The conclusion is not quite correct in _costume_: there is no _Mussulman
suicide_ on record--at least for _love_. But this matters not. The tale
must have been written by some one who has been on the spot, and I wish
him, and he deserves, success. Will you apologise to the author for the
liberties I have taken with his MS.? Had I been less awake to, and
interested in, his theme, I had been less obtrusive; but you know _I_
always take this in good part, and I hope he will. It is difficult to
say what _will_ succeed, and still more to pronounce what _will not_.
_I_ am at this moment in _that uncertainty_ (on your _own_ score); and
it is no small proof of the author's powers to be able to _charm_ and
_fix_ a _mind's_ attention on similar subjects and climates in such a
predicament. That he may have the same effect upon all his readers is
very sincerely the wish, and hardly the _doubt_, of
Yours truly, B.
[Footnote 1: Henry Gally Knight (1786-1846), who was with Byron at
Trinity, Cambridge, and afterwards distinguished himself by his
architectural writings (e.g. 'The Normans in Sicily,' 1838), began his
literary career with 'Ilderim, a Syrian Tale' (1816). 'Phrosyne, a
Grecian Tale'; 'Alashtar, an Arabian Tale' (1817), was followed, after a
considerable interval, by 'Eastern Sketches' (about 1829-30). If the
manuscript of the first-mentioned volume is that to which Byron refers,
he seems to have changed his mind as to its merits (March 25, 1817):
"I tried at 'Ilderim;'
Ahem!"]
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