Bengal Manuscript Records. By Sir William Wilson Hunter. 4 vols.
(W. H. Allen and Co.) —Sir William Hunter has printed here a catalogue of more than fourteen thousand letters addressed to the Board of Revenue at Calcutta, or issued there- from, with orders, petitions, lc., all referring to the question of land-tenure in Bengal. These documents cover a period of twenty-five years (1782-1807). He has prefixed a "Historical Introduction," in which he discusses the causes which led to the Permanent Settlement of 1793, the results of the legislation that goes by that name, with modifications, brought about; either by the action of the Government, or by the administration of the law by the Higher Courts. This introduction is interesting and valuable in the highest degree. We shall not attempt to summarise its conclusions. One thing is clear,—the vast difficulty which has beset the Indian Government in carrying on this part of its functions. That it has made mistakes, done much mischief, and inflicted some injustice, is manifest; on the other hand, it
has, on the whole, honestly endeavoured to do its duty, while in comparison with the rulers that went before it, it shows out as light against darkness.
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