. Cyrus. Now by the stars! I did not know that Susa's blades were famed! And bring thee wreaths of laurel for thy bowers, To give the pleasure that thou seek'st to win, An action that can even seem a sin- Araspes. Ah noble Cyrus-that you chide me not Away! The trumpet shall not call in vain! And if Araspes wear a blush again, It shall be with the laurels he has won! I shall make thy heart the temple of my vow That which I now abhor as cowardice! Cyrus. Away then with the band that waits for thee! In truth, Araspes, ill can Persia spare [Exeunt. We see the sluggard sentries sleep! Upon thy marble pavement stone Fly from the Pensile Paradise! Lift up your heads, ye foreign slaves To bondage brought from Judah's land; Redeeming mercy is at hand, And ye shall share your father's graves! Haste to your Temple! raise your hymns Where ye address the Power divine, Prepare to offer at the shrine The broken bonds that bound your limbs. Yet on thy Fortunes, Babylon, The Persian victor, like the Sun, Comes to disperse all forms of fright That have watched o'er thy long dark night. He marches! Where his steps are borne And Tyranny her midnight veil Victorious in his noon of The bright meridian past behold Sweet Peace attends the mellow eve, And happy in that blest reprive How dance the young and smile the old ! BARNY BODKIN. SIR, To the Editor of the Quarterly Oriental Magazine. The general spirit of your publication assures me that you will not exclude from it's pages, any offer at justification whether from, or on the part of those, who have there been animadverted on. IN the leading article of your 14th No. the deficiences that exist in the Lexicography of the three Languages, Arabic, Persian, and English, are remarked on not only with great ability, but in a manner that displays much research and erudition. It is to be regretted however that the ingenious author of those observations, overlooking or but touching lightly on, the almost unsurmountable difficulties that must have presented themselves to Mr. Richardson in his compilation of an Arabic and Persian Dictionary, has lavished on him alone the severity of his criticism. He does indeed offer some palliation for that writer's imperfections, but it wants the energy that he shows in detecting them, if not its cordiality. To follow him thro' the niceties of his objections perhaps exceeds my ability, and is certainly beyond my intention; particularly as I am sensible that they have not been raised either wantonly or vaguely, but only in general where called for. That Mr. Richardson however" appears throughout his works to be constantly afraid that his readers shall learn too much"-" that his Arabic Grammar is a servile translation of Erpenius"-"and that it deserves not the name of a Grammar”. -are assertions somewhat unqualified and hasty. In the preface to the 2d volume of his Arabic and Persian Dictionary, we find the testimony of Major Davy, that the excellence of that work far exceeded the expectations that he had entertained, and that its arrangements were in his opinion (surely a respectable one?) most clear and admirable, and the author of the "Observations" has not denied but that it is copious. The University of Oxford impressed with the stupendous nature of Mr. Richardson's undertaking, alive to the difficulties attending it, and in acknowledgement of those abilities and that indefatigable application that alone could have enabled him to overcome them, conferred on him that honor so seldom and so jealously bestowed "Degree by Diploma." But if these testimonies are not unexceptionable, all severity of criticism must be disarmed by the author's own ingenuous expression of regret that he wanted some of those qualifications that his task required: And when we read his melancholy declaration "that no reward in the power of any man or body of men to bestow, could induce him to tread over again the same unpleasant ground;" When we hear him speak of the fatigue consequent on "stretches of study of sixteen hours duration"-of "unremitting labour and protracted anxiety," we in congratulating ourselves that the work has been completed even as it has been, can indulge but little hope or expec tation that another so qualified will ever enter upon it again, much less perform it better. FOR Mr. Richardson's Grammar, if it is a translation of that by Erpenius, it certainly is not either a servile or a mere one: For you will in vain seek for that copiousness of example in the latter work that enriches the former. That the plan and construction is Erpenius's, will not be denied; but if we except De Sacy, who amongst those who have followed that Grammarian, have not copied from him his method and arrangement? In a work entitled "De Fatis Linguarum Orientalium," from the pen of one of that nation which (as your contributor observes), is so justly famed for it's Orientalists, we find the following eulogium on Mr. Richardson, coupled with similar honorable mention of his cotemporary Sir W. Jones-and with which I shall conclude: "Viris his, duos alios quos Anglia non ita pridem protulit, "Orientalium Linguarum intelligentia egregie excultos, coronidis "instar adjungimus. Jones nempe, et Richardson, qui præstan"tissimis commentationibus suis non in patria tantum sua, sed et "apud exteros, horum studiorum amantiores, insignem sibi famam "compararunt. I have the honor to remain, Madras, May 27, 1828. Sir, Your admirer and well-wisher, SOLITUDE. One autumn eve I laid me down alone That rolled its waters voice-like gently on, Lulled by dark foliage, while a twinkling gleam, Like the hushed slumberer of a mother's love; I heard a tread, so light and soft it's fall It seemed the pressure of some plumaged breast, And time had written on his cold brow, Solitude. R. C. M. |