The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-04-20 00:00:00

ON THE CRIME OF ASS:ISSINATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STATESMAN.

Sin--At a moment, when, from particular I iretyr-
stances, the public mind is generally and impressisei►
occupied on the important and arnictirg suhjtnt of tt •
crime of assassination, it may not be unareeptahir
the readers of your moral and constiticional Paper, or
without utili y to the public at large, to peseta thew
with an account of the religious origin, and slows•
national toleration of a practice so dangerms to intli•
viduals and to canimuniti s, and so d:reful!y otlen•
sire to (lull and man.

But pi-viuus to our prom-Prang to the cieraantan.•es
front which this atrocity (kril-of its aloption and 3;,-
pellation, it trill not be imprimis r to notice the hewed
distinction between two acts, aide's, in modern theirs,
have •zeurrally been confonudeJ--•thuse of esx.tv-
daction :tied tyrertrit•idt•.
Dreadful as it may appear, under any eirentmistane,s,
to see man usurping the high pr. rut .tite of Dem.'',
by recklessly destroying his fellow-creature, y' t, Un-
fortunately for nations, it cannot be denied, tl:.mt
too often, so depraved have been the pux•erfut, and !: m
frail and impatient the sutierers, by oppressive domi-
nation, that reflecting and philosophic minds will le
inure disposed to lament. th mu t e be surprise I, at tim.-
nattmerous examples of despots and usurpers 1,31 ritir,•d
to secret and disingennotts revenge, and the exas-
peration awakened by th• it own gratuitous ereeltie,m
Violations of existing laws are unrelentingly,
I deservedly. visited with punishtiv mit ; and it nen- :a
solecism in language to say, that because the elevatio.,
of a merciless tyrant may place him above the iceof
reach of his victims, and defy the menaces of pnbit•.
retribution, that, by any possibility, he can be e•-
entptett from the execration, and perfectly secure
against the revenge of those his injustice has a Wileteml
or that, when the injuries endured by a peoimie flow
from au imperial dictatorial or ministerial Imi:mml. na •
tare will relinquish her edicts, dissolse lime wonted
alliance between guilt and punishment, and suspend
the sacred principle of retribution.
Upon reasoning similar to this, Many of the ancient
authors, as well as some of the best ethical wr:turs atuang
the moderns (among who is the deep-relleeting and
elegant Buchanan). have nat•uratrd the deed of Brutus.
And must of the arguments advanced in favour of th •
Roman patriot, mark, and go a ly mark, the brand di. -
tinetion between the cb trader of an assa.msio amid the
of a tyranniride. In the repu'ilics of ancient (free -r and
Italy, a certain law of nations, m r universally receive.,
opinion, sanctioned and encouraged the resolution of the
tyrannicide, especially then dzerrised agairgt a usurp, r
of the supreme power. Rome, after the expulsion of
her kings, permitted, and even applauded the destruc-
tion of despotic domination; the morn :nwealth !armed
the band of the citizen whose intrepidity 'nullified him
for the task of delivering his country from the chain•
of a tyrant, and rewarded his patriotism with the
a•tthority and the honours of a magistrate.

Inicea, it will be confessed by every delibrrate
thinker and candid reasoner, that aloe', while a•ala-t i.
nation, properly so denominated, is but a name for s
particular act of tyranny performed in ruNtrosy.l of
existing laws, the ilestrnetioe of a despot is instigated
by the emor petri 1., the love of country, and respew
for the laws, souse will think it possible that a tyranni-
ci.le ably act from motives the most virtuous ono noble.
The hand of the assassin is actuated either by a private
and selfish motive, or a criminal enthusias:n ; but th •
blow directed agaistet the public oppre:•s.ir is endeavour-
ed to be excised as being impelled by public spirit.
Theft/at strikes to advance the interest of a sect, pro-
mote the views of a favourite, or hid*, a ruling ur
selfish passion' the second, under pretence of savlad
his pro-trate cousiry and an aging' her wrongs. N e
will mow, Sir, procrei to the more immediate object of
this epistle—the rise and progress of the act and is m-
ot' a practice that, except In a solitary iustancc, Las
be a properly coutemplated by all nations, with th •
pain aod horror inseparable (rum the censideration of
the most atrocious species of tanic..e:.
The body of no% or ea her eutonanaity, from which
the subtle and malign deer nets of mankind received
the appellation by which they have lweu distingulsbe.l
truss tyranniedes on the one hand, and on the other
faint comma depredators and slaughterusts
was chiefly formed by the jeartiwi of two Slahoss,
Jan sects—the doseendiessa sod she CarlootAioas I the
I met of when derived their name Iron that of Col -
moth. a tributary Prince ander th- hulls • Maleh, an I
their head sad leader,. In the tkv.osth century, til•-e
and some other reliioas enthosnsts, wire t riocipl
compared to of pose the poser awl • Seisiotios of
the Coort of Bagdad, and itoirogovoi &ea to et •
altoratiso of all the settkd hams of tit 11 x -metes' wor-
ship, having waited leader Basso flaben, aid unwed
she gravel ass of 'Waal to. a ant gifted Atli a

--oft..

~f*-

/ 1
L.

..".• *

r 1

- • • Ai

THE SIATF.gMAN,.

s• ere availed themselves of the extos• and ter-
tis.ty of the roonntry i:o whirl' they sprang', awl retired
. i
L., and fonnol seruaty n, the Persiatt lrak and neigh-
, " by !ring olistriets. There, tooth the persons and de-
: rot of these Loatie aviaries were permitted to con-
e :ii themselves till the year 110:47, when they bee: •
► merou • and powerful enough to irme forth a I It %Ir-
v • rity, alder their Pr:nl.e, ll' Imam. and to carry, son
!mints of their thogger:., death awl dismay to the
• oronnsling t
heir principle doctrines were those of the vision-
!. Sootier% of Persia---of the inetensi:sychosis--and of
e descent of the Holy Spirit into the persons of their
-::ritual and temporal superiors: and infuriated with
real that was at once wild as 11%-ir opinion., an.l fw,
v •ured by a blilid resiznatison to the Hill of tlseiri
raid, they threatened universal desastation, and!
► itook the atahility of Governments. Meows was a dr-
-• from the family of the .Ifloacisi:e; and as the
• a s slated set-ta soon breasue I,llirri4 of list/ much
r..otoriety and apprehensions nut to receive from their
noi:,lshours some general and distinguishing appellu-
Lon. dal- derived, fr the Eallle of thrir leader's fa-1
I oily, the .n Atau.si which, ere long, ass 1
easy abbreviation roontracted into that of
So extraordinary are the facts related of these en-
thusiast'', whose fi ditty was to devote th lusAves.
• unls and bodies, to the revered will of the vicar of
buil ; sod strostf, to observe a blind obedience to the
• smomanols of their Prince, o: General, that only the
• .1. sun and reiterates' attestations of the itwA re•pect-
abb. :alibi's% bob Asiatic and European, could give
them rredibility. The naiiitary Mufti of these mania-
s chistosatirs, ley severity or 'flit's.... or tooth, reduced
1:,. sit to a discipline snore strict. aid a runopliatoce
lotore implirit, than the armies sof Slalsouset hitooseif
co er had exhibits d, When they first appeared Offload,
rendezvous was a castle in Iteylem,
bar possessed and inhabited by l annals. This vassal
1...1.1. 3 iehling to the persuasion of Ilasan, comobilleal
wills the principles of his tows faith, awl became too
h inflamed with the fanaticism of his new and nu-
'wrong visitors, nut to mign to them the use ..f Isis

1 hese 31mh•ossetan dissente.s now rapidly int...rased:
nl.l soon her, • s., formidable, as to defy the power
•Issl atoms the Istrs both of .tralsia and Syria. But
their numbers were less formidable than their daring'
and determined spir.t. At the head of only five hum-
drs •I hos semen enthusiastic bigotry carried Abu-Taber,
tit.. successor of rime h. to the very walls of Bagdad.
Thumloth's: at the yielding barriers, " Your muster,-
h exelaossed, to the !hewnl of the klussl.ll,s, .• may
h we thirty themsai. soldiers, but three such ma as,
010. e which I !whir to your gates are stilt wanting'
its his !Jost." Ansi receiving his signal, one tinsu
iu-
s'.nlly plunged a sword into his own breast, another
leaped int., the Tizri4, and a third threw himself
d ,scn a preri pier. 11.alek, alarmed at the self-decos-1
tios• sit* these blind and fearless instruments 1•1 •-sreer-1
••it in. hastened t•• Sent! to Hisao his written tont.;
toand to dismiss his followers, and submit hints. L' to!
Pie merry of the Crescent. The descendant of thy
A•/.4ei51.... after perusinT, with a stern and steady eye,
the Sultrn's insp•-rions mandate, pointed to one of his •
youthful missionaries, anti without the Smallest tams-
Fraction or emotion, ordered him to stall himself. and
was promptly obeyed. Wisi;c this victim of Isis force
rims enthusiasm 14y dealt at his feet, he commanded I
rtiother to ascend a lofty tower, and cast himself h•lid-
long to the ground. The yoottiw: 3.4asiin boned
thence: an•l in a few minutes his hotly, slashed to
fie. es, attosted Ilasan's unlimited power over Isis de-
t 4:ed aolls• rents. Then the turninc to .11alek's
messeneers. sternly hid them tess their master what
tK.y laud beheld, and say, that ilasan c iiiii somidesl
seventy thousand turn equally subjected to the will of
their Prince. !

The Sultan received the report of his commissioners
.with great surpass., and scarcely less tenor. To
cope with a chieftain support...l by such
*nil, numbers so a!llltUlaiEsi, roviinA all his a-whi-
t:on, and all his caution: especially as he had at the
Lune ins ~,, .nt to contend will. oats r powerful sleanies;
for at this time, the whole host exhibited but one vast
•ene of barbarity and I.lisml4lte.l. The commander
e►f the enthusiasts. sensible of 31a4••c'a difficult situa-
tion. !V&A ',rodent enough to avail himself of his ad-
vantage, by instantly assailing several fortresses, of
Doe of which, Moat, or 'l'loe (so called front
i•• supposed iutl►regoalle strews tat, an•l tan• certain
si -,:uction it pres.•nted to its assailant•) he quickly
I, tine master, and made it the seat of hia corms-
tc.:••:t. '1 he position of this citadel amid the wildest
and least accessible height, toLfetlier with the ad-
aze of !lasso, obtained for the religious des-1
perado the designation of The old Man of tAt: .41vosm-
tains.

Vigilant and active, as his soldiers were devoted
sad valiant, this outlaw of Asia cootinu. 41 to com-
mand sncress; and tett castles. together with all the
ciev.tted positions of Persian Irak, were speedily under
I:4 dominion. But intrepid as Was his spirit, pro.
as was his cunning, and terrific as were the
eaggers of his bravoes (their chosen and only wea-
pon.) he could not lung have maintained his it:depen-
d-nor, had the monarchs of the East possessed sutii-
cP•nt virtue to feel the claims of humanity and justice,
a:A to combine for his needful reduction. But like the
ittudern Courts of Europe, which have is luugemploye•l
against each other a piratical power, whose aid
their honour and spirit ought, lung since, to have
i• dignantly rejected, and contemptuously crushed, the
surrounding Sovereigns, constantly involved in war,
ti•rereri, and even encouraged, his barbarous v;olence,
sod alterna•eiy made his myrmidons the ministers of
th •ir vr ngesuce. Favoured, or rather fostered, by this
ormi* iinpolicy of his neighbours, the enemy of man-
kind beware at length the founder of a dynast• ; and,
singular as it may appear to more civilised times, the
I oti.iellen Government, a Government sub:isting by
hL•.I raid?, cruelty, and the puignard, endured. more
titan a hundred and seventy gars.

witlch Edward, the son anti sneressor of MIT 'FEW
Henry. experienced the effects of this milky deter-
initiation, was at once striking and illustrative of their
prineiphes and disposition. tine of the sect, at the
instance of the tiovernor of Joppa, undertook to mur-
der the h:n•aish Prinee. Alaster of the French lan-
guage, anti goinintr admittance to the royal presettee,
by pretending to he the lwarer of coneiliatory prop.-
pseuds from his master, he was admitted to Ilse roarer.
ution, aad honoured with the ...Infidelity of Edward
anal fr • to time rentriveil to amuse his intended
victim, till a favourable opportunity oecurresl for at-
temptine his design. The weather being extremely
hot, lot• one day (the Friday in Whitsun week) found
the heir to England's throne sluing alone in his rhinos-
her, attired in a loos.. garment ; when, susiectily draw-
ing n po:sone:I Ilisg',24l* front Iwtteath his vest, he strove
to philter it into th.. Prince's bosuns. Fortunately,
Edward rereived the blow use Isis arm; when, perceiv-
ing the a‘sassin's intention to repeat his esfort, he ex-
erted his stretegth, and, after forei it e hies to the grows
wrested the tomd rots weapon from Isis hand, and
buried it ii; its owner's breast. It soon, however. ap-
peared that the Prim. had been wistobled with a tinc-
tured dagger. lie, I, conseiptence, patiently exm.cted
his ler: and only the ile..p and judicious incisions
issa.le by an English surgeon, tvlsose skill wig ablest
hy the conjugal piety of Eleanor:l, Edward's consort,
who stieken out the injected poison, sited the life oil
the intended victim of the tlatvernor of Jopl.a.
.1 domination, rompouatled of the subtlety of enthu-
siasm, the artifice of treachery, awl the !sower of the
Puifrnsrof (at toner the potent and only removers of the
Seljakian tyrants), coold not remain two centimes,
witmout hove...sing its imsge upon tic recollection.
and incorporating it: mane is. the laufnages of other
You-tries a. 0.1 succeeding times. In Estrime, the crime
hy the tense nqprzeieuri"u is at thoroughly
under-mod as detested: and, to the Isocour of Eug-
lisioiecn, i: in no eon ntry more a:atoned than is their
own. To elier:sli this natural h,stroil of au art tls
sweatily tiet'arious as that of shark and elawlestioie tour-
, der, wont I he to perform 3 pithhe serviee; a service
that, perhaps, could not be it:.,re effectively rendered,
(bass 11 holding to view, in their own embodied black-
tle6ll. tilt Ills/St l'111141,itUOU: .4 the too ruuterous ass ts-
sioatiols scattered through the page.: of anrient and
nueleru history. Exhibited in its ninffiplieity of in-
stance., Al Well as in its odious colour., the crime, the
commi.e.;,,a of which has stained SO Wally aLfe4 uud
kinglitEll., W.llll i ill<11111.• an asiltet Of augmented hue-
nw„ :sad, it partible, heighten the detestation in t.isirh
it is alreAly universally held. Therefore, Sir, I should,
I eintrers, be pleased to see some author of talent en-
gaged in the task of out only col!....tinif the us,st
str:i;i:tg inst.inets of arateriu,ttisai, hut also of
: whirls latter art, properly timierstood, s cuss
to be in'elitdeal in thlt re;:oer teooi.d law," which
inure than eitee has been recommended with more seal
than propr'eiy by some of our own modern senators.

1 uu- ri, .Sr,l au•. ke.

t wean-roc

RIVER SE.IRCIIERS.

TO THE EDITOR OF TIIE tiTATESMAY.

Yonr insertion of the fult..w:nz •tatrment will oblige
an admirer of your Paper:---

es Si think it fo.e ~ the duty of ry ry well-
-1 .
WlRder •, his country, to expose all el.sritte• impositions
on it purl. in tfo•se times of hardship; and 1 know of
no better tootle than through the iirt•SS. At Graves-
eu,l there are three Searchers appointeil by the Hoard
of Customs. Souse time hitice one of them died, and
th.• situation was i 111 l uediately tilled by another Gentle-
man, who went down and took possussion of it. Whe-
ther it that this Gentleman did not much like being
nerasi nally exposes! to th • cold on the river ; or
whether, not p.bs..essing übiquity, h.• found it impos-
sible to attend, at the same time, to the ditferent duties
of two distinct offices (for he holds another office under
Government); or whether he obtained leave of ab-
sence is not known: but the fart is, he attended but
for a few slays, and ever since the duties of the
Searchers' office have been performed by two indivi-
duals. Now, Sir, if two pers-ns are sufficient to do
the duty of the ..dice, why appoint three? And if
the s iid ilietttlematt h.'. another situation, why give
him this also? I *hold., suppose that there are is zreat
number of persons, n ho have bled in defence of their
country, to whom surli a situation would be very ac-
ceptable, and who would slot fail t . fulfil its fill lei..
I am. sir, your obedient servant, W.
AprU 7. Islo.

INTELLIGENCS.
COURT OF CHANCERY. Aram 19.

1,...1.! the first day of Ternt, the L 041) CHAN-
CILLItit dLI but c..ttle into Court until alter one o'clock.
lie remained shunt ten minutes, when he left the
Court 111 attend a Cqutaril.

?I r. CA4Jsno having. been appointed King's Coun-
sel, took hil seat within the liar.

Int Eit ETC ". 11411.11 AND fa.

An amended affidavit, stating the precise amount
of the c debt at 2,300 f. N.►s presented to his
Lordship, Anil he 'narked the n rit Se cleat regnu
against the defendants fur that stun.

COURT OF KING% BENCH, Aram 19.

This day Easter Term co ttttt ienred. The Judges of
the diiferent tZourts„ with the exception of Chief Jus-
tice Abbott, Chief Justice Dallas, :end the Chi, f Ba-
ron, !weal:fisted, as usual, with the Lord Chancellor,
and came down to Westminster-hall in procession, a
little before one o'clock. Shortly afterwards, Mr.
Justiee Barley, Mr. Justice liolroyd, and Mr. Jos-
tire Best, took their seats in this Court, and com-
menced hit.iness.
At the sitting of the Court,
Mr. Justice BATLEY, addressing himself to Messrs.
Foohlmopte, Wetherell, and Jervis, who sat behind

For the extirpation of these gloomy twatics, these the bar, said, that it having pleased his Majesty King
pc..N of Asia, the world was indebted to the courage George the Fourth to re-itmate them in their rank of
end good ferttne of the 't'artar, Hologe. Not, how- King's Counsel, they would accordingly take their
e--r, wholly ektertnittated by his prowess, some re- seats within the bar.
in:doing few of tbeassassim, in no degree diverted by Mr..lu4tiee Bat•aar then aiblremed Mr. Casboril,
their sehilut, the general intermit of the Maho- ,wbo sat without the bar. and said. that his 31ajesty
mitau eatteK resolved. daring what has bete salted the h icing been graciously pleased to appoint, him as one:
Holy War, to destroy every Christian Prince, or leader, of his Counsel learned in the law, he would take his
• should fall iato tivir scar •s. !he manner in, seat wills:a the bar in future.