LETTER XXVI.
At the time I set out upon my journey over land to India, I was (though married, and the father of children) very young, naturally of a sanguine constitution: my attachment to the fair sex was no ways diminished by a military education; and a warmth of temper, an ardent sensibility of mind, and a frank unsuspicious disposition, left me but too often to regret the facility with which I yielded to the charms of women. But the regret for each error was willfully smothered in vain determinations of amendment——and the promised amendment again broken in upon by some new error. Thus it was, till riper years and circumstances of weight strengthened my reason, and gave it in some greater degree that dominion it should have over my actions.
Circumstanced as I have in my last Letter described myself to be, and constituted by nature and education as I have mentioned above, I landed in the charming island of Zante, where Nature herself seems to have conspired against chastity——making the very air breathe nothing but transport and delight. There I met a young lady, a native of England——extremely pretty, highly accomplished, and captivating in the extreme: she had been at Venice for her education——was a complete mistress of music, and expressed an intention of following it professionally on her arrival in England, whither she was going passenger in a vessel bound there from Zante. To have accidentally met with a native of England, even of my own sex, in such a distant corner of the world, under such circumstances as mine, just escaped from the horrid life I had for some time led, must have filled me with joy: allowance, therefore, may be made for my feelings on meeting this young lady, and for my thinking of some expedient to prevent our separation. She laboured, perhaps, under the pressure of feelings as disagreeable as my own, and expressed her satisfaction at meeting with a countryman so very unexpectedly. Reserve was soon thrown off on both sides: we entered into a conversation interesting and confidential, which increased my anxiety to keep her with me, and in order to persuade her to accompany me, I pointed out in the strongest colours possible, the great advantages she might derive from her accomplishments in India, where her musical talents alone, exclusive of her various captivating qualities, would be an inexhaustible[inexhaustible] mine of wealth. In short, I so very eagerly enforced my proposal to accompany me, and time was so very short, that she consented, and in two hours we had arranged every thing for our departure together——and here with shame and sorrow I confess (nor shall ever cease to regret[regret] it), that this ecclairecissement communicated the first ray of substantial pleasure to my heart that it felt since I left London.
Thus far, our project sailed before the wind: wayward imagination had decked it out in the most alluring drapery that fancy could fabricate, and prevented us from seeing the impracticability of it, as it stood in the nakedness of truth; and when it came to be carried into execution, a thousand difficulties occurred, that the wildness of passion, and the warmth of our feelings, had before concealed from our view. In the first place, it was necessary for her to obtain the consent of a lady to whose care and protection she was committed: in the next place, accommodations were to be procured for her in the same ship with me——a circumstance of most arduous difficulty; besides which, a variety of other impediments——insuperable indeed——concurred to frustrate our views, and put an end to our project. If my pleasure at meeting her was great, my anguish at parting with her was inexpressible. I had once more to face the world alone; and, on the second day of my sojourning at Zante, embarked with a heavy heart, and set sail for Alexandria. The last disappointments we undergo, seem always the heaviest; and this at Zante I thought at that time to be the greatest of my life. But——oh! short-sighted Man! bubble of every delusive shadow! I never reflected, as I have since done, what serious mischiefs, what endless misery, what loss of time, means and reputation, I may by that providential disappointment have escaped——for these are the almost never-failing consequences of such affairs. It too often happens, that the syren who deludes a man into her snares, is the very person who inflicts the deadly wound into his heart. Avoid, my dear Frederick! avoid all such, as you would avoid plague, pestilence, or ruin——steel your heart by timely reflection against their advances. In all your transactions with women, like a good General in warfare, secure for your heart a retreat; for it will be too late to find that they are unworthy when your heart is ensnared——and when you find them worthy of your affection, it will be time enough to give a loose to the sensibility of your heart. A virtuous woman is beyond all calculation to be valued, when she is found; but, alas! in finding her, you may pass through so many fires ordeal, and run such danger, that it is almost a doubt, whether a wise man (if he can fetter his passions) had not better dispense with the blessing, than run the hazard of searching for it.
On my arrival at Alexandria, I found, to my fresh mortification, that the plague was raging all over Egypt——and as, if this was not of itself sufficient to block up my intended route, an irruption of the Arabs, who in formidable bodies infested all the roads, put a period to all my hopes of seeing Grand Cairo, and viewing the curiosities of that Country, which all who, like us, have the Bible put early into their hands, are taught to venerate as soon as they are taught to read. Here I thought to have viewed the pyramids, whose antiquity, origin, or intended use, have baffled the learned and ingenious inquiries of so many ages——of beholding mount Sinai, the stone of Moses, the track of the Israelites, all of which are said to be clearly pointed out, and Geography by that means brought into the support of Sacred History. These, and many things, I did wish to see——they are worth it: but I have had since reason to believe, that my ill luck was not so great as I then thought it; for the search is dangerous, and made prodigiously expensive by the exactions of the Mahomedan Magistrates. It is as well, therefore, to travel over this Country in books, which afford us good information, and more of it, at an easier rate than you could purchase it in the Country.
Alexandria was built by Alexander the Great, soon after the overthrow of Tyre, about 333 years before Christ, and is situated on the Mediterranean, twelve miles West of that mouth of the Nile, anciently called Canopicum. A very extraordinary circumstance is related, as a proof of the suddenness of Alexander’s resolution to build it: After he had directed the number of public structures, and fixed the places where they were to stand, there were no instruments at hand proper for marking out the walls, according to the custom of those times: upon this, a workman advised the King to collect what meal was among the soldiers, and sift it in lines upon the ground, in order to mark out the circuit of the walls: the advice was followed, and the King’s soothsayer interpreted it to be a presage of the future prosperity and abundance of the city. This prophecy was certainly afterwards verified; for it soon became the emporium[emporium] of Commerce, of Arts and of Sciences.
By the description of Strabo and other Ancients, it appears that this city was built upon a plan well worthy the vast mind of its founder; and the fragments of its ornaments afterwards composed a part of the grandest embellishments of Rome and Constantinople. In the Museum of the Royal Palace, which occupied a fourth part of the city, the body of Alexander was deposited in a golden coffin——but the detestable Seleucus Cibyofactes violated the monument, took away the golden coffin, and substituted a glass one in its place.
This city, like most others of antiquity, has been the scene of terrible massacres. About two hundred years after its foundation, it was totally depopulated by Ptolemy Physcon——the very few who escaped slaughter, flying into other Countries. Desirous, however, not to reign over empty houses, he seduced inhabitants from the neighbouring Countries; and again, for some slight offence, determined on a general massacre of the young men; and accordingly, when they were one day assembled in the Gymnasium, or place of public exercise, he ordered it to be set on fire, so that all perished, either in the flames, or by the swords of his mercenaries, whom he had placed at all the avenues. Afterwards, in the year of Christ 215, the Emperor Caracalla, having been lampooned by some of the inhabitants, ordered a general massacre by his numerous troops, who were dispersed over the city. The inhuman orders being given, all were murdered, without distinction of age or sex; so that, in one night’s time, the whole city floated in blood, and every house was filled with carcases: the monster himself, retiring to the Temple of Serapis, was all the time imploring the protection of the Deity——a proof that practical devotion and the most attrocious inhumanity may meet in the same bosom. As if this had not been sufficient vengeance, he stripped the city of all its ancient privileges——ordered all strangers who lived there to depart——and, that the few who remained might not have the satisfaction of seeing one another, he cut off all communication of one street with another, by walls built for the purpose, and guarded with troops.
Notwithstanding these massacres, Alexandria again recovered its former splendour——and was again sacked by Amrou, the infamous Saracen——and all the intrepid youth of the city perished with arms in their hands. The magnificence of the city may be estimated from the account written by Amrou to the Caliph: “I have taken,” said he, “the City of the West; it is of an immense extent; I cannot describe to you how many wonders it contains: there are 4000 palaces, 4000 baths,” &c. &c.