When Athens had its Academy, Lesbos had its schools of philosophy, which attracted the wise men of Greece. It was even more famous as the birthplace of a school of lyric poets,—
“Where burning Sappho lived and sung,”
and others whose stirring odes live in the collections of Greek poetry.
When the Romans became masters of the East they were attracted by the beauty of the Greek islands. Their fondness for a mild-tempered climate, such as is found in greatest perfection in an island lying in summer seas, where the temperature of the sea softens alike the heat of summer and the cold of winter,—which led them to choose Ischia and Capri, at the mouth of the Bay of Naples, as favorite abodes of Imperial luxury,—led them, when sent to distant provinces, to choose Lesbos, which Tacitus describes in a line as “insula nobilis et amœna” On the whole, Mitylene seems to me the most important, as well as the most beautiful, island of the Archipelago, and this very beauty and fertility but increase the regret that it should be under the rule of Turkey when it ought to belong to Greece. It is nearer to Athens than to Constantinople. It lies midway between the shores of Asia Minor and the mainland of Greece, and its population is almost wholly Greek. It is Greek in religion. One coming into Mitylene sees neither mosque nor minaret. Thus it is Greek by its position, its history, and its people. If ever there comes a time of “the restitution of all things,” the island will be taken from Turkey and restored to its natural place as part of the young kingdom of Greece. [Dr. Clarke, in his animated descriptions of the countries of Eastern Europe, gives picturesque accounts of what is to be seen in Constantinople and other portions of the Sultan’s domain. Perhaps the most interesting of these is his description of a stolen visit to the seraglio, a tabooed place only to be inspected at imminent risk of life. Our traveller managed to see it quite thoroughly, as will be seen from his story of the dangerous enterprise.][ THE SERAGLIO ON THE GOLDEN HORN.]
EDWARD DANIEL CLARKE.
I eagerly sought an opportunity to examine the interior of the seraglio; and, difficult as the undertaking may seem, soon found the means of its accomplishment. The harmony existing between England and the Porte at that critical juncture when Egypt was to be restored to the Turks by the valor of our troops, greatly facilitated the enterprise. I felt convinced that within the walls of the seraglio many interesting antiquities were concealed from observation; and I was not disappointed.