PREFACE. THERE were four of us-two Frenchmen, an Italian, and an Englishman. We had ridden from Damascus to Baalhek, and had seen the ruins after dinner, we were lying on heaps of cushions on the floor, in a hostelry little known to Europeans. For some minutes the bubbling of our narghiles was the only sound that broke the stillness of the night. Then the ex-cuirassier spoke out in a strong voice-the voice of a man accustomed to command Gentlemen I propose that we solemnly pass a vote of censure on the late M. de Lamartine. Bravo was our unanimous cry and the vote was carried, nemine contradicente. A rider was added, to the effect that poets should be discouraged from writing books of travel.......