M a nners
C ustoms.
Language.
Literature.
.angel, is the.fole author- of death, by the fpècial command of God : hence
. filicide i§ very rare, and; duels abfoljitely Unknowri.
i The. language of Perftards. perhaps the' jnpft celebrated of all«tbe
oriental tongues, for.ftrength, beauty, and melody.* While the Turkifh
is harfh and meagre:, being effentially; th e ’ fame with that ;©f the T urcomans
o f Z a g ^ h a ^ o r fBûeharia; (a mingled
w ith . Scythian or :QotMe ..terms), ythé Arabic; isj: on the contrary,
eftee tried one of the moft opulent : but the nUme'rous-dynenÿmes are
often mère epithets,iàs man-deftfoyer foreword, &e.. in . which refpedt.
the poetical rules :of the Edda fhew that the Icelandic vied with thé
" Arabi& The latter is however a harfh and guttural fpeech ; whteflée the
Perfian is preferred in poetry and eleigant cb'mpofition. The. exóelletit
work of Sir William Jones on oriental poetry difclofeS part of the
treâfures to be found in this language.^In general the Perfiân literature'
approaches nearer to the European, in folid good fenfe, and clfearnefsof
thought and expreffion, than that of any other Afiatic nation-j- as the
language itfclf has been long known to bear a« ftrong afBiutÿ tè» -the
German, though foftened by the long ufage of a polifhed people.. '-Yet
even in the Perfian the metaphors are far too frequent and -violent; -and
there is too much alloy to bear the claffical touchftone of Greece-or Rome.
The more ancient monuments of Perfian literature unhappily« perifiied
when the Mahometan fatiatics conquered the Country in the feventh
century, though perhaps Bucharia or Tibet might, if; diKgéntly^è»-
plored, ftill fupply feme relics. One of the oldeft remains is the famous
Shah Nama, or hiftory of kings, a long heroic poem of Ferdufi. Sadi,
an excellent and entertaining moràlift, writes i n pjroffe mingled with
verfe, like feveral of the Icelandic Sagas, not to menfion fome early
Grecian and Roman models ; and it is to be regretted that more of his
works are riot tranflated.
Hafiz is the Anacreon of the eaft, and his tomb is venerated in the
vicinity of Shiraz, being itfelf the chofen flirine of parties of pleafure,
who proceed thither to enjoy the delicious fituation, and offer libations
of the rich Shirazian wine to the memory of their favourite bard, a
fplendid copy of whofe works is chained to his monument. But the
fciençes
-feifnees ita"gb^erfd >are(,l^leAeukiva^ed hy-the-PerfiaUs/toho, are loftin Lite^a-
,abjj3<ft fijperftjtjon, ami fondibelisYers. in- aftr&logy,-* (a !proud fophiftry' TURS-
wbi’öhbóQrineéts the lit-tie^brifcf .deftifty^ftman witsht-tfte vaft rotation o f
innumerable$uqs and w p s ld^ ^
,.,^ h ê .edujariqp.c$)ïthe i^qde^ï PejfaufsaSt chiefly military; a^d their Education,
grofs flatteries, .and obliquity or.expreflion, .evince; that’ they have totally
forgotten the .noble dyftem of,tljei^4gclefl^rs,'^hp.in.!tJiy fürft.pl^Ge
taught their children to fpeak truth, ». This ftmplejprecept, wh«n(>dujLy ,
qpnfidered, will be found to, le|d to ipiipite.confequepGes,^as,there js
r p tp i ly ^npj^io-n betrapen .truth^o^ëxp^efl^pn, jpomlity
c|L conduct,; but - falfehoocf virtually, Jeffipp-s. the mental, popersJ.and
nc$pfl$rily pr^ü<^|^}ïc;óncepti.on ,• thu.s, imp^kjng;' -jier judgment, and
CqnJ.aminajtingthe yery^ fqpree,o f ppre tnoraUfy^ jf‘
The capital citv of modern Perfiasjs; Ifpahan^mf w h ia li.y arppl^ |g
fcrlption has’been given by Chardjp, fb prolix Indeed,, $s n o t ' o pm- * ®PaIian'
plsjse yolume o f his^traVefeA Including 'tMfufljsfbs ^[sdtaputesf jife, S
Circuit at ahour twenty-four miles, and ^e’phabitants^&t^f^m^ïleft
computation, at' 6üojopö, the fuppofqd 'nqmber, in modemjl$ndonl„
It Rands bn the fmaljj river Zenderüd*v ^ i^ r^ s a t i^ e i'rn o i in t l in s o f
Yaiabat, thre^d^ysMourhey^oward^hp norfhej Jaüt <Ab is t«lS.Greatj at
a prodigious 'expence,, pipreed .fpmf,mountain^,ab&ut, thirty, leagues
from Ifpahan, and introduced another ftream,;fo .that the Zpnderüd was
as,large during the fpring as the Seine, at PansUn^e, winder j'fo r in
that feafon the ^melting of the foows, in the high range* o f jnoifntairis’
greatly fweiled the river. Chardin does riot .inform us in what direction,
thefe mountains lye, and his whole account is fufficieht|y'dohfui"ed;
nor mull it be concealed that this honeft merchant's Angularly deficiënt:«
in natural, geography and-hiftory. He adds, that the waifs o f Ifpahan
were of earth, and ill repaired, with eight-'gates which cquldnot hè
fhut, and the ftreets narrow, deviou§,. and badly paved. But, the royal
fquare, and its; grand market, the palace of thé Sefi, and tbofe o f the
Grandees, the mofks, tjip public baths, and jother edifices, were often -
fplendid. The fuhurb o f Julfa-, or Yulfa, was very large, and poffefTed
by the Armenians, whofe cemetery was near,the mountains of Ifpahan,
. 3 ToWe: ylü;.
called