Page:Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient Babylonia &c. &c. Vol 1.djvu/15



n offering this narrative to the public, the writer is conscious of no personal vanity as an author; that being a character, in its usual important sense, to which he forms no pretension. During three years' travelling in the East, he kept a regular journal of all he saw worthy observation; and he wrote his remarks with the impression of the moment. From this Diary, sanctioned by opportunities of comparing his own remarks with others, and first with second impressions, he collected the matter of these two volumes; arranging their subjects, without altering their language to give it literary grace; a task that might have been more than difficult to a man who has passed the chief part of his life in foreign countries. Hence, as he lays claim to nothing of what is commonly called style, in writing, he trusts in the candour of his reader to judge him by his pretensions alone; truth, in what he relates, and fidelity in what he copies. A few extracts from a letter with which he was honoured by His Excellency Mons. Olinen, the Russian