better could be said, we exchanged the compliments of the night and separated.'-vol. i. p. 299-302. In no country of the world are the Jews more persecuted than in Persia. In every look and attitude they exhibit a people in the last stage of degradation; they never appear but to be reviled and insulted. The exteriors of their dwellings bear the semblance more of dens than of houses; and the quarter of the town which they inhabit is left wholly to themselves. They make their doors so low that not even the shortest man can enter without stooping, and this is done to keep out Persian horsemen, who otherwise would not scruple to make a forcible entry, horse and all. They never are known to rise to any post of distinction. No one trusts them. Every one tries to defraud them, and to oppress them. Such a general notion of their situation is all that most travellers arrive at; but Mr. Conolly has been enabled to gratify his readers with a sketch of the interior: -- 'We attended the Jewish synagogue one Saturday, and the Rabbis were so captivated by the Syud's unprecedentedly liberal opinions, that they made a point of showing all that they thought would interest us. The synagogue was a square room, on two sides of which was a gallery, with a lattice screen-work for the women to sit behind. From the centre of the chamber, from the floor to the ceiling, rose four posts, and on steps within these was the altar. Their chanting was in the Persian style, and very discordant; parts of the Old Testament were read in Hebrew, and a homily was delivered in the Persian language. When praying, they turned to Jerusalem, and covered their heads in white mantles; and, at one part of the service, the priest, standing on the altar-steps, held up the Pentateuch, written on large rolls of parchment, and the congregation crowded eagerly round to look on it. It was an affecting sight, this "fragment of Israel," in oriental garb, adhering religiously to the ordinances of their forefathers, amid the persecutions of the most bigoted of a bigoted race. Not a man, they said, had gone out from them. 'After the service, we were shown into a small room, where were preserved with great care more than fifty copies of the Scripture, written on rolls of parchment by devout individuals, who had presented them to the synagogue. Each roll was kept in a case like a drum, on which was a plate telling the name of the donor and the date of the gift; and one copy, we were told, was used in turn every Sabbath. From the synagogue we repaired to the Ketkhoda's house, consisting of a range of double-storied rooms on one side of a neat garden, round which vines were carried on a treillage. We sat on the walk, under the shade of a fine tree; and the Jew, though he would not drink with us, by reason of its being the Sabbath-day, produced some bottles bottles of strong arrack and thin bad wine of his own manufacture, and, seeing that we would only taste it, lest some keen-nosed Mohummudan should scent us, he begged us to take the liquor home to comfort our hearts with at leisure. There was such an air of comfort about this man's house, that he thought it necessary to apologise for it, saying that we saw all his wealth; that formerly the Jews had money, but now, God help them, they had ceased to hoard it, since some extortionate ruler or other was sure to take it from them. 6 We became very intimate with this people, and in many of their houses I observed much to contradict their outward appearance of poverty. On one occasion I was invited to a wedding in their quarter. At evening I was introduced to a company, who were seated in a square, on a broad terrace, having before them trays containing burnt almonds, pistachio nuts, and confectionary, and flasks of arrack, which they drank from small cups, in such immoderate quantities that I expected to see them lose their senses; but it merely appeared to have the effect of exciting them. The seat of honour was kept for the bridegroom, a most uninteresting youth, who, looking very much ashamed of himself, entered with a boy on either hand singing a discordant epithalamium, and when he had taken his place next to his father at the head, the company severally complimented him. Meat and broth was then brought in, and when it had been partaken of, health was wished to the bridegroom and to his father, the host, bumpers of arrack were tossed down, and some of the company got up one after another, and danced a ridiculous sort of pas seul. It was next proposed to sing, and some of the best performers being called upon, sang from the Psalms of David very sweetly. The audience were frequently moved to tears, and once, when a young man sang a psalm, which by Mehdee Beg's translation I knew to be that (even in our language) most beautiful one," By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion," they sobbed aloud. They were all somewhat under the influence of their potations, but men in their situation must ever be affected by the beautiful words of the Psalmist, and it was easy to believe their grief sincere. In the height of the entertainment came a loud knocking at the door. In the early part of the evening the darogha had sent for some arrack, for medicine, but as he required a large dose, it was refused him. He therefore now sent his myrmidons to put a stop to what he called the disturbance in their quarter, as it was the night of a Mohummudan festival. A little money sent the officers away, and, shortly after, the bride being brought to the house with music and torches, and a large attendance of female friends, the party broke up.'-vol. i. pp. 304-30s. We think the following observations are well worthy of attention at this time, when a thousand symptoms of change are so apparent among many nations of the unchanging East': 'It is to be lamented that the Persians are so far removed from the knowledge of the enlightened Word, for, could it be spread among them, them, it would at least be rapidly extended-that already excited spirit of inquiry, which now loses itself in infidelity, would lay hold of truth, were it taught the true principles by which to discern and prove the same. The Mooselmauns, as argued Sir W. Jones, are already a sort of heterodox Christians;-they believe much that we do; they have much of our Scripture, and, in their ignorance, sincerely think that we have corrupted the rest. Now, the Korân can no more bear an impartial comparison with the Jewish Testament than the licentious tenets that it inculcates can stand before the purity and charity of the Gospel precepts; and our endeavours should be to impart to these people the doctrines of sound reason and logic, and lead them to the comparison; but to convert the natives of Persia by our Scripture, we should give them every incitement to read it, and not only translate from the original, so as to preserve the similarity of idiom which runs through all eastern languages, but not insist upon a strictly literal translation, when, fully preserving the sense, we can express a sentence more beautifully. Except the Arabs, no people are more susceptible of the beauties of language than are the Persians, and they will not read what is written in a hard style. I humbly conceive that, to obtain a correct translation of the Old Testament, we should get the assistance of a Persian Jew. The descendants of Israel, who live in Irân, retain their own language, and some of their moollâs not only acquire a classical knowledge of Persian, but become skilled in Arabic; and one of these would have a heart in the work, which no Mohummudan assistant well can. I think, also, that we might look to the theological writings of the Mohummudans for a style of translation. During the Mohurrum at Meshed, the lecturers read from an Arabic work passages which appeared greatly to affect the multitude. The book was composed by Hossein's son, Allee Awsut, Zein-ul Aubideen; it is entitled "Sahifa Sajjadea,"-"The Book of the Adorer," a name by which Allee Awsut was designated, or "Sahifa Kamila," "The Full or Perfect Book." It is written very much in the style of the Psalms of David, consisting of lamentation for sins, adoration of God, and entreaties for his mercy; and doubtless many idioms and expressions might be borrowed from it to suit a translation of our Psalmist's verses.' -vol. i. pp. 334-336. We recommend the following spirited, sketch to the notice of the reader. It is full of truth, and describes with singular aptness the style in which our countrymen and their manners are discussed by Orientals in conversation with each other. Twenty-five miles to Sultanpore. Three miles before the latter place was the small walled town of Nohshehera, where, halting to rest a little under the shade of a tree, we fell into conversation with a Persian stranger, who, according to what we could discover of his condition, was a gentleman of the Zand family, travelling pour se distraire. In two minutes Keraunut Allee and the stranger became as old friends, cracking their jokes, and complimenting each other on their wit: a little persuasion induced the traveller to turn his pony's head, head, and go back with us one stage, and I do not remember many pleasanter evenings than this which we passed in his society. Khoosroo, as the stranger styled himself, was a tall, very handsome, and good-humoured looking man, with a beard worthy of one who claimed descent from a late royal family. He was the very figure of a true Persian, yet I think that I should recognize him again in any part of his own country. He had travelled through Toorkestaun, part of Affghaunistaun, and the Punjaub, and was full of very entertaining anecdote relating to his travels. From the little he had seen of English society at the outposts of Loodeeana, he undertook to describe the ways and means of the Feringees who ruled over India, and if his remarks were severe, they were very amusingly made. "The Feringees," he commenced, " are, I beg leave to represent, by no means a pleasant people to be among; for they have nothing to say for themselves, and considering that they are unbelievers, have more damaugh" [pride, or self-sufficiency] "than enough. One of their sirdars, learning that I was a great traveller, sent to invite me to visit him; so I went, and saw a grave little man, who was very civil, but as khooshk" [dry, stiff] (6 as a stick: he seated me on a chair near him, and gave me tea, which, I beg leave to state, they make deliciously; he then asked me whether I had not visited this and that place, and when I answered bulli" [yes]"he rejoined, 'Ha!' We sat thus for some time; first came in one captân, and then another captân; they looked at me and at each other, and every now and then delivered themselves of a syllable or two; while one man was pacing up and down the room as if he was possessed. At last some of them gave their hand to the master of the house, and went away; so I thought I might as well take leave also. I have learned, that formerly these men were a small tribe of merchants, servants to the kings of this country, but now, maledictions on their fathers! they have it all their own way. The secret of their tale is this: They have information of everything that passes everywhere, and they make the most of the news. If two men quarrel about a country, they step in to adjust the dispute, and turn both out. It is a pity we had not the land! Ullah! how rich some of those fat Lahore idolaters are! "Soldiers, I request permission to observe, the Inglis are not; though no doubt they are great merchants and shrewd people. For a long time they paid us some crores a year, to keep the Oroos off them; but old Suleiman there has enough to do to keep them off himself, and the Feringees having been acute enough to see this, no longer waste their money. They say, Abbas Mirza has married the Imperatoor's daughter! Is it true? These are wonderful times! we were kings the other day, and now I am— ―let me remember-ay, Khoosroo Sha, sometimes compelled to hide my religion, and beg civility from a set of dogs like-what is the happy name of your friend the peer there asleep? Muheen Shah, Moobârik bâsh, Muheen Shah, (aside,) if you and a curse be upon you if you are asleep!" hear me, • We We parted the next morning. Keraumut Allee was as sorrowful as if he was about to separate from a brother, for it was long since his heart had been gladdened with so much khoosoobut, [pleasant converse,] and when we had marched on some distance, he broke a long silence by exclaiming, "Hei Irân! Irân! your people may be rogues and liars; but I swear you are such pleasant companions that one would live among you on any terms!"-vol. ii. pp. 278-282. We think the whole of Lieut. Conolly's remarks included in the section headed Overland Invasion of India,' well worthy of attention. It is clear that India can never be taken by a coup de main and that it will require a succession of years before Russia could sufficiently advance into the bowels of the land' to master any secure position from which to direct ultimate operations, and upon which her forces, if any disaster befel them, might retire. To organise such an invasion would require the talents of a chief, such as perhaps has never yet been known in Russian military history; and to lead it on to success, amidst all the, wiles of the numerous tribes through which it would have to pass, checked by the great difficulties of procuring food, assailed by the vicissitudes of climate, and after all, with the certainty of meeting troops just as well disciplined, better accustomed to the climate, and with gigantic resources of all sorts about and behind them, would require the head of a Cæsar, a Buonaparte, or a Wellington. On the whole, we strongly recommend this book, as containing much amusement and information. ART. III.-History of Roman Literature, from the earliest Period to the Augustan Age, in 2 vols. 8vo. 2d Edition, 1824; and during the Augustan Age, in 1 vol. Svo. By John Dunlop, Esq., Author of the History of Fiction.' WRITERS on the History of Roman Literature' have added greatly to their own labours, and to the fatigue of their readers, by endeavouring to trace the language of the Romans up to its remotest origin. Now Rome, it is confessed, was formed of the colluvies of savage tribes. What, then, could be its earliest language but a barbarous jargon? But these tribes, it is said, were either a part of the Tuscan nation, or had been united, by conquest, under its dominion. And of what was the Tuscan population composed?-of all that the ocean, from the east and south, had vomited on their shores, and that the mountains had poured down in torrents from the north; for, concerning the numerous sources to which different theories have exclusively re ferred |
