French instead of the original, and by persons not over

well ARABIAN ESTIMATE OF THE SEX.

deserves a better translation than our literature possesses. And The dead lie stiffening on the shore, deems uninteresting or on any account objectionable." Truth is

In a ghastly row, by the surf washed o'er, always valuable for itself; but, independent of being more true As if it were loath to leave them yet, as regards the points, incidents, and character of the tales, the present version, Mr. LANE says, will give an exact picture of

Arabian manners, which, " since the downfal of the Arab Em- But the clenched hand, and the knitted brow, pire of Bagdad," are to be found in perfection at Cairo. How far And the teeth deep sunk in the lip below, this is the case, we are not prepared to dispute; though we incline And the blood-shot eye, seen through the glare to think that the personal feelings springing from long residence

in the city which has been to him an alma muter, may induce our

For death has lightened their load of pain. author not to make sufficient allowance for the lapse of ages, the More dark than ever is now the deep. change of masters, and the influx of foreigners, or even for the Fur the torch-light hearers no longer keep evidence of the book he is at work upon. But be this as it may; Their watch by the dead : they are left to lie the narrative, in the Part before us, has unquestionably an Ori- ental character, yet one differing considerably from all other pie- Away with the only living one ! tures of Oriental life that we have met with ; being more primi-

A little child, not one year old, tive in manners, more simple, and less knowing in estimating the

Lashed to a plank with many a fold, distinctions of life and the observance of its forms. The brother Nut of rough cords, but gentler bands, Sultans, whose matrimonial misfortunes and subsequent experi- And bound by no rude seaman's handy, enee of the faithlessness of the sex give occasion to Shahraztel to tell the " Unscathed to shore. The feeble thing, Tales of a Thousand stud One Nights," are invested in So light, so small, of infant form, the descriptions with all the external power and riches of royalty, Had been like feather to the storm, such as they might seem to the fancy elan Arab ; but their feelings And, borne almost upon the foam, and behaviour are those, we opine, of a desert chief. Speaking with Had o'er the reef in safety come ; submission to Orientalists, there is another internal evidence in the That reef whose front had stayed the power tales, of a very simple, that is of an Arab state of society. The su-

Of many a stronger in that hour— pernaturalimpossibilities, and geographical absurdities, are indeed

Whose might of arm had borne him on articles of common belief throughout all the East, unless perhaps

Thus far, end saved him from the wave, where a familiar intercourse with Europeans may have induced

To find him but a harder grave, doubt • but the infidelities of the Sultanas, their punishment by Among the pointed rocks, that stood their lords, the conduct of the monarchs in leaving their thrones, and the determination of Shuhriy ar to behead each new wife the To aid the tempest's work of doom. morning after the wedding, are told with the good faith of a There was a mother who had laid, trusting story-teller applying vulgar gallantries to the great, and But yesterday, among the dead the coolness of an Oriental too accustomed to little displays of Her only infant ; and she came, legal power to deem them worthy of comment. The tales them- In haste, the ocean.born to claim. selves bear evidence of a primitive state of society. Their wis- dun arises from direct and homely instances of universal applica- tion, not from any power of generalizing or any attempt at it.

The motherless in her caress ; They present results without any minute filling-up, and bring And weep to think that at her breast about changes without any of those attempts at smoothing A stranger one was now at rest ! together, or explanation, which writers in an awakening state) society find necessary to secure the credence of a reflecting goats

And opened wide its sinless eye, ration. Abstracting national character, they remind us of the

As if it sought for some loved one The translation forms °Lily one literary characteristic of the It had been want to look upon ; present edition, and that perhaps the smallest. To each chapter

Then gushed the flow of pity's spring, notes are appended, as yet far exceeding the text in quantity, and devoted to its illustration. Sometimes these notes are brief ex-- Who, as accustomed to be ?tressed planations, or remarks on the work or its allusions; but frequently

Su fond, looked up on her and smiled, they are elaborate commentaries on the religion, superstitions, And smiled so sweet, that she was fain manners, customs, and scientific notions of the people, if that can Almost to deem her own lost child be called science which is physically impossible. Of the nature of these notes, a few samples will convey an idea.

ample, perhaps, of the writer's general study of the Gloomy 1. Belief in God, who is without beginning or end, the sole Creator end

School. Many authors seem to have a notion that they may end Lord of the terse, having absolute power, and knowledge, and glory and their work as they please, by calling in the aid of accident, dis- perfection. ". Belief in his Angels, who are impeccable beings, created of light ; and ease, or the sudden conversion of rogues into repenting sinners. Genii (Jinn), who are peccable, created of smokeless tire. The Devils, whose But this is a grievous mistake. The catastrophe should be in chief is Iblees, or Satan, are evil Genii. strict congruity with the conduct and character of the tale. 8. Belief In his !Scriptures, which are his untreated word, revealed to his pro- Guilt is to suffer, as a punishment ; and where some mental weak- 'diets. Of these there now exist, but held to be greatly corrupted, the Penta- teuch of Muses, the Psalms of David, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and, ness is united with strong passions and a lofty sense of honour, or in an imcorrupted and incorruptible state, the Koran, which is held to have pride, which would render retraction impossible or ineffectual, as abrogated, and to surpass in excellence, all preceding revelations. in Othello, death ensues as a necessity. But where all is tender- 4. Belief in his Prophets and Apastles; the most distinguished of whom are ness without guile, the end should be happy : and theonly purpose Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. Jesus is held to be answered by the late arrival of Edith's grandfather is the nurse- more excellent than any of those who preceded him ; to have been born of a virgin, and to be the Messiah, laud the word of God, and a spirit proceeding live of his troubles through a whole canto,—an imitation of the fr flint and not partaking of his essence, and not to be called the Son of "lone Caloyer's" confessions in the Giaour, which could well be God Mohammed is held to be more excellent than all ; the last and greatest

of Hassan. t,. Belief in the general resurrection and judgment, and in future rewards

and punishment., chiefly of a corporeal nature : that the punishments will be LANE'S TRANSLATION OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS, eternal to all but wicked Mohammedans; and that none but Muhammedaos will enter into a state of happiness.

versed in Oriental custonas or character, the Arabian Nighte En- The wickedness of women is a subject upon which died tronger sex among the Arabs, with an affected feeling of superior virtue, often dwell in common mwer- 9M1011. That women are deficient in judgment or good sense is held as a fact not to be disputed even by themselves, as it rests on an assertion of the Prophet ; but that they possess a superior degree of cunning is pronounced equally certaiu and notorious. The general depravity is pronounced to be much greater than that of men. " 1 stood," said the Prophet, "at the gate of Paradise ; and lo, most of its inmates were the poor : and I stood at the gate of hell ; and lo, most of its inmates were women." In allusion to women, the Khaleefehs 'Omar said, "Consult them, and do the contrary of what they advise." But this is not to lie done merely for the suke of opposing them, or when other advice can be had. " It is desirable fur a man," says a learned imams •• before he enters upon any important uudestaking, to consult ten intelligent persons among his lenticular friends ; OT, if he have nut more than five such friends, let him consult each of them twice ; or, if he have not more than one friend, he should consult him ten time-, at ten different visits if he have not one to consult, let him return to his wife, and consult her ; and whatever she advises biro to do, let him do the contrary : so shall he proceed rightly in his affair, and attain his abject." A truly virtuous wife is. of course, excepted in this rule : such a person is as much respected by Muslims as she is (at least accord- ing to their own account) rarely met with by them. When woman was created, the Devil, we are told, was delighted, and said, " Thou etc half of my host and thou art the depository of my secret ; and thou art my arrow, with which i shoot and miss not."

The Mahometans, it seems, acknowledee two kinds of destiny,— one general, or as it were in the nature of things, and unalterable ; the other peculiar, and capable of being changed, Gud willing, by prayer. And in some cases their conduct seems to show that they consider a particular result capable of being influenced by human 'means.

The Arabs in general constantly have recourse both to chums and medicines, not only for the males, but also for the prevention of diseases. They indeed have a strange passion for medicine, which shows that they du not consider fate as altogether unconditional. Nothing can exceed the eat neatness with which they often press a European traveller for a dose ; and the more violent the remedy, the better are they pleased. The following case will serve as an example. Thee donkey.drivers, conveying the luggage of two 'British tra- vellers from Boolak to Cairo, opened u bottle which they observed in a bas- ket, tied finding it to contain, as they had suspected, brandy, emptied it down their throats : but be who had the lust, on turning up the bottle, got the tail of a scorpion into his mouth ; and looking through the bottle, to his great horror, saw it contained a number of these reptiles, with tarantulas, vipers, and beetles. Thinking that they had poisoned themselveisbut not liking to rely upon faith, they persuaded a loan to come to me for melte:Me. lie inuoduced the subject to me by saying, " 0 Molise, do an act of kindness: there are three men poisoned : in your theme give them medicine, and save their lives;" anti then he related the whole affair, without concealing the theft. 1 replied that they did not deserve medicine ; but he urged that by giving it I should obtain au immeme reward. " Yes," said I ; " • be who saveth a soul alive, shall be as if he had saved the lives of all mankind.'" 1 said this to try the feeling of the appli- cant; who, expressing admiration of my knowledge, urged me to be quick, lest the men thou'd die; thus showing himself to be no unconditional fatalist. I gave him three strong doses of tartar emetic ; and he soon came back to thank sue, Si) lug that the medicine was most • admirable, for the men had hardly swallowed it when they almost vomited their hearts and livers, and every thing else in their bodies. From a distrust in fate, some Muslims even shut themselves up dining the pre- valence of plague; but this practice is generally condemned. A Syrian friend of Mine who did so nearly bad his door broken open by his neighbours. Another of any friends, one of the must distinguished of the 'name, confessed to me his

• conviction of the lawfulness of quarantine, and argued well in favour of it ; but said that he dared out openly d'vow such an opinium "The Apostle of God," said he, " God favour and preserve him! bath commanded, that we should not enter a city where there is pestilence, nor go out ftom it. Why did be say, 'Enter it not? '—because, by so doing, we should expose ourselves to the dis. ease. Why did he say,' Go nit out of it? '—because, by so doing, we should carry the disease to others. The Prophet was tenderly considerate of our wel- fare ; but the present Muslims in general are like bulls (brute beasts); and they bold the meaning of this command to be, genet into a city where there is pesti- lence, because this would be rashness; and go not out from it, because this would be distrusting God's power to save you from it." Many of the vulgin and ignorant among modern Muelims believe that the unchangeable destinies of every man are written open his head, in what are termed the sutures of the skull.

The wood-cuts, that thickly inlay the text, become a prominent feature of this book : they not merely adorn, but really illustrate its pages. Assuming the. correctness of the translator's theory

UE to Cairo, the costumes, the furniture, the dwellings, &c. repre- sent the habits and mode of life described in the storks with minute accuracy. The value of these graphic comments is the greater,

though less ostentatious, from their being made subservient to the invention of the designer, Mr. HARVEY, ill giving picturesque effect to the incident depicted. The cavalcade of the brother Sultans—

the revels of the faithless Sultanas and the slaves in the garden —the interview of the Wezeer and his daughter ShainazAd, and her reception by the King, whose deadly purpose she so success- fully diverts—and the (Mental shop of the tnerehant—have all the seeming verisimilitude that belongs to authentic delineations.

The apparitions of the Genii, like a column of cloud assuming shape, and the aspect of the gigantic Afreet, thought purely ima- ginative, acquire a degree of reality by the juxtappsition of cha- racteristic costumes. In a word, the union et' fact and fancy is complete; and the figures are graceful, spirited, and expressive. The engravings are the perfection of the present refined style of

the art: in delicacy and sharpness of line, and pictorial effect. they may vie with etchings on copper ; and every leaf is enriched with one or more.