490 
MORAL AND POLITICA];. STATE. 
ence of despotic sway, and by the minute seve- 
rity of Mahometan institutions. All Mussulman 
towns exhibit, in fact, an extreme similarity. 
They all present the same exterior of gravity, 
stillness, and decorum ; the same absence of all 
assemblages for purposes of gaiety or social inter- 
course ; and the gloom which necessarily arises 
from the entire exclusion of female society. Ha- 
bitual indolence is here interrupted only by the 
mechanical round of religious ceremonies. A 
total want of all knowledge and curiosity respect- 
ing the arts and sciences, characterizes the whole 
of this once enlightened region. The outward 
aspect of the streets is as gloomy as that of the 
persons by whom they are tenanted. They are 
narrow and dusty ; the walls of earth, and with- 
out windows 'y gloom and nakedness without ; a 
barbarous splendour within. In general, the 
Moors, when compared with the Turks, appear 
an inferior race. They have the same rudeness 
and austerity ; while piratical habits, and an un- 
settled government, render them more mean, tur- 
bulent, and treacherous. 
Another class of inhabitants, which has never 
entered into any species of combination with the 
general mass, consists of the Jews. These exist 
in great numbers through all the cities of Bar- 
bary, where they preserve entire their national 
peculiarities. They are viewed, consequently, as 
