Went to a Greek printing-house conducted by an Armenian. They were printing a small exhortation in the Greek language, written by Anthimus, Patriarch of Jerusalem, against the prevailing tenets of Deism and Atheism. They throw off about a thousand sheets a day. The navy has of late been greatly improved by Le Brun and other French ship-builders. On the 2d of April 1798 there were eight ships of war at anchor in the Bosphorus; three seventy-fours, four fifties, one forty. The whole navy amounts to fifteen ships, fit for service, and of considerable force. The Turkish women, in fine weather, ape the European custom of taking the air in their carriages, in a great square; but they are concealed in small latticed waggons, and veiled. They thus lose the best part of the display, “the mighty pleasure of being seen.” I shall close my remarks on Constantinople with observing, that the country between it and Adrianople is completely plain, and that the capital is, on the land side, incapable of any defence against a victorious army. The uncertainty of the winds and channels join with the forts to defend the other side from any sudden assault. Proceeding through Wallachia to Vienna, Prague, Dresden, Leipsic, Potsdam, Berlin, and Hamburg, I arrived in London on the 16th of September, 1798, after an absence of nearly seven years. CHAP. XXIX. _Comparative view of life and happiness in the East and in Europe._ —_Et qui plus est, il me semble que je n’ay rencontré guere de manieres, qui ne vaillent les nostres._ MONTAIGNE. The great contrast which is observable between the manners and personal character of the Orientals and Europeans, insensibly leads to a comparison of its result in society. The character of every nation merits the attention of the philosopher; and the less that nation resembles ourselves, the more its distinguishing features require our investigation. While vanity instigates us to claim an undisputed superiority, experience often compels us to doubt the validity of the sentence on which we insist. We are fearful of being reduced to acknowlege, that the labour, the thought, the agitation which have place among us, often augment not the happiness of the individual, and are of doubtful utility to the collective body. It is not however designed to insist on any such concession; and only a few considerations shall be offered in the order that they arise. —Animo satis hæc vestigia parva sagaci Sunt, per quæ possis cognoscere cætera tutè. LUCRETIUS.