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Reviews of A Narrative of a Year's Journey through Central and Eastern Arabia, 1862-63 by William Gifford Palgrave, Published 1865 [‎17v] (34/42)

The record is made up of 1 file (21 folios). It was created in 1865. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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212
Palgrave'5 Arabia,
pretext, but in reality (so said universal rumour) at the instigation of
a competitor for his post, seized one day while on his return homeward
from the castle, thrown down, and subjected to so protracted and so
cruel a fustigation that he expired on the morrow/
Of the preaching in the central seat of Wahabee orthodoxy,
which our author appears to have diligently attended, he does
not seem to have a very favourable opinion. He says—
c Of morality, justice and judgment, mercy and truth, purity of
heart and tongue, and all that makes man better, I never heard one
syllable during a month and a half of sermon frequentation in this
pious capital. But of prayers, of war against unbelievers, of the
rivers of Paradise, of houris and bowers, of hell, devils, and chains,
also of the laws of divorce, and of the complicated marital obligations
of polygamy, plenty and to spare. Nor should I omit a very frequent
topic, the sinfulness of tobacco, ay, and that confirmed by visible and
appalling judgments, curiously resembling those which a spirit less
Christian than Judaical introduces occasionally into European books
of edification.'
One cannot help feeling desirous to learn the result of such a
complete identification of the spiritual and temporal government
as could hardly be found anywhere else unless in Rome. These
are the terms in which Mr. Palgrave sums up his views on that
subject:—
4 Meanwhile poor morality fares little better in this pharisaical
land than in Burns's Kilmarnock, or Holy Fair. True, lights are
extinguished an hour or so after sunset, and street-walking rigorously
inhibited; while in the daytime not even a child may play by the
roadside; not a man laugh out. True, profane instruments of music
disturb not the sacred hum of Coranic lectures, and no groups of
worldly mirth offend serious eyes in the market-place. But profligacy
of all kinds, even such as language refuses to name, is riper here than
in Damascus and Seyda themselves, and the comparative decency of
most other Arab towns sets off the blackness of Eiad in stronger and
stranger contrast. " A government which, not content with repress
ing scandalous excesses, demands from its subjects fervent and austere
piety, will soon discover that, while attempting to render an impossible
service to the cause of virtue, it has in truth only promoted vice," is
one of the many just remarks of a well-known modern author. In
fact, most of what Macaulay observes on this very topic in his
" Critical and Historical Essays," whether his theme be the Rump
Parliament and Puritan austerity, or the hideous reaction of immo
rality under the reign of the latter Stuarts, may be almost literally
applied to the present condition of the Arab kingdom of saints, while
it foretells a future inevitably not remote/
But let us accompany Mr. Palgrave to the streets and markets
of Riad, and take a look at its motley population :—
4 At

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Content

Three published reviews of Palgrave's Arabia , one from a journal and two from newspapers:

  • Pages 182-215 from the Quarterly Review which contained a review of Palgrave's Arabia (ff. 2v-19). The review is undated but is believed to be c.1865.
  • Press cutting from the Friend of India of their review of 'Mr Palgrave's journey through Arabia'. The Press Cutting is undated but is believed be c.1865.
  • Press cutting from the Times of India , 4 November 1865 of an article entitled 'Central and Eastern Arabia' which reviews Palgrave's book.

The publication which the reviews relate to:

William Gifford Palgrave, A Narrative of a year's journey through Central and Eastern Arabia 1862-1863 (London, 1865)

Extent and format
1 file (21 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: This file has been foliated in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio with a pencil number enclosed in a circle.

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English in Latin script
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Reviews of A Narrative of a Year's Journey through Central and Eastern Arabia, 1862-63 by William Gifford Palgrave, Published 1865 [‎17v] (34/42), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F126/68, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023318133.0x000023> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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