he keeps his
mistress in a house apart, and visits her as privately as he can, just
as it is with you. Amongst all the great men here, I only know the
_tefterdar_ (i.e., treasurer), that keeps a number of she slaves for his
own use (that is, on his own side of the house; for a slave once given
to serve a lady is entirely at her disposal), and he is spoken of as a
libertine, or what we should call a rake, and his wife won't see him,
though she continues to live in his house.

"Thus, you see, dear sister, the manners of mankind do not differ so
widely as our voyage writers would make us believe. Perhaps it would be
more entertaining to add a few surprising customs of my own invention;
but nothing seems to me so agreeable as truth, and I believe nothing so
acceptable to you."

The most fortunate thing that happened to Lady Mary, and through her to
England, during her stay in Adrianople, was being made acquainted with
the practice of inoculation, then widely in vogue in Turkey. Though she
had no medical knowledge, she made enquiries as to its effect, and soon
became convinced that it was very highly beneficial. She was the more
interested because an attack of small-pox had somewhat dimmed her
beauty. It was to Miss Sarah Chiswell that she unburdened herself of the
discovery she had made.

"Those dreadful stories you have heard of the plague have very little
foundation in truth. I own I have much ado to reconcile myself to the
sound of a word which has always given me such terrible ideas, though I
am convinced there is little more in it than a fever. As a proof of
which we passed through two or three towns most violently infected. In
the very next house where we lay (in one of those places) two persons
died of it. Luckily for me, I was so well deceived that I knew nothing
of the matter; and I was made believe, that our second cook who fell ill
here had only a great cold. However, we left our doctor to take care of
him, and yesterday they both arrived here in good health; and I am now
let into the secret that he has had the _plague_. There are many that
escape it; neither is the air ever infected. I am persuaded it would be
as easy to root it out here as out of Italy and France; but it does so
little mischief, they are not very solicitous about it, and are content
to suffer this distemper instead of our variety, which they are utterly
unacquainted with.

"_A propos_ of distempers, I am going to tell you a thing that