Soon after we entered, a band of what they called music, struck up a concert. And here again the notion of the owl and the ass struck me with increased force, as peculiarly presiding over their music: for no other combination of sounds that I know on earth, but the screeching of the one, and the braying of the other, could form any thing to resemble this concert, with which the auditory seemed vastly pleased, though I was obliged to betake myself to flight, in order to get relief from the torture it gave me. The Turks, however, as I retreated, honored me with a few remarks, which, as I did not understand, I could not precisely feel; my friend however told me, they were to the effect that we were Frangi Dumus (Frank Hog), and had no more ear than that filthy animal for inusic.

Come, said my friend, don't be discouraged!-But the music the music! interrupted I.-Well then, said he, the music, or rather the sounds, were execrable to be sure; they have at least served to establish this certainty, that there is nothing, however discordant or detestable, which habit will not reconcile us to. Doubt not, said he, that the best piece of Handel or Correlli, performed by the best band in Rome, would appear as ridiculous to them as

their concert did to us.

We visited many coffee-houses in the course of that day, in every one of which we found something to divert or disgust us;, at length, as we entered one, my friendly guide turning to me with satisfaction in his countenance, said, "Here is something about to go forward that will please you better than the concert of music." "What is it said I? A drama, returned he; a drama, to you most certainly of a new and extraordinary kind; and I do assure you, that so zealous am I to procure you entertainment, I would rather than a couple of louis' you could understand what is going forward: your hearty mirth and laughter, added he, are sufficient to put one in spirits. He then directed my attention to a fellow busily employed in erecting a stage, which he accomplished in a time incredibly short. The light of the sun was completely excluded, and a puppet shew commenced, which gave great delight to all the audience,

who was

and ignorant as I was of the language, pleased me very

much.

I was astonished when informed that one man only spoke for all the personages of the drama, for so artfully did he change his tone of voice, that I could have sworn there had been as many people to speak, as there were characters in the piece. The images were not actually puppets, commonly so called, but shadows done in the manner of Astley's Ombres Chinoises. They were, however, far inferior to his in execution and management, though the dialogue and incident evidently appeared even to me, to be executed with a degree of the vis comica far superior to any I ever saw in a thing of the kind in Europe; indeed so perfect was the whole, that though I knew not a word of the language, I comprehended clearly the plan of the piece, and many of the strokes of humor contained in the dialogues. The plan was obviously taken from a story which I have read in some of the Eastern tales, I believe the Arabian Nights Entertainments, and it is founded on the law of the country, that a man may repudiate his wife twice, and take her back again; but in the event of a third divorce, cannot retake her to his marriage-bed, unless she be previously married and divorced by another man. To obviate which, husbands who repent having divorced their wives a third time, employ a man to marry them, and restore her back again; and he who does this office is called a Hullab.In the piece before us, however, the Lady and the Hullah like each other so well, that they agree not to separate; the husband brings them both before the cadi to enforce a separation; and the scene before the cadi was as ludicrous, and as keen a satire upon those magistrates as can well be conceived, though of the low kind.

The piece was introduced with a grand nuptial procession, in which the master displayed the powers of his voice by uttering a variety of the most opposite tones in the whole gamut of the human voice; sometimes speaking, sometimes squeaking like a hurt child, sometimes huzzaing as a man, a woman, or a child; sometimes neighing like a horse, and sometimes interspersing it with other such sounds as commonly occur in crowds, in such a manner

as astonished me while the concomitant action of the images, grotesque beyond measure, kept up the laugh; horses kicking and throwing their riders, asses biting those near them, and kicking those behind them, who retire limping in the most ridiculous manner: while their great standing character in all pieces, KARA-GHUSE (the same as our Punch), raised a general roar of obstreperous mirth even from the Turks, with his whimsical action, of which I must say that, though nonsensical, though indecent, and sometimes even disgusting, it was on the whole, the most finished composition of low ribaldry and fun that I ever beheld.

When they come before the cadi, he is seated in his divan of justice; but as soon as the complaint is opened and answered, he rises and comes forward between the contending parties: here he turns to one and demands in a terrific tone what he has to say, while the other puts cash in his hand behind, and in proportion as the cash is counted in, increases the terror of his voice; he then pockets the money, and again turns to the other, and demands what he has to offer, while in like manner he receives bribes from his adversary and puts it in an opposite pocket this alternate application lasts till the purses of both are exhausted, when, giving a great groan, he retires on one side to reckon the money of each from a pocket he has on either side, one called plaintiff, and the other defendant; when balancing them, he finds plaintiff better by one asper (or three halfpence) than defendant, and pronounces his judgment accordingly. The defendant appeals to the bashaw; they go before him : KARA-GHUSE (Punch) however, takes the defendant aside, and in a dialogue, which my friend assured me was pointed, witty, and bitterly satirical, developes to him the whole system of magistratical injustice, advises him to bribe the bashaw, and declaring his zeal for all young people fond of amorous enjoyment (which he is at some pains to enlarge upon to the excess of indelicacy), offers him the aid of his purse. The advice is followed; the bribe is accepted; the cadi's decree is reversed, and himself disgraced, and the mob at once hustle him and bear

the Hullah home to his bride with clamors of joy. Here again the master shewed his extraordinary powers, giving not only, as before, distinct and opposite tones of voice, but huddling a number of different sounds with such skill and rapidity together, that it was scarcely possible to resist the persuasion that they were the issue of a large and tumultuous crowd of men and animals. With this extravagant melange the curtain dropped, and the performance ended.

Returning home we conversed together on the subject of the piece, which I confess I could not get out of my head for some time. My friend explained to me, as well as he could recollect, a great part of the dialogue, and assured me, that the freedom of speech of Monsieur KARA-GHUSE had from time to time created a great deal of uneasiness, not only to offending private individuals, but to the magistracy itself that no offender, however intrenched behind power, or enshrined in rank could escape him that bashaws, cadis, nay the Janissaries themselves, were often made the sport of his fury; that he was not more restrained in the effusions of obscenity which he uttered, than in his satire; that he was always well received and applauded, even venerated (as we vene. rate the liberty of the press) as a bold teller of truth, who with little mischief does a great deal of good, and often rouses the lethargic public mind to a sense of public dangers and injuries. He added, that in some cases, the magistrate had been obliged to interfere; and the bashaw himself was seriously called upon at times to stop the licentious tongue of this champion of Freedom, Kara

GHUSE.

"Well then," said I, "it appears upon the whole that Monsieur KARA-GHUSE is a very great blackguard, but a very witty, and a very honest one." "You have just hit it," said he ; "and if Master Kara-ghuse was to take such liberties in France, Spain, Portugal, or Germany, all his wit and honesty would not save him from punishment. In England you do not want him; every man there is a KARA GHUSE, and every news-paper a puppet-shew."

"And yet," returned I, "we complain sadly of want of liberty!"

"That is natural," returned my sagacious Frenchman, "perfectly natural. Liberty is like money; the more we have of it, the more covetous we grow."

"Very true, Monsieur," said I, pleased with his compliment to our happy constitution, and to clinch his observation, gave a Latin quotation, which when a child I got out of Lilly's Grammar, "Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit ;" and then changing num-, mus for libertas, "Crescit amor libertatis, quantum ipsa libertas crescit."

" 'Tis very well, Monsieur," said he; "and to carry on your allusion, may we not say, that they who do not know when they have enough, are as dangerously wrong in the one case, as those who say we have too much, are in the other? The English complaining of the want of liberty, reminds me of the coffee-house orator's story of Cassem, who, wallowing in wealth, lost it all in the wild pursuit of more.I hope, however, that they never will, like him, lose their stock in vain endeavors to increase it."

LETTER XXXV.

WHILE I was, in the manner I have already

mentioned, endeavoring to pass away the time as cheerfully as possible, till a caravan was formed, or Company's dispatches were coming over land, of which I might avail myself; I found my situation in the house of Mr.

growing extremely critical. That gentleman, of whose good sense, and truly excellent disposition, I had too manifold proofs to call them in question, had, though fallen into the vale of years, married his lady at a very tender age. She was then young, beautiful, full of sensibility, and gifted with such natural endowments both of mind and person, accompanied with all those accomplishments which helped to dress them to advantage,