Salmagundi; or, The whim-whams and opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, esq. [pseud.] and others. By William Irving, James Kirke Paulding and Washington Irving. Printed from the original ed., with a preface and notes by Evert A. Duyckinck.

A SWELL FISH. 285
the other side, who have been kicked out, there is not the
least difference. The laborer toils for his daily support; the beggar still lives on the charity of those who have any charity to
bestow; and the only solid satisfaction the multitude have
reaped is, that they have got a new governor, or bashaw, whom
they will praise, idolize, and exalt for a while, and afterward,
notwithstanding the sterling merits he really possesses, in compliance with immemorial custom, they will abuse, calumniate,
and trample him under foot.
Such, my dear Asem, is the way in which the wise people of
" the most enlightened country under the sun," are amused with
straws, and puffed up with mighty conceits; like a certain fish
I have seen here, which having his belly tickled for a short time,
will swell and puff himself up to twice his usual size, and
become a mere bladder of wind and vanity.
The blessing of a true Mussulman light on thee, good Asem;
ever, while thou livest, be true to thy prophet; and rejoice that,
though the boasting political chatterers of this logocracy cast
upon thy countrymen the ignominious epithet of slaves, thou
livest in a country where the people, instead of being at the
mercy of a tyrant with a million of heads, have nothing to do
but submit to the will of a bashaw of only three tails.
Ever thine,
MUSTAPHA.