AND LOWER EGYPT. 5 



loaded themselves with the spoils of those who had 

 the temerity to venture in. On the other hand, 

 men, who have often made me regret the insince- 

 rity of most of the eastern nations, the depredations 

 of the Arabs ; men among whom a female has been 

 seen to figure, the reproach of her sex and the dis- 

 grace of human nature ; men, beings maleficent 

 and dangerous, of whom society furnishes but too 

 many examples, and whom, for the sake of public 

 prosperity, it would be of importance to unmask ; 



the M s, the U s, the Lef. s, and other 



subaltern knaves, taking advantage of my inex- 

 perience in business, of my carelessness about pecu- 

 niary interests, of the frankness, the confidence, the 

 simplicity of a character generous, but credulous to 

 a fault, involved me in a thousand embarrassments, 

 overwhelmed me with tricks, and quirks, and wran- 

 glings ; and shameless plunderers contrived to di- 

 vide among themselves the tattered remnants of 

 my fortune, after tearing it in pieces, and torment- 

 ing, persecuting me day after day, till I was ready 

 to sink under vexation and disappointment *. 



* " We find but too frequently that when an honest man 

 u happens to be involved in a dispute with a rascal, the rascal 

 " meets with powerful protectors, because the honest man sa- 

 " tisfies himself with being honest, whereas the rascal is sup- 

 " pie, flattering, insinuating; the meanest concessions cost him 

 " nothing ; he does whatever is required of him : the honest 

 *' man does that only which he ought to do." (Historical Essays 

 on Paris, by Sainte-Foix, vol. vij 



b 3 Amidst 



