public, his sons, ministers, and courtiers, stand erect, with their hands
crossed, and in the exact place belonging to their rank. They watch his
looks, and a glance is a command. If he speaks to them, you hear a voice
reply, and see the lips move, but not a motion or gesture betrays that
there is animation in any other part of the frame. The monarch often speaks
in the third person: "The king is pleased," "The king commands." His
ministers usually style him "The object of the world's regard." They are as
particular in forms of speech as in other ceremonies; and superiority and
inferiority of rank, in all their gradations, are implied by the terms used
in the commonest conversations.

_Sir J. Malcolm's History of Persia._

* * * * *



THE COSMOPOLITE.

* * * * *


We love an occasional stroll into the environs of London--_on foot_--and
_alone_. On foot, because we hate the machinery of a coach--and alone,
because we have only our own leisure to consult, and there is no time lost
in "making up minds." On such occasions we have no set object in view, but
we determine to make "good in every thing." A book, great or small, is then
to us a great evil; and putting a map into one's pocket is about as absurd
as Peter Fin's taking Cook's Voyages on his journey to Brighton. We read
the other day of a reviewer who started from Charing Cross with a blue bag