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Page 2
PERSIAN BARBER.
The Khas-terash (literally, personal shaver) of the present sovereign
has, in the abundance of his wealth, built a palace for himself close to
the royal bath at Teheran. And he is _entitled_ to riches, for he
is a man of pre-eminent excellence in his art, and has had for a long
period, under his especial care, the magnificent beard of his majesty,
which is at this moment, and has been for years, the pride of
Persia.--_Persian Sketches_.
LIVING IN GENEVA.
The vicinity of Geneva appears peculiarly eligible for the permanent
residence of an English family. There is perhaps no town on the
continent where greater facilities are afforded for a man of literary
and scientific pursuits to indulge his taste or to increase his
knowledge. The city is close built, and consequently not an agreeable
place to live in; but its immediate environs abound with delightful
spots.
The costume of the Genevese assimilates much with that of the French;
but the better class of females are partial to the English fashions. The
language of the country is French, but its habits and religion are
widely different. Not only does the Protestant faith find here the
salutary prevalence of a kindred faith, but the members of our own
ecclesiastical establishment are enabled to join each other every
Sabbath day in the worship of God, and at stated seasons to receive the
holy sacrament according to the pure and apostolic ritual of the church
of England.
The expense of a house, with a garden and piece of land, within a mile
of the gates, including also the keeping of a caleche and pair of
horses, for a gentleman, his lady, two children, and three servants,
does not exceed 300 l. a year; and with this he is enabled to receive his
friends occasionally, and in a respectable style. To proceed from a
family establishment to a bachelor's pension, "I," says Mr. Seth
Stevenson, in his _Continental Travels_, "was told that a person
at Petit Saconnex has a sleeping-room to himself, and his breakfast,
dinner, tea, and supper with the family, for 500 francs (20 l. 16 s. 8 d.)
per annum."
The taxation of Geneva is described as very trifling. There is a sort of
income-tax, to which every man of property contributes, on his honour,
as to the amount of that property. The whole tax for horses and
carriages amounts to about 18 d. for each person; the richest it seems
pays no more, and the others pay no less. "My friend assures me,"
continues Mr. S. "that his fellow citizens approve of their annexation
to Switzerland, and also of the union of the Valais with the Helvetic
confederation--that the people of this little republic are flourishing
again, contented with their government; and as the best proof of their
returning prosperity since the peace, he adverted to the comparatively
few indigent or distressed persons among them, and to the fact of there
being only forty-five persons in the poor's hospital, besides those
admitted under the head of casualties."
* * * * *
ORIGINAL STORY OF HAMLET,
(_From the Latin of Saxo Grammaticus, but interspersed._)
Florwendillus, king of Jutland, married Geruthra, or Gertrude, the only
daughter of Ruric, king of Denmark. The produce of this union was a son,
called Amlettus. When he grew towards manhood, his spirit and
extraordinary abilities excited the envy and hatred of his uncle, who,
before the birth of Amlettus, was regarded as presumptive heir to the
crown. Fengo, which was the name of this haughty prince, conceived a
passion for his sister-in-law, the queen; and meeting with reciprocal
feelings, they soon arranged a plan, which putting into execution, he
ascended the throne of his brother and espoused the widowed princess.
Amlettus, (or Hamlet,) suspecting that his father had died by the hand
or the devices of his uncle, determined to be revenged. But perceiving
the jealousy with which the usurper eyed his superior talents, and the
better to conceal his hatred and intentions, he affected a gradual
derangement of reason, and at last acted all the extravagance of an
absolute madman. Fengo's guilt induced him to doubt the reality of a
malady so favourable to his security; and suspicious of some direful
project being hidden beneath assumed insanity, he tried by different
stratagems to penetrate the truth. One of these was to draw him into a
confidential interview with a young damsel, who had been the companion
of his infancy; but Hamlet's sagacity, and the timely caution of his
intimate friend, frustrated this design. In these two persons we may
recognise the Ophelia and Horatio of Shakspeare. A second plot was
attended with equal want of success. It was concerted by Fengo that the
queen should take her son to task in a private conversation, vainly
flattering himself that the prince would not conceal his true state from
the pleadings of a mother. Shakspeare has adopted every part of this
scene, not only the precise situation and circumstances, but the
sentiments and sometimes the very words themselves. The queen's
apartment was the appointed place of conference, where the king, to
secure certain testimony, had previously ordered one of his courtiers to
conceal himself under _a heap of straw;_ so says the historian; and
though Shakspeare, in unison with the refinement of more modern times,
changes that rustic covering for the royal tapestry, yet it was even as
Saxo Grammaticus relates it. In those primitive ages, straw, hay, of
rushes, strewed on the floor, were the usual carpets in the chambers of
the great. One of our Henrys, in making a progress to the north of
England, previously sent forward a courier to order _clean straw_
at every house where he was to take his lodging. But to return to the
subject.
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