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fm THE L.EADEB. .[No. 384, AtrOTST 8, 18...
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Another distinguished name is this week ...
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AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A MOHAMEDAN. Autobiogra...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
'New Sea.Sidestudies.~No. Iii. Jersey/ W...
should possess . This characteristic of the number is confessed in the title of one of the papers , < A Tew Words on France and Preach Affairs ; ' but the same heading might be extended to many others . There are , besides , a . few words on the last Opera Season , a' few words on the late Dr . Badha . m , a few words on the Indian Army , a , few words on the Indian Mutinies , and a few words on the Session of 1857 . Unfortunately , tod , the longest article , that on - * English Social Life from the Thirteenth to the Sixteenth Centuries , ' is the least interesting of all . The opening article of the number , on ' Policy in Persia / is written in full knowledge of the subject , and gives a clear and minute account of our relations with that court , as well as an outline of the policy we ought to pursue . The third part of ' Deer' is interesting , as is the article on George SiSphenson " .
The best articles in the Dublin University Magazine are one on ' Madame De Sable and" the Salons of her Time ; ' another , giving a graphic sketch of " Schamil at Home ; ' and a third on c Oxford , the English Church , and Mr . Emerson . ' One on the ' Indian Mutiny' is also good .
Fm The L.Eadeb. .[No. 384, Atrotst 8, 18...
fm THE L . EADEB . . [ No . 384 , AtrOTST 8 , 1857 ^
Another Distinguished Name Is This Week ...
Another distinguished name is this week added to the list of heavy losses which French literature has recently experienced . Within little more than three months three of its foremost representatives have passed away . The youngest , Alfred de Musset , went first ; then followed Berangek , full of years and honours ; and to these poets must now be added the celebrated novelist Extgene Stje , who died in honourable exile at Annecy , on Sunday last . Ettgeste Sue was just as old as the century , having been born at Paris on the 1 st of January , 1801 . His father and grandfather before him were not only physicians , but distinguished professors of medicine . The former was appointed by the JSmperor Napoleon first surgeon of the Imperial Guard , and on the restoration of the monarchy became physician to "Louis XVIII . and Charles X . Etxgene Sue devoted himself to his father ' s
profession , and having completed his medical studies , entered the army as surgeon . He soon , however , left the army for the navy , and as navy : surgeon visited in turn almost every quarter of the globe . In a few years , how ¦ ever , lie quitted the service and returned to Paris , and having received at his father ' s death in . 1831 a good fortune , gave himself up to literature and ' life . * His first romance , with the curious title of JPlick et Flock , was published in 1832 ; and during the twenty years that succeeded , as many novels , most of which were highly successful , came from his pen . The influence of his profession may easily be traced in his works . While fond of the horrible , and using it with effect in his stories , it generally appears
in the form of some bodily malady , like that of the notary Jacques Ferrand , in the Mysteries of Paris . Some of his novels , as our readers may remember , were written in the interest of the Socialist theories he held , but in them the political element is very subordinate to the tragic , in which he delighted . With abundance of incident , Eu & ene Sun indulged to a greater extent than most of his contemporaries in excessive description , which at times impairs the effect of his most powerful scenes . His novels belong to the school o f exaggerated action and of passion somewhat perverted and diseased , which has almost had its day , a reaction in favour of the simple and natural being already apparent amongst the younger . Preach writers .
Autobiography Of A Mohamedan. Autobiogra...
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A MOHAMEDAN . Autobiography ofjbut fullah , a Alohamedan Gentleman , and his Transactions with > hi * tfellow-Oectiwea , . Edited by E . H . JEaatwict- Smith , Elder , and Co . Lojtitullah is an orthodox Mohamedan who writes English , quotes Byron , Prior , and Shakspeare , has been to the Opera , has-spoken to Prince Albert , and traces his ancestry in a direct line through ninety generations , to Argun the prophet , to Noah , Methuselah , Enos , Seth , and Adam . Read fifty volumes of travel , and a thousand imitations of the Oriental novel , and you will not get the flavour of Eastern life and thought , or the zest of its romance , so perfectly as in Lutfullah ' s book . We have thoroughly enjoyed the perusaL To say that we should prefer it to a new Arabian Night would scarcely do justice to its interest , since magic and fancy in those entertainents d tneir colours almost
•_— 2 — Z a . .. l » l a . a !« a , au 4 > a ? m . am a *•> . Jin haiivumI 4 l » m < m naAAn ^ iva A /\ l Atv ^ ia nvrrkM *\ I mrtD ^ AirAHir inimitable m poure deceptive over every narration , but hero all is simple and real , a photograph of social India ; We listen to an account of ourselves and our Eastern subjects from an educated Mohamedan of Malwa . In the ancient city of Dharanagar , in Malwa , Lutfullah was born in November , 1802 . He is now , consequently , a grave gentleman of fiftyfive . HU father was a Mohamedan of the sacred order , whose ancestors bad been impoverished by the Mabrattas , and possessed only u yearly income of two hundred rupees . Lutfullah's mother was twenty when the tree of his father ' s hope became fruitful , and , says the pious son , she waa -exquisite in beauty , elegant in manners , perfect in virtue and goodness , and
of eligible sacred and social rank . When the boy was four years old , she was left a widow , and a dreadful famine raged in Dhnranagar . Lutfulljth eaw a woman mounted on a donkey with her face turned towards its tail , one cheek painted white and the other black . She was condemned to this exposure , and to banishment for Hie , for having stolen a neighbour ' s child , killed , boiled , nnd eaten it . However , Lutfullah was fortunate , find with his lovely mother was taken into the house of his uncle and grandmother . There all went well until tho Pindaree robbers came down upon the land . They were accustomed to attack the city , ueisce upon men , women , and children , pinion them , and force them tq stand in the sun with baga over < their faces full of nanes and powdered rod-pepper . This torture killed the victim in a quarter of an hour . Lutfullah ' s house , having auorod tenants , was respected by the banditti ; but tho family was poor ; the heirlooms < wera * old , anpd Lutfullah incurred an exemplary flogging first from tho two
ladies and then from his schoolmaster for setting fire to the beard of a most venerable sheikh . Upon the schoolmaster he avenged himself by administering to him , in secret , a terrible purgative ; after these interludes , his education prospered , and at seven years of age he was sometimes put into the pulpit to repeat sermons on Fridays . At eight , hi 3 jealous cousin threw him into a tank , from which being rescued by a holy man , he found himself naked , hanging by his feet from a branch , and the holy man whirling hhn about . All this part of the relation is very natural and picturesque , and has a peculiar charm . It elicits Lutfullah ' s religious views , an explanation of which he concludes by a reference to Hafiz , —" May bis earth be cool !"
When eight years old , he heard rumours of a great war . The kingdom of Delhi had gone to wreck , rival powers were starting up , " and Indi a was menaced by a singular race from the West . They had no skin , and their bodies were of a disagreeable whiteness ; they were perfect in the magical art , which made them successful in all their undertakings . Most of them still worshipped images and eat everything , particularly things forbidden by the holy Moses . Such were the popular reports . " But they had not visited our city yet , and we had never seen a European face . " Their magic , however , was needed to extirpate the Pindarees and Bheels , who infested the roads , and sometimes fell victims to a particularly rough form of justice : —
They used to be punished and executed in most cruel fashion ; such as by being tied to the foot of an elephant to be dragged through the town , or being split by one of those huge animals . In the latter case , the elephant , directed by the mahawat , puts one of the legs of the poor victim under his foot , and seizing the other with his trunk splits him in a second by one pull , when the leg pulled comes off with the covering of the stomach and very nearly half the skin of the body . The next mode is breaking the head : this horrid punishment is inflicted b } r putting the man horizontally on one side with his head on a flat stone ; a ball of stone is then put on his upper temple , and the executioner , asking permission of the officer three times , inflicts a fatal blow with a large wooden hammer on the small ball , which smashes the head at once , and the brain is dashed out . The family was now in sadly straitened circumstances ; Lutfullah ' s mother and grandmother worked all day with the needle or spinning-wheel ; his uncle wrote copies of different books which he himself assisted in collating , and yet they sometimes starved for days . So it _ was resolved to journey to Baroda , where the uncle had several wealthy disciples : —
We were received by the cartmen of the caravan with great respect : all of whom , being Moslems of the Oilmen caste , regularly worshipped us . They prayed five times a day with us , and made comfortable places for us in the carts . They gave us better food than what they ate , and sheltered us from the sun and the dew . This was my first travel , and the curiosities of nature filled my little mind with uncommon amusement 4 the sweetly-fragrant breeze of the jungles in the morning after prayer , refreshed my brain ; the views of lofty mountains of various shapes , of rivers and clear streams , and the beauty of the trees clad in green and covered with flowers of different hues , afforded an admirably new landscape to the sight ; and the most sweet and melodious voices of the lairds enchanted my ears .
At Baroda , Lutfullah first saw an Englishman ; at Ujjain his mother was married again , to a soldier of high rank , who taught Lutfullah horsemanship , and pretended to be a warrior , " but I found him to be worse than a jackal . " After many curious adventures the boy determined to escape from bondage and go alone to Agra . " I provided myself with one loaf , one sacred book , ( Hafiz ) , and my small scimitar , and took my way . " The romance of this episode is perfect ; we overlook many details , and arrive at one which suggests a beautiful picture ; — Seeing from afar a well , situated near a village , I repaired to it to drink , intending then to look for a place for nocturnal rest . Arriving near it , I asked one of the Rajput
maidens , who were busily engaged in drawing water and carrying it home for their use , to give me a little water to quench my thirst with : In reply , she asked me a question , with a lovely air , as pretty as herself . " Have you nobody else to quench your thirst with , but me ?"— " Madam , " replied I , " I have none ; but even if I had one , she could not be more than an atom before your incomparable beauty : a lamp can have no splendour before . the sun . " Thia flattery produced a smile in her fair countenance , and she held her pot to me very graceful ! }* , telling me , " Drink till thou art satiated . " Thanking her , I took both of my hands to my mouth in tho form of ft cup , and she kindly poured the water in a fine stream , which I found greatly sweetened with the excellent scent of her rosy hand ; and I drank until I was full I then made a grateful bow to the beauty , who , taking her pots on her head , went home .
Next he met Juma , a famous Thug , whose conversation charmed mm . Juma promised to disclose to him , under an oath of secrecy , tho nature of his profession , and then described the arts by which travellers were lured to destruction by handsome maids' on the highway . While this scoundrel was asleep , Lutfullah betrayed him , and Juma was unceremoniously blown from the mouth of a great gun . Being rewarded with ten gold mohurfl , Lutfullah started once more , and , after seven days of circuitous travel , reached Agra , his single loaf still unfinished , for he had plucked for food the ripe grnin in the iielda , and parched it for his food , From Agra » o proceeded to Delhi : — It must bo well known to thoso who have visited that part of tho country , that travelling from Agra to Delhi is no more than walking in gardens for ploauuro , ana we completed this interesting journey in a week . On tho morning of tho eight" day , the very splendid view of Dolhi , the ancient capital of rajns and emperors , urcsentett itaolf to our eves . Tho first look of this errand oitv reminds tho reflecting truvcllor
that tins was the central seat of empire in India , whence orders and prohibitions wore issued and executed throughout tho whole of tho provinces ; that this was tho place , the eight of which filled the mind of many princes of high rank with tenor and awoj thtit the hendB of many delinquent nobloB and princes used to be hung at tho g « toa m retribution for their misconduct , while others passed through in triumph . Lutfullah ' s next great adventure was in a nest of Afghan and IBhcel freebooters , by whom he was decoyed into a great secluded valley . Tho manners of these bandits wore extraordinary ; they not only infested ml tnQ roads , but even attacked towns and villages : — When ono of their own party happonod to bo disabled by wounds from keeping « P with them , they immediately cut ofF uia hood , which they buried or burnt to nvoiu being recognised , and to prevent tho secret being divulged , us tho individual poms tortured might confess and bring 1 on a general misfortune . ' , Lutfullah Bat under tho trees shooting at birds with a pellet bow , and deploring his position , even when the marauders oiuno home loaded with Qoia ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 8, 1857, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08081857/page/18/
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