MEMOIRS OF LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 3 vols. post dressed as she was, on her mattress behind the curtain which 8vo. 17. 11s. 6d.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE, the niece of Mr. Pitt (renowned "for ruining his country gratis"), and the grand-daughter of the great Lord Chatham, was one of the most extraordinary, and at the same time one of the most useless, characters of the age in which she lived. The sway which the rich and the noble can exercise in England over the poor and the humble, was not enough to satisfy her inordinate love of power, and therefore she retreated to the Fast, the land of despotism, that she might rule over slaves, and spend, upon that one selfish gratification, the pension, which in such cases is said to be allowed by government, but which, in fact, is wrung out of the hard earnings of the people in the shape of taxes. But a village or town, even in Syria, had too much freedom for her:

"She chose to dwell apart, and out of the immediate reach of that influence and restraint, which neighbourhood and society necessarily exert upon us. Arbitrary acts may lose at a distance some of their odiousness, or admit of being explained away. Servitude also becomes more helpless in proportion as it is removed from the means of escape or appeal. Mar Elias, at Abra, where she had previously resided six or eight years, was scarcely two miles distant from Sayda; so that her servants, when they were tired of her service, could abscond by night, and take refuge in the city; and her slaves, rendered low-spirited by the monotony of their existence, could at any time run away, and secrete themselves in the houses of the Turks. By removing to Joon, she cut off their retreat; for a poor slave could rarely muster courage enough to venture by night across lonely mountains, when jackals and wolves were abroad; or, if he did, by the time he reached Sayda, or Beyrout, or Dair-el-kamar, the only three towns within reach, his resolves had cooled, the consequences of the step he had taken presented themselves forcibly to his mind, or there was time to soothe him by promises and presents; all which palliatives Lady Hester Stanhope knew well how to employ."

Even in the most common arrangements she could do nothing as others do; she rose at five o'clock in the afternoon and went to bed at the same hour in the morning, the day's business never beginning until sunset.

"But it must not be supposed that the servants were suffered to remain idle during daylight. On the contrary, they generally had their work assigned them over-night, and the hours after sunset were employed by her ladyship in issuing instructions as to what was to be done next day; in giving orders, scoldings, writing letters, and holding those interminable conversations which filled so large a portion of her time, and seemed so necessary to her life. When these were over, she would prepare herself to go to bed, but always with an air of unwillingness, as if she regretted that there were no more commands to issue, and nothing more that she could talk about. When she was told that her room was ready, one of the two girls, Zezefoon or Fatoom, who by turns waited on her, would then precede her with the lights to her chamber.

"Her bedstead was nothing but planks nailed together on low tressels. A mattress, seven feet long and about four and a half broad, was spread on these planks, which were slightly inclined from head to foot. Instead of sheets, she had Barbary blankets, which are like the finest English ones, two over her, and one under. There was no counterpane, but, as occasion required, a woollen abah, or cloak, or a fur pelisse would be used for that purpose. Her pillow-case was of Turkish silk, and under it was another covered in coloured cotton. Behind this were two more of silk, ready at hand, if wanted.

"Her night-dress was a chemise of silk and cotton, a white quilted jacket, a short pelisse, a turban on her head, and a kefféyah tied under her chin in the same manner as when she was up, and a shawl over the back of her head and shoulders. Thus she slept nearly dressed.

"As it had become a habit with her to find nothing well done, when she entered her bed-room, it was rare that the bed was made to her liking; and, generally, she ordered it to be made over again in her presence. Whilst this was doing, she would smoke her pipe, then call for the sugar-basin to eat two or three lumps of sugar, then for a clove to take away the mawkish taste of the sugar. The girls, in the mean time, would go on making the bed, and be saluted every now and then, for some mark of stupidity, with all sorts of appellations. The night-lamp was then lighted, a couple of yellow wax lights were placed ready for use in the recess of the window; and, all things being apparently done for the night, she would get into bed, and the maid, whose turn it was to sleep in the room (for, latterly, she always had one), having placed herself,

ran across the room, the other servant was dismissed.

"But hardly had she shut the door and reached her own

sleeping-room, flattering herself that her day's work was over, when the bell would ring, and she was told to get broth, or lemonade, or orgcat directly. This, when brought, was a new trial for the maids. Lady Hester Stanhope took it on a tray placed on her lap as she sat up in bed, and it was necessary for one of the two servants to hold the candle in one hand and shade the light from her mistress's eyes with the other. The contents of the basin were sipped once or twice and sent away; or, if she ate a small bit of dried toast, it was considered badly made, and a fresh piece was ordered, perhaps not to be touched.

"This being removed, the maid would again go away, and throw herself on her bed; and, as she wanted no rocking, in ten minutes would be sound asleep. But, in the mean time, her mistress has felt a twitch in some part of her body, and ding ding goes the bell again. Now, as servants, when fatigued, do sometimes sleep so sound as not to hear, and sometimes are purposely deaf, Lady Hester Stanhope had got in the quadrangle of her own apartments a couple of active fellows, a part of whose business it was to watch by turns during the night, and see that the maids answered the bell they were, therefore, sure to be roughly shaken out of their sleep, and, on going, half stupid, into her ladyship's room, would be told to prepare a fomentation of chamomile, or elder flowers, or mallows, or the like. The gardener was to be called, water was to be boiled, and the house again was all in motion. During these preparations, perhaps Lady Hester Stanhope would recollect some order she had previously given about some honey, or some flower, or some letter-no matter however trifling-and whoever had been charged with the execution of it, was to be called out of his bed, whatever the hour of the night might be, to be cross-questioned about it. There was no rest for anybody in her establishment, whether they were placed within her own quadrangle, or outside of it. Dar Joon was in a state of incessant agitation all night."

Unbounded as was her love of teazing, it was fully equalled by her love of talking. So long as she continued awake, her tongue never knew a moment's repose, her passion for talk appearing to be as involuntary and unavoidable as respiration. She would go on for eight or ten hours at a time without moving from her seat, yet all the time her tongue was anything but the frank interpreter of her thoughts; it seemed rather to be given to her on Talleyrand's principle, to conceal them. Then, too, she believed in fatalism, in witchcraft, in charms, and the influence of the stars, was convinced that maniacs were actually possessed by an evil spirit, and stoutly argued that "what the Greeks and Romans believed in must be as good as what other people believed in," though it does not appear what particular part of their creed she meant to defend,— whether the augury by birds, or the various Gods of the Pantheon. Having thus discarded the lights of European philosophy, it was only in keeping when she abandoned its garb and habits to adopt the dress and manners of the Turks, setting all the conventional forms of the Western world at naught. But dark as this picture is, it nevertheless has its bright side; if she was imperious, she could be kind and generous, and so indomitable was her spirit that neither the European consuls on the coasts, nor any of the native powers dared, after a time, to offend her. Thus she persisted in remaining within the principality of the Emir Beshyr, the reigning prince of the Druses, her determined enemy, defying all his power, though there was nothing whatever to chain her to the spot, and he was certainly one of the most perfidious, as well as blood-thirsty tyrants that ever governed a Turkish province. Perhaps, too, we may be allowed to reckon it among her merits, that she was too imperious and high-minded to be a hypocrite, and was much less likely to be shocked by actual vice than by the false assumption of virtue.

Such was this extraordinary woman, as she appears by her own acts and letters, and by the concurring testimony of her friendly biographer, who had been for years her physician, and seems to have possessed as much of her confidence as she granted to any one. No romance ever surpassed the every-day incidents of her life, the very truth of it being more improbable than the fictions of many others. These alone would be sufficient to render this work one of no common interest; but the charm of it does not rest here; it abounds in anecdotes of the illustrious characters that seem to have passed off from this earthly scene, as it were but yesterday-of the great Chatham,

8

of William Pitt, his son, of Fox, of Sir Walter Scott, of Lord | THE STATUTE LAW RELATING TO RAILWAYS IN ENGBute, of Mehemet Ali, of Thomas Moore, and many others; while all the leading events, both of the field and the cabinet, that occupied Europe for the sixty or seventy years preceding the general peace, are revived in these pages, but in the language of familiar intercourse. In fact, it is a moving panorama of all that is most interesting in the times gone by, blended with the scenes and characters of Eastern life, that are painted with a vividness and truth far beyond any modern book of

FOUR cantos, in the old heroic couplet, detailing how Maro writes a poem-how he consults a friend upon its merits, and is dissatisfied with his criticism-how he in vain seeks for a pub-process of time she dies, leaving two daughters behind, to whom lisher, and at last gives his poem to the world at his own expense—and finally, how the critics treat him unkindly, and the public more unkindly still, for, like the publishers, they decline to purchase.

NARRATIVE OF A MISSION TO BOKHARA IN THE YEARS | and not to aid in deluding them into this notion, as I perceived many I came among the Mohican tribes near 1843-1845, TO ASCERTAIN THE FATE OF COLONEL well-intentioned people did. New York, and asked them, "Whose descendants are you?' They STODDART AND CAPTAIN CONOLLY. By the Rev. replied, 'We are of Israel.' I asked, Who told you so?' and exJoseph Wolff. D.D., LL.D. 2 vols. 8vo. 11. 5s. pected to learn much ancient tradition. To my great surprise, they Few books of modern times will be found to contain more said, 'Mr. and Mrs. Simons, of Scotland.' I asked, 'What did your food for reflection than this narrative of Dr. Wolff. How ancestors tell you about it? All our ancestors told us that we were analogous is the angel history of the Guebres to that of the born under the earth, and a woman among us looking out of the earth was taken hold of by a spirit; and that spirit led us up to the surface Jewish how similar to the rites of Vesta! how like to that of the earth; and there we lived in peace until the white men came, early adoration when the Jews bowed to the luminous by whom we were subdued.' Shechinah of the Lord! how inextinguishable the customs of the East! Even now

"The judges sit under the gate, the' disciples of the learned pour water on the hands of their masters, the Jews swear by the Temple of Jerusalem; and Jew, Christian and Muhammedan, by their heads; the bride is awakened by the screams of other women, exclaiming, The bridegroom cometh;' torches are carried before her at midnight; the war about wells, as in the time of Moses and Jacob, still subsists in Yemen ; the lamentations over a nurse are also continued: the names of people are still given to indicate the events of the period; the king bestows a name significative of his employ on his minister; the lepers sit outside the gates of cities; bad vines are called Vines of Sodom; holy places are approached by putting the shoes from off the feet; the scarf is wrought on both sides; the Rechabite plants no vineyard, sows no seed, lives in tents; the Derveesh, like the Nazarite of old, still makes vows that no razor shall come upon his head; barren women still perform pilgrimages to holy places, and this state is held in abhorrence, as in ancient time; Armenian women vow, like Hannah of old, that if they receive a son, he shall be devoted to God; cities of refuge for the shedder of blood unawares, still subsist, and the person guilty of blood must flee with his family, like the first murderer, to other places."

"Many of their customs, besides words in their language, and their physiognomy, rather seem to me to betray a Tartar race. Thus, for instance, they have the word Kelaun, Great, which is also used in the same sense at Bokhara. They have nine as a favourite number, which the Tartars also have. The Türkomauns also play on a flute in a melancholy strain around the tent of their beloved mistresses, and the Indians adopt a similar fashion."

All this, it must be observed, is a very slight and insufficient sketch of an exceedingly amusing narrative; but as it only serves at best as a sort of prologue to the principal topic, we have not felt ourselves justified in entering into it at greater length. It was now that after another short residence upon a curacy in England in peace and quiet, that he put a letter into the Morning Herald, offering, if provided with the necessary funds, to go to Bokhara, for the purpose of ascertaining the fate of Captain Conolly and Colonel Stoddart. The consequence was a visit from Captain Grover, who stated that he himself had offered to proceed at his own expense, and had been refused the only security he required for his safety, viz., a letter from government, and permission to wear his uniform, "and yet Colonel Stoddart was on a direct mission from the home instructions to aid the Colonel in Bokhara, the latter being government, and Captain Conolly from that of India, with

The first chapter opens with the early life of Dr. Wolff, his entrance in the Collegio Romano, and then the Propaganda, at Rome, his banishment thence for speaking against many prac-fully authorised to claim his services at any period." After tices in the Church, his conviction during his retirement in Switzerland that his sentiments differed from those of the Papacy, his consequent journey to Cambridge, and his finally becoming a member of the church of England. We then find him upon his first mission for converting the Jews in Palestine, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Krimea, Georgia, and the Ottoman empire. The next labours among his brethren were in England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, and the Mediterranean, from 1826 to 1830, the four following years being occupied by journeyings in the East, duly seasoned with the usual ingredients of oriental travel, such as plunderings, bastinadoings, putting out of eyes, and cutting off of heads.

But as the conversion of the Jews to Christianity seems to be the whole and sole object of his existence, he has scarcely returned to England ere we find him setting off upon another mission, coursing through Africa and Asia, wherever a Jew could be found, and finally crossing from Bombay to the

much doubt and trouble, a sufficient fund was at length raised
by the exertions of Captain Grover, and the indefatigable tra
veller set out upon his perilous mission. Arrived at Constan-
tinople, Doctor Wolff appears to have received every attention,
both from the resident ministers and the Turkish authorities.
The Sultan himself wrote to the Ameer of Bokhara, recom
mending him to release the Englishmen if they yet lived,
and also to the king of Khiva, urging him to recommend
the missionary to the king of Bokhara.
this, he was provided with letters from the Sheikh Islam to the
Mullahs of Bokhara, of Khiva, and of Khokand; as also from
the Reis Effendi to the Pashas of Trebizond and Erzroum, and
the General-in-chief of the army at Erzroum.

In addition to

At Trebizond he hears that the supposed captives are not only alive at Bokhara, but that Stoddart under the name of Abdul Samut Khan commanded the artillery, and that Conolly acted subordinate to him as his kiaya. Thus encouraged, he goes on, lecturing by the way, and picking up some extraordi

United States of North America. Here he lectures in the Tabernacle on the personal reign of Christ, and after the necessary examination he is ordained deacon by the bishop of Newry anecdotes. Amongst other things he tells the following story of a certain derveesh residing in the village of Kob: Jersey.

The question, so much mooted of late both in Europe and America, "whether the Indians spring from the Ten Tribes of the Dispersion," of course was most likely to take the notice of one so devoted to theological controversy, and as this is a point of general interest, we shall give his opinions on it in his own

words:

"With respect to ancient tradition, the rule of Vincentius Lirininsts, though not infallible, is one of the best criteria. What has always been believed, by all, and everywhere.' This is not traceable in the Indians. They have not at all times, and in all places, and all conjointly affirmed, We are the Ten Lost Tribes of the Dispersion.' On the contrary, they know nothing of any such tradition. I trace no remarkable affinities in their language to lead to such a conclusion. Nor are the rites among them, quoted as analogous to the Jewish, sufficient to justify this conclusion. I am sure all nations will be found connected with the Jewish, as the great centre of spiritual worship, all rites will be found in their uses and abuses, to maintain somewhat of the great principles inculcated in the Jewish law; but I am not prepared, from such grounds, the result of a common origin from the first parents, to affirm them all to be necessarily descendants from the lost tribes, because, in sooth, no other hypothesis suits the reigning taste.

"When the Sultan Murad was returning from his expedition to Persia, he came to this village; and meeting that derveesh, he took On their him with him to Constantinople in order to meck at him. arrival at Stambool, that derveesh was bold enough to reprove openly the monarch on account of his tyranny, for which the Sultan, in his wrath, ordered him to be put into a fiery furnace, from which, however, the holy man came out untouched. The Sultan, perceiving by this that he had to do with a real man of God, took him into his treasury, and told him that he should take out of it whatever he pleased. The derveesh selected a girdle and a book, at which the Sultan was much surprised, and asked him why he had not taken money; he replied that he was not in want of money, but requested the Sultan that he should permit him to return to his native village, and there bestow upon him various fields and meadows for his and his descendants' benefit. The Sultan, gratified at his moderation, gave him the grant of his request by a firmaun, which secured to him and his heirs the village of Kob free of tribute. After his return to his native village he commenced husbandry, and prospered. He had a wife, who used to take his food in the field to him; and he also had a daughter, who went on a certain day to take her father's food to him; on her arrival in the field she discovered that the plough used by her father was drawn by griffins, and the harness was of snakes and serpents. She returned home and related what she had witnessed, which so annoyed her

"People who have a preconceived favourite system, try to main-father that he offered up a prayer that no female of the family should tain it ad outrance, and think they see it realised when nothing of the kind in reality exists. Worthy people in America desired me to travel about with them, in order that I might convince the Indians of their extraction from the Jews; but this was putting the argument the wrong way. I wanted the Indians to convince me of their origin,

ever arrive at a marriageable age. The second generation is now living, and they have never been able to rear a daughter beyond ten years old, but they have 'sons. The descendants of this good derveesh still occupy the village. They have built a college, and every person in the village of Kob knows how to read and write. They

have abolished smoking, as an idle habit, and there is not a pipe to
be seen in the village. Sixty men are residing in the village above
the age of eighteen, and the rest are composed of females. The head
of the village, Sheikh Abd Ullah, grandson of the above hol
veesh, is now performing a pilgrimage to Mecca; he himself y der
this his story to Mr. and Mrs. Redhouse."

He is now detained for many days at Erzroum by the snow, which had completely blocked up the roads, and even when at length he does set out, his journey is evidently one of no little danger. At one time he is forced to hire a couple of Armenians to drag him and his horse through the drift, besides being half-starved by the Kurds, who even for money would scarcely give him anything to eat. On another occasion, after toiling through bad roads and storms, he at length arrives at a miserable Khurdish village, when his two carasses are obliged to beat a Kurd before they can convince him of the necessity of affording them a shelter in his house, a proceeding which seems perfectly agreeable to our excellent missionary's notions of justice. What would the Bishop of London say, if the poor natives of the East, who wander in our streets, were to adopt the same travelling principles, and when the rain begins to fall, knock at his palace-door to demand shelter, under pain of the horsewhip in case of his refusal? Some excuse, however, may be made for the Doctor's Robin Hood ideas of meum and tuum in the difficulties that attend the traveller in this country, where man seems to have made so little preparation against the rude assaults of the elements. A scene, such as this, may well create a confusion in the clearest and steadiest brain :--

"A cold air prevailed, which penetrated my large boots, given to me by Colonel Williams, under which I had two pair of stockings. Suddenly I perceived an awful rising of the sand, so that I was forced to rub my eyes and shut my mouth. It soon increased terribly, with the snow falling from the mountain peaks; and at this juncture my mehmoondar called out, Külagh!' but, most fortunately, after ten minutes the kalagh ceased, the air grew warmer, and the snow fell gently in flakes from heaven. Had the külagh lasted longer, I should have been hurled down a precipice from which I was about twelve yards distant, but had not observed it. We rode on after this at fuil gallop, and arrived safely at Turkman-Jaa, where we stopt the night."

It would be useless following our missionary step by step through the remainder of his journey, interesting as it no doubt is, and just as little shall we stop to notice those various reports that were constantly meeting him as to the fate of those who were the object of it. The only thing that need make us pause on the road to Bokhara, is the Doctor's opinion on the question, "Will the Russians be able to march into India ?" This being a subject of the highest political importance, it may be worth while to give his sentiments in regard to it at some length:

"I believe that the Russians can march with great ease through those countries. It will be asked, Why were they not able to do so in 1838 and 1839, when they intended to march against Khiva? answer, that, in order not to involve themselves in war with the Kings of Khokand, Bokhara, and Shahr-Sabz, they intended to make the whole route through the desert from Orenbourgh to Khiva. Probably they also did so, in order to show to England that they had no design on Bokhara and Khokand, but only to get redress for the insults they received from Khiva, But if once they are determined to make themselves masters of those countries, nothing is more easy for them than to march from the frontiers of Russia to the city of Hazrat Sultaun, or Türkistaun. Hence to Khokand, and, with a few thousand troops, insure Samarcand and Bokhara; and the people, disaffected as they are with their respective governments, will not fire a shot. Nothing can resist in these countries a well-disciplined artillery and cavalry; and the body of the army may march to Khokand, to Cashgar, and Caslimeer, and thence come down to Lahore and India. Not one shot would be fired, for the people of Cashmeer would receive them with open arms, and at Lahore the British army would meet them, and then the strongest would have it. And also there much will depend upon whether the people of the Punjaub are affected or disaffected to England. Or they may go from Khokand to Kondas and Khoollom, thence to But-Bamian; and if they keep friends and promise liberty to the Guzi-Bash from the yoke of Dost Muhammed Khan, and Akbar Khan, they will obtain a powerful body of auxiliaries. And as the Guzl-Bash in Afghanistaun have been most shamefully abandoned by the British army after the retreat of Lord Ellenborough, they certainly will join the Russians.

that whole war a gross act of imprudence, Lord Ellenborough ought
to have ordered the troops to stop there five years after they had
reconquered Cabul and Ghuznee. The shout of the Affghaun nation
at seeing the English return was, 'These Englishmen are like birds
flying in the air, nothing can be done with them;-they are more
dangerous after defeat than victory-we must submit.' The Guzl-
Bash also would have taken fresh courage, and have stood by them
to a man.
but by the sudden retreat the poor Guzl-Bash have been left a prey
Christianity might have been established among them,
to the vindictiveness of the Affghauns. Meer-Ali-Nake, as his letter
from Shakespeare proved to me, had assisted most gallantly the Eng-
lish people in retaking the prisoners at But-Bamian, in reward for
which he is given over to beggary with thousands of other Guzl-Bash.
There is also a loud complaint all over Affghanistaun, that the English
people did not behave well towards Nawaub Jabar Khan, brother to
Dost Muhammed Khan, who was the greatest friend to the English
before the war, so much so that even to this moment Dost Muhammed
Khan frequently asks him in a joking manner, Now, brother, how
are your friends the English going on?' It must, however, be con-

fessed, that nevertheless the name of the Englishman is respected all over Affghanistaun and Khorassaun, as already said, and many of the Saddoo-Szeyes still expect to regain their throne by the influence of England.

"It must also be observed, that the Russians have now steamers in the Caspian Sea, and have built a fortress on the shore, not far from Khiva, where they can easily land troops; no power can then prevent them from taking Khiva, and when once Khiva is in their pos. session, they may march to Balkh with the greatest ease; neither the Usbeg nor the Hasara will dream of resisting the Russian army, and thus they may proceed towards India as above stated. The other way for the Russians to advance towards India is to make an alliance with the Assaff-ood-Dowla after the death of the King Muhammed Shah, and march with him through the land of the Hasara, Maymona, and Ankboy, towards Cabul; for it must not be concealed, that the Assaff-ood-Dowla is more favourably disposed towards the Russians than towards the English government, for more attention is paid to him by the Russians than by the English, and he was especially displeased at his not receiving any answer to the letter which he sent through me to His Grace the Duke of Wellington; and it may be asserted with certainty, that all the members of the Royal Family in Persia are more inclined to Russia than to England, and almost all the people in authority, whilst the populace in general are more inclined to England."

The desert is at length crossed, difficulties and dangers of all kinds surmounted, and at length our missionary finds himself at Bokhara, having traversed the latter part of his journey in full canonicals, and with the open Bible in his hand, a regular church militant, who girds on his sword, and indues his regimental ere he sets out upon his campaign. But once arrived at the dreaded Bokhara, he is welcomed with sweetmeats instead of cannon-ball, and, as it should seem, much to his own surprise, is allowed to retain his head upon his shoulders. Indeed he appears to have made something very like a triumphant entry :

"Shouts of Selaam Aleikoom' from thousands rang upon my ear. It was a most astonishing sight; people from the roofs of the houses, the Nogay Tatars of Russia, the Cassacks and Girghese from the deserts, the Tatar from Yarkand or Chinese Tartary, the merchant of Cashmeer, the Serkerdeha or Grandees of the King on horseback, the Affghauns, the numerous water-carriers, stopped still and looked at me; Jews with their little caps, the distinguishing badge of the Jews of Bokhara, the inhabitants of Khokand, politely smiling at me; and the mullahs from Chekarpoor and Sinde looking at me and saying, Inglese Saib;' veiled women screaming to each other, Englees Eljee, English Ambassador;' others coming by them and saying, 'He is not an Eljee, but the Grand Derveesh, Derveesh Kelaun of Englistaun."

Notwithstanding these favourable appearances, it appears for would not experience the fate he dreaded: treachery is evisome time to have been an even chance, whether the missionary dently at work; interview succeeds interview of a very doubtful character; but at length the king fancies that honesty may for once be the best policy, confesses that he ordered the execution of the two British officers, which he excuses on the plea of their bad conduct, and promises that Dr. Wolff shall be allowed to leave his country uninjured. In this there can be no doubt that the despot spoke the truth, though it has been questioned by many; for, in the first place, it was evident he would only have been too happy to have recalled the bloody deed, not from much stir was being made about it, both far and near; this remorse, but from fear of the consequences, when he found so

"1 must also note, that the moment I heard that the English bad invaded Affghanistaun, I wrote from High Hoyland, where I was the curate of the Reverend Christopher Bird, to Lord Hill, the Com-Wolff was told in confidence by the Ameer's own friends and mander-in-Chief, and told him that if the English people did not keep officers: secondly, both the Jews and the inhabitants of Boka bright look out near Cabul they might be cut to pieces by the hara, as well as those of the country around, all avouched openly mountaineers. So it happened. But I say that though I considered to the fact of their having been put to death.

tended to a length unusual to us, and enough has, we think, been given both in the way of epitome and extract to enable the reader to judge for himself how far the work is likely to be worthy of his attention.

AN ESSAY ON SYMBOLIC COLOURS. From the French of Le Baron Frédéric de Portal. By W. S. Inman. 4to. 10s. 6d.

While the missionary is now being detained under one pre- | any means deficient in interest, but this notice has already extence or another, the Ameer oddly enough orders him to write a life of Mohammed, and the task the latter fulfills to his satisfaction, believing in the simplicity of his heart that he is comfortably placed amongst friends and repentant sinners. Permission is even given him to depart, but as suddenly withdrawn; spies are placed about him, who even watch his sleep to hear what he may talk in his dreams, and attempts are made to convert him to Mahommedanism, the intention actually being to worry him to death. Nothing, however, seems to be able to disturb the serenity of the Doctor, who gives solutions of the king's daily questions, and amuses his visitors with stories and anecdotes to their own infinite surprise, the rascals well knowing his precarious situation. One of these pieces of gossip, relating to Frederick the Great of Prussia, is too good to be lost, and we shall therefore venture to repeat it, though at the risk that many of our readers may have heard something very like it before :

"A great Padishah reigned in Nemsa, whose name was Frederick, and who went by the name of The Great. He waged a seven years' war with many Padishahs, and though his men were few, he routed all his foes. As the language of the Nemsa is different from the language of the Francees, he one day gave the following order: ⚫ I, Frederick, have condescended to order, that if at any time one of the men of the country of the Francees comes and says, "I wish to become a soldier in the army of the Padishah Frederick," the Sirhenks and my officers are hereby commanded not to enlist him; as the Francees are never able to learn the language of the Nemsa, and give, consequently, a great deal of trouble.' However, there came one day a man from the land of the Francees, who was very tall, and, as the Sirhenks knew that Frederick the Great liked tall soldiers, they said, 'Let us take him, and try to teach him the language of Nemsa, in order that the King may not find out that he is a Francees.' However, all their attempts to teach him the language of Nemsa were vain, so that they taught him by rote the answers to three questions, which the King asked every year of every soldier, and of which he never changed the order. The first question which the King asked of every soldier was, 'How old are you?' To which the soldier replied, giving his age. The second was, 'How long have you been in the service?' To which the soldier replied according to circumstances. The third question was, 'Are you contented with pay and food?' To which he answered by the word Both. The Sirhenk taught the soldier (the Francees) the following words, as answers to the three questions: 'Twenty years,' Three years,' and 'Both.' These he got by heart, and they told him to say at the first question, Twenty years; at the second, Three years; and at the third, Both. The King arrived after a year, and reviewed his soldiers, and put questions to every one of them, according to the usual order. But when he came to the tall man of Francees, he changed the order, putting the first question, How many years have you been in my service?' He answered, Twenty years.' • The second question of the King was, How old are you?' To which he replied, Three.' Hasrat then demanded, Am I a donkey, or you a donkey?' To which he replied, 'Both.'"

At length it becomes evident that the Doctor's death is decided upon; and he has the pleasant tidings from the executioner himself, the very same fellow who had beheaded Stoddart and Conolly." Joseph Wolff," says this agreeable functionary, "to thee it shall happen as it did to Stoddart and Conolly," making at the same time a sign of cutting his throat. But now -and it almost seems like one of the happy incidents in a ro

mance-the Persian ambassador arrives with a letter from the Shah to his Majesty of Bokhara, demanding that the missionary shall be returned safe and sound. Policy enforces compliance with this request, and almost order, from so powerful a neighbour, and he is finally permitted to depart with his Persian friend, after many abortive attempts have been made to poison or otherwise despatch him. The temptation to this persevering animosity appears to be twofold—a desire, namely, to possess themselves of his money, and to prevent any certain tidings reaching England in regard to the murdered officers. Many, indeed, and apparently anxious, are the inquiries of the Ameer, as to the distance and military resources of Great Britain.

Once on the road to Persia with his friend Abbas Kouli Khan, it might well be supposed that all his perils were at an end. This, however, is by no means the case; his principal enemy at Bokhara, Abdul Samut Khan, has placed servants about him with strict injunctions to murder him by the way, and it is only by keeping himself close at his side during the day, having Persians in his tent at night, and eating nothing but what comes from Kouli Khan's table, that he finally escapes from the perils that continually beset him. And here we must leave the Doctor, not that the remainder of his journey is by

AN essay in three parts, or sections, with illustrative engravings, treating of symbolic colours in antiquity, the middle ages, and modern times. It is, we fear, often visionary, and it certainly at times is not very intelligible, yet still upon the whole it is a very curious and interesting treatise upon a subject that has seldom attracted much attention. The author

tells us that

"The theory of the Symbolism of Colours in the following Essay may be traced to its origin in the annals of Creation. The creation of Light was anterior to that of Colour. The Sun is the natural source of Colour; the theory, therefore, is not incompatible with the original symbols attributed to it-the Sun, the great vivifier of Nature typified in Mythology, the Divine Author of Eternal Life. Hence the Memphite Phre, the Theban and Grecian Pire—the Sons of the Sun'; the Pharaohs of Egypt: are bretbren of the Virgins of the Sun; the Priestesses of Peru.

"The indications of Colour are significant and important in the Sacred Scriptures, in Mythology, in Heraldry, in Architecture, in Fleets and Armies. They explain much of the origin and analogy of languages and customs, proving them to be symbolic and phonetic. We are still required to sign' (not write) our names, and a seal is essential to the legal validity of every 'deed.' They tend to eluci date the apparent obscurity of Sabean worship, of Egyptian and Chinese hieroglyphics, of the Orphic and Eleusinian mysteries; of ancient and modern art, in costume, stained glass, gems, &c., of the Quipos of the South, and the Wampum of the North American-symbols extending to our own days, and, like the colour of the aborigines, connecting the past and the present, the Old World and the New, the Red Indian with the progenitor of mankind (78 Adam—the Red Man].

"In the public solemnities of coronations, installations, baptisms, marriages, and burials, the prevailing colours evince the animus of joy and sorrow, the purity and fidelity, of those engaged. The Colours of Armies are their Dii Peuates; they are still consecrated by the priest, and honoured and saluted by sovereigns and soldiers. The Theologist's objection of tendency to Materialism applies to every visible representation, but obviously arises from the abuse rather than the use of religious emblems, which may be obviated by a knowledge of the true expressions and application of Colours. more antiquarian researches are extended, the more confirmatory are they of Scripture History. The colours and precious stones in the Hebrew high priest's vestments and breast-plate, symbolize the utmost perfection of Purity, Wisdom and Justice, Truth and Virtue."

The

This, though somewhat abstruse, may pass, and at all events may be understood; but we must confess ourselves to be a little staggered on being farther informed that "the three languages of colours-divine, consecrated, and profane-classify in Europe the three estates of society-the clergy, the nobles, and the people," and that "the large glass windows of Christian churches, like the paintings of Egypt, have a double signification, the apparent and the hidden; the one is for the uninitiated, the other applies itself to the mystic creeds. The theocratic era lasts to the renaissance; at this epoch symbolic expression is extinct; the divine language of colours is forgotten, painting becomes an art, and is no longer a science."

This is exceedingly dark and mysterious. It is, however, the pivot upon which the whole turns, and taking these three leading divisions for guides, the author discusses each in turn, exhibiting a singular mixture of learning and distempered imagination, so that we are at loss to know whether he should be most admired or condemned.

GUIDE TO THE HISTORY OF THE LAWS AND CONSTITU-
TIONS OF ENGLAND. By T. C. Anstey. Post 8vo.

12s.

Six lectures on the subject of the title, delivered at the colleges of Saint Peter and Paul, Prior Park, Bath, in the presence of the bishop and his clergy. They present a highly valuable work on the principles and history of English law, yet many readers will object, and not altogether without reason, to the attempt to mix up religion with mere human ordinances. Such a system, besides being open to other objections, is full of danger to the liberty of the subject.