Chap. I. from Aleppo to 
tice, Veracity and other moral Virtues, upon Account 
of which, I have fometimes heard them mentioned 
with very extravagant Commendations, as though 
“ they far exceeded Chriftian Nations. But I muft pro- 
“ fefs niyfelf of another Opinion : For the Chriftian 
“ Refigion, how much foever we live below the true Spirit 
“ and Excellency of it, muft ftill be allowed to difcover fo 
much Power upon the Minds of its Profeflbrs, as to 
“ raife them far above the Level of a Turkijh Virtue! 
“ It is a Maxim that I have often heard from our Mer- 
“ chants, that a Turk will always cheat when he can 
“ find an Opportunity *, Friendfhip, Generofity true 
“ Wit fin the Englijh Motion) and delightful Converfe, 
and all the Qualities of a refined and ingenuous Spi- 
“ rit, are perfect Strangers to their Minds, though in 
Traffick and worldly Negociations they are acute 
“ enough, and are able to carry the Accounts of a large 
“ Commerce in their Pleads, without the PPelp of 
“ Books, by natural Arithmetick, improved by Cuf- 
“ tom and Neceffity, Their Religion is framed to keep 
‘‘ up great outv/ard Gravity and Solemnity, without 
“ begetting the lead good Tin«fture of Wifdom or 
“ Virtue in the Mind. You ftaall have them at their 
“ Hours of Prayer (which are four aDay alwaysj ad- 
“ dreffing themielves to their Devotions with the moft 
“ folemn and critical Waftiings, alv/ays in the moft 
“ publick Places, where People are palling, with moft 
“ lowly and moft regular Proftrations, and a hollow 
“ Tone, which are, amongft them, the great Excellen- 
“ cies of Prayer. I have feen them, in affefled Charity, 
“ give Money to Bird-catchers (who make a Trade of 
“ it) to reftore the poor Captives to their natural Li- 
berty, and at the fame Time hold their own Slaves 
“ in the heavieft Bondage. And at other Times they 
“ will buy Flelh to relieve indigent Dogs and Cats, and 
“ yet curie you with Famine and Peftilence, and all the 
“ moft hideous Execrations ; in which Way thefe Eaft- 
“ ern Nations have certainly the moft exquilite Rhe- 
“ torick of any People upon Earth. They know hardly 
“ any Pleafure but that of the fixth Senfe. And yet with 
“ all this, they are incredibly conceited of their own Reli- 
gion, and contemptuous of that of others, which I take 
“ to be the great Artifice of the Devil, in order to keep 
“ them his own. They are a perfedt vifible Comment 
“ upon our Bleffed Lord’s Defcription of the JewiJh 
“ Pharifees. In a Word, Luft, Arrogance, Covetouf- 
“ nefs, and the moft exquifite Hypocrify, compleat their 
“ Charadfer. The only Thing that ever I could ob- 
“ ferve to commend in them is, the outward Decency 
«' of their Carriage, the profound Refpcdl they pay to 
“ Religion, and to every Thing relating to it ; and 
“ their great Temperance and Frugality. The Dear- 
nefs of any Thing is no Motive in Turkey, though it 
“ be in England, to bring it into Fafliion. As for our 
“ living amongft them, it is with all poftible Quiet and 
“ Safety, and that is all we defire, their Converfation 
“ being not in the leaft entertaining. Our Delights are 
“ among ourfelves, and here being more than forty of 
us, we never want a moft friendly and pleafant Con- 
verfation. Our Way of Life refembles in fome Mea- 
“ fure the Academical. We live in feparate Squares 
“ Ihut up every Night, after the Manner of Colleges. 
“ We begin the Day conftantly as you do, with Pray- 
“ ers, and have our let Times for Bufinefs, Meals, and 
“ Recreations. In the Winter we hunt in the moft 
“ delightful Campaign twice a Week ; and in the Sum- 
“ mer go as often to divert ourfelves under our Tents, 
“ with Bowling, and other Exercifes *, fo that you fee 
“ we want not Divertifements, and thefe all innocent 
“ and manly. In fttort, it is my real Opinion, that 
“ there is not a Society out of England, that, for all 
“ good and defirable Qualities, may be compared to 
‘‘ this.” 
Thus we fee, that very fenfible Men differ very much 
in Reference to this Subject, and that as fome enter- 
tain very high, fo others again have very low and mean 
Opinions of Turks. This Difparity muft arife from that 
Inequality in Point of Underftanding and Morals, which 
is natural to them and to all Nations , and therefore 
we are to make proper Allowances in reference to all 
Jerusalem. 859 
fuch general Charafters. One Thing deferves to be 
particularly remarked, which is this, that amongft the 
Turks it is not ufual for the better Sort of People, by 
which I mean thofe beft bred and educated amongft 
them, to betake themfelves to. Trade *, but, on the con- 
trary, they commonly apply either to the Sword or to 
the Robe ; that is to fay, they endeavour to rife in the 
Army, which is the fpeedieft Way •, of in the LaW, 
which is the fafeft i this may very w^ell account for 
the Want of that Integrity and ftrift Honour, com- 
plained of amongft the Turks'-, and I apprehend, that 
it has appear’d amongft the Englijh in a very high 
Point of I.ight when our Author refided at Aleppo^ 
where he lived and converfed with Gentlemen, who, in 
Point of Birth and Fortune, were fuperior to Tempta- 
tions, and who were above leffening their Charaelers to 
increafe their Riches. I had the Flonour to know more 
than one of thefe Gentlemen myfelf, and have fpent 
fome of the happieft Moments of my Life in their 
Company : They were Ferfons, who, from their long 
Experience, had juft and excellent Notions of Trade; 
and never dilcourled of it without obfervingi that the 
true Bafis of Credit was an irreproachable Behaviour : 
They thought^ that in Foreign Countries, and more 
particularly in the Levant, Fadtors were not only trufted 
with the Effedts of their Correfpondents, but alfo, in 
fome Meafure, with the Honour of their Nation, and 
that to injure the latter was as much a Crime, as to be 
falfe to the former. I hope and I believe, that the 
fame Meafures are ftill purfued with the fame Pundlua- 
lity, and as much to the Profit and Honour as ever of 
the BritiJIj Nation •, but whoever reflects on the wide 
Difference between Turkifh Traders and Britijh Mer- 
chants, will not at all wonder that the former were 
fo low in the Efteem of the latter. But for all 
this, we may lay it down as a Thing certain enough, 
that amongft the better Sort of Turks there are 
Men of great Probity and Honour, and who are very 
far from feeking to make an Advantage of the Ignoi- 
rance or Credulity of Strangers. When I fay this, I 
do not mean their great Minifters and Bafthaws, who 
have rofe either by Accident, or by the Caprice of their 
Matters ; fuch Men in Turkey, and in all other Nations, 
are frequently unworthy of the Pofts they hold, and ex- 
ercife them with a Venality fuitable to their vicious Dif- 
pofitions. Ambition, Pride, and a Spirit of Volup- 
tuoufnefs, are PalTions that infpire Men with as mean 
Thoughts as Avarice can do, though certainly that is 
the meaneft of all Vices, and moft unworthy of the 
Mind of Man. We muft likewife make fome Al- 
lowances for the Nature of their Government, which 
has already been fully defcribed ; for in a Country where 
Money will do every Thing, it is natural for every Man 
to be defirous of getting Money. 
It may nor be amifs to confider how great and dan- 
gerous an Evil this is, and how far it is capable of fub- 
verting the Conftitution of every Country where it pre- 
vails. We know that in former Times this Humour 
did not prevail among the Turks ; and that on the con- 
trary, they were proud of their Poverty, or rather, be- 
ing content with the NecelTaries of Life, they defpifed 
thofe who could not live without enjoying Superfluities ; 
in thofe Days the Turks were a great and a victorious 
People. The fame Thing may be faid of other Na- 
tions with the fame Truth, but we will confine ourfelves 
at prefent to the Eaft. The Saracens or Arabs, in the 
Days of Mahomet and his immediate SuccefTors, w'ere a 
Race of hardy People, and their Princes valued them- 
felves upon their Power, without dreaming of Magni- 
ficence. As that Spirit declined, and as their Caliphs 
began to affeCl ftately Palaces, numerous Guards, and 
all the exterior Enfigns of unlimited Authority, they 
loft thofe Qualities which rendred them truly venerable. 
This created Diflentions and civil Wars, frequent Infur- 
reCtions, and a Series of Revolutions, which by Degrees 
broke the Power of particular Princes, and in Procefs 
of Time that of the whole Nation ♦, fo that now there 
is not the leaft Footfteps of that Authority, which once 
appear’d fo terrible to all its Neighbours, The Mahome- 
Empires of the prefent Age, fuch as thofe eftabliftied 
