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panied by a priest of his fect. The priest carried in his bofom a large ferpent of a dufky green and copper colour, which he was continually handling; and after having recited a prayer, he delivered it to the faadi. [ obferved, that the teeth of the reptile had been extracted; it was, however, very lively.

With a vigorous hand, the faadi feized the ferpent, which twifted itself round his naked arm. He began to appear agitated; his countenance was difcompofed; his eyes rolled; he uttered terrible cries, bit the animal in the head, and tore off a morfel, which we faw him chew and fwallow. On this his agitation became convulfive; his howlings were redoubled, his limbs writhed, his countenance affumed the features of madnefs, and his mouth, diftended by terrible grimaces, was all in a foam. Every now and then he devoured a fre morfel of the reptile. Three men endeavoured to hold him, but he dragged them all three round the chamber. His arms were thrown about with violence on all fides, and ftruck every thing within their reach. Eager to avoid him, Mr. Forneti and I were obliged fometimes to cling to the wall, to let him pafs, and escape his blows. We could have wifhed the madman far away. At length the priest took the ferpent from him; but his madness and convulfions did not ceafe immediately; he bit his hands, and his fury continued. The priest then grafped him in his arms, paffed his hand gently down his back, lifted him from the ground, and recited fome prayers. By degrees his agitation diminished, and fubfided into a ftate of complete laffitude, in which he remained a few moments.

The Turks, who were present at this ridiculous and difgufting ceremony, were firmly perfuaded of the reality of this religious fury: and it is very certain, that, whether it were reality, or impofture, it is impoffible to fee the tranfports of rage and madnefs exhibited in a more ftriking manner, or have before your eyes a man in a state more calculated to inspire terror.

The

The great number of thefe ferpent-eaters has led fome to believe, and in particular Dr. Shaw, that they feed upon thefe reptiles. According to this English traveller, there are more than four thousand perfons, in Cairo and its environs, who live wholly on ferpents This, however, is a mistake. Serpents make no difh at the tables of the faadis; and though in their ceremonies they devour a few raw and alive, they by no means use them as food. In Egypt these men are much refpected; but they are only laughed at by the Turks in other parts of the Ottoman empire.

I had an opportunity of converfing with a fheik, or prieft, of this fect, who was a man of great candour; for, while he affured me that feveral of them had an extraordinary power over ferpents, he confeffed, that he had not the leaft claim to it, but, on the contrary, was much afraid of them. From this priest I learned a few particulars, which I fhall relate. That they may have ferpents always ready when wanted, they keep them in their houfes but they take the precaution, to extract their teeth. If any perfon be bitten by a ferpent, he runs to a faadi, who fays a few words over the wound, fcarifies the part with a razor, and, after having filled his mouth with lemon-juice, fucks out the blood repeatedly. Thefe men cure likewife the ferpent's breath, a name which they give to certain iuflammatory pustules, to which thofe who fleep in the open air with any part of the body uncovered are liable, and which they pretend are occafioned by the peftilential breath of a ferpent. The remedy they employ is cerufe mixed with oil of fenfamum. With this liniment they rub the puftules, never failing at the fame time to mumble out certain words, without which no application would have any effect. Such is the lot of human kind, that there is not a people in the univerfe, of whofe hiftory many pages are not occupied by fuper. ftition. * Shaw's Travels, vol. ii. Gg

VOL. VIII.

AN

AN EXTARCT.

INSIGHT INTO FUTURITY-WHETHER CONDUCIVE TO OUR HAPPINESS OR NOT?

I

T requires but little reflection to be assured, that anticipation is the moft grievous bane of happiness with which we have to struggle. Day after day we dwell upon fome melancholy fubject-add fome new horror to the fombre caft of the mind, till distraction and defpair ufurp all its faculties; and were it not that it is uncertain, whether the evils which we deplore will overtake us or not-were we not consoled by the poffibility that we may efcape them, life would, ere long, become abfolutely infupportable.

It may be doubted, whether there be a mind which, in the outfet of life, is capable of bearing at once all that weight of difappointment and misfortune, which will chaften it and atteft its virtues before it rifes to its reward. Coming along in gradual fucceffion, trials call forth energy after energy-exercife gives vigour to infirmity, and enables it, at length, to fubdue difficulties under which it would, formerly, have funk down: but were the whole tempeft of adverfity to break at once upon the aftonifhed mind, it would overwhelm the firmeft fortitude, and the world become one vaft hofpital of defperation. It will be faid, perhaps, that if we forefaw all the evils of life, we fhould foresee their antidote alfo, and that the pleasures which await us, would compenfate for the pains; and as far as evil is the refult of our own folly, it may hold good. Seeing the tendency of our own condu&, we may undoubtedly obviate and correct it-But what fhall we fay of the evils which arife from the vices of others? Would my knowledge of futurity infpire the unfeeling with tendernefs, and fcreen my bofom from the wounds which they inflict would it arrest ambition in its mad career

of

of glory, fheath the bloody fword of war, and heal the thoufand wounds which it has inflicted? certainly not. Here then I am left a prey to all the horrors of apprehenfion, without even the broken reed of bare potfioility on which to reft myself. I look forward to perhaps a few days only-I fee the friend of my bofom flain-a father, a brother driven from his country, loaded with the chains of captivity-our cottage burnt, myfelf a wanderer, imploring the ungrateful boon of charity, and dwell upon the picture until my brain fcorches and fury maddens in my veins; had I been fuffered to move along in happy ignorance, I might have enjoyed the fociety of thofe I love, until the illfated moment of feparation arrived. I might have gone on twining the woodbine and the jeffamine around our porch, and fung in all the confcioufnefs of innocence; bur, compelled to look into the dark volume of futurity -to count hour after hour, as bringing me nearer and nearer to the point at which my foul fhudders-every day ceafes then to be a day of happinets, and all the pleasures of life become vapid and taitelefs, bringing me nearer and nearer to the moment which tears thefond arm from those I love-which turns me adrift upon the world -expofed to poverty-the contumely of the proud-the infults of the bafe-the woodbine would bloffom a vain for me, and the fweet fcent of my eglantine have no charms for me. Under fuch circumftances, ignorance of futurity is certainly infinitely preferable to an infight into it, and the tenderness of the Almighty is much more ftriking in the order of things which obtains, than in that for which we frequently figh.

W. H.

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TO THE EDITOR OF THE MONTHLY VISITOR.

OBJECTIONS

ΤΟ

MR. MUDFORD's ESSAY ON MARRIAGE.

SIR,

S the object of your work is to amuse and inftru&t

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and diftribute truth that must infallibly elevate it, you will not condemn this little offering of mine, fince it fprings from the refpe&t I bear my fellow creatures.

In your publication you gave us, "An Effay on Marriage, by W. Mudford." I differ from him very much, and, as a fubfcriber, I conceive my felf equally entitled to your indulgence. I therefore request, that you will fuffer me to oppofe a few fimple obfervations to his "Army of hard words ;" and whether the victory be his or mine, I leave to the judgment of your

candid readers.

In the first part he recommends that, "If a man finds his foibles counterbalance his virtues, he should withhold from marriage." "Should we not,' fays

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he, "keep them to ourselves, rather than load them on the weaknefes of another ?" I am aftonished Mr. Mudford does not know, that nothing fo foon eradi. cates the harsh nature of man, as the fociety of an amiable woman. She does, indeed, unload him of his vices; but inftead of buckling them on herfelf, the expels them with the charms of her virtue; her example ferving as a continual check to his licentioufnefs, till in the end he finds himself a fit companion for the perfection that at first awed him.

Next he fays" We ought to enquire within ourfelves, whether we are able to bear the petty cares that attend the state." Perhaps Mr. Mudford is a fingle man. Let me ask him then, if his ftate is exempt from cares? does he not find them as oppreffive as a

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