Preparations for Departure.--Impressions of the East.--Prince
Alexander.--The Palace.--Kara Georg.
The gloom of November now darkens the scene; the yellow leaves sweep
round the groves of the Topshider, and an occasional blast from the
Frusca Gora, ruffling the Danube with red turbid waves, bids me
begone; so I take up pen to indite my last memoranda, and then for
England ho!
Some pleasant parties were given by M. Fonblanque, and his colleagues;
but although I have freely made Dutch pictures of the "natives," I do
not feel at liberty to be equally circumstantial with the
inexhaustible wit and good humour of our hospitable Consul-general. I
have preserved only a scrap of a conversation which passed at the
dinner table of Colonel Danilefsky, the Russian agent, which shows the
various impressions of Franks in the East.
A.B.C.D. discovered.
_A_. "Of all the places I have seen in the east, I certainly prefer
Constantinople. Not so much for its beauty; since habit reconciles one
to almost any scene. But because one can there command a greater
number of those minor European comforts, which make up the aggregate
of human happiness."
_B_. "I am not precisely of your way of thinking. I look back to my
residence at Cairo with pleasure, and would like well enough to spend
another winter there. The Turkish houses here are miserable barracks,
cold in winter, and unprotected from the sun in summer."
_C_. "The word East is certainly more applicable to the Arab than the
Turkish countries."
_D_. "I have seen only Constantinople, and think that it deserves all
that Byron and Anastasius have said of it."
_C_. "I am afraid that A. has received his impressions of the East
from Central Asia, which is a somewhat barbarous country."
_A_. "_Pardonnez-moi_. The valley of the Oxus is well cultivated, but
the houses are none of the best."
_B_. "I give my voice for Cairo. It is a city full of curious details,
as well in its architecture, as in its street population; to say
nothing of its other resources--its pleasant promenades, and the
occasional society of men of taste and letters--'_mais il faut aimer
la chaleur_.'"
_C_. "Well, then, we will take the winter of Cairo; the spring of
Damascus, and the summer of the Bosphorus."
M. Petronievitch took me to see the Prince, who has got into his new
residence outside the Constantinople gate, which looks like one of the
villas one sees in the environs of Vienna. In the centre of the
parterre is a figure with a trident, which represents the Morava, the
national river of Servia, and is in reality a Roman statue found near
Grotzka. The usual allowance of sentries, sentry-boxes, and striped
palisades stood at the entrance, and we were shown into an apartment,
half in the German, and half in the Oriental style. The divan cover
was embroidered with gold thread.
The Prince now entered, and received me with an easy self-possession
that showed no trace of the reserve and timidity which foreigners had
remarked a year before.
"New honours ...
Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould
But with the aid of use."
_Prince_. "I expected to have seen you at Topola. We had a large
assemblage of the peasantry, and an ecclesiastical festival, such as
they are celebrated in Servia."
_Author_. "Your highness may rest assured that had I known that, I
should not have failed to go. At Tronosha I saw a similar festival,
and I am firmly convinced that no peasantry in Europe is freer from
want."
_Prince_. "Every beginning is difficult; our principle must be,
'Endeavour and Progress.' Were you pleased with your tour?"
_Author_. "I think that your Highness has one of the most romantic
principalities in Europe. Without the grandeur of the Alps, Servia has
more than the beauty of the Apennines."
_Prince_. "The country is beautiful, but I wish to see agriculture
prosper."
_Author_. "I am happy to hear that: your highness's father had a great
name as a soldier; I hope that your rule will be distinguished by
rapid advancement in the arts of civilization; that you will be the
Kara Georg of peace."
This led to a conversation relative to the late Kara Georg; and the
prince rising, led me into another apartment, where the portrait of
his father, the duplicate of one painted for the emperor Alexander,
hung from the wall. He was represented in the Turkish dress, and wore
his pistols in his girdle; the countenance expressed not only
intelligence but a certain refinement, which one would scarcely expect
in a warrior peasant: but all his contemporaries agree in representing
him to have possessed an inherent superiority and nobility of nature,
which in any station would have raised him above his equals.