1803. ] ’ 
able to raife himlelf from the ftation of a 
fhepherd to the rank of a fage and philo- 
topher? ‘* It is (faid Lokman) by fol- 
lowing exattly thele three precepts, the 
advantage of which cannot, be too Me 
inculcated—Always {peak the truth,with- 
out difguile, whatever be the danger to 
which it may expofe you; keep inviolable the 
promifes which you have made ; and never 
meddle with what does not concern you,’ 
The author of the Zarykeh Mounte- 
kheb aflures us, that in his time the tomb 
of Lokman was ftillto be feen at Ramleh, 
a fmall town in Syria, .not far from Jeru- 
falem. 
Abu Leyth gives Lokman the furname 
ef Abu Anam, “thabis to fay, the Father 
of Anam; hewever, fome writers affert, 
that his elt bore the name of Mathan. 
ut the furname: by which Lokman. is 
the beft: known among the Oriental. na- 
tions, and that which they, generally give 
him, is £l-hakym (or the; wile), and this 
term includes the idea both of wifdom and 
inne 8. that the proverb, “© to teach 
any, thing to Lokman,” is commonly em. 
ployed in the Eaft to exprefs. fomething 
ablolutely impoffible. | 
‘Moreover, the wifdom of. Lokman i ig 
regarded by the Muffulmans as an incon- 
teftable truth, fince it \has the teftimony 
even of the book whence they derive thei - 
The. thirty-firt chapter 
religious | creed. 
oran. is intitled . Surat. Lekman 
of the 
Account of Borda.” | 509 
ope 
eleventh verfe of this ob lee Mohammed 
makes the Almighty {peak in thefe terms: 
‘Oua lekad ateina Lokmana Ubikmeta, 
«And we alfo have siven wifdom to 
Leta 
“In the following verfe, the Prophat puts 
in the mouth of Lokman thefe maxims 
concerning the unity of God, which are 
repeated in almoft every page of the Keo. 
ran: 
“ And Lokman gave this infiruétion 
to his fon—O my fon, affociate no name 
with that of God, for it is a very culpa- 
ble error to fappoie an equal to, the Al. 
mighty.” 
_ Inthis paflage Mohammed ues the au. 
thority of Lokman as a, fupport for his 
own opinions, which thews the high de. 
gree of efteem in which this Fabulilt was 
held by the Arabs, at the time when the 
Koran was made public. This. efleem i is 
not ia the leat diminithed at the preteng 
day, and feveral of the. Muffulman Docs 
tors even give him the title. of ‘Saint and 
Prophet. _ 
In the French eG which [ove 
given of the Arabian text of ‘the Bab 
Pallas 
He in BLE the fenfe ‘of the origt- 
nal, often at the expence of elegagee Of » 
phrafeology 5. and, in fo doing, I oat 
fhall render aie to ftudents- “ine Fh, 
Arabian. tongue, who have hither to. been 
mugh i in want of books accom panig with 
(ihe, Shapers of Lob atae and,,in the, a literal tranflation. i Be ah SMe 
iy 
MEMOIRS | OF. EMINENT PERSONS.” | 
Bisgls) sl éfPores mms) fw 51 ye @ 1O Ae 
ig oeaecounr of BORDA. vORIe 
Tis not one of’ the leatt viene BTS OC 
-currences of the prefenttimes, ' thatthe’ 
ah power of France has been hearly an-| 
nihilated; and that, too} at! 4 period when’ 
her marine had attained‘ the greatettdegree: 
of ‘perfection, Phe nimber, the expert- 
nes, and the bravery of our failors—the 
knowledge, “experience; afid gallantry of 
our soficers—the: nature and pofition of 
our ifland—the' commercial’ fpirit'and the’ 
enterprifing genius of its inhabitants, have 
all centributed to*produce’a'navy hitherto 
unequalled) by -any nation,® oe ancient 
or modern? CU SRBO | : 
Temuft be allowed, haweve i what in 
refpectitw: the theary of fbipping® we have 
been excelled by. our rivals, who have in- 
troduced: fcience into’ their dock-yards, 
and builtytheir men-of-war according to 
geometrical principles, carefully eftablith- 
ing a ratio of proportion not only between 
the timbers® ‘nit feanitli ing of the wet yet. 
fel, ‘butal fo! itlvoughout the ohne ot their 
fleets. 4b eta af beh Be i suet 
vt was by! the aricoutlieetioht of men 
oft talents)’ "and the affiftante of ther’ 
LearfiedGocieties) that’ this-pveat object 
was attained j°a1d no one had aclain to 
a-gréater fhare ‘of eee than ‘the: mere 
of this memoir’ > 
aiCharles Borda, a Mérober: sb thee aN 
Freneh Academy, of che “National” Tati! 
tute the Board of Lonvitude, &c. was! 
bormin 1735, and, after the neceflary pre~ 
liminary ftadies, jentérde: into’ the’ royal 
navy/* In refpect: to his’ defcen it mast 
‘ gilt tel 
PTE, bas been alerted; “without the leatt 
probability, that Bordanwassdefirous to enter 
into thejartillery, but that he was’ réfetted® 
by his future colleague, Camus,: who proud 
nounced him utterly deftitice of therequifite 
attainments. 
ee probably 
