JOURNEY TO INDIA, &c. PART II. y .jsr ^-if^ • V-" It s'f J^i-ij ' -i - . ' t • •• ' -Aldi z-} j,-{ ■ V.-V ■-rj:'. .II TJI A. 1 jT -i JOURNEY TO INDIA, &c. LETTER XXVir. My dhar Frederick, So long as the route of my journey lay through European regions, little prefented itfelf refpečting human nature bf fuch very great novelty as to excite admiration or awaken curiofity. In all the various Nations through which we have pafTed, a certain parity of fentiment, anfing from the one great fubftratum, Chrif-tianity, gave the fame general colouring to all the fcenes, however they might differ from each other in their various fhadings. Whatever diffimilitude the influence of accident, climate, or local circumftance, may, in the revolutions of ages, have introduced into their manners, cuftoms, municipal laws, and exterior forms of a 2 worfhip ■wor&ip—:;the great Code of Religion and Moral Sentiment re-mains nearly the fame with all : and right and wrong, good and evil, being defined by the fame principles of reafon, and afcertained by the fame boundaries, bring the rule of conduct of each to fo clofe an approxim£.t.ioix with that of the others, that, when compared with'thofe we are now to attend to, they may really be con-iidercd as one and the fame peopiC. In the Empire now before us, were we to leave our judgment to the guidance of general opuiion of Chrillian Nations, we fliould have, on the contrary, to contemplate Man under a variety of forms and modifications, fo entirely different from thofe to which habit has familiarifed our minds, as at firft to imprefs us with the idea of a total diiruption from our nature, and induce us, as it has already the generality of our people, to divorce them from a participation of all thofe fympathetlc feelings which ferve to inforce the difcharge of mutual good offices among men. Deducing all their principles, not only of moral condučt, but municipal government, from a religion radically different from, and effenlially adverfe to, ours ; deluded by that fyftem into a variety of opinions which liberality itfelf muft think abfurd ; unaided by that enlightened philofophy which learning, and learned men, adlng under the Influence of comparative Freedom, and affiRed by the art of Printing, have diffufed through the mafs of Europeans; and living under a climate the moft unfavourable to intelledlual or bodily exertion, they exhibit a fpec- a fpcftacle which the philofophic and liberal mind mull view ■^^'ith df(approbation, regret and pity—the illiberal fierce Chriftian "^ith unqualified deteftation and diiguft: while, on their part, bigoted to their own principles and opinions, they look on us with abhorrence, and indulge as confcientious a contempt of, and antipathy to ChrifLians, which I apprehend no lapl'e of time, without a great l^haiige oi; circumftance, will be able to eradicate. Sliould Maho-Miedanifin and Chriftianity ever happen to merge in Dcifin (but not otherw.ife), the inhabitants of Syria and Europe will agree to Gonfider each other even as fellow-creatures. In Spain and Portugal, Jew, Turk, and indeed Proteftant, are without diftinüion call^ ed hogs. In Turkey, Jews and Chrihlans are indifcriminately called dogs ; each thinking the other completely excluded from the pale of. hiunanity, and well worthy the dagger of any trüe believer who would have xh^ piely to apply it. You will allow,, my dear Frederick, that it muft have been rather an important contemplation to your Father, to have perhaps t-Wo thoufand miles to travel through the immcnfe and almoft track-iefs wilds of a country Inhabited by fuch people, without the con^ folation of any others to accompany him in his journey ; for, unlcfs ^ public difpatch was to overtake me, there was little probability of ^y having a fingle European partner of my fatigue and perils. However, as the period was not yet arrived at which I was to go forward, or even determine my mode of travelling, I endeavoured, to- I ' to foothe my mind as much as I could into content, and to take advantage of my ftay at Aleppo, to acquire all the knowledge pof-fible of the place, that is to fay, of that city in particular, aad of the Tiirklfli government aad manners in general. A diflant view of Aleppo fills the mind with cxpeüations of great fpleodour and magnificence. The mofques, the towers, the large ranges of houfes with flat roofs, rifmg above each other, ac-# cording to the flt)ping hills on which they ftand, the whole variegated with' beautiful rows of trees, form altogether a fcene magnificent, gay, and delightful: but, on entering the town, all thofe ex-pečted beauties vaniÜi, and leave nothing in the flreets to meet the eye, but a difmal fucceffion of high ftone walls, gloomy as the re-ceffes of a convent or ftate prifon, and unenlivened by windows, embelliflied, as' with us, by the humftn face divine. The ftreets themfelves, not wider than fome of the meaneft alleys in London, overcaft by the height of the prifon-houfes on either fide> are rendered dill more formidably gloomy by the folitude and filence that pervade them ; while here and there a lattice towards the top, barely vifible, ftrikes the foul with the gloomy idea of thraldom, coercion and imprifonmerit. This deteftable mode of building, ^Jphic'h owes its origin to jealoufy, and the 'fcandalous reftraints every man is empo^vered by the laws and religion of the placc tO impofe upon the women configned either by fale or birth to his tyranny, extends not to the G Infide wficle of ihe houfes, many of which are magnificent and handfonric» and all admirably fulted to the exigencies of the climate, and the domeftic cufloms and manner of living of the inhabitants. The city is adorned, it is true, here and there, witli mofques and" appendant towers, called Minarets, from which cryers call ti^e Faithful to prayers ; and in fome of the ftrects there are archer budt at'certaln diftances from each other, fo as to carry the eye di-reftly throügh them, and form a vifta of confiderahle grandeur: but fill thefe are far from fufficient to counterbalance the general afpeft of gloominefs and folitude which reigns over the whole, and renders it fo peculiarly difgufting, particularly at firft fight, to an Eng-liftiman who has enjoyed the gaiety and contemplated the freedom of a city in Great Britain. The mofques (Mahomcdan temples) are extremely numerous in this city ; indeed almoft as much fo ae churches and convents in the popifh countries of Chriftendom, There is nothing in their external appearance to attrafl the notice of the traveller, or indulge the eye of the architeit; they are almoft all of one form—an oblong quadrangle: and as to the infide, I never had an opportunity of Seeing one; none but MufTulmen being permitted to enter them, at at Aleppo. The next buildings of a public kind to the mofques that deferve be particularly mentioned, are the caravanferas—buildings which, whether we confider the fpirit of beneficence and charity that firft fuggefted fiiggefted them, tlielr national importance, or their extenfive lUillty, may rank, though not in fplendour of appearance, at leafl in true value, with any to be found in the world. Caravanferas were originally intended for, and are now pretty generally applied to, tlie accommodation of ftrangers and travellers, though, like every other good inflitution, fometimes perverted to the purpofcs of private emolument or public job t they are built at proper diftances through the roads of the Turkifli dominions, and afford the indigent or weary traveller an afylum from the inclemency of the weather ; are in general very large, and built of the moll folid and durable materials ; have commonly one ftory above the ground floor, the lower of which is arched, and ferves for ware-houles to ftow goods, for lodgings and for fiablcs, while the upper is ufed merely for lodgings ; befides which, they are always accommodated with a fountain, and have cooks fiiops and other conveni-encies to fupply the wants of the lodgers. In Aleppo the Caravanferas are almoft exclufively occupied by merchants, to whom they are, like other houfes, rented. The fuburbs of Aleppo, ^nd the furrounding country, are very liandfome, pleafant, and, to a perfon coming out of the gloomy city, in fome refpedls interefting. Some tofled about into hill and valley lie under the hands of the hufbandman ; others are covereil with handlome villas; and others again laid out In gardens, whither the people of Aleppo occafionaliy refort for amufement. 4 The 7'hc roofs of aH tlie houfes are flat, and formed of a compofi-tlon which refills the weather efFcčlualiv. On thofe mofl of the people deep in the very hot weather: they are feparatetl from each other by walls ; but the Franks, who live contiguous to one another, nnd who, from their clifagrcealjle circumftances with regard to the Turks, are under the neceJlity of keeping up a friendly and harmonious intercourfe together, have doors of communication, which fire attended with thefe fortunate and pleafiO-g advantages, that they can make a large circuit without delcending into the f^reets, and can vifit cach other during the plague, without running the rilk of catching the infeftion by going among the natives below. There is a caftle in the city which I had nearly forgotten to mention—Tlie natives conceive it to be a place of great (Irength. It could not, however, withftand the fliock of a few pieces of ordnance for a day. It is eftcemed a favour to be permitted to fee it; ^ind there is nothing to recompenfe one for the trouble of obtaining perminion, unlefs it be the profpečl of the furrounding country, ^vhich from the battlements is extenfive and beautiful. Near this caftle ftands the Seraglio, a large old building, where the Ealhaw of Aleppo rcfides; the whole of it fecnied to me to be kept in very bad repair, confidering the importance of the place. It is furrounded by a ftrong wall of great height: befides which, its contiguity to the taflle is very convenient; as, in cafc of popular tumults, or intefline commotions, the Bafliaw finds an afylum in the B latter. Jatter, which commands and overawes the city, and Is never without a numerous garrifon under the command of an Aga. Such is the fiimmary account I have been able to collečt of Aleppo, the capital of Syria ; which, mean though it is -when compared with the capitals of European countries, is certainly the third city for fplendour, magnificence, and itnportance, in the vaft extent of the Ottoman Empire—Conftantinople and Grund Cairo only-excelling it in thofe points, and no other bearing any fort of competition with it. LETTER XXVIII. However faftion may agitate, or abufe irritate the minds of men againft the executive branch of their Government, the People of every Nation under Heaven are difpofed to think their own Conftitutional Syftem the beft ; and the artful intertexture of religion with Governments confirms them in that opinion, and often configns the underftanding to unalterable error and illiberal prejudice. It would be wonderful, then, if the Turkifh Conftitii-tion, founded on the Koran, was not looked upon with ahhon-ence 3 by by^ the bulk of the Chriftian world ; and more wonderfui Hill, if the outrageous zealots of the Chriftian Church, who for fo many centuries engrofl'ud all the learning of Europe to themfelves, fliould not have handed down with exaggerated niifreprefentation every circumftance belonging to the great enemies of their faith. But that, at this day of intelledual lllutnination, Mankind lliould be enveloped in fucli error and darknefa, with regard to the government of fo large a portion of the globe as Turkey, is extraordinary 3 and only to be accountcd for by a reference, in the lirft place, to thofe' teligioua prejudices which we fuck in from our nurfe, and which Jiabit, incellant document, and every part of our education, tend to confirm in our minds; and in the next, to that indifpofitlon the human mind feels to part with its old prejudices, and the general indolence and incapacity of men to acquire knowledge by the arduous and fatiguing paths of ftudy. The Turkifli Government is grofaly mifreprefented. Were our opinions to be directed by the general belief of Europeans, we fliould fuppofe that the life and property of every being in that "^aft Empire were irremediably at the mercy of the Grand Seignior —and that, without laws to proteči, or any intermediate power ^'vliatever to flüeld them, they were entirely fubječl to the capricious ^ill of an inexorable tyrant, who, Simulated by cruelty, fharpened by avaricc, and unreftrained by any law human or divine, did «very thing to opprefs his fubjedts, and carry deftrudiou among B '2 Mankind. Manklnt-L I fu nily believe, that, from the combination of Ideas arif-ing from thofc prejudices, there are few Chriftians who -think or hear of the Grand Turk, that do not, by an involuntary ad 6f the mind, inftaatly think of blood and murder, ftrangling with bow-' firings, and Hieing oS" heads with cimetcrs'. « As there is no part of your education more near my heart than the eradicating illiberal prejudices from your mind, and fortifying you againft their afiaults ; I fmd it impoffible to refrain from giving you my opinion of tlie TurkiQi Government, which I have been at fome pains to collect, as well from oral information as from the bcft authors ; and which, though very far from what a generous and univerfally philanthropic difpofition would wllh them, to have, is very different from that which is generally attributed to them, and unqucftionably far more limited in its powers than the Govern^ ments of feveral Chriltlan countries I could mention. ' ' The Conflitutlon of that country is laid down exprefsly in' the Koran. The Emperor of Turkey (commonly called the Grand Seignior) is a defcendant of Mahomet, who pretended he had the Koran from Heaven : and he is as much bound by the inftitutes of that book as any fubjed in his realm—is liable to depofition as they to punifhment for breach of them, and indeed has been more than once depofed, and the next in fucceffion raifed to the Throne. Thus far, it is obvious, his power is limited and under controul. But that is not all—It is equally certain that the Turkifh Government is partly partly Republican; for, though the People at large have no fhare ni the legiflation, and are excluded by the Koran from it (which ^oran has eftabliflied and precifely afcertained their rights, privi-' leges, and pcrfonal fecurity), yet there is an intermediate power "vvhich, when roufed to exertion, is ftronger than the Emperor's, and iiands as a bulwark between the extremes of Defpotifm and them. This body is the Ulama, compofed of all the members of the Church and the Law, fuperior to any Nobility, jealous of their rights and privileges, and partly taken from the People, not by ele£i;ion, but by profelTion and talents.—In this body are comprifed the Moulahs, the hereditary and perpetual guardians of the religion and laws of the Empire : they derive their authority as much^ as; the Emperor from the Koran, and, when neceflary, ad with all the firmnefs refulting from a conviction of that authority; which they often demonilrate by oppofmg his meafures, not only with impunity, but fuccefs. Their perfons are facred ; and they can, by ^eans of the unbounded refpečt in which they are held, roufe the People to arms, and proceed to depofe. But, what is much more, the-t-mperor cannot be depofed without their concurrence. if, by this provifion of the Coaftltution, the power of the Monarch is limited, and theperfonal fecurity of the fubjedt afcertained, on the one liand ; the energy of the Empire In its external operations is, on the other, very frequently and fatally palfied by it. ^declarations of war have been procralllnated, till an injurious and irrecoverable iiTccovei'able atS: of hoftillty has been fuflained; and peace oftert protraded, -w^hen peace would have been advantageous, The Ulama being a numerous body, it has been found always difficult, often impoflible, to unite fo many different opinions ; and nothing being to be done without their concurrence, the executive power finds it often impoflible to take a decifive ftep in a crifis of advantageous opportunity. But as this code of laws and government is received as a divine revelation, binding both Prince and People, and flippofed to be fcaled in Heaven, the bteach of it would be fufficient to con-fign even the Monarch to depolition and death. As to the military force, which in the hands of all Defpotä has been made the inftrument of the People's flavery, that of the Turk could avail him nothing; and» whenever It does interfere, a^ta only to his overthrow. Tlie very reverence they have for his perfon arlfing from obedience to their religion, they are, a fortiori^ governed by it, tiot him. He holds no communication with them ; and the ftanding force of the Janiflliries is, compared with the mafs of the People, only a handful. Some wild accounts, indeed, have ftated it at 300,000; but the beft informed fix it below 60,000, of which a great part confifts of falfe müfters and abufes —great multitudes being enrolled to obtain certain privileges annexed to the office of Janiffary. The fad is, that the chief force of the Empire is a militia compofed of the People ; who, with refpcd to obedience and fiibordination, are fo loofe that they leave their duty whenever they tHey pleafe, wlthovit receiving any punifliment. How far the People of Turkey are protečled from the encroachments of power, will iippear from the recital of a fa£t related by one of the beft and moft liberal of our Hiftorians on that fubječt, and which is of too great notoriety lo be doubted. In the year 1755, the Porte, as it is called, or Palace of the Grand Vizir at Confl:ant:nople, was burnt down : in laying the plan for rebuilding it on the former fite, the leading confideration Was, how to contrive matters fo as to render it fecure from accidents of a like nature in future ; and it was determined that the only certain means to do fo was, to leave a fpace of clear ground all round it, for which purpofe the contiguous houfes fhould be purchafed from the proprietors, and demolifhed. All tlie owners of the houfes agreed to the fale, except one old woman, who pertinacioufly refufed ; flie faid (lie was born, and had lived all her life, in that fpot, and Vrould not quit it for any one. Now, in England, for the convenience of a private canal, the Parliament would force her to fell, iiut what did they fay in Turkey ? When all the people cried out, " Why does not the Sultan ufe his authority, and take the houfe, *' and pay her the value ?" No ! anfwered the Magiftrates and the Ulama, it is impoffible ! it cannot be done ! it is her property, ^hile the power of the Monarch is thus limited, and the rights of the People thus afcertained by the Koran, and in things manifeft 4nd open to view rigidly adhered to, juflice between man and man is is rarely adinlnlftered ; for, though tlie laws themfelves arc good, the corrupt adminiftration of them difarms their effedt, and diflorts them from their purpofe. The venality of the Judges is beyond conception flagitious and barefaced ; and their connivanccs at falfe wic-neffes fo fcandaloufly habitual, that teftimony is bccomc an article of commerce, and can be procured with a facility and at a price . that at once ftamps an opprobrium on the countiy, and furniflies matter of wonder to the confulerate mind, how, if Judges are flagitious and fliamelefs enough to be guilty of it, the People can bear fach a pernicious fyflem fo long, flencc flow all the cenfures on the laws and go-vernment of that country—hcnce inoft of the impediments under which its commerce and agriculture languifli; "while tlie adual written laws of the realm are, if duly admini-ftered, fuflficiently adequate to the fecurity of property, the regulation of commerce, the reprefllon of vice, and the punifliment and prevention of crimes. In endeavouring to guard your mind again ft an illiberal, vulgar prejudice, I have fl:ated to you what the Turkifli Clonftitution is, and what the Laws ; but you niuft not carry what I liave faid to an overftrained or forced interpretation. 1 would not have you infer that the People are well governed ; I only fay, that their Confl:itu-tion contains within it the means of better government than is fup-pofed. I would not have you infer that property is always fecure ; I barely fay there are laws wiitten to fecure It. This too I wiih to imprefs impters oa you, that the common people are more free, and tliat property and life are better fecured, in Turkey, than in fome Eu-I'opean countries. I will mention Spain for one. Like tlae country We are now contemplating, fear keeps them, as difunited individuals, iitider paflive obedience in ordinary cafes ; but, unlike the Spaniards» yhen notorioufly aggrieved—when their property or religious code forcibly violated—when the Prince would riot in blood, and perfift in an unfuccefsful war—the Turks appeal to the Law; they find a Chief; the foldiery join their ftandard, and depofe or deftroy him, not on the furious pretext of popular hatred, but upon the legitimate ground of the Koran, as an infidel, and a violator of the laws of God and Mahomet—They always, however, place his regular fucceflbr on the Throne. Yet, notwithftanding the general venality which pollutes the fountains of Juftice, and notwithftanding the great abufe of power to which I have alluded, their internal policy Is, in many refpeds, excellent, and may be compared "^vith advantage to that of any Nation in Europe. Highway-robbery, houfe-breaking, or pilfering, are Uttle known and rarely pradifed among them ; and at all times the roads are as fecure as the houfes. Aniple provifions too are made againft thofe petty fecret frauds, "^hich many who carry a fair face in England, and would bring an ^diou of damages againfl; one that fhould call them rogues, pradife ^very day. Bakers are the mod frequent vidims of juftice, and ^I'e uot infrequently feen Jianging at their own doors. They are C muldcd ( lö ) mulded and baftinadoed for the firfl: and fecond" offence, and OU' the third, a ftaple is driven up in their door-cafe, and they are hanged! from it. Notwirhftanding which, men are conftaiitlj found hardy enough to purfue the fame courfe of praftice; and this 13 the more extraordinary, as the police is fo ftridtly attended to, that the BaQiaw or Vizir Inmfelf goes about in difguife, in order to difcover frauds and detect the connivances of the inferior officers of juftice. But" what will our great Ladies, who confume their nights, deftroy their conftitution, and fquander their hufbands'^ property in gambling; who afterwards, to repair their fliattered finances, have recoude to the infamous expedient of keeping gaming-houfes, and endeavour to recover by degrading means what they have loft by folly, to the difgrace of themfelves and family, and the fliame of their fex and-rank—What will they fay when I tell them, that gaming is held among tlie Turks to be as infamous as theft, and a gameder looked' upon with more deteflation than a highway robber ? The Turkilh Ambaflador and his train will, on their return to their country, have to tell a curious tale of this much>famed iHand, in that and" other refpeQs. I.'! 1, . LETTER XXIX. Prejudice, that canker of the human heart, has injured mankind by impeding perfonal intercourfe, and thereby clogging the channel of intelledual improvement: it forbids that interchange of fentiment—that reciprocal communicadon of opinion— that generous circulation of intelledlual wealth, which, while it enriches another, advances itfelf—it diffevers the bond of focial union, and makes Man fit down the gloomy, felfifli poffeflbr of his own niiferahle mite, with too much hatred to give, and too much pride to receive, thofe benefits, which Providence, by leaving o\;r nature Unaccommodated, has pointed out as neceflary to pafs between man and man : under its influence we fpurn from us the good, if diJlike the hand that offers it, and will rather plunge into tlie »^ire tlian be guided by the light of any one whofe opinion is at variance with our own. Thus it is between tlie Turks and us—the little of their affiiirt ^bich the prejudices of the iVlahomedans have allowed tlieinfelves to communicate, or fiiffcred others to glean among them, has been in C 2 gcucr;U geneeral fo mlfured, diftortecl, and mifreprefented by the prejudices of the Chriftian^ that it is not going beyond the truth to fay, there exift not a people in the civili'4.ed world whole real hiftory and genuine ftate arc fo iittle kitown as thofe of the Turks : and the worft of it is, that not one milrepiefentation, not one fmgle miftake has fallen on the generous, charitable fide ; but all, all without exception tend to re-preient the Turk in the nioft degraded and deteftable point of view. _ ,1 ■ I ' ' Ft Ar, the purity of the Chriftlan does not allow him to be guilty of a wilful, uncharitable railreprefentation, we flioul'd attribute it to unavoidable error, were it not that, till fome late authors whofe liberality does thcin honour, they all walked in the very fame track, and could hardly have been fo uniformly erroneous from defign. We mufl therefore attribute it to religious zeal and miftaken piety; in which, in tlus inftance alone, they feem to be reputable competitors with the Turks. The morofenefs, the animofity, and the fu-percilious felf-polTelTion of the bigot, each holds in common with the other. One ftriking feature in the Conflitution of Turkey is, that neither blood nor fplendid birth are of themfelves fufficient to recommend a man to great offices. Merit and abilities alone are the pinions which can lift ambition to its height. The cottager may be exalted to the higheft office in the Empire ; at leaft there is no abfo-lute impediment in his way; and I believe it has often happened. Compare this with France under its late'Monarchy, where no merit couki f-aife a man from the Canaille : this, I fay, is one of the crlte-^io^is. of ä free Conftitution, and Turkey is fo far democratic. Thir very firfl; principle ingrafted in the minds of the Mahomedan 'ith rapidity, varying his tones occafionally with all the inflexions of a correfponding fenfe. I could not underftand him, but he Teemed to me to fpeak with " good emphafis and good difcretion :" his adtion was eafy to him, though expreflive and emphatical ; and his countenance exhibited ftrong marks of eloquent cxpreflTion. I could not heip ftaring with aftonifliment at a fcene fo new to mc, and felt great approbation of the tones and manner of this extraordinary orator, though I could not underftand a fingle word he faid. He was liftened to by all with great attention, and the Turks (albeit not ufed to the laughing mood) frequently betrayed ftrong fymptoms of rifibility : but in the height and torrent of his fpeech he broke fuddenly off, fcampered out of the door and difappeared. I let it down that he was a maniac or lunatic of an ingenious kind, and was for going away. " Stay," fays my friend, "reft where you are for a few minutes, let us hear further." The orator had fcarcely been gone three minutes when the room Was filled with the buzz of conveifation, a w^ord of which I could not underftand, but which my guide liftened to very attentively. At length the buzz began to grow loud, and foon increafed into clamour ; when a Jcene enfued of fo very ludicrous a kind as forced me to cram myihandkerchief into my mouth to fupprefs a laugh, or at leaft fo to ftifle it as to avoid obfervation. In fiiort, chey tlicy were difputing violently, and the beards were, as I once before mentioned to you, all wagging^. I became more convulfcd with ■mirth ; and my friend feeing that I was likely to give offence, took me under the arm and hurried me out of the coffee-houfe: we retired into a porch in the caravanfera, where T gave vent to my fujv ^irefied laughter till my fides were fore and my eyes ran tears. " la the name of God, my friend !" faid I, " tell me \Yhat is the meaning of all that extravagant fcene to which we have juft now been wltnefs: who is that madman that fpoke fo much ? and why did they all quarrel after he went away " Come, come," faid he, " let us retire to my houfe, and I will there explain the whole of it to you, from beginning to ending." I accordingly accompanied him home, where we found a very gay circle affembled, to whom he defcribed my aftomfliment; recounting my immoderate laughter, till they all laughed very nearly as immoderately as myfelf, " You muft know," faid he, addrefling himfelf to me, "that he whom you took to be a madman, is one of the moft celebrated compofers and tellers of ftories in Afia, and only wants the aid of printing, to be perhaps as eminent in reputation for making Contes, as Marmontel or Madame D'Anois. 'As we pafled along I heard his voice, and, knowing it, refolved to let you fee him, and brought you in for the purpofe. He was entertaining the company with a very curious, interefting, and comical ftory; the fubjeČt of which was avarice ; the hero a mifer of the name of of Gaffern. His miiery and avarice are reprefented in it as bringing him into a variety of fcrapes, which wafte his wealth ; and his cha-rader is drawn with fuch ftrength of colouring, and marked with fuch grotefque lines of humour—he related it moreover with fo much "vvit, in fuch admirable language, and embellifhed and enforced it with fuch appropriate adion, utterance and emphafis—that it riveted, as you faw, the attention of all his auditors, and extorted laughter even from Turkifh gravity." " But how came he to break off fo fuddenly faid I. " That," returned my friend, " Is a part of the art of his profeffion, without which he could not live; juft as he gets to a moft intereftlng part of the llory, when he has wound the imagination of his auditors up to the higheft climax of expedlation, he purpofely breaks off to make them eager for the reft. He is fare to have them all next day, with additional numbers who come on their report, and he makes his terms to finifh the ftory»" " Why then," interrupted I, " why did they who remained behind fall difputing ?" " That I will explain to you," faid he. " Juft as he broke off, CaflTem the mifer (who, as far as I heard, feems as well drawn as Mo-liere's Avare) having already fuffercd a thoufand whimfical misfortunes and dilapidations of fortune, is brought before ijic Cadi for '^^gi^g his garden, on the prefumption that he was digging for treafure. As focn as the hiftorian was gone, they firft applauded him,, him, and tlien began to difcufs his ftory—whidi they one and all agreed in prailmg highly : and wlien they came to talk of the probable ilTue of the fequel of it, there were almoll as many opinions as there were men in company j each maintained his own, and they went to loggerheads as you faw about it—when the chance is a thoufand to one, that not one of them was near the mark. One in particular furmifed that Cäiieni would be married to the Cadi's daughter; which gave great offence to feme, and roufed another of the company to declare, that he was wdl aflured in his confcicnce that Caflem would be brought to the baftinado oT the llake, or elfc hanged, in the fequel." " And is it poffible," faid I, " that a group of twenty or thirty rational beings can be fo far bereft of all common fenfe, as to difpute upon the refult of a contingency, which abfolutely depends on the arbitrary fancy of an acknowledged fabricator of falfehoods " Ccß vrai, Monfieur! and thereby they demonftrate the power of the poet (for poet we may well call him) ; and aitrc mus^ I doubt whether it is not more rational, as well as more fair, to difpute what the denouement ought to be before than after the inventor of the piece has difpofed of it, as is the pračlice with us. When he has once finiflied his fable, you will find them all content, and the voice of criticifm fdent. Nov/ in France or England, our critics lie perdue^ in order to attack the pott, let him fmifli his performance how he may. But you will recoiled;, Moulieur, that in Turkey criticlfm is the honeft > fpontaneous fpontaneous iffue of the heart, and with us is a trade, whcre^fome-times lucre, fometimes vanity, but oftener than both, envy and malice direčt the decifion, and difpofe to cavil and cenfure. But wc will go again to-morrow, continued he, probably lie will be there to conclude or proceed further with his ftory j I agreed to this and we parted. On che next day we went, and not feeing the orator in his place, lounged about the caravanfera, and going to another cofFee-houfe found him dedainiing with his might- My friend told me that the ftory he was now on was quite different from the formj?r: however we watched his motions _fo effe£tually that we got the conclu-fion of the flory of Caffem^ which completely difappointed the pro-gnoftics of the two confli£ting Turkiih critics; for Caflem was neither i baftinadoed, flaked, or hanged, nor married to the Cadi's daughter, but lived tq fee that extreme avarice was folly j and to be fenfiblp that to make the proper ufe of the goods of this life is to enjoy them. letter LETTER XXXiV. My laft letter has fhewn you, that the conceptions of genius, though they may want the aid of the Prefs to bring them in full and perfečt difclofure to the world, will yet burft through their bounds, and find fome means of communication with mankind ; for though the art of Prhiting be unknown In Turkey, the emanations of fuperior intellečl and fancy find their way to the general ear through the medium of public declamation in coffee-houfes. This letter will ferve to fhew you that malverfation in office, public delinquency, and all thofe crimes of the great, which with us are cognizable by no tribunal but that of the public prefs, are not altogether fo exempt from the lafli and expofure of the fatirift in Turkey, as the want of that great palladium of Freedom would difpofe us to believe ; and that, incredible as it may appear, the magiftrates are held up to ridicule in public exhibition, fatirifed with all the extravagant vulgarity of coarfe humour and unpolifhed wit, and expofed with »11 the bitter exaggerations or envenomed genius. The French gentleman whom i mentioned to you in my laft, as as having procured mc that plcafant repafl at the coffee-houfe, calleJ ou me a morning or two after tiiat, and reminded me how highly 1 feeined to be entertained ; fai(f, there were often to be feen, by %valking about and going into pubhc places, a variety of thijjgs, \vhich, liowever worthleQ and unentertaining in themfelves, might, from the novelty of their appearance, and their uniikeUnefs to any thing Icen in Europe, ferve either to divert by tlieir oddity, or promote the conception of new ideas in the mind : he therefore recommended it to me, with all the zeal of a perfon who took an interelt in my happinefs, to keep on my legs and in the ftreets while I remained at Aleppo. You will conclude that I readily complied, and we fallied out diredly in queft of adventure. We proceeded, therefore, to one of the beforementioned cofiee-lioufes, where, as my friend oTjferved to mc, though there were no people of great rank, there was generally fomething to afford contemplation or amufement; and where, if nothing elfe occurrcd, the motley appearance of the company Was fufficient to excite a variety of whimfical emotions, and fug-geft numberlefs ludicrous images to the Imagination of an Englifli or French man. As there was no orator at work declaiming, I had time to indulge myfelf with a more accurate view than I had before taken of the group that furrounded us : and furely never was ponderous gravity more ludicroufly, or in more various farms depi(iied by any caricaturift in the world.—Here it was to I 2 be be Teen, in all its fliadings, from the felf-Important nod of ferious 'cogitation, down to the foporific afped of ftolid ftupidity. Not a niulcle was moved in way of mirth, not a face difgraced with a fmile, and I could not help thinking all the time, that if every nation of the earth was to take fome animal for its infignia, as the Britifli af-fume the lion, and the Prilflian the eagle, the Turks might be divided in their choice between the appropriate claims of the owl and the afs. Soon after we entered, a band of what they called niufic, ftruck up a concert. And here again'the notion of the owl an his country, and feffion after feffion fprings from the couch of repofe which opulence prefents him, to break the fetters and the fcourges which improbity and avarice have forged for our fellow creatures—may he fucceed and bear down all his oppofers! and may the juftice of his country make his triumph and his glory as certain and complete here, as the juftice of that Being, under whofe direüion he afts, will doubt-lefs make them hereafter! LETTER XL. From the confiderations I have already pretty fully men'-tiGued, my mind was by no means at eafe. T}ie inceÜaiit travelling for fo many days, at the rate of feventy-five miles a day, to be continued I knew not how long, increafed my anxiety: and the apprc-henfions of accident, interruption, and above all ficknefs, Intercepting me on my way, haunted my imagination with all Its terrors. I was befides approaching faft to that region where the winds ftrike all living things that draw them In inftantly dead: and conceiving that the more expeditious I was in getting over the journey, the greater chance I had of efcaping thofe niifchiefs ; I pufhed heartily forward, and urged the Tartar till he at laft exprcffed his aftonifhment and approbation ; paid me the compUmcntto fay, that I was almoft equal to himfelf for enduring fatigue ; and concluded with a very fiigacious furmife, that in all probability I had been myfelf a carrier of dlf-patches among the Frank Governments. One day after we had rode about four miles from a caravanfera» at which we had changcd our cattle, I found that a moft execrably P 2 bad bad horfe ha ' - • r;. ■ ■ , . ■ ■ . w - - r LETTER letter xlt. The extraordinary occurrence which I mentioned in my laft letter required explanation, and my Tartar friend was not backward in giving it; for he loved exceedingly to hear himfelf talk, and, on any fubječt within the compafs of his knowledge, was flirewd, perfpicuous, and even naturally eloquent: he had moreover on that occafion aäed the part of a fbÜful general; and as I applauded his prudence and addrefs, he was extremely kind and communicative, and gave me a full account of that affair, his motives, his deliberations, and the urgency of the cafe; and, in fliort, every thing that could elucidate the circumllance, or aggrandize his own importance. It would be a pity to take it out of his own words: I fhall therefore relate them to you, as I had them through the medium of our Lin-guift, for they made an impreffion on my memory not eafily to be erafed. «' You muft know," fald he, " that there are fpread over the face of this great and glorious empire a number of dervlfes of different kuids—Z'o/i/ men, wlio renounce the enjoyments and pleafures 0^2 of of the world, to converfe with Mahomet and worfliip Alia. Some of thofe are very good men, in dee d_ faints, and never do any thing bad i preaching and praying, without hurting any thing, even a rat or a fnake ; nay, they would not hurt a Chriftian. There are others again, of whom I have heard our Bafhaws and Effendis, and even the Maazeen, declare that they are forbid by the Koran ; and yet the common people (the lower fort you know have no fenfe) reverence and worfliip them—they are called San/ofis ; live by themfelvcs, fometimes under ground like rabbits, and fometlmes'In the thickets and woods. They go where they pleafe, take the heft feat in any man's houfe, cram themfclves with meat and drink, and yet none refill them J for fome will not, and others dare not. Nay, they I * often pollute women in the open ftreets—and they never fet tlieir eyes on a Chriftian or a Frank, that they will not kill, if pöfhble. For my part, I think that they ought to be hanged, every one of them that had a head to be hanged by—or rather ftaked—for no punifliment is too great for them ; but I dare not fay fo in that town—if I did, 1 Ihould be ftoned to death by the rabble. « As foon as 1 perceived the crowd, and the rafcals dancing, I knew that they were fantons, and was fure that they M^ould flop U3 in order to extraQ money from us ; in which cafe they would moft probably have difcovered you—for they have the eyes of the devil. Nothing then could fave your life; the crowd would join them, and your brains would have been beat out with ftoues. I liad a mind I to tO turn brtck and go round tlic town, but that might have caufed fuf-picion, and got us perhaps intercepted ; fo I determined to pufh by them boldly, which I did, you can.teftify, like a brave man. You faw enough yourfelf, to convince you of the danger you have efcaped, and of my wifdom and valour; let me therefore entreat you to be entirely guided by me, and above all things avoid that accurfed pro-penfity to laughter." Since I firft formed the refolution of writing this account of my journey, I have been at fome pains to dip into the heft hiftories of that country, and I find that in every inftance my Tartar guide's information was corredl:. Thofe fantons, as well as other clafles of dervifes and fheihs, travel about the country and levy contributions on the inhabitants : fome arc really what they pretend to be, and arc as pure and as pious as the monks of the primitive Chriftian church ; but the fantons are monfters, who exifl only by the barbarous credulity and more than favage ignorance of the lower order of the people—though reprobated, and indeed execrated, by the better fort of Turks. They afFed to be dementated (which with the Maho-jnedans is ihe greateft mark of fanout; and even at night the walls of the houfes are fo^ heated by the day's fun, as to produce a difagreeable heat to the body at a foot or even a yard dillance from them, o However, I entered it with Ipirits, becaufe I confidcfed it'as the laft ftage of the worft part of my pilgrimage. -But, alas!' I was difappointed in my expeflatioa; for the. Tigris was dried up by the intcnfity of the heat, and an uiiufually long drought; and I was obliged to take the matter with a patient flirug, and accommodate my mind to a journey on horfeback, which, though not ' fo long as that 1 had already made, was likely to be> equally dangerous, and which i therefore'demanded a full exertion of fortitude and refolution.—There are a thoufand latent energies in every man, which only want the powerful voice'of neceffity to call them out: and now drawn to the top of my bent, I prepared my mind to fet out in the morning, with as mucin cheerfulnefs as if the. i; R 2 hopes hopes of water carriage to Bagdad had neve» once occiirrcd to my mind. ' 1 It was ftill the hot feafon of the year, and we were to travel through that country, over which the horrLd wind I have before mentioned fwceps its confumnig bkfts: it is called by the Turks-Samiel,: is mentioned by holy Job under the name of the Eafl: Wind, and extends its ravages all the way from the extreme end of the Gulph of Cambaya up to Moful it carries along with it fleaks of fire, like threads of filk; inflantly ftrikes dead thofe that breathe it, and confumes them inwardly to aflies; the flelh foon becoming black as a coal, and dropping off from the bones. Philofophers con-fider it as a kind of eledlric fire, proceeding from the fulphureous or nitrous exhalations which are kindled by the agitation of the winds. The only poffible means of efcape from its fatal effečts, is to fall fiat on the ground, and thereby prevent the drawing it in: to do this, however, it is necefl'ary firft to fee it, which is not always praQicable. But befides this, the ordinary heat of the climate is extremely dangerous to the blood and lungs, and even to the fkin, which it blifters and peels away from the flefh, affečting the eyes fo much, that travellers are obliged to wear a tranfparent covering over them to keep the heat off. That night, Haflan faid, that as we muft proceed to Bagdad on horfeback, he would ftay the next at Moful to rcfreöi us; which 3 I obje£ted t öhjeiHied to: he tlicn fpoke o£ the fucceeding part of the journey as a thing of nothing ; we had already come near nine hundred miles, and had not above frve to go : belides, as the weather was warmer, we would travel more in the night, and lie-by in the daytime, in places with which he was well acquainted. In fhort, the poor fellow feemed to take an intereft in my fafety, and to wifli to alleviate the pains of my mind; and he always concluded with a remonftrance agalnft laughing, which from frequently hearing I now underftood even in his own language.--" Don't ]augh, Jimmel, don't laugh " he would fay with great folemnity.—■ By ihe bye, I ohfevved, that when he was well difpofed to me, he always called me Jimmel (a name which I prefume he conftra£l:ed, with my fervant's affiftance, from the refemblance of found between Gampbel and; Camel, Jimmel being the TurkiHi for that animal) j and when angry, he called me Frangi, with all its gradations of Turkifli abufe, Dumus, Cucu, &c. That evening, as we fat in the caravanfera, a man entered and fpoke to Halfan, who feemed to pay great attention to what he was faying. He was a well made man—below the middle fixe—and had that kind of countenance which befpeaks fhrewdnefs, ingenuhy, and mirth. At length he retired ; and foon after Halfan bid us rife and follow him: he went into a fort of public room, where a number of people were colledted, fitting as is the cuftom in coffee-houfes on low ftools. Hafian pointed to me to fit down, which I did; then then placing the Interpreter near us, he fat himfelf: and flraight I perccived the little man, who had juft been fpeaking to him, ftep forth from the crowd and begin to pronounce a fort of prologue, which I neither underflood nor willied to iinderftand : it appeared from his cadences toii be "metrical, and feemed, by the little, im-prefTion it made, on his auditors, to have nothing particular to recommend it. At length, however, he paufed, and, hemming feveral times to clear his pipes, began again to hold forth. " He is going to teil a flory," faid the Interpreter. The attention ofrall was fixed upon hiiii, and he proceeded with a modulation of tones, a variety of action, i'and an energy of cxprcflion, .that I think I have never heard or feen-j excelled : his adiou indeed was' fingulai-Iy admirable; and I could perceive that he was occafionally fpeaking in the tones of a man and a woman'; in ,which latter character he gave a picture of whining ludicrous diftrefs, that moved the rifible mufcles of all the company. I looked at Hallan, and he was grinning as merrily as could any monkey or Frank in Afia. The Lin-guid occafionally interpreted what the ftory-telier was faying ; and I foon began to fufped that it was a ftory I had more than once read in the Arabian Nights, though altered, and in fome meafure dramatized by the fpeaker. I looked feveral times archly at Haflan, and he returned iny glance, as much as to fay, .You fee I don't laugh at all this. At length, however, the orator came to a part where he was to mimic a poor Htlle hunch-back (for I now difcovercd it to 5 be the ftory of little Hunch-back) choking with a bone : he threw up his back ; fqueezed, till all the blood in his body feemed collc£ted in his face, hils eyes rolled in their fockets, his knees knocked, he twilled and folded his body, putting his fore-finger and thumb into his throat, and pulling with all his might, as if to pull fomething out; at length he grew weaker, ftretched his arms down, and his fingers back, like thofe of a perfon ftrangling—kicked, fell, quivered, and died. It is impoffible for any defcription to do juftice to the perfection of his ačling ; and what rendered it the more extraordinary was, that though it was a fcene of death, and well aded death, he continued to render it fo ludicrous in circumflances, as to fufpend the audience between a laugh and cry. They did not remain long fo; for he fuddenly bounced up, and began the moft doleful lamentation of a woman, and exhibited fuch a fcene of burlefque diftrefs as I never witnefled. All burft out in torrents of laughter, PlafTan as well as the reft—I alone remained purpofely ferious; and the orator, according to cuftom, broke off in the middle of an Interefting fcene. When we returned to the caravanfera, I rallied the Tartar on the fcore of his laughter: he growled, and faid, " Who could avoid it ? Why did not you laugh as you were wont " Becaufe," faid I, " he did not a£t as comically as you."—" No," returned he, " but becaufe Franks and monkies only laugh for mifchief, and where they ought not. No, Jimmcl, you will never fee me laugh at mifchief."—" What," faid laid I, " not at a poor man's being choked to death!"—" Nay," faid he, " I feldom laugh, yet I could not avoid it then." TluX very hour, however, a puppet-fliow^ was exhibited in the fame room, and my grave guide laughed till the tears ran down his chceks, and his voice funk into a whining treble. Karaghufe was certainly extravagantly comical, though filthy 3 and frightened a Cadi with a whole troop of janiiTiirlcs, by letting ily at them a fliot or two— a parts poß- The next day we fet out well mounted, and puflied on with renovated fpirits towards Bagdad. Haffan could no more have the affurance to cenfure laughing; and, as 1 was little difpofed to do it in time of danger, we were likely to agree well. In fliort, we began to like one another's company j and if I brought him to be a greater laugher than he ufed to be, he gave himfelf the credit of having made me much mure ferious than I had been before—I profited by his xnftrUiStions. It would be an effort as idle and fruitlefs on my part, as unenter-taining and uninterefling on yours, to attempt to give you a regular detail of our progi'efs from Moful to Bagdad; the fame general cautions were obferved, with the fame occafional relaxations. Haf-fan ftill continued to treat me with a repetition of himfelf and his horfe, his own feats and lue horfe's feats ; to be filent wlien ill-■tempered, and loquacious when gay; to flog the attendants at the caravanferas ; order the beft horfes, and eat the beft vi<^uals, and to give give me the beft of both ; and finally, we had our fallings out and fallings in again : but I had not the niortUication of feeing any more Women tied in facks on horfes' backs, and excoriated with a ride of fifty miles a day. As we rode along we overtook feveral times ftraggling callenders, a kind of Mahomedan monks, who profefs poverty and great fane-tity; they were dreffed all in rags, covered with filth, carried a gourd, by way of bottle, for water—I prefume fometimes for wine too—and bore in their hands a long pole decorated with rags, and pieces of cloth of various colours. They are fuppofed by the vulgar to have fupernatural powers: but Haflän, who feemed to have caught all his ideas from his betters, exprefled no fort of opinion of them; iie falamd to them, and gave them money, however. It was extraordinary enough, that they were all in one ftory—all were going on a pilgrimage to Mecca—or, as they call it, Ha(ijc. As foon as ever we got out of their fight and hearing, Halfan (hook his head, and repeated " Hadje, Hadje t" feveral times doubtingly, and grinned, as he was accuftomed to do when he was difpleafed, without being able to manifeft anger. " Hadje he would cry, " Hadje, Hadje 1" I afked him what lie meant; and he faid, that thefe fellows were no more going to Mecca than I was. " I have a thoufand and a thoufand times," faid he, met callenders on the road, and always found them facing towards Mecca. If I am going fouthward, I always overtake them ; if northward, I meet them; and all the time they arc S going going wherever their bufinefs carries them. I overtook," continued lie, " one of them one day, and I gave him ahns and pafled him by ; he was coming, he faid, after me, towards Mecca: but I halted on purpofe for a day, and he never pafled ; and a merchant arriving at the fame caravanfera informed me, he had met the very fame fellow-four leagues farther northward ; who had anfwered him with tlie fame ftory, and ftill had his face turned towards the fouth." Fifty years ago, no man in Turkey would have dared to hold this language ; but every day's experience evinces that the light of reafon fpreads its rays faft through the world—even through Turkey j and furnifhes a well founded hope, that in another half century every monkifh impoflor (I mean real impoftors), whether they be Maho-medan monks, or Chriftian monks, will be chafed from fociety, and forced to apply to honeft means for fubfiftence. end of part ii.