Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
From A Persian In London To His Correspondent In Bengal.
And now behold the princes have surrounded them , and hemmed them in on every side , both by land and upon the waters , so that none can go out of that country , nor can any come in . ' And this is the greatest of the Christian ' kingdoms which Allah has afflicted in this way , whose will be done ! But other hets have arisen in the states of those countries
prop , whom the peop le have not hearkened to , but rather reviled and punished , because of the sorrows of that kingdom , and all the mischiefs and the crimes which have been acted in it , which are such , and so many , that I dare not write them with the pen , lest thou say I am possessed with the European spirit of lying ; yet so much will I set down for thine own bosom , Ali , because thou mayest call bank of Couli
to mind the reasonings we held together on the p , what time our prophet proved thee , giving thee over to the cruel avarice of the Christian Pacha . —Know , then , that in the decrees of the will of God , which are fate , it is written , that it is not good for man to live according to his will , and his own Jaw , nor to know equal an absolute liberty ; for where this isthere too is
an power , , fear and guilt , and perpetual contention and disorder . Mahomet , avert from our happy climes this poisonous gift ! poisonous as the breath of the governor , which causes our poppies to wither , and blasts the unripe harvest from our pining fields ; cruel as the merchant's sword , which tnrneth the scale in the markets ! Obedience
is the lot of man—it is good for every cast ; let the commanders bend themselves to heaven , of them much shall be demanded . I will relate , therefore , unto thee what I have gathered of the lot of the people , now alt of one weig ht and measure ; all of which hath been confirmed to me by a man of many years , and once a hih riest in the templesand do thou lay thy finger on thy lip ,
gp , and ponder on our past failings . Instead of knowing happiness , ( as once we thought , if the scourge of the collector ' s and the pacha ' s sword were removed away , we should do ) this people , Ali , are not even free , for each man is become the tyrant , or ' the accuser of another ; the guilty wreak horrible revenges upon the innocent , who cease to be innocent , that is but
they may escape from their persecutions . There no safety in partaking in crimes . —The virtuous man is looked upon with arched eye-brows , and the tongue lolls at his appearance , as who shall say , " Behold a spy , or an enemy ! " He that keepcth himself undefiled is the prey of calumny , and the victim of the common fear . There are none rich by whom the poor are fed ; neither
have the poor enjoyed , but rather wasted the wealth they have ravished . There are no husbandmen in their fields ; then-women weep , and there is no hand to feed their little ones ; in their towns are the instruments of death ; the prisons do not contain the guilty , and the tribunals are the places of slaughter ; the streets resound with the stroke of the axe , and with the preparations for war ; the hi gh roads are covered by armed hordes , who plunder the caravans ; the vineyards are trodden down by bands of robbers ; lust and re-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
From A Persian In London To His Correspondent In Bengal.
And now behold the princes have surrounded them , and hemmed them in on every side , both by land and upon the waters , so that none can go out of that country , nor can any come in . ' And this is the greatest of the Christian ' kingdoms which Allah has afflicted in this way , whose will be done ! But other hets have arisen in the states of those countries
prop , whom the peop le have not hearkened to , but rather reviled and punished , because of the sorrows of that kingdom , and all the mischiefs and the crimes which have been acted in it , which are such , and so many , that I dare not write them with the pen , lest thou say I am possessed with the European spirit of lying ; yet so much will I set down for thine own bosom , Ali , because thou mayest call bank of Couli
to mind the reasonings we held together on the p , what time our prophet proved thee , giving thee over to the cruel avarice of the Christian Pacha . —Know , then , that in the decrees of the will of God , which are fate , it is written , that it is not good for man to live according to his will , and his own Jaw , nor to know equal an absolute liberty ; for where this isthere too is
an power , , fear and guilt , and perpetual contention and disorder . Mahomet , avert from our happy climes this poisonous gift ! poisonous as the breath of the governor , which causes our poppies to wither , and blasts the unripe harvest from our pining fields ; cruel as the merchant's sword , which tnrneth the scale in the markets ! Obedience
is the lot of man—it is good for every cast ; let the commanders bend themselves to heaven , of them much shall be demanded . I will relate , therefore , unto thee what I have gathered of the lot of the people , now alt of one weig ht and measure ; all of which hath been confirmed to me by a man of many years , and once a hih riest in the templesand do thou lay thy finger on thy lip ,
gp , and ponder on our past failings . Instead of knowing happiness , ( as once we thought , if the scourge of the collector ' s and the pacha ' s sword were removed away , we should do ) this people , Ali , are not even free , for each man is become the tyrant , or ' the accuser of another ; the guilty wreak horrible revenges upon the innocent , who cease to be innocent , that is but
they may escape from their persecutions . There no safety in partaking in crimes . —The virtuous man is looked upon with arched eye-brows , and the tongue lolls at his appearance , as who shall say , " Behold a spy , or an enemy ! " He that keepcth himself undefiled is the prey of calumny , and the victim of the common fear . There are none rich by whom the poor are fed ; neither
have the poor enjoyed , but rather wasted the wealth they have ravished . There are no husbandmen in their fields ; then-women weep , and there is no hand to feed their little ones ; in their towns are the instruments of death ; the prisons do not contain the guilty , and the tribunals are the places of slaughter ; the streets resound with the stroke of the axe , and with the preparations for war ; the hi gh roads are covered by armed hordes , who plunder the caravans ; the vineyards are trodden down by bands of robbers ; lust and re-