bound Poland to Russia by its Constitution," nd which guaranteed the privileges and naonality of the Poles generally. She may us shake off those Russian shackles she ever willingly wore; she may conciliate the athusiastic and excited spirit of Germany; ne may win to herself the good-will and the rave hearts of the Poles; and in strict obeience to the clearly understood arrangements f the Congress of Vienna, interpose a conitutionally governed kingdom between herelf and Russia, and so strengthen her own rontiers, and confine her dangerous neigh our. This breaking up of the old tripartite paritioning league, would be of signal benefit o Europe at large; and the planting and maintaining a good government and liberal Constitutions in Poland, would be the preursor of the civilization and prosperity of he North. For those blessings would flow rom Poland to the surrounding nations. Good example is contagious; and Prussia would ere long discover that it was both heaper and more safe to preserve the alleiance of her Polish subjects by the ties of ffection and justice, than by the iron bonds of martial law. Russia, too, might learn the ame, and more. appears to us, is within the duty, the policy, the honour, and the power of Europe to perform-and that is, to require from Russia the fulfilment of the Treaty of Vienna. At the moment of closing the foregoing observations, a proclamation has appeared by the Russian Emperor, of the 26th of February, by which the guaranteed liberties and constitution of Poland are peremptorily abrogated. We entreat a most earnest attention to it, as fully corroborating all we have stated in regard to the ambitious views of Russia. In the preamble to this imperial decree, the Emperor Nicholas asserts, that in 1815, Poland was restored to its national existence by Russia, while, without deigning to take the slightest notice of the allies, or of the Congress of Vienna, he presumes to claim Poland as having been conquered by the victorious arms of Russia; and in the same arrogant and contemptuous spirit, declares Poland to be an integral part of the Russian Empire, and commands its inhabitants to consider themselves henceforth as Russians:-"les habitans de ce pays fassent désormais avec les Russes une seule nation." And then, " par un statut organique donné par notre clemence," this unblushing autocrat proceeds to dissolve the sole bond by which he lawfully holds Poland its Constitution. The facts speak for themRussia is already above all European law? From the Asiatic Journal. SITTI MAANI. The history of the beautiful Assyrian girl, Sitti Maani, forms the most touching episode in the narrative of Pietro della Valle. The traveller has left a picture of her in his letters to his friend Schipano, which possesses all the rich colours of poetry and romance. She died, it will be remembered, in her twenty-third year, of the pestilential fover then raging along the shores of the Persian Gulf. I SEE, I see thee gliding by, We may have been considered harsh in our exposition of the views and conduct of his empire, but we beg most clearly to dis-selves, and loudly ask the question, Whether vow any national antipathy. There is much o please—there are the seeds of much good n the Russian character. Many Russians re highly civilized and liberal; but the goernment is false, ambitious, and unmerciful. t is against such government, and against he forcing its despotism upon Poland, that ve enter our protest; and that we use our est endeavours, by pointing out the justice nd policy of maintaining a constitutional overnment in the one country, to provide or the spread of its blessings over the other. Thus might the leading powers of Europe, while they enforced justice, and protected hemselves, confer even on reluctant Russia nestimable benefits. For, under a wise goernment, gradually improving its instituions, laws, and administration, that empire night nobly emerge from that half barbarous tate, which is proud only of military glory nd territorial conquests. Her emperor, though ess unbounded in authority, might be more ecure in person;-the sanguinary intrigues nd revolutions that haunt his family and his tate might have an end;-the vast territoies over which he reigns, though they might eceive no more additions, would be less exosed to revolt, separation, or disruption;without winning one inch of land, or causing tear to flow, he might redouble his strength the inestimable reinforcements of increasng industry, wealth, and happiness. y These are perhaps Utopian dreams; but here is a plain matter-of-fact task, which, it Museum.-Vol. XXI. With drooping lash, and raven curl, Hath painted thy pure hope and glee, Oh, sweeter than the fountain crown'd For often, in the burning day, Beneath the blue Arabian sky, Uprose unto his aching eye.* * In the caravan with which Pietro departed from Aleppo, was a young merchant of Bagdad, with whom he formed an intimacy, and who entertained him as they rode side by side through the moonlight," with praises of the beauty and excellence of a young lady of Bagdad. The enNo. 121.-D And while his young companion vaunted How his heart gladdened at the swell City of the caliph's glory, Among the orient bowers to roam; A cloud upon her joy was sent— From the Monthly Review. -NATIVE LIFE IN INDIA.I Or the many works that have been lately published, for the purpose of extending our acquaintance with the domestic habits and manners of the natives of British India, these volumes of Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, are decidedly the most estimable. They introduce us at once into those sanctuaries of private intercourse, to which strangers seldom find access, and with which few even of the British residents become intimately acquainted. The kind of knowledge which peculiar facilities enabled our fair author to collect, for the information of her friends, in this country, and which she has been fortunately induced to exhibit to a wider circle, is perhaps of all others the most pleasing. We feel an interest in knowing every thing that concerns our fellow-beings, especially in distant parts of the world; we are gratified in hearing descriptions of their style of dress, and of the occupations which fill up the measure of their daily life; we follow them cheerfully through the details of their house-keeping, listen to thusiasm of the merchant was communicated at length to Pietro, and before he entered Bagdad he was in love with the unknown maiden-who was Sitti Maani. The affectionate enthusiasm with which Pietro della Valle carried with him the coffined remains of his beloved wife is in the remembrance of the reader. +Observations on the Mussulmauns of India: descriptive of their Manners, Customs, Habits, and Religious Opinions, made during a Twelve Years' Residence in their Immediate Society. By Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali. In 2 vols. 8vo. London: Parbury, Allen & Co. 1832. their conversation, and national stories, participate in their amusements, and wonder at the differences which exist between them and ourselves, upon innumerable points of economy and conduct. No description that is characteristic of their private life can be considered too minute; our curiosity on this subject is insatiable, for let the contrast of its general complexion be ever so great with that of our own, there is still running through the whole of the distance between, that invisible, but not imperceptible, electric chain, which binds the whole race of man in the ties of sympathy. We wish that the author had been somewhat less reserved, as to her own personal history. With reference to this topic, she merely tells us, that she passed twelve years of her life in Mussulman society: her husband would appear also to be of that nation, whereas she is herself an Englishwoman, who, we presume, originally went out to India, in connexion with some missionaries, but in what capacity, whether as a domestic, or a translator, or a preacher, or a tract distributor, the deponent saith not. She does not give us the slightest idea of the course which Mr. Meer Hassan Ali adopted, in order to persuade her to share in his fortunes, though many of her readers would doubtless be very happy to know, whether a Mussulman's mode of making love resembles that established among the men of England. We very soon learn, nevertheless, that, however limited her communications may be, upon subjects personal to herself, she is really a sensible and very amiable woman, well acquainted with the practical duties of life, and accustomed to fulfil them. thought nothing of the climate, which, she contends, affects those only who are constitutionally idle. Her simple and effective expedient against the annoyances of that raging heat, of which so many complain, was the constant useful employment of her time, which preserved equally the health of her body and her mind. Even when the thermometer was at its height, and the hot winds prevailed, or when that still more oppressive influence filled the atmosphere, which exists during the periodical rains, Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali found or made employment for her hours, and hence, they glided rapidly along, she assures us, without a murinur or a sigh. She The manners of the Mussulman people are quite patriarchal. The master and mistress of a family receive the utmost veneration from their domestic slaves; and yet, the latter are allowed to converse with their superiors, and to give their opinions with the utmost frankness. Aged servants are treated with the most amiable kindness, and their comforts, as well as those of poor relatives of the family, even to the remotest degree of consanguinity, are attended to with the most pious care. The spirit of kindliness presides over all their intercourse with each other; the hearts of parents are ever warm with tenderness, while nothing can be more spontaneous than the obedience and affection of their children. Their reverence for age, and especially for an aged father or mother, knows scarcely any limits. Their charity to the poor flows from its proper source, their conviction that it propitiates the favour of heaven. It may be that this is not always the case, and that with some ostentation is the object. But when the needy benefit by the rich, as our author benevolently remarks, "it is unjust to scrutinize the heart's motive, where the act itself alleviates the present sufferings of a fallen creature." She adds, and the sentiment and language are worthy of the proverbial wisdom of the east, -"imposition is doubtless often practised with success by the indolent, who excite the good feelings of the wealthy, by a tale of woe; the sin rests with him who begs unworthily, not with him who relieves the supposed distresses of his poorer neighbour. The very best of human beings will acknowledge, that they derive benefits from the bounty of their Maker, not because they are deserving, but that He is merciful.'' The race of the Syads, or Meers, descended from Mahomet, are greatly respected, and form the principal class of Mussulman nobility. The female Syads are all Begums, or ladies; and their honours being all derived from their genealogy, every degree of their descent is registered in their memory with the most scrupulous exactness. As long as the children of both sexes remain under the care of their mother, in her own apartment, popularly called the zenana, it is an indispensable part of their daily education to recount their pedigree up to either Hasan or Hosein, the two sons of Ali, by his cousin Fatima. Hence, without referring to the manuscript genealogy, which is kept with sacred care in every family, they can generally trace the whole line of their ancestors, without the least difficulty. They are, of course, exceedingly jealous of the purity of their race, so much so, that, in the formation of connexions, birth is generally preferred to wealth. The consequence is, that the class of the Syads abounds in old maids. The author mentions an interesting instance, in which this pride of birth predominated over every advantage of a pecuniary description. "There are three unmarried daughters, remarkable for their industrious habits, morality, and strict observance of their religious duties; they are handsome, well-formed women, polite and sensible, and to all this they add an accomplishment which is not by any means general amongst the females of Hindostan, they have been taught by their excellent father to read the Koran in Arabic,-it is not allowed to be translated, and the commentary in Persian. The fame of their superiority has brought many applications from the heads of families possessing wealth, and desirous to secure for their sons wives so eminently endowed, who would waive all considerations of the marriage dowry, for the sake of the Begum who might thus adorn their untitled house. All these offers, however, have been promptly rejected, and the young ladies themselves are satisfied in procuring a scanty subsistence by the labour of their hands. I have known them to be employed in working the jaullie (netting for a part of the female dress), which, after six days' close application, at the utmost could not realize three shillings each; yet I never saw them other than contented, happy, and cheerful,-a family of love, and patterns of sincere piety."-Vol. i. pp. 9, 10. Among the Mussulmans, the day and night are each divided into four equal parts, or watches, which are again subdivided into hours. The latter are marked by means of a brass ball floating in a tank of water. At the bottom of the ball there is a very small aperture, which admits a drop of the water every second; the hours are numbered on the external surface, and, as the ball sinks, the progress of time is perceived by a watchman, who attends for the purpose, and proclaims it by striking with a hammer, on a broad plate of bell-metal. These watchmen are regularly relieved, at stated periods, as punctuality is a serious consideration amongst a people whose services of prayer must be performed at the appointed hours, with the most religious exactness. When a death occurs in a family, the principal survivor of the house mourns for forty days, during which period he allows his beard to grow:* and at certain intervals, he provides splendid dinners, which he sends out on trays, to his immediate relatives and friends, by way of return, we suppose, for their attentions during the period the dead body remains in the house. No cooking is carried on there as long as that is the case; and hence, they deem it a duty to supply the family with ready-dressed dinners. The married ladies have a habit, which appears to us very strange, of applying to their lips and gums, and occasionally to their teeth, a preparation of antimony, which dyes them as black as ebony. They pencil the eye-lid with lamp-black; and they particularly pride themselves on the delicacy of the line and symmetry of the arch of the eye-brow. Their hands and feet are cleansed until they exhibit a bright red hue, which they justly deem becoming and healthy. They wear a large ring of gold wire, set with rubies and pearls, suspended from the nose, and, however inconvenient they may find it, they cannot remove it, except on a particular festival, from the day of their marriage, until that of their death, or widowhood, unless they venture to despise *The Prophet commanded the beard to be worn: but in modern times mustachios only are reserved on the upper lip, which are trained with the utmost care; The religious Mussulmans, however, strictly follow the precept. one of their most ancient customs. Gold or silver rings are also suspended from the ears, which are pierced in nine or ten places, so that when all the rings are worn, they look like a fringe of the precious metal on each side of the head. On state occasions, the rings give place to strings of emeralds, and pearls, which fa'l in rows from the upper part of the ear, in a graceful and elegant style. They are remarkably attentive to the hair, which, generally luxuriant, and a jet black, after being well washed and dried, is anointed with sweet jessamine oil; it is then drawn, with nice precision, from the forehead to the back, where it is twisted into a queue, which usually reaches below the waist; the ends are ornamented with strips of red silk, and silver ribands, entwined with the hair, and terminating in a large rosette. While the married women rejoice in the ebony colour of their teeth, the men, on the contrary, are remarkable for the white enamel of theirs, although their only tooth-brush is a broken twig of the pomegranate tree, from which the rind is stripped off, bruised and made pliant at the extremity. As we cannot venture to touch the higher mysteries of the toilette, we must refer them to Mrs.-we wish her name was not so long,-Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, a name, by the way, that bespeaks high rank among the Mussulman people of India. "As I have rather prematurely introduced the native ladies' style of dress into this letter, I may as well include the whole business of their toilet under the present head, instead of reserving the detail of the subject for a future letter, when the zeenahnah is to be described, and accordingly proceed to tell you that the ladies' pyjaamahs are formed of rich satin, or gold cloth, goolbudden, or mussheroo, (striped washing silks manufactured at Benares), fine chintz,-English manufacture having the preference, silk or cotton ginghams; in short, all such materials are used for this article of female dress as are of sufficiently firm texture, down to the white calico of the country, suited to the means of the wearer. By the most fashionable females they are worn very full below the knee, and reach to the feet, which are partially covered by the fulness, the extremity finished, and the seams are bound with silver riband; a very broad silver riband binds the top of the pyjaamah; this being double, has a zarbund (a silk net cord) run through, by which this part of the dress is confined at the waist. The ends of the zarbund are finished with rich tassels of gold and silver, curiously and expressly made for this purpose, which extend below the knees; for full dress, these tassels are rendered magnificent with pearls and jewels. "One universal shape is adopted in the form of the ungeeah, (bodice), which is, however, much varied in the material and ornamental part; some are of gauze or net, muslin, &c., the more transparent in texture the more agreeable to taste, and all are more or less ornamented with spangles and silver trimmings. It is made to fit the bust with great exactness, and to fasten behind with strong cotton cords; the sleeves are very short and tight, and finished with some fanciful embroidery or silver riband. Even the women servants pride themselves on pretty ungeeahs, and all will strive to have a little finery about them, however coarse the material it is formed of may happen to be. They are never removed at night, but continue to be worn a week together, unless its beauty fades earlier, or the ornamental parts tarnish through extreme heat. "With the ungeeah is worn a transparent courtie, (literally translated, shirt,) of thread net; this covers the waistband of the pyjaamah, but does not screen it; the seams and hems are trimmed with silver or gold ribands. "The deputtah is a useful envelope, and the most graceful part of the whole female costume. In shape and size, a large sheet will convey an idea of the deputtah's dimensions; the quality depends on choice or circumstances; the preference is given to our light English manufacture of leno or muslin for every day wear, by gentlewomen; but on gala days, gold and silver gauze tissues are in great request, as is also fine India muslin, manufactured at Decca; transparent and soft as the web of the gossamer spider; this is called shubnum, (night dew,) from its delicate texture, and is procured at a great expense, even in India; some deputtahs are formed of gold-worked muslin, English crape, coloured gauze, &c. On ordinary occasions, ladies wear them simply bound with silver riband, but for dress, they are richly trimmed with embroidery and bullion fringes, which add much to the splendour of the scene, when two or three hundred females are collected to gether in their assemblies. The deputtah is worn with much original taste on the back of the head, and falls in graceful folds over the person; when standing, it is crossed in front, one end partially screening the figure, the other thrown over the opposite shoulder. "I should say, they rarely stand; but when distinguished guests, or their elders, amongst relatives, are announced, this mark of respect is never omitted. It is an interesting sight, as they have much ease and grace in their manner, which no tutoring could impart; they rise and arrange their drapery, advance a few steps from their place in the hall, and embrace their visiter thrice in due form, ending by salaaming, with the head bowed very low towards the ground, and the open hand raised to the forehead, three times in succession, with solemnity and dignity. "I have told you, in a former letter, how many precious ornaments were laid aside on the eve of Mahurrum, and need hardly describe them again. Their fondness for good jewellery, perhaps, exceeds the same propensity in any other females on the globe; the rude workmanship of native jewellers is never an object of weighty consideration, provided the precious metals are unalloyed in quality. The same may be remarked in their selection of jewels; pearls of the largest size, even when discoloured or misshapen, are selected in preference to the most regular in form and colour, of a smaller size; large diamonds, having flaws, are often preferred to smaller ones most perfect. The gentlemen are good judges of precious stones, and evince some taste in their style of ornaments: they are worn on their turbans, and in necklaces or harrhs, rings, armlets, &c. but these are all laid aside at seasons of devotion, when they are restricted wearing, not only ornaments, but mixed articles of silk and wool in their apparel. The most religious men and women invariably abstain from ornamental dress in every way, deeming it frivolous vanity, and inconsistent with that they profess to be seeking God, and forsaking worldly things.' Thus the principles; the mystery, however, has passed away upon an intimate acquaintance with the domestic habits of the people. The men with whom genteel women converse are generally well educated, and from the naturally inquisitive disposition of the females, not a word escapes the lips of a father, husband, or brother, without an inquiry as to its meaning, which having once ascertained, is never forgotten, because their attention is not diverted by a variety of pursuits or vain amusements. The wo"The ladies never wear stockings, and only men look up to the opinions of their male relacover the feet with shoes, when pacing across tives with the same respect as children of other their court-yard, which bounds their view and climes are accustomed to regard their tutor or their walks. Nevertheless, there is a fashion governess, considering every word pronounced Te and taste about the ladies' shoes, which is pro- as worthy by imitation, and every sentiment ductive of much emulation in zeenahnah life, expressed as a guide to their own. they are splendidly worked in many patterns, habit of speaking correctly is so familiar to the with gold and silver spangles, variously-colour- females of Mussulmaun society, that even woed small seed beads, and embroidery-the whole men servants, long accustomed to serve in zeone mass of glittering metal; they are made nahnahs, may be readily distinguished by their with sharp points, curling upwards, some reach-language from the same class of people in ating half-way to the knees, and always worn tendance on European ladies."-Vol. i. pp. 106 down at the heel, as dressing slippers; the least-114. costly for their every day wear, are of gold einbroidery on velvet; the less opulent condescend to wear tinsel work; and the meanest servants yellow or red cloth, with silver binding. The same style of shoes are worn by the males as by the females; I have seen some young men with green shagreen slippers for the rainy season; these are made with a high heel, and look unseemly. The fashion of shoes varies with the times in this country, as well as in others-sometimes it is genteel to have small points to the shoes; at another, the points are long, and much curled; but they still retain the preference for pointed shoes, whatever be the fashion adopted. The Mussulman religion is not without its sects; their differences, however, are merely nominal, they being equally guided by the laws of the Khoran, which they believe not to have been the work of any particular period of Mahomet's life; each chapter, they say, was conveyed to him by the angel Gabriel, and his inspired memory enabled him to repeat the words of the holy messenger verbatim to his disciples, who assembled to hear him every day, and compiled the precious volume after his death. They pray for the dead, and those who can afford it, hire persons to read the Khoran over the grave of the departed, for several years, during which they are relieved at intervals, both day and night. They believe that a great spirit, to whom they give the name Mhidhie, will visit the earth in company with Christ, as soon as the four quarters of the globe shall contain Christian inhabitants. Reverence for God seems the "The greatest novelty in the way of shoes, which came under my observation in India, was a pair of silver embroidery, small pointed, and very neatly made; on the points, and round the instep, small silver bells were fastened, which produced harmony with every step, carried by the quick or more gentle paces of the wearer; these were a present to me from a a lady of distinction in Oude. Upon visiting leading trait in their character and faith; this lady, on one occasion, my black silk slip- they believe in the existence and promises of pers which I had left at the entrance, (as is the the prophets, of whom they say that Macustom here,) had most likely attracted the cuhomet was the last. Him they believe to have riosity of the Begum's slaves, for when that lady attended me to the threshold, they could been sent, in order to regenerate mankind, at nowhere be found; and I was in danger of be- a period, when the people of the earth were ing obliged to soil my stockings by walking vicious and profane, and worshipped idols, inshoeless to my palkie across the court-yard. Instead of the Creator. On the subject of the this dilemma, the lady proffered me the pair here described; I was much amused with the novelty of the exchange, upon stepping into the musical shoes, which, however they may be prized by native ladies, did not exactly suit my style of dress, nor convenience in walking, although I must always remember the Begum's attention with gratitude. "The ladies society is by no means insipid or without interest; they are naturally gifted. with good sense and politeness, fond of conversation, shrewd in their remarks, and their language is both correct and refined. This, at first, was an enigma to me, considering that their lives are spent in seclusion, and that their education was not conducted on European resurrection, the Mussulman belief is, that after the destruction of the world, which is to be effected by fire, there shall be a general resurrection of the dead. Their daily prayer is divided in the following manner. "The Mussulmaun lawgiver commanded Namaaz (daily prayer) five times a day : "1st. The Soobhoo Namaaz,' to commence at the dawn of day. "2d. The Zohur,' at the second watch of the day, or mid-day. "3d. The Ausur,' at the third-day watch. "4th. The Muggrib,' at sunset; and "5th. The Eshaa,' at the fourth ghurrie of the night. D 2 |