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    S8 TflE LEADER. [No. 305, Saturday

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    A PILGRIMAGE TO MECCAH. rersotutl Narrat...

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    Smith; O'Brien's 3meditations. Principle...

    less in comparison with a venomous epigram ; but when a writer cannot be epigrammatic , how much we owe to him for not trying to be venomous ! A remarkable characteristic of Mr . O'Bjien ' s speculations is their tendency to optimism . Though a free Reformer , his maxim , in general , is " all for the best ; " which , in essence , is Mr . Macaulay ' s . Mr . Macaulay habitually brings his reasoning to this point—that the right thing was done , at the right time , by the right men ; and that , had it been done before , or by other persons , it would hare been wrong , could not have lasted , and would have prevented many good things from coming to perfection . Mr . O'Brien , though he does not say so , regards the future with a placid eye , and believes that , when happy changes come , they never come an hour too late . Premature innovations , he says , are always futile and often disastrous . " Witness the establishment of a Commonwealth , which led to the adoration of a restored dynasty , with its

    bad passions exasperated ; the adoption of universal suffrage in France , which resulted in an act of national prostitution . True , but the attempt to found a perfect republic in England came after , and resulted from the attempt to establish an irresponsible tyranny . The successive convulsions in France were caused by the successive encroachments and perpetual perfidy of her rulers . Universal suffrage was the folly of the French republic , but it was the last resource of a nation that had seen a Monarchy crushed , and a Constitution rotted away . " The many" commit crimes and errors , but " the many " never received the impulse or obtained the power , unless * ' the few" had done worse , and broken down at the end of the gaine . To illustrate the opinions enforced by Mr . O'Brien , we will quote a passage on the value of a national , as contrasted with a royal arniy * " Social order itself , " he remarks , " maybe purchased at too dear a rate . " " He continues : —

    The right to bear arms is one of those fundamental rights , upon which the liberties _ of a free people rest . In a well-ordered community , the ocoasions may be rare in which an individual has occasion to protect his " person from violence ; but such cases may occur , and when they occur , the tardy interference of the authorities often comes too late to repel the menaced wrong . For personal protection , thereforey every man should be allowed to-possess arms . If he make an improper use of these arms , let him be severely punished ; but the apprehension of ian occasional outrage is no sufficient reason for disarming a whole community . * The use of ai-ms by the population at large is the beat security that a nation can possess against subjugation by a foreign foe . "When a peopDe rely exclusively upon & standing army for protection , then if that army be vanq-uished in a battle , orin a siiccession of defeats , no alternative remains except submission ; but . a people accustomed to the use of arms , and courageous in spirit , may rally after a hundred defeats aa » d recover its freedom .

    Nor is it alone against foreign foes that a nation ought to be prepared to defend its . liberty . The minister or sovereign , who desires to enslave a people , naturally wishes to deprive them of the means of resistance . Insurrection is an alternative to which a nation should , be slow to resort ; but tie fear of such , a contingency ought to be ever present to the minds of those who design to enslave a country . A patriotic legislator , therefore , -will encoTirage rather than repress ^ , disposition on the part of the people to possess arms , and to learn their use . The liberties of England are due to the maintenance of this right , which is secured , as a part of the constitutional system of England , by the Bill of Rights . The liberties of America b

    - were acquired y the use of the rifle , handled by brave men . The liberties of Switzerland were acqxiired , and have been maintained , by thejossession of arms , and by a manly determination , to use them in the hour of need . Such popular rights as are to be found among the nations of the Continent are . secured by the practice of training to the use of arms , as a national guard or militia , a large proportion of the population . On the other hand , England strives to deprive the Irish of the use of arms , because she desires to keep that nation in a state of subjection ; and because she remembers that when Ireland possessed in the Volunteers of 1782 , a military organisation , of a national character , the interests of Ireland ceased to be sacrificed to those of England

    This is spirited , logical , and not common place- Mr . O'Brien ' s volumes , though composed , in a large proportion , of elementary generalisations , contain many other passages equally sound and vigorous .

    S8 Tfle Leader. [No. 305, Saturday

    S 8 TflE LEADER . [ No . 305 , Saturday

    A Pilgrimage To Meccah. Rersotutl Narrat...

    A PILGRIMAGE TO MECCAH . rersotutl Narrative of a FUjrimage to El-Meilnah and Meccah . By Richard F . Burton . Lieutenant Bombay Army . Vol . IIL J Longtnau and Co . The third volume of Lieutenant Burton ' s Pilgrimage to the holy cities of the Moslem faith has at length appeared . Though containing much interesting matter , it is inferior in many points to the preceding portion of the narrative . The most important chapter , —that containing the description of the Bait ] j < Lr * Iou 8 e of God—is copied textually from Burchardt , illustrated , indeed , by . copious and very valuable notes . It would have been as well , howeveif the

    r , Latin notes had been omitted in a work intended for the gene * al reader-. We do not deny that the subjects thus noticed are held in high esteem by physiologists , but they are certainly out of place in a book likely to find its way to the drawing-rooms of delicate-minded women ; and , at the present day , the Latin language is no barrier to female curiosity . Our fair readers are , therefore , cautioned against attempting to decipher any notes not written , in the vernacular . Our author is , moreover , addicted to the weakness ot displaying bis polyglot attainments , at times when his native " tongue would ata o ° - > convev his meaning . He ought riot to have laid himself open to M , feaintino a sarcasm , that " one may bo a fool in several lansuacres : " a

    jjenuwk founded on a sounder knowledge of mankind than Charles-Quint ' s dictum , that a man who knew five languages was five times a man . But lAquteuant Burton's error may be traced , not to folly , but to a bad habit very PWaJent among Anglo-Indians , of interlarding their conversation with vneatal words and expressions . Were it possible that men should ever gatn-er together with a view to construct one common tongue , no doubt they «? £ ¦! 5 ^ Ceed on Borae such P lan fts dovetailing the choice idioms and phrases S £ fm ! . i ® " * P ? P < But « *» that event is not very probable , at least in S nr , rr > ' Mfl rai 2 ch to be desired that writers should abstain from nil doTSidof - " iKE * ? f P cdantry an <* affectation . Language never fails a -JLffi ! 2 ftvte WWW * - 1 h of "Mr . Burton ' s narmtive in a Kreat mca ^

    of tlTe ^ UdTriW of 5 ? r ^ lt' * ii 8 de «<^ Ption of the character nnd manner * JlTj ^ JSrSK i * *** P wtic « l « Ay interesting ; and he Iim the good sense to accept the vulgar naine of Bedouin , thouglf ho docs not omit to

    remind his readers that this is the plural form of Badawi , an adjective de rived from Badu , " a desert , " and that consequently it is ungrammatical t <» speak of " a Bedouin . " The Arab races of Ismaelitish origin occupy onlv the Sinaitic Peninsula . They exhibit an admixture of Egyptian blood anil are mentioned in Eastern records as half-caste Arabs . Another foreign race are the Noachians , a Chaldean family , described as purely Caucasian and of a highly nervous temperament . The original stock was sub-Caucasian and may still be traced in the province of Mahrah and along the coast between Muscat and Hadramaut , by their inferior development—' low brows and ill formed noses , irregular lines , black skins , and frames for the most part frail and slender . " The national type , however , is of a high standard . A loftv broad , and retreating forehead ; long , bushy , crooked eyebrows ; a small ' restless , fiery , deep-set eye ; the nose generally aquiline , but not unfre ' quently straight as the Grecian ; the lips either too thick , or formine a merP

    line ; a well and strongly-made chin ; short , white , regular teeth ; a pensive expression of countenance 3 often combined with much dignity ; middling stature ; a spare frame , but square and sinewy ; hands and feet coarser than a Hindoo ' s , but more delicate than a European's ; the thumb sufficiently lone to be prehensile ; and a light , springy gait . Such is the Hejazi of the present day * such were his ancestors when the world was still young , as men reckon time . Strange as it may appear , this type , has been preserved notwith - standing a system of intermarriages . Not only is the union of first cousins permitted , but " every Bedouin has a right to marry his father ' s brothel ' s daughter before she is given to a stranger . " The women of El Hejaz are inferior to the men in personal appearance . Their " eyes are fierce , their features harsh , and their face haggard , " and they soon shrivel up into withered crones . Their social position , however , is quite as favourable as among the ancient Germans , and thus a certain degree of gentleness is infused into the character of the men . Indeed , the Arab has much of the true chivalrous feeling . Though an hereditary robber , he is readv to defend the

    honour and to respect the person of his female prisoner . He loves to hear of deeds of mercy , generosity , and manly virtue . He even knows something of platonie affection , which he denotes by a phrase signifying " pardonable love . " 4 Nor does he " renounce his allegiance to beauty while engaged in . plundering the wayfarer . * ' Strip off that coat , O certain person I and that turban , " exclaims the hi g hwayman , f they are wanted by my lady-cousin . " Nevertheless , matrimony is a commercial transaction . The love-sick swain must wait until his father or himself can-pay in advance one-half of the dower of his bride—for the other lfalf he is allowed a reasonable credit by the lady ' s nearest kinsmen .. The marriage festivities are simple , though noisy . There is dancing and singing and eating of mutton , with a dropping fire of guns by way of accompaniment . A divorce is a matter of much easier accomplishment , provided that the " settlement ' * has not been dissipated , for that must be punctually refunded .

    The Bedouin is strictly abstemious as a rule , though equally prone to the opposite excess in eating when unwonted abundance is before him . Habitually , he is content with ten ounces a day , and that consisting of dry dates , a little milk , and some clarified butter . His favourite repast is a dish of locusts , which are dried four or five days in the sun after being boiled in salt water . " The head is plucked off , the stomach drawn , the wings and the prickly part of the legs are plucked , and the insect is ready for the table . " They are usually eaten hot , with salt and pepper , or onions fried in clarified butter , when they are said to be almost as good as stale shrimps . On journeys , however , the Bedouin indulges in maat cut into strips and sun-dried , together with a bag of milk-balls and a little coffee ; but fermented liquors are unknown except by name . Smoking , however , is very general , though the weed used for that purpose is strong , and unpleasantly flavoured .

    The religious ceremonies practised at Meccah prove that the Mahommedans are by no means free from idolatry . And the Hindoos expressly throw this taunt in their teeth ,

    O Moslem , if thou worship the Kaabah , Why reproach the worsb . ipperB of idols ? Of tlie rites practised at the sacred shrine it is impossible to give an abridged account which could convey any adequate idea of their real character . To the book itself we must refer tlie curious reader for a full description of all that appertains to this sacred duty of a true Moslem . The only fault we can find , if indeed it be one , is that Lieut . Burton is sometimes too minute and elaborate , and thus wearies any but the most determined inquirer after truth . Our waning spap-c , too , bids us to forbear , though we look for an easy pardon for the following extract relative to one of those strange beings who are oftentimes encountered under peculiar circumstances . The scene took place on the road from Meccah to Jeddah : — Before nightfall I was accosted , in Turkiwh , by a one-eyed old fcHo \ v , " who , — " With faded brow , Entronoh'd with many a frown , nn « l comic board . "—

    and habited in unclean garments , was bestriding a donkey fndod aa himself . When I shook my head , he addressed mo in Persian . The same manoeuvre msvdo him try Arabic : still ' he obtained no answer . Ho then grumbled out good Hindustani . That also failing , he tried successively Pushtu , Armenian , English , French , and Italian . At last I could " keep n stiff lip" no longer ;—at cvovy change of dialect his emphasis beginning with " Then who the d aro you ?" became more emphatic . I turned upon him in Persian , mid found that ho had been a pilot , a courier , and a sorvaut to easleru toumts , and that ho had viaitod England , France , and Italy , the Capo , India , Central Asia , and China . Wo tlien chatted in English , -which Hnji Alcif spoke well , but with all manner of courier ' s phrasoaj tlajl Abdullah so badly , that he was counselled a courwo of study . It was not a little curious to hoar auoh phrases ixn " Come * p , Noddy , " and " Ore nom d mi baudvt , " almost within earahot of the tomb oflahmnol , th <© birthplace of Mahoaxmod , and the sanctuary of El Islam .

    Equally extraordinary is the gibberish spoken as good English nt the seaports ol our distant settlements . Every traveller who hus touched at Ceylon will remember the very unusual expressions—to use a mild phrase—there common in the mouths of the Cingalese . Nor can any one rec . ll to mind without a smile the ingenious impetuosity of the < lonkeylx > ys at Aden , for ever crying in alternate strophes , " V « , Sahib ! ya moko ! bloody moko , sahib ! " His scarcely , however , a fitting subject for mini ) , that the earliest foundation of

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 26, 1856, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26011856/page/16/