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and forty-six carats, is also a splendid stone. These two are the principal in a pair of bracelets valued at near a million sterling; those in the crown are also of extraordinary size and value.

This notice of the costume of the Persians would be incomplete without some mention of that very important ornament of their faces-the beard. The hair is completely shaven from their heads, with the exception of a small tuft on the crown, and two locks behind the ears; but their beards are allowed to grow, and to reach a much larger size than with the Turks, as well as to spread more about the ears and temples. Indeed the attention with which a Persian cultivates this cherished appendage to his chin is of the most anxious kind; and if he can succeed in rendering it remarkable for its length, the rich blackness of its hue, or the fine glossy smoothness of its texture, the consideration which it then obtains him is deemed the ample reward of his exertions. But this enviable distinction is ot to be lightly purchased, for the operation of dyeing the beard black, according to the almost universal custom, is unpleasant in itself, and must be repeated once a fortnight. It is always performed in the hot bath, because the hair, being well saturated with moisture, then imbibes the colour better. A thick paste of Khenna is first plastered in profusion over the beard, and allowed to remain an hour; it is then washed off, leaving the hair of a very strong orange colour, bordering upon that of brickdust. A similar paste of indigo powder is then employed in the same manner; but this second process, to be well executed, requires two full hours. During the whole of the operation, the patient lies quietly flat upon his back; whilst the dye (especially the indigo, which is a great astringent) contracts the features of his face in a very mournful manner, and causes all the lower part of his visage to smart and burn. When the indigo is at last washed off, the beard is of a very dark bottle-green, and becomes a jet-black only after being exposed to the air for four-and-twenty hours.

MANNERS AND USAGES.

THE inhabitants of Isfahan, like their countrymen in general, are extremely affable and polite; and they possess the same liveliness of imagination and volubility of tongue which has gained for their nation the appellation of the Frenchmen of Asia. The higher ranks among this people are most carefully instructed in all that belongs to exterior manner and deportment. "Nothing," says Sir John Malcolm, "can exceed their politeness; and in their social hours, when formality is banished, their conversation is delightful." But, unfortunately, the Persian character is sullied by the debasing vices of falsehood and duplicity, the practice of which they even attempt to defend, as the natural consequence of the state of society in which they live. Their assertions are therefore always suspected, and the oaths which they use, to attest their veracity, are only proofs of their want of it. They swear by the head of the king, by that of the person they address, by their own, by that of their son, that they are not saying what is false; and if all these fail to convince, they sometimes exclaim, "Believe me; for though a Persian, I am speaking the truth.'

The Persians are less luxurious in their habits than the Turks; instead of reclining on cushions, they sit erect on a thick felt, called nummud, their feet being drawn up under them, and their bodies thus resting on their heels. This is a posture very difficult for Europeans to place themselves in, with any regard to comfort; indeed, until long practice has rendered it familiar to them, their limbs get cramped if they retain it for half an hour. Like other Mohammedan nations, the Persians rise with the dawn; for according to the ordinances of the Korán, the first of the mussulman's five daily prayers must be said before the appearance of the sun. They begin by performing, with their right hands, the ablutions which their religion enjoins, the left hand never being used by this people, except in the humblest offices. They then unroll their carpets, and kneel down, placing their hands, with closed palms, on their breasts, and turning the face, as nearly as they can guess, in the direction of the holy city of Mecca, which constitutes their kebla, or point of adoration. In this attitude they repeat their prayers, generally in a mumbling tone, at intervals touching the ground, or rather carpet, with the forehead. Their fast is then broken with a cup of coffee, a few sweatmeats, and a Kalioun, or water pipe, for the Persians are passionately fond of tobacco, smoking it almost incessantly, from the moment they rise, till they retire to rest; it constitutes indeed the principal source of amusement to a man of for

tune. About noon, the second prayer is said; after which the good mussulman may safely satisfy his appetite with more substantial fare in the shape of breakfast. Towards afternoon, a third prostration and mumbling takes place, and as soon as the sun sets, the fourth commences. An hour after that is finished, dinner is taken, the meal of greatest luxury and of longest duration in Persia, as in other countries. The fifth and last holy duty of the day is left to the discretion of the individual, with the proviso that it be performed before he retires to rest for the night. It is the custom in Persia never to enter a room in boots or slippers, but to leave them at the door; this arises chiefly from the sacred character with which the carpet covering the floor is invested, on account of its being used in the performance of prayer. A compliance with this usage is always expected from foreigners, and seldom refused. Another point of Persian etiquette is to keep the head covered; and our countrymen speak of being obliged to dine in their cocked hats and feathers as a far more troublesome extremity of politeness than leaving their shoes at the door.

MODE OF LIVING.

THE Persians are fond of society; and the extraordinary cheapness of provisions, together with the great plenty of fruit, enables even the lowest order of citizens to live well. The poorer classes subsist principally upon bread, fruits, and water; and the repasts of the higher consist of simple fare, their cookery being free from all devices for stimulating the appetite. Sweetmeats and confections form a leading feature in their entertainments; and the consumption of these articles is immense. Indeed the shops most frequently recurring in Isfahan are those for the sale of sweetmeats, which are arranged very neatly in large China vases, clean glass vessels, and bright brass platters. The people excel in their composition, importing their sugar from India, and their sugar-candy from China. As Mohammedans, the Persians are forbidden to eat the flesh of the hog, and they are also interdicted from the use of wine. The latter rule is often broken; and as, to use their own phrase, "there is equal sin in a glass and a flagon," they usually, when they do drink, indulge to excess.

The best mode of illustrating a Persian entertainment will be to present our readers with the following account of a dinner given to Sir Robert Ker Porter, by the prime minister of the late Prince Royal of Persia. The ceremony of reception being concluded, kaliouns were presented,— then coffee served in very small cups, and without cream or sugar. Kaliouns succeeded; then tea in large cups; and after a conversation of ten minutes, the minister gave a signal for dinner to be brought. Several servants immediately entered bearing a long narrow roll of flowered cotton in their arms, which they spread on the carpet before the whole company, who were ranged on both sides of the room. This table-cloth, if we may venture to use such an expression, is called sofra, and Mr. Morier says it is used so long unchanged, that the accumulated fragments of former meals collect into a musty paste, emitting no very savoury smell; but the Persians are content, for they say that changing the sofra brings ill luck. The next service was to set a piece of thin bread or cake before each guest, to be used as a plate and napkin. Then came a tray between every two persons containing the following articles of food: two bowls of sherbet, each provided with a wooden spoon of delicate and elegant workmanship,-two dishes of pillau, composed of rice soaked in oil or butter, boiled fowls, raisins, and a little saffron,-two plates with melons sliced,

two others containing a dozen kabobs, or morsels of dry broiled meat,—and a dish presenting a fowl roasted to a cinder. The whole party being thus supplied, “the host,” says Sir R. Porter, "gave the signal for falling to; a command that seemed to be understood literally, for every back became bent, every face was brought close to the point of attack, and every jaw in an instant was in motion." The Persians advanced their chins close to the dishes, and verv dexterously scooped off the contents into their mouths, with three fingers and the thumb of their right hand; and the good things passed in rapid succession from the board, to the mouths of the grave and distinguished assembly. "I must say," continues this gentleman, “that I never saw a more silent repast in my life, nor one where the sounds of mastication were so audible; and I could only think of a similar range of respectable quadrupeds, with their heads not further from their troughs than ours were from the trays. For my part, whenever I wished to avail myself of the

heaps of good provender on mine, at every attempt to throw a little rice into my mouth, it disappeared up my sleeve; so that after several unsuccessful essays, I gave up the enjoyment of this most savoury dish of the feast, and contented myself with a dry kabob or two."

But if our countrymen were awkward in their attempts to accommodate themselves to the customs of their Persian hosts, the latter displayed an equal degree of clumsiness, when, in the excess of their politeness, they endeavoured to conform to the fashions of Europe. During the stay of Sir Gore Ouseley's embassy at Isfahan, the king's lord high treasurer, or second minister, invited that gentleman and his suite to a dinner, which, out of compliment to the guests, was laid out in imitation of an English entertainment. The following is Mr. Morier's account of it.

"On a number of rude unpainted tables, some high, some low, arranged in the horse-shoe fashion, were heaped all the various dishes which compose a Persian entertainment, not in symmetrical order, for their number made that impossible, but positively piled one upon the other, so that stewed fowl lay under roasted lamb, omelet under stewed fowl, eggs under omelet, and rice under all, and so on. Every European was provided with a knife, fork, napkin and plate; but the poor Persians, alas! made but rueful work of it. Some were seated upon chairs so high that they towered far above the alpine scenery of meats and stews; others again were seated so low that they were lost in the valleys. There was much amusement in observing how awkwardly they went to work, and how great was the indignation which broke out upon the faces of some of the most ravenous of them who, out of compliment to us, were deprived of their full range over such a scene of good cheer."

COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES. ISFAHAN is the first commercial city in the empire, being the emporium of the foreign trade between India and Persia, Turkey and Cabul. Its merchants resemble, in their general character, those of Bushire and Shiraz, and form a distinct class among the inhabitants of the city. They avoid all political connexions, and thus they are enabled to enjoy considerable security; for the plunder of a merchant without the pretext of some such interference on his part, would shake all confidence and be productive of much injury to the state. They are nevertheless extremely circumspect; and all their mercantile correspondence is carried on in cipher, every person having a different one, known only to himself and his agents. The authenticity of

their bills depends, not, as with us, upon the signature, but upon the seal, which has engraven on it the name of the person to whom it belongs, and the date at which it was cut. The seal-cutter keeps a register of every seal he makes, and if one is stolen or lost, his life would answer the crime of making another exactly resembling it. Some merchants make a display of their wealth; but, generally speaking, their habits are frugal, and even penurious. The lower class are often very avaricious and sordid; and some of them, from indulging in the habit of acquiring money, become perfect misers by the time they reach old age. When the British mission was at Isfahan the popular mind was strongly impressed with this belief; and the following story was related as a fact, exhibiting, certainly, a wonderful refinement in the art of combining economy with enjoyment. A merchant who had lately died at Isfahan, and left a large sum of money, was so great a niggard, that for many years he deprived himself and his son, a young boy, of every support except a crust of coarse bread. He was however one day tempted by the description which a friend gave him of the flavour of cheese, to buy a small piece; but before he got home, he began to reproach himself with extravagance, and instead of eating the cheese, he put it into a bottle, and contented himself, and obliged his child to be so also, with rubbing the crust against the bottle, enjoying the cheese in imagination. One day that he returned home later than usual, he found his son eating his crust and rubbing it against the door. "What are you about, you fool?" was his exclamation. "It is dinner-time, father; you have the key, so I could not open the door ;-I was rubbing my bread against it, because I could not get to the bottle." "Cannot you go without cheese one day, you luxurious little rascal? You'll never be rich," added the angry miser, as he kicked the poor boy for not being able to deny himself the ideal gratification.

The manufactures of Isfahan are various; the richest of them is that of brocade, which is carried to considerable perfection. This article is worn by the Persians for their outer garments on gala days; and the kalaats, or dresses of honour, which the king and his sons confer, are made of it. Silks and satins are also manufactured; and the cotton which grows in the neighbourhood of the city is wrought into cloths of different qualities, the principal of which resembles nankeen, and is worn by all ranks of the people, from the king to the peasant. It is also exported to Russia by the Caspian Sea, being used for the undress of the Russian soldiery. Paper, gunpowder, sword-blades, glass, and earthenware, are also manufactured, but not in great quantities.

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LONDON: Published by JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND; and sold by all Booksellers.

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UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

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THE SONAH WALLAH, OR ITINERANT GOLDSMITH OF INDIA.

THE SONAH WALLAH. THE occupations of the Hindoos depend upon their caste, which is one of the most powerful instruments ever employed in regulating the social condition of a community of nearly a hundred millions of souls. All trades in India are confined to the Soodras, who comprehend the lowest, and by far the most numerous, of the four great integral divisions of the people. The Shastra prohibits the exercise of all mechanical arts by the three superior castes; they are, therefore, undertaken by Soodras, who are not prohibited the exercise of such employments, and pursued from father to son in succession. A Hindoo would think it not only morally unjust, but an act of spiritual dereliction, to engage in an occupation which had not been first followed by his father; and so strictly does the whole body of the people adhere to this conventional custom, that a deviation from it is seldom to be detected. They have a great idea of hereditary claims, and imagine that a man dishonours his race by adopting any mode of life or profession which had not been pursued by his forefathers through a remote succession of generations.

The Hindoo population is divided into four castes, Brahmins, Cshatryas, Vaisyas, and Soodras. The first are said, in their sacred scriptures, to have issued, at the creation, from Brahma's mouth, the second from his arms, the third from his thighs, and the fourth from his feet. The latter are looked upon by the three superior classes as comparatively ignoble, and consequently degraded. The Brahmins are exclusively set apart for the priesthood and the legislative department of the state, as being the most important and influential vocations, as well as the most dignified. To the Cshatryas is committed the executive; from these, therefore, the armies of their governments are drawn. The Vaisyas have the direction of commerce, so that among this caste are some of the most wealthy persons in Hindostan. To the Soodras are left, as beneath the dignity of their superiors, all mechanical and servile employ

ments.

dostan, but in still more distant lands, that" the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

So degraded is the domestic condition of the Soodras that, in the institutes of Menu, in which are comprised the civil and religious codes of Hindoo law, the Brahmins are forbidden even to give them spiritual counsel, or to inform them of the legal expiation for their sins. These low-caste Hindoos are so universally despised by the Brahmins, that the only way they can obtain from them the benefits of religious communion is by consenting to perform the most menial and debasing offices. They sweep the houses of those spiritual despots, wash their feet, anoint their bodies with oil, fetch water, wood, and clay, for the temple sacrifices, and attend the functionaries during the tedious ceremonies of their daily worship; these arrogant priests thinking all the while that their menials are highly favoured by their condescending to appoint them to duties, which, in the opinion of every rational judgment, would be much more "honoured in the breach than the observance.' A Soodra who is constantly employed in doing service to a Brahmin is declared in the Shastra to have acted meritoriously; but he who withholds these services, and despises the priesthood, is declared to be doomed to everlasting torment. "Some of the Soodras," says Mr. Ward *, " reverence Brahmins as gods, and the whole of the swinish multitude' pay them exterior honours. In bowing to a Brahmin, the Soodra raises his joined hands to his forehead, and gently bows his head. The Brahmin never returns the compliment, but gives the Soodra a blessing, extending the right hand a little, as a person would do when carrying water in it. In bowing to a Brahmin, the sins of the Soodra enter the fire which, by an eastern figure, is said to lodge in the Brahmin's hand, and are consumed. If a Brahmin stretch out his hand before a Soodra have bowed to him, he will sink into a state of misery; and if a Soodra meet a Brahmin and do not bow to him, he will meet with a like fate." Such is the state of civil degradation in which a population amounting nearly to a hundred millions is involved, in this era of progressing civilization.

These absurd distinctions have produced a paralysing effect upon the moral energies of the people, by enslaving, and thus enervating, their minds, and deadening the natural impulses of their ambition. I have dwelt the longer upon the condition of the Their sphere of action being, therefore, circumscribed, Soodras, with reference to that vast community of the mass feel that they are nationally degraded which they constitute so large a proportion, because by being kept in those fetters which prevent them it is almost exclusively from this caste that the mefrom rising to a high moral elevation. The Brah-chanical arts are exercised in India. mins, under the influence of this baneful system, are, The Sonah Wallah is a worker in the precious for the most part, a haughty, ignorant, and sensual metals, Sonah signifying gold, and Wallah, a fellow, race, arrogant on account of their prodigious influa word used in Hindoostanee as an affix to a number ence, tyrannical from excess of power, and sensual of designations implying the character or occupation from unrestraint, the indulgence of every animal of different persons. It is, in fact, applied to all tendency being so readily within their reach. They classes of people. For instance," an English geneare, in fact, encouraged by their social position to ral," says Captain Luard, " is called a burrah topee gratify their carnal propensities, rather than to culti-wallah, great hat fellow; the king's infantry are always vate their mental powers, while the Soodras, who form the great majority of the people-except here and there a few, who, under any condition of things, will rise above the ordinary level of common mindsare involved in a degree of barbarism scarcely inferior to the herds of the forest. The traces of a very nigh order of mind so conspicuous in every part of India before the Mohammedan conquest, render it a matter deeply to be deplored that the moral aspect in this fine country should be now so dark and unpromising. Let us, however, confidingly hope, as we appear to be on the eve of vast civil changes in the whole social fabric, that the time is fast approaching when the words of prophecy shall be realized, not only throughout the extensive peninsula of Hin-thology of the Hindoos.-vol. i., p. 32,

designated loll coatee wallahs, red-coated fellows; there are many bhote acha wallahs, very good fellows, but many more burrah charab wallahs, very bad fellows."

The Sonah Wallah comes to your house for half a rupee, or about a shilling a day, though he generally contrives to defraud you of at least treble the amount. He brings with him all his implements, which are few and simple in the extreme. They consist of a small sigharee, or forge, to which are attached several iron rings, turned up over the charcoal to receive his crucibles, a tin tube, a pair of slight iron tongs, a pair of small pliers, a hammer, a couple of earthen saucers, and a rude anvil, consisting of a piece of See his valuable work on the History, Literature, and My

flint secured in a rough iron frame. With these few and very imperfect instruments, he contrives to perform all the nice and various operations of his

craft.

After having arranged his forge, and lighted the charcoal, he takes the gold with which you furnish him, puts it into one of the receptacles, and throws in a small quantity of borax in order to flux it the more readily. He then places the crucible upon his sigharee in a bed of kindled charcoal, applies the end of the tin tube under the earthen saucer, containing the precious deposit, and blowing at the other extremity, raises an ardent flame directly round it. The gold usually employed on these occasions is the gold mohur, which is the current gold coin of the country, and worth about 32s. sterling. Here a man is not amenable before a judicial tribunal for defacing the king's image. As soon as the gold is in a state of fusion, the Sonah Wallah generally contrives to secure some of the metal for his own private purposes by throwing into the flux a small quantity of nitro-muriatic acid. This causes an immediate effervescence, by which a portion of the fused ore escapes, and is secured among the charcoal, from which the wily rogue separates it at his leisure when he returns to his own home. In order to supply the deficiency, he stirs the contents of his crucible with a copper rod, a portion of which melts, so that the mass, when weighed after fluxing, appears to have sustained little or no loss. This is a very common practice, and so dexterous are these fellows at this sort of knavery, as invariably to escape detection, though I believe an instance seldom or never occurs that they do not defraud their employers of a portion of the gold put into their hands. Their skill is so admirable, that few think of questioning their honesty, for with a hammer, anvil, and pliers alone, they contrive to make the most beautiful trinkets, such as bangles, or ankle-rings, bracelets, armlets, fingerrings, and chains; their fingers being so small, taper, and flexible, that they supply the place of a variety of tools which are indispensable to European artificers. I have seen, made by these itinerant goldsmiths, chains apparently of the most complicated structure, which I do not think could have been produced with equal nicety in Europe. It is true they do not use very great despatch, but this is more than counterbalanced by the exquisite neatness of their workmanship.

The Sonah Wallah, in Captain Luard's drawing, is a Mohammedan, a circumstance of rare occurrence, except in the north of India, and here it is most probable that they are among those who have proselyted from the creed of Brahma to that of Islam. Many of the lower orders in the province of Bengal, disgusted with the severe restrictions imposed upon them by the rigid prejudices of caste, have relinquished the gorgeous mummeries of a complicated and unintelligible polytheism, for the less barbarous, though not much purer, worship of the Arabian impostor. The converts have naturally retained the trades to which they were bred, and thus we find the Mohammedan apparently assuming the especial occupation of a Hindoo. In the picture which heads this article, the Sonah Wallah is represented at work in the virandah of a large house, and the two women are probably ayahs or drynurses belonging to the domestic establishment, amusing themselves by watching the progress of his dexterous labours. C.

[Our engraving is copied from one of Captain Luard's beautiful prints, illustrative of the scenery, manners, and customs, of various parts of India; a work that only requires to be better known, to be generally admired.]

As pleasant and as much desired as fair weather is wont to be, and as much as we use to be discontented at a lowering and dropping sky, yet the one is no less necessary nor useful in its season than the other. For too interrupted a course of heat and sunshine would make the season fruitful in nothing but in caterpillars, or such kind of vermin, and in diseases; and is far more proper to fill graves than barns. Whereas seasonable vicissitudes of clouds, and cloudy weather, make both the ground fruitful, and the season healthful. Thus in our outward condition, too long and but such wantonness as 'tis ill to be fruitful of; and the constant a prosperity is wont to make the soul barren of all interposition of seasonable afflictions, is as necessary and advantageous, as it can be unwelcome. But the consideration that chiefly entertained me was this; that as here to make the earth fruitful, the face of heaven must be now and then obscured and overcast, and we must be deprived of the welcome pleasure of the sun, to receive the fertilizing benefit of the rain; so such is our condition here below, that our perverseness makes it necessary that God should oftentimes appear to frown upon us, to make us fruitful in those works, to which he is pleased to vouchsafe his smiles. But oh! how happy shall we be in that glorious and everlasting day, when our condition shall be as blessed in not the sunshine alone shall perform all that is wont to be done requiring vicissitudes, as not being subject to them; when here, both by it and the rain; and the soul, like Egypt, being fruitful without the assistance of clouds, we shall not need to have our joys eclipsed, to have our graces kept from being so, or to make our light shine the brighter; when we shall not need to have our love weaned from inferior or undue objects, by any experience of their imperfections, since the clear discovery that God will vouchsafe us of his own excellencies, will abundantly suffice to confine our affections to them. And as the works wherein we are to be fruitful in heaven, will be but to admire and thank him that is infinite in beauty, and in goodness, the per fecter sight and fruition we shall have of his astonishing, as well as ravishing attributes, will but proportionably increase our wonder and our praises, and will naturally make us as grateful for such a state, as happpy in it.BOYLE.

I AM persuaded that the more we inquire and search into the economy of Nature, so far from finding any defects, we shall have more and more reason to be convinced that not only every bird, but every animal, from the highest to the lowest in the scale of creation, is equally well adapted for of a naturalist should be always to "look through Nature the purpose for which it was intended. The chief object up to Nature's God," and if we do so with a sincere desire to be benefited by the survey, we shall have fresh cause for wonder and admiration, and find our minds more fitted to receive the good impressions which such a study must produce.—JESSE.

THAT which the French proverb hath of sickness, is true of all evils, that they come on horseback, and go away on foot: we have often seen a sudden fall, or one meal's surfeit hath stuck by many to their graves; whereas pleasures come like oxen, slow and heavily, and go away like posthorses, upon the spur. Sorrows, because they are lingering guests, I will entertain but moderately; knowing that the more they are made of, the longer they will continue: and for pleasures, because they stay not, and do but call to drink at my door, I will use them as passengers with slight respect. He is his own best friend, that makes least of both

of them.-BISHOP HALL.

ALL sublimities should be short; the mind cannot be

transported long, and it is glad to recover its natural and ordinary train; a passive sort of content is the best state. -H. MORE.

TRUTH considered in itself, and in the effects natural to it, may be conceived as a gentle spring or water-source, warm from the genial earth, and breathing up into the snowdrift It turns the that is piled over and around its outlet. obstacle into its own form and character, and as it makes its way increases its stream. And should it be arrested in its course by a chilling season, it suffers delay, not loss,. and waits only for a change in the wind to awaken and again roll onwards.-COLERIdge.

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