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agement, the business of ftory-telling makes in itself a profeffion, which, as it is acquired by study and profecuted with art, is followed with confiderable profit. One day a friend (a French gentleman) who escorted me through the town, called to draw me out with him for a walk; he said he wished to fhew me fome of the caravanferas, obferving that he thought I fhould be entertained with a view of them. I agreed to go; and he brought me to two, which, after he had fhewn to me and explained their principle, police, and etiquette, I could not help admiring and approving. To both thefe were attached eating-houses and coffee-houses, and every appendage that could render them convenient and comfortable. As we were about leaving the last, I observed my friend stop and liften attentively. "Come hither," said he, after a minute's paufe" come into this coffee-house, here is fomething going forward that may amuse you."

We accordingly entered the coffeehoufe, where we faw a number of people, fome feated in the Turkish fashion, fome on low ftools, and some standing; and in the middle a man walking to and fro, fpeaking in an audible voice, fometimes flowly, fometimes with rapidity, varying his tones occafionally with all the inflexions of a correfponding fenfe. I could not understand him, but he feemed to me to speak with "good emphafis and good difcretion;" his action was eafy to him, though expreffive and emphatical; and his countenance exhibited ftrong marks of eloquent expreffion. I could not help staring with aftonishment at a fcene fo new to me, and felt great approbation of the tones and manner of this extraordinary orator, though I could not understand a fingle word he faid. He was liftened to by all with great attention, and the Turks (albeit not used to the laughing mood) frequently betrayed ftrong fymptoms of rifibility: but in the height and torrent of his fpeech he broke fuddenly off, fcampered out of the door, and difappeared. I fet it down that he was a maniac or lunatic of an ingenious kind, and was for going away. "Stay,"

fays my friend," reft where you are for a few minutes, let us hear further."

The orator had fcarcely been gone three minutes, when the room was filled with the buzz of converfation, a word of which I could not understand, but which my guide listened to very attentively. At length the buzz began to grow loud, and foon increafed into clamour; when a scene enfued of so very ludicrous a kind as forced me to cram my handkerchief into my mouth to fupprefs a laugh, or at least so to stifle it as to avoid obfervation. In fhort, they were difputing violently; and the beards were, as I once before mentioned to you, all wagging. I became more convulfed with mirth; and my friend seeing that I was likely to give offence, took me under the arm and hurried me out of the coffeehoufe; we retired into a porch in the caravanfera, where I gave vent to my fuppreffed laughter till my fides were fore and my eyes ran tears.

"In the name of God, my friend !" faid I, "tell me what is the meaning of all that extravagant fcene to which we have just now been witness: who is that madman that spoke so much? and why did they all quarrel after he went away?"

"Come, come," faid he, " let us retire to my houfe, and I will there ex-. plain the whole of it to you, from beginning to ending."

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I accordingly accompanied him home, where we found a very gay circle affembled, to whom he defcribed my aftonishment; recounting my immoderate laughter, till they all laughed very nearly as immoderately as myself. must know," said he, addreffing himself to me, "that he whom you took to be a madman, is one of the most celebrated compofers and tellers of ftories in Afia, and only wants the aid of printing to be perhaps as eminent in reputation for making Contes, as Marmontel or Madame D'Anois. As we paffed along I heard his voice, and, knowing it, refolved to let you fee him, and brought you in for that purpofe. He was entertaining the company with a very curious, interefting, and comical ftory; the fub

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ject of which was avarice; the hero a mifer of the name of Caffem. His mifery and avarice are reprefented in it as bring ing him into a variety of fcrapes, which wafte his wealth; and his character is drawn with fuch strength of colouring, and marked with fuch grotcfque lines of humour-he related it moreover with fo much wit, in fuch admirable language, and embellished and enforced it with fuch appropriate action, utterance and emphafis that it riveted, as you faw, the attention of all his auditors, and extorted laughter even from Turkish gravity."" But how came he to break off fo fuddenly" faid I.

"That," returned my friend," is a part of the art of his profeffion, without which he could not live: juft as he gets to a moft interefting part of the ftory, when he has wound the imagination of his auditors up to the highest climax of expectation, he purpofely breaks off to make them eager for the reft. He is fure to have them all next day, with additional numbers who come on their report, and he makes his terms to finish the story."-" Why then," interrupted I, "why did they who remained behind fall difputing?"

"That I will explain to you" faid he. "Jaft as he broke off. Caffem, the mifer (who, as far as I heard, feems as well done as Moliere's Avare) hav ing already fuffered a thousand whimfical misfortunes and dilapidations of fortune, is brought before the cadi for digging in his garden, on the prefumption that he was digging for treafure. As foon as the hiftorian was gone, they firft applauded him, and then began to difcufs the ftory-which they one and all agreed in praifing highly; and when they came to talk of the probable iffue of the fequel of it, there were almost as many opinions as there were men in the company; cach mentioned his own, and they went to loggerheads, as you faw, about itwhen the chance is a thousand to one, that not one of them was near the mark. One in particular furmised that Caffem would be married to the cadi'sdaugh ter ; which gave great offence to fome, and roufed another of the company to

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declare, that he was well affured in his confcience that Caffem would be brought to the baftinado or the flake, or else hanged, in the fequel."

"And is it poffible," said I," that a group of twenty or thirty rational beings can be fo far bereft of all common fenfe, as to dispute upon the result of a contingency, which abfolutely depends on the arbitrary fancy of an acknowledged fabricator of falsehoods?"

“C'eft vrai, monfieur !" and thereby they demonftrate the power of the poet (for poet we may well call him); = and entre nous, I doubt whether it is not more rational, as well as more fair, to difpute what the denouement ought to be t before, than after the inventor of the piece has difpofed of it, as is the practice with us. When he has once finifhed his fable, you will find them all content, and the voice of criticism filent. Now in France or England, our critics lie perdue, in order to attack the poet, let him finish his performance how he may. But you will recollect, monfieur, that in Turky criticifm is the honeft fpontaneous iffue of the heart, and with us is a trade, where fometimes lucre, fometimes vanity, but oftener than both, envy and malice direct the decifion, and difpofe to cavil and cenfure." But we will go again to-morrow;" continued he, " probably he will be there to conclude or proceed further with his story;" I agreed to this, and we parted.

On the next day we went, and not feeing the orator in his place, lounged about the caravanfera, and going to another coffee houfe found him declaiming with all his might. My friend told me that the story he was now on was quite different from the former: however we watched his motions fo effectually that we got the conclufion of the ftory of Caffem, which completely difappointed the prognoftics of the two conflicting Turkish critics; for Caffem was neither baftinadoed, staked, nor hanged, nor married to the cadi's daughter, but lived to fee that extreme avarice was folly; and to be fenfible that to make the proper ufe of the goods of this life is to enjoy them.

THE DELUSIONS OF THE HEART.A TALE.

BY ANNA MARIA PORTER.

Celeftial Happinefs, whene'er she stoops.
To vifit earth, one fhrine the goddess finds,
And one alone to make her sweet amends
For abfent heaven-the bofom of a friend,
Where heart meets heart, reciprocally foft,
Each other's pillow to repose divine !

MIRANDA was born of parents, whofe fortune and rank in England obliged them to mix too much with the gay and diffipated. Her own mother died, when he was but, an infant :---her father, fhortly after, was married to a lady of beauty and distinction. Lady Handfon, her mother-in-law, had juft attained that time of life, when youth, blending with age, produces a certain majefty, that, perhaps, is as pleafing as the foftnefs of tenderer years ;-fhe was four and thirty, of a tali ftature, a graceful eafe in her shape that was ir refiftible. As her education had been principally in the grand monde, her no tions of female charms were alone confined to the body; and as nature had fo lavishly endowed her, fhe made no fcruple of fecuring as many hearts as fhe could allure; although her attractions were upon the wane, and her hand the property of a deferving hufband.

Miranda, her daughter in-law, was whatever the moft brilliant fancy could conceive. The general expreffion of her figure, and face, was feminine fweetnefs, angelic purity, and manly fenfe. The beauty of her form was in harmony with the lovelinefs of her mind; where a brilliant imagination gathered fresh animation from an extenfiye knowledge, and a fenfibility that foftened all her manners. To this fhe added a fublimity of foul, an unbounded candour and generofity, purified by the most ra

tional and ardent devotion.

Sach & being was Miranda Hundfon, at the age of eighteen. Solitude was her greateft defire, and fashionable life her mother's who, appearing to give up to her daughter's inclinations, pernitted her to abfent herself from the giddy circles whenever fhe pleafed. To VOL. LVIII.

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the eye of Lord Hundfon, (whose characteristic was eafy good nature,) it feemed indulgence in his wife, who, in reality, allowed it from no other motive, than the apprehenfion of his child's commencing her rival: and thinking it more to her advantage to bury fuch attractions in obfcurity-fhe rather encouraged, than repreffed her ardent love of the filent pleasures of nature. In fhort, this thoughtless woman had no more than a habitual regard for a daughter whofe worth made her to be adored by every one elfe. His Lordship loved her above all the world, his wife excepted. Would to heaven he had loved her even above her!-But giving up to the ftrong power of his lady, he was often obliged to quit his old manfion for the capital; and while he was running the glittering maze of licentious revelry with his partner, the mild Miranda was penfively ftraying amid the romantic and fublime beauties of Hundfon Caftle.

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As her ideas were rich and exalted, fhe delighted in that fort of reading which was congenial with the purity of her own mind. The moft celebrated poems and romances were ever in her hand; amongst the latter, Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia held a distinguished place. Secluded as she was from the world, she formed an imaginary one of her own, itill more refined than that in her favourite authors. She confidered, that, as every thing is in a state of improvement, it muft alfo advance in excellence; little dreaming, that this earth, contrary to all other things, degenerates every day from that unfullied innocence of heart and manners, which prevailed in the early years of our first fathers. In the creation of her brain, vice was a mon- ́ fter feldom beheld, against which the

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whole community of the good were armed to destroy. Such was the state of her ideas, when her parents arrived from the capital to spend the fummer at the castle.

Lady Hundfon brought a numerous retinue of fluttering coxcombs, and infolent fellows, who were in fashion, to adorn her triumph in the country; among which, were thinly ftrewn, a few men of fenfe and difcernment, who had been invited from politeness by her, and from a fincere esteem by her lord. In this number was a younger fon of an ancient, though not now affluent family:-he was no lefs diftinguifhed for the elegance of his manners and figure, than for the knowledge with which his mind was ftored.-Effex Plantagenet was three and twenty, joining to a graceful figure an Agamemnon's dignity:-his features. were perfectly beautiful, animated by the fire of youth, and the benignity of enthufiaftic philanthropy :-his eyes were dark and radiant, full of ardent expreffion, tempered with fweet complacency; his manners were replete with urbanity and gentleness; his converfation was refined, poetical, and elegant. The charms of his perfon and of his behaviour had funk deep into the heart of Lady Hundfon; unconfciously he held the first place there. Being in love with him, another confideration ftimulated her to the defign of making a conqueft of him; fhe fuppofed, that the adding fuch a lover to her train, who joined the informed to the polished man, would, befides gratifying her own withes, render her the envy of the women and the pursuit of the men. Plantagenet was fo far from being captivated by her charms, that he abfented himself from her company whenever he could, with good breeding; and then, with a book in his hand, would ftroll through the walks of a gloomy forest, which enveloped the caftle.

In thefe walks he often met with Miranda, whom he joined, and pursuing with her his walk, would enter into difcourfe, which, by degrees, unfolded the beauty of his fair companion's mind.

Difcovering her difpofition, he with rapture expreffed congenial fentiments:

he joined with her in the opinion, that the tenderest friendship could fubfift betwixt perfons of different fexes, without one particle of love mingling with it :-he owned to Miranda, that his heart fprang towards her with a powerful fympathy. The beautiful innocent, whofe breast was the treasury of every warm and generous virtue; candidly told him, it had been long her wish to poffefs a fincere friend; and as in him she found every requifite qualification, fhe fhould make no fcruple of repofing any of her difquietudes in his bofom. After that moment, they were feldom feparate. The charms of Hundfon castle were a never-failing source of admiration to both.

The antique remains of a ruined abbey, that formed a principal object in their views, was the place allotted for their meeting every cool evening; where, from the twilight, until the moon filvered the heavens, Plantagenet, with the arm of Miranda locked in his, would wander amid the fragments of the mouldering monuments, which had once decorated the fpot where lay the corpfes of beauty or of courage.

Lady Hundfon was, for fome time, a ftranger to thefe nocturnal pleafures; and had for ever remained fo, but for the artless candour of her daughter, who, conceiving that no breaft was infenfible to the charms which enraptured hers, entreated her mother to become one of the party with her and Effex. Her ladyship was inflamed with rage, and ftung at the idea of her not being powerful enough to gain a youth, whom the imagined Miranda had fubdued, from that moment delivered up her heart to all the horrors of jealoufy and revenge. Miranda, far from discovering the fentiments of her mother, regretted, with unfeigned forrow, that the fhould lofe the most refined bliss, for the fake of her vifitants (the reafon which Lady Hundfon had given for not affenting to her wifh), but hoped, when they quitted the caftle, her mother, then at li

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She had fcarcely finished, when the tread of Plantagenet founded in her ears The raised up her beautiful blue eyes, which were swimming in tears of fenfibility. Effex, alarmed, approached her

"Are you weeping my dear Miranda? repofe in the faithful breaft of your Plantagenet, every painful fenfation! What will give you relief, will be a pleafure, though a melancholy one to me." "Do not alarm yourself, my dear friend! (replied Miranda) I have no forrow to draw these tears; my fancy alone has done it: thefe reflections are the fountain from whence they flow," added the, prefenting the paper to him. When he had perufed it, he fat down befide her, and taking her hand, he held it fast in his for fome moments."Are these your reflections, Miranda?" faid he, raifing up his large dark eyes, beaming with animation, and heaving a figh, that appeared half repreffed. "Do you in reality believe, that the heart of a female would break over the grave of her lover?"" Yes, I do be

lieve it indeed," returned the beautiful creature with earneftnefs.- -"And do you think, (afked Effex in a hefitating. voice) that a heart could break over the tomb of a friend? I feel that mine would burst on yours-and if friendship is not capable of fuch ftrong emotions, what is it then?"-He started as he pronounced this, and, fpringing up, quitted her hand, and fhot through the cloifter. What is it then? still rung in the ears of the agitated Miranda. A thousand times the asked herself the question; and as often checked the rifing ideas which drowned her disturbed fenfes." It is friendship furely!" (at laft the replied,) " I feel that friendfhip is capable of fuch exquifite emotion; for my heart at this inftant is fufceptible of every agony which appears to wring that of my beloved Plantagenet." -Satisfied with this, fhe purfued her walk, in hopes of meeting him; but in vain; at last she discovered his figure, beneath the shelter of a projecting cliff, that fwelled from the fide of the mountain. "Effex," cried fhe, in the higheft note of her melodious voice. ftarted at the found, and rifing, fled among the thick trees of the forest.-"Cruel friend!" exclaimed she, in the bittereft difappointment ;-" If love is to banish friendly kindness from the human heart, why did I ever liften to his divine raptures, which breathed more than mortal animation? Platonic regard is now no where but in the breast of the rejected Miranda." Venting her feelings in a thousand exclamations, mingled with tears, and the heaviest fighs, she at laft reached the caftle; and retiring to her chamber, fpent the night in fleeplefs anxiety, or in feverish flumber.

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The fun rofe in all its radiance; but to the tear-wet eyes of Miranda, all his glories were hateful; her foul thirsted for the dewy evening, and the light of the moon, when the converfe of Platagenet, fhe hoped, would return to its former calm regard. Thefe ideas fhe was not fuffered long to indulge. When fhe was bufy in robing herself for the day, one of her fervants brought her a C 2

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