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the soft turf invited them to rest, but prudence prevented them from sleeping.

"Ah, my friend!" whispered Venus, "how beautiful is night! your dominion is not comparable to that of your sis ter. Why should mortals close their eyes when it is so delicious to wake? Never had the poppies of Morpheus such a charm for me as these roses that surround us. I know not what sweet bitterness I feel as I sigh with you! till now I knew not the value of tears; till now I never tasted a sadness preferable to every pleasure. Does it not seem to you, my friend, that this valley is enchanted? that here the birds redouble their caresses, and that men ought here to breathe only love? Ah! should not men become gods in this blissbestowing scene ?”

I dare not tell you, Emilia, what Apollo replied; the language of happy lovers is a stranger to him whom you permit not to use it near you. Let your heart then supply that which you have never yet enabled me to write. This rapid night was a charming altérnation of delightful converse, and more delightful silence; for when the heart alone speaks, the voice would be an intruder.-Diana, who so often walks too slow, had then hastily ran over her career; the importunate Aurora recalled Phoebus to heaven. They must separate ! Venus mounted her planet with a tender sigh, Apollo vaulted into his car, and earthly astronomers betook themselves to their beds.

Meanwhile this happy isle yet felt the presence of the gods. An ambrosial sweetness perfumed its thickets and vales; here and there were seen tufts of roses embroidering the ver dant banks where Venus had reposed; the island had become an enchanted garden. Shortly after it bore the name of those flowers with which it was now covered (Rhodes being derived from the Greek word rose.) And as the poets always dress truth in a more sumptuous garb, they gave out that the rain from heaven had descended there in roses.

Be this as it may, from that period Apollo was adored in the island of Rhodes, where they erected to him a colossal

statue. The feet of the statue were supported on two widely-distant rocks which formed the entrance of the harbor, and vessels passed beneath it, between the legs of the colossus, without lowering their masts. This enormous mass was constructed in twelve years, and cost three hundred talents; it seemed formed to defy time, and destined to fall but with the wreck of nature herself; yet five hundred years after it was overturned by an earthquake. The colussus of Rhodes was the first of the seven wonders of the world.

The second was the temple of Diana, at Ephesus; this edifice, supported by an hundred and twenty-seven columns, was erected by as many kings, during the space of two hundred and twenty years; it was enriched with the treasures of all Asia, and was burned the very day on which Alexander was born, by Erostratus, who hoped to render his name immortal by the frantic act. The Ephesians punished him, by commanding his name never to be pronounced under pain of death.

Amongst the wonders of the world were also reckoned the statue of Jupiter Olympus, a work of the celebrated Phidias ; the walls of Babylon, built by Semiramis; the palace of Cyrus, the stones of which were cemented by gold; the famous Pyramids of Egypt, which served as tombs for the kings of that country; lastly, the tomb which Artimesia raised to the king Mausolus, her husband. This tomb took the name of him whom it enclosed; a name which we now give to our mausoleums. It was surrounded by thirty-six columns, and was eighty feet in circumference.

The greatest part of these ancient wonders have been destroyed by time; but art, in repairing such outrages, has multiplied its master-pieces.

I might now, my Emilia, enter into some very learned researches upon this subject, and speak to you of the new wonders which at this day embellish the universe; but the wonders of art charm me no longer, and I swear to you by Love and Venus, that you have limited my curiosity about the wonders of nature.—Adieu !

DANCING AND HOWLING DERVISHES OF

TURKEY.

FROM DR. CLARKE'S TRAVELS.

IN a mosque at Tophana was exhibited the dance of the Dervishes; and in another, at Scutary, the exhibition of the Howling Priests; ceremonies so extraordinary, that it is necessary to see them, in order to believe that they are really practised by human beings, as acts of devotion. We saw them both, and first were conducted to behold the dance at Tophana.

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As we entered the mosque, we observed twelve or fourteen Dervishes walking slowly round, before a superior, in a small space surrounded with rails, beneath the dome of the building. Several spectators were stationed on the outside of the railing; and being, as usual, ordered to take off our shoes, we joined the party. In a gallery over the entrance were stationed two or three performers on the tamborine and Turkish pipes. Presently the Dervishes, crossing their arms over their breasts, and with each of their hands grasping their shoulders, began obeisance to the superior, who stood with his back against the wall, facing the door of the mosque. Then each, in succession, as he passed the superior, having finished his bow, began to turn round, first slowly, but afterwards with such velocity, that his long garments flying out in the rotatory motion, the whole party appeared spinning like so many umbrellas upon their handles. As they began, their hands were disengaged from their shoulders, and raised gradually above their heads. At length, as the velocity of the whirl increased, they were all seen, with their arms extended horizontally, and their eyes closed, turning with inconceivable rapidity. The music, accompanied by voices, served to animate them; while a steady old fellow, in a green pelisse, continued to walk among them, with a fixed countenance, and expressing as much care and watchfulness as if his life would expire with the slightest failure in the cere

mony. I noticed a method they all observed in the exhibition; it was that of turning one of their feet, with the toes as much inward as possible, at every whirl of the body, while the other foot kept its natural position. The elder of these Dervishes appeared to me to perform the task with so little labor or exertion, that, although their bodies were in violent agitation, their countenances resembled those of persons in an easy sleep. The younger part of the dancers moved with no less velocity than the others; but it seemed in them a less mechanical operation. This extraordinary exercise continued for the space of fifteen minutes; a length of time, it might be supposed, sufficient to exhaust life itself during such an exertion; and our eyes began to ache with the sight of so many objects all turning one way. Suddenly, on a sigInal given by the directors of the dance, unobserved by the spectators, the Dervishes all stopped at the same instant, like the wheels of a machine, and what is more extraordinary, all in one circle, with their faces invariably towards the centre, crossing their arms on their breasts, and grasping their shoulders as before, bowing together with the utmost regularity, at the same instant, almost to the ground. We regarded them with astonishment, not one of them being in the slightest degree out of breath, heated, or having his countenance at all changed. After this they began to walk, as at first; each following the other within the railing, and passing the superior as before. As soon as their obeisance had been made, they began to turn again. This second exhibition lasted as long as the first, and was similarly concluded. They then began to turn for the third time; and, as the dance lengthened, the music grew louder and more animating. Perspiration became evident on the features of the Dervishes; the extended garments of some among them began to droop; and little accidents occurred, such as their striking against each other: they nevertheless persevered, until large drops of sweat falling from their bodies upon the floor, such a degree of friction was thereby occasioned, that the noise of their feet rubbing the floor was heard by the spectators. Upon

this, the third and last signal was made for them to halt, and the dance ended.

This extraordinary performance is considered miraculous by the Turks. By their law, every species of dancing is prohibited; and yet, in such veneration is this ceremony held, that an attempt to abolish it would excite insurrection among the people.

There is still another instance of the most extraordinary superstition perhaps ever known in the history of mankind, full of the most shameless and impudent imposture: it is the exhibition of pretended miracles, wrought in consequence of the supposed power of faith, by a sect who are called the Howling Dervishes of Scutary. I have before alluded to their orgies, as similar to those practised, according to Sacred Scripture, by the priests of Baal; and they are probably a remnant of the most ancient heathen ceremonies of Eastern nations. The Turks hold this sect in greater veneration than they do even the dancing Dervishes.

We passed over to Scutary, from Pera, accompanied by a Janissary, and arrived at the place where this exhibition is made. The Turks called it a mosque; but it more resembled a barn, and reminded us of the sort of booth fitted up with loose planks by mendicant conjurers at an English fair. This resemblance was further increased, by our finding at the entrance two strange figures, who, learning the cause of our visit, asked if we wished to have the "fire and dagger business" introduced among the other performances. We replied, by expressing our inclination to see as much of their rites as they might think proper to exhibit: upon this, we were told that we must pay something more than usual, for the miracles. A bargain was therefore made, upon condition that we should see all the miracles. We were then permitted to enter the mosque, and directed to place ourselves in a small gallery, raised two steps from the floor. Close to one extremity of this gallery, certain of the Dervishes were employed in boiling coffee upon two brasiers of lighted charcoal: this was brought to us in small cups, with pipes, and

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