chants that are to be blamed. But may we not ask of the author, if there were no purchasers would there exist any vendors ?-if there were no unprincipled merchants in Constantinople, would there be any barbarous fathers in Georgia?

If born Mahommedan, they remain so; if born Christian, they are educated in no faith, in order that they may conform, when purchased, to the Mussulman faith, and therefore they suffer no sacrifice on that score. They live a secluded life, harshly treated by their relations, never seeing a stranger's face, and therefore form no ties of friendship or love, preserve no pleasing recollections of home, to make them regret their country. Their destination is constantly before their eyes, painted in glowing colours; and, so far from dreading it, they look for the moment of going to Anapa, or Poti, whence they are shipped for Stamboul, with as much eagerness as a parlour-boarder of a French or Italian convent for her emancipation. In the market they are lodged in separate apartments, carefully secluded, where, in the hours of business-between nine and twelve-they may be visited by aspirants for possessing such delicate ware. I need not draw a veil over what follows. Decorum prevails. The would-be purchaser may fix his eyes on the lady's face, and his hand may receive evidence of her bust. The waltz allows nearly as much liberty before hundreds of eyes. Of course the merchant gives his warranty, on which, and the preceding data, the bargain is closed. The common price of a tolerable looking maid is about 1007. Some fetch hundreds, the value depending as much on accomplishments as on beauty; but such are generally singled out by the Kislar Aga. A coarser article, from Nubia and Abyssinia, is exposed publicly on platforms, beneath verandahs, before the cribs of the white china. A more white toothed, plump cheeked, merry eyed set I seldom witnessed, with a smile and a gibe for every one, and often an audible "Buy me." They are sold easily, and without trouble. Ladies are the usual purchasers, for domestics. A slight inspection suffices. The girl gets up off the ground, gathers her coarse cloth round her loins, bids her companions adieu, and trips gaily, bare footed and bare headed, after her new mistress, who immediately dresses her à la Turque, and hides her ebony with white veils. The price of one is about 167.'-pp. 241–243.

A digression on the public baths of Constantinople next follows, and the economy and advantages of them are described in a manner that presents them as objects of great interest. The process of a shampoo bath, in the hands of Mr. Slade, is one of the most delightful pictures which can be submitted to the imagination; and if it be but borne out by the reality, we can only say, that the doubts with respect to the site of the garden of Eden, are now dissipated.

A visit to the great cemetery, which stretches from the outskirts of Scutari three miles over the plain, and where repose the ashes of half the generations of Constantinople, gives rise to a notice of a very fine description of the place, and to an account of the mode of conducting funerals in that capital. The most curious feature connected with the cemetery, is the college of howling dervishes adjoining it:

We found them,' says Mr. Slade, in full cry. They were extremely civil; were flattered at our curiosity, and gave us prominent seats. The apartment was octangular, surrounded by a low railing to keep off the spectators. The superior gave the time with his hand and head, while about twenty brethren moaned, half sung, a kind of hymn, in which the names of Allah, Mohammed, Mustapha (a saint, founder of the order,) continually recurred. At intervals some howled suddenly, others danced round as mad, and all by turns approached and kissed the hand of the superior, who sat aside on a carpet. During the performance sick people were carried in and laid at the superior's feet to be cured. He whispered in their ears, stroked their breasts, and then bid them rise. They obeyed; some tottered off; others, faith lighting up their sunken eyes, joined the holy troop, and sung and danced with equal fervour. Presently the scene changed to one of a more lively description. To the notes ya-la-ye-ip, sung to a merry tune, the fanatics twisted their bodies in rapid contortions, jerked themselves violently forwards and backwards, to either side, their heads turning and their eyes rolling in a frightful manner, making the spectators giddy and expect every moment that some would fall into fits. Occasionally, seized by a sudden impulse, they howled in concert. For upwards of thirty minutes this bedlamite game had lasted, and we began to think that the actors were endowed with perpetual motion, when the superior, extending his hand, pronounced the word "Allah." Immediately, as if they felt the hand of the Almighty as well as heard his name, they stood each still as a statue, eyes fixed, head firm. This was the grand coup de theatre, and exceedingly well done it was-quite sublime. The sport recommenced with greater ardour. In a state, apparently, of complete frenzy, they seized each others' hands, and they danced and they sung, and they leaped in concert. Then dividing in two lines, they rushed from side to side, and they charged, head down like goats, only separating to meet again with greater impetus, all the while making the dome resound with discordant howls. Finally, closing in a heap, confusedly embraced, with disordered garments and swollen veins, they stamped and rolled round the hall, till three, overcome with the violence of the exercise, foamed and fell into convulsions. This was the triumph of devotion; and thus terminated, after two hours' continuance, as singular a scene of folly grafted on superstition as one could wish to see. It is worth seeing once, and only once.'-pp. 279-281.

It is altogether out of our power to pursue the very amusing and instructive narrative, which is continued by Mr. Slade to the termination of the second volume. He continues to make us acquainted with the strange manners and customs of the Turks, by following them through every variety and vicissitude of their lives, having obviously diligently laboured to multiply his opportunities of observation, and to make the best of them when procured. A very elaborate account is given by him of the conditions and relations of the various tribes which form the inhabitants of Turkey; and his observations on the state of the women, as members of society amongst the Mussulmans, Greeks, Armenians, and Hebrews, are marked by extensive information and sound sense. His subsequent visits to the various places, specified in the early part of this

article, but particularly to Greece, have furnished him with the means of supplying very impartial materials for enabling us to decide, with justice, many questions of foreign policy, in which we cannot be said to be uninterested. The style and spirit of the work are of that easy and elevated description, which at once characterize the man of refined education and the gentleman; he has, for the most part, confined himself to well selected facts, and is fully entitled to the credit of having composed one of the most valuable and interesting records which have yet been placed in our hands on the domestic state of Turkey. We have been often astonished, how little the well known hints and suggestions made by Dr. Paley to his young friend Carlysle, a candidate for the great tour, have been hitherto attended to by travellers. That acute and sensible man wanted to have details of every day's life from abroad. 'Get into the inside of a cottage,' said he, describe utensils, furniture, and whatever you find doing.' We have not seen any work, under the category of travels, for a long time, which comes more nearly to the plan that was proposed by so eminent an authority; and we are especially reminded of his advice on this occasion, inasmuch as Mr. Slade may be said to have literally fulfilled the very words of the Doctor who wrote to Mr. Carlysle in these terms:'Give us one day at Constantinople, minutely, from morning to night-what you do, see, eat, and hear.' We have no doubt that Mr. Slade had seen the precepts of Dr. Paley, and he certainly has turned them to profit. Some beautifully coloured engravings, from the drawings of Mr. Slade, adorn the work.

6

ART. VI.-Report of the Secretary of War of the United States of America; dated Department of War, November 21, 1831. THE existence of a permanent military force in the most flourishing republican state now in existence, is a satisfactory proof that a standing army is by no means justly estimated when it is described as an emanation from a despotic government. There never was, and perhaps never will be, a country which may not at some time or another stand in need of the support of physical power: and the right of every state to provide in seasonable time against unfavourable contingencies, is so clear, that a little consideration only seems necessary to establish its propriety.

The organization of the War Department in America seems to be distinguished from that of England and France, by the circumstance, that it rests upon executive authority alone, and not on any legislative regulations. In truth, the American government seems to have considered their chances of engaging in war as ephemeral in their nature, and that they might content themselves merely with a temporaray system of superintendence. But experience has

taught them, that they must regard war as an evil of possible occurrence at any time, and that they must reluctantly establish a course of regulations on the subject out of a conviction that it will be perpetually liable to be called into action. The reasoning of the American Secretary comprehends in its justification the whole of those states which have adopted the principle of maintaining standing armies. Let it only be granted, that such an instrument as an army is even on one occasion wanted by a state, and it will then be impossible to deny the necessity of placing that army in as efficient a condition as possible:

'Armies,' observes the author of the Report, may be suddenly raised, and discipline in some measure introduced, by great exertions, and great emergencies. The experience of other nations, and of our own too, has demonstrated, that the peculiar information, upon which depend the subsistence, the health, and the movement of troops, and the supply of their necessary materiel, can only be acquired by time and experience. The disasters and prodigal expenditures in the beginning of the late war furnished a memorable lesson upon this subject, which it is to be hoped will not be forgotten, as we recede from the period of their occurrence. Our present organization is small enough for the wants of the service, and yet such is its nature, that it may be indefinitely extended, as the pressure of circumstances may require, ensuring in every branch of the service a judicious system of administration, and experienced officers to direct and apply it.'

One of the last casualties which we should have expected to occur in an army so constituted as that of America, happens, to our surprize, to be by far the most prominent subject of complaint on the part of the Secretary-we mean desertion. This serious evil seems to be on the increase in the United States, and in all probability because the military code of the country has provided no adequate punishment for the crime. For desertion there is no other efficient penalty, according to the laws of the United States, than confinement and hard labour. But these punishments are in practice a mere bugbear. If a soldier be confined to his guard room, and the sentinels placed over him to enforce any restrictive measures be, as they usually are, his own comrades, then it is easy to see that the condition of a prisoner is not altogether so repugnant to his feelings; in fact, there is no privation, no suffering in his case. Again, at all the posts, and particularly in those of the inland border, the soldiers are generally employed either in the line of their duty, or upon fatigue, and a sentence to hard labour subjects them to little more than the ordinary demands of the service. The result of this state of the law is, as has been already observed, a vast augmentation of the number of desertions. In 1826 the number was 636; 1827, 848; 1828, 820; 1829, 1,115; 1830, 1,251. Amongst the suggestions which have been offered for the purpose of putting a stop to this mischievous and expensive system, are moderate rewards; but the policy of such a plan is very doubtful. Next it is proposed to retain a portion of the bounty, and the pay

of a soldier, until the period of his discharge; next, to diminish the term during which he shall be bound to serve, and lastly, to increase the pay of the rank and file, but particularly of the noncommissioned officers, who should be of a class of men fitted by superior intelligence, and by correct conduct, to gain the confidence of the soldiers.

The regulation which has subsisted in America, respecting the supply of ardent spirits to the soldiers, is singularly deficient in sound policy. In 1830 there were distributed amongst the soldiers, by direct orders from the government, no less than 12,537 gallons of whiskey, at the cost of 22,132 Spanish dollars. In a country, where the national councils are so perfectly free from the intrusion of all selfish interests, where no sacrifices are demanded of the people, in order to accommodate some order or some family of the higher classes, it is quite inconceivable how such a length of existence could be continued to a practice, which obviously affords an irresistible temptation to drunkenness to those who might have remained temperate during their lives, whilst, to the experienced consumer of spirits, it is a direct encouragement of the worst habits. The American army is not very remarkable for its morals, but the chief source of its principal delinquencies is the facility which is afforded to it of licentious drinking. An attempt at remedying the evil has been made by the war department, but with that attention to sound principles, and to the results of experience, which it is likely would be applied by such philosophers as made the government the proprietor of a soldier's canteen, the attempt ridiculously failed. It conveyed an offer to the soldier, of commuting the whiskey ration for the payment of one cent. The reasonableness of this arrangement will at once be exposed, when it is stated, that the proposal of the war department amounted to neither more nor less than this, that the soldier should give up his ration of whiskey for a sum of money, equal to about one-fifth of the value of the liquor.

It is quite disgraceful to the enlightened Americans to allow the continuance of such a reproach upon their character, as that which is involved in their total neglect of the mental and religious condition of their soldiers. There is no person in the character of a chaplain attached to any of their regiments; indeed, for aught that is recognized by the American army, in any form or manner whatsoever, there is neither religion, nor a divine Being at all. Not only, therefore, are the common soldiers deprived of that most. useful authority, from which they must receive rebukes and admonitions for their ill conduct, but they are debarred from those consolations in their last moments, to which we all look with so much hope. The Secretary of War, with great propriety, recommends that an experiment to remedy so important a defalcation of the duty of a good government should be tried. The expense, he says, cannot fairly be put in competition with an object, which promises such