DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4719#0096
CONSTANTINOPLE.
75
t8e ri^mg
n. \fienl,
officer* onln
md he rode!
streetlined
* he approach
ikl have appei
; and there:
idfl that atteii
me, manners,!
3. In the sen
•d by their i
so doing at j
ire commit
the harem, t
and that 1
itnral uhj<
\ of the did
•ant people, I
i had to effect
teir wearing k
H»: and*:
[ the infidel^
.,-wiv punisli
fcary orders, nl
w
koatile to their:
of making'
mowing flil
jnth eompani
l€ longing*
nature«
oealedthan^
I often see to
tual indulged
variety and extravagance of dress, it will require time to
subdue.
The Sultan does not appear to be above fifty years of age ;
lie has a short, trim, black beard, sits extremely well and up-
right on his horse, and looks as if he would in the natural
course of life see many more years of change. He is sus-
pected of being a Christian; and certainly his exertions are
doing far more than any other means now at work to remove
the superstitions of Mahometanism; and these reforms may
perhaps prepare the way for further changes in the religion
of the people. Here the barriers of the Mahometan law are
falling fast, and there is now as much religious freedom in
this as in any city in the world. There are many picture-
shops, and portraits of the Sultan are seen exposed in all of
them, and this by his command. The devices on the em-
broidered clothes and the painted ceilings and fronts of
houses now represent flowers, guns, and flags,—objects in
nature or art,—which is a direct violation of the laws of the
Koran; but it would be endless to relate the changes in
progress here. It is for this reason that the villages and in-
terior of the country are more interesting to the traveller;
there the change is scarcely perceptible, the natural man-
ners and character of the people remaining undisturbed. In
Constantinople the turban and the variety of head-dresses,
which I have before described, are comparatively unseen,
every one wearing the red cap; and the character of the
people is changing as quickly as the costume.
The weather is now very fine, but still bitterly cold. I
cannot face the north-east wind, to make an excursion up the
Bosphorus to the Black Sea. The straits, as far as I have
seen them, are exceedingly beautiful; the continued ravines
or sheltered dells on either side, with palaces and villas down
to the water's edge, are rich and picturesque, and present a
contrast to the bare hills above them.
The natural situation of Constantinople is lovely, and
E 2*
75
t8e ri^mg
n. \fienl,
officer* onln
md he rode!
streetlined
* he approach
ikl have appei
; and there:
idfl that atteii
me, manners,!
3. In the sen
•d by their i
so doing at j
ire commit
the harem, t
and that 1
itnral uhj<
\ of the did
•ant people, I
i had to effect
teir wearing k
H»: and*:
[ the infidel^
.,-wiv punisli
fcary orders, nl
w
koatile to their:
of making'
mowing flil
jnth eompani
l€ longing*
nature«
oealedthan^
I often see to
tual indulged
variety and extravagance of dress, it will require time to
subdue.
The Sultan does not appear to be above fifty years of age ;
lie has a short, trim, black beard, sits extremely well and up-
right on his horse, and looks as if he would in the natural
course of life see many more years of change. He is sus-
pected of being a Christian; and certainly his exertions are
doing far more than any other means now at work to remove
the superstitions of Mahometanism; and these reforms may
perhaps prepare the way for further changes in the religion
of the people. Here the barriers of the Mahometan law are
falling fast, and there is now as much religious freedom in
this as in any city in the world. There are many picture-
shops, and portraits of the Sultan are seen exposed in all of
them, and this by his command. The devices on the em-
broidered clothes and the painted ceilings and fronts of
houses now represent flowers, guns, and flags,—objects in
nature or art,—which is a direct violation of the laws of the
Koran; but it would be endless to relate the changes in
progress here. It is for this reason that the villages and in-
terior of the country are more interesting to the traveller;
there the change is scarcely perceptible, the natural man-
ners and character of the people remaining undisturbed. In
Constantinople the turban and the variety of head-dresses,
which I have before described, are comparatively unseen,
every one wearing the red cap; and the character of the
people is changing as quickly as the costume.
The weather is now very fine, but still bitterly cold. I
cannot face the north-east wind, to make an excursion up the
Bosphorus to the Black Sea. The straits, as far as I have
seen them, are exceedingly beautiful; the continued ravines
or sheltered dells on either side, with palaces and villas down
to the water's edge, are rich and picturesque, and present a
contrast to the bare hills above them.
The natural situation of Constantinople is lovely, and
E 2*