ccdents to which he appeals are the dictates of his own caprice in criminal matters, that admirable maxim of British jurisprudence, which tends to prevent the execution of one innocent man, though nine guilty should escape, is here totally reversed,--hang ten provided you secure the offender. We entered the palace through a mean kind of hall, which is turned into a coach-house, or place de remise for a large unwieldy German carriage. From this place we ascended a flight of narrow slippery stone steps, into the habitable part of the seraglio, which is upon the first floor. Passing through a large room at least one hundred and fifty feet in length, which is appropriated to the retinue of the court, we were ushered into a very fine saloon, well furnished and profusely adorned with gilding and carved wood: the floor was covered with a rich Persian carpet of immense size, the sofas of the divan were of the best Cyprus velvet fringed with gold, and the windows, formed of the largest plate-glass, brought into view the fine expanse of the lake with its very magnificent mountain scenery. All the decorations of the palace appeared sumptuous; but how much rather would the eye have rested upon those ornaments of the fine arts which form so distinguishing a mark between barbarian magnificence and elegant refinement! We waited in this room about half an hour, during which time we were subjected to the inspection of nearly all the officers, slaves, and eunuchs of the palace; amongst the rest one Seid Achmet Effendi, a man of dark colour, who had been sent by the pasha upon a mission to London, accosted us with great familiarity, and seemed so ambitious of displaying his extraordinary attainments before his companions by conversing with the Milordi in their own language, that he repeated to us the few sentences of English with which he was acquainted full fifty times. A mad dervish also, who has free ingress into all the vizir's apartments, came and looked at us, muttered something between his teeth, probably a curse, and then departed.

At length a chaoush came to announce that his highness was ready

to receive us; and we descended down the great staircase, impatient to view this extraordinary character, the representative of a sovereign more puissant than his master, a man less than a king, yet greater. As we approached the audience chamber I felt my heart palpitate at the thought of entering into the presence of a being who had long held so dire a sway over the destinies of his fellow mortals, and whose steps in his dark career were marked indelibly by the stain of blood! At the entrance of his apartment stood several Albanian guards, one of whom opened the door, and we marched into the room saluting the vizir as we entered, who sat upon a lion's skin* at an angle of the divan, handsomely but not superbly dressed: a band of gold lace which bound the scarlet cap upon his head, a broad belt of the same material which passed round his waist, and the pommel of his handjar glittering with diamonds, alone denoted the man of exalted rank: a houka stood near him which he is rather fond of exhibiting, as the use of it shews a considerable strength of lungs. As soon as we were seated upon the divan he returned our salutation by placing his right hand upon his breast with a gentle inclination of his head, and expressed his satisfaction at seeing us in his capital. He then asked if we spoke Romaic. Colonel Church, though an excellent linguist, for political reasons pretended total ignorance of the language; Mr. Cockerell, from his intimate acquaintance with the manners of the Turks who admire reserve in youth, dissembled his true knowledge, whilst Mr. Parker and myself confessed an ignorance which our short residence in Greece had not yet enabled us to overcome: but at this moment I made a firm determination that I would use all possible diligence in acquiring so necessary a vehicle of communication with this interesting personage. In the present instance Mr. Foresti acted as interpreter general. At a first introduction it could not be expected that we should acquire much

* This is the manner in which the modern heroes of this country use the skin of that lordly animal, the ancient ones wore it on their shoulders.