-

quires, What are you about? The other an- the child then each give it money and other swers. I am tracing a tower for Mariam presents, and this custom they call the Rooand her child-whence this originates, or nemah, or shewing the face. They have why it is retained, I could never learn. still another custom which they call the The Persians, as Mahomedans, Akikeh. The father of the child kills a profess indeed some respect for the author sheep, of the flesh of which he makes of Christianity, though Christians are al-broth, but cautiously preserves all the bones. ways dogs to them; and after all, the tower He invites his friends, relations, and the for Mary and her son may be intended as a poor in the highways, to partake of this confinement for them, and to prevent their food, from which he and his wife are exfuture influence on the faith of the new- cluded; but when the entertainment is born Shiah. over, he carefully collects the bones, and having selected a clean place near some running water, he there buries them. They adopt also certain ceremonies about shaving the child's head-The rich have a Dedeh, or wet nurse: if a boy, the father appoints a steady man from the age of two years to be his laleh, who I conjecture must stand in the same capacity as the bringers up of children, mentioned in the catastrophie of Ahab's sons (2 Kings x. 5;) but if a daughter, she has a gees sefeed, or white head, attached to her for the same purpose as the laleh.

To a boy they give the breast for two years and two months, and to a female only for two years complete. On the day that the child is to be weaned they carry it to the Mosque, and after having performed certain acts of devotion, they return home, and collecting their friends and relations, they give a feast, of which they make the child also partake. The coincidence with Scripture is here also remarkable." And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned." Genesis xxi. 8.

The Persian nurses scarcely ever take the bandages off their children; consequently they soon become filthy-they dye their hands and hair with Khena. What they most carefully guard against is the evil eye, which is as much feared in Persia as in other parts of Asia. They hang about the child's neck, or sew in its cap, a bangle, the colour of a turquoise, which they look upon as the most fortunate, and serves to annul the glance of an evil eye. They also insert paragraphs of the Koran, into little bags, which they sew on the child's cap, or on its sleeve, esteeming them great preservatives against sickness. If a visitor should praise the looks of a child, and if afterwards the child should fall sick, the visitor immediately gets the reputation of having an evil eye; and the remedy is, to take a part of his clothes, which, with the seed of the Ispedan (cresses,) they burn in a chafingdish, and walk around and around the child. The Persians have no ceremony entirely analogous to our christening, but they have one called the Sheb be Khair, or "Be the night propitious," which is for the purpose of giving the child a name. If the father of the child be in good circumstances, he collects his friends together and makes a feast. He also requires the attendance of several Mollahs, and when the Mejlis or assembly is complete, sweetmeats are brought in and eaten. The infant is also brought into the mejlis, and placed near one of the Mollahs. The father of the child then gives out certain names, five in number, each of which is written separately, on separate slips of paper. These slips are placed either within the Koran, or under the edge of the nummud, or carpet. The Father, which is the first surai or chapter of the Koran, is read. One of the slips of paper is then taken out at random by the hand of the father, and the child is called after the name which is there inscribed. A Mollah takes up the babe, pronounces the name in its ear, and places the paper on its swaddling-clothes. The relations of

At Shoolgistan, we were met by a Turkish Tatar (courier,) with dispatches from Constantinople. We perceived his delight at meeting us, by the smile that broke out upon his solemn face, which by the dismal account he gave of his treatment in Persia, had most likely never been cheated out of its gravity. When we asked him how he liked the Persians, he took hold of the collar of his cloak, and shaking it, exclaimed," God give them misfortunes! liars, thieves, rogues! see, I have lost the head of my pipe; they have stolen my pistols. Heaven be praised that I have seen you at last.' The shaking of his coat (a very common act in Turkey) is no doubt an act of the same kind and import as that of St. Paul, who, when the Jews opposed themselves and blasphemed, shook his rai ment. Acts xviii. 6.

Before he ventured to enter the capital he sent for his son, who was an attendant on the court, of whom he inquired what were the King's intentions towards him, and what fear there might be for his safety. The King, in order to cloak his gawe, con. ferred the dignity of Khan on the son, previous to seeing the father, which so blinded him, that he entered the city in full confi dence of the Monarch's favour. He had been accompanied by Mirza Ahady, the Governor of the great districts of Corbal and Fasa, and his coadjutor in his systems of extortion, They were called upon to appear before the King some days after their arrival, and were then informed that they were to give an account of their respective offices. After they had stood some time before the King, he said, " Well, have you brought me no Peeshkesh (present)" They remained silent.

"Where are the 70,000, the arrears of the tribute of Fars; of course you have brought that?" Mirza Ahady answered, That all

that was due had been sent.' The King then turned to Mahomed Nebee, who an swered the same thing. "Call the Fe rashes," exclaimed the King, "and beat these rogues till they die." The Ferashes came and beat them violently; and when they attempted to say any thing in their own defence, they smote them on the mouth with a shoe, the heel of which was shod with iron. The King's wrath increas

A more tragical fate awaited the owner of the house where the Embassy was lodged, Mirza Baba, who fell rich, and was put to death.

Another horrid circumstance gives celebrity to this house, for in one of its small rooms was immured, literally bricked up, Saduk Khan Cheghaugee, whose crime had been what is here called making the Ada ul sultanet, or aspiring to the crown; but having been discomfited in a battle near Casvin, he was persuaded to give himself up to the King, provided that his blood was not spilt. To this the King gave his promise and kept it, for he was starved to death.

For our parts, the field of the Literary Gazette is not large enough for us to take a side in the controversy, even were we competent to enter the lists where such champions exhibit. We shall therefore simply extract some of the Professor's most material facts and strongest points, adding the briefest possible opinions as to their truth and tenability. We may first notice, however, that the tone of the Essay is a little dogmatical, ex. gr.

Another rebel who incited the Turcomans, on being taken and brought to the camp, had a mock crown put on his head, armlets on his arms, a sword by his side, and, mounted on an ass, with his face towards the tail, and the tail in The facts alleged respecting the vast his hand, was paraded about, the chief islands or continents of ice recently sepaof the camel drivers exclaiming," This rated and dispersed from the Arctic reis he who wanted to be the King." Hegions, have given occasion to much loose was mocked and insulted by the people, and visionary declamation. Glowing anreasoning, to wild and random conjectures, turned into ridicule by the Looties or ticipations are confidently formed of the Buffoons, who forced him to dance and future amelioration of climate, which would play antics against his will; whoever scarcely be hazarded even in the dreams of chose spit in his face'; and, finally, he romance. Every person possessing a slight was bastinadoed, and had his eyes put tincture of physical science, conceives himself qualified to speculate concerning the phenomena of weather, in which he flimsy and spurious kind of philosophy, feels a deep interest; and hence, a very however trifling and despicable it may appear in the eyes of the few [i. e. of the writer and his associates] who are accustomed to think more profoundly, has gained currency among certain classes of men, and engendered no small share of conceit.

out.

The strong coincidence between these details, and the most affecting part of our own scripture history, is a striking illustration of the permanence of Eas

tern manners.

(To be continued.)

The Edinburgh Review, No. 59.

POLAR ICE, AND NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. The first article in the above Number of the Edinburgh Review, just published, is upon the interesting subject of the Polar Ice and North-west Passage. It is avowedly the production of the very able Professor Lesslie, and written, as it appears, in refutation of that excellent Essay on the same subject in the Quarterly Review, which was known to proceed from the pen of Mr. Barrow. When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug

of war.

Notwithstanding the immense circulation of both these Reviews, our readers

Heaven keep us all from the sin of vanity, and by no means forget even Professor Lesslie!

The grand theory of this intelligent individual is, that the current of heated air from the Equator, which flows along the upper region towards the Poles, and is replaced by sub-strata of cold air rushing from the Poles to the Equator, and the direct action of the solar rays upon the Poles during the summer months, are insufficient to produce at any time that great change of temperature which would alter the usual course of this stupendous natural chemistry, and cause the disruption of Polar ices, so as

Is always the mean result of the impressions made at the surface during a series of years:

And therefore

The successive strata at great depths may average state of the weather in distant be regarded as permanent records of the ages. Perhaps the superficial influence will scarcely descend fifty feet in the lapse of a century.

Not to dwell on the merely conjectural language of this paragraph, far too vague for philosophical argument, it is evident that so much depends upon the nature of the surface, as to preclude the possibility of right reasoning from such data. The transmissibility of the heat or cold of the weather is extremely different in the different geological formations which constitute the crust of our globe, and unless it can be shewn that caloric finds its way equally through granite and limestone, and clay, &c. even the "perProfessor must be further weakened, haps," and " scarcely" of the learned as leading to an undeniable conclusion. We should also be acquainted with the nature of the earth's centre to be fully capable of appreciating this argument.

In pursuing his hypothesis the following important facts are laid down:

raise the temperature of 135 pounds of The same portion of heat which would water, a degree on Fahrenheit's scale, is The measure of ice dissolved is hence the only capable of melting one pound of ice. simplest and most correct standard for estimating the quantity of heat expended in that process. If we apply calculation, therefore, to actual experiment, we shall find that the entire and unimpaired light of the sun would, at the Equator, at the mean latitude of 45°, and at the Pole, be sufficient to melt a thickness of ice expressed by 38.7, 25.9, and 13.4 feet. Of this enor mous action, the greatest portion is no doubt wasted in the vast abyss of the ocean; and, of the remainder, a still larger share is perhaps detained and dissipated in the grosser atmosphere.

As the heat accumulates within the tro

pics, it will occasion currents of cold air of the winds thus raised being proportional from the higher latitudes. But the activity to their existing cause, must prevent it ever surpassing certain limits.

A perpetual commerce of heat between the Poles and the Equator is thus maintained, by the agency of opposite currents in the atmosphere. These currents will often have their direction modified; and they may still produce the same effects, by pursuing an oblique or devious course. The actual phenomena of climate only require the various winds throughout the year, to advance southwards or northwards

perature. Had only dry land been there opposed to the sun, it would have been absolutely scorched by his incessant beams in summer, and pinched in the darkness of winter by the most intense and penetrating cold. None of the animal or vegetable tribes could have at all supported such extremes. But, in the actual arrangement, the surplus heat of summer is spent in melting away the ice; and its deficiency in winter is partly supplied by the influence of the progress of congelation. As long at the mean rate of almost two miles an as ice remains to thaw, or water to freeze, hour, or to perform in effect three journeys the temperature of the atmosphere can of transfer annually from the Equator to never vary beyond certain limits. Such is either Pole. Not that these carry the im- the harmony of the system; and all expepressions of heat or cold from one extre-rience and observation forbid us to believe mity of the globe to the other; but, by it to be subject to any radical change. Some their incessant play, they contribute, in the years may chance to form more ice than succession of ages, to spread them gra- others, or to melt more away; but it were dually over the intervening space. idle to expect any thing like a general or permanent disruption of the glacial crust which binds the regions of the North.

This beautiful theory is somewhat like that of St. Pierre of the tides, applied to tides of atmosphere. If we durst hazard an opinion on the grand chemistry by which the seasons and the weather are produced, it would certainly coincide with the above as far as it goes, but it is always impressed on our mind that the Sun is only the source of light, and not of actual heat. In our view all the modifications of that uncomprehended principle are the result of the action of light, but not light itself, nor proceeding from the same origin. In short, that the caloric of our world has neither been increased nor diminished since the creation, and that all the variations of heat and cold depend on mere change of position. But we return to Professor Lesslie: he says

It may be shewn that under the Pole, the action of the solar light is, at the time of the solstice, one fourth part greater than at the Equator, and sufficient in the course of a day to melt a sheet of ice an inch and a half thick.

We rather think that, admirable and incontrovertible as this theory is, the conclusion is begging the question-the quantum of congelation or dissolution being all that was ever contended for, and the idea of a general and permanent disruption a phantom of the writer's own raising. Mr. Lesslie concludes—

But whatever may be the vicissitudes of the Polar ice, they cannot in any sensible manner affect the climates of the lower latitudes. The whole circumjacent space, where frost holds its reign, bears a very northern hemisphere. Reckoning even small proportion to the surface of the from the parallel of 60 degrees, it would not exceed the eighth part; but, since the gelid region hardly extends below the latitude of 75 degrees, it may be stated at the thirty-second part of the hemisphere. On the supposition, therefore, that the Arctic cold were all transferred and infused into the atmosphere of the South, it could yet produce no visible alteration of climate.

Elsewhere he says:

The idea is quite chimerical, that any The decrease of temperature in as-winds could ever transport the Polar incending the atmosphere, is not far from being uniform, at the rate of about one degree for every hundred yards of elevation. Hence the limit of perpetual congelation forms a curve, which is nearly the same as the Companion of the Cycloid, bending gradually from the Equator, reverting its inflexure at the latitude of 45°, and grazing the surface at the Pole. The mean heights of eternal frost, under the Equator, and at the latitudes of 30° and 60° are respectively 15207, 11484, and

3818 feet.

fluence to our shores. It may be shewn from the results of accurate experiment, that a current of air flowing over a warmer surface, whether of land or water, becomes in the space of an hour penetrated with the same temperature through a stratum of 80 feet; though the limit of actual contact, or of mutual attrition, is confined to a surface not exceeding the 500dth part of an inch in thickness. If we assign to it the height of a mile, which is a most ample allowance, it would lose all its sharpness, and acquire the standard heat in the course of 66 hours. Admitting this wind to travel at the rate even of 20 miles each hour, it would consequently spend all its frigorific action in a tract of 1320 miles. The gales from the remotest North must thus discharge their

sions, though continued through the course of ages, have the smallest power to chill the superficial water; for the moment any por. tion of this was cooled, it would, from its increased density, sink down into the vast abyss. The surface would not be affected till after the cooling had, in its progress, pervaded the whole mass, from the bottom upwards.*

These are the chief data upon which Professor Lesslie, in this very able and philosophical Essay, opposes the theory of a change of climate in our latitudes from changes at the Pole, and of great changes at the Pole itself. To a certain extent his brilliant argument must carry conviction with it; and even where it fails to do this, nothing but instruction and delight can be received from the multitude of important observations and statements of facts with which it abounds. One of the least successful portions of his reasoning is, in our minds, directed against the hypothesis, that the Arctic ices have been accumulating during centuries, and that a milder climate formerly prevailed in Europe. He says that woods cease to grow or rather defy cultivation in high northern latitudes where they once clothed the soil, because they are not sheltered by great surrounding forests: but how then came the first trees to grow? He says "it is probable the vines grown in ancient times were coarser and hardier plants than those now cultivated:" but this is surely no answer to the inference, that as vines were formerly cultivated in England, the temperature of England was then more genial than now, when they will not flourish. The natural conclusion is, that the seasons and not the plants are different: non obstat it is very difficult to ascertain the precise condition of the weather in distant ages, seeing that the thermometer was not invented till 1590, by Sanctorio, nor reduced to a correct standard before 1724, by the skill of Fahrenheit. But, in truth, the learned writer himself makes a great admission as to the variability of climate, for he says

On the other side of Greenland (the East) about the meridian of eight degrees east from Greenwich, the ice, in warm seasons, retires to the latitude of 80°, beyond Hackluyt's Headland, at the extremity of Spitzbergen; while at other times it advances as far South, on the same line, as the latitude of 70°-the former are called open, and the latter close seasons.

Now we really think it impossible to

The mean depth of the ocean, according to Laplace, exceeds ten English miles,

Far distant in the wooded plain

His sylvan towers appearAnd cheering voice and loosened rein Have brought him panting here.

Ha!-moaning, and distained with gore,
His Gelert meets his eyes;
And, rushing through the unguarded door,
My child, my child!" he cries.

Blood, blood, discoloured all around;
O'erturned the cradle lay--
And furious on the trembling hound
He sprang in wild dismay.

The death, descending from his sword,
Stretched Gelert lifeless there-
"And is it thus thy thankless lord
Repays thy guardian care!"

Too late the Prince in sorrow sighs-
When safe within his nest

His rosy infant he descries,

And clasps him to his breast.

A monstrous wolf beside him slain
Attests the bloody strife-
But oh! what tears will bring again
His faithful dog to life?

Though memory o'er his Gelert's grave
Long mourns his cruel lot;
Where yonder weeping birch-trees wave
To mark the honoured spot.

The beginning of the second canto is animated and patriotic-it describes the march of the British bands in the America struggle.

In glittering pomp the gallant march began,
File after file advancing from the shore:
Those well known colours floated in the van,
That youthful Hope and untried Honour bore:
Long groves of steel glance bright against the

By Beauty favoured, and to Truth allied,

O'er blighted realms the brave banditti roveSo round some Upas trunk might roses twine, Or Hell breathe odours of an air divine.

This denunciation is becoming and just against that portion of the new school, which, from Charles de Moor of Schiller to the latest products of (we are sorry to say) the British Muse, whether seen in the incestuous Rimini, the ruthless and bloody Corsair, the Bertrams, Bertrands, or other human demons of our day, the favourite heroes of the drama and verse, is sure to ennoble the most atrocious

villains with many of the purest virtues, and so confound the evil with the good, that the bewildered mind of the reader is unable to distinguish if the cut-throat be a sound moralist or not, the infidel a Christian, and the crime-covered ruffian and desperado an honour or a disgrace, a blessing or a curse to humanity. We quit the theme willingly for a fine train of reflections on viewing the starry fir

mament:

Ye clustered glories of Night's awful reign,

Stars upon stars receding, backward yet, (Like brilliant islands in a shoreless main)

Each in your round of rolling planets set,

Say, will ye rush together from the skies,
Or, as untired the immortal ages rise,
And sink at once in fearful night obscure?

To prove the race ye hold, awhile endure;
Then die at different periods, till at last
One universal Now absorbs the past?

Oh! many are the mansions to receive
The emancipated crowds of every globe→→
All who one Lord obey, one Lord believe,

Shall wear at length their amaranthine robe,
On those apportioned thrones of glory placed,
All their sighs hushed, and all their tears effaced.
There is a pretty little allegory, with
which we shall close our extracts:
Placed in an Island on the main,

Where rolling waves for ever swell;
Chequering their hours with joy and pain,
Two lovely Nymphs together dwell.
The one looks back upon the past

With many a pensive sigh and tear-
Mourning the lights that would not last
To shine upon her brief career.

The other to the future still

Casts an assured, a sanguine eye-
Forgetful of recorded ill,

And careless of the griefs gone by.

Life is the sp ck that marks the void;

Space is the sea of boundless scope:
And those whose days are thus employed,
Pale Memory and glowing Hope.

After these quotations, it is not agreeable to us to say any thing deteriorating of a poem presenting such beauties, and altogether so admirable in the principles it maintains. In justice, however, we must state, that we frequently encounter passages in which the sense is obscure, and find few of the delineations, whether of animate or inanimate nature, more than mere sketches, not finished with the care of perfect pictures. We will not prolong our review by transcribing these parts-the author has too much talent not to be able to discover and obliterate the blemishes in reprinting a poem which unquestionably does credit to him and to English literature.

Narrative of a Journey in the Interior of

London

China, &c. By Clarke Abel. 1818. 4to. pp. 420. Having in our last condensed the occurrences and observations of the journey through China in this publication, we shall at once transport our readers to

Manilla on their return homeward.

Here, the Mulatto ladies are much addicted to smoking immense cigars, seven or eight inches long and an inch and a half in diameter. These rolls, though they fill their mouths, are seldom out of them; and when they are fully lighted, and pouring forth volumes of smoke,