tranfmiffion in a fcolding match. The late doctor R. F. when he first fettled in this country, brought over a wife and a numerous, family not one of whom, except his eldeft fon George, knew a word of English. It was not long before mifunderftandings arofe between the miftrefs and the fervants; and one morning a lodger in the house was witnefs to the following feene:-Mrs, F. ftood at her chamber door, the maid at the ftair foot, and George, upon the landing-place. The lady, in harth Teutonic, thundered invectives, which George tranflated in their paffage, My mother fays you are a thief, and a flut, and a naughty woman The wench, in an equally loud key, retorted that her miffres was a liar, a flanderer, and fo-forth; which George, with the fame fidelity, and in the fame calm unvaried tone, tranflated to his mother. Thus the dialogue was diveted of all the acceffary violence of speech and gefture, and paffion foon fubiided for want of fuel I fhould fuppofe that the difcaffions of plenipotentiaries by means of interpreters enjoy a fimilar advantage; otherwife, the mutual complaints of rough and uncivilized people might be apt to bring their refpective agents to blows. Yours, &c. L. the cooling efficacy of a medium of of age. He is a Kejer, an inconfi. derable tribe in the neighbourhood of Tahiran, and of no repute before the acceffion of Aga Mohammed Khan to the throne of Perfia. Indeed, during the reign of Kerim Khan they were in general difrepute, nothing being more common than the lowest people of the Bazar refus ing to fell them any article, on the plea that they had nothing fit for a Kejer fufficiently bad and vile. But now, owing to the very great partiality the king evinces for his tribe, they have become the most confiderable people in the kingdoin; and the naine of Kejer is detefted and feared in every part of the empire of Perfia. All the refponfible trufts are conferred upon them, and the prefent gover nor of Ispahan, and of the district of Irac, was elevated from his former fituation of a feller of greens to his prefent flation merely because he was a Kejer. 4 1 The manners of the king are faid to be very dignified, though at the fame time very affable and prepoffeffing; and he is allowed to poffefs all the exterior accompliments of a Perfian In his perion he is fuperior to most men; and the immenfe length of his beard (a gift highly valued by the Perlians) is a perpetual theme of difcourfe and admiration. He has been engaged in no military enter prife, and in confequence at this the public opinion denies him the only Perfian virtue, courage*. His an nual expeditions towards Khorafan are made with the view of engaging the attention of his fubjects, and accaftoming his troops to the fatigue of actual fervice, but without the fmalleft defign of attempting the reduction of that province. The greateft blemish in his character is the murder of Haji Ibrahim, who had regarded him as a fon, and had evinc N 0 T E. I have frequently heard the Perfians fay, that the king did not deferve the throne because he had not won it by the fword. ed O N Ei The intercourfe which the prefent ruler of France appears anxious to open with Perfia, and which he feems in fome degree to have obtained, probably with a view to an attack on th British poffeffious in the East Indies, cannot but give an additional interest to any information relative to this country or its fovereign. ed for him the affection of a father. It is faid that the minifter ufed to take greater liberties than the extent of his fervices allowed; but I know of no excufe which can palliate fuch barbarous inhumanity. The court of Tahiran is faid, by thofe who have had many opportunities of judging, to be very magnificent and fplendid, and in every refpect becoming the fovereign of an extenfive and flourishing empire. When the king receives any one in ftate, his fons, who are very numerous, fland in a line from the throne his minifters and officers of state behind them; and the avenues are perhaps more than two thoufand golamfhakis fumptuoufly clothed. The mafter of the ceremonies introduces the ftranger, and every thing is con ducted with the greateft decencyand folemnity. Permiffion to be feated in the prefence of the king is only granted to ambaffadors, and envoys from foreign ftates, and to, I believe, the Shaik al Iflum, as the chiet prieft of the Milem religion. The king fometimes wears his regalia; and by allowing the rays of the fun to fall upon him, I have heard it was impoffible to behold him with any degree of steadiness. His jewels are fuppofed to be fuperior to any potentate's in the world: indeed it would be furprifing were it otherwife, as he is poffeffed of all the valuable jewels in his empire. The king's eldeft fon, Mir Ali Khan, is an enterprifing young man, much efteemed by the foldiers; and as his illegitimacy deprives him of all hope of peaceably fucceeding his father, it is difficult to fay what the intrigues of difcontented noblemen might notexcite him to attempt. He has frequently declared to the prefent king, his father, that the fword fhould either fecure or deprive him of N E. His family amounts to above fifty, fveral of whom were born on the fame day. the throne; and that it was his determination to overcome the obftacles that were placed in his way. Such is the fituation of princes in a defpotif, that it is the only means they have of preferving their lives; and in the event of the king's death, Perfia will again be deluged with blood; for as the princes are the governors of various diftricts in the empire, they have each the means of afferting their claims to the throne. REVIEW. Remarks on a Charge delivered by the Bishop of Durham, to the Cler gy of his Diocefe.-Coyne, CapelStreet. DR. SHUTE's charge has been the fubject of much animadverfion in England. There have been three anfwers to it published already, which are at this inftant reprinting in Duislin, and which will fhortly be publifhed together-one by the rev. mr. Le Mefurier, another by the rev. mr.. Faber, and a third by an anonymous clergyman of his lordship's own dio cefe. It is not for us to enter on the arena of polemical divinity-we difcharge our duty to the publie by noticing publications of the intereft and bearing of the prefent, without obtruding our own private opinions on either fide. The venerable bishop of Durham ftands high in public confideration as a divine and a philofopher. His prefent opponent is of no mean prowefs. There is much candor in the fol lowing remarks, (a candor which we with it was in our power to enforce among all religious difputants) and for that purpoe we felect it equally as a fpecimen of the mind as the file of the author. • The man who embraces a religious opinion from conviction has un doubtedly a right to maintain it by argumen argument. But truth will be his firft prelate. Each affertion would be previously weighed, and its accuracy anxiously afcertained. The eruditi on of the audience, the facredness of the place, this fanctity of the epifcopal character, demanded that truth and charity fhould guide and reftrain, the zeal of the preacher. If then in the following pages, I fhall have occafion to complain, that the tenets of ca tholics have been incorrectly stated, and their practices unfairly defcribed, I would not be understood to impeach the fincerity or veracity of the bithop of Durham. But while I applaud the uprightness of his intention, I may be allowed to lament the influence of prejudice, which could conceal the truth from his view, and prompt him to study the doctrine of the catholic church in the writings of her adverfaries. I may regret that he fhould fometimes condefcend to join the company of those misinformed but pofitive writers, who, Without the care of knowing right from and principal object; and the chain- his wrong, Always appear decifive, clear, and ftrong. Flings at your head conviction in a lump, The charge, which I purpose to review, was delivered in circumftances peculiarly folemn. It was addreffed to the numerous clergy of A VIRTUOUS parent, whilst the diocese of Durham, in a temple taking leave of his fon on the eve of dedicated to the worship of the moft his departure for a diftant land, exhigh, and from the pulpit, the oracle claimed: All I ask of you, my of truth. On fuch an occafion, we fon, is to bring back with you the may justly prefume, that no un- fame fet and expreffion of features.' guarded word would be permitted to drop from the mouth of the learned I will give my life that yonder man is a rafcal,' exclaimed Titus, pointing to the priest Tacitus. I faw him weeping and fobbing three times, when nothing could cause a tear to flow, and turning his face away to hide a fiile when vices or calamities ORIGINAL Anecdotes. N O T E. Thus when the duke of York asked archbishop Sheldon, if it were the doctrine of the church of England that Roman catholics were idolators? he answered, that ' it was not ; but that young men of parts would be popular, and fuch a charge was were mentioned.' the way to it.' Burnet, Hifiory of his own Times, anno 1673 |
