We travellers are in very hard circumstances: If we say nothing but what has been said before us, we are dull, and we have observed nothing. If we tell any thing new, we are laughed at as fabulous and romantic, not allowing either for the difference of ranks, which affords difference of company, or more curiosity, or the change of customs, that happen every twenty years in every country. But the truth is, people judge of travellers, exactly with the same candour, good nature, and impartiality, they judge of their neighbours upon all occasions.

They wore little garlands of flowers, and their own hair, braided, which was all their head-dress; but their habits were all of gold stuffs. These served her coffee kneeling; brought water when she washed, &c. —— 'Tis a great part of the work of the older slaves to take care of these young girls, to learn them to embroider, and to serve them as carefully as if they were children of the family. Now, do you imagine I have entertained you, all this while, with a relation that has, at least, received many embellishments from my hand? This, you will say, is but too like the Arabian tales.

I assured her, that if all the Turkish ladies were like her, it was absolute necessary to confine them from public view, for the repose of mankind; and proceeded to tell her, what a noise such a face as hers would make in London or Paris. I can't believe you, replied she agreeably; if beauty was so much valued in your country, as you say, they would never have suffered you to leave it.

[39.3]

pearls

dualma

caftan

The knives were of gold, and the hafts set with diamonds. But the piece of luxury which grieved my eyes, was the table-cloth and napkins, which were all tiffany, embroidered with silk and gold, in the finest manner, in natural flowers. It was with the utmost regret that I made use of these costly napkins, which were as finely wrought as the finest handkerchiefs that ever came out of this country. You may be sure, that they were entirely spoiled before dinner was over. The sherbet (which is the liquor they drink at meals) was served in china bowls; but the covers and salvers massy gold. After dinner, water was brought in gold basons, and towels of the same kind with the napkins, which I very unwillingly wiped my hands upon, and coffee was served in china, with gold soucoups.*

These women

I don't mention this as one of my diverting adventures; though I must own, that it is not half so mortifying here as in England; there being as much difference, as there is between a little cold in the head, which sometimes happens here, and the consumption cough, so common in London

She asked me to walk in her garden

. I had rather ten of my letters should be lost, than you imagine I don't write; and I think it is hard fortune, if one in ten don't reach you

dear sister

I have seen every thing that was to be seen with a very, diligent curiosity

Corregio

LET. XIII.

but several of them are defaced by modern additions

I foresee that you will be very little satisfied with this letter, and I dare hardly ask you to be good-natured enough to charge the dulness of it on the barrenness of the subject, and to overlook the stupidity of,

I was surprised to see the cabinet of medals so poorly furnished; I did not remark one of any value, and they are kept in a most ridiculous disorder. As to the antiques, very few of them deserve that name. Upon my saying they were modern, I could not forbear laughing at the answer of the profound antiquary that shewed them, that they were ancient enough; for, to his knowledge, they had been there these forty years.

I deserve not all the reproaches you make me. If I have some time without answering your letter, it is not, that I don't know how many thanks are due to you for it; or that I am stupid enough to prefer any amusements to the pleasure of hearing from you; but after the professions of esteem you have so obligingly made me, I cannot help delaying, as long as I can, shewing you that you are mistaken. If you are sincere, when you say you expect to be extremely entertained by my letters, I ought to be mortified at the disappointment that I am sure you will receive when you hear from me; though I have done my best endeavours to find out something worth writing to you

I have seen every thing that was to be seen with a very, diligent curiosity

ll also enquire a littleinto the nature and grounds offaith or opinion—that is,acceptance of something as true when we don’t know fo

nhave reason to be well satisfied with what God has seen fitto give them, since he has given them everything they needfor the•conveniences of life and the•forming of virtuouscharacters—that is, everything they need to discover howto•thrive in this life and how to•find their way to a betterone. . . . Men can find plenty of material for thought, and fora great variety of pleasurable physical activities, if they don’tpresumptuously complain about their own constitution andthrow away the blessings their hands are filled with becausetheir hands are not big enough to grasp everything. Weshan’t have much reason to complain of the narrowness ofour minds if we will only employ them on topics that may beof use to us; for onthosethey are very capable. . .

I hope that this enquiry into the nature of the understand-ing will enable me to discover what its powers are—howfar they reach, what things they are adequate to deal with,and where they fail us. If I

Chapter i: Introduction

For, though the reach of our understandings falls farshort of the vast extent of things, we shall still have reasonto praise God for the kind and amount of knowledge that hehasbestowed on us, so far above all the rest of creation

This was what first started me on thisEssay Concerningthe Understanding. I thought that the first step towards an-swering various questions that people are apt to raise·aboutother things·

f we can find out what the scope of the understandingis, how far it is able to achievecertainty, and in what casesit can onlyjudgeandguess, that may teach us to accept ourlimitations and to rest content with knowing only what ourhuman condition enables us to know.

All we need for my purposes is toconsider the human ability tothink

So it will be worth our while to find where the line fallsbetweenopinionandknowledge,and to learn more aboutthe ‘opinion’ side of the line. What I want to know is this:When we are concerned with something about which we haveno certain knowledge,

Before moving on, I must here at the outset ask youto excuse how frequently you will find me using the word‘idea’ in this book.