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PREFACE.
 

ceited abettors will declaim against this beneficial in¬
novation, is very probable, but a similar outcry has
been the concomitant obstruction of every discovery or
reformation, among the sons of adam, since the crea¬
tion of the world to the present day; i cannot there¬
fore expect more indulgence than my predecessors in
similar walks of improvement and reform, nor shall i
feel less sanguine of ultimate success, than the most
fortunate of them have done, when the practical
utility of my past, present, or future labours has had
time to be diffused among the best judges of their
merits, i despair not of converting those even, who,
on a superficial view of the subject, would be the first
to oppose every attempt of the kind, from one re¬
flection, i cannot avoid deriving the most heartfelt sa¬
tisfaction, and it is this, that if my efforts to facilitate
the acquisition of hindoostanee and persian, through
the medium of an improved typographical system,
prove successful, all the oriental languages may, and
probably will, derive much advantage in the same de"
partment, which has hitherto proved the grand stum¬
bling block, against a rapid progress in the eastern
tongues, to all europeans who have devoted their time
to such pursuits, those scholars who have properly
studied the several alphabets in the story-teller, will
readily comprehend the nature of the present observa¬
tions; and although the transition from this easy and
practical scheme of exhibiting the hindoostanee or per¬
sian tongues to the common very inaccurate method,
may at first prove somewhat troublesome, a little ex¬
ertion Will soon overcome every obstacle, because the
knowledge or experience previously gained must insure
a beneficial and cheering result.