Note 5 — Chapter I

Lady Hester does not here mean her relations in England. She had another family, adopted by her, in Arabia—the tribe of Arabs called the Koreysh. And, as many individuals, both among the green-turbaned Mussulmans, or Sheryfs, as they are called, the recognized descendants of Mahomet, and among the gentry of Syria who claim alliance with the noble tribes of the desert, were in the habit of frequent intercourse with her, it is to these she probably had announced my expected coming. She had a notion, founded on a very doubtful etymology, that the first Lord Chatham was descended from an Arabian stock, there being a tribe somewhat similar in name still existing among the Bedouins. How she could forget that Pitt was the family name, and Chatham a title of dignity, superimposed, is not clear. But from this tribe of Arabs sprung Melek Seyf, a great conqueror; and, reasoning in this way, Melek Seyf was her ancestor, as tribes, like clans, are all one blood. This story, repeated over and over again, became current among the servants and in the villages; and the maids were accustomed to say, “Yes, my lady, they may be princes or emperors who come to see you, but your descent is higher than theirs—your ancestors were Melek Seyf, and the seven kings.”