16i2 Turk^i), Constantinople, Eg^i/pt, [|AuG 



doctor," while the Hakkim is expected to be able to tell a patient's 

 malady at first sight, and Avithout asking any questions, (for they reckon 

 any inquiry as an unquestionablepi'oof of want of skill) while the chance of 

 his being paid, unless he takes his fee before hand, is very remote 

 indeed. Sopie of the particulars of his professional visits, and the cha- 

 racter of his brethren in the healing art, are amusing enough, and prove 

 that quackery flourishes as luxuriantly in Stambool as within our own 

 bills of mortality. He demolishes the commonly received notion of the 

 sobriety of the Turks, by asserting that they are not only fond of drink- 

 ing, but that they drink rum, and rakee (a strong ardent spirit) " as 

 Christians drink small beer, and in larger quantities !" The administra- 

 tion of justice, such as it is, appears to be dreadfully severe, and summary 

 enough to justify its having become proverbial. Poisoning, decapita- 

 tion, the bowstring, the tab, * and drowning, are the varieties of their 

 capital punishments ; and Mr. Madden says it is only in cruelty that the 

 Turks are refined. The manner in whicli the government lately got rid of 

 a troublesome part of the community, must make Birnie's mouth water to 

 read it. Surely, if we ever make it up with Turkey, our government 

 would have influence enough with the Sultan to obtain that excellent 

 and enlightened magistrate a post in the police of Constantinople. 

 He would make a jewel of a Cadi ; and as for the trifling ceremony 

 attendant upon changing his religion, he would not be the first of his 

 countrymen who has submitted to that without many wry faces. 



" Shortly before my arrival, the Turkish porters of Pera were notorious for 

 their uoctunial depredations : it was luisafe to be out after nightfall ; and 

 numerous complaints were made to the police. A few were strangled ; but 

 the punishment produced no good effect : the Franks again complained, and in 

 a few days after, one of those summary methods of disposing of bad subjects 

 was adopted, which could only be suggested by Tvirkish justice, and carried 

 into effect by Turkish perfidy. The porters were all employed to carry grain 

 aboard the Capitan Pacha's ship ; and, as each set of them got aboard, they 

 were forthwith pinioned, and fkmg into the Bosphorus : in this manner they 

 were all got rid of, and Pera v.'as next day restored to perfect security. 

 However bad the majority of these ruffians might liave been, in all probability 

 there were some innocent men amongst them : their fate serves to show that 

 nothing is deemed of so trifling a value as human life in Turkey; and that, in 

 no country in the world, is its insecurity so fully felt as in the Ottoman empire. 



" Nailing by the ears is an operation performed on bakers, for selling light 

 bread. There is a hole cut in the door for the back of the culprit's head: the 

 ears are then nailed to the panel ; he is left in this position till sunset, then 

 released ; and seldom sustains any permanent injury from the punishment, 

 except in his reputation. And, lastly, I must notice the absurd mode of 

 punishing perjury; an offence which is so little thought of, that it is visited 

 with the mildest of all their punishments. The offender is set upon an ass, 

 with his face to the tail, and a label on his back, with the term scheat, or per- 

 jui-er. In this way he is led about to the great amusement of the multitude, 

 and even of his associates." 



The most shallow and unsatisfactory part of IVIr. Madden's book, is 

 that in which he talks about the politics of the Turkish government, and 

 its strength. It should be premised that Mr. Madden's own politics are of 

 the liberal school ; he repeats over and over again, with great self compla- 



• A piece of lignum vitK, about two feet long, which may be seen suspended over the 

 divan of provincial governors ; and one blow of this, on the back or neck, produces imme- 

 diate death. — Madden, vol. \, p. 118. 



