voyages to the Levant filled with untruths--balm of
Mecca, its extraordinary effects on the ladies faces--
Turkish ladies great dealers in magic charms, to
command love.
LET. XXXVIII._From Pera of Constantinople_.--Barrenness disgraceful
among the Turkish ladies--often destroy themselves by
quackery on this account--naturally prolific--the
Turkish houses why liable to fire--mildness of the
winter at Constantinople--Turkish punishment for
convicted liars.
LET. XXXIX. _Pera of Constantinople_.--Lady M. brought to bed--
visits the sultana Hafiten--anecdotes of that lady--her
dress--entertainment--story of the sultan's throwing a
handkerchief contradicted--amusements of the seraglio--
the sultana Hafiten's gardens, bed chamber, and
slaves--the Arabian tales, a true representation of
Eastern manners--magnificence of the Turkish harams--
visit to the fair Fatima--the characters of the sultana
Hafiten and Fatima compared--story of Fatima--
magnificence of her habitation.
LET. XL. _Pera_.--Turkish love-letter, with a translation--the
confusion of tongues spoke at Pera--Lady M. in danger
of losing her English.
LET. XLI. --Suburbs of Constantinople--Turkish water-man--
Constantinople, why not easy to be seen by Europeans--
pleasure of rowing down the Bosphorus--view of
Constantinople from the water--the seraglio--Sancta
Sophia--the mosque Of sultan Solyman--of sultana
Valida--the atlerdan--the brazen serpentine column--the
exchange--the bisisten--humanity of the Turks towards
their slaves--the historical pillar fallen down--the
dervises--their devotion and dancing.
LET. XLII. --Mr Hill's account of the sweating pillar, and of the
Turkish ladies, contradicted--manner of living of the
Turkish wives--ceremony of receiving a Turkish bride at
the bagnio--no public cognizance taken of murder--
generally compounded for by money--story of a Christian
lady taken prisoner by a Turkish admiral, who chose to
continue with and marry her ravisher--the Turks great
venerators of truth--the Eastrn manner of adopting
children--account of the Armenians--their strict
observance of fasts--summary view of their religion--
ceremonies at an Armenian marriage.
LET. XLIII. _From Constantinople_.--Observations on the accounts
given by Sir Paul Rycaut and Gemelli--the canal between
Constantinople and Calcedon--the precarious nature of
human grandeur in Turky (sic)--description of the house
of the grand vizier who was killed at Peterwaradin--
moral reflections on the difference between the taste
of the Europeans and the Easterns.
LET. XLIV. _From Tunis_.--Vovage from Constantinople--the
Hellespont, and castles of Sestos and Abydos--
reflections on the story of Hero and Leander--the
burial-places of Hecuba and Achilles--antiquities--
habits of the Greek peasants--conjectures as to the
ruins of a large city--remarks on the face of the
country illustrated by reference to passages from
Homer--Troy, no remains of it existing--ruins of old
Constantinople--Latin inscriptions, and remains of
antiquity--isle of Tenedos--Mytilene--Lesbos--Scio, and
its inhabitants--promontory of Lunium the present Cape
Colonna--temple of Theseus, how destroyed present
condition of the Morea, the ancient Peloponnesus--
Candia--reflections on the contrast between ancient and
modern Greece--Trinacria--Malta--arrival at Tunis--face
of the country--manner of celebrating the Mahometan
ramadan or Lent--the natives--ruins of the aqueduct of
Carthage--description and chronological anecdotes of
the city of Tunis--ruins of Carthage.
LET. XLV. _From Genoa_.--Description of Genoa and its inhabitants
--Cizisbeis, the nature of their employment, and
occasion of their institution--the government--palaces
--paintings--remark on their fondness for the
representation of crucifixes--church of St Lawrence,
and the famous emerald plate--their churches not to be
compared with the Sancta Sophia at Constantinople.
LET. XLVI. _From Turin_.--Character of Turin, its palaces and
churches--Lady M. waits on the queen--persons of the
king and prince of Piedmont described.
LET. XLVII. _From Lyons_.--Journey from Turin to Lyons--passage over
mount Cenis--the frontier towns between Savoy and
France.
LET. XLVIII. _From Lyons_.--Reflections on the insipidity of female
visits--the inscriptions on brass tables on each side
of the town-house at Lyons--remains of antiquity--
cathedral of St John--critique on the statue of Louis
XIV.
LET. XLIX. _From Paris_.--Miserable condition of the French
peasants--palace of Fontainbleau--fair of St
Lawrence--opera house--general character of the French
actors--comparison between the French and English
ladies.
LET. L. _Paris_.--General remarks on the palace of Versailles--
Trianon--Marli--St Cloud--paintings at the house of the
Duke d'Antin--the Thuilleries--the Louvre--behaviour of
Mr Law at Paris--Paris compared with London.
LET. LI. _From Dover_.--Ludicrous distresses in the passage to
Dover--reflections on travelling--brief comparison
between England and the rest of the world in general.
LET. LII. _Dover_.--Reflections on the fates of John Hughes and
Sarah Drew--epitaph on them.
LET. LIII. --Character of Mrs D ---- and humorous representation
of her intended marriage with a greasy curate--
anecdotes of another couple--remarks on the abuse of
the word _nature_; applied to the case of a husband who
insisted on his wife suckling her own child--
observations on the forbidding countenance of a worthy
gentleman.
LET. LIV. _From Vienna_.--Remarks on some illustrious personages
at the court of Vienna--character of the poet Rousseau
--alchymy much studied at Vienna--prince Eugene's
library.
LET. LV. --Victory of prince Eugene over the Turks, and the
surrender of Belgrade--the news how received at
Constantinople--contrast between European and Asiatic
manners--estimate of the pleasures of the seraglio--
observations on Mr Addison being appointed secretary of
state--Mr Addison, Mr Pope, and Mr Congreve, in what
respects three happy poets--reflections on the Iliad,
and Mr Pope's translation of it.
LET. LVI. _From Florence_.--Remarks on the road between Bologna
and Florence--visit to the monastery of La Trappe, with
reflections on the monastic life--occasion of the
institution of the order of La Trappe--the burning
mountains near Fierenzuola--general description of
Florence--the grand gallery--the statues of Antinous
and Venus de Medicis--the first sketches of Raphael's
cartoons--envious behaviour of modern painters, in
defacing the productions of the ancients--digressions
to some reports raised by Mr P. concerning the writer.
LET. LVII. --Remarks on Paris--reflections on staring and
grinning--character of the French people--criticism on
statues in the gardens of Versailles--the gardens
compared with the royal gardens of England.
LET. LVIII. --Observations on the koran, and the conduct of the
Greek priests with regard to it--women not excluded
from Mahomet's paradise--who among the women excluded--
the exhortations of Mahomet to the women, compared with
the monastic institution of popery--the sciences
cultivated among the Turks by the effendis--sentiments
of an intelligent one respecting abstinence from wine--
strange mixture of different countries in the suburbs
of Constantinople--different species of men asserted--
mongrels in the human species--why the English women so
fond of hoop-petticoats.
Inquiry into the truth of Monsieur Rochefoucault's maxim, "That
marriage is sometimes convenient, but never delightful."
Verses written in the Chiask at Pera, overlooking Constantinople,
December 26th, 1718. By Lady Mary Wortley Montague.
Verses to Lady Mary Wortley Montague. By Mr Pope.
F I N I S.