manner, complimented Pfander on the uncommon merit of his productions, and informed him that he had set one of his pupils to furnish a reply.¹ The author of the present work, therefore, is not the Shiea Apologist himself, but his nephew, Syud Mahommed Hâdi, whose father and the Mujtahid are sons of the famous Syud Dildar Ali, who gained celebrity by his travels in Arabia, Persia, and other countries; and, being a pillar of the Shiea faith, and a man famed for his attainments, became the spiritual guide of the King of Oudh, and the Mujtahid of Lucknow. The office would thus appear to be in some measure hereditary, and the incumbent is said to be enriched by the free-will offerings of the Oudh nobility; so that the position is not only a dignified but a lucrative one.

The work is entitled: "Key of Mysteries (Miftâh-ul-Asrâr) Shattered." The full title is: "The Curtain drawn aside, to shew the `Key of Mysteries' (Miftâh-ul-Asrâr) shattered, and the Conceits of a certain Ecclesiastic refuted." It is written in very high Persian, and abounds with Arabic phrases; the author, indeed, frequently breaks into whole sentences and even pages of Arabic, especially where he reduces his reasoning to a logical form: he may, no doubt, have found that the technical and laconic language of the Arabians enabled him at times to express his ideas with greater exactness and precision, but the general effect is to give an appearance of pedantry and display. The arrangement is much the same as that recommended above for a reply to the Saulat uz Zaigham. A quotation is first made from the Miftâh comprising generally a whole chapter or division, headed in large letters, "Thus writes the Christian." At the close follows his reply,