442

CAUSES OF THEIR NATIONAL DECAY.

thoroughfares, there its carcase will lie, even in that warm climate, till the hungry dogs, who act as the only scavengers of the city, eat it up. But these are so numerous and ravenous, both in Grand Cairo and Constantinople, that even the entire carcase of a dromedary is devoured in a night. And should a human being die, or be assassinated in the dark, it is ten to one if a single scrap of his body be left by sunrise, to give evidence of the fact. Lord Byron actually saw a dog tearing at the scalp of a beheaded man, and trying to crunch his skull, and the sight is said not to be uncommon at Constantinople.

But besides these more obvious causes of decay, there are others slow and silent, which will of themselves bring about the inevitable result. Of these polygamy is one; and thus it works. In their almost promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, the females do not become pregnant in the usual proportions. When they happen to fall with child, they do every thing in their power to procure abortion; and should this fail, and the child be born, it is an ascertained fact that, when the infant is asleep, the mother spreads a thin silk handkerchief over her child's face, and on that she drops a wellknown deadly vegetable powder, and the work is thus done in three minutes. Again it is said, that throughout his very extensive dominions, the Sultan has fifteen millions of soldiers, and by law of long practice, these must all be native born Turks, spread over these hot climates; and leading a freer life than ordinary peasants, they die sooner, and in greater numbers, and without offspring. And thus there is no proportion between the births and deaths of the Turks.

CHAPTER XVIII.

GREECE.

LORD BYRON and Sir Walter Scott were not more distinguished for their poetry than for their patriotism. There was a remarkable coincidence between them in this, that the genius of the one recalled Greece to the sympathies of statesmen by his descriptions in Childe Harold, so that she was emancipated from the tyranny of the Grand Turk, and established as an independent state. In the same way, by his Shakspearian delineation of a national character not surpassed in Europe for bravery, patriotism, and devotion to their chief; and by his descriptions of scenery equal to those of any writer of any age, Sir Walter Scott did more for the Highlands of Scotland than even Lord Byron did for Greece. Till the publication of the 'Lady of the Lake,' the Lord of the Isles,' and the Waverley Novels,' this country was not known at all to the inhabitants of England, and but very indifferently even to those of Edinburgh. But the battle of Waterloo did not produce a more prompt and permanent effect upon the politics of modern Europe, than did these writings upon the position of the Highlands. Everything grand in the gorges and glens of the Grampians, pretty in the Lakes of Perthshire, or wild in the

444 LORD BYRON AND SIR WALTER SCOTT CONTRASTED.

Hebrides of the west, was brought out to the amazement and delight even of Continental Europe. Forthwith travellers flocked to the north every summer, and it became at once a more fashionable tour than Switzerland itself. And now the whole court of England and many of her nobility reside for months every year in the Highlands. Estates are bought, shooting grounds with rivers, and lochs for fishing are leased, and lodges are built, and even railways are made, and probably one hundred thousand pounds sterling is spent in the district every autumn. Much of this may be attributed to the patriotism of Scott, and at least more of it than to any other cause. We may talk of the beneficial results which flowed from the two rebellions; of the abolition of the hereditary jurisdictions, and of the Act abolishing ward holding,—a species of military tenure by which the vassal was bound to follow his chieftain to battle under pain of forfeiture of his lands,-or of the making of the Caledonian Canal, and many excellent turnpike roads everywhere, as having done much for the Highlands, and nobody can doubt the fact. But Scott, by bringing the beauties of the country into notice, and the character of the people into favour, did more for that wild and savage district than all the other remote causes combined. Thus Byron kindled a flame in European opinion which compelled the five great powers to do what in itself was unlike most of their actions, and what was scarcely justifiable in the general law of nations: and everybody approved of it, because it was done for classical Greece, while the pretence assumed, that it had a regard to the balance of power, was esteemed merely as an apology. Might not the same five great nations, by treaty or otherwise, tear the Holy Land of the Messiah from the

ISLANDS OF THE CYCLADES, ORACLE OF DELPHOS. 445

spiritual dominion of the False Prophet, that God's ancient people, the Jews, may be permitted, encouraged, and even helped, to return to their promised land?

We sailed, in going towards Greece, once more down. through the Dardanelles, and passed the Troas, where St. Paul in a vision was called to Macedonia, where he restored the dead to life, and where he left his cloak and his parchments, about the bringing of which he wrote particularly to Timothy. Desirous to get another peep at the classical scenes, I embraced the opportunity afforded me of landing on the island of Lemnos, and I ascended the heights above the harbour, where I obtained an excellent bird's-eye view of the Sigæan promontory, with all the ancient localities of Troy and of the Grecian camp, and of the bay where their fleet was moored, and of Tenedos where it was concealed for a night, and of all the gulfs and islands around. We sailed towards the Piræus by the islands of Dinos and Naxo, and Argolica and Delas, once so famous for the oracle of Delphos and temple of Apollo, but now without a single inhabitant. This island, like all the other islands of the Cyclades around, is destitute of trees and of verdure; but extremely brilliant and beautiful. Standing on the deck, a sailor came forward and said in plain English, on an afternoon lovely beyond description, "Do you see, Sir, yon solitary little cloud rising in the horizon?"-"Yes," said I, "I do." "Then,” he continued, "exactly below it, and a little to the right, are the plains of Marathon, where a battle was fought long by. Many people take a boat and go to see it from Athens. I have twice gone with gentlemen who were from England like you." "Thank you,” said I. “And what is the name of that river inter

446 secting the flat in its whole length?" "They call it the Marathon, Sir," said the tar, for he had never heard of the Charadrus. "You see the whole field there, and you know better than I do who fought, and all about it, I daresay. But I believe you don't find it in the Bible." This last remark was made with sincere simplicity, and I felt much indebted to the sailor for doing his best in gruffly directing my attention to so interesting a locality. Near by was the station of the Persian fleet and the place where they landed; and more distant were the headlands of Euoea and of Attica. Not far from the shore stood still conspicuous the tomb raised over the bodies of the Athenians who fell in this memorable battle. And further along the shore is the marsh where have been found the remains of trophies. Thus, as Byron says,

PLAINS OF MARATHON-ISLAND OF SYRA.

"Age shakes Athena's towers, but spares grey Marathon."

We arrived at the island of Syra about six o'clock in the morning, and did not depart from it till next day at sunset. The island is barren but picturesque. The harbour may be called the Liverpool of modern Greece. The town is not unlike Jaffa, being built on a conical hill which is covered to the summit with whitewashed houses and crowned by a monastery. Below this the town spreads out along the water's edge. Here the rising condition of the place is indicated by the crowds of busy traders, the number of boats loading and unloading, and the crowds of sailors and porters swarming on the wharf. The harbour is said to be one of the best in Greece. The streets of the town are narrow and confused-the houses are small and dirty; yet there is a very pleasing variety in the fruit shops, winepresses, numerous bazaars, and happy holiday faces. But alas! my description