The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1859-04-28

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tnse ~yspiissed By Lsrd Kames i. 1754 a. Aovs.g been com.
sss.y Isy.s,. d.ss,a. q ysana !.
e: La,.s s.e:.is'.s. q 2 Rsstlnieai :
ssssas s1 ssss .; ss ss 1ssss.' . es.s.s' p ss ss estss.ssss
afiu to be found IN sone Jesrish rrifey-Defence OF Dy.
sss.ss s. szs. sses1 e. q. sss ss..s 81 as ssf Sss,sss1isSs ss &c! sy
aoI 7. lssa-TAe parable sipss entire from Dr.. FSGnkhn's
No composition Of the kind is 30 famous per-
haps as the Parable on Persecution This is
owing partly to its Intrinsic beauty both of sub
stance and form. The moral lesson which it in
culcates is of the purest and l~oftiest kind and
the form in which this moral is clothed is singu-
arly attractive. Its celebrity however is mainly
to be ascribed to the circumstances attending It's
publication,Cor rather 70 republication in a re-
vised form,cunder the name of DR.. Franklin.
In IVA Lord Kames, in the second volume of
his "Sketches of the History of Man, u introduced
the substance of this parable, with these words
communicated to me by DR.. Franklin of PhiIa-
delphia, . man who makes q great figure in the
learned world, and scho sCould sill make a greater
figure for beneroAnoe and candor, scere rirfle as
much regarded an fhis declining age as kno,chdge.''
Such is Lord Kames' remark, in the first edition
OF his book, as l ind it quoted by Mr.. Sparks in
the second volume of the works Of franklin. In
the third edition Of Lord Kames' s Sketches"
which lies before me and purports to be 50 con-
siderably improved - the words in italics are
omitted, probably for political reasons.
The parable was given as follows in his Lord
ships Sketches, though not as will presently ap-
pear, with entire accuracy as communicated to
him by DIR. Franklin
sand it came to pass after these things, that Abraham sat In
The door Of his tent, about the going down Of the SUM- And be-
leaning on a stan. And Abraham arose, and met him, and said
unto, him ?. turn urn in, ! pray thee, and wash thy ~, and ,aIy an
way; b Aad . iss %.a ..,s.; .S EN- s for ] vi. . abide bic ,n gnssr s hi;
they went into the tent and Abraham baked unIeavened bread,
and they did eat. And when Abraham saw that the man blessed
most high God, creator Of heaven and earthr, And the
= %an an nv ,la and h SAID, , i 90 not worship Thy God, neither as
which abideth always in my house, and provideth me
blows into the wilderness And God called unto Arabian. say
swered and said, Lord, he would not worship thee, neither
f sou,d before q an my 1R Rsee i INTO H sne wn ts ssss '1 xnd ao ed1s ssia, MN aa ans
I borne With him these hundred ninety and eight years, and
against me; and couIdst not thou, who art thyself a sinner, bear
with him one night !"
From Lord Kames' work this parable was taken
by the late Hon. Benjamin Vaughanof Haiiowell,
but then of London, in his edition of DIR. Frank
Inns writings. Mr.. Vaughan, as is well known.
was the intimate friend of DIR. Franklin, and pub
lished in London in 1779 the first English edition
of Franklin's miscellaneous essays. From the
time of Its appearance in this volume, the Para
bic began to attract notice, was often repeated,
and greatly admired as a most happy illustration
of an all-important moral truth.
Though not communicated to Lord Kames by
DIR. Franklin as his own composition, it was nat
urally enough inferred from the manner in which
it was brought forward, that such was the case.
A good deal of surprise was accordingly mani
Tested, when it was discovered, not long after
wards, that a parable of substantially the same
import was found in Jeremy Taylor's !" Liberty of
Prophesying ;" published in 1851 in the fol-
lowing words:
Il end Win = story which I hnd in the Jews Books When
strangers, he espied an old man STOPPING and leaning
MO vas an hundred years q age he received him kindly.
.sshea his feet, provided supper, caused him to sit down; bot
blessing 90 hi. meat. asked him Why he did not Worship he
Sod Of heaven, The old man told him that he ~vorshipped the
=, a 4. ,, % 1s., % sas 7. b ,h he s thrust +; q, the old, old man
m unguarded condition. When the old, man was gone, GOO
aIsd 70 him and asked where the stranger was; he replied, Il
Evered him, 4 have suffered him these hundred years, although
= d.'sOos ere me. and e ,sass. not n thou endure ,s. hin one night,
.sraham sesshs him back again, and gave him haspitable enter:
ny charity VIII be rewarded by the God of Abraham"
Bishop Taylor having quoted the Jews
as the source of the Parable, search be-
,an to be made for it in every direction among
writer's, but without success. At length
{ was discovered--In the Latin dedication to the
senate of Hamburg Of a Rabbinical work, enti-
led the Rod of Judah ~ the translator, George
ienz, gives the story substantially as found in
Jeremy Tsylor'sss Liberty Of Prophesying.'' The
york Of GEM was published at Amsterdam in
l65l. The Latin passage is quoted at length by
'lr. Sparks and by Bishop Heber, in a note to his
life of jeremy Taylor, but it approaches so near
he version contained in IS the Liberty of Prophe-
that il is hardly worth while to extract &
{ in this place. There are, however, some diff
erences. For instance, in the Latin preface of
ienz the answer is, 8" am a FIRE worshipre r and I
gnorant of manners Of this kind for our ances. 1
ors have taught me no such pious observance .
e~rceiving with horror from this speech, that he {
ad to do with q profane fre-worshipper and q j
erson alien to the worship Of his God, Abraham I
rove him from his table and his abode, as one q
those intercourse was contagious and as q foe to
eligion.r t
But though there were considerable differences g
{ this kind in the versions, it was thought highly t
not to say certain, from the substantial
of the Parable, in the preface of GEM t
D 50 the Rod of Judah" that Jeremy Taylor de- a
it from that source and as it was the pre- t
ace by a jew to a Rabbinical work. it was not 8
accurately, though rather vaguely, credited by
i'm to ''the Jars' Books" The inquiry of course ii
Immediately arose as to the authority, on which f
was given by GEM. He himself cites simply
nobilisimus autor Sadus," "a mcst noble au- t
hor Sddus." Who was Sadus a
Conjecture was not long at fault on this point. 8
/ was soon discovered in India, that this remark +:
bic composition, which seemed Ikea shadow to fly
3 it wasapproached, was SUBSTANTIALLY contained,
OF in any :. Jews Books" las Jeremy TAYLOR I
opposed for the reasons just stately, but in the =
'oaan or " Flower Garden of the celebrated c
'ersian Poet Seadi, unquestionably the individ- g
al referred to by GEM by the LAtinized name of B
adaS. An English translation of the Parable l
this ancient Persian poem was published in =
he Aadtic Miscellany at Calcutta in 1889, and =
quoted from that work in the note of Bishop Z
to the life Of Jeremy Taylor, above alladed !
D. 1t is somewhat more diffused and more =
tinged with Oriental Coloring than in ?
he translation of Gens. but not materially diff q
rent. B
Thus the authorship of this celebrated Parable, y
brought into notice by the great Amer =
an Patriot and Philosopher, IL traced, through 2
a English prelate, and q German Jew, to the =
.mous Perssan poetof the twelfth century. Saadi =
supposed 70 have been born at Shiraz about the ]!
sar Of our Lord 1l94, in the reign of Richard B
oeur de Lion. He studied at Bagiad under the v
celebrated teachers Of the time but soon =
nbraced q religious life. and made. it is said, 8