trials, convinced that the deficiency originated in the inaccuracy o f the application o f the synonymous letters. T h e ain f a n d the ^ r ’gain cannot be accurately pronounced b y Europeans, who have not studied the language grammatica lly when young, and under a native ; I have, however, heard an Irishman,* who did not understand it grammatically, but had acquired it b y ear, pronounce the latter equally as correct as any Arabian ; but this was a rare instance. He was in England whilst Elfie Bey was here, who, as I was afterwards informed, had declared, that he was the only European whose A rab ic he could easily understand. T h e aspirated h, and the hard s, in the word for morning (sebah), are so much like their synonymes, that few Europeans can discern the difference; the one is consequently often mistaken for the o th e r ; and I have known a beautiful sentence absolutely perverted through an inaccuracy o f this kind. In the words rendered Haired and Harvest, the two synonymes o f (_y> and or s hard and s soft, are indiscriminately used b y Europeans in their Arabic conversations, a circumstance sufficient to do away the force and meaning o f any sentence or discourse. T h e poetry as well as prose o f the Arabians is well known, and has been so often discussed b y learned men, that it would be irrelevant here to expatiate on the su b je c t; but as the following description o f the noblest passion o f the human breast cannot but b e interesting to th e generality o f readers, and without an y exception to the fair sex, I will transcribe it. “ L o v e beginneth in contemplation, passeth to meditation ; hence proceeds de sire ; then the spark bursts forth * Mr. HughCahilt. into a flame, the head, swims, the body wastes, and the soul turns giddy. I f we look on the bright side o f love, we must acknowledge that i t has at least one advantage ; it annihilates pride and immoderate s e lf- lo v e : true love, whose aim is the happiness and equ ality o f the beloved object, being incompatible with those feelings. “ Lust is so different'from true love and so far from a perfection, that it is always a species o f punishment sent b y God, because man has abandoned the path o f his pure lo v e .” In their epistolary writing, the Arabs have generally a regular and particular style, beginning and ending all their letters with the name o f God, symbolically, because God is the beginning and end o f all things. T he following short specimen w ill illustrate th is : Translation o f a letter w ritten in the Korannick A rab ic by Seedy Solimanben Mohammed ben Ismael, Sultan ofMarocco, to his Bashaw----------- o f Suse, &c. 8cc. “ Praise be to the only God ! for there is neither power, nor strength, without the great and eternal God.” [L. S. containing the Emperor’s name and titles, as Soliman ben Mohammed ben Abdallah, k c . 8cc.] “ Our servant, A lk a id A bdelme lk ben Behie Mulud, God assist, and peace be with thee, and the mercy and grace o f G od be upon thee! “ W e command thee forthwith to procure and send to our exalted presence eve ry Englishman that has been wrecked on the coast o f W edinoon, and to forward them hither without f F
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