BABEL REVIVED. 
165 
as follows: French first; every body learns French, as a mat¬ 
ter of course. The Italian is more difficult, because of the 
great variety of terminations to the same word, and the ex¬ 
traordinary number of conventional phrases ; it is one of the 
easiest to acquire to a certain extent, so far as to answer the 
ordinary purposes of traveling ; the pronunciation is simple ; 
but it is one of the most difficult to become master of, so 
as to read Dante, Petrarch, and all the great poets. Many 
who speak it fluently in ordinary conversation, can not even 
translate a paragraph from a newspaper. The Spanish is of 
more difficult pronunciation, but less arbitrary in its construc¬ 
tion. In two years, any person of ordinary capacity can, by 
Study and constant practice in the society of the native pop¬ 
ulation, speak these three languages fluently. The modem 
Greek is more difficult, and requires a much longer time to 
be acquired. The Turkish is not considered difficult, com¬ 
pared with other Oriental languages. To carry on an ordin¬ 
ary conversation requires no great study ; but to speak and 
write it grammatically, and especially on any but common 
colloquial topics, is altogether another matter; it is then one 
of the most difficult. The Persian is considered the richest 
and most beautiful, and at the same time one of the most 
difficult. The Arabic is the study of a life-time. So many 
new sounds are necessary to be mastered, such a complexity 
of grammatical rules overcome, that none need hope to acquire 
even such proficiency as to read and speak it at all in less 
than five or six years ; and it is seldom or never spoken by a 
foreigner with the fluency of the native Arabs, even the low¬ 
est castes, who roll it out with a rapidity and volume, and a 
violence of gesticulation and utterance quite astonishing to a 
civilized ear. 
Among the most pleasant recollections of my three weeks’ 
sojourn in Constantinople, is a ride from Therapia, on the 
Bosphorus, to the waterworks of Belgrade, in company with 
Mr. Marsh, our Minister. During my stay in Therapia, I 
had the pleasure also of forming the acquaintance and enjoy¬ 
ing the kind hospitality of Mr. Brown, Secretary of the Amer¬ 
ican legation. To both of these gentlemen I am indebted 
