comes a sedere (sit); but in the general dialect of the Arabs it has an opposite meaning, namely, of ‘dancing' or of leaping up.' Besides, in the answer of the king, the (Arabait) is ended with the letter

(T), which the Arabs are accustomed to indicate by (the second or soft H); it seems also to savour of Syriac."

These examples, produced by Dr. Pocock to show a closer resemblance between the Hamyaritic dialect and the Hebrew language than between the latter and the cleansed Arabic, indicate, I think, that the resemblance was not to the primitive Semitic, early Hebrew, or Syriac, but rather to the debased Hebrew of a later period. Several customs in practice among the Arabs in Yaman would seem to have been introduced by Jews after the Babylonian captivity; for example, that of throwing people into a furnace of fire, as practised by Thu Nowâs; and in like manner words and phrases may have been interchanged and accepted. The Hamyaritic dialect was used more exclusively in Yaman and by those petty kingdoms who were tributary to the Tobaa, and, it is probable, gradually departed more and more in the course of time from the primitive language originally spoken by Yaarab and Joktan, and latterly became assimilated to Babylonian Hebrew and Chaldean, until it passed away before the sweeping influence of the Koran.

The Arab historian Jellaladi accounts for the greater

eloquence of the cleansed Arabic over the other dialects from the following cause (and here it must be noticed he speaks of dialects as of many, not of the Hamyaritic only. These dialects were probably those spoken by the various families which migrated from Yaman, each or most having some slight modification according to the period at which they departed from their mother country, and varied again as to what intercourse they might have with the Arabs of Hijaz who spoke the cleansed language of Ismail. It would be wrong to suppose that the Koraish tribe alone spoke the cleansed language of Ismail, for all the tribes in Hijaz equally trace their descent from Adnân, the descendant of Kidar, Ismail's son): viz. that the Koraish tribe were the custodians and keepers of the temple at Mekka, and inhabited the centre of Arabia, and thus were not only more removed from other nations, and therefore avoided contracting a vitiated speech, but were able to collect and adopt all the most chaste phrases from those Arabs who were in the habit of flocking to Mekka for religious worship.

But the retention of a pure speech is owing, I think, principally to another element, namely, the desert tribes. The causes would be similar but far more marked. They are really the inhabitants of the centre of Arabia, and are the furthest of all removed from other peoples and the chances of contracting a vitiated speech. To them do the Mekkans and others resort to acquire the Arabic language in its pure form, and to obtain a just pronunciation. To the exclusiveness of the Badaween

is to be attributed the purity of the language, and, I think, also in a great measure its copiousness, for the almost innumerable names for one and the same object might well be derived from a people of very vivid imagination and of great appreciation. Having much time for contemplation, the lively wit and quick perception of the Badaween would readily make apt and appropriate comparisons, and the varied attributes of a subject would speedily be adopted as so many designations. Be this as it may, it is an undisputed fact that the Arabs of the great tribes of the desert, among whom reading and writing is almost unknown, possess and speak the purest and softest Arabic. That they have retained it and not acquired it from others must be apparent. It is acknowledged on all hands that Arabic as spoken by the Badaween is purer, and the pronunciation more precise and softer, than as spoken by the inhabitants of towns. The peculiar flow and softness of the speech of the Badaween cannot fail to strike all who have had the opportunity of hearing them speak. Mr. Lewis Burckhardt, in speaking of the Arabic language in his "Travels in Arabia," says :-" At Mekka in common conversation the original language of the Koraish is retained. Some neighbouring Badaween tribes, especially those of Fahn and Hadheyl, use a dialect still more pure and free from provincialism and grammatical errors. In pronunciation the Mekkans imitate the Badaween purity; every letter has its precise and distinct sound." The same author particularly mentioned the ancient custom being kept up of the sons of the

Sherifs at Mekka (the princely family) being sent to be educated in the desert by the Badaween, to acquire their pure language and hardy habits and riding. The custom, he says, is very ancient. Mohammed was educated among foreigners, in the tribe of Beni Sad, and his example is continually quoted by the Mekkans when speaking of the practice still usual among the Sherifs." The same author states that the advantage of this education is to be seen in after life, by the free noble bearing, truthful and moral habits, and generous character of those who have been so brought up.

Mr. Burckhardt also says, in speaking of the Arabic language generally, that "the pronunciation of the Badaween of Arabia is the best, of the Mekkans and the people of Hijaz next, that of Baghdad and Yaman next in purity."

When it is considered that the Arabs have been preserved as a distinct people for some four thousand years, with an unbroken history extending from the Flood to the present time, it is difficult to believe their preservation should not be for some purpose, and that there should not be a future for this great, free, and, with one single exception (the Israelites), most remarkable people in the world.

GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE ARABS.

Kingdoms, kings, princes, lords, and Tobaa have passed away, as also the great empire established by the successors of Mohammed, but the Arab nation still

M