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THE ORIENTALIST;

OR,

LETTERS OF A RABBI.

No I.

Introduction-The Rabbi's Account of himself-His Studies and Pursuits-Remains of the Ancient Library of Alexandria.

To my friend, beloved as my soul, he is Wilfred Waverley, Doctor of Laws, the great story-telling Rabbi of the Western World, I, Ishmael Nobilius Oleander, the son of Solomon, (remember to bless,*) have written this epistle.

Ever since I saw the Prospectus of

your admirable Miscellany, most respected Wilfred, and which

This form is used by a Hebrew always after mentioning the name of his father, if he be deceased.-ED.

A

was accompanied with a kind letter from yourself, I have had a most pungent desire for cultivating your acquaintance. The admired productions of your pen reached me in this our city of Alexandria about a year ago, through means of my excellent friend, Mr Abraham Karkass, merchant, who is a native of the great city of Morocco.

Whilst travelling lately through the western parts of the world, for the sake of traffic, Mr Karkass visited London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, York, Leeds, and other great cities, with the view of acquiring any thing remarkable that could be procured, either in the way of merchandise or literature. When my friend Abraham, in the course of his eastern peregrinations, came last year to Alexandria, he gave me a very entertaining account of every thing curious that he had met with during his travels in Great Britain. He described very fully to me the situation, appearance, and extent of the grand metropolis, London, which, he assures me, is a vast city, of not less than five days' journey; compared with which, the city of Alexandria, or Haleb,*

* Aleppo.

or even Misr,* the capital of Egypt itself, may be looked upon as nothing. According to his account, it is indeed as large again as Nineveh,† that great city, which is described as having been "exceeding large;" and hence, he says, some have given to London now-a-days the descriptive cognomen of BABEL HAGIDOLAH, which means, when interpreted, "Babylon the Great.”

With regard to Edinburgh, my friend Abraham was very particular in informing me of all its beauties; but especially in respect to its wonderful advances in literature, of which I was indeed surprised to hear, notwithstanding that its fame had partly reached our quarter of the world long before, chiefly through means of a book called a Review, which bears the title of "The Edinburgh," and of which I may have occasion to speak more particularly hereafter. This city he called the "Jerusalem of the North," and, according to his description of it, I think he

Cairo, which is denominated Misr, in Arabic, from the ancient name of Egypt, in Hebrew Misraim, -ED.

+ We think the learned Rabbi is a little out of his arithmetic here; but, however, we shall let that pass.-ED.

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