not less than sixteen or seventeen times; that four boys, the eldest of whom was only thirteen, had been in Newgate, by turns, seventy times; and that two of them had been sent to country fairs, at the head of gangs of children, to pick pockets and pilfer, and that they had (more than once) returned to their employers in perfect safety, after enjoying a plentiful harvest!

From the whole of the evidence given by the magistrates, the police-officers, parish-officers, and other individuals, it appears that the state of public morals is, on the whole, not worse, but rather better, within the last twenty years. Drunkenness indeed is not less frequent, nor yet the exposure which it occasions. But atrocious crimes, such as highway and midnight robberies, and deliberate murders, are greatly more rare of occurrence.

In the city of London, there has been a wonderful improvement in point of external decorum, since the commencement of the present mayoralty. In this respect, Mr. Wood's excellent conduct will be a very fit example for the imitation of his successors in office. It does him great honour-so much indeed, that, in spite of his penchant for courtaddresses and parliamentary reform, we should be very well pleased to see him re-elected for one year more; and so, we venture to say, would that same government which he has uniformly opposed.

This slight sketch will shew, what sorts and degrees of amusement and instruction those are, which this book is calculated to afford. There can be no doubt but that it will gratify much curiosity in unprofessional readers. It will increase the knowledge of the provincial magistrates; and go a great way towards putting an end to remissness and favouritism among those of the metropolis. It cannot of course be analysed-one might as well exhibit the contents of a dictionary. The newspapers have been at pains to make the public well acquainted with it; and even here enough has been said to prove, that he who reads it attentively, will not read in vain.

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ART. XII.-Narrative of a Ten Years' Residence at Tripoli, in Africa: from the original Correspondence in the possession of the Family of the late Richard Tully, Esq. the British Consul: comprising authentic Memoirs and Anecdotes of the reigning Bashaw, his Family, and other Persons of Distinction; also, an Account of the domestic Manners of the Moors, Arabs, and Turks. London. Colburn. 1816. 4to. pp. 363.

THE work here announced is introduced by a concise, wellwritten preface; which, after a careful perusal of the book, we can safely assure our readers, holds forth no unfair promise of the entertainment and information to be ga thered from its pages.

"PREFACE.-The authenticity of the following letters cannot be questioned. They were written by the sister of the late Richard Tully, Esq. his Britannic Majesty's Consul at the Court of Tripoli; between whose family and that of the Bashaw, it will be seen that the closest intimacy subsisted for many years.

"Notwithstanding the length of time which has elapsed since the events occurred that are here narrated, yet as, in the parts of Africa to which they refer, the natives neither admit, nor even know, of innovations, their manners remaining, from age to age, invariably the same, this circumstance cannot affect what is related or described.

"The volume will be found an object of particular curiosity, from the lively and artless manner in which it lays open the interior of the Court of the Bashaw of Tripoli. It contains, we believe, the only exact account which has ever been made publicly known of the private manners and conduct of this African despot, and details such scenes and events, such sketches of human weakness and vice, the effects of ambition, avarice, envy, and intrigue, as will scarcely appear credible in the estimation of an European.

"It has also been the object of the author to present a faithful picture of the manners, ideas, and sentiments, of the Moors in general, a task that could not possibly have been effected, except under peculiar circumstances, from the almost utter impracticability of any Christian, male or female; being introduced into the interior circle of Moorish families of distinction, and still much less that of the Bashaw.

"As a proof of the close intimacy that subsisted between the family of the author and that of Ali Coromali, the late bashaw, it may be mentioned that the consul, finding it necessary to repair to England with his lady for a short time, the Bashaw, and Lilla Halluma, (called by her subjects Lilla Kebbierra, or Queen of Tripoli,) entreated them to leave their two children under their protection till they should return, assuring them that nothing the country could produce, should be spared to render them happy. Lilla Halluma offered to guard them as her own children; adding, that she would promise in the most solemn manner "by the Prophet," that neither their religion nor manners should be in the smallest degree interfered with, while their parents were absent. It may be supposed that,

friendly and condescending as their offer was, it could not be accepted with propriety, considering the opposite tenets and manners of the parties; but the offer clearly proves the confidential intimacy and habitual intercourse that subsisted between the families, and which consequently gave rise to such frequent interviews as left not the slightest events unknown to the author of the journal.

"The Consul's daughters, also, being both born in Tripoli, and speaking the Arabic language from their infancy, were easily, and even eagerly, admitted into close habits of intimacy with all the female part of the Royal Family, by which means they frequently promoted reconciliations between the Moors and the English residents, and created such an attachment, on the part of the Bashaw, towards our nation, as induced the natives to regard the latter at that time with peculiar marks of attention and respect. Many incidents will present themselves, in the course of the following sheets, to confirm the truth of this statement. These particulars will sufficiently account for the detailed manner in which are related not only the anecdotes of the castle, but those of many persons of distinction, with a narrative of the late intestine commotions originating in the conduct of the present Bashaw, and which will be found to exhibit many singular customs and incidents attendant on a Moorish war.

"The state of Tripoli, from the moment the journal closed to the present time, owing to the change in its government, the ferocity of Ureph Bashaw its present sovereign, and the severity of the laws imposed by him, preclude the possibility of similar minute accounts being again collected, at least till some very distant period, and then chance must bring together coinciding circumstances, equally as strong as those here mentioned, to afford the necessary means of information.

"But considering the natural jealousy of the African character, and the inveterate prejudices which peculiarly characterize the Moors, it is hardly within the bounds of human probability that any traveller through the country, or even a resident clothed with a diplomatic authority, will be admitted to that social and familiar state of observation which was possessed by the author of these letters. At this time, therefore, when the attention, not only of the British public, but of the greatest part of the civilized world, is turned with eager curiosity towards the coast of Barbary, in the expectation of seeing there a nearer approximation to the enlightened principles of other nations, with regard to the personal rights and liberties of mankind; at this eventful and teeming period, which has already yielded so many triumphs to justice, and which indicates still more extensive and permanent blessings to follow over all the earth; an accurate, and, as it were, domestic picture of that country in general, or of any one of its sovereignties in particular, cannot fail to fix the consideration of every one who has the exalted interests of humanity near to his heart.

"Under existing circumstances, therefore, in the relative situations of Europe and Africa, these letters will prove no less important to the political enquirer than amusing to the public at large; laying open much that will materially assist the comprehensive views of the statesman, blended with the rich entertainment that so greatly distinguished the correspondence of Lady Mary Wortley Montague."-London, July 1, 1816."

Authenticity being the chief merit, the most essential desideratum, in a work of this nature-we do not look on the

grammatical errors of the style, the frequent repetitions in the narrative, the sometimes superfluous minuteness of detail, or even the total deficiency of method and arrangement in the composition of the performance now under scrutiny, as in any way affecting the intrinsic value of the whole.. A more elegant and amusing book might certainly have been produced from the same materials; but we have a satisfaction in knowing that the letters now submitted to the view of the public, were actually written according to the date of time and place which is affixed to each. Some passages of a domestic nature, and merely interesting to the person to whom they were addressed, and those immediately concerned with them, have of course been suppressed, and the historical notices which occupy the first few pages have probably been recently supplied, in order to render the narrative more interesting at the present time. The barbarous politics of a nation of tyrants and of slaves, (each man, except the very high and the very low, being alternately degraded by the power of those above him to the one state, or by the abjectness of his inferiors, lifted to the "bad eminence" of the other,) can afford but little satisfaction to the humane and enlightened mind; except by a comparison with the milder laws and milder climate which have fallen to the lot of Englishmen.

All those bad passions which render their possessors the scourge and terror of society,-envy, jealousy, and avarice, exasperated by ferocity of temper and of manners, rendered permanent by immutable prejudices, and but rarely illumined by transient flashes of magnanimity and courage,seem to rage without control in the depraved, and therefore unhappy, court and ministry of Tripoli. When, after having gone through this interesting work, we reflect on the perpetual uncomfortableness, the wearisome restraints, and the frequent dangers to which an English consul is necessarily exposed while resident at Tripoli, we cannot but recollect with pain, that the active and conscientious servant of the British government, whose abode among scenes of savage magnificence (wholly uncongenial to European tastes) furnished the occasion of this book, after devoting the best years of his life, and sacrificing his health to the duties of his office, on returning to his native country died in distressed circumstances, leaving to his amiable widow, as the reward and payment of his services, the scanty pittance of one hundred pounds per annum,—a pension for her life only!

The beauty and accomplishments of the surviving daughter of Mr. Tully (one of the ladies born at Tripoli) in her early youth attracted the notice of one of the patriot generals of Spain, of the noble family of Gomez, and she is now the widow of that officer, who fell at Barcelona. The ravages committed by the invading French on the estates of their father, leaves her daughters (the grand-children of the English Consul) dependant on the protection of Ferdinand the Seventh!

How far the connexion between Great Britain and the barbarous nations of Africa may be advantageously resumed,-whether the states of Tripoli and its dependencies may be successfully detached from the dominion of the Sublime Porte, or what progress the efforts of Christian missionaries may be expected to make towards dispelling, by the mild light of the Gospel, the gloom of the savage and sanguinary law of Mahomet,-are questions which, to the British subject, the friend to humanity, and the enlightened cosmopolite, must all be abundantly interesting; and if the answers to them be not altogether found, at least the means of pursuing the objects connected with them will be serviceably supplied by the pages of this interesting work. The narrative abounds with detached stories and histories of individuals, which give a lively picture of the habits of the people. Some details on the condition of women in those countries of Greece, where parents maintain their riches by a debasing traffic of their daughters' charms, will, we hope, make the most homely-featured of our country women rejoice that they were not created Circassian beauties.

We conclude our observations with a few extracts from the work, being obliged to consult brevity in our selection.

"When the Bedouins, or Arabs, converse, they sit down in a circle; the man who speaks makes a smooth place with his hand on the sand, with his finger continuing his discourse, and smoothing this spot, from time to time, to begin again with his strokes. They are so much accustomed to this manner, that, in failure of a sandy spot, an Arab, talking to a Christian, will take hold of his hand, and mark with his finger on the palm of it, or, if that is not permitted, on his own, the strokes necessary for the points of his argument, and smooth it over again at certain periods. The Bedouins still retain many of the customs we read of in sacred and profane history. They are, in almost every thing, the very same people they were some thousand years ago. They greet each other with the old salutation of, Peace be with you;' which is, in the Moorish, Salem-Alske, clapping, at the same time, the right hand on their breast. The Tripolians raise the right hand from the breast to the forehead alternately several