that will be fufficient. My intention was to advise you; fo: I refign you to God, and depart." "After having faid this, Aurengzebe gave up the ghot. vants. I have done "The Laft Will of the Emperor AURENGZEBE*. Praise be to God, and bleffings upon his elect and chofen fer- ft. Let them place this finner, plunged in iniquity, in the pure and holy earth of Huffein, (the peace of God be upon him), as there can be no fecurity for the immerfed in the ocean of iniquity, except refuge at that afylum of absolution and mercy: and let what is neceffary for this exalted felicity be taken from our fortunate fon, Prince Alijaht, with whom it is. 2d. There are four rupees two annas, the produce of cap-making, with Aiyah Bege the ‡ Mehldarner, which let them take and lay out in grave cloaths for this miferable creature. There are also 305 rupées, arifing from tranferibing the Koran, in my private treafury, which let them diftribute among the poor on the day of my death: for as money arifing from writing the Koran is efteemed prohibited property by the feet of the Shiahf, they thould not for this reafon expend it on my funeral, or on any thing requifite for it. 66 '3d. * He died on the 21ft of February, 1707, at Ahmednagur, in the province of Dowlutabad, aged ninety lunar years and fourteen days, having reigned about fifiy lunar years. The execution of this will is committed in particular to his third fon, Sultan Mahommed Azim Shah, who was with him at the time of his death, and whom he had defigned for his fucceffor, to the prejudice of his eldeft furviving fon, Sultan Mahommed Mauzm, who was then at Cabul; but who, notwithstanding, fucceeded to the empire, by the defeat and death of his brother, by the title of Bahuder Shah. ་་ + Sultan Mahommed Azim Shah. "Aurengzebe, in his life-time, had fent and procured fome earth from the Defert of Kirbila, in Arabia, where Iman Huffein, the grandfon of Mahommed by his daughter Fatima and Ali, fuffered martyrdom, which is the holy earth here meant-a manifeft proof of his egregious fuperftition. The chief female attendant of the mehl or women's apartments. Aurengzebe feems here to have maintained himself by capmaking a remarkable inftance of humility and felf-denial in fo great a prince. The produce of labour and induftry being confidered by the Mahommedans, above all other kind, the most indisputable and Jawful property, it has been held highly commendable by many of their learned theologifts to fubfift by the practice of it. This may ac count for the emperor's trade of cap-making, who either was, or pretended to be, a very religious man. The Sunnis and Shiahs are two great fects, into which the Mahommedans are divided. The Sunnis acknowledge as lawful the fucceffion 3d. Let what is further neceffary be taken from the vakeel of Prince Allijah, who is next heir among my children, and charged with whatever is legal and prohibited. No queftions will then be asked of this miferable creature, as the dead are in the hands of the living. “4th. Let them bury this wanderer in the vale of iniquity, bare headed; as there are doubtlefs hopes of mercy to a wretched criminal, whom they lead bare-headed to a King of exalted* dignity. 5th. Let my coffin be covered with fome of the coarfe white cloth called guzzi; let no canopy be carried over it; and let them refrain from the vile practice of having elegy-fingers to precede it. 6th. Let the ruler of the empire treat thofe afflicted fervants, who have wandered through wilds and deferts with this departed finner, with affection and tenderness; and fhould any fault be difcovered in them, let him reward it with forgivenefs and mercy, "7th. There is none better calculated for a minifter of flate than a Perfian. In war alfo, from the reign of his majefty of bleifed + memory, till the prefent time, none of this nation ever fled from the field of battle, or flipp'd from their feet of firmnefs; nor have they ever been refractory or perfidious; but as they require much attention and refpect, it is diffiult to fatisfy them, though by all means highly neceffary, and more fo, not to treat them with neglect. 8h. The Tartars are undoubtedly a race of excellent foldiers. They are very expert and judicious in plundering and devaftating a country, and in making night attacks and prifoners; nor do they ac count it any difgrace to retire from action fighting; being in this refpect far remote from the grofs ignorance of the Hindufitanians, whofe heads may go 'ere they will go themselves. It is by all means neces fucceffion of Abubikr, Omar, Othman or Ofman, and Ali, and receive the Koran and Mahonimed's traditions, in the fense they are expounded by their four great doctors, Hanita, Makk, Shafi, and Hanbal. The Shiahs deny the lawfulness of the fucceffion of Abubikr, Omar and Othman, and maintain that Mortiza Ali, Mahommed's fon-in-law, (according to the prophet's will), ought immediately to fucceed him. They pay no regard to the opinions of the abovementioned doctors, but are entirely guided by their own Imams. The Turks, Tartars, and Indians, are of the former, and the Perfians chiefly of the latter fect. The former account themselves the moft orthodox. Aurengzebe was one of this fect, but his fons were of the Shiah. They are inveterate and bitter enemies to each other; and the Shiahs execrate and detest the Kháliss, Abubikr, Ourar, and Othman, the immediate fucceffors of the prophet, and predeceffors of Ali. This feems to allude to the cultom of bringing great criminals in Hindustan, who have been admitted to pardon, into the fove, reign's prefence with their hands tied with their turban, and confequently bareheaded.”.... "His father the Emperor Shah Jehat. ead. Lud fary. fary, therefore, to treat thefe people with regard, as they will be ferviceable upon many occafions where others will not. 9th. To the Syedst, worthy of profperity, refpect should be fhewn, and according to the word of God, refpect is due to his kindred," not to be neglected :. and because of the love of this race, agreeable to the Koran, "I require nothing of ye for him, except affection towards his kindred," is a reward of the command, it never should be diminished, for it is equally productive of temporal and eternal happinefs. It is neceffary, however, to be very cautious of the Syeds of Barreah, and without abating any internal regard for them, not to advance them according to their dignity, as they will confederate, not only with the most powerful, but the tyrant of the country. If the rein, therefore, is once flackened, repentance will be in vain. Repentance will not avail when the thing is done. "roth. Let the tenth article of my will be duly executed. They will give their eldest daughter to the Prince Mahommed Azim, and the youngest to Siadet Khan, the son of Siadet Khan, the fon of Siadet Khan deceased." P. 92. Here we cannot avoid remarking, that Aurengzebe muft have left two wills; for that inferted in Frafer's "Mogul Emperors," prefixed to his Nadir Shah, is widely different from that juft exhibited; fince, though equally replete with affected humility, in that will the pious imperial cap-maker declares, "in my private treafury there are 57,382 rupees; let 1000 rupees be diftributed among the poor at my funeral As Frafer is univerfally allowed to be a moft authentic writer, it refults, that this will muft have been of prior date, written perhaps in his better days, when the royal trade of cap-making was more flourishing and lucrative. The poetical department contains an Ode of Hafez, elegantly tranflated; and the Review of oriental books, with which the vo "Those nations in the two preceding articles which have been tranflated Perfians and Tartars, are expreffed in the original by the words Iran and Toran. The former is generally understood for the kingdom of Perfia, comprehending all thofe regions extending from the Oxus to the Perfian fea on the fouth, and the Tigris on the weft; and the country beyond the Oxus is called Turan; but all the higher Afia, excepting India and China, is comprehended by Eastern hiftorians under these two names. + The defcendants of Mahommed by his daughter Fatima and the Khalif Ali. "It is customary to addrefs perfons of rank in the third perfon plural, and to use the third perfon fingular yourself. Mahommed Azam Shah is the perfon here meant. The fecond fon of Sultan Mahonmed Muazm." X x BRIT. CRIT. VOL. xxi. June, 1803. lume lume concludes, by the writer's clofely adhering to the way of analysis, appears well calculated to do juftice to the author, and give the Afiatic reader a fair though abbreviated tranfcript of his production. All but thofe which have iffued from an Afiatic prefs have been reviewed in the British Critic. ART. XIII. Poefie del Magnifico Lorenzo de' Medici, e di altri fuoi Amici e contemporanei. Divife in due Parti. 4to, 467 pp. 11. 19. Nardini, e Dulau. 1802. THIS elegant volume is the tribute of the Italian Mufes to Mr. Rofcoe, to whom it is exprefsly dedicated by the compilers, S. Nardini and S. Buonaiuti; being called, in the half title, a Supplement to the Life of Lorenzo*. The work contains a felection of Lorenzo's poetry, with that of his friends, Poliziano, and the three brothers, Pulci: in it will be found the Altercazione of Lorenzo, which biographers, prior to Mr. Rofcoe, had omitted to mention alfo the Gioftra of Luca Pulci, the fcarceft of the known Poems of thefe authors. In the divifion of this volume, the firft Part, confifting of 312 pages, is occupied entirely by the poetry of Lorenzo. In the fecond Part, we have the Italian Poems of Politian, extending to p. 78; those of Bernardo Pulci, to 93; of Luca, to 148; and of Luigi, to the end. The Addrefs to the reader flates the occafion of the work, and gives fome fhort account of the authors, the latter being, as the editors intimate, fuperfluous for those who have the work of Mr. Rofcoe; but defirable for fuch perfons as may purchafe this volume feparately. It is obferved, in this introduction, that, though various teflimonies eftablifhed the name of Lorenzo as the great reflorer of letters, and a fuccefsful cultivator of them, no Italian had collected memoirs of him in fuch a manner as was fuited to the dignity of the fubject. It remained for an Englifh fcholar of found judgment and exemplary diligence, fo to illuftrate this topic, as to leave nothing to be wifhed. The work of Mr. Rofcoe, fay the editors, deferves no lefs the gratitude of the Italians, than the applaufe it has received from every reader; his own countrymen, they add, have a double obligation to Mr. Roscoe, both for the acceffion he has brought to English literature, and for the grace Supplemento alla Vita del Magnifico Lorenzo de' Medici, feritta dal Signor Guglielmo Rofcoe." and elegance he has added to their language," colla venuftà pura ed ingenua della locuzione, la quale in tutte le lingue, è foto propria di certi non communi ingegni, che non fiorifcono in tutti i tempi." It remained, they lay, for Italians to gratify the curious with a fupplemental collection of the productions of the principal authors celebrated by Mr. Roscoe, which it was not within the province of the hiftorian to fupply. The memoirs of the authors, in this Introduction, are fhort, but clear; and directed chiefly to the object of their poetical compofitions. Lorenzo dei Medici was born 1448, and died 1499. Angiolo Baffi, called Poliziano, from Monte Pulciano, the place of his birth, was born 1454, and died 1494: thus the former of these eminent men lived but 44 years, the latter only 40. Of the three Pulci, Luigi, the well-known author of the Morgante Maggiore, was born in 1432, and died in 1487; he was the youngest of the three brothers, but the exact dates of the two elder are not given. The editors confefs that they have corrected the orthography of the Poems, according to the modern rules, except where the meafure or the rhyme depended on the ancient form. Lorenzo appears in this volume, as in thofe of Mr. Roscoe, a fertile, ingenious, and elegant writer, having the rare talent of encouraging letters by example, as well as by munificence. Of his Poems here publifhed, fome are not properly fupplemental to Mr. Rofcoe's book, being copied from it; thefe are the Ambra, the Caccia col Falcone, and La Confeflione; which the editors have felected for their vivacity, [" che fono veramente leggiadre et fpiritofe"] and doubtlefs alfo for the fake of the feparate purchafers of this volume. It remains, they fay, to wifh for a complete collection of Lorenzo's poetry, but this must be a work of time. "Cio deve fenza dubbio richiedere un lungo lavoro eftimabile, poichè, oltre il ricercane efattamente le inedite, che fono ancora in buon numero, è neceffario collazionare le edizioni, che sono tutte piene d'inavvertenze e di errori, con i manofcritti, che fi trovano in Italia, i quali non fono nè in una citta medefima, nè tutti in librerie acceffibili ad ognuno." P. vi. Only three or four of the Sonnets of Lorenzo wère published by his Englifh biographer; we have here a confiderable collection; and though like other Sonnets, particularly of Italian authors, they turn too uniformly upon the paffion of love, yet as Mr. Kofcoe has justly obferved, "he has fo diverfified and embellished them, with images drawn from other fources, as to refcue them from the general cenfure of infipidity. Of thefe we shall give one as a fpecimen, which though on a common fubje&t, has much elegance of expreflion. X X 2 IL |