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ritance; of the legal diftribution of moveable and immoveable property; in fine, of the laws concerning the administration of juftice, refpecting the qualities which the magiftrates are required to poffefs, judicial fuits, evidence, the decisory oath, judicial acknowledgments, arbitration, compofitions agreed to by the parties, the right of imprisonment, &c. &c.

III. The CRIMINAL CODE will defcribe the corporal punishments inflicted on those who are guilty of adultery, of drinking wine, of contumelious language, of domestic stealing, of apoftacy, of rebellion, of highway robbery, &c. Here alfo are inferted the laws refpecting the price of blood, and the punishment of retaliation, a limb for a limb, blood for blood, &c. with the forms and modes of proceeding in these respective cafes.

IV. The POLITICAL CODE affords information on four important fubjects: 1. The laws of the revenue, which comprehend the taxes imposed on the commerce of the Muffulmen, and on that of the Non-Mahometan fubjects and ftrangers; the taxes of lands titheable and tributary; capitation, which all the NonMahometan subjects are obliged to pay; mines, or other valuable discoveries; in fine, the legal ufe of all the public revenue. In the observations annexed to this chapter, is calculated the state of the income and expences of the empire; and an account is given of the Deftarderie, or department of the minister of the finances, compofed of thirty-four offices, all relating to the adminiftration of the public funds. 2. The laws which concern the tributary fubjects, the Chriftian churches, &c. 3. Those which relate to ftrangers refiding in Mahometan countries, and to Mahometans who are in the country of ftrangers; and, 4, The rights of the Sultan in his character of fupreme Imam. Here alfo, in a general difcourfe, is fhewn the ftate of the Othoman empire, and the form of its conftitution. Among many other interefting particulars an account will be given of the private life of the Sultan, his occupations, his ordinary and extraordinary amusements; of the princes, Schah Zadés, and of the princeffes of the blood to whom exclufively belongs the title of Sultana.

V. The MILITARY CODE will treat of war and its rights; of captives; of legal plunder; of the divifion of plunder between the monarch and his army, &c. It will contain also an account of all the forces of the empire, infantry, cavalry, regular and irregular troops, the feudal militia, &c.; the actual ftate of the marine, with the regulations relative to each corps of the foldiery; this plan comprehends an account of all the forces, both by land and fea, belonging to the Othoman monarchy.

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The SECOND PART of the work will comprehend the history, of the house of Mahomet, from its earliest origin to the present time; it is derived from the only true fource of information,. the annals of the monarchy. These annals, fays our author, though written in pompous and emphatic language, bear however ftrong impreffions of truth, fidelity, and exactnefs. They poffefs a valuable advantage in having been digefted by the first perfonages of the ftate. In thefe, many have related the events of the age in which they lived, fome from a love of letters, others in the character of public hiftoriographers of their country.

The hiftory of a long period of the Othoman monarchy has been written by contemporary authors, many of them highly efteemed, both for the purity and elegance of their style, and for the fagacity and depth of their reflections.

Such is the plan, and fuch are the materials of Chevalier D'Ohffon's Hiftory of the Othoman Empire. Though he has defcended to a degree of minutenefs which by fome readers will perhaps be thought tedious, yet it should be remembered that he defcribes a people of whom we had previously but a fscanty and imperfect knowledge. At first view he may appear to have entered into too nice a detail refpecting the religious tenets and popular prejudices of the Mahometans; but it should be confidered that an acquaintance with these enables his readers to account for many extraordinary facts, which otherwise would be deemed incredible. A commentary upon a religious code, however useful to be known, must be expected to be somewhat infipid; yet the author has contrived to enliven even this part of his work with fuch curious anecdotes as render it confiderably interefting.

To fhew the attachment of the Mahometans to ancient fuperftitions, though exprefsly condemned by their prophet, the author, among other extraordinary facts, relates the following:

• Ofman I. being allowed by his father to affociate only with the Scheykhs and Oulémas, men of learning and virtue, often vifited an aged Scheykh, who lived in the neighbourhood of Efky-Schebber. He was called Scheykh-Edebaly; he was eminent for his piety and fpeculative knowledge. Ofman entertained for him a peculiar re fpect and attachment. He frequently paffed days and whole nights in his fociety; he had a taste for the charms of his converfation, and profited by his leffons of morality, philosophy, and religion. But his happiness was foon troubled by an event which feldom occurs among a people where there is no focial intercourfe between the fexes. Chance presented to his view the daughter of this Scheykh, who poffeffed uncommon beauty. Enamoured with her charms, Ofman found occafion to communicate to her his paffion and his hopes. The chastest modesty dictated the reply of the young woman,

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whofe name was Malhounn-Khatunn. I am far, faid fhe, from naurishing a deceitful hope; the immense distance which birth and fortune interpofe between us can never permit the daughter of a Scheykh, whose whole poffeffion is his religion and his virtue, to affire to fo exalted an alliance. This anfwer inflamed ftill more the paffion of Ofman. Not daring to confefs it to his father, or to the Scheykh, he communicated it to the governor of Efky-Schebber, with whom he was intimately connected, and requested his endeavours to obtain the confent of his father; but he experienced from him the blackest perfidy. Captivated with the delightful picture which he drew of his mistrefs, the governor exerted his whole power to extinguish the flame of Ofman, and to obtain for himself the hand of Malhounn-Khatunn. Her father, the enemy of ambition and human greatnefs, wifhed only for a fon-in-law diftinguished for his virtue, who fhould, like himfelf, place true happiness in the poffeffion of a mode ate fortune, and in the exercife of piety and religion. Informed of the vices which tarnished the birth and rank of the governor of Efky-Schebher, he did not hesitate to refufe his daughter. The vindictive condu&t of the governor foon obliged Scheykh Edebaly to change his place of refidence. He retired to the territories of Ertoghroul, in the neighbourhood of Sexgutdjik. Acquainted with the fecret motive of the altercation between the Schaykh and the governor, Ofman indulged the warmest emotions of refentment; and the keenest hatred of rivalfhip was instantly kindled between him and the perfidious governor. The events and political effects of this animofity belong, however, to the hiftorical part of the present work.

It will be fufficient to mention here, that in the midst of this civil war between the party of the governor and that of Ofman, this young prince, inflamed with the fame paffion for Malhounn Khatunn, though filent through fear of offending his father and the ScheykhEdebaly, went one day to vifit the fage in his new fituation. After expreffing to him fentiments the most affectionate and elevated, he retired to his apartment, and paffed the greatest part of the night in prayer and meditation. Proftrate on the earth, he fupplicated God, with fervent tears, to direct his heart and mind, to flife in him every fentiment repugnant to virtue, to teach him to act worthy of his name and dignity, to enable him to defend the doctrine of the Cou'rann, and to propagate the tenets of its author. Amidft thefe ecllafies, overcome with fleep, he faw in a dream a placid light, equal to the brightness of a full moon, iffue forth from the fide of the Scheykh Edebaly, and terminate its rapid courfe in his own navel; from this immediately fprung up a prodigious tree; its flem touched the clouds; its branches were innumerable, and loaded with delicious fruit; its foliage was immenfely thick and extenfive, and feemed to cover the univerfe; one of its branches, diftinguished above the reft by its beautiful and fhining verdure, inclined towards Conftantinople and the Weft, in the form of a fabre; under the fhade of this tree, and at the extremity of the profpect, were difcovered plains and mountains, pafures and fhepherds, houfes and edifices; numberleis rivers and fprings diffufed every where the pureft streams; crowds of people reforted thither from all parts of the world, fome

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to quench their thirst, others to water their fields, to erect fountains and aqueducts, to take exercife and repofe in its fragrant walks; all were in tranfports of joy, aftonifhment, and admiration.

• Struck with this prodigy, Ofman ran with the tenderelt emotion to the Scheykh Edebaly, who poffeffed in a fuperior degree the art of interpreting dreams. At Ofman's recital the old man was confounded; but recovering his. fpirits, he affured the young prince that his miraculous vifion announced his future power and greatnefs: the tree which he had feen was the myfterious tree of Touba, one of the wonders of Paradife; the moon's rifing from his fide and setting in his navel, was an emblem of the intimacy which fubfifted between them on account of their union of fentiment respecting faith, doctrine, and virtue; the flourishing ftate of the tree, its fruit, branches, and foliage, foretold the profperity of his family and dominions; the plains and mountains, the paftures and thepherds, the rivers and fprings, fhewed the extent of his monarchy, and the immenfity of his poffeffions; the branch inclining towards the West and Conftantinople, indicated plainly the conqueft of that fuperb capital of the eastern empire by a prince of his family; the various people, in fine, who walked under its made, reprefented the different nations who, under his fceptre and laws, would enjoy the advantage of a mild, equitable, and profperous government.

The Scheykh Edebaly, however, interpreted ftill further this myfterious dream: he thought the light which iffued from his fide must mean his daughter, then in her fifteeenth year; and, confidering this vifion as a celeftial warning, he haftened to communicate it to Erioghroul, who imbibed his opinion, and determined immediately to form an alliance, which foretold, in fuch ftriking characters, the greatnefs of his family.

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Though this dream may be fuppofed an artful contrivance between the Scheykh and Ofman, yet it had a decifive influence on the 'mind of Ertoghroul. It is mentioned by almost every oriental historian, and particularly by Idrifs Bidlify, who animates his narrative by ingenious verfes on the amours of the founder of the Othoman monarchy.'

Of the ftyle of the tranflation, which we have found to be not only faithful but elegant, our readers themselves will be able to form an opinion from this quotation.

This volume is illuftrated by an Atlas of very fine engravings, which must have been executed at a great expence. And this accounts for the high price of the work, which, however, though the plates are the fame, is two guineas less than that of the French edition,

ART.

ART. II. An Eftimate of the Temperature of different Latitudes, By Richard Kirwan, Efq. F.R.S. and Member of the Academies of Stockholm, Upfal, Dijon, Dublin, Philadelphia, &c. 8vo. 5s. boards. Elmfly. London, 1787.

METEOROLOGY is one of the most beautiful and interefting fubjects in the hiftory of Nature. It is closely connected with the common affairs of life, and the knowledge of it is equally fubfervient to the peaceful labours of the husbandman, and the adventurous toils of the mariner. Hence it was cultivated from the earliest ages of antiquity; but the study of it was generally committed to the vulgar, and obfervations made that were vague, local, and tinctured with fuperftition. The modern diffufion of natural knowledge has rescued meteorology from obfcurity. Since the introduction of the barometer and thermometer in the last century, these inftruments have been prodigioufly multiplied, and accurate regifters have been kept, and obfervations made, in various parts of the globe. We are happy to select as the benefactor of mankind, from the numerous herd of infignificant fovereigns, the name of Charles Theodore, Elector Palatine of the Rhine. This wife prince erected the Meteorological Academy of Manheim, in his own principality, and ordered the beft inftruments to be conftructed and fent to all the academies and univerfities in Europe.

It is well afcertained that the heat of the globe is not derived from central fires, but merely from the folar rays. The warmth is produced at the furface, where the particles of light are abforbed. It is promoted by the intenfity of the light, by the altitude of the fun, and by his continuance above the horizon; and it is fometimes augmented by the condenfation of vapours. The generation of heat may be fufpended by the obfcurity or darkness of the weather; but active cold is always produced by the converfion of bodies from the folid to the liquid state, or from that into an elaftic fluid. Hence the prefence or absence of the fun, the evaporation or condenfation of vapour, are the great caufes of the variety of climates, and the viciffitudes of feafons. There is only one grand fource of heat therefore, while the other circumftances may indifferently occafion either heat or cold. What becomes of the perpetual accumulation of warmth? Is the heat carried off through the mafs of atmosphere indefinitely into space? Perhaps the fuperfluous heat is spent in evaporating fluids, and perhaps the atmosphere is perpetually increafing. Befides, the vapour, as it rifes into the fuperior regions, acquires greater elafticity, and confequently continues to absorb the furrounding warmth. Perhaps the fteam is decomposed in its afcent, and the hydrogen gas, detached from the oxygen, produces the fplendid phenomena of meteors.

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