Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXI, No. 1, July 1842Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXI, No. 1, July 1842
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
Of the improbabilities which are scattered throughout the work we have
space only to notice one or two. Mr. Morris informs us that the _harem_
of the Governor of Smyrna, which he encountered on board a steamer,
“consisted of some half-dozen ladies, (wives,) and, with attendants,
amounted to near thirty persons.” Rather too many wives for the simple
Aga of Smyrna, and more than the Koran allows. The holy book of the
Mahommedan permits no one, save the Grand Sultan—the representative of
the prophet—to have more than two; and that highest of dignitaries, and
hereditary favorite of the immortals, has but four. The Governor of
Smyrna, we are assured by a competent authority, has but _one_ wife, and
she is of Turkish descent, and not, as our author avers, a Circassian.
Had she been of Circassia she would have been a concubine, not a wife,
or, as the author blunderingly calls her, a _Sultana_. That title
belongs only to the favorite wife of the _Sultan_. Our traveller tells
us that he offered to this lady some sweet-meats, although her husband
and the keeper of his harem were both present! An averment which we
would be as chary of believing as if it were that the “light” of the
Grand Seigneur’s palace had accepted an invitation to swim with him in
the Bosphorus!
Mr. Morris tells us that he found in the slave market of Constantinople
two beautiful Georgian girls, “destined for the harems of the rich,” in
_cages_, but that he was “only indulged with a glance at them through
the _bars_!” Now a cage, or such a place as he intended to describe by
that word, even for the ugliest Numidian, would not be tolerated in
Constantinople for an hour; nor has there been for many years a Georgian
girl publicly exhibited in the markets of that city. When a writer,
sensible of the dulness of his performance, seeks to impart to it some
interest by weaving into its chapters romantic fictions, he should be
careful to give them an air of probability. We have not time nor
inclination to point out other “attractions” in these volumes of a
similar description.
While writing of Athens and Constantinople, Mr. Morris doubtless had by
his side Mr. Colton’s “Visit” to those places; and in his notices of
Arabia Petræa and Egypt he has availed himself of the information
acquired by Mr. Stevens and Professor Robinson. He has made what, in the
language of the _trade_, is called a readable book; but it possesses
neither originality, vigor, nor freshness; and his delineations, besides
lacking these qualities, are often tediously long and needlessly
particular. He does not pretend to give any new topographical
information, and his work contains none. It was probably written out
from slight notes taken during his tour, and the more elaborate
descriptions of other travellers. It evinces some taste and judgment in
the selection of themes, and is now and then graced by a classical
allusion or quotation, gleaned, perhaps, from the guide-books, which
make authorship so easy to the tourist.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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