that the assassin who
fired at Nadir in the wood of Mazandaran was employed by the prince Reza
Kuli; who, he informs us, though brave and able, was violent and
oppressive. He had, this author asserts, on hearing that Nadir was dead
when on his expedition to India, declared himself king, and at the same
time put the unfortunate Shah Tamasp, who was confined at Subzawar, in
Khorasan, to death. The same writer assures us that Nadir, though
convinced of the guilt of his son, addressed him in the mildest and most
human terms, and offered him complete pardon if he would only confess
his crime and promise repentance; but that the fierce youth rejected
this offer, and said he gloried in the attempt he had made to rid the
world of a tyrant, and provoked his fate by the coarsest abuse of his
father and sovereign. It is probable that this author received the
account which he has given of this transaction from some person who was
desirous of palliating the guilt of a reigning tyrant; but we are
compelled to refuse our credit of this statement.

The flattering historian of Nadir expressly informs us that that
sovereign was deceived, by the gross misrepresentations of infamous men,
into the commission of this great crime. The European physician who
attended that monarch during the latter years of his life asserts the
innocence of Reza Kuli. He adds that Nadir was so penetrated with
remorse after the deed of horror was done that he vented his fury on all
around him; and fifty noblemen, who had witnessed the dreadful act, were
put to death on the pretext that they should have offered their lives as
sacrifices to save the eyes of a prince who was the glory of their
country. It is also to be remarked that the impressions which have been
transmitted regarding a fact comparatively recent are all against Nadir,
who is believed to have had no evidence of his son's guilt but his own
suspicions. From the moment that his life had been attempted in
Mazandaran that monarch had become gloomy and irritable. His bad
success against the Lesghis had increased the natural violence of his
temper and, listening to the enemies of Reza Kuli, he, in a moment of
rage, ordered him to be blinded.

"Your crimes have forced me to this dreadful measure," was, we are told,
the speech that Nadir made to his son. "It is not my eyes you have put
out," replied Reza Kuli, "but those of Persia." The prophetic truth of
this answer sunk deep into the soul of Nadir; and