last, wearied out by endless wars and constant revolutions, the Greek states by force and fraud were fused in one people by the Macedonian kings ; and by Macedon, instead of by true Hellas, the great work so long postponed, but through their history never forgotten, was at length attempted — the work of avenging the Persian invasion, and subduing Asia.

Short and wonderful was that career of conquest, due wholly to one marvellous mind. Alexander, indeed, in military and practical genius seems to stand above all Greeks, as Caesar above all Romans; they two the greatest chiefs of the ancient world. No story in history is so romantic as the tale of that ten years of victory when Alexander, at the head of some thirty thousand veteran Greeks, poured over Asia, crushing army after army, taking city after city, and receiving the homage of prince after prince, himself fighting like a knight-errant: until, subduing the Persian empire, and piercing Asia from side to side, and having reached even the great rivers of India, he turned back to Babylon to organise his vast empire, to found new cities, pour life into the decrepit frame of the East, and give to these entranced nations the arts and wisdom of Greece. For this he came to Babylon, but came thither only to die. Endless confusion ensued ; province after province broke up into a separate kingdom, and the vast empire of Alexander became the prey of military adventurers.

Gedik Pasha Mission House

By the time that this service is finished the visitor is tired and wants to go back to the hotel for dinner. But the missionary says firmly but gently, “ You have come out to see the missionary work in the city and you ought to finish seeing it.” So they go on another half mile into the very heart of the old part of the city, and come to a shabby old shed which they enter, and see empty seats for some two hundred people, with a few of the congregation of Armenians which has just been dismissed, lingering to finish their chat before they go home. Near by, they enter a great stone house, which the visitor is told is the Gedik Pasha Mission House of the Woman’s Board of Missions. Some American ladies receive them cordially and give them a lunch at railroad speed, because Sunday School begins at half-past twelve.

After lunch the whole of the Mission House is a bee-hive for a couple of hours. There is no room in it large enough to seat all the people at once, so that for the preliminary exercises all sit as they can in adjoining rooms with doors wide open. The visitor is taken through the house to see the various classes; the old men and the young men, the old women and the young women, and the boys graded by themselves and the girls by themselves, and the infant classes with their pictures and their frequent hymns. He is shown, also, the further subdivisions made necessary by the fact that some of the people who come know Greek only, and some, Armenian only, and some, Turkish only. And he is caused to note that the work is not done by the missionary ladies alone, but that natives have come forward to do the work of the teacher tailor-made bulgaria tours.

Sabbath School at the Mission House

Right there is an illustration of the manner in which the missionary work does its most effective and permanent good service. It is in multiplying workers, so that by the grace of God the single labourers become a hundred or a thousand because the Gospel cannot be hid nor can it abide alone when it has fallen into the sincere heart. He sees also an illustration of the capabilities of this city as a place in which to do the work of the missionary. Not half of the people in the Sabbath School at the Mission House are permanent residents of Constantinople. The other half are from distant portions of the country to which they will take what is taught them here in this Mission House, to brood over the lesson until it causes at least some improvement in life. As these facts are pointed out to the visitor, lie can not but feel enthusiasm when the reckoning of attendance is given him, and he finds that about three hundred people will attend the Bible lessons at the Mission House almost any Sunday.

Perhaps the stranger is more than satisfied with his morning’s work. But he is not allowed to stop his travels about the great city. He is made to go back to the Bible House again that he may see there at three o’clock a meeting of the Young Men’s Christian Association managed by a clear-headed young Armenian. From there again he is taken across the city to a district near the old harbour of the Wheat Merchants on the Sea of Marmora, where he finds another congregation of Greeks, coming down stairs from an upper room which serves as a chapel at Ivoumkapou, and where he sits a while to hear the missionary preach in Turkish to another congregation which collects as the Greeks disperse.

The road toward Buyukdere

The afternoon of the Levantine brings out carriages full of ladies and gentlemen, and sends them spinning over the hills toward the Sweet Waters of Europe, or far up the road toward Buyukdere. The reputation of Constantinople for its bodge podge of races is justified by study of the types seen in any gathering of the ladies of the European colony. There is the long-featured, fair-haired English woman, who clings to the London cut of her dress, notwithstanding its power to attract the astonished eyes of all other nations; there is the stout and crimson German woman, with her fondness for startling buttons; there is the slight and smiling French woman, serene in the midst of a colour scheme harmoniously worked out to the tips of her dainty shoes. There is the Italian woman, black of hair and brilliant of eye, who loves to introduce into her neat dress discords of gold chains, and a hat al-ways too ambitious. There is the buxom brunette of an Armenian, with full lips and too full a nose, and there is the Greek, most celebrated of all the southern peoples for features that are irregular, a voice that is mellow, and eyes that have a special glaze upon them for concealing thought behind a crystal promise of frankness.

Greek from Athens

If there is a woman in all the crowd less liable than any other to find acceptance as a type of beauty in feature or in complexion, for some mysterious reason that woman is sure to be a Greek from Athens. But next to her is the Levantine, who is colourless in her complexion and composite in her features, who assures you that she is English, or French, or Italian, but who knows no environment save that of Pera, although she can talk to you in French or English or Italian or Greek or Turkish, and in either language shows by her accent that it is not quite her own. She too will never venture in her conversation outside of the safe limits of the Levantine quadrilateral, devised to avoid giving offence to unknown and incomputable susceptibilities guided istanbul tour.

The principle of assuming the existence of difficulties unknown and unknowable in a medley of races, limits the character of the social life of Pera. This life is like that in a house where visitors unacquainted with each other have been brought together and must be amused by such devices as the hostess commands. It is marked by a frenzied pursuit of amusements known to be found in every country. One cannot give a dinner party without having it followed by a ball, and preferably a ball in costume or in masque, and as the Turk bent on a tour of exploration among the curiosities of Pera, discovers that Pera ladies, are ogled by lines of young men as they come out of the church of Santa Maria, or gently carried to the ball in Sedan chairs through the narrow streets, he fancies that in this tenderness toward woman he has seen the source of the peculiar power of the European to push his affairs, to succeed in business, and to live in what seems like limitless luxury. Perhaps he has.

Rythmical blows the waters of the sea of Marmora

CONSTANTINOPLE

Rhythmical blows the waters of the sea of Marmora, the most placid of inland seas. This sea is sheltered from serious turmoil of storm, by the friendly approach to each other of the two continents of Europe and Asia. The measured stroke of the propeller helps one to sleep in peace, after the first strangeness has worn off. It is like the “ All’s well! ” of the watchman of old. If not heard there is reason for instant waking. As it pounds out its beats at half speed, there appears in the dreams a half-consciousness that it is beating time to music. Finally, a persistent monotony of musical impressions destroys the power of sleep; the senses gain control and re-establish connections between the various ganglia, and then the beating of the propeller is found to be accompanied in actual fact by a singular wailing chant. One has to go on deck to learn the meaning of the strange and mournful sound.

By the cool, limpid light of early dawn, the deck passengers, Greeks, Turks and Albanians, have spied the landmarks of the approach to Constantinople, and have let their emotion break forth in song. West and East differ in temperament and in habits of thought and expression, and never more so than in their music. Even with words of joy the music of Turkey is always in the minor key; as though the people had not yet felt joy real and irrepressible. The minor strains of the song of the passengers clustered at the bow of the ship, might seem to imply sorrow. But to them their song is a sweet brooding of reminiscence, like “ Home, Sweet Home.” It is the tribute of their hearts to the greatness of the city to which they are drawing nigh private tours istanbul.

The sun was soon to rise from behind the blue mountains of Asia, and had already kindled a rosy glow amid the haze along their crests. The glassy sea, which near at hand is blue as no other sea is blue, paled into a silver sheet where its level surface passed into the distance and reflected in strange tints the overhanging hills. Up-‘n the sea, twenty miles away to the right, lay the rounded knolls of the Princes’ Islands. Still farther to the right, and some distance behind the coast hills of Asia, was the lofty Bythinian Olympus, a white pile cold as an iceberg and pure as the Jungfrau in springtime. On the left, but close at hand, lay the bare brown hills of Europe, rising from a shore dotted with groups of houses and gardens, and churches, and white-steeled mosques.

Suddenly the sun arose. The haze of the distant hills blazed with a golden glory. Europe reddened at the greeting of the rays, while the mighty curve with which Asia swept around to meet the Western lands, was still dark under the lingering shadows of the hills. A shout went up from the motley crowd at the bulwarks of the bows. “There it is! There it is! Stamboul, Oh, Stamboul! ”

The top of the hill of Bulgarin

A very hot walk of an hour took us to the top of the hill of Bulgarin, from which the finest panorama of Constantinople, tho Sea of Marmora, Prince’s Islands, and the contiguous Asiatic country, can be seen.

1 was much pleased, ou my return to the hotel, to find on my key-hook a card left by Lord Mandeville, who was staying at Misseri’s. He had been attacked by robbers, a day’s journey from Smyrna; and they had taken everything that he had about him. Whilst talking of the affair, a report arrived that Mr. Urquhart had suffered also from thieves, but on the sea — his boat having been attacked by pirates. These two misadventures made sufficient noise to prove that such robberies upon Eastern travellers were of rare occurrence.

The way in which the first robbery came about was this. The steamers of the Austrian Lloyd’s Company, arriving at Smyrna in the morning, do not start again until noon the nest day, and so Lord Mandeville, and a gentleman who accompanied him,—Mr. Percy Herbert, — determined to spend their time in riding to Nimfi; where, a short time ago, one of the most ancient monuments of the world was discovered, in the shape of an enormous human figure, sculptured in the solid rock. It agrees closely with the description of a monument given by Herodotus, and is said to be a trophy of Sesostris.

Our travellers placed themselves first in the hands of a doubtful dragoman, — as great a robber, by their account, as any they were attacked by, — and left him to make the arrangements for the journey, Nimfi being about five hours distant from Smyrna. He engaged a Surroudjee, or horse-attendant, to be at the inn about four o’clock in the afternoon, with five horses.

Before starting, they thought it would be advisable to go to the consul, and mention their plans and arrangements. They found an old gentleman in an ill temper, wrapped up in a flannel gown, and groaning, as he said, from rheumatism. Upon asking him if the price they paid for the horses was just, he replied that he knew nothing at all about it, and, indeed, appeared to be bored at being thus troubled : so they went away local ephesus tour guides.

Having started at the appointed time, for a wonder, they were stopped at the first guard-house they came to, which is about half an hour out of Smyrna, and asked for their Teskcre, which is a species of passport, combined with an order for post-horses and other matters connected with Turkish travelling. Neither the consul nor tho dragoman had thought about this, and so they were compelled to wait two hours at the guard-house, whilst the latter returned for the necessary permit.

Reach Nimfi

As last, he arrived; but, from this delay and other causes, they did not reach Nimfi until the middle of the night. The dragoman, who had assured them that he had often been there before, was now unable to find the house they were to sleep in; and they must have couched a la belle etoile, had they not, by chance, found a man sitting up in some place where wine was being made, who directed them.

They started again at daylight, the next morning, for the spot where the monument is to be seen, distant from Nimfi about an hour and a half. After a pleasant ride of eight or nine miles, through a very pretty country, they went up a small path, leading through a narrow gorge in the hills, where there was barely room for more than the stream running through it, the way being sometimes in the course of the stream, and sometimes on one side of it, twisting about, to pass the blocks which had rolled down from the sides of the hills.

They were passing one of these masses, with some brushwood on the other side of the path, when two men sprang forward and stopped the Surruudjee. At the same moment, two other fellows appeared in the rear, and they were directly afterwards joined by a fifth. All these men were armed. They made the travellers dismount, tore off their coats to see if they wore armed, which, fortunately, they were not; and then quietly rifled their pockets taking all they wanted. Fortunately, Lord Mandeville had nothing of great value about him, except a gold watch. This, of course, they appropriated, as well as his sash, his pocket-handkerchief, and even a strip of silk lie wore round his neck. Just as he was remounting, one of the rascals saw a ring on his finger. They tried to get this off, but as it, had been a lady’s, it was not very easy, and tho chief of the party drew his yatagan to take away finger and all. The dragoman, however, interfered, and contrived to release it with his mouth. When everything available had been taken, the fellows departed.

Stambonl may be termed Constantinople

Stambonl may be termed Constantinople proper, inhabited by the Turks, and containing the seraglio, chief mosques, great public offices, bazaars, and places of government and general business. It is the most ancient and most important part, j)ar excellence. Galata is tho Wapping of the city : here we find dirty shops for ships’ stores, merchants’ counting-houses, ami tipsy sailors. Tophant is so called from the large gun-factory close at hand. Both these suburbs are situated at the base of a very steep hill; the upper part of which is Pera, the district allotted to the Franks, or foreigners, and containing the palaces of the ambassadors, the hotels, the European shops, and the most motley population under the sun. Scutari is to Stamboul, as Birkenhead to Liverpool ; and is in Asia. It is important in its way, as being the starting-place of all the caravans going inland. There are some other districts of less interest to the average tourist.

As soon as we left the landing-place, and entered the steep lane that leads up to Pera, all the enchantment vanished. In an instant, I felt that I had been taken behind the scenes of a great “ effect.” The Constantinople of Yaushall Gardens, a few years ago, did not differ more, when viewed, in front from the gallery, and behind from the dirty little alleys bordering the river. The miserable, narrow, ill-paved thoroughfare did not present one redeeming feature, — not even picturesque dreariness. The roadway was paved with all sorts of ragged stones, jammed down together without any regard to level surface ; and encumbered with dead rats, melon-rinds, dogs, rags, brickbats, and rub- bi.’h, that had fallen througli the mules’ baskets, as they toiled along it. The houses were of wood — old and rotten ; and bearing traces of having been onee painted red. There had been evidently never any attempt made to clean them, or their windows or doorways. Here and there, where a building had been burnt, or had tumbled down, all the ruins remained as they had fallen. Even the better class of houses had an uncared-for, mouldy, plague- imbued, decaying look about them ; and with their grimy lattices, instead of windows, on the upper stories, and dilapidated sh’utters and doors on the ground floors, it was difficult to imagine that they were inhabited by people who had such notions, according to report, of home and cleanliness, that they never sought for society apart from their own divans, or harems, and never were fit for prayers until they had, moro or less effectively, washed them* selves jeep safari bulgaria.

We found our hotel possessed the double advantage of being a stone building, and completely insulated — a great comfort in so combustible a district as Pera. I got a good bedroom, that overlooked the Sosphorus, part of the Golden Horn, and a few of the Mosques; came to an understanding about expenses,—which is always advisable; had the inexpressible comfort of washing and dressing in a large well-appointed room, after the confined closet of the Scamandre; and then we all sat down to breakfast, learning that everything was to be had in Constantinople but fresh butter. Some white bitter compound, perfectly uneatable, was produced once or twice during my stay; but it was so unpalatable, that we usually preferred “ Irish ;” and at last came to cat, with a relish, what many of our Kngli.>h servants would have turned up their noses at. The tea was excellent, and so were the cutlets; but there was some wine on the table,— a native production, I believe, — like very bad siill champagne, sickened with coarse moist sugar, to which I preferred the grapes in their natural state.

The strict Moslem costume

All the Turks were old, and wore turbans. There was but one in the simple fez. They were evidently sticklers for the strict Moslem costume, and clung to its decaying insignia, as old country-gentlemen with us now and then are still seen with Hessian boots, powder, and bygone hats. One ancient Turk had a turban so high that its volutes were twisted six or seven times round his head; and I fancied that each day it increased in importance. Another—a Circassian—had a very strange head-dress, looking for all the world like a felt sugar-loaf pushed through a black mop. He was armed to the teeth, and never laid any of his accoutrements aside during the voyage. The only one in a fez was the head eunuch of the royal seraglio. He was grandly dressed in yellow silk, spotted with scarlet, and blue trousers. He, however, wore European boots — the only Frank innovation to be seen amongst them.

Yet we had not got entirely away from English enterprise; for on going down to supper, although the plates bore the motto, “ Naviyazione a v a pore del Lloyd Austriaco,” yet on the back there was the name of “Davenport,” on the familiar scroll. The cabin was small, but the berths were clean, and we had our choice of the entire twelve. I did not, however, sleep very well, for the pillows and mattress were of horsehair, with nothing but a fine sheet over them, so that the little ends coming through caused me to hear nearly all the hells, all the night through.

Dardanelles early next morning

We were in the Dardanelles early next morning; and the process of washing and dressing, in the cabin, was of the greatest interest to two young Arabs, who watched us through the sky-light with the keenest curiosity. They called one of their fellows after a time, and especially directed his attention to the nailbrush, and mimicked what I had been doing with it. In the cabin, the rules of the boat were hung up, in five languages—Italian, German, Greek, French, and English. From the latter I copied, “Rule 12. Passengers having a right to be treated as persons of education, will no doubt conform themselves to the rules of good society, by respecting their fellow- travellers, and paying a due regard to the fair sex.” This was a sensible rule; and, indeed, the others were equally so. I never saw any of them broken, at any time, on the Mediterranean: this will show the great superiority of the second-class places in the foreign boats, over the same division in our own. I am sorry to confess this, but it is the case.

We passed the Dardanelles that day, from which the people put off with crockery as before, and the Turks each purchased a huge water-jug. At night I saw the most beautiful sunset I had ever witnessed. The sky in the west was at first like burnished gold, with silver edges to the clouds. This turned to a bright orange, streaked horizontally with vermilion, whilst the mountains of Asia Minor on our left were tinted with the richest purple, and the whole of the eastern heavens were glowing with a lovely violet guided istanbul tours.

There was very little wind; the sea was as smooth as a canal, and about eight on the following morning we were onee more at Smyrna.

We now found that we were to change our boat, and as this transfer led to a most annoying and unpardonable occurrence, I shall give the Austrian Lloyd’s Company the entire benefit—or otherwise— of its publicity. We had been assured at their office in Galata, there would be no quarantine on our arrival at Alexandria. The same intimation was given to us at Smyrna, during the day and a half we stopped there, on this present occasion ; and so far as that went, our minds were at rest.

We spent the next morning in making a few farewell purchases—a carpet or two ; some drums of choice figs and raisins, and some minor souvenirs which were left in the eare of Messrs. Hansom to be forwarded by the first ship to England; and on the afternoon of the 28th, took final leave of Turkey.

An officer from the health office accompanied us in the boat to the Wien, another vessel belonging to the Austrian Lloyd’s fleet. I supposed this was usual, and thought no more about the matter, until looking up by chance, after I got on board, I saw the yellow flag flying. I asked what it meant, of one of the officers, but he was very busy, and passed on without deigning to reply. Presently the engineer erupt out of the engine-room, and he had such an English face that I addressed him at one in my own tongue.

ON BOARD THE SCAMANDRE

The cabin assigned to us was a small closet off the chief one, containing ten berths, with a space of floor about seven feet by five, which they surrounded. We were quite full, and when each passenger had brought in his carpet-bag or hat-box—aid one light-hearted foreigner appeared to be travelling from Marseilles to Smyrna with no more luggage than the latter contained—there was little room to turn round; indeed, that cruel feat with a cat, traditionally performed to determine habitable space, was here practically impossible.

So we were obliged to go to bed and get up one at a time; and when undressed, we had to pack our clothes up at our feet as well as we could, only to find that they had all got down into the depths of the mattresses, and underneath them even, by the morning. We were fortunate, however, in having a species of stout cucumber frame for a skylight, which could be lifted right away; and but for this, there is no telling how any one of us might have survived asphyxiator to recount our voyage. For having crept on to my shelf, which was one of the lower ones, about ten o’clock, with a very stout Armenian above me, who weighed so heavily on his sacking, that I was constantly knocking my head against it whenever I moved, I could not very readily get to sleep. The night was uncommonly sultry, even for the parallel of Malta, and I could not shake off a horrible impression that the stout Armenian would break through his sacking, and smother me at some remote period of the night.

I could not get the fearful story I once read, of a man who was in a prison that got smaller every day until it crushed him, out of my head; and this suffocating notion followed me into a troubled doze; so that when I awoke about twelve, almost stifled by the heat, and looking up, saw the skylight above-mentioned, with the stars shining through the opening, I had some hazy impression that this was the last window of the six that had disappeared, one by one, and day by day, in the story alluded to. In an agony of terror, such as I had never before experienced, I scrambled from my berth, and springing on a portmanteau, contrived to raise myself through the hatchway, and get a little breath of such air as was stirring tour bulgaria.

A small impression

On the foreigners, the close and stifling heat appeared to make but a small impression. Not only had some of them gone to bed with the greater part of their clothes on, but one or two had even drawn closely together the blue curtains that ran on rods along the top of the berths, and so almost hermetically closed themselves up, to stew and swelter, as is their wont in diligences, steamers, and even rooms of hotels, or anywhere in fact, wherever an opportunity can be found of excluding such fresh air as might otherwise intrude.

To me the sensation was so indescribably distressing, that I shuffled on some clothes, and pulling myself up through the opening, once more laid down upon the deck, amidst a dozen fourth class passengers, scarcely disturbed by the occasional visits of an enormous rat, who was scuffling about, picking up such few scraps as had fallen from the deck suppers. Here I remained until six in the morning, when I went below for my toilet. The four ladies had a cabin opposite to ours, and about the same size, but it had no hatchway. There was only a thick plate of ground glass to light it, and they had opened the door into the saloon for as much ventilation as they could get.

They appeared to care but little about privacy—air was evidently the chief consideration ; so that, as it happened, a man might have looked upon far more disagreeable objects than the dark-eyed Marseillaise, as she was lying in her berth and fanning herself, with her black hair floating about her pillow, and—if such may be mentioned—half-uncovered shoulders. She did not appear to think anything of the display, nor indeed did any body else—her Janice and her brother included, with the latter of whom she kept conversing all the time he was dressing.

Counsellors judge the more boldly

“ In order to do justice and right to thy subjects, be up right and firm, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, but always to what is just; and do thou maintain the cause of the poor until such time as the truth is made clear. And if any one has an action against thee, make full inquisition until thou knows the truth; for thus shall thy counsellors judge the more boldly according to the truth, whether for thee or against.

“ If thou oldest aught that belonged to another, whether by thine own act or the act of thy predecessors, and the matter be certain, mike restoration without delay. If the matter be doubtful, cause enquiry to be made by wise men, diligently and promptly.

“ Give heed that thy servants and thy subjects live under thee in peace and uprightness. Especially maintain the good cities and commons of thy realm in the same estate and with the same franchises as they enjoyed under thy pride censors; and if there be aught to amend, amend and set it right, and keep them in thy favor and love. For because of the power and wealth of the great cities, thine own sub jects, and specially thy peers and thy barons, and foreigners also, will fear to undertake aught against thee bulgaria tour.

“ Love and honor all persons belonging to holy Church, and see that no one take away, or diminish, the gifts and alms made to them by thy predecessors. It is related of King Philip, my grandfather, that one of his counsellors once told him that those of holy Church did him much harm and damage, in that they deprived him of his rights, and diminished his jurisdiction, and that it was a great marvel that he suffered it; and the good king replied that he believed this might well be so, but he had regard to the benefits and courtesies that God had bestowed upon him, and so thought better to abandon some of his rights than to have any contention with the people of holy Church.

Bestow the benefices of holy Church

“ To thy father and mother thou shalt give honour and reverence, and thou shalt obey their commandments. Bestow the benefices of holy Church on persons who are righteous and of a clean life, and do it on the advice of men of worth and uprightness.

“ Beware of undertaking a war against any Christian prince without great deliberation; and if it has to be under taken, see that thou do no hurt to holy Church, and to those who have done thee no injury. If wars and dissensions arise among thy subjects, see that thou appease them as soon as thou art able.

“ Use diligence to have good provosts and bailiffs, and enquire often of them, and of those of thy household, how they conduct themselves, and if there be found in them any vice of inordinate covetousness, or falsehood, or trickery. Labour to free thy land from all vile iniquity, and especially strike down with all thy power evil swearing and heresy. See to it that the expense of thy household be reasonable.

“ Finally, my very dear son, cause masses to be sung for my soul, and prayers to be said throughout thy realm; and give to me a special share and full part in all the good thou does. Fair dear son, I give thee all the blessings that a good father can give to his son. And may the blessed Trinity and all the saints keep and defend thee from all evils; and God give thee grace to do His will always, so that He be honored in thee, and that thou and I may both, after this mortal life is ended, be with Him together, and praise Him everlastingly. Amen.”

Queen four pieces of camlet

Moreover I sent to my lady the queen four pieces of camlet. The knight who presented them to her carried them wrapped up in a white cloth. When the queen saw him enter the chamber where she was, she knelt before him, and he knelt before her; and the queen said: “ Rise up, sir knight; you ought not to kneel, who are the bearer of relics.” Rut the knight said: “ Lady, these are not relics; these are pieces of camlet 1hat my lord sends you.” When the queen heard this, and her ladies, they began to laugh; and the queen said to my knight: “Tell your lord that I wish him an evil day, since he has caused me to kneel to his camlet.”

While the king was at Sayette they brought him a stone that broke in flakes, the most marvellous stone in the world; \ and when you scaled off one of the flakes, you found, between the two stones, the form of a sea-fish. The fish was of stone; but it wanted nothing in form, eyes, bones, nor colour, nor anything else, to make it otherwise than if it were alive. The king gave me one of these stones, and I found therein a trench, brown of colour, and of such fashion as a trench ought to be.

THE KING HEARS OF THE DEATH OF HIS MOTHER HARSH NESS OF THE QUEEN BLANCHE TOWARDS THE QUEEN MARGARET

To Sayette came news to the king that his mother was dead. He made such lamentation that, for two days, no one could speak to him. After that he sent one of the varlets of his chamber to summon me. When I came before him in his chamber, where he was alone, and he saw me, he stretched out his arms, and said: “Ah, seneschal, I have lost my mother! ” “ Sire,” said I, “ I do not marvel at that, since she had to die; but I do marvel that you, who are a wise man, should have made such great mourning; for you know what the sage says: that whatever grief a man may have in his heart, none should appear on his countenance, because he who shows his grief causes his enemies to rejoice and afflicts his friends.” He caused many fine services to be held for the queen overseas; and afterwards sent to France a chest full of letters to the churches, asking them to pray for her.

The great King of the Tartars

With the. king’s envoys returned other envoys from the great King of the Tartars, and these brought letters to the King of France, saying: “ A good thing is peace; for in the land where peace reigns those that go about on four feet eat the grass of peace; and those that go about on two feet till the earth from which good things do proceed in peace also. And this thing we tell thee for thy advertisement; for thou canst not have peace save thou have it with us. For Prester John rose up against us, and such and such kings ” and he named a great many “ and we have put them all to the sword. So we admonish thee to send us, year by year, of thy gold and of thy silver, and thus keep us to be thymine; and if thou wilt not do this, we will destroy thee and people, as we have done to the kings already named.” And you must know that it repented the king sorely that he id ever sent envoys to the great King of the Tartars.

CERTAIN KNIGHTS ARRIVE FROM NORWAY

Now let us return to the matter in hand, and tell how, while the king was fortifying Csesarea, there came to the imp my Lord Alenard of Senaingan, and he told us he had built his ship in the realm of Norway, which is at the world’s :id, towards the west, and how, in coming to the king, he ad gone all round Spain, and passed through the Straits of morocco. Great perils had he undergone before he came to s. The king retained him in his service and nine of his nights. And this lord Alenard told us that, in the land of Norway, the nights were so short in summer that every ight you saw at one time the light of the day that was passing and the light of the day that was dawning.

And he betook himself, he and his people, to the hunting f lions; and they took several very perilously; for they round go forward to shoot at the lions, spurring as hard as hey could; and when they had shot their shafts, the lions prang at them; and now would they have been seized and devoured if they had not let fall a piece of ragged cloth, reach the lion leapt upon, tore and devoured, thinking he Lad hold of a man. While the lion was thus tearing the loth, another hunter went and shot at him, and the lion eft tearing the cloth, and sprang after this hunter; and he a turn let fall another piece of cloth, and again the lion lounged upon it. And thus they killed the lion with their .rrows.