nearer effecting their purpose, they retired, leaving the field to the brave party of serbauz, who had only suffered a few wounds that did not prevent them from continuing their journey. The prince, though exceedingly displeased at the event, could not help being gratified by the valour and conduct. displayed by his own troops; and though at first resolved on making an example of them, he was induced to pardon them, at the instance of the English political agent in his camp, who represented that the fame of their gallant exploit would do more for his arms, than the example of their desertion could effect against them ;—a suggestion in which we heartily concur.

There is one class of the military order of whom we have not yet spoken, and that is the numerous guards and personal attendants attached to the king and princes, and the retainers of governors and great men in all stations, private or public, including the whole race of Gholaums, Gholaum-peish-khidnuits, Gholaum-batchahs, Nassak chees, Kessekchees, Yessauwuls, &c. &c. &c., and a very strongly marked class they are, in all their gradations. The latter are all officers of state, attached only to high, indeed to regal or princely rank. Thus the Gholaum-peish-khidmuts to the king, who may represent our lords of the bedchamber, grooms in waiting, &c., are men of high rank. The Gholaum-batchahs are pages; Nassakchees, are marshal men; Kessek chees, watchmen; Yessauwuls, a sort of officials, something like the Nassakchees, who are entertained by chiefs of lesser dignity, as well as persons of the blood royal.

The Gholaums are a sort of confidential guards, of whom every prince and governor, as well as most of the great men, entertain a certain number, and who are generally employed in offices that require bold and faithful messengers. In former times they consisted very much of Georgian and other slaves, and the sons of officers, or the inferior nobility, who sought preferment among the Gholaums or slaves, that is the devoted personal attendants of the sovereign, and in those days we believe the term was limited to those in the service of his majesty-the Gholaum-e-shah. Of late years, and in consequence of the subdivision of the kingdom into governments under princes of the blood royal, the class and the appellation has become more widely spread. Instruments of extortion or of vengeance,

more frequently than of mere confidential communications or amicable business, they become objects of dread and dislike wherever they go; and badly paid by their masters, yet forced to maintain a respectable, and even showy appearance, and utterly unscrupulous as to the mode of acquiring the means of so doing, they pillage without mercy, because without fear of consequences for who would dare to complain of the confidential servant of their governor, whether prince or khan, in whose hands are their properties and lives.

A Gholaum, if sent to collect money, makes a point of extorting as much more as he can for himself under every possible pretext. If he happens to have no horse, or that his own fails him, he demands one at the first village he passes through, or unceremoniously unhorses the first passenger he meets, and takes his beast, that he may proceed on his journey. There is no exaggeration in the humorous accounts given by Morier and others, of the insolent self-importance and arrogant demeanour of such personages. Their very air marks the species as infallibly as "the cut of his jib" points out a sailor, or the peculiar "tournure" of guards and coachmen, distinguishes that very useful body of functionaries from the rest of His Majesty's lieges. No one who has paid the smallest attention to character, can mistake the cock of a Gholaum's cap, or the swaggering cast of the features beneath it-the very nose, let nature have shaped it as she may, assumes a look of brass, and the eye a rakish leer, that infallibly betrays the calling of its owner, -even the cut of his furred kuleegéh and the set of the folds of his shulwars, smack of his "profession ;" and, truth to say, a more purpose-like fellow than your hardy, weather-beaten dare-devil Gholaum-e-shah, well accoutred, with his short silvermounted gun slung at his back, his trusty scymetar depending from his waist, and seated à la mode de Perse, gathered snugly up upon a stout Toorkoman hack, it would be difficult to imagine.

It is this same air of self-sufficient arrogance, modified by circumstances-refined into easy assurance, exalted into lofty assumption, or swelled into insolent "jack-in-office" importance, and, far more rarely, tempered into the well-bred ease of a gentleman, but always crouching into servile humility before its master, that marks the whole race of Persian courtiers,

through all their genera and orders. No one who has seen much of them, can have failed to remark how perfectly gracious, easy, gentlemanly, and even insinuatingly bland some of the Persian khans and meerzas can be; while others, on the contrary, are as remarkable for their supercilious arrogance. It is not indeed the elegance of cultivated Europe, that we can expect to find in a country where the customs and manners differ so widely from our own; even the moral education of a Persian precludes the possibility of his possessing the same nice sense of honour, high principle, and delicacy of mind, which marks the character of an English gentleman; but enough remains to justify the name, which the Persians have acquired for politeness; while on the other hand there is too much to be met with, calculated to impress a stranger with a strong idea of their insincerity, their overbearance, and their utter laxity of principle.

It ought to be remembered, however, that travellers passing through the country, and admitted only to a ceremonious view of society among this class of persons, must see them in a very imperfect, and often a very false light, and can consequently form no just notion of their character. It is only after residence for a season has rendered personal intercourse more frequent and unrestrained-when the barriers of reserve and ceremony, giving way, have admitted the stranger to the social and family circle (so far as men can be admitted thereto), upon terms of equality and intimacy, that a just estimate can be formed of Persian society. And there are few, we believe, who have enjoyed that privilege, but will be disposed to admit that they have spent many pleasant hours in company with their Persian friends. The hours of visiting are usually in the morning, before those whose duties lead them to court go to the salaam, and in the afternoon, when they have returned from it; sometimes at a still later hour, when a dinner party is the occasion of meeting. At such times one sees people at their ease-official dignity is thrown aside, and the joke, and the laugh, and the good story, the quick repartee, the happy conceit, the little couplet of poetry, and the anecdotes of the day, pass round with a brilliancy and good humour, and a raciness of manner and costume, that might vie with a scene from the "thousand-and-one nights."

It would indeed astonish a St. James's street dandy, or make

VOL. II. No II.

I I

a grave diplomatist stare, were they to see the way they “carry "on the war" in Tehran or Tabreez, and to witness the curious contrast between a feast of pillaws, and kebaubs, and cookoos, and stews, eaten by the fingers, and the gorgeous pomps, and plate, and cookery, of a ministerial dinner or a civic feast, in the great modern Babylon; or between the dark little cells at the Durkhaneh, where the heads of departments in Persia sit and transact their affairs, and the splendid suites occupied by the public officers in Downing Street and Whitehall, whence issue the mandates that rule the nation, and influence, more or less, the destinies of the whole world. How would such worthies be confounded at seeing the "Premier" himself go through the operations of washing and dressing before a large assembly of the nobles, pop down on his carpet in the middle of the room to say his prayers, dictating letters at the same time to two or three secretaries—or taking an active part in the preparation for the fire, of a roast lamb, or savoury kebaubs for breakfastor giving a private audience on business in the dark and dripping dungeon of the antechamber to his bath! Major Keppel thus describes the audience of his party with the Ameen-udowlut, Lord High Treasurer and Premier-the hour was ten o'clock at night :—

"The reception room was plain and unadorned. The minister, who was seated in a corner, rose to bid us welcome; a compliment he does not pay to his own countrymen. The visitors all sat with their backs to the wall: four or five thick candles, in low tin candlesticks, stood in the middle of the room. Several meerzas (secretaries) were seated in a semicircle opposite the minister, and, upon papers held in the palm of the left hand, were writing from his dictation. The company, in general, had no particular business; those who had, went up by turns to the minister, made their statement in a whisper, and retired with a low bow. Servants came in at intervals with calleeoons, which were rapidly passed from mouth to mouth. Every person in this assembly sat according to his rank. On our arriving, a place was immediately given us near the minister," &c. &c. &c.-(p. 250.)

All this, however, which to us seems so strange, is to be regarded but as shades of national custom, amusing to strangers, but not ridiculous in themselves; and those who have leisure and taste for viewing mankind under various aspects, will find their pains rewarded, in devoting a part of their attention to making a more intimate acquaintance with the people of Persia than has hitherto been done. They would find the class of which we have just been speaking, that is, the courtiers, generally venal and deceitful, often treacherous, arrogant, and over

bearing where they have power, and almost universally great intriguers. How can it be otherwise? Slaves to the caprice of the monarch whom they serve, their very existence depends on his favour, and their whole efforts must, of course, be directed to secure that object. Dissimulation and flattery thus become their chief study—the accumulation of wealth to support their extravagance, or to purchase security, by every possible means, however flagitious-the great object of their lives. Yet, though possessed of little virtue as a body, individuals are to be found, estimable and friendly in disposition, courteous and polished in manners, pleasant and lively as companions; and, however we may feel bound to condemn the faults of the rest, let us not commit injustice, by losing sight of the adverse circumstances to which these faults are mainly owing; let us rather look to ourselves, and bless the Almighty Disposer of events that has cast our lot in a happier and more favoured land.

In our next number, we shall resume the subject of this article, and lay before our readers sketches of the condition and characters of the remaining classes of the Persian people, taken from materials which we know to be correct.

ARTICLE III.

A Discourse on the Studies of the University. By ADAM SEDGWICK, M.A., F.R.S., &c. London: 1835.

A Letter to the Right Rev. Dr. Philpotts, Bishop of Exeter, containing Strictures on a Speech, delivered by him in the House of Lords, on the second reading of the Dissenters' University Admission Bill. By a Member of the University of Cambridge. London.

First and Second Letters to the Rev. Thomas Turton, D.D., Regius Professor of Divinity, &c., &c., on the Admission of Dissenters to Academical Degrees. By CONNOP THIRLWALL, M.A. Second Edition. Cambridge. Thoughts on the Admission of Persons, without regard to their religious opinions, to certain degrees in the Universities of England. By THOMAS TURTON, D.D., Regius Professor of Divinity, &c. London.

THE constitution and management of the two ancient Universities of this country have recently attracted very