"I have redde through your Persian Tales[105], and have taken the
liberty of making some remarks on the _blank_ pages. There are many
beautiful passages, and an interesting story; and I cannot give you
a stronger proof that such is my opinion, than by the _date_ of the
_hour_--_two o'clock_, till which it has kept me awake _without a
yawn_. 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 our _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 105: Poems by Mr. Gally Knight, of which Mr. Murray had
transmitted the MS. to Lord Byron, without, however, communicating the
name of the author.]

* * * * *

To The Bride of Abydos he made additions, in the course of printing,
amounting, altogether, to near two hundred lines; and, as usual, among
the passages thus added, were some of the happiest and most brilliant in