62 CONSTANTINOPLE. 
CHAP, of the miracles of Idam, should betray causeless 
' J ' alarm, he ventured once more to resume his 
seat; whence, as he sat trembling-, a second 
shock sent him fairly out of the house ; nor 
could any persuasion, accompanied by a promise 
of explaining the whole that had happened to 
him, prevail upon him to return, even for the 
payment which was due to him. 
Cursory ^ fg^ cursorv obscrvatious will now include 
Observa- "^ 
tions. almost all that remains of the Notes made during 
the author's first residence in Constantinople. 
Every thing is exaggerated that has been 
said of the riches and magnificence of this city. 
Its inhabitants are ages behind the rest of the 
world. The apartments in their houses are 
always small. The use of coloured glass in the 
windows of the mosques, and in some of the 
palaces, is of remote date : it was introduced 
mto England, with other refinements, by the 
Crusaders ; and perhaps we may attribute to the 
same people the style of building observed in 
many of our most antient dwelling-houses ; 
where, in the diminutive pannelling of the 
wainscot, and the form of the windows, an 
evident similarity appears to what is common 
m Turkey. The lihans for the bankers seem to 
rank next to the mosques, among the pubUc 
