ANADOL, OR THE LAST 1103IE OF THE FAITHFUL. *

TRE reader may look upon this title as a sounding piece of affecta- tion or claptrap. " Anadol " is Asia Minor ; and if "the last home of the faithful" means that the Turks are to be banished thither, there is little in the volume to support that conclusion, and less in the facts which have occurred since it was written: the Turkish power seems to have more vitality than either friends or foes imagined, Mr. Urquhart excepted. The book really con- sists of a steam voyage from Constantinople along the Black Sea coast of Asia Minor as far as Samsun, a ride thence through the mountainous districts of the Kurds and Tureomans to the Province of Kaisariyeh, returning by way of Angora overland to Constan- tinople. In other words, the land journey was chiefly performed between the 38th and 40th degrees of North latitude and the 3201 and 36th of East longitude. The time of the excursion was the summer of 1852.

As in the author's previous work, "The Frontier Lands of the Christian and the Turk," the object of the journey is not very clear. A man might take a steam-trip along the Black Sea merely for a change. If he loved adventure, hardships, and risks, he might ride through the mountain regions of part of " Anadol"; but to ride when suffering from ague with a Tartar courier for two hundred miles, and then, leaving the professional express behind him rather knocked up, push on alone from Angora to Constanti- nople, looks like "secret service." This is more especially the case since the traveller when he turned back was nearer the Medi- terranean than he was to Angora, or at least as near. A good portion of the book is "made up." The opening of the voyage and some other parts consist of forced and smart descrip- tion, in which effort and an affectation of liveliness are more con- spicuous than power or effect. A good deal consists of classical and middle-age historical notices, of more or less interest, but nearly all out of place, and too obviously written to measure. There is, however, a good deal of new and curious matter, de- scriptive of the manners and mode of life of Kurds and Turco- mans, as well as of the various races—Turks, Greeks, and Arme- nians—that inhabit the country which the author travelled over. He has a curious account of the old feudal system established by

the conquering Turks, but -which had degenerated by time and

abuse into a system useless to repel an enemy and practically in- capable of raising an available force for the Government, until the present Sultan finally abolished what had become a nuisance. Ac- cording to the review which the author takes, the Turkish Govern- ment was much weaker half a century ago than it is now. The provincial Pachas or half-independent feudatories, backed by the

licentious sipahis or military vassals—Ali Paoha in Europe, Me- hemet All in Egypt, and less historically noted men elsewhere—

had pretty much reduced the Sultan to the condition of the last Byzantine Emperors, whose real sovereignty extended a very little way beyond the walls of Constantinople. Our author also leads to the conclusion, that for thelast seventy years the Turkish Sultans have felt the necessity of changing their government and military sys- tems, and that the feeling has been steadily acted upon. Whether it will succeed, remains to be seen. The thirteenth chapter, devoted to this subject, and called "The Chiefs of the Valleys," contains a good deal of information in a brief space. There are also many pictures of the character and condition of the people as they ac- tually are, which offer materials for forming some judgment of the Asiatic subjects of the Sultan ; though it would probably be less favourable than late events would lead one to infer, unless it is the fierce fanatical element which has precipitated itself on the Danube. The summary of our author is given thus.

• Anadol : the Last Home of the Faithful. By the Author of " The Frontier Lands of the Christian and the Turk." Published by Bentley. 14 This was not a bad specimen of an Asiatic so-called Greek. Within the eaes of a few days we had also had an opportunity of observing unmasked dm Armenian idiosyncrasy, as well as the three distinct phases of Turkish character, the reformed, the unreformed, and that requiring little reform ex- it be in a religious and political sense : the Greek, ignorant and osten- tatious, ever the same. whether dreaming of national independence or prov- ing how incapable his la of making a good use of it when attained ; the Ar- inenian, i cringing n his manner, and grovelling in h tastes ; the reformed Turk, a poor shallow of his fernier self, and struggling to attach himself to a new body ; and the old Turk, either fierce and fanatical, or kind, simple, and dignified." The following description of Turkish hospitality seems intended te throw a slur on the Greeks and Armenians : it will be seen, however, that the Turk was indeed courteous, but hospitable at the expense of others.

"After putting the river Sarus between us and the Turcoman country, we rode for some time among hills which were round, low, and lumpish, in comparison with those we had left: at last we descended on the plain, and traversing a portion of it, arrived at the town of Everek. Its population consists of fifteen hundred Turkish, five hundred Armenian, and a very few Greek families. Chance led us to ask hospitality, according to Oriental cus- tom, when the khan is bad, at the house of one of the latter. It was flatly refused. We then knocked at the door of an Armenian grandee, who also shut it churlishly in our face, when he had understood our errand. The Turkish Mudir, or Mayor, was the next we tried ; and he made us welcome with the greatest kindness, and ordered that one of the principal Armenians

should immediately prepare to be our host. • •

"The Armenian, the same to whom we had previously applied in vain, must needs be civil too, now that he had received an order to that effect ; and about him we surely do not require to be scrupulous after the tone of our first reception at his door. He was a bakal, or grocer, but a very rich man as times went at Everek. His house was large and handsome ; the single article of furniture in each room, the inevitable divan, was sumptuous; and in his eating apparatus alone was inconsistency apparent. At supper, for instance, there existed a curious theory on crockery ; the unfailing omelette, made of eggs entre deux ages, and the classical tough hen, hardly killed and certainly not yet cooked, were placed on round plates in the middle of the moveable low table, while oblong dishes stood before us to eat from. His crystal was also singular, an old narghileh water-holder having been promoted for the occasion to the holding of wine ; and the wine, to judge by its effects on the Armenian, could be no small tipple either. Although habitually a tea-al- most-totaller, we sipped it once to his health ; he then snatched the great goblet from our hand, and drank a deep draught to ours. By this his heart of hearts was opened, and we were initiated into some of the fashionable gossip and tittle-tattle of the place. It was a rare etude de receurs for an inquiring traveller. The old narghileh gradually disgorged itself into the old grocer, who proportionately waxed grosser and grosser till we mildly deprecated his going any further with his odd communications; and at length, obstinately refusing to listen to more information on such local topics, of which we had already acquired beyond what was necessary for our purpose, and feeling dis- posed bedward, we addressed ourself to rest."

Here is an instance of real hospitality, and a good specimen too of the real old Turkish character, uncorrupted by European no- tions and unshaken by the bigotry of some of his race.

" We soon found the hospitality we sought, at the village of Kaleh Kieui, where a good old Mussulman received us nobly under his humble roof. * *

"Our host was poor, but his old heart was in the right place. He repeatedly assured us that all he possessed was ours, no teklif (ceremony) between us, and that our joint property was not and never could be divided. With a calm dignity he set before us his entire store of worldly goods for the time being : gourds, grapes, honey, cheese, with bread of the coarsest ; and the homely fare was seasoned by his cordial welcome, while he waited on us as though our head wore a crown instead of the obnoxious straw bat, and his hand were provided with an official gold stick, and not the miserable remains of an ill-conditioned pipe-stick. In the morning, after visiting the ruins with us, he mounted his donkey and attended us several miles on our way, then wished us a happy journey, and turned back, not without looking round more than once to wave his hand with the same graceful benevolence dis- played in his whole demeanour. The Turks are gentlemanly even in rags, when they are not under the exclusive influence of their fitful bigotry."

The Vienna "note," and the skill with which the Turkish Go- vernment waited patiently till they were ready, and then began war, give a favourable idea of the national talent for diplomacy. The following scene is an example on a small scale. On his route to Amasia, our traveller was accompanied by some consular per- son : on their way they fell in with several Armenian Protestants who complained of oppression from their fellow Christians : on ar- riving at Amasia, they waited till sunset—it was the Mahometan Lent—and then forced themselves upon the hungry Nebo with the case of the Protestant Armenians.

"'What would you have me do ?' asked he, peevishly. " 'See justice done.' " 'How?'

" 'By preventing the Primates from charging more than their share of taxation to those who have left the Armenian Church.'

"'Now, look you here !' vehemently retorted his unbelieving Excellency ; this is a thing the Padishah our master (may his shadow never be less !) has done in the hope of pleasing you never-to-be-satisfied Franks. The taxes paid by Christiana were formerly contracted for by Mussulmans ; and you said we oppressed them. Now we make the Christians divide the amount amongst themselves; and you complain that we let them oppress each other. By the beard of my Baba! (may he live a thousand years!) what have we to do with the differeneT between praying to the portrait of a woman called Mariam, who is long since dead and buried, and whom one party foolishly calls the mother of Allah, and praying to Isa, whom we too respect as a prophet, though we do not say, like the other party, that he alone can lead men to paradise ? We believe in Allah, who is the same as your Allah, and in his name I beg you let us alone with your disputes about such things. Val! you make me eat vexation on the eve of the holy

iram. Val! I am in a passion.

'It is just because the purity of the Protestant religion admits of no- thing that could ever appear to you in the same light as the idolatry of the Armenian Church, that one might hope to see you favour it,' was the depre- catory reply. " 'I have nothing to do with it Vallah! My duties are those of an ad- nunistrator, and not of a theologian; and if any man of the population under my charge thinks he has a complaint to make against me, let him make it to my superiors at Stambul, and I shall be ready to answer it.' 'This dispute is taken up by the whole Armenian population of the place, some on one side and some on the other: if those aggrieved can obtain no redress except at Stambul, why, they would all have to go there as parties or as witnesses.'

" Then, by the holy name of the Prophet ! they shall all go there toge- ther if I hear another word on the subject!' exclaimed the Pacha, whose patience was now quite exhausted, and whose apretite could no longer be stayed. Turning to his servants, who stood trembling before him, he shout- ed, Ghel, yemek ghitir ! Come ! food bring !' "A forced journey of this kind would have been no small aggravation to the sufferings of the Armenian Protestants ; and as our intercession in their behalf was merely a friendly expostulation requested of us by fellow Protest- ants, there was nothing further to be done for them. " We took our leave accordingly."