LORD LONDONDERRY'S CONSTANTINOPLE, SOUTHERN EUROPE, AND AFRICA.

THE course embraced in Lord LONDONDERRY'S journeyings is that which, thanks to steam-boats and yachting, may now be con- sidered the Southern moiety of the grand tour. Ascending the Rhine and descending the 'Danube, he reached Constantinople ; having sojourned some time at Vienna, and occasionally stopped a little at the cities on the banks of those two great rivers. After quarrelling with Lord PONSONBY at Constantinople, on sufficient grounds, our tourist, as well as Lady LONDONDERRY, was introduced to the Sultan by means of the Austrian Ambassador, and saw all the sights of the capital, through the medium of the Turkish authorities, or Continental diplomatists. Leaving Constantinople in a friend's yacht, he visited Athens, the Ionian Islands, Malta, and Naples; where he heard of the fire at Wynyard Park. "It may well be imagined," says he "upon such an event, all faculty of writing—I would almost add of speaking—vanished ; and it was in vain for me to attempt finishing the details of the tour I had commenced, when I was entirely bereft of the power of thought but upon one sad subject. I laid down, therefore, my pen ; and we proceeded to England with the least possible delay." The other tour was prior in point of time ; though Malta or Naples was nearer as a starting-point than England, and would form a fitting continuation of this route : it was undertaken on account of Lady LONDONDERRY, who was recommended to pass the winter of 1839 in a Southern climate. Leaving Falmouth in a steamer, the party encountered a gale which frightened them ; but they reached Lisbon in safety ; went thence to Gibraltar; made excursions to Seville and Granada, with all the paraphernalia of carriages, travelling-accommodations, and a regular English turn- out, on roads where such a turn-out had never been before ; and, availing themselves of a friend's yacht, made a trip to Tetuan, and another to our whilom Morocco settlement of Tangier. Except these African towns, and perhaps Constantinople, the route of the Marquis is run over by hundreds of persons every month for one half of the year ; and it would require a man with more systematic knowledge, a more comprehensive mind, and much deeper thought than the Marquis of LONDONDERRY possesses, to impart novelty or interest to its sights and characteristics. The volumes before us, however, are both interesting aod amusing, and in some sense novel—less, however, from the character of the author than of the Marquis. Besides the feeling of eager curiosity that will obtain with many—making this book an especial prey for the American pirates—to learn how a Marquis travels, what he sees, and what he thinks of it, the circumstances of Lord LONDONDERRY'S life, and some intrinsic qualities in his character, give an advantage to the volumes that many other travellers could not possess. In addition to his access to distinguished historical persons and to the highest society, he has seen some of his ground, and some of lus persons, under widely different circumstances,— Portugal and Spain in the Peninsular War, Aix-la-Chapelle at the Congress, Vienna and Merreassucit for years together years ago. His character,

blurting out in his style, is not without interest in itself, or at least it imparts an interest to much that under other circumstances would excite little care. A kind of high gentlemanly and soldier- hie frankness, "Which pours out all itself an plain As downright Shippen or as old Montaigne,"

and is transparent even when it tries to veil itself—great soreness at any approach to a slight—great sensitiveness to little attentions, which he seems unconsciously to think are paid to the man though his rank had evidently the most to do with it—and, in despite of his foreign experience, a considerable distaste for foreign things in general—give much of raciness to all he writes. The railways, he says, are bad, and very badly managed, compared with England (though there they might be better) ; and, in despite of Continental politeness, he had to defend the seats he had taken for Lady LON- DONDERRY and company vi et armis, though he declared they were for ladies. The sleeping accommodation in the steam-boats he describes as horrible; and the cupidity of the agents on the Danube in overlading their vessels very gross—though they also manage to do a little in this way on the Thames. METTERNICH is getting old, and losing his apparent friendliness of manner. The Em- peror, though an excellent person, is not the equal of his father FRANCIS. The first view of Constantinople disappointed the Mar- quis; and he enters into a critical analysis to show why it cannot be so splendid as many other writers have represented, (but we suspect he entered at the wrong point for the best view.) He tried a Turkish bath for the first time, and the last; in fact, he seems to have cut the ceremony short. The Turkish dealers are cheats ; the streets, if streets they can be called, are execrable ; and as for any other agremens, they are not to be bad. See the

DEANS OF LIVING AND LIFE AT CONSTANTINOPLE.

The living, or rather the materials which form the gonfinand's larder at Paris, London, and Vienna, are all bad at Constantinople, or at best indiffer- ent. Meat of all sorts inferior; only young white beef, poor mutton, no veal or pork. Fowls half-fed, hard, and bad-tasted. Butter, none to be had, nor tolerable milk, and this mostly from goats. Bread, from there being no i yeast from breweries or distilleries, s universally sour and nasty. There is no wine but what is imported; and, as great profit is made upon it, it is every- where bad. The water at Pere is also brought from tanks, and unless filtered, is most disagreeable. The vegetable and fruit market may be good in their season ; and the fish in the Bosphorus is of various kinds, and excellent; the sword-fish isparticularly esteemed. A certain fish whilst black streak down its back is curious, but I did not think it good. Small gudgeons, mullet, (red and gray,) white-bait, and lobsters, all capital. There is game, especially woodcocks and hares; but, ex- cept this one luxury of the table, this vast city is so unprovided that the great houses are actually obliged to import from other places every article of excel- lence or that is usually found furnishing good tables elsewhere.

The pleasures of exercise are reduced to pedestrian perambulation on an in- famous pave, or riding the streets on the horses that offer. There are no riding-schools, tennis-courts, or other manly exercises of any kind.

HOW then is the life of man accustomed to European tastes to be passed, or

rather spun out, at Constantinople ? He must sink into the indolence and insouciance of the Turks; turn to the fumes of tobacco, to sherbet, and coffee; and be satisfied without the harem, which seems the natural prerogative of the Mussnlman.

The PONSONBY quarrel—" the correspondence" of the titlepage- originated in a very cavalier-like refusal of the Ambassador, cava- lierly expressed, to procure the Marquis of LONDONDERRY a pre- sentation to the Sultan, permission for Lady LONDONDERRY to visit the harem, and an order to view the mosques of Constanti- nople. The explanation the Whig diplomatist subsequently gave of the matter, when, after many letters to and fro, Lord LONDON- DERRY appealed to Lord PALMERSTON, was, that the (late) Sultan kept no court ; that Lord DURHAM, Sir Jolts M‘Nsm, and Mr. Rm.'s, had not been presented; and that he had presented the Duke of DEVONSHIRE because he was his own connexion and he was under personal obligations to him. These reasons., satisfac- tory to Lord PALMERSTON, Lord LONDONDERRY combats suc- cessfully; but, be they right or wrong, they should have been tasted at once. Instead of which, our Ambassador at Constanti-

nople penned the following epistle in answer to the traveller's request : a proper one as be states, at all events a usual one ; per- sons presented at our court, and being otherwise unexceptionable, having a sort of right to the services of our Ambassadors abroad. Indeed, Lord LONDONDERRY improves upon Worrosis definition, and seems to think an Ambassador a man sent abroad with a handsome salary to " entertain " travellers of a certain rank, and . put them in the way of seeing sights.

"Viscount Ponsonby to the Marquis of Londonderry.

Thempia, 6th November 1841.

"Dear Lord Londonderry—I cannot present anybody to the Sultan without exposing myself to perpetual inconvenience of having to present everybody, mid to make a journey of twenty miles every day, and spend my whole time in attendance upon visiters to this place. This is the plain truth, and I tell you frankly. Nobody sees the harem, that I know off; and it is not a thing fit for me to ask. You can easily get a firman by paying for it, to see the mosques, &c. It costs me forty pounds to go to see them ; and I am not rich enough for such expenses.

"Thus, you see, I am as useless as need be in what you want of me. Never- theless, I should like to be useful; but I should like better to persuade you of the facts I have stated above.

"We shall be very glad to see you when you like to come this way. I am too constantly occupied to have a moment for even taking the air, much less for so long a journey as from hence to Pera ; and I am afraid I shall not get my liberty for some days to come.

I remain, my dear Lord Londonderry, yours faithfully,

" PONSONEY."

Whether this was only Lord PONSONBY'S "way," or whether it was the way of all the Whig diplomatists to allow their politics to affect their personal civilities—or whether, as Lord LONDONDERRY seems to think, Lord Possorinv in Turkey, as well as Lord

HOWARD DE WALDEN in Portugal, lived twenty miles from the Court, to the great neglect of their duties, in order to save the ex- pense of " entertaining '—is of small consequence. Nothing could

justify such behaviour, unless, like Adam in the hands of Michael, Lord PONSONBY " saw in spirit" the speech the Marquis was about to inflict upon the Sultan when he got presented, through the Austrian Ambassador, immediately after the fall of Acre ; to which the orator has just alluded as he continues-

" I added, that I had now been serving my country thirty-five years, long before his Majesty was born, fighting always for legitimacy against revolutions and rebellious subjects; that I had always deprecated the dismemberment of any part of a great empire ; and hoped Turkey would take an example from what was now occurring, and determine not to lay down her arms until she

had reestablished her empire ; that the party I belonged to in England shared in the liveliest manner the deep interest that his Majesty's cause inspired; and that the facilities which were now afforded to visit Constantinople would bring, no doubt, numbers of my countrymen annually to witness the beauties with which nature had crowned the Bosphorus."

Now as no Government, Tory, Whig, Radical, or Chartist, could relish a discourse of this kind, addressed by a man of rank to a young Sovereign ignorant of European ways and of the

English distinction between private and official opinions, and which Sovereign's territories they were about to dismember, Lord Pori-

SONBY was quite justified in refusing to present Lord LONDON- DERRY, if he anticipated any such oration : but he might easily have done it in a more diplomatic way, or have prescribed the topics to the orator.

By means of the Austrian Ambassador and our traveller's friend RESCHID Pasha, Lady LONDONDERRY also was presented to the Sultan—the second lady that has had an interview with the Grand Signior. The following is part of her account, interlarded with scraps of unnecessary French. " I was desired to find myself at the Ischeragan Palace, for my audience of the Sultan. Some difficulty arose as to who I should select to accompany me. Madame Francini was objected to by my Austrian friends, as too great a proof of the Court arrangements being under Russian influence. Rescind Pasha un- dertook to interpret, and it was suggested that I might go alone. . This, how- ever, seemed inconvenient : I therefore proposed to Mrs.Walker, the wife of Captain Walker, the Turkish Admiral, to go with me : she gladly accepted; and at eleven o'clock on a cold snowy morning, we packed ourselves into a small close carriage (the first covered one I had seen in Turkey) which Res- chid Pasha kindly sent; and we set out. •

"We entered a small waiting-room, where we found some Austrian officers also expecting their audience. 'They informed me of what I had not discovered,

that for some reason the place named had been changed; and that I was not, as I imagined, in the Ischeragan Palace, but in the Beschititasche ; that they had already gone to the former and found no one there, and that there appeared to be a singular confusion in all the arrangements. Coffee was then handed to us in tiny cups, not containing above a thimbleful, but placed in the most beautiful little jewelled stands or egg-cups, of pink enamel 'and diamonds. A large brasier° stood in the middle of the apartment, and a low embroidered divan ran round it.

"At length the Marechal du Palais came in, and some attendants. Coffee was again served; and soon after Rescind Pasha appeared. He speaks French

perfectly; and having been Ambassador in France and England, had become quite European. We waited some time; coffee was once more brought; and much whispering, confusion, and embarrassment followed. At length they all went away, leaving us with the Austrian strangers, who were much amused at the sensation produced by the apparition of Frank women within these walls. The Turks occasionally lifted up the curtain over the entrance into the room

and peeped in to gaze at us. I was en grande tense as to toilette ; and this added to their astonishment. Madame W—, the only lady who was ever re-

ceived before myself, had gone in a hat, and without her jewels, having unfor-

tunately left them at Odessa : her audience, however, had been less en rigle than mine, and had more the character of an accidental rencontre. A great

step has been made, and probably this approach to civilization will continue to advance ; and perhaps, in a few years ladies will be received at this court as they are at any other. "At last Reschid Pasha, the Marechal du Palais, &c. returned, having put on their diamond decorations ; and after waiting again some time, for nothing in Turkey is ever done in a hurry, we were requested to follow them."

After being led about a variety of rooms and passages-

" Expecting every moment to enter the presence of the Sultan, and at length bring shown into a small side ante-room, where I was the least prepared for the meeting, he walked quietly in and suddenly stood before us. "The usual fez was on his bead; a large military cloak hung round him, clasped at the throat with a magnificent agraffe of enormous diamonds ; a large solitaire was on his little finger. He is tall, pale, sallow, and slight, with fine eyes, a sweet smile, and amiable expression of countenance. He is only eigh- teen years of age. It is said he is learning French, and is much more an fait de tout cc qui se passe than is generally imagined. The Prince de Joinville, when here, saw and conversed much with him; and lately a good deal has transpired as to his manner and ideas from a Russian painter who has just finished his picture, and with whom he had much conversation during his seve- ral sittings. "He did not bow, but immediately began talking to Reschid Pasha; who, baying paid his homage, which is done by gracefully faisant senablant to pick up the dust from the feet, according to the expression Je baize la pousare; interpreted to me the Sultan's words. He expressed his pleasure and satisfac- tion at seeing me, and his hope that I had recovered from the fatigue of my journey. To this I replied. He then inquired if I had been at all rewarded for what I had suffered, and for the deprivation of the comforts and luxuries of England. I then requested Reschid Pasha to express my admiration of Con- stantinople, my gratification at my visit and reception, and my gratitude a having been allowed to see every thing that was curious and interesting. "The Sultan inquired if I had visited the Tsche rag.an Palace ; and on my

answering in the negative, he desired orders might be given for it to be shown to me. He then inquired who the lady was who accompanied me; and on being told her name, he desired Reschid Pasha to express the pleasure he felt at having an opportunity of telling her how highly he valued her husband's ser-

vices. After a happily-worded reply from her, to the effect that she had equal delight in being able to assure his Majesty that he had not now a more faithful servant than Admiral Walker, the Sultan expressed his regret at my intention of leaving Constantinople so soon, and then suddenly vanished. " I was reconducted to the door of the Palace by Resebid. Pasha and the Marechal; who eagerly inquired what I thought of their Imperial master. They seemed pleased with the praise and approbation I bestowed ; and Reschid Pasha interpreted to the other all I said ; and told him also of my having twice seen the Sultan dismount from his horse on the Constantinople quay, and enter his beautiful claque, and return to his palace on the Pere side. I then took leave

of Reschid Pasha, endeavouring to express my gratitude for all his kindness and attention." • There are many curious traits of Turks and Turkish manners ; but we will leave Constantinople for Vienna, and take a glimpse of METTERNICH ut 1840.

Some account of the Prince's present appearance and health, the more strik- ing as I bad not seen him since the Congress of Verona in 1823, may be gene-, rally interesting. His reception of me was kind and very courteous, though perhaps less warm than formerly, or than I expected to receive ; but age blunts the effervescence of early sentiments. The formal embrace on both cheeks was given in a more stately manner, the smile was more languid, and the eye lees illumined. His person is more slight than formerly, his hair is of a more silvery hue, the features of his expressive face are more marked ; the erect pos- ture MU still maintained, but the gait had become more solemn; and when he rose from his chair, he had no longer his wonted elasticity.

Such are the ravages of time on the frame in twenty years. But in the Prince's conversation I found the same talent ; the unnvalled esprit, the fluency and elocution, so entirely his own, were as graceful and the memory as perfect as at any former period. •

On this day 1 called on Prince Metternich, and had a most interesting con- versation with him. He showed me around his official residence in Vienna, newly painted and done up with that purity of taste which characterizes the mind that directed the labour. The old apartments, which I so well remem- bered, having so often and so patiently danced attendance in them, were changed, and were now handsomely decorated. It is a strange point in the character of this celebrated statesman, how eagerly and minutely he interests himself in mere trifles, or rather the smallest minutia where art and mechanism is combined. I saw him one evening remain half an hour examining the in- terior of a small clack playing different airs. When we had visited all the moms, the Prince turned to his cabinet du tra- vail, and said, "He hien, mon cher I voila une partie, qui reste absolument la meme cotnme le jour que vons l'aviez quitte." And actually, to the very place of the paper and despatches, sealing-wax and pencils, as laid on his writing- table twenty years ago, and every surrounding article in the apartment, there appeared not the slightest change.

"NO POOL LIKE AN OLD Ivor..."

To return to less important matters. The Princess Metternich gave a soirée, for the purpose of enabling us to bear Thalberg, the famous piamste. Nothing can surpass his execution and peculiar brilliancy of expression upon hie instrument. Be and Lista' another Reve of Metternich's, are the great rival players, and share the enthusiasm of the German musical world.

Thal- berg is generally preferred. At this party 1 enjoyed another long conversation with Metternich, relative to an old and common friend of ours ; alas, for his country and the world, now no more ! I mean the celebrated Chevalier Von Genz. No one who has turned his attention to the political state of Europe for the last twenty years, can be ignorant of the great card this famous compiler and writer has played in the Allied Congresses and in the councils of all the Cabinets.

Eleven years Ambassador at Vienna had made me intimately acquainted • with his singular abilities ; and Metternich repeated to me once again, what I had often heard him say before, that he never knew a man, and believed none ever existed, who possessed such intellectual powers and such facility and feli- city in giving expression to them. • Is it not, then, passing strange that this profound genius, this subtle poli- tician, this pheenix of literature and composition, should have died actually from an overwhelming excess of the passion of love ? and this too at an age when nature cools down the passions and bids them subside ? for he was near fourscore : yet so the case stands. Ile imbibed a maddening attachment for

• Fanny Ellsler, the Vienna darmeuse then more partially known but of late conspicuous both in England and Are ' America. Her early charms and fascinations turned the philosopher's brain. His habits of business wholly ceased ; and on , Prince Metternich's observing and reasoning with him upon this change, Genz assigned, as his formal excuse, "that he had been so thunderstruck with the result of the days of July, that from that moment he had given up Europe for ' lost, and was convinced that no effort could save the world from anarchy and confusion; and therefore he ceased to occupy himself with state affairs." Met- ternich argued with him, 'that in proportion as greater dangers arose, so ought men of capacity to rise more energetically to the combat." But Genz then more candidly avowed, "that he had abandoned himself entirely to one enginasineeeling : he proclaimed it—be gloried in it ; he was fondly, passion- ately,.desperately, eternally in love; and had only that existence and that deity."

this opera-girl poor Gertz lavished large sums of money ; and whilst ex-

hibiting his partiality, contracted debts, and ultimately died in penury and wretchedness. It is due, however, to this enchanting creature Fanny Ellsler, to say that she behaved very kindly to him, and seemed vain at having subdued and attached a person of such high and undoubted genius. Prince Metternich related also that he was with his friend a few hours before he breathed his last, and that this individual, who was proverbially known to be so timorous that he dreaded his own shadow, nevertheless, by the force of the one predominant feel- ing, died with the greatest calmness and courage, declaring he embraced death as a relief from the devouring passion that consumed him. He thus departed, at the ripe age of fourscore, a victim to the affections ! Genz left behind him some beautiful sentimental letters in manuscript, ad- dressed to his fair Dulcinea, breathing feelings stronger, perhaps, than ever were penned before. I could not obtain copies.

The Spanish and Portuguese tour has been published because a variety of manuscript copies had got abroad, and some of it printed in magazines in an incorrect and premature shape. It appears revised in these volumes ; partly on this account ; partly because the Marquis, on insufficient information, had been led to make re- marks upon the manager of the Duke of WsuaNGTox's Spanish estate, which he has now discovered, from "the highest and best authority," to be incorrect ; and to the Marquis "nothing would be more painful than to write observations that could possibly be interpreted otherwise than as the true record of an impartial tra- veller on the spot from whence he wrote."