said to him, "Two loves can never meet in the same heart." At these words, Ali was so moved, that he could not forbear shedding tears; when Hosein, touched with the impression his words had made, in order to comfort his father, again asked bim, "Whether he should consider the sin of infidelity, or his death, as the greater evil?" Ali replied, “I would rather deliver you up to death than abandon my faith." "By this mark then," said Hosein, “it is apparent that the love you have for me is only a natural tenderness; that you bear toward God is a true love." Al Hejaj, being one day in the country, met an Arab of the Desart, who was a perfect stranger to him, and asked him what sort of a man this Al Hejaj was, of whom people talked so much? The Arab answered, that he was a very wicked man. “Don't you know me, then ?" said At Hejúj. "No," replied the Arab. "I am," saith the other," Al Hejâj, of whom you give so bad a character." Upon which the Arab, without the least emotion or concern, demanded of Al Hejúj, in his turn, whether he knew him? "No," answered the other. "I am," said the Arab, “a member of the family of Zubeir, whose posterity all become fools three days in the year, and this is one of them." Al Hejâj could not for ear laughing at, and admiring, so ingenious an evasion; so that, notwithstanding his natural fierceness, he pardoned the Arab. After Al Hejaj had defeated Abd'abrahmán, and killed 4000 of his men, and taken a great number of officers prisoners, all of which he resolved to put to the sword; one of these, going to the place of execution, said, he had a piece of justice to demand of Al Hejaj; as he had reproved his General Abd'abrahman, for speaking with great acrimony against him. Al Hejaj asked him whether he could produce any one to attest this point of conduct? To which he replied, "that one of his comrades, now condemned to die as well as himself, heard every thing that passed between him and Abd'abrahman on this occasion." Al Hejaj, being satisfied with the truth of the fact, asked the other why he did not behave in the same manner? This undaunted man answered him fiercely, "I did not do it, because you are my enemy." Upon which Al Hejáj gave both of them their lives; the one, in order to acknowledge the obligations he was under to him; and the other, for having confessed the truth with so much frankness and courage. One day, as Al Hejáj was hunting, being once separated from his retinue, he found himself very thirsty in a solitary place, where an Arab was feeding his camels; as soon as Al Hejáj appeared, those animals were scared away; which made the Arab, then attentive to something else, lift up his head in a great passion, and say, "Who is this, with his fine clothes, that comes here into the Desart to fright my camels? the curse of God light upon him!" ~Al Hejáj, without taking notice of what he said, made up to him, saluted him very civilly, and, after the Arab manner, wished him peace. But the other, instead of returning his salutation in proper terms, answered him roughly; telling him," that he neither wished him peace, nor any blessing of God." Al Hejaj seemed not to understand him, and begged of him, with great humility, a little water to drink. The Arab told him, "that he might alight and help himself, for he was neither his companion nor his servant." Al Hejaj did as he bade him; and, after he had drunk, asked him whom he took to be the most noble and excellent of all men?" The Prophet sent by God, burst you!" answered the Arab. "And what think you of Ali?” added Al Hejaj. "His Excellency cannot be sufficiently expressed by words," replied the other. Al Hejàj coutinuing his discourse, then asked him what opinion he entertained of Abd'aimálec To which at first he made no answer; but, being pressed, he at last dropped some words which seemed to imply that he believed him to be a bad Prince. "Why so?" an swered Al Hejáj. "Because," replied the Arab, "he has sent us for a Governor the most wicked man under the Heavens." The words were scarcely out of his mouth, when a bird flew over their heads, making at the same time a sort of noise; which the Arab had no sooner heard, than he looked stedfastly upon Al Hejáj, and demanded of him who he was? Al Hejaj, not choosing to give him a direct answer, desired to know the the reason of that question. "Because," said the Arab, "this bird assured me, that a company of people draws near, and that you probably are the Chief of them." Al Hejaj's attendants then came up, and, by his order, carried the Arab along with him; who, the next day, was admitted to Al Hejaj's table, and commanded by him to eat. The Arab then said his usual grace, "God grant that the end of this meal may be as fortunate as the beginning." Whilst they were eating, Al Hejaj asked him if he remembered the discourse that had passed between them the day before. The Arab answered him immediately," God prosper you in every thing; but as for yesterday's secret, take care you do not divulge it to-day." "That I most certainly shall," replied Al Hejáj; "but you must choose one of these two things; either to acknowledge me your mas ter, and then I will retain you in my service; or else to be sent to the Khalif Abd-almálec Ebn Meriván, to whom I shall give an account of all that you have said of him." The Arab, having heard Al Hejaj's proposal, answered him instantly, "There is a third way you may take, which seems to me to be much better." "What is that?" said Al Hejáj. "Send me home," replied the Arab, "and let I and you never see one another more." Upon which, Al Hejáj, not a little pleased to hear the poor man talk with so much spirit and vivacity, made him a present of ten thousand dirhems, and dismissed him according to his desire. When Al Hejaj was upon his deathbed, be consulted his astrologer, to know of him if he had not found in his Ephemerides that some great Captain was near the end of his days? The astrologer answered him, "that a certain great Lord, named Kolaib*, was threatened with speedy death, according to his observations." Al Hejaj replied, "That is the very name my mother gave me when I was a child." "Then," said the astrologer with great imprudence," you must certainly die, there is no room to doubt of it." Al Hejaj, offended at this discourse, instantly replied to him, "If that be the case, and you • Kolaib, in Arabic, signifies a little dog. are so dextrous in your predictions, I will send you before me into the other world, that I may make use of you there;" and at the same time gave orders to have him dispatched immediately. About the 151st year of the Hejira, Jeyúrjeyus, or George, Ebn Bakhtishua Al Jondisábríre, a famous physician and a Christian, was brought to Court, in order to cure the Khalif of a want of appetite and indigestion, under which he at that time laboured, The physician, attended by his scholar, or pupil, Isa Ebn Shahlátha, being introduced to the Khalif, discoursed with him, both in Persic and Arabic, with great fluency and elegance; assuring him at the same time, after he had received from him an account of his disorder, that, with the Divine assistance, he could cure him. The Kalif, charmed with the gracefulness of his person, the politeness of his language, and, above all, the assurances he had given him, ordered a sumptuous and costly vest to be put upon him, assigned him one of the best apartments in his palace, and commanded his chamberlain Rabi to treat him with the highest marks of respect. George having in a short time effected a cure upon him, Al Mansûr one day asked him whether he was married? To which the phy. sician replied," that he had for his wife an old woman, who was extremely infirm, and not able to rise from her seat." Upon this, the Khalif ordered Salem, one of his eunuchs, to take with him three beautiful Greek girls, and a present of 3000 dinárs, to George's apartment; who, not finding him at home, left them with Isa, his scholar, there. But George, upon his return, after reprimanding Isa for receiving them, returned them to the Khalif; who sending for him, and asking him with great surprize the reason of so strange and unparalleled a conduct, the physician told him, without any scruple or hesitation, that it was not lawful for a Christian to have more than one wife at a time. This increasing Al Mansur's astonish ment, he dismissed him with uncommon expressions of esteem, and afterwards heaped his favours with greater profusion upon him. The Khalif Al Mohdi, being one day engaged in a hunting-match, strayed strayed from his attendants; and, being pressed with bunger and thirst, was to betake an Arab's tent that he discovered, in order to meet with some refreshment. The poor man immediately brought out his coarse brown bread and a pot of milk to the Khalif. Al Mohdi asked him if he had nothing else to give him? upon which, the Arab went directly to fetch a jug of wine, and presented it to him. After the Khalif had drunk a good draught, he demanded of the Arab whether he did not know him? The other having answered, that he did not; “I would have you know, then," replied the Khalif, "that I am one of the prin cipal Lords of the Khalif's Court." After he had taken another draught, be put the same question to the Arab as before; who thereupon answering, "Have not I already told you, that I know you not?" Al Mohdi returned, “I am a much greater person than I have made you believe." Then he drank again, and asked his landlord the third time whether he did not know him? To which the other replied, that "he might depend upon the truth of the answer he had al ready given him. "I am then," said Al Mohdi, "the Khalif, before whom all the world prostrate themselves." The Arab no sooner heard these words, than be carried off the pitcher, and would not suffer his guest to drink any more. Al Mohdi, being surprized at this action, asked him why he carried off his wine? The Arab replied, “Because I am afraid that, if you take a fourth draught, you will tell me you are the Prophet Mohammed; and if by chance a fifth, that you are God Almighty himself." This gentle wipe so pleased the Khalif, that he could not forbear laughing at it; and being soon rejoined by his people, he ordered a purse of silver and a fine vest to be given the poor man, who had entertained him in so hospitable a manner. Upon which the Arab, in a transport of joy for the good fortune he had met with, said to the Khalif, "I shall henceforth take you for what you pretend to be, even though you should make yourself two or three times more considerable than you have done. (To be continued.) Mr. URBAN, N Great Gransden' Vicarage, May 29. page 338 you have noticed my "Letter to Author of a entitled The Stage," &c.; and you begin your Review by saying, "In p. 6 of this Pamphlet, we find the following passage: The Fathers of the Christian Church, by conspiring to suppress the Theatres of Greece and Rome, re-barbarized Europe, and condemned the victims of their tuition to a millenium of ignorance, vassallage, and woe.' “And in p. 7, we are told that the Theatre has been a palladium of liberty, wisdom, and civilization," From the manner in which you have introduced these quotations, I fear that your Readers will think that these are my sentiments, whereas the contrary is the case; and the object of that Pamphlet is to remonstrate with the author of the Tract entitled "The Stage," &c. published by the Religious Tract Society, for having quoted these and other passages as being in my "Discourses on the Stage," published in 1809; whereas neither such words, nor such sentiments, are to be found in them; but they are the sentiments of the Editor of the "Annual Review," in reviewing the first edition of Dr. Styles's Essay on the Stage," and quoted by Dr. S. in the third edition of his Essay, with a view to answering them; and, by a careless and strange misapprehension of the Author of the Tract on the Stage (who acknowledges his obligations to Dr. S.'s Essay, and who, I believe, had never read, nor even seen, my Discourses), he has attributed them to me it is a very remarkable fact in the history of literature and literary party. After my "Letter" was printed, I found, from the volume entitled "Proceedings of the first Twenty years of the Religious Tract Society" (p. 417), that this Tract, called "The Stage; three Dialogues between Mr. Clement and Mr. Mortimer," was written by a Member of the Committee," and which Committee consists of twelve persons, whose names are given at p. 461. I sent copies to the Author and to the Committee, and received a Letter from the committee, saying, that" any inaccurate quotations made therein will be corrected in the next edition." After waiting upwards of a month in expectation of hearing from the Author, and finding the Tract was still sold, I wrote another Letter to the Committee, in which I said, "I think you are not doing justice, either to me, or to yourselves, if you continue the sale of the present edition, as it does not contain merely some inaccurate quo tations, that is, passages not correctly quoted from my work; but what it professes to quote from my work, is not only not to be found there at all, but I expressly censure many of the very things which I am accused of having defended, and in general condemn every thing contrary to the genuine spirit of Christianity. In continuing the sale of the Tract, therefore, you are dispersing falsehood and calumny, knowing it to be so; and how far this is consistent with a Christian Society, I appeal to your own bosoms, severally and jointly, to determine." This Letter was dated February 29, and I have not heard, either from the Author, or the Committee, since no re-Tract-ation has been made, and the Dialogues are still continued on sale, purporting to be the second edition of ten thousand copies. JAMES PLUMPTRE. ΤΕ sex. Mr. URBAN, "Iche, Edward Koning, Good, swift, and bolde: June 7. Classick knows EVERY ere have been various dis cussions upon the Latin imperfect tenses of the indicative mood, and that there is an eternal confusion of the tense in question in the passive voice with the preterperfect, both being assimilatsd under the sign was. Permit me to send you the proper correction, viz. that was and have been apply to the preterperfect, and that was being and used to be, are the real signs of the passive imperfect.Two excellent examples from Cicero (in Anton. Philipp. ii. c. 17.) will show how much the strength of a passage is diminished by the erroneous substitute of simple was. Was being. Ab horá tertiá bibebatur, ludebatur, vomebatur. "It was being drunk, rioting and vomiting, from the third hour," or, if the verb be changed into the active voice, as better accommodated to English idiom, "They were drinking, rioting, and vomiting, from the third hour." Used to be. Qua in illá villá antea dicebantur? Quæ cogitabantur ? Quæ literis mandabantur? "What things used before to be said in that place? What things used to be thought? What things used to be committed to letters?" Now, if we read these passages by the simple sign were, that fine figure the Erotesis is reduced to a caput mortuum, and the native Herculean force of the Latin language, changed from forensic vigour into drawing. room tattle. PEDAGOGUS. are both translated, a green fig not yet ripe; whether grossula has been applied to the gooseberry from any fancied resemblance to an unripe fig, I cannot determine. I imagine the food commonly called gooseberry fool means squeezed (or pressed) gooseberries.-See Boyer's French Dictionary; —. - fouler (presser), to crowd or squeeze; foulau, a stamper of grapes; perhaps gooseberry jam would not be an improper name for this article; although certainly it is not prepared like what is by confectioners called jam. May not the name Cockney*, also mentioned in page 318, be derived from coquin (French), a knave, and signify a a little knave (coquinelle)? I A CONSTANT READER. Mr. URBAN, May 12. NEVER took any great interest in the much controverted question as to the Author of Junius's Letters; but was a good deal struck as I happened yesterday to be reading a Memoir of the late Sir Philip Francis, K. B. in the Annual Biography and Obituary for 1820, p. 217, where I met with the following paragraph: "One of his maxims was, that the views of every one should be directed toward a solid, however moderate, independence, without which, no man can be happy, nor even honest." I recollected what I had seen in one of your Magazines a few years ago, in a Critique on Junius's Letters, and turned to the Number for Dec. 1812, p. 552, where I found the following: "Let all your views in life be directed to a solid, however moderate, independence,—without it no man can be happy, nor even honest." Who is the Author of the above assertion respecting Sir Philip, I am entirely ignorant, and therefore can form no judgment of the grounds he had for making it: 1 merely submit my observation to the consideration of yourself and your Readers. To your "CONSTANT READER," in p. 290, it may be sufficient to answer, that the Ecclesiastical Law knows nothing of the wives or children of spiritual men; and that, from the moment when a new incumbent See a curious Dissertation on the has obtained "real, actual, and corporal possession," of his benefice, by institution and induction, even if it were possible to be accomplished on the day after his predecessor's death, he certainly has a legal right to demand all the profits and advantages thereof, of which the use and enjoyment of the glebe and manor are certainly not the smallest. Respecting the curious Letter, p.310, recording the munificent donations of her Grace Alice Duchess Dudley (so created by letters patent, dated at Oxford, 23 May, 20 Car. I. during the term of her natural life), I know nothing of any benefaction to the Poor of St. Alban's; but to her donation of splendid Communion plate to the Church of St. Peter in St. Alban's I can bear abundant testimony, having frequently seen it; and finding, also, at the end of the old Parish Register Book, a memorandum inserted by order of a Vestry bolden 24 March, 1667, and signed by John Retchforde, Vicar; Ro. Robotham, Thomas Coxe, Thomas Arris, M.P. for the Borough, and six other of the Parishioners, acknowledging the receipt of one silver flagon gilt and handsomely chased, with a cover,one calice, and paten to the said calice,—and a bread-bowl and cover, from the said Duchess Dudley, in the time of the late plague and pestilence inhabiting New Barns within this pa rish, to testify their grateful recognition of so great a favour, and to derive to posterity the memory of so great a benefit:" in addition to these, the List of Benefactions to the Parish mentions "also a small paten, seemingly of the same workmanship with the rest, and probably the gift of the same person, who appears to have died Jan. 22, 1668-9, æt. 90." Mr. URBAN, J.B. April 15. your excellent Church for the HE beautiful Liturgy by use of her members is, in its several parts, so admirably adapted to the different occasions for which they are appointed, that it must grieve any one sincerely attached to her from principle, to see some of her most solemn rites administered in an irre verent, slovenly, or indecent manner. word "Cockney," in Pegge's Anecdotes of Many of our Parochial Clergy conthe English Language.-EDIT. scientiously refuse to baptize infants," GENT. MAG. June, 1820, unless |