'Narrative of a journey to the site of Babylon in 1811, now first published: memoir on the ruins; with engravings from the original sketches by the author: remarks on the topography of ancient Babylon, by Major Rennell; in reference to the memoir: second memoir on the ruins; in reference to Major Rennell's remarks: with narrative of a journey to Persepolis: now first printed, with hitherto unpublished cuneiform inscriptions copied at Persepolis: by the late Claudius James Rich, Esq., formerly the Resident of the Hon. East India Company at Bagdad. Edited by his widow.' [‎142] (230/474)

SECOND MEMOIR ON THE
position of the existence of a more recent town,
merely for the purpose of getting rid of the diffi
culty, cannot be allowed in the absence of all histori
cal and traditional evidence, when the appearance
of the ruins themselves is decidedly against it. And,
finally, the descriptions of the ancient historians may
be reconciled with the present remains, without
having recourse to any such conjectures.—When a
person ventures to disagree with such a writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. as
Major Rennell, it behoves him to state his reasons
very particularly. I shall therefore proceed to deve
lop the opinions which I have just stated.
Before we enter on any topographical inquiry in
which we have to reconcile observation with history,
—if we consider how different are the talents re
quired for narrative and description, how numerous
are the sources of error, and how devoid the ancients
were of that minute accuracy and patient research
which are required in this critical age,—so far from
taking their accounts of places and positions in the
strictest and most literal sense of which they are
susceptible, we might allow them a very consider
able latitude, without calling their general veracity
in question. Instead of making this allowance,
however, writers have too frequently seemed to
expect a precision from the old historians in their
accounts of very remote places, which could only
be reasonably looked for in the treatises of professed
topographers; and to have tried the very scanty
accounts w r e have of many ancient places by a