crites, whom ambition had converted to the new religion of the court? certainly not from the families which have immortalized Attica and Laconia. They never sprang from thofe Athenians, whose patriotic ardour could not wait the tardy approach of the Perfian army, but impelled them over the plains of Marathon, to an unpremeditated charge, whereby they forced the fuperior numbers of an invading enemy to feek refuge in the fea. The lofty fpirit of Athenian independence could not brook the mild yoke of Perfian defpotifm: they refufed to difhonour the foil of Attica by offering the fmalleft particle of it as a tribute to a foreign fovereign; though their enlightened patriotifm could, upon a great emergency, rife fuperior even to the natural attachment, which fo powerfully binds men to their native foil: they abandoned their city, with the temples of their deities, and the tombs of their ancestors, to the fury of the barbarians, and embarked on board their navy, what really conftituted the Athenian commonwealth, the whole of the Athenian citizens.

• From Athens and the borders of the Iliffus, the feat of literature and science, even when arms were wrefted from the hands of its citi £ens, the invitation of Conftantine attracted no philofopher. The capital, with all its allurements of splendour and luxury, could not come in competition with the more enchanting impreffions of groves and gardens confecrated to philofophy and fcience: and they continued to ftudy the doctrines of the Porch, the Lyceum, and the Academy, on the fame ground where they were first promulgated, until Theodofius finally expelled them. Still lefs can the modern Greeks be fuppofed the defcendants of the citizens of Sparta, of those ferocious warriors to whom a ftate of actual warfare was repofe, when compared with the intervals of hoftility, spent in gymnaftic exercifes, and the moft fatiguing duties of the military life. Formed by the rigid obfervance of the laws of Lycurgus, and animated with the warmeft enthusiasm of real patriotifm, Leonidas and his small illuftrious band, with deliberate refolution, devoted their lives at Thermopyla for the freedom of Greece. But the Spartans were the terror of all the neighbouring ftates, except thofe who were their dependent allies. At length the devouring fire of their valour confumed itfelf: and long before the feat of government was removed from Rome to Conftantinople, the Spartan families, if not wholly extinct, could no longer be diftinguifhed among the mafs of fubmiffive fubjects of the Roman empire. 69. 70. 71.

Such are the principal defects of which we have to complain in the composition of this work. They are no doubt very serious evils, and exceedingly diminish its value. It contains, nevertheless, a great deal that deserves praise. The author is, in general, free from strong prejudices. If he seems to lean a little too much towards the Turks, he fairly states his reasons, and shows that others have exaggerated their defects. He is, in a proper degree, prone to incredulity, where travellers and writers of descriptions have asserted what is unlikely or strange, and is

frequently successful in detecting such tales by their inconsistencies, without having recourse to his own authority as an eyewitness. His opportunities of procuring information, however, have been considerable. He resided at Constantinople fourteen years in the British factory, and fifteen months at Odessa, and made, during that time, occasional excursions to Asia Minor, and the islands of the Archipelago. He enjoyed the acquaintance of the most respectable foreign ministers and their interpreters, and was tolerably well versed in the language. His leisure, which he says was considerable, seems to have been employed in reading the accounts of those who had treated of Turkish affairs, and in detecting their mistakes or misrepresentations. A great part of his book is accordingly made up of such remarks; and though we are sure that he is frequently led into errors, from the desire of finding other people in the wrong, and sometimes see him differing from them for the sake of objecting, when there is clearly no opposition of sentiments; yet we cannot deny that his pages contain a mass of corrections, which must render the works already in our possession much more valuable. Had he only given his information in a more distinct and orderly manner, and conveyed it in a less ambitious style, so as to have made his meaning more intelligible, we should have been contented with recommending the book to our readers, and only stated the few points on which we differ from him. But the defects of his arrangement, and the contradictions and repetitions through which we have to work our way to the substance of his statements, as well as the declamation in which they are wrapt up, render it desireable that we should digest the most important parts of the information which this book contains in as concise an abstract as the nature of the subject will permit.

In pursuing this plan, we shall make no apology for deviating entirely from Mr Thornton's arrangement. He divides his work into nine chapters. The first contains general remarks on the manners and institutions of the Turks; and the second, professing to trace the rise and progress of the Ottoman power, gives a few short notices of the chief epochs in its history, and then runs into a number of unconnected, and, for the most part, superficial dissertations on the present state and future prospects of the empire. Almost the whole of those two chapters should have come after every other part of the subject had been discussed. The third chapter treats of the constitution, and the fourth of the judicial establishments; although we conceive it is impossible, with any advantage, to separate those two subjects, or to discuss them clearly, without a previous attention to the religion of this theocracy, which is reserved for a part of the seventh

chapter.

chapter. The military and naval department, and the finances, occupy, with sufficient precision and distinctness, the fifth and sixth; though they contain a good deal of matter belonging to the questions discussed in the third. The seventh chapter treats of religion, manners, and customs; the eighth of women, and domestic economy,-another separation singularly injudicious, as the subjects of those two chapters are nearly the same; and the book concludes with a desultory account of Moldavia and Wallachia. Instead of following this arrangement, we shall class whatever we have found scattered through the volume, relating to religion and religious establishments, under one head, and shall enter upon this fundamental subject, immediately after giving a short sketch of the Turkish history. We shall then consider the power of the Sultan, and the manner in which it is exercised. This will lead us to the checks, if such they can be called, which have been provided to it. We shall next describe the military and financial resources of the state, and then the manners and customs of the people. We shall conclude with noticing the situation in which the empire at present stands with regard to its neighbours. This arrangement will easily comprehend almost every material particular contained in Mr Thornton's work.

The Turks or Turkomans inhabited an extensive and fertile country bordering on the Caspian. From thence they made several eruptions, at an early period, into the Asiatic provinces of the Roman empire. About the beginning of the thirteenth century, their first great invasion took place under Soliman Shah, whose progress extended to the Euphrates. His son continued those conquests; and his grandson, Osman, laid the foundation of the dynasty which still bears his name. After this period, they wrested the eastern provinces from the empire, one by one, in the course of a century and a half; and in 1453, Mahomet II. took the capital of the Greek emperors, and decided the contest which had indeed long been wholly in favour of the Ottomans, Their power now received constant and rapid increase. They reduced the Greeks to the abject state of vassals, tolerated only in a very private exercise of their religion, and permitted to retain certain civil rights, on payment of annual tribute. Their conquests extended, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, over the Saracen and Greek empires. They had subdued part of Persia, and begun to threaten the dominion of Austria, from which they had already gained a part of Hungary. The alarm of Christendom was great and general. The statesmen of those times describe their solicitude in terms similar to those which are now applied to the common apprehensions of the French power. To what causes the decline of this powerful. empire may be ascribed,

R 3

scribed, is a question discussed by Mr Thornton on very limited and superficial grounds. He imputes it entirely to the invention of gunpowder; although he admits that Mahomet II. made use of artillery, and asserts, that the Turkish forces of the present day are only inferior to those who conquered the eastern empire in their want of good generals (p. 59. & 56.) But surely their not using gunpowder, and their want of generals, are direct proofs of a much more universal difference between them and their European neighbours, and of a degeneracy in their whole military system. The despotic and purely warlike structure of their government-the intolerant bigotry of their religion-the separation which this perpetuated between them and the rest of Europe the obstacles which that opposed to their own progress in civilization, may safely be stated as the causes of their not only failing to keep pace with the improvements by which they were surrounded, but degenerating, both in their civil and military institutions, from the times when their princes ceased to conquer, and the loss of the talent which alone they ever possessed, left nothing in its place.

I. The religion of the Turks, is Mahometanism in its utmost purity, and in complete preservation from the days of its founder. They believe in one God, and in the divine mission of his prophet. They scrupulously follow, as the rule of their conduct, his precepts contained in the Koran, and his example; together with certain sayings not recorded in that book, but handed down by tradition. The leading maxims thus delivered and religiously observed, are, the maintenance of the faith, the performance of certain outward ceremonies, and hatred of other sects. Their belief is inculcated as so necessary to eternal salvation, and so sure of working this end without the aid of good works, that we need not be surprised to find scarcely one freethinker in the whole of the Turkish population. A few reasoning men, may here and there be found, who hold that a life of sanctity, independent of faith, is sufficient. But the church condemns this as the worst of heresies; and those persons must keep their doctrines carefully to themselves. The inducements to hold the faith of their fathers, are so strong among an indolent and sensual people, that any doubt or scruple is likely to be rejected as a present injury, Whatever happens during this life is well; God ordains it. If we live, we shall smoke so much tobacco, enjoy so many Circassians, saunter away so many hours in our baths. If death comes to-morrow, we have kept the faith, and shall inevitably sup in paradise,-with better tobacco, fairer women, and more voluptuous baths.' A notion of this sort, once rivetted in the mind, at an early period of society, will account for the horror

with which every question relative to articles of belief, must afterwards be received. It will account for the exclusive attention of those true believers to the concerns of the present moment, and their carelessness about futurity; for their implicit obedience to the easy injunctions of the Koran; and their steady rejection of all more unpleasant doctrines. Besides holding this faith, they have only to perform the ceremonies of prayer, ablution, and fasting; troublesome indeed, in some respects, from their frequent recurrence, but far more easy than the restraint of a single wicked inclination, the sacrifice of an interested to a principled view, or the fulfilment of any active duty; and their lives are pure before Allah.

As the object of the founder of this religion was power, he carefully enjoined such an implicit obedience to himself or his successors, as might ensure his divine authority in the state, and such a hatred of unbelievers, as might both keep alive the faith among his followers, and prepare the way for the conquest of foreign nations. The most unresisting and passive obedience to the sacred person of him who is at the head both of the church and state, is inculcated as a primary religious duty. He is the Zil-ullah, or shadow of God; the Padishah-islam, or emperor of Islamism; the Imam-ul-musliminn,* or pontiff of Mussulmans; the Sultandinn, or protector of the faith. The title of Caliph, was first acquired on the conquest of Egypt; but the prerogatives annexed to it, of sovereign pontiff and depositary of the divine will, as handed down from Mahomet, had all along been exercised by the Turkish emperor. He is further, in his temporal capacity, denominated Hunkiar, or the manslayer; it is the name commonly given him, and denotes the absolute power which he has over the life of each of his subjects, in virtue of his divine commission. Whoever submits without resistance to death inflicted by his order, is looked upon as sure of that eternal felicity of the highest order, which belongs to martyrdom. His edicts, always received with religious veneration, are welcomed with peculiar awe, when accompanied by a note under his hand enjoining obedience; and whatever may be the tenor of such a command, the devout Mussulman kisses it as soon as it is presented to him, and piously wipes the dust from it with his cheek. The Pashas who rebel against his authority, are careful to mention his name with holy reverence; and, during the course of their disobedience, scrupulously comply with his orders in every point, except when he requires a resignation of their independence, or some sacrifice injurious to it. R 4 When

* Muslim is the fingular, Mussulman the dual, and Musliminn the plural: it fignifies refigned to God.”