the Jury have the power and the right, it may be expedient to forego the exercise of them. In the case of The King v. the Dean of St. Asaph, Mr. Bearcroft said, "There is no law in this country that prevents a Jury, if they choose it, from finding a general verdict; I admit it; I rejoice in it; I admire and reverence the principle as the palladium of the constitution. But does it follow that because a Jury may do this, they must do it? that they ought to do it?" This insidious stuff is often heard in the present day. We answer the question without hesitation, that the Jury ought to do so in all cases in which their consciences are satisfied. It is a sacred trust confided to them for the protection of men's fortunes, liberties, and lives; and Juries are, in our judgment, guilty of a gross and inexpiable dereliction of duty, when they surrender to others, however high in rank or exalted by ability, the exercise of those functions which, for the wisest purposes, were specially delegated to themselves. In the language of chief justice Vaughan before cited, they ought to see with their own eyes, and hear with their own ears; or, to use the words of Mr. Horne Tooke, in the action brought against him by Mr. Fox, in 1792," any Jury that shall deliver a verdict against any defendant, without having well and truly tried the whole question at issue between the parties, is a perjured Jury."

It is time to bring this long article to a close; its importance has led us to a greater length than we anticipated, but not greater, we hope, than the subject deserves. We trust that we have satisfactorily established that the right we contend for in behalf of Juries does exist, and that it has existed immemorially and constitutionally, and that it is equally consonant to every sound principle of legal and of moral justice.

ART. VIII.-Memoirs of Zehir-ed-din Muhammed Baber, Emperor of Hindustan. Written by himself, in the Jaghatai Turki, and translated, partly by the late John Leyden, Esq. M. D., partly by William Erskine, Esq. With Notes and a Geographical Introduction. London. 1826. Longman & Co.

FEW of our readers probably are acquainted with the history of Emperor Baber: some may possibly be aware that he was an ancestor of the celebrated princes Akber and Aurengzebe: others may even know that he was the conqueror of India, and a descendant of the famous Tamerlane, a Tartar king, and a renowned warrior. Lest this ignorance, however, should remain for all time, this extraordinary man, surnamed Baber, or the

Tiger, has handed down to posterity a most particular narrative of his adventures, of the strange vicissitudes of his life, of the characteristics of the various kingdoms he at any period possessed or visited, of the princes who joined or opposed him in war, and their generals and courtiers, of his relatives, and, above all, of himself. Baber flourished during the reigns of our Henry VII and Henry VIII, and the progress of the Reformation in the West may be considered as contemporary with the events of his reign. In the arts of life, and more especially in its luxuries, the East had at that time outstripped the countries of the West; it abounded in men of learning and acquirement, the elegant branches of literature were pursued with eagerness; poetry was the amusement, while the intricacies of diplomacy were the occupation, of its statesmen: several capitals at different periods antecedent to this æra present a picture of splendour, luxury, and polished manners, to which it would be vain to look for a parallel in the contemporary courts of the sovereigns of Europe. Political stability and individual security were, however, unhappily wanting to insure either the present enjoyment of the fruits of civilization, or their future advancement and progression towards maturity. In the age of Baber thrones and dominions passed from hand to hand like current coin: the contemporaries of this prince, as had time immemorial been the custom with their ancestors, were occupied all their lives in one struggle for empire. When a throne was the stake, every stroke was fair play, no bond could bind, no impediment deter; the nobles, themselves inferior kings, were connected with the chief authority by ties as easily loosed, and at the first call of interest or caprice threw up their allegiance or transferred their obedience. Where. the only object is to grasp a portion of power, and where the end is held sacred enough to sanctify any means, the demon of confusion is let loose, and the elements of society are thrown into a complete state of chaos. The unsettled law of descent increased enormously the evils arising out of this total absence of political morality. The rights of primogeniture were but vaguely defined among oriental princes; and, at the death of a sovereign, the son, whose power or proximity enabled him to seize upon the chief authority, considered it as his privilege; and if his brothers were too feeble to maintain a struggle for the richest jewel in the crown, they made an attempt on some of its less important ornaments-a province or a dependency. Every page of these Memoirs presents a lively picture of the manners which arise out of this unhappy condition; and they are necessarily of that striking description which arrests the attention and excites the interest of the most apathetic person, The very

properties which render this state of things detestable in a general point of view, produce those individual results which rouse strong feelings of sympathy, and give the air of a romance to the veracious topics of history. No hero of a novel passes through the ordeal of so many or so remarkable vicissitudes of fortune, as the subject of these Memoirs :—with him we suddenly change the scene from a palace to a mountain hovel-from the head of armies to an obscure flight-from the luxurious enjoyments of the arts and the muses to the midnight assault or the miseries of a siege. He is at one time displaying his individual prowess like a knight of chivalry in a single combat, at another dispensing the kingdoms and principalities he has won by his valour; at another, seeking the assistance of a neighbour, in a state of utter destitution; now, elaborating the delicate niceties of oriental metre, or criticizing fastidiously the compositions of others now, cutting palaces or roads from the solid rock; and we might thus go on, through all the imaginary conditions of human existence in the East. Neither is it without a considerable feeling of personal interest that Baber is thus followed from court to camp, from the plain to the mountain: without design he displays qualities which raise him in our estimation far beyond the character ordinarily deserved by oriental monarchs. He is brave, generous, and, for his country and race, honourable; he is social, benevolent, friendly; for his age humane; a lover and a professor of poetry; a patron of the arts; a promoter of justice, and endowed with considerable talents both of a physical and intellectual kind. He could not only conquer, but he could preserve his conquests: at a time when fidelity was most rare, he apparently inspired warm feelings of attachment, encouraged around him an able race of lieutenants, whom he cherished with kindness and rewarded with munificence; and thus, though born to a petty principality, he left to his son one of the most extensive and powerful of the empires of the East, and contrived that he should succeed to it without a struggle with his brethren.

As a piece of auto-biography, this book is full of human interest as a piece of history, it lifts the veil from a period of great darkness, exhibits the condition of large races of people before imperfectly known, and describes, with minuteness and fidelity, the foundation of a mighty empire to which our countrymen have succeeded. These considerations induce us to give as accurate an idea of the nature and contents of this work as our space will allow, and as is consistent with its great length and infinite variety.

The continent of Asia is divided nearly in its whole breadth by a vast chain of mountains which separate the immense tract

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of country called Tartary, and which corresponds with the ancient Scythia, from the more wealthy and civilized countries to the South, Hindustan, Persia, and a part of the Turkish territory. The belt itself is inhabited in all its extent by various hill-tribes which differ from each other; while to the north of it, the pastoral population of Tartars may be divided into three distinct races, each differing in character, appearance, and language, though partaking in common of many distinctive peculiarities. The race which dwells, or rather wanders, to the north of China are the Mandshûrs or Manchews, who have given the present dynasty to the Celestial Empire. The vast extent of country forming part of the south east of Europe from the sea of Azof down to the Caspian, and extending along the upper part of Asia, taking for its southern boundary the mountains to the north of Persia and Hindostan, is occupied by the Turkis. Between these two vast tribes lie the Monghols or Moghuls.

The country between the Amu and the Sirr rivers (the Oxus and Jaxartes of antiquity), usually called Great Bucharia or Mâweralnaker, though included in this geographical division, differs essentially from it in its natural conditions. It is a region abounding in fine tracts of land, defended by inaccessible mountains and barren deserts. While the barrenness of Tartary compels its occupiers to seek a wandering subsistence, Bucharia is formed for cultivating the advantages of civilization and commerce, and when its governors have possessed sufficient power to secure it from foreign enemies, its cities have always rapidly attained to wealth and prosperity. It is now, however, overrun and governed by Tûrki tribes, who were not its original inhabitants. Of this tribe was Baber, the son of Omer-Sheikh, the king of Ferghana, a district situated in the north of Bucharia on the banks of the Sirr, and nearly surrounded by mountains. To this kingdom Baber succeeded at the age of twelve on the accidental death of his father, who fell from the fort of Akhsi down. a precipice, with his pigeons and pigeon-house, as he was amusing himself with training this bird, a favourite pastime with the princes of the east. Omer-Sheikh was a son of the celebrated Abûsaid, the grandson of Tamerlane or Taimur Beg, whence Baber always speaks of himself as a Tûrk; while on the mother's side he traced his descent from the great Chengiz Khan, through his grandfather Yunis Khan, a noted prince of the Moghuls. While Abusaid conferred on his son, OmerSheikh, the kingdom of Ferghana, nearly the whole remainder of Bucharia was divided between two other sons. Sultan Ahmed Mirza was king of Samarkand and Bokhâra, and sultan Mah

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mûd Mirza was the sovereign of Hissar and the other districts on the north of the Amu, and of Badakshân on the south. These three brothers had married three sisters, the daughters of Yunis Khan, so that Baber found himself at twelve years of age an independent king, his two uncles being seated on the two neighbouring thrones at the same time that a third uncle, Ulugh Beg Mirza, was king of Kâbul and Ghazni, and a maternal uncle, sultan Mahmûd Khan, a Moghul prince, held the fertile provinces of Tashken and Sharokhiâ, a part of Bucharia itself, as well as the chief power over the Moghuls of the desert. At the moment of Omer-Sheikh's death, his brother, sultan Ahmed Mirza, the king of Samarkand, and sultan Mahmûd Khan, his brother-in-law, were leading an army against his dominions of Ferghana; so that at his tender age Baber not only succeeded to the throne of his father, but to his feud with his two uncles. At this point Baber commences his Memoirs.

When news was brought of the death of Omer-Sheikh, Baber was in Andejân, a town at some distance from Akhsi. Boy as he was, his education taught him that he must make a vigorous effort for the throne: being at the Charbagh palace, in the suburbs, he mounted and rode with the few attendants he could collect and made for the castle. On his road thither an adherent met him, and attempted to persuade him to take to the hills; alleging, that as the sultan Ahmed Mirza was approaching with a great army, the Begs of Andejan might deliver both him and the country into his uncle's hands. The nobles, however, hearing of this design, sent a messenger to dispel his apprehensions. A consultation of the Begs was held in Baber's presence, and all joined "with one heart and soul" in his service. It was determined zealously to maintain the place, and in the mean time to try the effect of an embassy on his uncle, who had encamped within sixteen miles of the citadel. A message was delivered to him to this effect: "It is plain that you must place some of your servants in charge of this country; I am at once your ser vant and your son; if you intrust me with this employment your purpose will be attained in the most satisfactory way.' But the sultan was not of this opinion. Meeting, however, with unexpected resistance on the part of the inhabitants, and serious obstacles from the nature of the country, a peace was patched up and the invading army retreated. Two other incursions, the one on the part of the maternal uncle, sultan Mahmûd Khan, and another made by a prince of Kâschgar on the east of Ferghana, were similarly resisted; after which, the