From the British Critic. JANUARY, 1830. A VISIT TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA; with an Excursion into Pisidia; containing Remarks on the Geography and Antiquities of those Countries, a Map of the Author's Routes, and Numerous Inscriptions. By the Rev. Fr. V. J. Arundell, British Chaplain at Smyrna. London: Rodwell. 1828. 8vo. pp. 336. THE Seven Churches in Asia, or such of them the sites of which were known, attracted the attention of an English Clergyman at the close of the XVIIth Century, when they were visited by Dr. Smith, from Constantinople, in 1671. In his account of this journey, the Traveller speaks of some English Gentlemen from Smyrna, who preceded him in the same attempt by a few years; and taking into consideration the very slight difficulties which appear to attend the task, and the interest attaching to its completion, we cannot but feel surprised that it has not been more frequently undertaken. Dr. Smith, however, had the fear of robbers very strongly before his eyes; and as a safeguard against them and other perils of the way, himself and his three fellowtourists were accompanied by three grooms, two Armenian Christians, two stout and honest Janissaries, and, not of least importance-a cook. Moreover the Cadi of Smyrna warned the party to be well armed, and talked in sad and desperate misgiving of the murderous villains abroad on the highways. But Dr. Smith returned in safety. He brought with him numerous Inscriptions, discovered Thyatira at Ak-hissar, and made a shrewd conjecture respecting Laodicea at Eski-hissar. An attempt was made to deprive him of the credit of these discoveries seven years afterwards, by the rival claim of the well known Sir Paul Rycaut and Dr. John Luke, at that time respectively Consul and Chaplain at Smyrna. Their narrative is less satisfactory than that of Dr. Smith, and oddly enough they forbear to mention his previous visit to the hitherto untrodden ground. But there is more than one kind of tricks upon Travellers. The jealousy of invention and the desire to be reputed to have planted the foot upon spots— Nullius ante Trita solo may lead men otherwise honourable to acts inRel. Mag.-VOL. IV. consistent with honour; and such, it is much to be feared, is the secret of Sir Paul Rycaut's silence. Pococke visited three of the Churches; Chandler, five; Dallaway, in our own times, has described Smyrna, Ephesus, and Pergamus, and Mr. Lindsay, Chaplain at Constantinople, in 1817, achieved the whole seven, and communicated his journey to the Missionary Register. Such is the sum of printed English information relative to the Churches of the Apocalypse before Mr. Arundell undertook their survey, which he has very ably and fully performed. The volume before us is a plain unpretending narrative of his journey; which, although it does not contain any "hair-breadth 'scapes" or "imminent deadly" dangers, nevertheless, from the nature of its subject, is sufficiently attractive both to the Christian and the Scholar. Mr. Arundell was accompanied by Mr. Hartley, a Church Missionary resident at Smyrna; which city they quitted on the afternoon of March 28, 1826. Their attendants were four in number. Memet, a Janissary of the English consulate; Melchon, an Armenian, proprietor of their horses, for each of which they were to pay nine piastres a day; Mustapha, a Suregee, and Nicola, a Greek servant. Their firman was very strongly couched, and embraced the whole of Asia Minor. Besides this, the Pasha of Smyrna, (who appears to have been a magistrate of stronger nerves than his predecessor in the time of Dr. Smith, for he spoke nothing of cut-throats,) gave them a teskeray through his Government, and sundry letters of introduction. One double-barrelled gun and a well-stocked medicine chest, completed their baggage. Their route was first by Sedikney, over Mount Corax, at the western extremity of Tmolus, to Aiasaluk (Ephesus). Of the firstnamed town we are presented with the following striking anecdote: "In the summer of 1824, when nearly a hundred thousand Turks encamped at Changlee, allured from all parts of Anatolia by the prospect of the rich plunder of Samos, Sedik ney was a principal thoroughfare. The villagers, who in the best times are wretchedly poor, had just been visited by one ruinous plague; their corn and vineyards were devoured by innumerable flights of locusts; and it was at this moment that they were called upon by the primates of the village to supply No. 25. —–—–—–2. D their proportions towards the food and lodg- On the afternoon of the second day, the travellers reached Ephesus, now presenting heaps of stone which the antiquary knows not how to assign, and a few mud cottages scattered over a wide pestilential morass. To Chandler's description (which Mr. Arundell reprints to the occupation of fifteen of his pages), the latter writer has added but little, and that little is chiefly historical. He had visited Ephesus two years before the journey which he is now recounting; and at that time a Turk, whose shed he occupied, his Arab servant, and a single Greek, composed the whole population, some Turkomans excepted, whose black tents were pitched among the ruins. The 5th of April saw Mr. Arundell at Eskihissar (Laodicea), a spot almost equally desolate with Ephesus, but presenting remains of great stateliness and extent. In the Circus the traveller found an inscription stating its dedication to Vespasian, and that it occupied twelve years in building; a sufficient testimony to its magnificence. But we hasten on, because here again the ruins are described from former and very accessible authorities. Somewhere near Khonas is the site of Colossæ, but although Mr. Arundell found numerous fragments scattered in all directions about the present town, it by no means appears that he ascertained to his satisfaction the position of the ancient city. Denare was fully examined by Mr. Arundell, who at first was inclined to call it Apollonia, not Apameia, as both Pococke and Chandler supposed, and as Colonel Leake has conclusively decided. At Isbarta a somewhat ludicrous event enlivens the tour: "We retired to rest at an early hour, and in no long time I was awoke out of a sound sleep by a voice exclaiming, 'What is this! what is it! I have hold of a man's hand, a man's hand, really a man's hand!' I was alarmed, for our apartment having no fastening to the door, it was not an impossible thing that, among the multitude of characters in the khan, some thief had crept in. The alarm was quickly given, but it was almost as quickly discovered that it was the alarmist's own hand, which he had grasped so firmly in the other as to occasion a stoppage of the circulation. Some Armenians, who slept in an adjoining apartment separated only by a very thin partition, were sadly alarmed, and we heard one of them saying his prayers for a full hour afterwards with uncommon earnestness."-pp. 120, 121. Here they were visited by some priests, who earnestly begged for copies of the Greek Testament, and "in the course of a long and serious conversation, lamented their ignorance, confessing, to use their own terms, that they fully repaid the labour which they took in were as blind as asses." Aglason (Sagelassus) hunting for its ruins, and more than one inscription removed all doubt as to its site. The modern village, which is very beautifully situated among vine-clad and well-wooded fields, at the foot of lofty mountains perpetually capped with snow, contains 100 Turkish houses, and the manners of the inhabitants are far more simple and hospitable than in spots nearer the coast. Bourdour, their next station, is a very considerable town; it is said to contain 4000 Turkish houses, 150 Greek, and 30 Armenian, the bazaars were crowded, and there was much appearance of trade. Tanning, dyeing of leather, weaving, and bleaching, are lent wine, not unlike Frontignac in flavour. the chief manufactures. It produces excelAmong other visiters, Mr. Arundell received a slave dealer, who was conveying about a dozen male and female Africans to Constantinople, where their price averages from 123 to 170 dollars each. The condition of these unhappy beings is, in one respect, far better than that of their brethren who are objects of traffic among us Christians. The Turks, like the Jews, have their year of Jubilee, every seventh, and its return releases the captive. The Koran enjoins this deliverance, and moreover it is always stipulated for in the articles of purchase. The slave-dealer conversed in bad English and good Italian, and does not appear to have shown himself a disagreeable visiter, a charac "The Greek doctor requested me to accompany him to his shop, an apartment in the khan well filled with bottles and other evidences of the profound science of the professor. He candidly admitted that he knew no more of medicine than he had learnt from an old tattered Greek pharmacopoeia; that the bottles were more for show than use; and his grand catholicon was a pill, producing at the same moment a tin case containing at least two okes (five pounds) of pills. They were not, however, like the doctor's at Tocat, covered with gold-leaf; but, if not composed of bread and water, they were quite as unlikely to be of any service. I ventured to suggest sulphur as the best remedy for his unfortunate patient, but he would hear of nothing but his pills, and perhaps he was right: sulphur was not always to be had; but he might say, and in effect did reply to me, in the words of the doctor of Tocat to Hajji Baba, as long as there is bread and water to be had, I am never at a loss for a pill. I perform all my cures with them, accompanied with the words Inshallah and Mashallah.' "There was, however, another genuine and primitive medicine in his shop, which I should do him an injustice if I neglected to mention. It was hartshorn, that is to say, an enormous stag's horn, which he powdered and gave in substance. "Dr. Anastasius, for such was his name, gave us a sad account of three Hungarian physicians, one of whom we have had occasion to speak of before as settled in Isbarta, who, sacrificing their faith to their interest, had renounced Christ and taken the turban. One of these had, very shortly after his apostacy, been thrown from his horse, and was killed on the spot."-pp. 149-151. were regularly poured. In about two or three seconds after this was placed on the fire, it was ready to be served, indicated by boiling over. By the side of the round coffee box stood a small earthen pan with water, in which the cups were washed after being used, and then placed on a small shelf by its side. The lamp or chandelier was a piece of bent iron, with the end turned up to fix itself against the side of the chimney. Almost the only remaining article of furniture undescribed was the money box with a hole in the top."-pp. 20, 21. In the cafenét in which Mr. Arundell endeavoured to sleep on his road back to Denizli, horses, camels, asses, crickets, and Turks were among his bedfellows; and his Suregee Mustapha, who seems to have revelled in Epicurean imaginations or recollections during his dreams, kept bawling out "Pillau, Pillau!" through the whole night. On the following night he had scarcely retired to rest before he was disturbed by a noise which he imagined to proceed from a cat or a rat attacking his larder, till he was undeceived by the torrents which found their way through his bed clothes. At Allah Sher (Philadelphia) they were very hospitably received and entertained by the Greek Bishop. From him they learned that the city contained 3000 Turkish houses and about a tenth of that number of Greek; that there were twenty-five Churches, in only five of which divine service was performed weekly, in the remainder once in a year. From his window he pointed to a brick arch as part of the Church of the Apocalypse, and dedicated to St. John. Though the assertion was absurd, the remains evidently were of great antiquity, and probably belonged to the first Christian Church dedicated in Philadelphia. The Bishop affirmed that the Christian population was increasing. On inquiry for some MSS. of the Gospels which were said to be preserved in one of the Churches, the Bishop was unacquainted with them, but a Priest recollected formerly to have seen "some very old pieces of parchment," which he still farther ascertained had been cut up by children. The travellers were informed that in the neighbourhood of Cæsarea there still existed a MS. of the Gospels, in capital letters, which the Turks held in such high veneration that they always sent for it when they put a Greek upon his oath. The accommodations of a Turkish cafenét are not of the most splendid description; for the most part they afford one small apartment, rarely exceeding sixteen feet by twelve, built of mud bricks, and thatched with a flat roof of On the 25th of April they reached Sardis, a reeds, which in wet weather, until they be- name awakening some of the most interesting come saturated, admit the rain very plenti-recollections of History. The Acropolis and fully. Coffee, as the name of the hotel implies, is the main, if not the sole article which it furnishes: "On the right was hung up the iron coffee roaster; opposite, from another nail, was suspended the tripod; on the hearth at the left was placed a small round wooden box of coffee, with a small iron spoon, about one-eighth the size of a small tea spoon. When a visiter came in, and from the weather they were numerous, immediately three spoonfuls of coffee were put into a small coffee boiler of tin, holding about a very small teacup, and the boiler filled up with hot water from an earthen jug which stood before the fire, and in which the grounds or thick coffee from the small boiler most of the neighbouring mountains are of a reddish sandstone crumbled into very extraordinary and fantastic outlines. "The Acropolis is of extremely difficult and dangerous ascent, and the few walls at its summit, in which are an inscription or two, and some ancient fragments, including hexagonal and twisted columns, would not compensate for the risk and fatigue; the view is, however, magnificent; the plain of the Hermus, the tu mulus of Halyattes, the Gygæan lake, &c. In my first visit to Sardis last December, I was accompanied by some naval friends; one of whom, with the fearlessness so characteristic of a British sailor, mounted to the top of a high but narrow fragment, considerably out of per 4 pendicular, and inclining over that tremendous precipice, which Croesus neglected to guard, as believing it to be wholly inaccessible; the fragment was undermined by many a perforation beneath, and at the top the whole crumbled under the touch like dust."-p. 178. "Of the temple of Cybele, only two pillars remain at present; the Turks have recently destroyed the rest, for the sake of the lead connecting the blocks. It is impossible to behold these magnificent columns, of which 'the capital,' says Mr. Cockerell, appeared to me to surpass any specimen of the Ionic I had seen, in perfection of design and execution,' without being inexpressibly affected. Colonel Leake believes these remains to be antecedent to the capture of Sardis by Cyrus, and yet the columns are as perfect as if erected yesterday! "The object of greatest interest to the Christian traveller are the ruins of two churches; one at the back of the mill, said to be the church of the Panagia, and another in front of it, called the church of St. John. Of the former there are considerable remains, and it is almost wholly constructed with magnificent fragments of earlier edifices: it must be this to which Colonel Leake alludes, as being perhaps the only one of the Seven Churches, of which there are any distinguishable remains; but there are also some remains of the church of Pergamus. Of the other, there are several stone piers, having fragments of brick arches above them, and standing east and west. When Smith wrote, a Christian church, having at the entrance several curious pillars, was appropriated to the service of the mosque. "A theatre, and stadium connected with it, are distinguishable under the northern brow of the Acropolis, but the remains are few. Mr. Cockerell calculates the exterior diameter of the theatre at three hundred and ninety-six feet, and the interior one hundred and sixtytwo. "Of the supposed Gerusia, called also the house of Croesus, which lies in the plain to the westward of the Acropolis, I measured the first room, semicircular at both ends. It was one hundred and fifty-six feet long, by forty-two and a half wide; and the walls, celebrated for the durability of the bricks, were ten feet and a half thick. Might not this have been the gymnasium? "There are some other remains, built of very massy stones, now much corroded by age, on the eastern side of the Acropolis, near a small stream, one of the branches of the Pactolus which runs down into the Hermus. These remains appear to have been oblong apartments, once evidently arched, and standing north and south; the bed of the adjoining stream and the stones are not golden at present, but of a dark ochreous colour, as if containing iron."—p. 179, 180. Thyatira is approached by a very long line of cypresses, poplars, and other trees, among which are embosomed the minarets of several mosques. Its population is estimated at 300 Greek houses, 30 Armenian, and 1000 Turkish. It contains nine mosques, one Armenian, and one Greek Church; the last named is wretchedly poor, and so much under the level of the church-yard as to require five steps to descend into it. The Bishop of Ephesus appeùs of Thyatira. At Magnesia, Chishull (who wrote in 1747) speaks of a manufactory of red stained glass. Mr. Arundell was disappointed at finding the art of attaining that colour completely unknown. "Every other colour has been brought, I apprehend, to the highest perfection possible in England; but, if I am not misinformed, red glass of a particular tint is still a desideratum: and yet I have often seen it in the stained windows of Turkish houses." Mr. Arundell returned to Smyrna on the 28th of April, and on the 5th of September following he commenced a second tour, in which he was accompanied by his former Armenian comrade Melchon, Memet a Suregee (whose principal talents as he afterwards found consisted in sleeping and eating water melons), Constantine a Greek servant, and six horses. His second route was directed along the Cayster instead of the Mæander. At Demish an adventure occurred which Mr. Arundell shall tell in his own words. "Having breakfasted, I went in pursuit of medals which might lead to some knowledge of the ancient history of this place. My inquiries brought a host of Armenians, Turks, and Greeks, making my little chamber (in which the thermometer at half past two was ninety-six, and at four near one hundred), hot beyond sufferance. I saw only four medals; two of Hypæpa, and two of Asis; but such ridiculous value was attached to them, that it was impossible to purchase. A circumstance occurred which proved that the Turks are much better informed, at least in every thing connected with their own language and history, than we are usually disposed to allow. A splendidly dressed Turk came into the khan, to whom the others paid so much respect that I fancied he was the aga of the place, and probably he was so. He was very anxious to tell me that he had a very curious ancient coin, and that he had sent a person to fetch it. In a short time it came, and proved to be a coin of one of the Saracenic caliphs, having on one side a Cufic inscription. He asked me if I knew what it was. I replied it was a coin of no value; that the letters were Cufic, Eski Arab; that I could not read them, and that very few people could; that I felt quite sure nobody in Demish could read them. The Turk said, I will show you that you are mistaken, and immediately putting the coin into the hand of an old white-bearded Imaun, directed him to read it. The old man, having put on his spectacles in due form, and rubbed off the dirt, letter after letter, with his finger, began to read; and to my astonishment read every word to the perfect satisfaction of every body around him. I only remember the date 1262 or 1267, and the word Melac.”—pp. 206, 207. The old Imaun appears to us to have had it` all his own way. If Mr. Arundell was unable to read the inscription, he could have had little check upon any one who chose to favour him with a Laudate Dominum in cœlis in an unknown tongue. An elderly Turk on the banks of the poetical stream which he was now following, assured him that he had never seen any swans either | Constantinople; probably his appointment was Not far from Debrent, Passing a small cottage, a young and very pretty Turkish girl ran out of it, and eagerly asked all of us individually, even my Frank hat was overlooked, if we had news of her brother? If he was come from Samos? How long since he had left Segigek? Large bodies of troops had been assembled at the latter place to be taken by the captain pacha to Samos. The innocent simplicity of this poor girl was truly affecting; throwing off that extraordinary disposition to concealment from the eyes of men, and especially strangers, which is so characteristic of all the Turkish women, she ran out even without a veil, and forgot every thing in the idea of the return of a beloved brother."-p. 219. At Tripolis, Mr. Arundell came once more upon the Mæander. "Our course was north-east, and the Mæander flowed along, wide and muddy, parallel with the road. At a quarter past eleven we found a cafenét and rested there till twelve. Near it is an ancient circular bath, with hot waters. There were females within, and on their retiring, I tried the heat, and found it 108°; but perhaps in the centre, where the spring spouted up, much more. This, like all Turkish baths, is first appropriated to the use of the females, who enter it early in the morning, and occupy it till about noon; during the rest of the day, till evening, the men bathe in it. Now as the whole night is necessary to suffer the foul water to pass off, it is evident that the benefit arising from the purity of the water, and its medicinal virtues, if it possesses any, can only be received by those who first enter it, and there would naturally be a competition for this privilege. I do not know how far this may illustrate the pool of Bethesda, and the case of the poor man, who had no friend to put him sufficiently early into the bath. The spouting or rather boiling up of the central spring may well be termed the troubling of the water; perhaps at Bethesda this was only at intervals, and not continued as in the bath of Tripolis." -pp. 227, 228. Alfachlar seems to have been an uncomfortable resting place. "I should have slept soundly," says Mr. Arundell, "if my horse had not thought proper to share my bed." A second visit to Apameia convinced him of his error in calling it Apollonia. He now bent northward to the Hermus, and from a mistake of his guide which prolonged his journey, determined to visit Pergamus. On the road to Adala he fell in with a travelling Pasha. Sunday, September 17.-Awoke at a very early period, by the passing of horsemen, and loaded camels, horses, and mules, without number. It was the pasha of Magnesia, Mustapha, going to take possession of his new appointment at Aleppo; a pashalike, I imagine, far less desirable as a residence than that of Magnesia; though perhaps superior in importance and emolument. In our last journey in April, we had fallen in with his suite going to then decided on, or perhaps a man of Musta- "Whatever might be the style in which pa- "The winding along the ravine road of this "We left our shed at seven o'clock, and re- Mr. Arundell made a computation of the Pergamus has now but a single church. It is a poor shed covered with earth, on the ascent of the Castle hill. Beneath it are the re D |