of Persian words, that I was able, with very little difficulty, to read the fables of Pilpai which are translated into that idiom; the Turkish contains ten Arabick or Persian words for one originally Scythian, by which it has been so refined that the modern kings of Persia were fond of speaking it in their courts: in short, there is scarce a country in Asia or Africa, from the source of the Nile to the wall of China, in which a man who understands Arabick, Persian, and Turkish, may not travel with satisfaction, or transact the most important affairs with advantage and security.
As to the literature of Asia, it will not, perhaps, be essentially useful to the greater part of mankind, who have neither leisure nor inclination to cultivate so extensive a branch of learning; but the civil and natural history of such mighty empires as India, Persia, Arabia, and Tartary, cannot fail of delighting those who love to view the great picture of the universe, or to learn by what degrees the most obscure states have risen to glory, and the most flourishing kingdoms have sunk to decay; the philosopher will consider those works as highly valuable, by which he may trace the human mind in all its various appearances, from the rudest to the most cultivated state; and the man of taste will undoubtedly be pleased to unlock the stores of native genius, and to gather the flowers of unrestrained and luxuriant fancy.[1]
- ↑ Want of encouragement, as the Author has already remarked, has made it impossible that works of this kind could hitherto be produced to any considerable extent. Of late, however, a project has been set on foot, and carried into execution, principally by the zeal and intelligence of Colonel Fitz Clarence, by which every Oriental work of value and interest not yet published, is likely to be brought before the British Public. See a Report of the Proceedings of the first General Meeting of the Subscribers to the Oriental Translation Fund, London, 1828. Editor.
