antly delighted if the grey hair and the bay appeared upon his temples together. This was especially the case with Oriental scholars. Certain they could have but few genuine admirers, because but a small number of their countrymen understood the learning on which their glory was founded, they patiently awaited the gradual spreading of their name, and sometimes, as in the case of D'Herbelot, relied upon posthumous publication for going down to posterity.

The learning of D'Herbelot consisted not in the knowledge of mere words; for, although he understood critically the Latin, the Greek, the Hebrew, the Chaldaic, the Syriac, the Arabic, the Persian, and the Turkish languages, he was still more profoundly versed in the laws, history, and manners of Oriental nations; his sole object, in studying the various dialects of the Eastern people, being, to acquire by that means a more complete acquaintance with their ideas and opinions. He does not seem to have been led accidentally to think of publishing his researches, as is the case with many authors, but to have formed from the beginning the design of aiming at literary fame; and though the fruit of his studies was produced late, this was owing to the vastness of his plan, not to any relaxation in the ardour and energy with which he pursued it. While merely engaged in preparing himself to execute this great undertaking, he actually accomplished an enterprise that would have been considered by many a task sufficient to occupy a whole life; observing that, for want of proper helps, the acquiring of Oriental languages was rendered exceedingly tedious, he actually compiled a Turkish and Persian Dictionary, in three volumes folio, which Galland reckoned the best by far that had ever been written.

Having acquired the necessary languages, his next step was to make collections, which he translated into French, of whatever was curious or instructive respecting the East; these materials he afterwards divided into two parts, to the first of which he gave the name of The Oriental Library,' the work now before us; the second, which he denominated Florilegium,' or Anthology,' we believe was never published. M. Galland, the editor of the Bibliotheque Orientale,' observes, that this work in reality is an abridgement of all the Oriental books D'Herbelot had ever read, and contains the history of the East, from the creation down to the times in which the author lived, together with a species of introduction, in which are related the exploits of the pre-adamite Sultans, princes who reigned before the period assigned by the Mosaic chronology to the creation.

In perusing the history of all ancient countries, we first pass though the dominion of fable, peopled with beings interesting,

or otherwise, according to the genius of the nation who created them. Heroes and demi-gods amuse us in the ancient relations of Greece and Egypt; and the Asiatic nations have their Dives and Peris, races of creatures that inhabited the world, and warred and loved before the creation of Adam. Perhaps the fables, which are in the mouth of every Persian poet, relating to these beings, may be built upon certain obscure traditions of creatures and events not altogether fabulous: the vast anti quity which nearly all Oriental nations attribute to the world, is not by any means so improbable as is vulgarly imagined; for although the period anterior to the birth of genuine history has been usurped by poets and mythologists, there is, even in their marvellous commonwealth, sufficient light to show the human countenance, however dimly and imperfectly.

But, setting aside all speculations of this kind, the mythology of the East is a collection of splendid fancies, richly poetical, and wonderfully various. Every European reader has had his imagination stirred and ennobled by the genii and magical personages of the Arabian Nights,' which is commonly the first book by which we are initiated into the mysteries of invention; and recently, all admirers of sublime fiction, enlivened by singular wit and humour, have again been led back to the wild vagaries of Oriental fancy, by the History of the Cal ph Vathek. In D'Herbelot, the reader will meet with all the mythological personages of the East, clothed with an air of veracity, and all the distinguishing attributes bestowed on them by the poets.

By their manner of relating the history of patriarchs and prophets, the Arabs have transformed the heroes of scripture into a kind of mythological existences. All the events of the Jewish history are distorted in their version from their original form, being, in most instances, adorned with new supernatural ornaments, much more surp ising than their original accompaniments. Ignorant nations know of no impossibilities, because they never reason on the laws of nature. To them, miracles and prodigies appear every-day occurrences, and are admired in proportion to their extravagance. As civilization advances, supernatural events become of more rare occurrence; nations think more of themselves, and less of the powers above them; actions drop down to the level of possibility, and the historian abandons prodigies to the poet. Nevertheless, an examination of the legends of the East, of those more especially which relate to Palestine and its ancient inhabitants, may not be without its utility in them we see the principal characters of the Hebrew Scriptures as they appear to the Arabs, who, residing from time immemorial in the neighbourhood of the country where they performed their exploits, have some claim to be

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heard on the subject. Josephus's version of the Jewish history is different, in many respects, from that of the Bible; the Arabic account of the same transactions is distinguished from both, and chiefly by being more marvellous and circumstantial. Oriental historians spare no expense of miracles to give splen dour and piquancy to their relations; and in default of exact testimony, suppose themselves present at certain actions, and detail what they imagine must have taken place. They can tell to a syllable what Joseph said to Zulieka, the wife of Potiphar, in reply to her amorous advances; nay, give an exact report of the dialogue which passed between God and Eblis on the creation of man.

Following the vicissitudes of the human race, the first great event after the deluge, which we find noticed by Oriental writers, is the establishment of the Persian monarchy by Kaïumarth, the founder of the Pischdadian dynasty. After these, succeeds the race of the Caïnides, which ended in the person of Darius, defeated and slain in the wars with the Macedonians. The achievements of Alexander enter also into the story of the East, where they appear in the light in which they were viewed, when they happened, by the Asiatic nations. A third race of Persian kings, the Ashcanian dynasty, next come under our view; and these, again, are succeeded by the Arsacides and Sassanians; the latter of which fell, in the person of Yezdejerd, with the empire itself, the sovereignty of which then passed into the hands of the Mohammedans. All these revolutions are related in the Bibliotheque Orientale,' upon the authority of original historians.

The series of events next in order of time, relate to the establishment of the northern empires of Asia. Reposing upon the authority of the Bible, and working out its succinct narratives into extensive and minute details, the nations of the East delineate authoritatively the migration and settlement of tribes; the origin and progress of nations and languages; the founding of institutions and cities; and the particulars of wars which, in the remotest times, disfigured the surface of Asia. Immediately after the deluge, the adventurous posterity of Japhet pushed their migrations, they say, through Scythia, and the heart of Asia, to China and the limits of the old world; scattering, as they proceeded, the seeds of those mighty races of men, which, a terwards, under the name of Scythians, Tartars, Mongols, Huns, Vandals, and Goths, overflowed their obscure seats, and carried terror and desolation over the habitations of civilization and the arts. Whatever degree of credit the reader may think due to these traditions of Japhet and his offspring, he will not fail to acknowledge that the vast movements of the tribes of central Asia, which, in all ages, have pressed upon and terrified the

less warlike inhabitants of the south, are subjects worthy his profoundest attention. Thence have issued, successively, Attila, Genghis Khan, Batou, Holagon, Timour, and Nadir Shah, names rendered celebrated by the great, but destructive qualities of their possessors.

A distinct series of events, taking their rise in the hypocrisy or fanaticism of Mohammed, occupies a large portion of the Bibliotheque Orientale.' It is a subject, too, which deserves to be profoundly contemplated. Temporal empires, whether founded by policy or the sword, are transient and fleeting, compared with those spiritual dominions established by religious enthusiasm. Chains and yokes may be shattered by courage; but an idea, an opinion, a belief, once firmly seated in the mind, bids defiance to revolution, and is only to be worn away by the slow-wasting footstep of time. Look at the history of mankind; see the miraculous effects of indefatigable zeal. A man, formed apparently, both in body and in mind, like other men, starts up among his species, by art and eloquence subdues their aversion to servitude; insinuates into their minds what roots of action he pleases, (for opinions are the roots of action); and moreover, contrives that they shall flourish, in spite of refinement and civilization, until half the world has been bewildered and infatuated by them. The origin of those opinions which now pass current in the streets of London and Paris is lost in the obscurity of antiquity; some of them were hatched in the head of a man who tended sheep 4,000 years ago, in the neighbourhood of the Red Sea; some sprang up in the mitred heads of the Babylonian Magi. Opinions, in fact, appear to be almost indestructible, like the first matter. They are the instruments of great men, and the lords of the vulgar; and may, like veils be thrown over beauty of mind, or conceal, beneath their folds, the hideous features of depravity.

D'Herbelot very justly regarded the vicissitudes of the Caliphate as a matter most worthy of his study; he perused the Oriental writers, who treat of this subject, with peculiar attention; he amassed the most ample materials for the history of it; and it may, we think, be said, even now, that no work in any European language contains so large and complete an account of the fortunes of Mohammedanism as the Bibliotheque Orientale. To one splendid period of the Caliphate, the reign of Haroun al Raschid, our minds are very early directed by the Arabian Nights, which are read by every body; to its decline, by the Crusades, and the romantic exploits of our King Richard, and his great rival Saladin. Beckford's tale of Va:hek,' which must be as lasting as our language, has also its share in conferring glory on the Caliphate; for fiction runs more extensively through society than history, being written on pur

pose to please; whereas, history is composed merely to inform posterity what has happened in the world. In D'Herbelot the reader may make the acquaintance of Haroun and his Vizier Giafar, with Zobeïde, and the ladies of her court; though we will not answer for his finding them quite so interesting as in the story of the Sleeper Awakened,' or, the Three Calenders.'

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In our estimation, this portion of the Bibliotheque Orientale,' which relates to the Caliphs of Bagdad, is by far the most delightful; for the mind loves to find itself standing on firm ground, where it expected to meet with nothing but baseless fiction. The manners, likewise, of the early Commanders of the Faithful were splendid and striking; they were, many of them, great conquerors or great scholars; their seat of empire rose pre-eminent over all the cities of the East; and their subjects were more thoroughly imbued with enthusiam, piety, and valour, than any nation then existing. It might be expected, therefore, that D'Herbelot's account of these spiritual princes, and their subjects, would be full of interest, and it is so. Amazed himself at their magnificence, he paints, but with a diffident hand, the glories of Bagdad, Damascus, and Samarah; the pomp and luxury of the princes who inhabited them; their palaces, libraries, retinues, and armies.

The picture which D'Herbelot has given, from Oriental writers, of the manners of the Tartars, agrees, as M. Galland observes, exactly with that anciently drawn of the same people by Quintus Curtius; their simplicity, their candour, their sentiments, their contempt of ambition, and, in short, their whole manner of life, remaining still unaltered. But were we disposed to convert our notice into a naked table of contents, it would still be impossible to enumerate the rich materials of so vast a work, which contains no less than eight thousand six hundred articles; to convey a general idea, however, of what is to be found in it, in addition to what we have already spoken of, we may briefly mention that it gives an ample account of the wars of the Caliphs and of the Ottoman Sultans with the Greek Emperors; of the Crusades; of the Musulman religion, its schisms, heresies, sects, and the wars these have carried on against each other; the doctrines they have professed; their agreement or disagreement with the Koran; the biography of Musulman sheikhs or saints; of its doctors, lawyers, philosophers, mathematicians, historians, physicians, poets; as well as that of every kind of writers on sciences or arts that have ever flourished in the East.

In general, it is customary in Europe to look upon the Orientals as nations overrun entirely with barbarism and ignorance; and less civilized than we, they undoubtedly are. But,