ould not think any of them worthy to be your
house-maids. 'Tis true, that many thousands were taken in the Morea;
but they have been, most of them, redeemed by the charitable
contributions of the Christians, or ransomed by their own relations
at Venice. The fine slaves that wait upon the great ladies, or serve
the pleasures of the great men, are all bought at the age of eight or
nine years old, and educated with great care, to accomplish them in
singing, dancing, embroidery, &c. They are commonly Circassians, and
their patron never sells them, except it is as a punishment for some
very great fault. If ever they grow weary of them, they either
present them to a friend, or give them their freedom. Those that are
exposed to sale at the markets, are always either guilty of some
crime, or so entirely worthless, that they are of no use at all. I
am afraid you will doubt the truth of this account, which, I own, is
very different from our common notions in England; but it is no less
truth for all that.--Your whole letter is full of mistakes, from one
end to the other. I see you have taken your ideas of Turkey, from
that worthy author Dumont, who has wrote with equal ignorance and
confidence. 'Tis a particular pleasure to me here, to read the
voyages to the Levant, which are generally so far removed from truth,
and so full of absurdities, I am very well diverted with them. They
never fail giving you an account of the women, whom, 'tis certain,
they never saw, and talking very wisely of the genius of the men,
into whose company they are never admitted; and very often describe
mosques, which they dare not even peep into. The Turks are very
proud, and will not converse with a stranger they are not assured is
considerable in his own country. I speak of the men of distinction;
for, as to the ordinary fellows, you may imagine what ideas their
conversation can give of the general genius of the people.

AS to the balm of Mecca, I will certainly send you some; but it is
not so easily got as you suppose it, and I cannot, in conscience,
advise you to make use of it. I know not how it comes to have such
universal applause. All the ladies of my acquaintance at London and
Vienna, have begged me to send pots of it to them. I have had a
present of a small quantity (which, I'll assure you, is very
valuable) of the best sort, and with great joy applied it to my face,
expecting some wonderful effect to my advantage. The next morning