parenthesis, occasions some inconvenience which might very easily be remedied.

"When I first considered of the application of all the letters in the alphabet and their order to the purpose of musical notation, it became. necessary for me to devise a method of expressing accurately the value or relative duration of the notes. This I first effected principally by figures over several of them, and in this stage I sent it to Mr. Nicholson, who mentions in his Journal, Vol. xxiv. page 153. the cause of its not appearing in that work. It afterwards occurred to me that the most scientific plan would be to supersede all characters for this purpose, by arranging the notes in every measure into times. I am informed that Earl Stanhope, who takes such lively interest in the promotion of the arts, has paid much attention to this subject; and from some of his papers which I have seen, his Lordship's method appears to be coincident with mine, as I presented it to Mr. Nicholson, in the circumstance of expressing the duration by characters in a separate line from the letters. It was from this consideration that I felt myself obliged to mention wherein the novelty of my plan chiefly consisted, not that I conceived its novelty to be an advantage, or that the plan was to be judged of by any other standard than its utility. In what manner I have expressed the absolute and the relative duration of each note, you have not explained in your sketch, and this I consider as the most important part of my notation.

"How I have connected notes of different denominations will appear from example 28. at the syllable twine, where a tie, or a parenthesis, embraces notes of different denominations; for if each time be equal to a crotchet, h will be a crotchet, and g and k two quavers. In the 23d measure of example 27, and in the 4th of example 2, I have shewn how I express semiquavers coming after a prieked crotchet. In the first case, r, because it stands before a note which bears a dot over it, is protracted half its length and rendered equal to three quavers, and the remaining notes tp become each equal to a semiquaver, to make up the rest of the measure."

We must not conclude without noticing an erratum in our article to which this note refers. In page 91. line 10. the expression should have been," and the bass notes, or, more properly speaking, the notes below middle C," &c.: but, in printing, the words in italics were misplaced in the subsequent lines, owing to an intricate inter lineation in the MS.

It will give us real pleasure to comply with the wishes of A Steady Old Friend,' at the first opportunity.

M. B. will find an account of the object of his sollicitude in our next Appendix, if our intentions can be fulfilled.

THE

MONTHLY REVIEW,

For AUGUST, 1814.

ART. I. A Journey through Albania, and other Provinces of Turkey in Europe and Asia, to Constantinople, during the Years 1809 and 1810. By J. C. Hobhouse. Second Edition. 4to. 2 Vols. pp. 1168. 51. 5s. Boards. Cawthorne. 1813.

WE have in these volumes another example of the effect of the late system of exclusion from France and Italy, in directing the researches of our countrymen to the shores of Greece. Amid the endless variety of new publications which call for the attention of reviewers, we have been obliged to delay our notice of Mr. Hobhouse's work; a circumstance which we should regret, had it not given us the advantage of examining it in the improved shape of a second edition. Mr. H. took an extensive survey of the classic territory, and travelled in company with Lord Byron; whose prolific muse has of late rendered our fair countrywomen so familiar with the manners and scenery of the Levant. These considerations intitle his journal to a notice of some length, notwithstanding the frequency of late publications on the subject, and the promise of a comprehensive performance of a similar description under the superintendance of Mr. Walpole. The leading objects of Mr. H.'s observations were Albania, Attica, the Troad, and Constantinople, to each of which we shall give attention in its turn; bestowing, however, a larger portion of our space on the first-mentioned articles, the Troad having already been a topic of ample discussion, and the wonders of Constantinople having been lately brought before our readers in our notice of Dr. Clarke's Travels.

Mr. Hobhouse's narrative begins in September 1809, at which time Lord Byron and he set sail from Malta, and pro ceeded to the shores of Greece. Being on board a brig of war, which convoyed a fleet of small merchantmen to Patras, the north-west part of the Peloponnesus was the portion of Grecian territory that first attracted their observation. Cephalonia appeared a chain of high rocks to the north, and Zante a level island to the south; while, in front, their attention was fixed on the high mountains of Albania and the Morea; and the VOL. LXXIV. fresh

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freshness of the green plantations of currant-trees afforded a delightful relief to eyes accustomed to the white waste of Malta. After having passed near Ithaca, and viewed, in their progress northward, the far-famed Leucadian precipice, the voyagers anchored off Prevesa, a southern port in Albania, and commenced their tour on the main-land. An apology is made in limine (pp. 5, 6, 7.) for a want of precision in explaining the course of rivers, the direction of the mountains, and the relative position of the antient and modern cities of Epirus. That country was never accurately described by either the Greek or Roman writers, and its frequent change of masters led unavoidably to a perplexing change of names. Strabo avows his inability to specify the limits of the different Epirote tribes; and Ptolemy takes perhaps an unauthorized liberty, when he includes Acarnania and Amphilochia within the boundary of Epirus. M. D'Anville frankly confessed his want of information on this topic; and Mr. Gibbon declared that we are nearly as much acquainted with the nature of the territory in question as with the wilds of North America. To expect such a thing as a map among the Turks would be idle, as they are accustomed to ridicule all statistical calculations.

Having described Prevesa, and the adjacent ruins of Nicopolis, Mr. H. proceeds to give an account of the town of Arta, situated inland near the gulf of that name. It was a place of consequence until Ali Pacha made Ioannina the seat of government, and ruled Arta by a dependent under the title of Aga. Mr. H. does not incline to the opinion that Arta is the antient Ambracia, or that the river on which it stands is the antient Aracthos. Holding a northward course from Arta, the travellers reached, on the second day, Ioannina, a city containing not fewer than 40,000 inhabitants, and standing on the western bank of the lake to which M. Pouqueville would give the name of Acherusian.

The houses are, many of them, large and well-built, containing a court-yard, and having warehouses or stables on the ground, with an open gallery and the apartments of the family above. A flight of wooden steps under cover of the pent of the gallery connects the under and upper part of the houses. Though they have but a gloomy appearance from the street, having the windows very small, and latticed with cross bars of wood, and presenting the inhospitable show of large folding doors, big enough to admit the horses and cattle of the family, but never left open, yet the yard, which is often furnished with orange and lemon trees, and in the best houses communicates with a garden, makes them very lively from within, and the galleries are sufficiently extensive to allow a scope for walking in rainy weather.

• The

The Bazar, or principal street, inhabited by the tradesmen, is well furnished, and has a showy appearance. The Bizestein, or covered Bazar, is of considerable size, and would put you in mind, as may be observed of all these places, of Exeter'Change.'

The Christians of Ioannina, though inhabiting a part of Albania, and governed by Albanian masters, call themselves Greeks, as do the inhabitants of Arta, Prevesa, and even of many villages higher up in the country: they neither wear the Albanian dress, nor speak the Albanian language, and they partake also in every particular of the manners and customs of the Greeks of the Morea, Roumelia, and the other christian parts of Turkey in Europe and Asia. They appear a distinct race from the inhabitants of the mountains, and perhaps are sprung from ancient settlers, who may have retired, from time to time, before the successive conquerors of Peloponnesus and Greece, into a country where, although enslaved, they were less exposed to perpetual ravages and to a frequent change of masters..

The Greeks of Ioannina are, with the exception of the priests, and of some few who are in the employments of the Pasha, all engaged in trade; and many of the better sort pass three or four years in the merchant-houses of Trieste, Genoa, Leghorn, Venice, and Vienna, which, in addition to the education they receive in the schools of their own city, where they may learn French and Italian, gives them a competent knowledge of the most diffused modern languages, and adds also to the ease and urbanity of their address.

There is a fair which lasts a fortnight, held once a year on the plain, a mile and a half to the south-east of the city; and during this time all the tradesmen are obliged to leave their shops in the Bazar and Bizestein, which are shut, and to set up booths in the plain. This the Vizier finds a very good method of getting at some knowledge of the actual property of his subjects. The fair was held during our residence in the city, and opened on the 8th of October, when we passed through it on horseback.'

Cloth of French and German manufacture is sent from Leipsig. This is the chief article of importation, as it is from this fair that all the richer Greeks and Turks, not only in Albania, but in great part of Roumelia and in the Morea, supply themselves with the loose robes and pelisses of their winter dress. English cloth is in the highest estimation, but seldom to be met with here, or even at Smyrna and Constantinople, on account of its great price. The best of the cloth sold at Ioannina was not equal to the worst of that manufactured in England, and was of a coarse thin texture, and very badly dyed.

The articles of exportation are, oil, wool, corn, and tobacco, for the ports of the Adriatic and Naples; and, for inland circulation through Albania and Roumelia, spun cottons from the plains of Triccala, stocks of guns and pistols mounted in chased silver, both plain and gilt, and also embroidered velvets, stuffs, and cloths,

which are here better wrought than in any other part of Turkey in Europe.

Large flocks of sheep and goats, and droves of cattle and horses, are collected from the hills both of Lower and Upper Albania for the fair. Of these, all but the horses, which are dispersed in the country, are sold into the Ionian islands.'

From Ioannina, the course of the travellers was directed northwards to the town of Tepellenè; where they found Ali Pacha engaged in the bustle of military movements, and about to extend his territory by incorporating into it the possessions of a neighbouring prince. During their journey, they had ample opportunity of observing that the Albanians devolve on their women a number of toilsome and degrading offices. The aged matron and the tender maiden are seen fetching water from the distant fountain, and labouring under the weight of their large pitchers, one of which they carry on the head, the other in the hand. On arriving at head quarters, the travellers were received with attention by the officers of the Pacha, and were formally introduced to him on the next day.

The Vizier was a short man, about five feet five inches in height, and very fat, though not particularly corpulent. He had a very pleasing face, fair and round, with blue quick eyes, not at all settled into a Turkish gravity. His beard was long and white, and such a one as any other Turk would have been proud of; though he, who was more taken up with his guests than himself, did not continue looking at it, nor smelling and stroking it, as is usually the custom of his countrymen, to fill up the pauses of conversation. He was not very magnificently dressed, except that his high turban, composed of many small rolls, seemed of fine gold muslin, and his attaghan, or long dagger, was studded with brilliants.

He was mightily civil; and said he considered us as his children. He showed us a mountain howitzer, which was lying in his apartment, and took the opportunity of telling us that he had several large cannon. He turned round two or three times to look through an English telescope, and at last handed it to us, that we might look at a party of Turks on horseback riding along the banks of the river towards Tepellenè. He then said, "that man whom you see on the road is the chief minister of my enemy, Ibrahim Pasha, and he is now coming over to me, having deserted his master to take the stronger side." He addressed this with a smile to the Secretary, desiring him to interpret it to us.

We took pipes, coffee, and sweetmeats, with him; but he did not seem so particular about these things as other Turks whom we have seen. He was in great good humour, and several times laughed aloud, which is very uncommon in a man of consequence: I never saw another instance of it in Turkey.

There are no common topics of discourse between a Turkish Vizier and a traveller, which can discover the abilities of either party,

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especially