The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-22 00:00:00

THE FAVOURITE OF THE HAREM.

The apartments of the seraglio are very splendid,
always, however, of course in proportion to the wealth
of the prince ; and the favourite object of his affections
exhibits the dignity, and enjoys the privileges of
.a
queen, though of a queen in captivity. 'While her
beauty lasts, she is freqnently regarded with a feeling
almest amounting to idolatry : but when that beauty
passes away, the warmth of love subsides, her person
no longer charms, her voice ceases to inspire delight,
her faded cheeks and sharpened tones become. disa-
greeable memorials of the past. Neither' her song
nor her lute are now heard with pleasure : for, in the
beautiful imagery of the Persian poet, " when the
roses wither, and the bower loses its sweetness, you
have no longer the tale of the nightingale." The
favourite, however, while she continues her ascendancy
over the heart of her lord, is treated with sovereign re-
spect throughout the harem. She smokes her golded-
tubed hooka, the mouth-piece studded with gems, and
enjoys the fresh morning breeze under a verandah that
overlooks the garden of the the palace, attended by her
damsels, only second to herself in attractions of person
and splendid attire. Here she reclines in oblivious
repose, upon a rich embroidered carpet, from the most
celebrated looms of Persia. Through an atmosphere
of the richest incense, she breathes the choicest per-
fumes of Arabia the Happy, and has every thing
around her that can administer to sensual delight :
still she is generally an unhappy being. She dwells
in the midst of splendid misery and ungratifyinc, pro-
fusion, while all within herself is desolate anehope-
lessness. Her sympathies are either warped or stifled ;
her heart is blighted, and her mind degraded. She
cannot join in the enthusiasm of the inimitable Hafiz.
The breath of the western gale will soon shed musk
around, the old world will again be young ;" but lan-
guishes as the seasons return in the most debasing
captivity, and feels that the western gale breathes not
upon her either the freshness of freedom or of joy.—
Oriental Annual.

SEIZURE FOR CHURCH RATES.--(Froin a Cor-
resporident.)—Yesterday afternoon a warrant of distress for
arrears of church-rates was issued against the goods of Mr.
Richard Carlile, the bookseller in Fleet-street, and placed
in the hands of a broker, who, accompanied by some of the
city police, went for the purpose of making a seizure. Pla-
cards had been for some time past placed in the shop-window,
declaring Carlile's determination not to pay any more church-
rates ; but, when the broker came, he was allowed to seize a
sufficient number of almanacs to satisfy the amount of his de-
mand, and to bring them away with him, without any obstruc-
tion being offered on the part of Carlile; but, soon after the
officers had left the premises, Carlile took out the sashes of
the windows on the first floor, and placed in one of them a
stuffed figure of a bishop in full robes, with the words " Spi-
ritual Broker," and in the other windows a figure representing
the person by whom the seizure was made, with the words
" Temporal Broker," and between the windows a large pla-
card, " Seized for church-rates." This exhibition caused a
crowd of persons to collect together, and in a short time the
pavement of Fleet-street was rendered completely impassable.
The Lord Mayor arrived on the spot soon after 4 o'clock, and
a party of policemen were immediately directed to disperse the
crowd. The Lord Mayor desired that Carlile would remove
the figures from the windows, which he at first refused to do ;
but, on being told that the police would be ordered to remove
them if he did not, lie took them away from the window ; the
mob then dispersed. Shortly afterwards Carlile again exhi-
bited the figures at the further end of his shop, but there they
attracted very little notice.—Morning Paper.