TIFLIS.
Frontispiece.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED,
ST. JOHN’S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL ROAD. [iii]
TO
PROFESSOR JAMES BRYCE, M.P.,
These Notes are Dedicated
(By permission),
WITH HEARTFELT GRATITUDE AND PROFOUND RESPECT.[v]
There were four of us—two Frenchmen, anItalian, and an Englishman. We had ridden from Damascus to Baalbek, andhad seen the ruins; after dinner, we were lying on heaps of cushions onthe floor, in a hostelry little known to Europeans. For some minutesthe bubbling of our narghilés was the only sound that broke thestillness of the night. Then the ex-cuirassier spoke out in a strongvoice—the voice of a man accustomed tocommand—“Gentlemen! I propose that we solemnly pass a voteof censure on the late M. de Lamartine.” “Bravo!” wasour unanimous cry; and the vote was carried