pleasures they derive from that well-acted comedy called a “lawsuit.” What intense delight do not these good souls receive from certain grave eulogies upon that system of laws by which the Chancery Court lawyers swallow up the whole property in dispute between the parties! What "easement" do they not obtain from that simulated zeal and wellaffected sympathy with which their counsel "protest to God" that their client's case is justice itself! How edified, likewise, are even the bystanders, at the grave and moral discourses, de omnibus rebus," &c. with which a judge charges a jury, in a case of libel, for example, and thus discharges his share of the farce. For this reason I cannot sufficiently applaud the inventors of that excellent piece of dupery, the monstrous fictions of law, which undo deeds, "making things to have been performed which never were attempted, bringing unborn children into existence, and considering the living as dead." Whatever other grounds of complaint there may lie against this system, it cannot be disputed, that it tends powerfully to increase the pleasures which the litigator derives from the law's deceptions, and while it promotes the profits of the prac titioner, gives the client a great deal more for his money than he could otherwise obtain.

Nor is the relief less which the victims of the "nameless ever now disease," the "most notorious gecks and gulls that e'er invention played upon," receive from the sad and learned hypocrite, who, while he affects to be studying the symptoms, is merely calculating his gains, whose estimate of the malady, instead of turning on its danger or safety, rolls entirely on the number of guineas it is likely to put into his pocket. Moliere has said that he knew not "de plus plaisante momerie, rien de plus ridicule qu'un homme qui se veut mêler d'en guerir un autre.” Without, however, going all the way with Moliere, we may say that there is "rien de plus ridicule" than the external forms of the process, by which the fashionable cure of a fashionable disease is conducted to its consummation. But the climax of all the pleasures derivable from deception, are those which accompany a general election. What a frantic joy possesses the whole town on the approach of such an event, when the poor dupes are looking forward to be flattered from the hustings, mocked with a false show of constrained equality and simulated friendship; and finally when, as is too often the case, they are bribed with their own money, to contribute their quota to the burthening themselves and their posterity to the last generation!

I speak not of the comfort and advantage which society derives from that organized system of hyprocrisy, more despotic than the laws of the Medes and Persians, which passes current in the world under the name of politeness; because every one knows and feels its value, and is but too well pleased to possess a good excuse for hiding unpleasant truths, the avowal of which might involve the relater in a duel or a lawsuit.

"Chi non sa fingere, non sa vivere," says the Italian proverb, a text upon which Nic Macchiavel has written an elaborate commentary; but by far a better one is to be found in the grave faces of political wights, who, while they are exerting all their energies to propagate despotism and raise their own fortunes, turn up their eyes at the bare mention of this same Macchiavelli's name; and with a pharisaical demureness of the whole outward man, denounce him and his writings as anti-christian and anti-social, merely for saying, what they themselves are doing

every day and hour of their lives. The triumph of opinion over the sword, has made political hypocrisy more than ever necessary in the safe conduct of a state. It is the great arcanum of modern policy, and it possesses every quality which can be required in a remedy, operating in all cases citò, tutò, et jucundè. Take, for instance, that special piece of hypocrisy," The God of St. Louis and of Henri Quatre," and determine which you admire most, the impudence of those who in the 19th century put such a machine in motion, the sycophancy of those who affect to be the dupes of it, or the great comfort and convenience which result from its application secundum artem to the necessities of the Bourbon dynasty. Really it is a severe national misfortune to Great Britain, that in her quality of a protestant state she cannot press into her service any other divinity than the common God of all mankind; and that in her quality of a revolutionary government, she has no family prejudices with which to connect a local deity, if she had one at her service. Our Henry VI. was a tolerable saint enough, and every way worthy of possessing a household god of his own; and Charles I. in his capacity of Martyr, might be indulged with the same privilege.

He then, who is no hypocrite, knows nothing of life, nothing of its enjoyments, nothing of its amenities, and above all, nothing of the moyen de parvenir. That there can be any vice in a practice so universal, so respected, and so serviceable to mankind, seems eminently impossible. If there were really any harm in it, can we believe that so many great princes and divines should in speeches, proclamations, and sermons, so frequently use the name of Heaven to cover their own private interests, and talk of the good of the people, at the very moment when they are adding to their miseries? If hypocrisy were a sin, should we find "Right honourable gentlemen," and "my learned friend," so often substituted, for "corrupt rascal," and "jobbing knave;" which, if we may judge by the context, is evidently in the speaker's mind? or would high-minded men condescend to pass over "the highest quarter," and "in another place," without seeming to perceive that those words teemed with the most forbidden allusions? To the same conclusion we must likewise be brought by the practice of our most pious and loyal journalists, of each of whom it might be said that "tertius è cœlo cecidit Cato," and whose mouths are never empty of the imposing and sacred names of virtue, honour, our holy religion, and our glorious constitution; while they outrage decency by their scandalous libels, and advocate the most atrocious and liberticide measures, all "for the better carrying on of the plot."-No, no, "esse quam videri," may do very well for a motto, but it has nothing to do with real life; except, indeed, it be used as a blind to cover a meditated fraud; and then it enters into the system, and will pass muster. The ancients very wisely put truth in a well, and there let her lie and be-drowned. She never yet was sufficiently in favour to drink any thing but water: and if any one is mad enough to doubt the fact, let him only try the experiment. Let him only for one week determine to speak aloud all that passes through his mind in society, and to show himself to his fellow ereatures such as he really is, in thought, word, and deed; and if he does not repent of his bargain before half the time is expended, why then say I am notM.

LETTERS FROM THE EAST.-NO. VIII.

Grand Cairo.

WHILE at Kenéh we paid another visit to the Temple of Tentyra: the columns of the portico are of fine white stone, and are twenty-three feet in circumference. After visiting those of Thebes, Esné, and Edfu, it was still delightful to gaze on this superb and elegant ruin, by far the most impressive of all. The beautiful zodiac on the ceiling of one of the inner apartments has been taken off entire by the French, and carried to Paris. Marble is rarely to be found in the Egyptian edifices, the materials of which they are composed being generally of a fine white, or light yellow stone, or coarse granite. After leaving Girgé we arrived at the town of Aboutigé early in the morning, A funeral procession of the Arabs took place here: first walked a number of men, three or four abreast, at a slow place, singing in a mournful voice, with the priest at their head; the corpse was borne after them on the shoulders of six bearers; it was laid on an open bier completely covered, and followed by a number of women, who uttered loud cries and wailings at intervals, to show their sorrow. Having hired a couple of asses, I set out to ride inland to Monfalut, attended by a young Arab of the Cangia. After crossing a plain, and a ferry caused by the inundation, and passing by some pretty villages almost buried in groves of palm-trees, in one of which was held an Arab fair, we entered on a waste of sand, with a part of the Libyan chain of mountains close on the left. After riding some time we approached some lofty walls surrounding a square inclosure, and being curious to know what it contained, we found a small hamlet of Copts within, consisting of five or six dwellings; one solitary and lofty palm-tree rose in the midst, These poor people conducted us into a rude little building which they called their church; it was imperfectly lighted, and a curtain concealed the entrance into an inner room or sanctuary, out of which they brought, and displayed with no small pride, two wretched paintings in oil colours of the Virgin and her Son, and another of some venerable saint or apostle. On enquiring if they had any books, three large and ancient ones were produced, much the worse for wear, and written in the Coptic characters. The manners and appearance of this little community, thus secluded in the desert, had much innocence and simplicity. Their retreat was secured by a strong door. The patriarch of the hamlet, a venerable old man, gave us his blessing fervently at parting. Pursuing our way, the next object we came to deserving notice was a very neat Arab burying-ground in the midst of the sand; the tombs were three or four feet high, and plastered white. The Orientals, to show that in their concern for the dead they had not forgot the living, had placed here a small reservoir of water supplied by a well; it was built over at top, which kept it always cool. Towards evening we saw the minarets of Siout at a distance, a very welcome sight. The guide and owner of the asses was an Egyptian, and Achmed kept pace with them on foot; they were the only property he had in the world! he had lost his two children, and their death had blasted all the poor man's prospects of comfort. He burst into tears as he told his desolate state with passionate expressions of sor

row; and it being sunset, he then repeated his prayers in a loud tone of voice for half an hour as he passed along the desert. On entering the city, the sudden change of objects, from the deep solitude of the way, to the loud sounds and rapid movements of the various people in the streets, was most striking. Arabs, Turks, Nubians, and Albanians, almost impeded the passage; the bazaar was crowded. My conductor went to the house of Hassan, an Arab, and engaged a rude apartment. A repast in a Turkish town is quickly procured. Dervish, the young sailor of the Cangia, went out and quickly brought me a supper of coffee, milk, bread, and roasted meat, all excellent in their kind; the latter consisted of small pieces of mutton well seasoned, and placed on an iron rod, which is turned quickly round over the fire, and in a few minutes they are ready to be served up. It being evening, the Muezzins were calling to prayers from the minarets. One of the mosques which I looked into was a very pretty one, the floor handsomely carpeted and dimly lighted by a small dome in the middle; for these people imagine that a partial and imperfect light is favourable to religious meditation. When it was dark we returned to the small apartment, where a mat of reed on the floor was my only bed; but Dervish and Achmed slept on the ground without, where the moonlight was so bright as to make it seem like day. Early in the night, I was awakened by the sounds of music and singing in the street close by, where every thing else was perfectly silent: they were extremely sweet, and passed slowly by. Soon after day-break, the loud voice of Achmed was heard in an exclamation of praise to Allah: we quickly rose, and having breakfasted on coffee and Turkish pancakes, prepared in the streets at this early hour, we proceeded on our way. Having left the fertile environs of Siout, and entered on a sandy tract, we came in a few hours in sight of a large caravan, that had halted in the desert; it consisted of Arabs, from farther Egypt, who were conveying a number of black slaves to Cairo to be sold. The tent of the chief was distinguished by a piece of blue cloth, suspended from the top, the other tents were pitched around without any order; the camels were turned loose on the sand, and the Arabs were formed into groups, smoking and conversing, whilst several of the unfortunate blacks were wandering about, or preparing their coarse meals. The chief, thinking, no doubt, I wished to make a purchase, conducted me with significant gestures and smiles into a large tent, which was filled with a number of half-naked young black women, doomed to find masters at Cairo. We soon took leave of the caravan, and on entering again on an inhabited tract, met with a party of villagers, men and women, who were advancing in high glee, and singing; the men seemed preparing for a bout at quarterstaff. Achmed's heart was cheered at the sight, and, forgetting his griefs, he sprang in amongst them, and gave and warded off several blows with his long staff with great agility. We came after sunset to Monfalut, and rejoined the Cangia. Nothing particular occurred till we came to Radamouni, and having procured asses, rode to the ruins of the Temple of Hermopolis; the portico only is standing, but its columns of fine free-stone exceed in circumference any others in Egypt, being thirtythree feet round and sixty high; but those of Karnac are much loftier. Having spent a pleasant day, we passed over in a boat in the cool of the evening to the other shore of the Nile, to visit the ruins of Antinoé,

built by the Emperor Adrian; few of the columns are standing, they are of granite, and of very slender form, being about forty feet high, with Corinthian capitals. Proceeding on our voyage, we landed in order to visit the pyramids of Saccara some miles distant. The great pyramid, here, is more difficult of ascent than that of Gizéh. The only way of ascending it, is by climbing up masses and fragments of stone of various sizes, the outside of one corner of the pyramid having fallen from the top to the bottom. The view from the top, though of a rather different character, is quite as sublime and extensive as that beheld from the summit of Gizéh.

The inundation of the Nile had now subsided, and the flat lands of Egypt, before parched and dry, were covered with a wide and beautiful carpet of verdure; the heat was also sensibly diminished, and this season, the end of October, was probably one of the coolest in the year. Land travelling through Upper Egypt is almost impracticable, from the extreme heat of the weather, during the greater part of the year. The navigation of the Nile is the only advisable way, for on the river the air is always more fresh and cool, and the nights are uniformly delightful and pleasant. Returning from the pyramids of Saccara, over a path of soft sand, we were parched with thirst, and would have given any thing for a draught of water, when unexpectedly, as if dropped from the clouds, a Dervish approached us, bearing an immense water-melon, which we received as manna from Heaven. He was very tall and robust, with a handsome countenance, and one of the finest-made men ever beheld, a model that a sculptor would have delighted to copy; he had his lonely dwelling and little garden at some distance, and had purposely crossed our way with this melon, knowing he should be well paid for it.

On our return to Cairo, we took up our abode in the house of M. Asselin, a Frenchman, who had accompanied Chateaubriand to the country, and remained there ever since. He was a man of some science, would shut himself up the greatest part of the day in his room, and wore the European dress, with an immense long beard, which made his appearance, when he did come out, very singular. You meet occasionally, in the streets of Cairo, with some French Mamelukes; there are fifty of these men, who have changed their religion, in the service of the Pacha: they are great favourites, and have high pay, for during an insurrection of the Pacha's troops, for want of pay, about fourteen years ago, he was exposed to great danger, but these Frenchmen, placing themselves before him in a narrow street, fought with such desperate courage, that they made head against all his assailants and brought him off in safety.

The tomb of the unfortunate Burckhardt is in the Turkish buryingground, without the city. This incomparable traveller was a most amiable man, and by his long residence among the Arab tribes had acquired the appearance and manners of a Bedouin. The Arabs often speak of Sheik Ibrahim; he was to be met with in the desert mounted on a good Arab horse, meanly dressed, with his lance, and a bag of meal behind him for his food. None of the Europeans, at Cairo, ever knew in what part of the city he resided, though he would come occasionally to their houses, and drink wine and eat ham like an infidel, but he was fearful of being visited by his countrymen in return, lest the Turks should observe their intimacy. The Pacha was fond of his com