The Imperial Seraglio forms an important part of the Turkish government, and deserves particu lar notice. It is composed of two divisions, the Selamlik, which is appropriated to males belong ing to the Imperial household; and the Harem, which is the exclusive abode of the females. The principal functionaries of the Selamlik are the Enderoun Jlgalazi, officers of the interior, who have four departments, called odas or cham bers. The first consists of 40 officers, of whom the Silihdar, or sword-bearer, is the chief. This person, next to the sultan, holds the first rank in the Selamlik. He is the inspector and guardian of the imperial treasure, in which are preserved all the diamonds and precious effects belonging to the crown. " Next in rank is the who puts on and takes off the sultan's boots: the 3d, the who holds the stirrup of the sul tan when he mounts or dismounts his horse; the 4th, guardian of the sultan's tur bans; the 5th, arranges the impe rial turbans; the 6th, Pickekir,?gassi, carries the napkin when the sultan drinks coffee or sherbet, and is also the bearer of his sublimity's immense writing apparatus; the 7th, or private secretary; the 8th, or chief of the pages; the 9th, who presents the cup of coffee; the 10th, Tirnaklzy, cutter of his highness' nails ; the 11th, or first barber; and the 12th, keeper of the wardrobe. The remaining 28 officers of the Hasse-oda are unemployed, and wait their turn of promotion." The second oda, called is the public treasury of the empire, and is under the management of 200 officers with two chiefs, whose duty consists in receiving the money which is daily sent to the treasury. In this department are also deposited much of the crown effects, the imperial library, and the magnificent equipages of the state horses. In the third oda, or store-room, are kept the furniture, porcelain, Chi na vases, the ornaments of the imperial table, and all sorts of confectionary and preserves. The officers of the fourth oda, or chamber of travellers, have at present no function; but in former times they at tended the sultan, when he placed himself at the head of a military expedition. Besides these there is a fifth order of officers, the deaf-mutes, amount ing to eighty, who wear embroidered robes and hats, with gold-lace trimmings, and whose duty it is to attend the sultan in turn in his own apartment. Next in dignity to Enderoun ,llgalazi are the Bos tandzys, who form the sultan's body guard. Their chief is the prefect of police on both shores of the Bosphorus; and, when the sultan takes an excur sion by sea, he stands at the helm of the imperial gondola. These officers have the charge not only of the seraglio, but also of all the pavilions and kiosks of the sultan, and of all the villages of the Bosphorus, and the environs of Constantinople. The next in importance are the Baltadzys, who at tend on the harem with the black eunuchs; and the Hasscquis, four of whom wait on the sultan at table, and precede him when he rides in state, each bear ing a white baton. Besides these are several other officers, belonging to the Selamlik, but of an infe rior rank, who perform the menial services of the seragl io.
Between the Selamlik and the Harem is the apart ment of the black eunuchs, who amount to more than two thousand. Their chief is styled Kislar .Rgassi, ruler of the maids, and sometimes saade agassi, master of the palace of felicity. He is administrator of the entire Harem, and is equal in rank with the Grand Vizier. He has also the superintendance of the imperial mosques, and the pious foundations helonging to them.
The Baron is situated in the centre of a large garden surrounded with high walls. Here arc se cluded an indeterminate number of female slaves of the rarest beauty and accomplishments, Geor gians, Circassians, and Lesghians, who have been selected by the sultan or his predecessors, or sent as presents by his female relations and wealthy subjects. From among these the sultan selects la-is favourites, seven in number, to whom is given the title of Cadines or wives. These are ceremoniously invested with a robe or pelisse, which distinguishes them from the other slaves of the Harem. "Each Cadine," says the Fanariot Greek, " has her sepa rate apartment, as have their eunuchs and female slaves. They never meet except on the occasion of an aeeouehment, when the mother receives a congratulatory visit from the other cadines. The directress of the Harem, Kehaya Cadine, conducts each night one of the cadines to the sultan's cham ber; and when his highness is displeased with either of them, either for barrenness or any other cause, he marries her to one of his subjects, and takes a fresh one in her phce ; but the cadine who has been delivered of a child, whether it be dead or living, cannot be dismissed from the seraglio.
The sultan cannot take any of the cadines left by his predecessor, but on his accession lodges them, with their jewels, &c. in the or old seraglio. This immense building is situated in the centre of the city, and surrounded by lofty walls, and destined for the perpetual abode of cadines surviving the sultan. They have there every con venience, and are attended by their eunuchs and slaves. Their children, if male, are, with the other heirs of the crown, shut up in the eafesse; but, if female, they are kept in the sultan's harem, under the inspection of the Kehaya-Cadina, till they mar ry, when they take their mothers from the old se raglio to live with them. The same happens with regard to the mother of a male infant; as soon as her son is raised to the throne, she is by him taken from the old seraglio, receives the title of Validi Sultana, and is accommodated with apartments in the imperial seraglio.
The Turkish language is written in the Arabic character, and is evidently of Tartar origin; but its writers have borrowed so copiously from the languages of Persia and Arabia, that it has receiv ed the appellation of Mulenzma, or the " pied mare." Mr. Thornton says, " no language is bet ter suited for colloquial purposes;" and though he maintains tl At it excels in dignity and gravity, he allows that it is deficient in terms of art, and in expressions adapted to philosophical ideas. Among this people literature, science, and the arts are still in their infancy; and this is no doubt owing, in a great measure, to the exclusive nature of their re ligion. They treat foreign nations with the utmost contempt, on the ground of their infidelity, and consequently they despise the arts of foreign in vention. The great discoveries of modern Europe have thus been entirely lost upon them, and they remain in nearly the same state of ignorance as when they first left the banks of the Oxus. In their ,redresses, or colleges, the principal branches of study are, grammar, rhetoric, Persian and Ara bian poetry, with the logic and philosophy of the dark ages. History, geography,* and mathematics,t are completely neglected, while judicial astrology is held in high estimation by all ranks:I and their physicians are mere pretenders to supernatural skill. Their ministers of state are even unac quainted with the statistics of their own country; and their knowledge of the governments, the diplo macy, and the relations of European states is very superficial. This, however, is not so much to be wondered at, when we consider that " the highest offices of the state are administered," says Dr. Clarke, " by individuals taken from the dregs of society; and when we were admitted to the friendly intercourse and conversation of those among them who are the most looked up to, either on account of their elevated rank or probity of character, we were constrained to regard them rather with affec tion than with esteem; as claiming the same de gree of regard mingled with pity, which is excited by the goodness and simplicity of very benevolent, but very illiterate old women." The art of printing is almost unknown in this country. It was first attempted to be introduced into Constantinople in 1727; but it has never been able to acquire a permanent footing, having been uniformly and successfully opposed by an immense tribe of copyists, whose means of living it threat ened to destroy. The printing of the Koran and all books which treat of the doctrines and laws of the prophet is still strictly prohibited, as great sancti ty is attached to the writing of their sacred volume. Of late it has received some encouragement from the government, and under its auspices the first scientific work from the Turkish press appeared in 1820, namely, a Treatise on Anatomy, Medi cine, and Therapeutics, by Chanizadeh, a member of the Ulema, partly taken from the French, Ger man, and English authors, in one volume folio, with 56 copperplates. The great bar, however, to the success of this art in Turkey, is the ignorance of the people. They have not yet acquired the rudi ments of knowledge; and until these be introduced and naturalized, printing can be attended with no benefit.