ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



749 



The Travels o/'Mirza Abu Taleb 

 Khan in Asia, Africa, and Eu- 

 rope, during the years 1799, 

 1800, 1801, 1802, and 1803; 

 lurilten by himself in the Persian 

 Language. Translated by Clias. 

 Stewart, Esq. Suo. 2 vols. 



It is not uncommon for Eu- 

 ropeans to describe the manners, 

 customs, productions, &c. of ori- 

 ental countries ; but a genuine 

 account of European manners, 

 customs, and governments, by an 

 Asiatic, is indeed rare in the an- 

 nals of literature. Independently 

 of the circumstance that the 

 author was well known in the 

 highest and most respectable cir- 

 cles during his residence in Eng- 

 land, the work bears intrinsic 

 marks of authenticity ; and its fi- 

 delity and genuineness are further 

 guaranteed to us by the name and 

 situation of the translator, who 

 is professor of oriental languages 

 in the hon. East India company's 

 college, at Hertford. 



The author commences his 

 work with an account of his 

 family and pursuits, previously 

 to his leaving India. At Cal- 

 cutta, he embarked for Eng- 

 land ; he stopped at the Cape, 

 afterwards at St. Helena, and 

 proceeded to Cork ; whence he 

 departed for Dublin. In this city 

 he continued for some time, and 

 has given an interestlngaccount of 

 the metropolis of Ireland ; his re- 

 marks on the Irish character are 

 marked with much discrimina- 

 tion. 



" The greater proportion of them 

 are Roman Catholics, or followers 

 of the religion of the pope. Their 

 churches are however built in the 

 Bame form as those of the English, 



whom they call dissenters or philo- 

 sophers (/. e. Deists or Atheists). 

 •' They are not so intolerant as 

 the English, neither have they 

 the austerity and bigotry of the 

 Scotch. In bravery and deter- 

 mination, hospitality and prodi- 

 gality, freedom of speech and open- 

 heartedness, thej' surpass the Eng- 

 lish and Scotch, but are deficient 

 in prudence and sound judgment ; 

 they are nevertheless witty, and 

 quick of comprehension. Thus 

 my landlady and her children soon 

 comprehended my broken Eng- 

 lish ; and what I could not ex- 

 plain by language, they under, 

 stood by signs : nay, before I had 

 been a fortnight in their house, 

 they could even understand my 

 disfigured translations of Persian 

 poetrj'. When I was about to 

 leave them, and proceed on my 

 journey, many of my friends ap- 

 peared much affected, and said 

 « With your little knowledge of 

 the language, you will suffer 

 much distress in England ; for 

 the people there will not give 

 themselves any trouble to com- 

 prehend your meaning, or to 

 make themselves useful to you.' 

 In fact after I had resided for a 

 whole year in England, and could 

 speak the language a hundred 

 times better than on my first ar- 

 rival, I found much more diffi- 

 culty in obtaining what I wanted, 

 than I did in Ireland. 



" In Dublin, if i happened to 

 lose my way, and inquired it of any 

 person, he would, immediately on 

 perceiving I was a foreigner, quit 

 his work, and accompany me to 

 the place where I wished to go. 

 One night, as I was going to pay 

 a visit at a considerable distance, 

 I asked a man which was the road. 



