S45 
1811.] Memoirs of Ferdoiissi, a Persian Poet 
same hours,, they again brought them 
jnlo action. This process tliey continued 
for a succession of days. Tiie result 
was, that disease soon rendered the 
greater numbers non-effectives. If Buo¬ 
naparte be compelled by famine to di¬ 
vide his troops, successive actions in the 
above manner would more speedily, than 
is supposed, render the second Punic 
war as abortive as the first, provided as 
before observed, the Fabian system be 
adopted, till his concentrated army is 
forced to disperse; and the heat of Spain, 
is far beyond the climate of France. 
Conceiving that the glory and interest 
•f England are equally concerned in this 
grand design, I trust in my opinions, for 
the candid acceptation of patriotic 
minds, even though it is to be feared that, 
the cause is hopeless. 
E. F. G. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine* 
SIR, 
S I am persuaded of your desire to 
furnish the readers of your valuable 
Magazine with strictly accurate infor¬ 
mation, I take the liberty of correcting 
what appears to me an error in page 141, 
of your thirty-second volume. An on-* 
ginal letter is there given, which purports 
to be the production of Dr. Samuel 
Clarke, by whom, in common, {irobably 
with most of your readers, I at first con¬ 
ceived to be meant the celebrated rector 
of St. James’s. But the date, the sen¬ 
timents, and the style, soon convinced 
me that, it must liave proceeded fiom a 
very different pen; who w'as the real 
author, will be seen in the following 
short extracts from “The Non-confor¬ 
mist’s Memorial,” 2d. edit. vol. 1, 
SOI, &c. 
“Samuel Clark, M.A.---Soon after his 
ejection, he settled at Wycombe, in Buckg. 
He died February 24, 1701, aged 75." 
What is still more decisive, a quota¬ 
tion is afterwards made from the very 
letter which has occasioned these re¬ 
marks. 
“ Of Mr. Humphrey, to whom he writes 
it, an account will be found in the same use¬ 
ful publication,” (vol. iii. page 190, &c.) 
IN. 
MEMOIRS AND REMAINS OF EMINENT PERSONS, 
Memoirs o/FERDOUSSI mi HAFEZ, 
the celebrated Persian Poets ; from a 
Persian MS. by Douletscah ben Al- 
AEDDOUEET AlGAZI AlSAMA RCAN DI, 
in the National Library at Paris, by 
M. SiLVESTP.E DE Sacy, uow first pub¬ 
lished in England. 
LL the learned agree, that, from the 
first establishment of Isiamism, no 
poet has appeared, whose genius has 
equalled tiiat of Ferdoussi, or rivalled 
him in the beauty and eloquence of his 
compositions. His poem entitled Schah- 
vameh is the most decisive proof of his 
superiority, since, during a space of 500 
years, no writer has produced a work, 
equal to this chefd'diu.vre. So justJy tias 
another poet said, “ May I be regarded 
as an infidel, if there be any Persian 
poet who has struck his coin in the mint 
pf Ferdoussi ; Eloquence and the Art of 
Poetry, precipitated from the throne, 
were crawling upon the ground,— 
Ferdoussi took them by the hand, and 
again seated them upon the throne.” 
Azizi has said, in the same sense, “ Three 
men have been raised by poetry to the 
rank of prophet, although Mahomet has 
said that there will be no prophet after 
him. The epic, the ode, and love-song, 
Lave assured this rank to Ferdoussi^ An- 
veri, and Saadi.” The only rival,however, 
who can dispute the pretensions of Fer¬ 
doussi, is Nazami. 
The proper name of Ferdoussi is Ilas^ 
san, sop of Ishak Scherefschah. In some 
works he has only the name of Scheref- 
schah. He was of a family of peasants, 
in the territory of Touss. Some say that 
he was born in a village named llizan, 
dependant upon that town ; others, that 
his father was attached to the service of 
Souri-ben-Moazz, surnamed Amid Kho- 
rassan, in quality of gardener, and charged 
with the culture of an estate, which Souri 
possessed in the suburb of Touss; that 
this estate, which consisted of a canal, 
and four gardens, bore the name of 
Ferdoussi, whence our poet derived the 
same appellation. However this be, 
Ferdoussi, having experienced some vex¬ 
ation from the governor of Touss, went 
to Gazna to make his complaints to the 
court, and obtain justice. He staid some 
time at the court of Sultan Mahmoud, 
without being able to terminate the bu¬ 
siness upon which he came; and, -as he 
was not able to defray his daily expences, 
he made verses for all manner of people, 
and thus earned Ins subsistence. He 
ardently desired tlio acquaintance of the 
poet Ansari; but the rank which that 
