MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
159 
lous such exhibitions may appear, there is always something 
in believing people to be in earnest when they pray, and espe¬ 
cially when they cry, that touches one in a tender part. I 
am certain Alphonse de Lamartine would have opened the 
flood-gates of his tender heart, under a similar appeal to his 
sympathies, and deluged the whole place with tears. 
“ Come,” said the Doctor, taking the weeping Madam by 
the arm, “ de Madam is a little indispose; he are necess to 
proceed to de hotel. Dinner shall be ready. ’Tis imposs to 
remain longer.” 
Thus closed the ceremony of the howling dervishes—a 
strange Oriental sight, strikingly picturesque and impressive, 
from which some idea may be formed of the state of civiliza¬ 
tion in the East, and some reflections suggested upon the 
state of civilization in certain parts of our own country. 
Learning that the Sultan was in the habit of making his 
exit once a week from some one of his palaces, and afford¬ 
ing the public an opportunity of seeing his sublime person on 
horseback or in the royal caique, while escorted by the offi¬ 
cers of his court to some mosque selected for the occasion, I 
walked down to Tophana yesterday to witness this grand cere¬ 
mony. There was quite a respectable array of republicans in 
our party to enjoy the novelty of this Suitanic display of grand¬ 
eur and condescension. On reaching the broad avenue be¬ 
tween the palace and the gardens of the royal Harem we found 
it lined on both sides with officers and soldiers in all the pomp 
of court uniform,Tezzed and brass-buttoned, sworded, tasseled, 
embroidered, and gilt, to the very climax of civilized Orient¬ 
alism. The military uniform of the present day in Constan¬ 
tinople is a sad falling off from the magnificence of the native 
costume under the earlier Sultans. Copying the Frank na¬ 
tions of Europe in all the inconveniences and absurdities of 
dress, the Turks are quite as awkward, and as much out of 
their element in tight-laced coats, stiff collars, and scanty 
trowsers, as the stiffest Englishman or most vivacious French¬ 
man would be in their loose flowing robes and dignified tur¬ 
bans ; and they have neither the smart elegance which re¬ 
sults from good taste, even in what is objectionable, or the 
