The Sun.
London, England, 1827-12-05 00:00:00

THE FOREIGN QUARTERLY REVIEW,

No. 11.

We are glad to find, though the fact must be
sufficiently mortifying to the publishers; that a
rival periodical has already, started, with the pro-
fessed object of illustrating continental litera-
ture , ,
upon principles similar to those. of. the pre-
sent work. As' one.of the public, we rejoice in
this .competition; it gives, a spur. to industry,
promotes Inquiry, and sharpens wit, by exciting
emulation. . We. cannot, therefore, looking at
the subject in this view, be expected. to enter
into-the,acrimonioui charge of plagiarism, which
Messrs. Treuttel and Wurtz have lately set up
against Messrs. Black and Young ; far from it,
it is our sincere wish that every bookseller,.whole.-
sale and retail, in London, may all at once start
Foreign.. Reviews, and that the best,. (giving
proportionate praise to the others) may be the
most successful. But enough of this : proceed
we now to our analysis._

Von Hammer's (the German Orientalist)
History of the Assassins, the best Review in the
number, is solid and well digested, and gives a
brief but pertinent detail of the rise, progress,
and extinction of those tremendous Sectarians,
whose influence paralyzed for so many years
the noblest Asiatic Potentates. They ori-
ginated, it seems, in the South of Persia,
and their foUnder was a zealot, named Ah-
dallah, whose professed object was' to conceal the
tenets of his disciples, till a Prince of their per-
suasion should be seated on some African or
Asiatic throne. This was with sonic difficulty,
after a lapse of years, accomplished ; a pretended
descendant of Mahomet, released from prison,
-was placed on the throne of Egypt ; and the doc-
trines of Abdallah,which, in their impious and
daring absurdity, bore no slight resemblance to
those of the RevOlUtionary Atheists of France—
became the established religion of Africa. Not
content with this triumph,- the Sectarians,
through the 'zeal of their Dais or Mis-
ssionarses, dispersed their • here.sies. over Asia,
sinti( at length, in the 'llth century, About two
hundred years after their. first institution by
Abdallah ; the famous Hassan Ben. Sabah, a
Persian of ignoble extraction, modified then,
so as to suit his own views and the spirit .of the
times, and spread them (under the title of the
" Sect of the Assassins"—the word assassin
being derived from Hassan, their chief pro-
moter) over the greater part of the East. Hassan.
himself was one of those daring characters who
stand out in the foreground of history, and singly
fix its attention. His mind towered far above
the world in which it lived, and never stooped
front . its eyrie to earth, without tracking its
course in' ,blood. He was, in fact, an
.Asiatic , Cromwell, versed in all the va-
rieties of dissimulation ; patient, but unwearied
to revenge ; cool, calculating, and well read in
the volume -of human nature.- Under his su-
perintendance the Assassins obtained unprece-
dented. supremacy throughout Asia ; and from
their strong Persian fastness at Alamoot; where
Hassan,—or the Old Man of the Mountain, as
himself and his descendants were styled,—resided,
gave laws even to the Caliphs at Bagdad. Their
chief weapon was the dagger ; they rarely en-
ssaaed in open warfare ; but, assuming every va-
:siety of disguise, and spread by thousands over
eve:v. part of Asia, they executed their chieftain's
behests', to whom they were devoted as •to a deity,
with adrojt and insatiable enthusiasm. Nothing
was too migjitY nor too inglorious for their re-
venge ; neither s.
17.'rinc,e nor peasant escaped them,
for they moved like the Spirit of Night, in dark-
ness ; and, in point o!Pumbers, consistency and
persever,ance,. equalled, if they did not exceed
'Bishop Hatto's anity of rats. The manner in
which' Hassan first initiated each Votary into Ills
sect is thus picturesquely. described :--
"There *aa at Alal.hist, and also at Masiat, ut Syria,
a &Eric:ifs garden, enconwassed with lofty waits, adavned
with trees and flowers of every kind—with murmurinb
brooks and translucent lakes—with bowers of roses and
treUices of the vine—airy halls and splendid kiosks, fur-
ni-ited with the carpets of Persia and the silks of Byzan-
tium. Beautiful maidens and blooming boys: were the in-
habitants of this delicious spot, which ever resounded with
the melody of birds, the moithur of itrearns, and the ra-
vishing tones of Voices and instruments-'-all respired con-
teutment and pleasure. - When the Chief had noticed any
ycuth to be distinguished for strength' and resolution, he
invited him to a banquet, where lie placed him Ceside him-
telf, conversed with him on the happiness reeved for the
faitirfni, and contrived to administer to him an intoxi-
cati;ig draught prepared from the hyoseyamus. While in-
knsthle he was conveyed into the garden of delight, and
tbere awakened by the application of vinegar: On opening
his eyes all Paradise met his view ; the black-eyed and

bloc-rolvd houties surrounded him, obedient to his wishes;
tweet music filled his ears; the richest viands were served

up in the most costly vessels ; and the choicest wines
sparkled in' galden cups. The fortunate youth believed
himself realty in the Paradise of the Prophet, and the lan-
guage of his attendants confirmed the delusion. When he
had had his fill of enjoyment, and nature was yielding to
exhaustion, the opiate was again administei:e.d, and the
sleeper transported back to the side of the Chief, to whom
he communicated what had passed, and who assured him
of Ihe:truth and reality of
.all he hail experienced, tellifig
him such tva,; the bliss reserved for the obedient servants
of the Imam, and enjoining at the same time the strictest
seciesy, Ever after the rapturous vision' possessed the ints-
ginatism of the. deluded enthusiast, and be panted for the
hour IVicti death, received in obeying the commands of his
superint, sitould dismiss him to the bowers-of Paradise."
After a may (more or less in the ascendant)
of centuries, over Asia, the Assassins were finally
exterminated: by Mango, the Great Khan
..of
Tartary ; an admirably abridged account of
which is given .jn the present analysis. The
" Modern -, German Togedy,, is a diffuse
and somewhat lengthy history of the rise and pro-
oyess of dui drama in that .country. The Re-
viewer dates. its origin from Goethe § Gortz of
Birchiliugen ;" but as it is the fashion now a.
days to date every .thing Geinvo from this writer,
Ire are. .somewhat disinclined to subscribe to

lbe theory. In speaking incidentally of
Lessing, the Reviewer takes occasion to
.re-

mart. 1, --
'that descriptive passages dwell longer .on
, P
the IniOd. than any other : in proof of which
he instai)ces the allusions to the setting sun
in Schiller P magnificent i, Robbers."' This,
we huMblv
conceive, is a mistaken notion,
the passage does not linger .on the mind (and
who that has once re. 4 ever forgets it ?) because
g
it is a mere cold abStract 4scription of sunset ;
but because that sunset is associated with the de-
clining fortunes of Charles Moor, and i:3 thereby
referable for its interest to the sympathies of human
nature. The power ofdescription, when restricted
to inanimate scenery, is a very secondary order of
intellect ; but when mixed up (ss-in the pour)
of Wordsworth) with human feeling, e,vinces the
loftiest and • rarest faculties. " Catholicism ill
ilesia" is. a fair comment on the- degraded
state in which -Papacy .is there plunged.
It is spirited but not abusive, and if its
statements be tenable, deserves credit for its'
temPeranee and discrimination. It has be-
.ides—and this is no slight recommendation
to a Quarterly
Journal—the - advantage
first in the. field. " Russian Literature" eon
' facts- J
rains some novel
i
respecting the more un- '
known poets and historians. ofEmpire that
1i
together with'a
Lonlonosov ; wlio'l:ghly. Interesting account of
fterns to be—like our Shak-