The Lion of Yannina (New York: 1941, p. 276), drawing upon the rich material in modern Greek, French and English, is more explicit on this point in des. cribing Ali's meeting with Byron:

"Byron had removed his cocked hot and with his mass of curly brown hair, his smooth, pallid face and manly blue eyes, he appeared to All less a mon than a blending of feminine and masculine beauty conjured up by the Northern gods. Why had not his agents and procurers found him something half so exquisitely beautiful as this young lord of England? Byron's strikIng beauty caused him a momentary discomfort; and lest he give some inkling of what was in his mind or how he felt, he clapped his hands, and those perennial page boys with their never-failing pipes and sweetmeats began to file in."'

It is to be stressed that Ali, atypical in the extremity of his cruelty, was typical of men in his station in Turkish life in his erotic propensities. Not only, however, did he keep a harem of note, but in his old age gave it up for Vasiliki, a young Christian girl who so far reciprocated his love for her that she died faithful to his memory many years after 1822, the year he was beheaded.

Commentators, both old and new, have not failed to note Near Eastern attitudes and mores in their works. One of the oldest English books about "the terrible Turk" was Richard Knolles' "The Generall Historie of the Turks" (London, 1621). Among the stories recounted by him is what be fell a court dignitary who married one of the few Moslem women capable of asserting authority in an empire of male supremacy – the sister of Suleyman the Magnificent. Knolles writes that "This Greate Bassa then in Cred. it and Authoritee next unto Solyman himselfe, fell at odds with his wife, Solyman's sister: for that he after the unnatural manner of that barbarous people kept in his house a most delicat youth, in whom he took more pleasure than in his wife." It was not, however, this that brought him to "Ye Grande Soldan's" displeasure, but that he dared slap his wife's face when she ventured to reprove him. A perfectly natural procedure usually, it was most inadvisable in the case of an imperial sister.

We establish three things from an

examination of this aspect of Moslem life. One is the complete lack of concern in the bi-sexual attitude shown. Far from concern, the fact of a man's supplementary homosexual adventures is taken for granted. Secondly, an exclusive homosexual, while regarded as odd, is not necessarily subject to the social vindictiveness that has disfigured Western society. This, however, needs to be qualified: In those lands there is a markedly different attitude shown toward the active and passive partners, and the two roles are distinctly separated in the popular mind. An active homosexual is a man with preferences that elicit, at most, a shrug, but should it become established that he has allowed himself to take the passive role, he is accounted notorious and is despised by all, including active homosexuals. There is the story recounted by one observer of the Near East of a man who killed his homosexual partner because, after being the passive partner, the other attempted to take the active role. A dated but knowledgeable count of Moslem attitudes on the subject will be found in Sir Richard Francis Burton's translation of "Thousand and One Nights." It is the terminal essay of that work and has been included in a recent anthology by Donald Webster Cory, "Homosexuality, a Cross-Cultural Approach." New York: Julian Press, 1956).

We have a picture of homosexuality in the center of the Moslem world -in great cities such as Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, etc.-but what of the fringes? A discussion of that aspect will appear in the next (August) issue of Mattachine Review. Don't miss it.

mattachine REVIEW

READERS write

Views expressed by writers of the letters below are not necessarily those of the MATTACHINE REVIEW.

REVIEW EDITOR: I have just returned from a tour of the Institute for Sex Research (Indiana University, Bloomington). It was most interesting. Dr. Martin and the librarian saw us through. The library is the world's second largest on sexological subjects almost 20,000 volumes. We were told the largest such library is in the Vatican. I saw also the case history files (in code), and many unusual prints, ceramics and other objects. The Institute (founded by the late Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey) conducts tours occasionally and I had written in advance, of course. It certainly is worth see ing.-Mac Fingal, Illinois

REVIEW EDITOR: Everything depends on the point of view, on the consciousness. Mr. Allen "must question whether there is anything particularly godlike in this act ..." (My article in the March issue.) Yet there are individuals and in fact entire religions who see not only the "godlike" but the Divine in everything, everywhere. There is nothing under the sun more sacred than physical love (Pierre Louys). My article was written from this point of view; this was the point although there are millions who do not, or cannot, look at it this way. Mr. Allen is eager to divorce the orgasm from the Divine. One wonders at the indoctrinations which produce this attitude, with all its attendant violences, miseries and ordinarinesses! I believe everything I wrote in the article. I believe everything Mr. Allen wrote; these viewpoints are not incompatible; although his morality seems a labored kind, a taught morality; this is a cold morality, when we consider that morality should come from within and that love brings its own morality in the form of the finest considerations and restraints and respects. I assumed this I assumed this point was understood. Manfred Wise, California REVIEW EDITOR: Saw an article in the May issue of "Uncensored" about the Mattachine Society. Please send me information on it and the subscription price of the REVIEW.-Mr. R. H. K., Pennsylvania