SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

Hurroar,

The History of British India, by James Mill. Esq. Fourth edition; with Notes and Continuation, by Horace Hayman Wilson. M.A., F.R.S.. Boston Professor of &insult in the University of Oxford, &c. &c. lu six volumes... Madden mod Co.

PROFESSOR WILSON'S EDITION OF MILL'S HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.

Tan inconvenience of periodical appearance for a general survey, the pressure of current publications during " the season," and the prospect of Professor WILsoN's Continuation of the History of British India from the period when MILL closed his narrative, (18050 have delayed that notice of this important work, which its intrinsic value, the enterprise of its publishers, and the reason and learning of its editor, deserved at our hands. We now take ad- vantage of the stagnation in the publishing-world to recur to what is, and we suspect ever must be, the Book of India. And we begin with the new matter, the commentary of the editor. The main object of Mr. WILSON'S Notes is fourfold. I. To mitigate the effects of MILL'S depreciatory estimate of the native character. 2. To correct the errors he fell into respecting Oriental manners, institutions, arts, and letters ; partly through unacquaintance with the native languages and the country, partly from the want of materials which have been made accessible since he wrote, either in the shape of original monuments of Oriental literature or the result of European research and ability. 3. By means of original documents or works of authority, unpub- lished when the History appeared, to supply any omissions or illustrate any event which has been insufficiently unfolded or erroneously narrated. 4. To modify the harsh judgments, or to point out the depreciatory or erroneous conclusions the historian

comes to, both upon characters and events. "

The labours of Mr. WILSON in these commentaries are of varying merit, and of a various nature ; sometimes dealing with facts, some- times with opinion. In the severe estimates which MILL took of the Hindoo character and the Hindoo institutions, the editor corrects positive errors of fact ; or adduces circumstances derived from a living knowledge of the people, or a better acquaintance with Hindoo literature, which show that MiLL frequently misun- derstood the dead letter of his authorities and that sometimes his authorities were not worthy of implicit credence. In matters of opinion, the notes are occasionally useful and necessary to correct the prejudices which MILL indulges in towards the English in India. At times, however, the editor's differences with the teat are merely differences of opinion: now and then he seems to have misinterpreted the author's meaning ; or the view in the com- mentary is as questionable as that in the text. Taken altogether, however, the Notes are a highly, valuable addition to the text, as correcting inaccuracies, demurring to questionable conclusions, and, at the worst, calling the reader's attention to those points in the History of British India which are thought unsound by a scholar, who unites to a poetical genius and the accomplishments of the belles lettres a large acquaintance with Oriental literature, and. whose cast of mind verges as much towards the practical as that of MILL did towards the theoretical.

Yet it is remarkable how small an impression is produced by the Notes in comparison with the text, even when the text is clearly wrong. And this seems generally the case with any thing that is 'done by commentary. Whether the text has the advantage of that first impression which it is always so difficult to shake—whether the less coherent form of annotations has naturally less weight, reducing the contest to a "war of posts "—or whether, as we inclinato think, an original has an inherent vigour to sustain himself against exter- nal assault—this seems to be the general fate of annotations. The labours of Guizar and MILLMAN have left GIBBON'S attacks upon Christianity pretty much as they found them ; and many a pointed sentence flies about the world and is received as truth, though its incorrectness has over and over been pointed out. It is this inherent power of vigorous vitality which forms the first characteristic of the History of British India, as it must do of all enduring works. Some of its other excellencies are thus enumerated by Mr. WILSON— "It is a composition of great industry, of extensive information, of much accuracy on many points, of unrelaxing vigour on all ; and even where the reader may not feel disposed to adopt the views it advocates, he will rarely fail to reap advantage from the contemplation of them, as they are advanced to illustrate the relations between India and Great Britain. The vast importance of that connexion is never lost sight of; and in describing the steps by which it wasformed, or speculating on the means by which it may be perpetuated, a lofty tone of moral and political principle is maintained, which, even when we may think that the principles are unfairly applied, is entitled to our respect, which in a great number of instances commands unhesitating acquiescence, and which is well worthy of imitation by all to whom the interests of our Indian empire are matters either of theoretical reasoning or of practical administra- tion."

These are great merits; but, in a critical sense, they are not the only merits of MILL. He is entitled to a rank nearly if not quite equal to that of the three great British historians : but he is with them, not altogether of them ; his merits and his faults are for the most part his own. He has equally with them the power of extract- ing the main facts or the essential circumstances of history from the mass of minute or irrelevant particulars in which they are in- volved, so as to convey a clearer and more striking impression by his narrative than most minds would derive from the originals them- selves. He has a comprehensive method to marshal and arrange the masses of his subject, fully equal to theirs, if not greater, as his subject was more complex, and one might say more dis- cordant, than either HUME'S or Ronearsox's. In the various qua- lities of composition which are known by the name of manner, he Las nothing in common with the elegant and finished eloquence of RonarcrsoN the elaborate stateliness of Gamma was perhaps att opposite to his taste as it was to his nature, though he appears to have studied the quiet but powerful sarcasm of that distin- guished writer : "the careless the inimitable graces" of Hume were beyond the severe and somewhat arid character of his mind ; but HUME appears to have been the model on which, whether consciously or not, he formed his general style. The originality of his genius, however—for style is only a reflection of thought—has removed from his diction all appearance of being an imitator : his vigorous logic gave him clearness, precision, and cogency ; though his habit e,f demonstration may have caused him to sacrifice something of attractiveness, and to lose the power of suiting his style to the nature of his subject. A very striking feature of Mu.L's dic- tion, however, is a kind of dry keenness, producing the effect of wit, whilst it brings out by a single touch the exact character of its subject; as in describing a particular despatch of the Marquis of WELLESLEY, he hits the pervading fault of that statesman's style in half a sentence—" The language of the Governor-General on this occasion is something more than pompous." The same faculty serves him greatly in exhibiting the fabulous stories or my- thological allegories of the ancient system of the Hindoos. In- terest is imparted to a remote and not very intelligible fable, by its fabular character being proved in the narrative of its impossibilities and absurdities. We quote an example, with its notes, as illustra- tive though in a small way, of the style of MILL, the annotations

of illustra- tive, and the general character of this edition.

HINDOO FABLE.

"Of this a single specimen will suffice. The character which the Brahmins assign to the several yoga is a remarkable part of their system. The Satya yug is distinguished by the epithet of golden ; the Treta yug by that of silver ; the Dwapar yug by that of copper ; and the Cali yug is denominated earthen.* In these several ages the virtue, the life, and the stature of man, exhibited a remarkable diversity. In the Satya yug, the whole race were virtuous and pun, the life of man was 100,000 years, and his stature twenty-one cubits. In the Treta yug, one-third of mankind were corrupt, and human life was re- duced to 10,000 years. One-half of the human race were depraved in the Dwapar yug, and 1,000 years bounded the period of life. In the Cali yug, all men are corrupt, and human life is restricted to 100 years.f But though in the Satya yug men lived only 100,000 years, Satyavrata, according to the chro- hologiciil fiction, reigned 1,728,000 years ; in the Treta yug, human life extended only to 10,000 years, yet fifty-five princes reigned, each at a medium more than .23,000 years; m the Dwapar yug, though the life of man was reduced to 1,000 years, the duration of reigns WA even extended, for twenty-nine princes held each the sceptre in this period for 29,793 years.

And, though far from exhausting the varieties of his treatment, this passage may be received as a fair specimen of his entire work ; Which is what he aimed at—" a critical history," in which the first object is to separate the false or the questionable from the true, - and to assign to each its proper character; the power of pleasing being ever sacrificed to that of instructing, where the two are in- oempatible.

Of the comprehensive method by which MILL has reduced to Order a series of events relating to various nations various periods, d various modes of life, we have already spoken ; but it will do more justice to his merits, and convey a better idea of the plan of his work, if we enter into it at greater length. At first sight the natural order of events appears to be violated, and chronology arbitrarily carried on some thousands of years. But MILL saw that, at the time he wrote, the reader's mind required a preparation to take an interest in India, before it could attend, otherwise than listlessly, to the fabulous periods of Hindoo story, the peculiar character of its institutions and state of society, and the remote events of the Mahometan invasion. He therefore arranged his narrative into four sections, (though he enumerates but three.) The first traces the progress of the East India Company from the time when it was only a body of "merchants trading to the East Indies" ; its ser- vants abroad baffled and insulted by their Dutch competitors, and sometimes put in prison by the native officers ; its cash and credit at times so low at home as only to suffice for freighting a ship or two ; its general estimation not rising higher than the African, Levant, or Hudson Bay Companies, and private traders, or "inter- lopers" as they were called ; commercial opposition and rival asso- ciations threatening free trade and the Company's extinction, until CronoLriniv, in 1701, combined the two rival bodies then in exist- ence, and placed them upon the general footing they have main- tained ever since. Having thus established the Company so that the reader could recognize the corporation with which he was contein- porary,the historian commences his survey of Indian history ; graphi- cally describing the Hindoo fables, showing the utter barrenness of their authentic annals, and exhibiting an analytical view of the national and social systems of the Hindoos, as well as of their arts, literature, and alleged civilization ; throughout the whole of which he displays the acumen of a critic, with such mastery of political

• See Sir William Jones, Discourse on the Gods of Greece. Italy, and India, As. Res. 1.236. The similarity between the Hindu description of the four yeas, and that of the four ages of the world by the Greeks, cannot escape attentior. We shall have occasion to notice many other very striking marks of affinity between their several systems.—M. It is to be observed, however, that the terms golden, and the rest, are not Hindu epithets of the four ages.—W. f I have followed Mr. Halhed in the number of years (see Preface to Code of Gentoo Laws), though a derivative authority, because his statement is the highest, and by con- sequence the least unfavourable to the consistency of the Hindu chronology. Iii the Institutes of Menu (ch. i. 83), human life for the Satya yug is stated at 400 years, for the Treta yug at 300, the Dwapar yug 200. and the Cali yug at 100 years.—M. the duration of the life of a Moon is not bounded by the limits of an age, as previously remarked; tbe reigns of particular kings, in a great degree mythological personages, are also ex- empt from ordinary rules. The inconsistency arises from our attempts to adjust the system to a scale by which it was never designed to be measured.—W.

science and of man's nature as is attainable by study and specula- tion. This section, however, is deficient in that actual knowledge by

which ELPHINSTONE imparted life and vividness to a similar sur-

vey; whilst it is alleged by those who are practically acquainted with the Hindoos, that MILL'S estimate is unfairly depreciating,

even beyond what his authorities always warranted, and very far

indeed beyond the, actual truth,—a fact he himself seems to suspect, when he allows that the Brahminical laws have been modified in practice, but, not having any practical knowledge of the matter, he could say little more than that the system was so bad that it could not be carried out.

The third section of the work embraces the history of the Maho- metan conquests of the country, and of the different dynasties of the Mahometan religion, from the first attacks of MAILMOOD of Ghizni, about the year 1000, till the virtual destruction of the power of the Mogul race, and the division or rather decomposition of their empire at the time (1750-1760) when the British power began to exhibit itself in the ascendant. But although extending over a long period, the Mahometan history does not occupy a long space ; the first two volumes, indeed, suffice for the three sections of which we have given an account.

The fourth part properly contains the History of British India; and although only treating the affairs of a century, employs two-thirds of the work. After a brief description of the Company as it was established by GODOLPHIN, and a rapid summary of its commercial progress and Indian quarrels with the natives and the French, the remainder of the history consists in effect of four great epochs,— the character and exploits of CLIVE, by which the foundation was laid of our Indian empire ; the government of WARREN HASTINGS, by whom that empire was extended and reduced to form ; the impeachment of that ruler, and the Parliamentary remodelling of the Government of India by the establishment of the Board of Control ; the consolidation of the British power in India under the Marquis of WELLESLEY, and the establishment of our supremacy without a rival, by the destruction of TIPPOO and the success of the Mahratta war. And never, perhaps, has a series of complicated events, foreign to the ideas and habits of a people, been uniblded with so much precision or presented so clearly to the attentive mind. Of the faults of the History of British India, one is of the kind which we noted as characterizing the Decline and Fall ; and from which, indeed, few works are altogether free. The character of the writer is too conspicuous; predominating too much over the nature of his subjects, which are bent to his genius, instead of being coloured by their own. Two results are produced from this peculiarity,— the manner is not always properly adapted to the matter ; and a greater sameness is given to the work than its own nature absolutely requires. In the case before us, the critical character of MILL's genius imparts to the narrative a cold and sober air, not always in accordance with the boldness of enterprise or the gorgeous nature of Oriental splendour ; a defect aggravated by the writer's want of Indian experience. The greatest fault of the work, however, is that which is gene- rally called his philosophy, but which is not so much philosophy as sectarianism. The school in which he is supposed to have studied considered man as a mathematical animal, leaving out of view the diversities of natural disposition and national character, as well as the influences of prejudice, opinion, caste, and even human folly. With an abstract theory in their heads, these philosophers would un- dertake, on the shortest notice, to draw up constitutions for peoples they had never seen, and were continually prone to leave out human nature in their speculations on human institutions. From the weaker peculiarities of this sect the lofty mind and comprehensive studies of MILL had saved him ; but enough of their principles, in conjunction with his native bent, remained to injure the effect of parts of the History, and sometimes to vitiate his conclusions, sometimes to impugn his justice. To this peculiarity is to be attributed his exaggerated praises of Mahometan rule and the Mahometan law ; and his depreciation of Libido° morals, manners, mind, and civilization ; as well as some strained views in which nature seems forced to his own notions. But its most striking, if not its moat important effects, were to vitiate his judgments upon points where the judgment generally errs in another way, and a sense of which perhaps induced MILL to become partial by aiming at impartiality. His special-pleading excuse for the Dutch massacre at Amboyna could not be excelled by the veriest advocate of tyranuic sway ; his cold palliation of the use of torture, applied to his countrymen by men whose authority to try them was evidently usurped, is dis- creditable to his character; nor is it too much to say that any crime which power ever perpetrated might be whitewashed in a like manner. His notice of the atrocious murders of the Black Hole is worse than his excuse of the massacre at Amboyna. According to his editor, too, he has invented, or at least assumed the facts on which be extenuates the atrocity- " When evening, however, came, it was a question with the guards to whom they were intrusted, how they might be secured for the night. Some search was made for a convenient apartment, but none was found; upon which in- formation was obtained of a place which the English themselves employed as a prison. Into this, without farther inquiry, they were impelled. It was un- happily a small, ill-aired, and unwholesome dungeon, called the Black Hole; and the English had their own practice to thank for suggesting it to the offi- cers of the Subahdar as a fit place of confinement. Out of one hundred and forty-six unfortunate individuals thrust in, only tweuty;three were taken out alive in the morning. The horror of the situation may be conceived, but it cannot be described. 'Some of our company,' says Mr. Cooke, expired very soon after being put in ; others grew mad, and having lost their Sendes, died m a high delirium.' Applications were made to the guard, with the offer of great rewards; but it was out of their power to afford relief, The only chance cow.

aided in conveying intelligence, by means of a bribe, to some officer of high authority ; and to no one does it appear that this expedient occurred."

But whether the facts are true or not, there is no doubt that, even upon MILL's own logic, his inference is as incorrect as his ex- cuse is inhumane. If prisons were built like palaces, they would only contain the number they were designed to hold ; and a place of confittement for the disorderly or the criminal can never be adapted for prisoners of war : if a captured army were thrust even into Mr. BENTHAM'S Penitentiary, they could not be properly ac- commodated. But the truth is, that notwithstanding his lofty mo- rality, MILL'S mind appears to have been devoid of lofty feeling, or indeed of feeling of any kind. This want not only renders his narrative of an interesting event often cold, and drier than it ought to be, but, as we have seen, vitiates his conclusions ; for, to form a right judgment on human affairs, a heart is as necessary as a head. It is not our intention to enter into any exposition of particular portions of the history embraced in this work, even if the length of time it has been before the world did not seem to preclude the necessity of such detailed criticism. Our notice, however, would scarcely be complete without some fuller specimen of the author than we have yet given. We will therefore present a few quotations, of as much variety as may be. As a convenient comparison for our readers between the styles of MILL and ELTHINSTONE, we will take NADIR'S occupation of Delhi, the account of which we formerly quoted from ELPHINSTONE.

NADIR SHAH'S MASSACRE AND PLUNDER OF DELHL

For two days had the Persians been in Delhi, and as yet observed the strictest discipline and order. But on the night of the second, an unfortunate rumour was spread that Nadir Shah was killed; upon which the wretched inhabitants rose in tumult, ran to massacre the Persians, and filled the city throughout the night with confusion and bloodshed. With the first light of the morning, nadir issued forth ; and dispersing bands of soldiers in every direction, ordered them to slaughter the inhabitants without regard to age or sex in every street or avenue where the body of a murdered Persian should be found. From sun- rise to mid-day the sabre raged ; and by that time not less than eight thousand undoes, Moguls, or Afghans, were numbered with the dead. During the massacre and pillage, the city was set on fire in several places. The destroyer at last allowed himself to be persuaded to stay the ruin : the signal was given ; and in an instant, such was the authority of Nadir, every sword was sheathed. A. few days after the massacre, a nobleman was despatched by Nadir, to bring from Oude the two crores of rupees, promised by its Governor Sadut Khan; who, in the short interval had died of a cancer in his back. On the same day he commenced his seizure of the imperial treasure and effects: three crores and fifty lacks in specie ; a crore and fifty lacks in plate ; fifteen crores in jewels; the celebrated peacock throne, valued at a crore; other valuables to the amount of eleven crores ; besides elephants, horses, and the camp-equipage of the Emperor.* The bankers and rich individuals were ordered to give up their wealth, and tortured to make discovery of what they were suspected to have concealed. A heavy contribution was demanded of the city, and exacted with cruel severity : many laid violent hands upon themselves to escape the horrid treatment to which they beheld others exposed. Famine pervaded the city, and pestilential diseases ensued. Seldom has a more dreadful calamity fallen upon any portion of the human race, than that in which the visit of Xadir Shah involved the capital of Hindostan. Yet a native and cotemporary historian informs us, such is the facility with which men accommodate them- selves to their lot, " that the inhabitants of Delhi, at least the debauched, who were by far the most numerous part, regretted the departure of the Persians; and to this day, (says he,) the excesses of their soldiery are topics of humour in the looser conversation of all ranks, and form the comic parts of the drolls or players. The people of Hindostan at this time regarded only personal safety and personal gratification. Misery was disregarded bythose who escaped

; and man, centred wholly in himself, felt not for his kind. This selfishness, destructive of public and private virtue, was universal in Hindostan at the in- vasion of Nadir Shah ; nor have the people become more virtuous since, conse- quently not more happy, nor more independent." Nadir having ordered as the terms of peace, that all the provinces on the West side of the Indus, Kabul, Tatta, and part of Multan should be detached from the dominions of the Mogul, and added to his own, restored Mohammed to the exercise of his degraded sovereignty ; and, bestowing upon him and his courtiers some good,advice, began, on the 14th of April 1739, his march from Delhi, of which he bad been in possession for thirty-seven days.

In any history of British India, the founder of our territorial power must always occupy a conspicuous place ; and we quote a passage relating to CLIVE'S early foresight of that necessity which has at last carried our territorial occupation to the borders of Persia. It is also illustrative both of the comprehension of the hero and the acumen with which the historian detects his weak- ness, and the quiet sarcasm with which he displays it. CLIVE had gone out on his second Governorship, to restore affairs.

CLIVE ON BRITISH INDIA, AND MILL ON CLIVE.

His sentiments upon this intelligence were communicated in a private letter to Mr. Runs, dated seven days exactly after his arrival, " We have at last," said he, "arrived at that critical 'period which I have long foreseen ; I mean that period which renders it necessary for us to determine whether we can or shall take the whole to ourselves. Jaffier Ally Khan is dead, and his natural son is a minor; but I know not whether he is yet declared successor. Suja- ad-dowla is beat from his dominion ; we are in possession of it; and it is scarcely hyperbole to say, tomorrow the whole Mogul empire is in our power. The inhabitants of the country, we know by long experience, have no attach- ment to any obligation. Thew forces are neither disciplined, commanded, nor paid as ours are. Can it then be doubted that a large army of Europeans will effectually preserve us sovereigns; not only holding in awe the attempts of any country prince, but by rendering us so truly formidable, that no French, Dutch, or other enemy will presume to molest us. You will, I am sure, ima- gine With me, that after the length we have run, the Princes of Hiodostan must conclude our views to be boundless; they have such instances of our ambition, that they cannot suppose us capable of moderation. The very Nabobs whom we might support would be either covetous of our possessions or jealous of our power. Ambition, fear, avarice, would be daily watching to destroy us ; a victory would be but a temporary relief to us; for the dethroning of the first Nabob would he followed by setting up another, who, from the same principles, would, when his treasure admitted of his keeping up an army, pursue the very, path of his predecessor. We must indeed become Nabobs ourselves, in fact if not in name—perhaps totally so without disguise ; but on this subject I cannot be certain until my arrival in Bengal." With these views of the bold and

• " In all," says Mr. Misr„ in a foot.note, adding up these various sums, "if we believe our authorities, 32,000,0001."

splendid measures which it was now the time to pursue, and anticipating thd important effects which those dazzling transactions would have on the price of the Company's Stock, this great man forgot not to deliberate how they might be directed to bear upon his own pecuniary interests. He wrote on the very same day to his private agent in London as follows—" I have desired Mr. R0125 to furnish you with a copy of my letter to him of this day's date, likewise with the cipher, that you may be enabled to understand what follows—. ' The contents are of great importance, that I would not have them transpire. Whatever money I have in the public funds or anywhere else, and as muel- can be borrowed in my name, I desire may be, without loss of a minute, is-et.' by in East India Stock. 'You will speak to my attornies on this,zaltsguises, them know I am anxious to have my money so disposed of; and pray. Mes- hasten the affair as much as possible.'" The letter to Mr. Rons, rs as the shortness of the period which intervened between the arrival of Lord Cliaisay Bengal and his assuming the dewanee or revenues, would leave no doubt t- all he commanded all the money which he possessed, or which he could borrow,,nd be invested in India Stock, in contemplation of the rise of price which tihits. measure was calculated to produce; had he not, when examined on the subjs.' -T of this letter by the Committee of the House of Contemns, declared tibias lately, " that he had not while at Madras formed the resolution to seise Bee dewanee." r.

The mutiny of the Bengal army on a reduction of their " battai; is also a striking circumstance in itself, and may be taken as a good specimen of MILL'S historical narrative.

THE OFFICERS' MUTINY IN BENGAL.

As early as the month of December a combination began. Private meetings and consultations were held, secret committees were formed, and correspond- ence carried on. The combustion first began in the brigade at Monglteer; but was soon, by letter, communicated to the rest, whose bosoms were perfectly prepared for inflammation. The plan concerted was, that the officers should resign their commissions in a body, and, by leaving the army totally ungoverned, make the constituted authorities submit to their terms. Nearly two hundred commissions of captains and subalterns were in a short time collected. Be- sides a solemn oath of secrecy, they bound themselves by a similar obligation

to preserve, at the hazard of their own lives, the life of any officer whom a

court-martial might condemn to death. Each officer executed a penalty bond of five hundred pounds not to accept his commission till double hafts was re- stored. A subscription was raised among them to establish a fund for the in- demnification of those who might suffer in the prosecution of the enterprise; and to this, it was understood, that the gentlemen in the civil service, and even those at the Presidency, largely contributed. When the army was in this situation, a body of between fifty and sixty thousand Mahrattas appeared on the frontiers of Corab, about one hundred and fifty miles from Allahabad. To watch their motions, the brigade remain- ing in garrison at that city was ordered to encamp at Suragepore. Early in April, Lord Clive, accompanied by General Carnae, had repaired to Moorsheda- ball, in order to regulate the collections of the revenue for the succeeding year,

to receive from Shuja-ad-dowla the balance of his payments, and to holds congress of the native chiefs or princes who were disposed to form an alliance

for mutual defence against the Mahrattas. On the 19th was transmitted to him, from the Select Committee, a remonstrance received from the officers of the Third Brigade, expressed in very high language ; which he directed to be answered with little respect. It was not till late in the evening of the 28th, when he received a letter from Sir Robert Fletcher, the commanding officer at Mongheer, that Clive had the slightest knowledge or suspicion of a conspiracy so extensive, and of which the complicated operations had been going on for several months.

At Bankiporc, a considerable part of the cantonments had been burnt down; and a court-martial was held upon one of the officers, accused of haring been the voluntary cause. The act proceeded from a quarrel between him and an- other officer, who attempted to take away his commission by force ; and upon exploring the reason of this extraordinary operation, the existence of the com-

bination was disclosed. The commanding officer immediately despatched ea account of the discovery to Sir Robert Fletcher at Alongheer; who was by no means unacquainted with the proceedings in his own brigade, but was only now induced to give intimation of them to his superiors. It was the plan of the officers to resign their commissions on the 1st of June; but this discovery de- termined them, with the exception of the brigade at Allahabad, to whom in- formation could not be forwarded in time, to execute their purpose a month earlier.

Clive at first could not allow himself to believe that the combination was extensive, or that any considerable number of men, the whole of whose pros- pects in life were founded upon the service, would have resolution to persevere

• in a scheme by which the danger of exclusion from it, not to speak of other consequences, was unavoidably incurred. It was one of those. scenes, however,

in which he was admirably calculated to act with success. Resolute and daring, fear never turned him aside from his purposes, or deprived him of the most collected exertion of his mind in the greatest emergencies. To submit to the violent demands of a body of armed men, was to resign the government. He had a few officers in his suite upon whom he could depend; a few more, he concluded, might yet be found at Calcutta and the Factories; and some of the free merchants might accept of comrdissions. The grand object was to pre- serve the common soldiers in order and obedience till a fresh supply of officers from the other Presidencies could be obtained.

He remained not long without sufficient evidence that almost all the officers of all the three brigades were involved in the combination, and that their re-

signations were tendered. Directions were immediately sent to the command- ing officers to find, if possible, the leaders in the conspiracy ; to arrest those officers whoae conduct appeared the most dangerous, and detain them prisoners; above all things, to secure the obedience of the Sepoys and Black commanders, if the European troops should appear to be infected with the disobedience of their officers. Letters were despatched to the Council at Calcutta and the Presidency of Fort St. George, to make the greatest exertions for a supply of

officers ; and Clive himself hastened towards Mongheer. On the road he re- ceived a letter from Colonel Smith, who commanded at Allahabad, informing him that the Mahrattas were in motion, and that Ballajee Row was at Calpee with sixty thousand men collecting boats. If reduced to extremity, but not before, Smith was instructed to promise the officers compliance with their de-. mends.

Expecting their resignation to produce all the effects which they desired, the officers had concerted no ulterior measures. Their desperation had not led them to make any attempts to debauch the Common soldiers. The Sepoys everywhere exhibited a steady obedience ; and the commanding officers of all the brigades remained in perfect confidence of being able, in case of mutiny, to put every European soldier to death. Except, however, at Mongheer, where symptoms of mutiny among the Europeans were quickly dispelled by the steady countenance of the Sepoys drawn out to attack them, no disturb. ance occurred. The officers at Mongheer submitted quietly to be sent down to Calcutta: the greater part of those belonging to the other brigadee

retracted. And this extraordinary combination, which, with a somewhat longer sight on the part of the officers, or less of vigour and of the awe of a high reputation on the part of the Governor, would have effected a revolution in India, produced, as ineffectual resistance generally does, a subjection mote complete than would have existed if the disturbance had never been raised. Some of the officers, upon profession of repentance, were allowed to resume the service ; others were tried and cashiered. The case of Sir Robert Fletcher was the most remarkable. He had been active in subduing the confederacy, but was found to have encouraged its formation. He apologized for himself on two grounds ; that he wished, through the guilt of the conspiracy, to be able to dismiss a number of officers, whose bad conduct rendered them an injury to the - service ; and that he wished, through the appearance of favouring the views of officers in some things, to have the advantage of a complete knowledge of roceeding. A court-martial, notwithstanding, found him guilty of their sedition, and concealment of mutiny ; and he was punished by raneitey;‘sue service. ejection 14 not the subject on which MILL might be expected A hit his logical clearness of perception enables him -eo. AI at military men very rarely can do—to separate the ntial from the technical and the unimportant, so as to present oc-nore distinct idea of the masses and means of victory than a pro- atssional narrator. Here is an account of the victory gained by it.':■413IE, which gave us possession of the capital of the empire and of ie person of the Great Mogul.

THE BATTLE OF DELHI.

The troops, fatigued with eighteen miles of march and the heat of the day, reached their ground of encampment, six miles from Delhi, about eleven o'clock ; and had scarcely pitched their tents when the outposts were attacked. The General, having reconnoitered and found the enemy drawn up in order of battle, immediately ordered out the whole line. The position of the enemy

'was on a rising ground, with swamps on either flank ; their front, where alone they could be attacked, was defended by a numerous artillery and a line of intrenchments. The number of the British troops amounted to about 4,500 men : that of the enemy is stated at 19,000. The British infantry were or- dered to advance from the right of battalions in open columns of companies; and during this operation the cavalry were commanded to precede. Advancing two miles in front, they were exposed for one hour to a severe cannonade be- fore they were joined by the infantry : the Commander-in-Chief had his horse hot under him, and a considerable loss was sustained. As the infantry ap- proached, the General ordered the cavalry to fall back, ith a view both to cover the advance of the infantry, and if possible to draw the enemy forward from their intrenchments upon the plain. The enemy fell into the snare, be- lieved the movement a retreat, and advanced, shouting, with the whole of their guns. The British cavalry retired with the utmost steadiness and order, till joined by the infantry, when they opened from the centre and allowed the in- fantry to pass to the front. The whole were instantly formed, the infantry in one line, the cavalry in a second, about forty yards in the rear of the right wing. The enemy had halted on perceiving the British infantry, and began a tremendous fire of round, grape, and chain-shot. The General having placed himself on the right of the line, the men advanced with steadiness, and without taking their muskets from their shoulders till within a hundred paces of the enemy, who began to pour upon them a shower of grape from the whole of their guns. Orders were given to charge with bayonets. The line fired a volley and rushed on, with their gallant commander at their head, when the enemy gave way and fled in every direction. As soon as the troops halted after the charge, the General ordered the line to break into columns of companies; which permitted the cavalry to pass through the intervals with their galloper-guns, and complete the victory. The enemy were pursued with slaughter to the banks of the Jumna. This battle, though small in scale, and not very trying from the resistance of the enemy, affords a high specimen both of the talents of the General and the discipline and bravery of the men.

As an important feature of the present work is the annotations of Mr. WILSON, it may be proper to allow him also to exhibit

hirnself.

COMPENSATIONS OF CASTE.

There is no distinction of caste among the Buddhists, although in some places an attempt may have been made to introduce some each distinction, after the Hindoo modil. The multiplication of castes in India is not the enact- ment of any code, though it may be remotely the effect : it is the work of the people, amongst the most degraded of whom prevails, not the shame, but the "pride" of caste. The lowest native is no outcast ; he has an acknowledged place in society ; he is the member of a class ; and he is invariably more retentive of the distinction than those above him. In depicturing the horrors of the system, European writers lose sight of the compensations. The veriest Chandala, who is one of a community, is less miserable, less unhappy, than many of the paupers of the civilized communities of Europe, with whom no man owns companionship or kindred; they are the true outcasts—not the

Pariah or Chandala. •

The effects of caste, as a barrier to the happinesss or advancement of society, have been shown to be exceedingly exaggerated ; and it may he safely asserted • that it is much more propitious to social advancement than the rapid vicissi- tudes of Mohammedan society, in which there is no security for the permanent possession of either station or property. That condition of equality is hich Mr. Mill admires is a condition of equal abjectness : men may rise daily from the lowest ranks to the highest command ; but how are they raised ? by the will of one individual ; in all probability they are wholly unlit for their elevation ; and it is certain that they are liable every day to be pushed down again to their original insignificance, happy if they escape with life. There was much more real equality under the Ilindoo system, in which each man knew and could maintain his position, and could rely upon the laws and their hereditary ex- pounders for protection against despotic caprice and cruelty.

HINDOO CIVILIZATION.

This question of the civilization of the Hindoos, although discussed with disproportionate prolixity, irrelevancy of illustration, and tediousness of repeti- tion, both in these concluding remarks and in a variety of previous notes and observations, can scarcely be considered as sat sfactorily determined. It may be admitted that the Hiudoos were not a civilized people, according to Mr. Mill's standard ; but what that standard is he has not fully defined. Civiliza- tion is used by him, however, as a relative term ; and, in this sense, we may readily grant that the Hindoos never attained the advance made by modern Europe. It is not just to institute such a comparison ; for, to say nothing of the advantages we possess in a pure system of religious belief, we cannot leave out of consideration the agency of time. The Hindoos, by the character of their institutions, and by the depressing influence of foreign subjugation, are apparently what they were at least three centuries before the Christian sera. Two thousand years have done nothing for them, every thing for us. We must therefore, in fairness, compare them with their contemporaries, with the people of antiquity ; and we shall then have reason to believe, that they occu- pied a very foremost station among the nations. They had a religion less disgraced by idolatrous worship than most of those which prevailed in early times. They had a government, which, although despotic, was equally re- stricted by law, by institutions, and religion : they had a code of laws, in many respects wise and rational, and adapted to a great variety of relations, which could not have existed except in an advanced condition of social organization. They had a copious and cultivated language, and an extensive and diversified literature; they had made great progress in the mathematical sciences; they speculated profoundly on the mysteries of man and nature; and they had ac- quired remarkable proficiency in many of the ornamental and useful arts of life. Whatever defects may be justly imputed to their religion, their government, their laws, their literature, their sciences, their arts, as contrasted with the same proofs of civilization in modern Europe, it will not be disputed by any impartial and candid critic, that as far as we have the means of instituting comparison, the Hindoos were in all these respects quite as civilized as the most civilized nations of the ancient world, and in as early times as any of which records or traditions remain.

When a work, says JOHNSON, has been extensively read and ad- mired, the next question of intelligent curiosity is, how was it per- formed P The motives and the modes of study which led to the composition of the History of British India are a curious instance of the large inquiry, love of learning, and undaunted industry, that characterized JAMES MILL.

"In the course of reading and investigation," says he, "necessary for acquiring that measure of knowledge which I was anxious to possess respecting my coun- try, its people, its government, its interests, its policy, and its laws, I was met, and in some degree surprised, by extraordinary difficulties, when I arrived at that part of my inquiries which related to India. On other subjects of any mag- nitude and importance, I generally found that there was some one book 07 small number of books, containing the material part of the requisite informa- tion ; and in which direction was obtained, by reference to other books, if in any part the reader found it necessary to extend his researches. In regard to India the case was exceedingly different. The knowledge requisite for attaining an adequate ciliception of that great scene of British action was collected no- where. It was scattered in a great variety of repositories, sometimes in con- siderable portion., often in very minute ones ; sometimes by itself, often mixed up with subjects of a very different nature : and even where information re- lating to India stood disjoined from other subjects, a small portion of what was useful lay commonly embedded in a large mass of what was trifling and insig- nificant; and of a body of statements, given indiscriminately as matters of fact, ascertained by the senses, the far greater part was in general only matter of opinion, borrowed in succession by one set of Indian gentlemen from another.

"In bestowing the time, labour, and thought necessary to explore this as- semblage of heterogeneous things, and to separate, for my own use, what was true and what was useful from what was insignificant and what was false, I was led to grieve, that none of those who had preceded me, in collecting for him- self a knowledge of Indian affairs, had been induced to leave his collection for the benefit of others, and perform the labour of extracting and ordering the dispersed and confused materials of a knowledge of India, once for *IL The second reflection was, that if those who preceded me had neglected this important service, and in so doing were not altogether free from blame, neither should I be exempt from the same condemnation, if I omitted what depended upon me to facilitate and abridge to others the labour of acquiring a knowledge of India; an advantage I should have valued so highly had it been afforded by any former inquirer. "In this manner, the idea of writing a History of India was first engendered in my mind. I should have shrunk from the task had I foreseen the labour in which it has involved me.

"The books, in which more or less of information respecting India might be expected to be found, were sufficiently numerous to compose a library. Some were books of travels, some were books of history ; some contained philological, some antiquarian researches. A considerable number consisted of translations from the writings of the natives in the native tongues; others were books on the religion of the people of India; books on their laws; books on their sci- ences, manners, and arts."

'The transactions in India were not the only transactions of the British nation to which the affairs of India had given birth. Those affairs had been the subject of much discussion by the press, and of many legislative, executive, and even judicial proceedings, in England. Those discussions and proceedings would form of course an essential part of the history of British India ; and the materials of it remained to be extracted, with much labour, from the volumi- nous records of British literature and British legislation. "The British Legislature had not satisfied itself with deliberating and de- ciding; it had also inquired; and, inquiring, it had called for evidence. This call, by the fortunate publicity of Parliamentary proceedings, brought forth the records of the Councils in India, and their correspondence with one an- other, with their servants, and with the constituted authorities in England ; a portion of materials inestimable in its value, but so appalling by its magni- tude that many years appeared to be inadequate to render the mind familiar with it."

To reduce to order such a confused assemblage of materials—to extract the precious metal from such an immense mass of ore—is no mean praise ; but this is not the sole praise of MILL. He pursued his labours amid difficulties and drawbacks of various kinds, and with but slender advantages of any description, excepting those which he derived from his native genius, his ardent thirst for know- ledge, and his indomitable perseverance. He did not, like GIBBON, inherit a competent patrimony ; nor possess, like ROBERTSON, a professional income ; nor had he, we believe, like HUME, been able by parsimony to lay by an independency however small. He had also family ties, which two at least of his great competitors were free from ; and devoted himself to the laborious research and com- position of his history whilst exerting himself in other and scan- tily-remunerated avocations to maintain his family. We do not mean that works of labour or of genius have not been produced under difficulties as great, or even greater perhaps, than the pru- dence and correctness of MILL would ever have permitted him to be involved in. But these were either works of imagination, where the materials are already accumulated in the mind, having only to be " bodied forth " ; or they were works of mere collection,— a taste which often operates, if not exactly like a mania, at least very opposite to reason, as we find people with this turn for collecting expend time and money which they cannot afford on objects in reality useless. But in the production of MILL's History of British India, the drudgery of research had to be com-

bined with the sublimating power of genius and a sustained ardour of mind, to continue the composition of so long a work amid many external demands and discouragements. These circumstances

should never be lost sight of in estimating the merit of JAMES MILL; and when fairly considered, they will, or we are much mis- taken, entitle the History of British India to occupy an unique place amid the productions of the human mind.