The history of the caliph Vathek Author:William Beckford Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: preface " prosaic grandeur will bear reading even after the astounding and sublime gloom of Milton and Dante, from the latter of whom the image of the hearts ... more »for ever devoured by flames is no doubt taken. As a work of imagination, full of a gloomy colouring, which is not, and an aimless tyranny which is, truly Eastern, and as the last of a long line of a class of stories, formerly so popular that Pope says of Phillips, that he " Turned a Persian tale for half-a-crown," Vathek is deserving the popularity it has gained, while the fervour of its composition, and the verve of its too careless style, will always preserve it. To make our volume as complete as possible, we add the characteristic preface to the third French edition by the author, and for the same reason we have added the exhaustive though somewhat pedantic notes to the first edition by Dr. Henley. chapter{Section 4of VATHEK, ninth Caliph of the race of the Abassides, was the son of Motassem, and the grandson of Haroun Al Raschid. From an early accession to the throne, and the talents he possessed to adorn it, his subjects were induced to expect that his reign would be long and happy. His figure was pleasing and majestic ; but when he was angry one of his eyes became so terrible, that no person could bear to behold it, and the wretch upon whom it was fixed instantly fell tack- ward, and sometimes expired. For fear, however, of depopulating his dominions and making his palace desolate, he but rarely gave way to his anger. Being much addicted to women and the pleasures of the table, he sought by his affability to procure agreeable companions; and he succeeded the better as his generosity was unbounded, and his indulgences unrestrained, for he was by no means scrupulous, nor did he think with the Caliph Omar...« less