only from all parts of the Ottoman Empire, but also from the Crimea, Siberia, Arabia, and North Africa, and hardly ever did a Moslem, or Dervish, or merchant pass Budapest without coming to see me to assure me of the sympathy of his fellow-countrymen. The Mohammedans of India[1] were particularly friendly, on account of my relations with the Sultan, and invited me to give lectures in some of their towns, an invitation which tempted me very much, as I was rather curious to see the effect of a Persian speech delivered by a European among these genuine Asiatics. An open letter to the Mohammedans of India did much to strengthen these friendly feelings, and if it had not been for the sixty years which weighed on my shoulders I should long ere now have made a trip to Hindustan. FOOTNOTE: [1] See Appendix III. At the English Court CHAPTER X AT THE ENGLISH COURT In proportion as my works found consideration in the most obscure parts of the Old and of the New World, their effect in Europe was felt even in the highest Government circles, and it is not surprising that the travelling staff and the pen brought the obscure author into contact with sovereigns and princes. In England, where, in spite of the strict rules of Court etiquette, the genealogical relations of the self-made man are not considered of such great importance, my ardent defence of British interests could not be overlooked. After the appearance of my book, _The Coming Struggle for India_, I was invited by Queen Victoria, whom I had already met on the occasion of my stay at Sandringham with the Prince of Wales, to visit her at Windsor, and the reception this rare sovereign accorded me was as great a surprise to the world in general as it was to me. It was in the year 1889, on the occasion of my stay in London, that I received a card bearing the following invitation.-- THE LORD STEWARD has received her Majesty's command to invite PROFESSOR VAMBÉRY to dinner at Windsor Castle on Monday, the 6th May, and to remain until the following day. WINDSOR CASTLE, _5th May_, 1889.