homes. There they have a dance, and all is over.

NOBLE INSTANCE OF TURKISH GENEROSITY AND HONESTY.

I happened, a short time ago, to be in company with a retired
shipmaster in Liverpool, who, after spending forty-five years of his
life chiefly in command of vessels from that port, had retired to
enjoy the fruits of a well-deserved competency. The conversation
turned upon the difficulty, nay, almost the impossibility, of being
able, in this highly-civilised and _moral_ country, in the ordinary
business of life, to trust only to the _word_ or _honour_ of the
contracting parties. The Ancient Mariner fully agreed with me in my
opinions, and said, that during a long intercourse with his species in
every quarter of the globe, the only men he had met with whose words
were equal to their bonds, or whose _honesty_ would stand the test of
being trusted with untold gold, were--_the Turks_. On my expressing
surprise at this unqualified encomium in favour of a set of men on
whom, as a nation, we have generally been accustomed to look with
distrust and suspicion, the old gentleman said: 'I will give you an
account of the circumstances which first led me to form this opinion,
and leave you to judge for yourself;' and added, that during an
occasional intercourse with them, extending over a period of twenty
years, he had had it only the more strengthened and confirmed. He then
said: 'It is now upwards of thirty years since I had, for the first
time, any intercourse with the Mediterranean: our vessel was chartered
to Constantinople; and one of the principal owners, a Liverpool
merchant, was aboard acting as his own supercargo. Although it was
_my_ first acquaintance with the Turks, it was not _his_, as the
sequel will shew.

'As we approached our destination, we availed ourselves of the
customary aid of one of the local pilots; but he who on this occasion
undertook the responsibility, proved but an inexperienced guide; and
from some mistake in his bearings, ran the vessel upon a sandbank,
from which every effort to dislodge her, laden as she was, proved
unavailing. We were on a bleak part of the coast, and not more than
half a mile from the shore, although a considerable distance from our
destined port. It was necessary, therefore, to take out several
boat-loads of the cargo, and send them on shore, whatever might be the
risk they ran of being left there, while we were getting the ship
afloat again. On expressing my fears as