THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN ACHMET.       47

PLATE: COURT OF THE MOSQUE OF SULTAN ACHMET.

Here, too, several of the ringleaders were captured, and hanged by the order of the Sultan, on a large plane-tree near the gate leading into the outer court of the mosque, which has since been called by the Turks "the Tree of Groans."

The interior of Sultan Achmed is chiefly remarkable, architecturally, for the immense size of the four columns which support the dome; for its spacious and elegant galleries, roofed with mosaics; and for its lofty marble pulpit. Its paramount claim to interest exists, however, in the fact, that it was within these walls that the Sandjâk Sherif, or Sacred Standard of Mahomet was exposed, after the refusal of the Janissaries to submit themselves to the will of the Sultan.

The Sanjâk Sherif had not been publicly exhibited in the capital for half a century; and the idea was a most politic one, as all the enthusiasm and fanaticism of the empire was sure to be enlisted under its folds. This standard, so revered by all good Musselmauns, is believed to have been the nether garment of Mahomet, and is the most solemn relic possessed by his disciples; and its appearance rallied at once every devout Moslem in the ranks of the sovereign.

A procession was formed from the Imperial Treasury to the mosque of Sultan Achmet; the Sultan, attended by all his court and household, was preceded by the Ulema and Softas of the city, rehearsing verses from the Korân. Public criers announced the exhibition of the holy standard throughout the capital, and the excitement was beyond all precedent.

When the cortège reached the mosque, which they entered by the great gate opposite the Atmeidan, the Cheèk-Islam mounted the steps of the pulpit, and planted the Sandjâk Sherif there with holy reverence; and as he did so, the Sultan pronounced an anathema against all those who refused to obey an authority so supported.

These circumstances throw a halo around the mosque of the Sultan Achmed which greatly enhances its actual beauty; and the traveller loiters willingly amid its dim magnificence, calling up visions of the past which stamp an extraneous value upon every detail of the edifice. <

A curious and valuable collection of antique vases, of the most graceful designs and beautiful workmanship, many of them inlaid with gems and mother-of-pearl, are suspended throughout the mosque from transverse bars of iron; together with the eggs of ostriches, emblems of dependence on Providence; ears of a corn, the symbols of plenty; and similar typical decorations.

But the glory of Sultan Achmed, as an edifice, is its inner, or cloistered court, surrounded by graceful Saracenic columns, whose capitals resemble clusters of stalactites, forming the base of arches of extraordinary beauty. In the centre of the court,