6 OCTOBER 1888, Page 3

We regret to notice the death of Mr. Gifford Palgrave,

author of "Central and Eastern Arabia," the most remark- able of a remarkable family, who missed in part his true career. He was essentially an Oriental with the European brain, courage, and devotion to his work. He had a positive genius for exploring, diplomatising, and, as we think, ruling in Asia; but he only got one full chance, his mission for Napoleon in Arabia, which produced his magnum opus. The rest of his life was rather wasted, first as a Jesuit priest, and afterwards as an agent of the Foreign Office, which employed him everywhere, except in the parts of Asia he so thoroughly knew. England had need be rich in men when, having secured Gifford Palgrave as a servant, she sent him to Guiana, Siam, the Philippines, or Montevideo, anywhere except to Constan- tinople or Damascus.