charmed with a cultivated spot, where, if ever, you might realize the dreams of the poets, and indulge in that impassioned indolence which is the parent of poetry and of the fine arts.

One would imagine Milton had mused in oriental groves when he describes

Insuperable heights of loftiest shade,
Cedar and pine, and fir, and branching palm,
A sylvan scene-

Groves whose rich trees wept odorous gums and balm,
Others whose fruit burnished with golden rind
Hung amiable, Hesperian fables true,

If true, here only, and of delicious taste:
Betwixt them lawns, or level downs, and flocks
Grazing the tender herb were interposed
On palmy hillock; or the flowery lap

Of some irriguous valley spread her store,

Flow'rs of all hues, and without thorn the rose.

I might go on to quote all his descriptions of Paradise and all its bowers, before I could exhaust the resemblances.

But, alas! it is not the natural riches of the country, nor the exquisite beauty of its sylvan scenery, that will most attract your attention. Vast cities now too large for their diminished inhabitants, towns embellished with temples and with tombs now falling to decay, and absolutely unpeopled, and stupendous monuments of art,

which have not served to transmit even the names of their founders down to our times, will frequently arrest your steps; but while these are hastening to decay, the customs and habits of the natives seem immortal, and present us now with the same traits under which they are painted by the Greeks who visited them two thousand years ago.

Perhaps in their moral character the Hindus -are worse than their ancestors, but before we absolutely condemn them we shall do well to consider the causes of their depravity. The poet has said, "Whatever day, makes man a slave, takes half his worth away," and in our measure of censure against the falsehood and perjury we meet with in India, we should remember that for many centuries they have been slaves to hard masters, and that if by subterfuge they could not conceal their property, they had only to expect robbery and violence; thus falsehood became the only defence of the weak against the strong, and lost something, at least, of its criminal character.

Yet that it is not the peculiar character of the Hindus, or encouraged by their laws or their faith, we may convince ourselves by referring to those sublime passages in their Sastras, where truth is identified with the Almighty mind, and described at once in the most awful and the

most enchanting colours; and though in the modern Hindûs every generous feeling seems broken down, and replaced by an almost brute apathy, yet the spark though smothered is not extinguished, but ready to blaze forth if properly awakened, into all that genius and fancy can hope; or, if aroused by ill timed or ill directed interference with principles, which through loss of liberty, of empire, of riches, have clung closely round every heart and entwined themselves with every fibre, into vengeance, before which, ordinary means of safety will be vain, and ordinary courage subdued.

But I trust, that as we have hitherto used our power soberly, and on the whole, have made our government beneficial to the inhabitants of India, so we shall continue in the same wise moderation, and conduct the innovations necessary for their permanent improvement and our own security, in such a manner as that the hand of authority be never seen, but in the punishment of crimes, and her voice never heard, but in the dispensing of justice.

Into whatever part of the country you travel, or wherever you may be stationed, you will find much to examine; and if it be your good fortune to see various and distant parts of India, you will find a considerable variety of character, and sufficient difference of customs and of faith,

to interest you; but in order to derive every possible advantage from your change of situation, you should seriously apply yourself to the study of some of the native languages. The Hindostanee is the most widely diffused, though should you be stationed in Bengal, the Bengalee or ancient language of Gaur will be most useful, as it is spoken over a pretty extensive district. However if you wish to travel much, learn Persian, which may be called the French of the East; for you will not find a village where at least one person cannot speak it. Besides, it will gain respect from the natives, who consider a knowledge of various languages as the mark of a superior education, not to mention the great importance it must be of to an officer to understand the language of those whom he is to command. It was not perhaps the least part of the policy of the Romans, to plant their lan guage in every conquest, in order to attach their new subjects; and the emperor Akbar increased the number of schools in Hindostan, and caused the Persian and Hindostanee to be publicly taught, together with the Sanscrit, and encouraged the translation of poems and scientific works from the ancient language of the Bramins into the vernacular tongues, by which means they became more popular. Perhaps if something of the same kind were done by the English,

if translations of their own books were given to them, it would induce them to learn the lan guage more generally, and thus open to them the road to all those improvements of which we hear so much said, but which I fear our countrymen do not go the right way to introduce. I think if I were a powerful person, I should propose a reward to the little Hindû boys who should read or repeat most fluently a tale from Mr. Wilkins's Heetopadesa. I am sure the boy would read English much sooner by giving him the ideas he was accustomed to in his own country, clothed in our language, than by imposing upon him the double difficulty of a new language and new ideas also; and I am equally sure, that when the boy grew up and found that by his knowledge of English, he could carry on his trade without the intervention of an interpreting clerk to make out his English accounts, he would prize the language the more, and be the more anxious that his children should be instructed in it; thus interest would tend to diffuse know. ledge if it were once put within the reach of the people.

But I must have already tired you with this long letter, and I dare say we shall have occasion to return to this very important subject in our future correspondence. Mean time adieu, and receive my best wishes.

M. G.