dead, when a wounded Christian soldier, rising from among the slain,
came staggering towards him. The king, supposing the man intended to beg
for his life, ordered the guards to make way for him; but drawing near,
he drew a dagger from under, his coat, and plunged it into the heart of
the great king, who instantly died.

[1] The ceremony of kissing the foot, as well as the hand, of a
sovereign, is yet observed in the east.

In Turkey, no man marries a deformed wife for the sake of a fortune, as
with us; beauty and good sense, to their credit be it spoken, are the
only inducements to matrimony among the Turks. But they are an indolent
people, and are much averse to improving their country by commerce,
planting, or building; appearing to take delight in letting their
property run to ruin. Alexandria, Tyre, and Sidon, which once commanded
the navigation and trade of the whole world, are at present in the
Turks' possession, but are only very inconsiderable places. Indeed,
observes a judicious author, it is well for us that the Turks are such
an indolent people, for their situation and vast extent of empire, would
enable them to monopolize the trade of the world if they attended to it.
They appear to possess very little genius or inclination for the
improvement of _arts and sciences_ although they live in countries which
were once in the possession of the classic Greeks; but seem to prefer a
slothful mode of life to an active one, continually sauntering away their
time, either among women, or in taking coffee and smoking. Being men of
great taciturnity, they very seldom disturb a stranger with questions; and
a person may live in their country a dozen years, without having twenty
words addressed to him, except on important business. They seldom
travel, and have very little wish to be informed of the state of their
own, or any other country; when a minister of state is turned out of his