I

Baalbec, Aleppo, Damascus, &c. I can only remind those by whom I may be, on this account, accused of want of enterprise, that my time was not my own, and that I was not an independent traveller. I was often obliged to console myself for the indispensable abandonment of a projected excursion, by the reflection that, situated as I was, ought rather to be thankful for what I did see, than discontented for what I could not. I cannot enter upon this consideration without acknowledging my obligations to Lord Castlereagh for confirming my annexation to the Embassy, and to Sir R. Liston, British Ambassador at the Porte, for the kindness with which he permitted me to change my official labours for the pleasures of travelling.

The enthusiasm with which the sight of Greece filled me, inspired me with the

warmest interest for its degraded people. On my return from Athens to Constantinople, I zealously applied myself to the study of their language, which delighted me by its similarity to that of their ancestors, a similarity which strikes more forcibly the further we look into antiquity, for some peculiar idioms are used by the modern Greeks which are to be found in Homer, but would be vainly sought in the later poets or historians of Greece; and the works of the more ancient Greek writers contain many words which are still in vogue among the natives of Greece, though they are not to be found in the later Hellenick authors. I was led by curiosity to examine the state of Romaick Literature, and there are few late publications in that language which I did not bring home with me; I once purposed to collect the information which these works might enable me

to acquire on this head, and present it to the Publick: but, fortunately for those whom it interests, my intention has been anticipated by Colonel Leake, whose Researches in Greece, afford much greater knowledge of the subject than I could have hoped to impart.

I cannot pass over in silence the difficulty which I found, where few would suppose any could exist, in expressing to English ears the true pronunciation of the Turkish or Greek names of places and things: in order to give the exact sound, it is frequently necessary to frame a word which bears the most uncouth appearance to the eye, and for this unavoidable inelegance I must repeatedly claim the indulgence of my readers.

With this exposure of its faults, which I am more ready to confess than able to correct, I venture to commit my book to the Publick; but however signally it may fail in

affording information or amusement, let it not be imputed to its author that he has travelled in vain: he has learned from comparison to be thankful that he is the native of a country which, however it may be depressed at intervals by temporary suffering, is undoubtedly the happiest in the world, and to be proud that his birthright gives him a share in the most perfect form of government that ever was administered to the human

race.