The volume whose title stands at the foot of this 

 article, 2 is also from the pen of a native of Constantinople; 

 written by a Greek, it exhibits the ready pliancy of Grecian 

 genius, and a work more decidedly French in style and 

 sentiment could not have been produced by Jouy himself. 

 It is neat, lively and delicate, free from rancour or ex- 

 aggeration ; and coming, as it does, from one who bears 

 the name of the last and heroic emperor of the Greeks, we 

 could hardly have expected so much moderation. It pre- 

 sents also an animated picture of Turkish manners ; but 

 the mode of writing which the author has adopted, that of 

 dramatic scenes and dialogues, is better suited to the vivid 

 display of odd humours and peculiarities, than to the pro- 

 found analysis of character; and in this case it is peculiarly 

 unfit, as it leaves out of view the very traits by which the 

 Turks are particularly distinguished, we mean their apathy, 

 taciturnity, and unsocial disposition. 



When the Ottomans and the nations of the West first 

 came into collision, there was not perhaps much difference 

 between them in the externals of civilisation ; but the East 

 and West are cast in different moulds of society, possess- 

 ing different capabilities; and the disparity between them 

 soon became evident. About one century after the con- 

 quest of Constantinople, Busbequius dispelled in a great 

 measure the terror which the Ottomans had inspired by 

 his faithful picture of their empire; Wild and -Sandys, a 

 little later, betray some feelings of contempt; but from the 

 close of the seventeenth century, when the character of 

 the Turks had manifestly lost the protection of their illusive 

 greatness, it has been almost uniformly painted in un- 

 favourable colours. Notwithstanding the agreement of 

 the best writers in the general estimate of the Turkish cha- 

 racter, their opinions, when considered in detail, are too 

 various and irreconcilable to afford the means of an accurate 

 delineation. We must not, however, believe with Mr. 

 Thornton (a writer who has borrowed every thing, save 



2 Esquisses des Moeurs Turques au XlXme Siecle ; ou Scenes Populaires, 

 Usages Religieux, Ceremonies Publiques, Vie Interieure, Habitudes Sociales, 

 Idees Politiques des Mahometans en forme de Dialogues. Par Gregoire 

 Palaiologue, ne a Constantinople. 8vo. Paris. 1827. 



Q A 2 



