C O N S' T A N 
ment. There is no place of public execution ; and when 
a criminal is condemned, he is led down the nearefl ffreet 
by the executioner, who is provided with a large nail and 
cord, which he places over the door of any Atop where he 
is not paid for forbearance. The body is raifed a few 
inches only above the ground, and mult be left untouched 
for three days. In intlances of decapitation, the more 
honourable puniflnnent, it is expofed as long in the ftreet, 
with the head under the arm, if a muflulman, but if a 
rayah, or common perfon fubjefted to the capitation tax, 
between the legs. So horrid a fpeftacle excites no emo¬ 
tion in the mind of a Turk, for it is certain, that by no 
nation, be it as lavage as it may, is the life of a man fo 
lightly regarded as by them. This is a difgufcing, but 
true, Iketch of their laws and executive jultice. 
The Turks are moilly attired in habits peculiar to their 
profellions. By the turban, differing in lize and fhape, 
every man is known; and lo numerous are thefe dillinc- 
tions, that even a dragoman, long converfant with Con- 
ffantinople, knows not half of them. The emirs, real or 
pretended delcendants from the prophet, are diftinguilhed 
by the green muflin, the others wear white round a cap of 
cloth, and the head is univerfally very clofely (haven. In 
the turbans of the oulemah there is a greater profulion of 
muflin, from ten to twenty yards, which are proportiona- 
bly larger, as the wigs of profeflional men were formerly. 
The military, as the janiffaries, boltandjis, and topjis, 
wear caps of the moll: uncouth lhape and falhion, liich 
as defy defcription. The rayahs are known by a liead- 
drefs called a kalpac, made of lamb-lkin, and inimitably 
ugly, differing entirely from a turban; and fometimes a 
famour, or black fur cap, which is principally worn by 
dragomen and phylicians. In other refpefts they are 
drell’ed as the Turks. Yellow flippers, or boots, are in¬ 
dulged only to thofe under ambaffadorial protection, and 
are an envied diftinftion. When the prefent fultan, 
Selim III. came to the throne, he iffued an edift that no 
unlicenfed rayah Ihould appear publicly in yellow flip¬ 
pers. At that time he took great pleafure in walking 
the itreets in difguife; when meeting an ill llarred Jew 
dreffed contrary to law', he ordered his head to be inftantly 
ftruck off. This was his firll aft of feverity, which creat¬ 
ed moll unfavourable conjeftures, not altogether con¬ 
firmed by his fubfequent reign. The Turks of better 
rank, and the regular citizens, wear what is called the 
long drefs, with outer robes of fine cloth, fhalloon, or 
pellices, which are in general ufe for the greater part of 
the year, and commonly of the mod coftly furs. They 
are feldcm feen without a tefpi in their hands ; it is a 
firing of ninety-nine beads, correfponding with the names 
of the deity, which they cdrry as much for amufement 
as devotion. Hamid Aii, a late vizier, wore one of pearl, 
fo perfect as to be valued at three thouiand pounds ffer- 
ling. The common people belonging to any military 
corps, have a jacket richly ornamented with gold or filk 
rwilt, trowfers of doth, which fit clofe to the middle of 
tiie leg, the other part of which is bare, and red flippers. 
Their great pride is to Hick into their girdles a pair of 
large norfe piftols, a yataghan or long knife, a hanjiar or 
dagger, all profufely inlaid with filver in a groteique tafte, 
which, With pouches for ammunition and tobacco, are 
extremely incommodious, and feveral pounds weight. 
With thefe weapons they frequently do milchief, often 
from childiflinefs, fometimes from intention. Such are 
feen in every town in the empire, excepting the capital, 
who glory in their privilege, as no rayah is permitted to 
carry arms. 
By the laws of Iflamifm, the Turks are forbidden vef- 
lels and utenlils of gold or filver, and are direfted to great 
fimplicity in every habit of life. This injunftion does 
not extend to women, whofe pride confilts in the number 
and coftlinefs of their trinkets. The chief luxury of the 
men is difplayed in the number of their attendants, and 
their horfes with fuperb caparifons, often of embroi¬ 
dered velvet, and plates of filver emboffed and gilt. No 
TINOPL E. J 23 
rich man appears in public, but on horfebaek with a train 
of footmen, in any part of Conllantinople, the number of 
whom is unneceffarily great, and much of his income is 
expended in their daily maintenance, and new clothes at 
the feaft of Bayram. Their wages are inconfiderable. No 
domeftic performs more than one-office; this ferves the 
coffee, and that hands the napkin, but no emergency can 
command any other fervice. 
The horfes ufed by the rich and powerful in Conftan- 
tinople, are of the Arab nr Turcoman breed, eminently 
beautiful, and taught to prance under the perfeft manege 
of the rider, however infirm. Great expence likewife is 
lavifhed on their boats, which are elegant in a high de¬ 
gree, carved, gilded, and lined with rich cufhions. TJiey 
coil from a hundred to a thoufand piafters each. The 
rank of the owner is afcertained by the number of oars, 
and in dexterity or civility no watermen exceed the 
Turks. Coaches are not in ufe, unlef's the clumfy, non- 
defcript vehicles, which convey the ladies of great harems, 
can be fo called. In his pipe an opulent man is extremely 
fumptuous ; the head mult be of pale amber, the Itick of 
jafmine w'ood, with the bark preferved, and the bowl of a 
delicate red clay, manufaftured at Burgas in Romelia, 
and highly ornamented. According to the dignity off 
the finoker is the length of his pipe, often fix or feven 
feet, when it is carried by two of his fervants from place 
to place with much ceremony ; and the bowl is fuppoi ted 
by wheels, as an aid to fupreme indolence. In the fum- 
mer, for greater coolneis, the Item of the pipe is covered 
with cotton or muflin, and moiltened with water. This 
fovereign recreation is not confined to the men ; the la¬ 
dies, efpecially thofe advanced in life, partake of it large¬ 
ly, and, as a delicacy, they mix the tobacco with frank- 
incenfe, mulk, or aloes wood. The fultan alone abrtams 
from etiquette; as khalif, or reprefentative of the pro¬ 
phet, he declines deciding, by his own practice, upon the 
propriety of any cultom, about which the law is not spe¬ 
cific and declaratory- 
The Turks have converted many of the Greek churches, 
which were either fpacious or beautiful, to the celebration 
of their own forms of worfliip. Many of thefe contained 
marble embellifhments, collefted from the ancient tem¬ 
ples, and had domes fpread with rich Mofaic, which, as 
applied to ceilings, was probably the invention of the 
Greeks in the middle ages. The Byzantine hiffory fpeaks 
of feveral, in terms of the higheft approbation, of which 
nothing remains. Du Cange enumerates a hundred and 
one churches dedicated to faints, and a hundred and four 
to martyrs. Of thofe now feen, the moll perfeft are the 
church of St. John Studius, built by Leo 1 . containing 
many Corinthian columns of ferpentine marble, that on 
the fourth hill by Anaflafius I. dedicated to Chriff and 
the twelve apoftles, which has four cupolas. The empe¬ 
ror is reprefented in Mofaic as offering an exaft model of 
the church to Chriff; and in the others are portraits of 
the apoftles. The walls are incrufted with fine marbles, 
and the whole extremely perfeft. St. John the Baptilf’s 
was once St. Phocas; it was reltored by the emperor He- 
raclius, and is now the fultan’s menagerie. Belon men¬ 
tions with wonder that in his time a lion was chained to 
each of the pillars. Near the Adrianople gate Hands the 
church of All Saints, originally the patriarchal, which has 
four large domes. In different parts of the city others 
may be traced, which are lefs remarkable, exhibiting, 
however, various lpecimens of the lower Greek archi- 
tefture. 
A dillrift of Conllantinople, now called the Fanal, is 
appropriated, though not exclufiveiy, to the Greek na¬ 
tion ; in which, fince the pofleffion of the Turks, the no¬ 
ble families and their dependants have in a great meafure 
refided. Whilfl the brave Conftantine was defending the 
gate of St. Romanus, as a forlorn hope, others of the be- 
fieged, either from cowardice or defpair, made terms with 
-the emperors, and opened the gate of the Phenar for their 
admiflion. From that circum fiance they obtained from 
Mohammed 
