1852.]

Eastern Sketches.

whence the Muezzin calls the Faithful to prayer. Minaret, the place of light,' is peculiarly so in Ramazan. The rings which encircle their apex, where the slender point tapers toward the summit, one, two, or three, according to the rank and size of the mosque, are lighted up with small lamps, small zones of brilliancy, shedding life and light around them, and directing the eyes of the Faithful to that more distant firmament to which they point. Then between the minarets are suspended, on strong ropes, thousands of lights, so arranged as to form different objects; such as the state-barge of the Sultan, his monogram, called in Turkish Toogra, a tent, a cannon, or verses from the Koran, or others complimentary to the Sultan. From a distance these lights present a most brilliant and pleasing appearance. The figures are made by the Muezzins first in paper, and then imitated somewhat as in the following Mashalla! Wonderful!' or, verbatim, 'What God has willed :'

During Ramazan there are two holy nights which are peculiarly observed by the Faithful: the one on the fifteenth, when the Sultan and all the higher officers of his government assemble in the old Seraglio, at the kiosk in which the cloak of the blessed Prophet is kept, to perform the ceremony of kissing and praying over this sacred garment. No infidel eyes have ever fallen on the cloak. There is a tradition that once a Jew had the audacity to turn his head or his face in the direction in which it was being carried by, on the way to the army, then assembled on the heights called Daoud Pacha. Immediately the crowd of faithful Mossulpremans exclaimed in loud, vociferous tones against the sacrilege, and dicted that the Jew would straightway become blind. This, indeed, at once occurred. The poor fellow placed his hand over his orbs of vision, and exclaiming that he had suddenly lost his sight, was led away from the scene of his awful temerity. It is not positively known that he ever perfectly recovered; but as he is said to have been able to pursue his way quite alone, and to have walked at a brisk rate, soon after reaching a point beyond the sound and reach of the Mossulman crowd which ac

companied the holy cloak of their blessed Prophet, it is believed that he had become 'considerably better.'

The cloak was once worn by the Prophet himself in the course of his earthly pilgrimage, and has long since been converted into a standard, which is only exposed when his successor, the Sultan, who has assumed the title of Caliph, is desirous of collecting the Faithful around him for the purpose of proclaiming his war a holy one against the enemies of the true faith. It is then carried in procession beyond the walls of the city, in the midst of the army, and at a propitious moment, ascertained by the court astrologers, is unfurled, and the Ghaza, or holy foray against infidels, is proclaimed to the devout and belligerous Faithful. There is some reason to believe that the real holy cloak (no doubt by this time 'holey' enough) is either in Vienna or Rome, taken in the Christian wars with the Mossulmans; but I would not wish to lessen your faith in the identity of the present garment, for modern civilization is clearing away the veil of romance fast enough without my destroying the only part of the story of this piece of Oriental poetry which is interesting. This must, therefore, be the veritable garment worn by the blessed Prophet in the republican, democratic days of Arabia, and none other; and I wonder not, that on the stated night of Ramazan the higher officers of the Ottoman court crowd around it, to touch its hem and press its border to their adoring lips. Such is Man. It is in vain that the strict Presbyterian admits of no outward show of religion; the dull, dry faith of the inner man' is but half faith, and burns dimly in the recesses of the heart. The external sense demands gratifications, so as to keep alive the warmth within; and that devotion is a lively one which shows itself in its attachment to the external and visible representation of the unseen and distant object of its affections. It is well to talk of 'principles, and not men: they are both strongly united, and the regard shown to the latter (and certainly in no country stronger or more fervently than in the free, intelligent, and proud Republic of the United States) by the sincere, deep affection, almost idolatry, which is felt for the representatives of the principles to which men believe they are devoted.

The second chief night of Ramazan is that called Kuder Gajaser, or, in the language of the originator of the Koran, 'Laylet al Kader,' or night of power. By this is meant the night in which the great exhibition of the Divine power occurred, by the descent from heaven of the *greatest and last of inspired books,' the blessed Koran.' Of this night it is stated in the Koran, in the chapter called that of 'Power:'

We have caused it to descend from heaven in the night of power; and we teach you which this night is, by declaring to you that it is worth more than a thousand whole months; for it is on that time that the angels take to descend upon earth; and it is among them that the spirit of GoD descends there by His will.'

This celebrated night comes at different periods during the year; and thus being uncertain, the great Prophet bids his followers:

'Since you do not know the time of this favorable night, let your actions be such that each night shall be like that one.'

This was the injunction of the ill-judged Prophet of Arabia, who, though not the best, seems truly to be the last of the prophets. Beside the preceding causes of the sanctity of this night, tradition says that

the whole animal creation, except man, at midnight fall down in worship of their CREATOR; yet I am not aware that any person has positively witnessed the ceremony. Individual cases of certain animals (cows and camels) going down on their knees about this hour are said to be known, and no doubt this will be considered sufficient evidence to sustain the Prophet's assertion.

We had an opportunity of witnessing, not the ceremony aforesaid, but the commemorations which annually take place in Constantinople during the night in question. One part of it, however, we could not witness, viz.: where the Sultan takes a new wife, a fresh 'object of his devotions,' who, on dit, is a present to H. I. M. from the Grand Vezir. This famed maiden is, of course, like all the wives of the Sultan, (who never marries,) a slave from the snowy mountains of the Caucasus, whence she came to meet with the fate of fabled Prometheus among the human vultures of Stamboul.

The Sultan dines that day at a palace far up the Golden Horn, and returns in his golden barge to the mouth of the Bosphorus, on his way to his home. This is generally the case, and the commander-in-chief of the latter stream avails himself of the opportunity to fête His Majesty as he passes by the military park of Topkhaneh. On the present occasion, however, he came down expressly to witness the fête given to him, and to offer up his prayers in the fine mosque situated at that place.

The whole surface of the harbor, and the entrance into the Bosphorus, was covered with lanterns and torches. Here and there lights of diverse colors were lit; some blue, some red, and others white. All the public vessels at anchor were illuminated with small lanterns, forming a sight at once brilliant and novel. The surface of the water was covered with myriads of small caïques, and other boats, filled with spectators of either sex, and of all nationalities; Turkish women crouching down, with their faces half exposed, among a motley collection of children of all ages; Armenian, Greek, and even the poor and humble Jewess, paid her longhoarded piaster to secure a seat in the Maour, or the great Bazaar Caïque, and witness the fire-works on the water.

So soon as the Sultan entered his barge, one of the prettiest things in Stamboul, all the vessels in the stream, and all the fortresses, fired a salute, which seemed to be a feu de joie. As he approached Topkhaneh, the caïques lit their torches and colored lights; and by the time he had put foot on the wharf, myriads of rockets had extinguished the light of the moon and the stars, and darkened the higher firmament of heaven with their blaze. Whirligigs, topsy-turvies, round-abouts, upside-downs, head-over-heels, and all manner and methods of illuminations, struck out at once, in one splendid, glorious galaxy of diamond brilliancy, until there was soon room for imagining that the Great Day had come. Amid the beautiful scene, and as the refulgent light began to subside, there stood, as in letters of purity and clearness, between the lofty minarets of the Topkhaneh, the following words of compliment:

سلطانم

بيك

ياشا

'My sovereign, may you live a thousand years!'

Oh let me live where no cares annoy,
To taste the sweets of unmingled joy;
And abroad with Nature let me roam,
Till called away to a better home.

When life's Autumn comes, as come it will,
And my beating heart is cold and still,
Where pale Sorrow ne'er may vigils keep,
In some lone spot let me quietly sleep.

A GLIMPSE AT THE CHARCOAL-BURNERS.

BY MARTHA RUSSELL.

'THERE is no Gon,' the foolish saith,
But none,There is no sorrow;'

And Nature oft the cry of Faith

In bitter need will borrow:

Eyes which the preacher could not school

By way-side graves are raised;

And lips say 'GOD be pitiful,'

Who ne'er said 'GoD be praised!'

THERE is no wilder or more rugged tract of land in our rock-bound State than that portion of Middlesex county which borders upon the Connecticut river. Here, amid ledges of granite, or around the base of the forest-crowned hills, the Indians held their great powows; and here occurred those wonderful shakings and tremblings of the earth that filled the old Puritans with dismay, and still continue to attract the attention of the curious and learned, even at this day. In fact, this is the only well authenticated region of supernaturalism in Connecticut; but, whether the 'Moodus noises' are the result of natural causes, or the terrible manifestations of the anger of the red man's god at the introduction of Christianity, as they always asserted, it is not my present intention to discuss.

Large portions of this region are still thickly wooded, and quantities of timber are sent down the river to be used in the construction of the noble ships for which the river-towns are so famous. The refuse wood is burned into charcoal, which finds a ready market in the neighboring towns and cities.

Many hands are engaged in this latter business, and a rude, rough, hardy set of men they are, dwelling deep in the forests, knowing little and caring still less about the wants and usages of conventional life; bound together by a community of interests, having laws and regulations of their own, which are troubled by no legal technicalities, though marked by a rude sense of justice, and enforced with a promptitude which might put many of our learned advocates to the blush. Sometimes they spend weeks and weeks alone in the woods, with their pits, sheltering themselves from the storms and night air in the little,