Succession of Banquets—The Chèïk Islam and the
Clergy—Sectarian Prejudices—The Military Staff—The Naval
Chiefs—The Imperial Household—The Pashas—The Grand
Vizier—Magnificent Procession—Night Scene on the
Bosphorus—The Palace of the Seraskier Pasha—Palace of Azmè
Sultane—Midnight Serenade—Pretty Truants—The Shore of
Asia—Ambassadorial Banquet—War Dance—Beautiful Effects of
Light.
One of the most characteristic features of the marriage festivities was
the succession of banquets given by the Sultan to the different high
personages, belonging to, or connected with, his Empire.
The first day was sacred to the Clergy, and the procession was a most
interesting one. At its head walked the Chèïk Islam, with the golden
circlet about his brow, and his graceful robes of white cachemire
falling around him in heavy folds; a party of the principal Imams
followed. Then came the High Chief of the Turning Dervishes, with his
lofty hat of white felt folded about with a shawl of the sacred green,
and shrouded in his ample mantle. Other sects of Dervishes succeeded;
and after them came Hadjis from the Holy Shrine of Mahomet—Emirs with
their voluminous white turbans—and Fakirs from the far East. A short
space behind advanced the Greek Patriarch, with his jewelled crown, and
robes of embroidered satin; supported by a group of prelates. Following
close upon his steps, next moved forward the Armenian Archbishop,
similarly attended, and gorgeously attired; and as he advanced, he made
way for the Jewish Hahām-bachi, or Grand Rabbi, with his flowing
beard and inlaid crosier; a throng of Rabbis were in his train; and
altogether the scene was one of a most interesting character.
On the arrival of these holy men at the banquetting tent, a delicate
difficulty presented itself. The heads of the Greek and Armenian
churches resolutely refused to sit at table with, or to eat from the
same dish as, their Israelitish companion; while the Jew, on his side,
declared the utter impossibility of his partaking of the same food as
that eaten by his Christian brethren. The stately Chèïk Islam,
meanwhile, was sitting by in uninterested silence; wondering, in the
tolerance of his own heart and creed, why men serving the same God
should not “dip with each other in the dish.”
The difficulty was at length surmounted; for, as the Jewish law did not
permit the Hahām-bachi to partake of flesh that had not been
slaughtered by one of his own tribe, there was nothing left for him but
a dinner of cheese and salad, which was accordingly spread on a
side-table; while the scrupulous Christian prelates, who had refused the
companionship of the representative of the ancient religion, seated
themselves quietly on either side of the High Priest of Mahomet, and
made an excellent dinner. The honours were done by four of the principal
Pashas; and, at the close of the repast, the party adjourned to the
kiosk to which I have already made reference, in order to enjoy the
flight of the rockets, and the fairy wonders of the illuminated
Bosphorus.
To the church succeeded the army; and on the morrow Achmet Pasha, and
the principal Officers of the Staff, were the invited guests.
The magnificent shipping in the harbour next gave up its chiefs; and
again Achmet Pasha, as temporary High Admiral, headed the board.
On the fourth day, all the members of the Imperial Household were
feasted in their turn; and, on the fifth, came the princely train of
Pashas.
The Grand Vèzer rode first on a magnificent white Arabian, whose
housings were wrought with gold and seed-pearl. His bridle-rein was
richly worked with coloured silks; and his golden stirrups were finely
chased. His sword-hilt blazed with diamonds: and the brilliant order
that he wore upon his breast burnt in the sunlight; fifteen servants on
foot surrounded his horse.
He was followed by the four newly-elected Vèzirs: the
Oumouri-Mulkiènaziri, or Minister of the Interior; the
Oumouri-Karidjiè-Naziri, or Minister of the Exterior; the Minister of
Military Finance: and the Lord High Comptroller of the Mint; by the
Seraskier Pasha, the Generallissimo of the Imperial Armies, the Grand
Master of the Artillery, and a crowd of out-dwelling Pashas, who had
been summoned by the Sultan to assist at the festival.
I never witnessed a more magnificent or profuse display of diamonds, and
embroidery; of proud steeds, and glittering parade. The crowd of running
footmen—the trampling of impatient chargers—the clashing of jewelled
weapons against the gilded stirrups—the noise, the hurry, and the
glare, baffle all description; and when at length the princely train had
disappeared within the tent, and the grooms were leading away the
splendid animals, who, freed from the control of a rider, were rearing
and prancing among the crowd, I felt like one suddenly awakened from a
gorgeous dream, and had only a severe headache left, to convince me that
I had really been a spectator of the splendid scene.
In the evening, well furred and cloaked, we descended to the pier of
Topphannè; and having secured one of the large caïques that ply to the
islands, we stepped on board; and, rowing out into the middle of the
channel, contemplated at our ease the wonders which surrounded us. From
the centre of the stream, the whole mass of waters appeared to be
girdled with fire; the shore was wrapt in darkness, and the edifices of
light seemed to lift themselves almost to the clouds. I can conceive
nothing finer of its kind; and we continued almost motionless where we
had first paused, our caïque heaving gently upon the bosom of the blue
waters; until a large flight of rockets gave us a momentary view of the
surrounding shores; but, above all, of the surface of the channel.
If I had been surprised at the density of the crowd on shore, I was
tenfold more so at the floating throng which had almost choked up the
passage of the Bosphorus. Every light and manageable craft that could be
made available, was astir that night, from the caïque of the Pasha, to
the little, round, tub-like boat of the Archipelagon trader; while the
countless white yashmacs of the women gleamed out in the light of the
rockets like a dense ridge of surf, as you approached nearer to the edge
of the shore; a circumstance which was readily accounted for by the fact
that no Turkish female is allowed to walk the streets after eight
o’clock at night, and that this was consequently their only method of
witnessing the illuminations.
Having contemplated the general effect from a distance, we with some
difficulty made our way through the caïques which were closely wedged
together opposite the Palace of Dolma Batchè, just in time to escape one
of the magnificent explosions produced by the Greek fires, that were
blazing up out of the water in every direction, and which burst not five
yards from our boat.
Of all the illuminations, that of the Seraskier Pasha, taken
individually, was by far the most brilliant. The whole _façade_ of the
palace was one blaze of light; and, in lieu of the oil by which the
lamps were filled in every other instance, he had fed the flame with
some ardent spirit, which gave to it the fitful tint and the flashing
brilliancy of diamonds. A magnificent screen in arabesques, on the
opposite coast, at the small summer palace of Scutari, was the next most
attractive object of the Bosphorus. But it is only as a whole that such
a pageant should be judged; and all those who looked upon the one which
I have attempted to describe, will doubtlessly concede that it was a
spectacle of beauty which has probably never been exceeded.
We made our way slowly, but without much difficulty, along the European
shore, until we reached the Palace of Azmè Sultane; but for a while
after we had gained that point all further progress was impossible.
There must have been many hundred caïques wedged together in front of
her terrace, and not less than fifty of them contained musicians. We had
intended to disembark at the palace steps, and to pay a visit to Nazip
Hanoum, but were obliged to abandon the idea, as we became instantly
aware that the thing was impracticable. We therefore remained quietly in
our boat, under the bright light of the magnificent screen upon whose
surface coloured lamps were intermixed with orange boughs and exotic
flowers. The terrace was crowded; and I saw more than one light and
fairy figure, that even the feridjhe failed wholly to conceal, which
looked as though its owner should rather have been peering through the
slender lattices, than from beneath the shade of a yashmac; but the
occasion was so rife with excitement, and the voices from the caïques
were so enticing, that doubtlessly more than one fair Dilaram and Leyla
played truant that evening after the prescribed hour.
Having at length contrived to make our way through this crowd of
worshippers, for such they must have been, we left the Palace far behind
us in a few minutes, and escaped from the noise and even danger which
were the present characteristics of its vicinity. Our sturdy boatmen,
bending to their oars, soon brought us opposite to the dwelling of the
bride, whose whole extent was bright with festooned fires; but my spirit
had begun to weary with the perpetual glare, and I rejoiced when we
struck out once more into the middle of the channel, and running under
the shore of Asia, whose infrequent lights at this point of the stream
rather relieved than pained the eye, left far behind us the clamorous
merriment of the crowd. We had the moon high above us; the pale and
placid moon, which had for many nights been mocked by a radiance more
dazzling than her own; while the myriad stars that were twinkling their
silver eyes as if in wonder at the scene beneath them, were reflected in
the clear water as in a mirror. It was a heavenly night; and as we
glided slowly along under the Asian mountains, the song of a hundred
nightingales came to us from the groves and gardens of the coast.
The transition was extraordinary; and, after the excitement, the hurry,
and the exertion of the previous day, the quiet of the hour fell upon me
like a happy dream; and I remember that I shed tears as I lay back upon
my cushions, and looked upwards to the calm moon, and listened to the
thrilling melody of the midnight woods, and felt the soft wind fanning
the hair upon my brow; but they were tears in which there was no
bitterness; an outpouring of the wearied spirit that relieved its
weight; and when we once more became entangled in the floating crowd,
and dashed forward into the blinding light of the fire-girt Palaces, the
heart-laugh which went ringing over the ripple might sometimes have been
traced to me.
The mere worldling will sneer at this admission; but those whose
misfortune it is to feel deeply will understand the seeming
inconsistency.
The sixth day was fixed upon for the Ambassadorial Banquet, where the
representatives of the Mighty Ones of the Earth were to feast together
at the board of the Brother of the Sun, and Emperor of the World. A
table, well-appointed in the European style, had been prepared; and the
banquetting tent was neatly fitted up with draperies and mirrors.
In the evening a new and distinct feature was added to the
entertainments, by the introduction in the outer court of the Palace of
a raised platform, on which a score of performers, clad in half armour,
attempted a species of war-dance to the light of a dozen bonfires, which
flashed and faded by turns; now revealing the glittering costume of the
struggling and straggling combatants, and now enveloping them in a cloud
of dense black smoke, as impenetrable as the waves of Erebus. The whole
thing was a failure; and the only charm attendant on the exhibition, was
the singular transition of light and shade that played over the surface
of the painted palace, and which produced effects almost magical; now
touching the lofty portal with a golden gleam, and then fading away into
a faint green, caught from the leafy boughs which fed the fires.
The Turks are decidedly not a dancing nation.