expiate her guilt. Think not that, like my father, I can be moved to spare you; again I say, drink—or the sword that slew your paramour shall speedily end this struggle."

Lutuf advanced, and now stood closc beside his victim. He knew no aid was near. Her women were withdrawn; her doom was sealed. The assassin and his victim were alone upon that well-known terrace, and as Raena leaned against the sculptured parapet, the silver beams of the waning moon, which yet tinged the foliage of the chumpa grove, fell upon her slight and trembling form. The eyes of Lutuf were now fixed on hers, and a glance of terrible meaning fell upon the hapless girl. "You refuse? 'Tis well.

and now"

That cup was offered in mercy-you reject it—

With a piercing shriek, Raena shrunk from the intended grasp, and, springing upon the parapet, in a moment the depths of that dark chumpa grove saw the crushed form of her on whom the cruelty of man had now wreaked its utmost power.

Near the columned tomb of Zebul Nussa,* the beloved wife of Mirza Aga, is a simple grave, shaded by the rich foliage of the sita phul; and the maidens of Sultanpoor, as they pass this spot, scatter their jasmine wreaths, and think with pity on the fate of the "Moslem's daughter."

• Literally, the ornament of women.'

PERSIAN FABLE, FROM NĀSIR.*

THE following poem is remarkable, as presenting, in the last distich but one, an additional instance, not hitherto noticed, of coincidence of thought with that expressed by Byron in his well-known lines on Kirke White, which are generally considered to have been suggested by this verse of Waller's :

That eagle's fate and mine are one,

Which, on the shaft that made him die,

Espied a feather of his own

Wherewith he wont to soar on high.

The idea has been traced to Eschylus, whose words imply its still higher antiquity:

Nasir, the author of the poem, whose curious autobiography forms an interesting portion of the Ateshkedeh, in striking contrast with the meagre details of the lives of Persian poets with which most Tazkirahs furnish us, died A.D. 1039.

PARSEES IN ENGLAND.*

ONE of the most remarkable effects, as well as a sure indication, of the approximation which has been long gradually, and is now rapidly, taking place between Western and Eastern nations, is the frequency of the visits paid by individuals of the latter to Europe. The overland route has done much towards divesting the journey of its terrors, but the motive for undertaking it must still be strong to overpower the timidity and the indolence of the Asiatic character. No means are better calculated to establish an intercourse between these great portions of the human family that will improve the least civilized of them, than these reciprocal visits to each other, which will unite them, in time, by a kind of moral highway; whilst descriptions, like the one before us, will familiarize the people of the East with the manners of Western nations.

A more rational, sensible, and well-written book of its class has rarely been published than this Parsee Journal, and, as the work of Asiatics, not of European foreigners, it is a remarkable production. Many readers will suspect that the authorship is only nominally and by adoption that of the Parsee travellers; we have, therefore, made it our business to inquire particularly into this matter, and we find that it is really the result of their sole unassisted labours, even the language having undergone no revision by others. The volume was compiled, as they state in their "Concluding Observations," for their own countrymen, and was originally intended to be published at Bombay; but the natural impatience of their English friends to learn their observations upon what they saw in this country led them to depart from their first intention.

These Parsee gentlemen are the son and nephew of Nowrojee Jamsetjee, the present master-builder in the Company's dock-yard at Bombay, which noble establishment was founded in 1735, by their ancestor, Lowjee Nusserwanjee (from whom this highly respectable family is called "The Lowjee Family"), who was foreman to a Parsee builder at Surat, and whose talents attracted the patronage of the Government. These descendants in the fifth generation from Lowjee, who were attached at an early age to the Bombay yard, with the view of following the profession of their forefathers, heard "of the progress making by that giant steam," and of its extensive application to marine purposes, even to vessels of war, in Europe, and their relative, the head builder, resolved to send them hither to learn the best forms of vessels to be propelled through water by wheels, in order that the Bombay naval arsenal might keep pace with the improvements of the day. With the view, therefore, of acquiring a correct knowledge, in the dock-yards of England, of the construction of steam-vessels, these two young gentlemen embarked at Bombay, on the 29th March 1838, on board the Buckinghamshire, with their preceptor and two servants of their own caste, and, after a voyage the vicissitudes of which

Journal of a Residence of Two Years and a Half in Great Britain; by JEHANGEER NOWROJEE and HIRJEEBHOY MERWANJEE, of Bombay, Naval Architects. London, 1841. Wm. H. Allen and Co.

made them repent that they had not travelled by the overland route, they reached Dover on the 21st August.

They at first took up their residence at the Portland Hotel, but in September they placed themselves with the Rev. Mr. Hopkins, the brother of Captain Hopkins, of the Buckinghamshire, at Egham, in order to acquire a thorough knowledge of English and mathematics, and with whom they resided a twelvemonth. Having the acquaintance of Sir Charles Forbes (of whose kindness and attention they speak in high terms), and introductions to several persons of influence, they possessed all the necessary facilities for indulging their curiosity as well as for prosecuting their scientific inquiries.

The accuracy of their descriptions of what they saw, and the judicious tone of their remarks, which will render the work invaluable to their countrymen, are the only drawbacks upon its interest to an English reader, who will meet with no absurdity to provoke his contempt, and no ignorance to excite his mirth. In their accounts of the dock-yards, indeed-and the remark may be extended to the scientific exhibitions-their clearness and accurate apprehension of the subject will often improve the imperfect information of many of our own countrymen.

The first circumstance which forcibly struck their notice, on their arrival in London (after the forest of masts which crowd our river, which is, however, "but a stream to the Ganges or Indus "), was the throng of people and immense number of vehicles hurrying along. "Every street down which we looked," they say, "appeared to be pouring out countless multitudes, and from the noise, we were apprehensive that some public commotion had taken place, or that there was some grand spectacle to be witnessed." They were informed, to their astonishment, that this stream of life flowed every day for twelve or fourteen hours. The elegant equipages they observed in the parks, the spirited horses, the handsome harness, the rich liveries, and above all, the beautiful females, "fair, with light hair," who occupied these swiftly-rolling vehicles, excited their admiration. Our ladies, they observe, "have mild blue eyes, and very sweet expression of countenance." Another object of wonder was the number of omnibuses in the streets: "where they all come from, where they are going, where the people could be found to fill them, and how the owners, drivers, and conductors were to be paid, seemed a mystery to us."

Nowrojee and Merwanjee appear to have been highly delighted with Madame Tussaud's exhibition of wax-work, and they relate some anecdotes of waxen gentlemen being mistaken for real, and real gentlemen for waxen, which will startle their countrymen, Their remark upon Voltaire, whose effigy they beheld in this exhibition, affords an index to the liberality of their religious creed: "We looked much at him, thinking he must have had much courage, and have thought himself quite right in his belief, to have stood opposed to all the existing religious systems of his native land. He, however, and those who thought differently from him, have long since, in another world, experienced that if men only act up to what they believe to

be right, the Maker of the Deist, the Christian, and the Parsee, will receive them into his presence; and that it is the professor of religion, who is nothing but a professor, let his creed be what it may, that will meet with the greatest punishment from Him who ruleth all things."

Sir Charles Forbes took his Parsee friends, or caused them to be taken, to the Italian Opera, where they saw the exquisite Taglioni, and their English companion, who was fascinated with her, frequently asked them how they liked her dancing. They took little interest in it, and were astonished to hear that she was paid one hundred and fifty guineas a night:

Only think (they exclaim), one hundred and fifty guineas every night to be paid in England to a woman to stand for a long time like a goose upon one leg, then to throw one leg straight out, twirl round three or four times with the leg thus extended, to curtsey so low as to nearly seat herself upon the ground, to spring occasionally from one side of the stage to another; all of which jumping about did not, on her part, occupy an hour; and to get more money for that hour every evening, than six weavers in Spitalfields (who produce beautiful silk for dresses) could earn all of them, working fourteen hours every day, in twelve months! It does appear so absurd that a dancing woman should thus take out of English pockets every night, for an hour's jumping, more than would keep six weavers of silk, their wives and families, for a whole year! Had we not seen instances that convinced us the English were clever people, we should have thought them very foolish indeed thus to pay a dancing puppet.

They were better pleased at the Victoria Theatre, with the tumbling, and feats of strength, and the exploits of Mr. Blanchard as a monkey.

They visited a more important theatre, the House of Commons, and listened to the debate on the Irish Registration Bill, 25th February last. The vehement eloquence of Mr. O'Connell seems to have touched their feelings, whilst the less energetic speech of Sir Robert Peel made no powerful impression. They notice a peculiarity in his action whilst speaking, thrusting one of his hands out beyond his coat. They describe these eight or nine hours as the most exciting they ever spent; "and yet, upon the whole," they say, "we were disappointed. We had expected to have seen the representatives of all the wealth, all the talent, all the resources of the country, better dressed and a different looking set of men. We saw them with their hats upon their heads for the last two or three hours sleeping in all directions, and only opening their eyes now and then, when a cheer louder than common struck upon their ears; still such an assemblage of men, holding the destinies of millions in their hands, we may never again see." Surveying the panoramic view of London at the Colosseum, they make the following reflexions upon the various religious buildings:

When we looked upon the immense number of churches, Catholic chapels, dissenting places of worship, Jews' synagogues, and all those varied places that are set apart in London for the different modes of worship, we could but think what extremely odd creatures men were; and we said to ourselves, "Oh, that all those places were what they appear to be, and what they were professedly built for! for men to pray to their God therein for all the human race, and to offer thanks to their Maker for the numerous benefits bestowed upon