--Aly Tchawoosh-the Lady Kha- ed. And yet the work is not merely, degé-Anagnosti-the Jew apothecary -Gasili, the knight of industry-even the brave Panayoti-there is not a personage brought in anywhere, even to fill up a group, who has not a certain quantity of finish bestowed upon him. Then the historical episodes. The character of the Captain Pacha, and the circumstances which lead to his pointment in the Morea. Djezzar (the Butcher) and his atrocities-in the third volume. The court of Suleiman Bey in Egypt, and the march of Hassan Pacha into that country. The nervous terseness and brief style of these details, contrasted with the brilliant eloquence, the lively imagination, the strong graphic faculty, and the deep tone and feeling displayed in such passages as the bagnio-the first field of battle--the flight of Hassan Bey through the streets of Cairo-the death of the Hungarian Colonel-the lives of all the women-and, beyond all, the cemetery near Constantinople, and the reflections which arise on it in the third volume! If, besides all this, we recollect the occasional rich descriptions of local scenery; the wit and spirit of those lighter sketches which abound in the first and third volumes; and, especially, the polished, cultivated tone, and the gracefulness of style and manner, which runs through the whole work, it will not appear surprising that the production of Anastasius by an author of (comparatively) no previous estimation, should have been considered,in the literary world,as a remarkable event. But, if it excited wonder that Mr. Hope should, on the sudden, have become the author of Anastasius, it will be found quite as surprising, that the author of Anastasius should ever have written Hajji Baba. The curiosity about this book was great; the disappointment which it produces will not be little; not that it is absolutely destitute of merit, but that it falls so very far below what the public expected. as regards matter, interest, taste, and choice of subjects, three hundred per cent at least, under the mark of Anastatius; but the style is never forcible or eloquent; and in many places, to say the truth, it is miserably bad. Some of this objection may be comparative; but objection must be so, and ought If an author takes the fairly to be so. apbenefit of a certain accredited faculty to get his book read, it is by the measure of that accredited faculty, that he must expect the production to be tried. We can drink a wine, perhaps, of thirty sous, as a wine of thirty sous, but we will not submit to have it brought to us as claret. We might manage, upon an emergency, to read a dozen lines of Lady Morgan; but who would read half a line, if she were to get herself bound up as Lady Montague? There are chapters in Hajji Baba that may amuse-there are a great many, most certainly, that will not amuse ;-but, perhaps, the easiest way of making its deficiencies apparent, will be to give a short outline of the production itself. It is not easy to get at the solution of a failure like this. Mr. Hope evidently means to do his best. He sets out with all the formality of a long introduction-Hajji Baba is only a prelude to much more that is to be effect Mr. Hope sets out in the character of "Mr. Peregrine Persic," by writing to "Doctor Fundgruben," chaplain to the Swedish Embassy, at the Ottoman Porte-a letter which explains the intention of his book. Mr. Persic is dissatisfied (and, perhaps, fairly, may be) with all existing pictures of Asiatic habits and manners; and he suggests the advantage of inditing, from "actual anecdotes" collected in the East, a novel upon the plan of Gil Blas, which should supply the (as he views it) deficiency. Dr. Fundgruben approves the idea of Mr. Persic, but doubts how far any European would be capable of realizing it; he thinks an Oriental Gil Blas would be most conveniently constructed, by procuring some "actual" Turk, or Persian, to write his life. The discussion which follows between the friends, would not convey a great deal to the reader. What the Swedish Doctor opines-we will give his own words"That no education, time, or talent, can ever enable a foreigner, in any given country, to pass for a native ;"— this, (for a Doctor, who should mind ر what he says) has a smack of exaggeration; and Mr. Persic's charge of obscurity against the Arabian Nights, (so far as he himself illustrates it,) seems to amount to nothing. At a period, however, subsequent to this supposed conversation, Mr. P. (who is employed himself upon an embassy to Persia) saves Hajji Baba, a Persian of some station, from the hands of an Italian quack Doctor; and, in gratitude for certain doses of calomel, by the English gentleman administered, the Ispahani presents his written memoirs, for the benefit of the English public. Now here is a blot in the very outset of the book. Mr. Hope starts, most transparently, with Gil Blass in his eye, and never considers that a character perfectly fitted for a hero in one country, may not be so well calculated to fill the same role in another. The attention to Gil Blas is obvious. The chapters are headed in Le Sage's manner.—“ Of Hajji Baba's birth and education." "Into what hands Hajji Baba falls, and the fortune which his razors prove to him.” “Hajji Baba, in his distress, becomes a Saka, or water-carrier." "Of the man he meets, and of the consequences of the encounter," &c. &c. There are occasional imitations too, and not happy ones, of the style coupée of some of the French writers. An affectation of setting out about twenty unconnected facts, in just the same number of short unconnected sentences. A rolling up, as it were, of knowledge into little hard pills, and giving us dozens of them to swallow, (without diluent,) one after the other. This avoidance (from whatever cause it proceeds) of conjunction, and connecting observation, leads to an eternal recurrence of pronouns-rattling staccato upon the ear. It makes a book read like a judge's notes of a trial, or a report of a speech of a newspaper. And, indeed, throughout the work before us (we can scarcely suppose the author to have written in a hurry)— but, throughout the work, there is a sort of slovenliness; an inattention to minute, but nevertheless material, circumstances; which could scarcely, one would think, have been overlooked, if it had been cautiously revised. Hajji Baba, however, is the son of a barber at Ispahan, and is educated to follow his father's profession. He learns shaving upon the "heads" of cameldrivers and muleteers—a field of practice more extended than barbers have the advantage of in Europe-and having got a smattering of poetry, and a pretty good idea of shampooing-some notion of reading and writing, and a perfect dexterity at cleaning people's ears :-at sixteen, he is prepared to make his entrée in society. Starting as a barber, is starting rather low; and it is one material fault in our friend Hajji Baba, that, from beginning to end, he is a low character. Obscure birth is no bar to a man's fortune in the East; nor shall it be any hinderance to him among us; but we can't take cordially, East or West, to a commonplace fellow. Anastasius is meanly born, but he has the soul that makes all ranks equal. Beggar him--strip him starve him-make a slave of himstill nature maintains him a prince, and the superior (ten to one else) of the man that tramples upon him. Like the Mainote captain, in that exquisite chapter of "The Bagnio," he is one of those spirits which, of themselves, even in the most abject condition, will command attention and respect;-which, "like the cedars of Lebanon," to use the author's own simile, "though scathed by the lightning of Heaven, still overtop all the trees in the forest." But we But it won't do to have a hero (certainly not in Turkey) an awkward fellow. We don't profess to go entirely along with Mowbray, in Clarissa, who, extenuating Lovelace's crimes, by reference to the enormities of somebody else, throws his friend's scale up to the beam, by recollecting that the counter rogue is "an ugly dog too!" think, if a hero is to be a rascal, that he ought to be rascal like a gentleman. Mr. Hope denies Hajji Baba even the advantage of personal courage. As he got on in his last work without virtue, so he proposes to get on in this without qualification. This is Gil Blas; but we wish Mr. H. had let imitation alone. Gil Blas (per se) is no great model, anywhere, for a hero. It is the book carries him through-not him that car The poet (Asker) is doomed to death, as being an animal of no utility any where. Hajji, however, is moved with compassion, and interferes. ries the book. Gil Blas (that is the "egregious ransom," seems hardly proman) has a great deal more whim, and bable. The scene that follows has ten times more national characteristic, some pleasantry. than Hajji Baba; and yet we long to cane him, or put him in a horse-pond, at almost every page we read. And, besides, Gil Blas, let it be recollected, Gil Blas was the ORIGINAL. We have got imitations of him already enough, to be forgotten. The French Gil Blasand the German Gil Blas-and now, the Persian Gil Blas! It is an unprofitable task; at least, Mr. Hope, at all events, has made it one. To proceed, however, with Mr. Hajji Baba, whom we drag along, as it were, critically, by the ears; and whose first step in public life is into the service of Osman Aga, a merchant of Bagdad. His father gives him a blessing, accompanied by a new case of razors ;” his mother adds "a small tin case of a certain precious unguent," calculated to cure "all fractures and internal com plaints ;" and he is directed to leave the house with his face towards the door, "by way of propitiating a happy return." "2 Osman Aga has in view a journey to Meshed, where he will buy the lambskins of Bokhara, and afterwards resell them at Constantinople. He leaves Ispahan with the caravan, accompanied by his servant; and both are taken prisoners by certain Turcomans of the desert. Hajji's sojourn among these wandering people, with their attack and pillage of the caravan, is given with the same apparent knowledge of what he writes about, which Mr. Hope displayed in Anastasius. The prisoners, after being stripped, are disposed of according to their me rits. Osman Aga, who is middle-aged, and inclining to be fat, is deputed to wait upon the camels of his new masters; Hajji is admitted a robber, upon liking, in which capacity he guides the band on an excursion to Ispahan, his native city. The movement upon Ispahan is successful; the robbers plunder the caravanserai. Afterwards, in a lonely dell, five parasangs from the town, they examine the prisoners, who turn out not so good as was expected. A poet-a ferash (house servant) and a cadi; "What folly are you about to commit ? Kill the poet! Why it will be worse than killing the goose with the golden egg. sometimes, and can, if they choose, be rich Don't you know that poets are very rich at all times, for they carry their wealth in their heads? Did you never hear of the king who gave a famous poet a miscal of gold for every stanza that he composed? And-who knows?--perhaps your prisoner may be the king's poet-laureat himself.'" This observation changes the face of the affair, and the Turcomans are delighted with poetry. "Is that the case?' said one of the gang; then let him make stanzas for us immediately; and if they don't fetch a miscal* each, he shall die.' "Make on! make on!' exclaimed the whole of them to the poet, elated by so bright a prospect of gain; if you don't, we'll cut your tongue out."" At length it is decided that all the prisoners shall be spared; and the cadi is set to work to divide the booty among the thieves. When it comes, however, to Hajji's turn to share, he finds that he is to be allowed nothing, and thereupon resolves to escape from his new brethren; which he does on the first opportunity. Arriving at Meshed, without any means of subsistence, he becomes first a "Saka," a water-bearer, and afterwards an itinerant tobacconist, or "vender of smoke." He afterwards gets acquainted with a party of dervishes--one, a man of sanctity-another, a story-teller-and a third, a talisman writer. He is bastinadoed by the Mohtesib for adulterating his wares, turns dervish himself and quits the city. A variety of adventures, readable, but not worth talking about, then conduct Hajji to Tehran, and place him in the service of the king's chief physician. He reaches this promotion just as we are terribly tired of reading on, almost without knowing, or caring, about what, and recollecting how, in Anastasius, we stopped at every third page, to This lady, who sorts tobacco leaves, is a slave belonging to the chief physician, and an object of jealousy and dislike to his wife. The lovers meet on the next evening; and Zeenab's scan,"dal about the affairs of the harem is as light and chatty as Miss Biddy Fudge's letters about "Pa !" and "Monsieur Calicot," and the "rabbit-skin" shawls. read something or other half-a-dozen times over. At last our feelings get a fillip, by Monsieur Hajji's falling in love. Hajji Baba is a vulgar man, and of course makes but an indifferent lover. The lady, however, "holds her state," of whom he becomes enamoured, and prattles away through twenty pages very thoughtlessly and delightfully. "We are five in the harem, besides our mistress," said she: "There is Shireen, the Georgian slave, then Nur Jehan, the Ethiopian slave girl; Fatneh, the cook, is that of hand-maid to the khanum, so and old Seilah, the duenna. My situation my mistress is called; I attend her pipe; I hand her her coffee, bring in the meals, go with her to the bath, dress and undress her; pound tobacco, and stand before her. make her clothes, spread, sift, and Shireen, the Georgian, is the sandukdar, or housekeeper; she has the care of the clothes of both my master and mistress, and indeed the clothes of all the house; The spring has passed over, and the first heats of summer are driving most of the inhabitants of Tehran to sleep upon their house-tops. Hajji disposes his bed in the corner of a terrace, which overlooks the court-yard of his master's anderun, or woman's apartments; and, one night, looking over the wall, he sees a female in this court, whose figure, and her face, (as far as he can see it,) are exquisite. After gazing for some time, he makes a slight noise, which causes the lady to she superintends the expenses, lays in the look up. "And, before she could cover herself with her veil, I had had time to see the most enchanting features that the imagination can conceive, and to receive a look from eyes so bewitching, that I immediately felt my heart in a blaze. With apparent displeasure, she covered herself; but still I could perceive that she had managed her veil with so much art, that there was room for a certain dark and sparkling eye to look at me, and enjoy my agitation. As I continued to gaze upon her, she at length said, though still going on with her work, [She is sorting tobacco leaves,] "Why do you look at me?—it is crimimal.' "For the sake of the sainted Hosien,' I exclaimed, 'do not turn from me; it is no crime to love-your eyes have made roast meat of my heart. By the mother that bore you, let me look upon your face again!' "In a more subdued voice she answered me-Why do you ask me? You know it is a crime for a woman to let her face be seen, and you are neither my father, my brother, nor my husband; I do not even know who you are. Have you no shame to talk thus to a maid?'"' This is a touch of our author's true spirit; but,unfortunately, it is but transient. At this moment, she lets her veil fall (so showing her face) as if by accident; --but the voice is heard within, impatiently repeating the name of "Zeenab;" and she disappears, leaving Hajji nailed to the spot from whence she departed. corn for the house, as well as the other provisions; she takes charge of all the porcelain, the silver, and other ware; and in short, has the care of whatever is either precious, or of consequence, in the family. Nur Jehan, the black slave, acts as ferash, or carpet-spreader; she does all the dirty work; spreads the carpets, sweeps the rooms, sprinkles the water over the courtyard, helps the cook, carries parcels and messages, and, in short, is at the call of every one." All this is delightfully naif, and natural! One sees so plainly that Zeenab has not had any one to talk to for "these two hours." "As for old Leilah, she is a sort of duenin the out-of-door service, carries on any na over the young slaves; she is employed little affair that the Khanum may have with other harems, and is also supposed to be a spy upon the actions of the doctor. Such as we are, our days are passed in peevish disputes, whilst, at the same time, two of us are usually leagued in strict friendship, to the exclusion of the others. At this present moment, I am at open war with the Georgian, who, some time ago, found her good luck in life had forsaken her, and she in consequence contrived to procure a talisman from a Dervish. She had no sooner obtained it, than, on the very next day, the Khanum presented her with a new jackmade interest with the Dervish to supply et; this so excited my jealousy, that I also me with a talisman that should secure me a good husband. On that very same evening I saw you on the terrace-conceive my happiness!" We will be crucified if there be not six Zeenabs in every boarding-school for five miles round London. "But this has established a rivalship between myself and Shireen, which has ended in hatred, and we are now mortal enemies; perhaps we may as suddenly be friends again." Agreeable variety! "I am now on the most intimate terms with Nur Jehan; and, at my persuasion, she reports to the Khanum every story unfavourable to my rival. Some rare sweetmeats, with baklava (sweet-cake) made in the royal seraglio, were sent, a few days ago, from one of the Shah's ladies as a pre sent to our mistress; the rats eat a part of them, and we gave out that the Georgian was the culprit, for which she received blows on the feet, which Nur Jehan administered. I broke my mistress's favourite drinking cup, Shireen incurred the blame, and was obliged to supply another. I know that she is plotting against me, for she is eternally closeted with Leilah, who is at present the confidante of our mistress. I take care not to eat or drink anything which has passed through her hands to me, for fear of poison, and she returns me the same compliment." The ladies will kill Mr. Hope for having written this part of the book, and we shall kill him for having written the other parts of it. in There is a subsequent scene, which Hajji is admitted to the anderun, written with the same sprightliness and gossiping pleasantry as the foregoing. Zeenab has been engaged to cry at a funeral, to which the Khanum goes with all the family; and for which service she is to receive a black handkerchief, and "to eat sweetmeats." Instead of going,she beckons Hajji into the anderun to breakfast. "By what miracle,' exclaimed I, 'have you done this? Where is the Khanum! where are the women! And how, if they are not here, shall I escape the doctor?' "Do not fear,' she repeated again, 'I have barred all the doors. You must know that our destinies are on the rise, and that it was a lucky hour when we first saw each other. My rival, the Georgian, put it into the Khanum's head that Leilah, who is a professed weeper at burials, having learned the art in all its branches since a child, was a personage absolutely necessary on the present occasion, and that she ought to go in preference to me, who am a Curd, and can know but little of Persian customs; all this, of course, to deprive me of my black handkerchief, and other advantages. Accordingly, I have been left at home; and the whole party went off, an hour ago, to the house of the deceased.'" That fine perception about the "black handkerchief," is worth a million! Zeenab afterwards relates her life, which is amusing, but not remarkable-exhibiting the customs of the Yezeedies, a wild Curdish tribe, to which she belonged. Eventually, the chief physician makes a present of her to the Shah; and Hajji (who, in the meantime, has become a nasakchi, or sub-provost-marshall) is compelled to witness her execution, for a fault of which he himself is the author. But this scene, which the same pen that wrote the history of Euphrosyne, might have rendered (we should have supposed) almost too fearful for endurance, has, abstractedly, very little merit; and, coming from the author of Anastasius, is a decided failure. Indeed, the latter part of the book consists mainly of matter, very little worthy of a considerable writer. Hajji's adventures as a nasakchi have not a great deal of novelty about them; and the personages are weak into whose association he is thrown. The chief executioner, for instance, is a dull fellow; and the attack (vol. II. p. 272) by two Russian soldiers upon five hundred Turkish horse, should be authenticated. The subsequent business, in which Hajji becomes a mollah, (priest,) with the attack upon the Armenians, tends to almost nothing. The episodes, too, are in no instance fortunate. The story of Yusuf and Mariam is tedious. The adventures of the Dervises few persons will get through; and the legend of "The Baked Head" is a weak imitation of the little Hunchback of the Arabian Nights. The hero subsequently runs, during the whole of the last volume, through a round of incoherent, and often careHe belessly related adventures. comes a merchant, and that is not entertaining; marries, and is divorced again; writes accounts of the Europeans and their customs, which are puerile; and, at last, just as he is appointed secretary-in-chief to the Persian English embassy in Persia, (our supposed translator,) stops short, and addresses the reader. Profiting by the example of the Persian story-tellers, he |