been made, and is now the guide of the courts of justice, which have been established among them. Agriculture has been encouraged by the most certain of all niethods-the security of property; and all these advantages have been rendered doubly valuable, by the enjoyment of a bleffing equal, if not fuperior, to every other the blessing of peace, a bleffing to which they had for ages been strangers *.

Mifs Hamilton next enters into an account of the Hindoo mythology, in which their inferior deities appear milar to those of Greece, and, in a manner which evinces her to be perfectly mistress of the subject; the offers feveral confiderations to shew, that the peculiar conftruction of the Hindoo government, and the precepts of Hindoo faith, though admirably calculated for the prefervation of their empire in happiness and tranquillity, were not fo favourable to the cultivation of the mind, and to its advance- pursued by fir John M.Pherfon and ment in the paths of useful knowledge. lord Cornwallis, and perfevered in She likewise enters into a hiftory of by the present governor-general †, the Mahommedan conquest, and the dettructive effects of their intolerant government; and concludes her ac. count with a view of the present state of Hindoostan, under the British go*vernment, which cannot but highly gratify every benevolent mind.

These falutary regulations, origi nating with Mr. Haftings, fteadily

will diffuse the smiles of profperity and happiness over the best provinces of Hindoostan, long after the discordant voice of party shall have been humbled in the filence of eternal reft; and the rancorous misrepresentations of envy and malevolence, as much forgotten, as the florid harangues, and turgid declamations, which conveyed them

In those provinces which, by a train of circumstances, totally forsign to our purpose to relate, have fallen to the short-lived notice of the under the dominion of Great Britain, world.' it is to be hoped the long-fuffering Hindoos have experienced a happy change. Nor can we doubt of this, when we confider, that in those provinces, the horrid modes of punishment, inflicted by the Mahommedans, have been abolished; the fetters, which restrained their commerce, have been taken off; the taxes are no longer collected by the arbitrary authority of a military chieftain, but are put upon a footing that at once fecures the revenue, and protects the subject from oppreffion. The handitti of the hills, which used to moleft the inoffenfive inhabitants by their predatory incurfions, have been brought into peaceable subjection. That unrelenting persecution, which was deemed a duty by the ignorant bigotry of their muffulman rulers, has, by the milder spirit of Chriftianity, been converted into the tenderest indulgence. Their ancient laws have been restored to them; a tranflation of them, into the

The letters which follow are fupposed to be written by Zaarmillá; rajah of Almora, who, on the conquest of his country (now called Ro-. Hulcund) by the Afgans, a people on the borders of Persia, was among the number permitted to remain on their ancient territories. His letters are written to his friend Maandaara, another rajah who appears to have been banished from the province, and to have taken shelter in the neighbourhood of Agra.

The rajah Zaarmilla having had the opportunity of affording protection to captain Percy, an English officer, receives from him fuch an account of the English, and particularly of their shaster (the Chriftian scriptures) that he conceives a great defire to visit the country of this excellent young officer. The rajah Maandaara objects strongly to this design, and to divert his friend from it, sends to him the letters which he had received from the bramin (then in England) who † Sir John Shore, bart.

Persian and English languages, has Sheernraal

* Review of the British Government in India.

gives a very unfavourable account of have given the appellation of heour customs, manners, and modes of roes. thinking. Zaarmilla imputing the bramin's account to ignorance or pre judice, perfifts in his voyage to England, his account of which, and of the different scenes he was present at, form the fubject of his instructive and entertaining letters.

Our first extract shall be from the letter in which Zaarmilla communicates to Maandaara,, the result of his conversations with his young military guest:

• Thou knowest, O Maandaara, how my mind has ever thirsted after knowledge. Thou knowest with what ardour I have ever performed my Poojah Serwatee, and that, at an age when few young men have read the Beids of the Shatter †, I had not only studied the sacred pages, but had perused every famous writing in the Shanfcrit language.

To the great body of the people I never could perceive that it made any difference who it was that held the scorpion whip of oppreffion, as into whatever hand it was by them conveyed, they were equally certain of feeling the feverity of its fting. Meditating on these things, the deep figh of despondency has burst from my heart Can it be, said I to myself, that the omnipotent and eternal ruler of the universe should create such multitudes for no other purpose but to swell the triumphs of a fellow mortal, whose glory rises in proportion to the misery he inflicts upon the human race? Surely, by what I learn from the actions of the princes of the earth, virtue is a fhadow, and the love of it, which I have heretofore cherished in my breast, is nothing but the illufive phantom of a dream!

• The acquifition of the Perfic By converfing with my English tongue opened to me a door of know- guest I got a different view of human ledge which I was not flow to enter. nature. Through the medium of the History, for fome time, became my Perfic literature it appeared univerfavourite study. But what did the sally darkened by depravity. In the hiftory of states and empires present to history of Europe it assumed a milder my view? Alas! what, but the weak- form. In Europe man has not alness and the guilt of mankind? I be- ways, as in Afia, been degraded by held the few, whom fortune had un- flavery, or corrupted by the possession happily placed in view of the giddy of defpotic power. Whole nations eminences of life, putting the reins of have there acknowledged the rights of ambition into the bloody hand of cru- human nature, and while they did fo elty, lash through torrents of perfidy have attained to the summit of true and flaughter, till, perhaps, over- glory. The Romans, whom the Perthrown in their career, they were fian I writers represent as the lawless trampled on by others who were run- invaders, and fearless conquerors of ning the same guilty race: or if they the world; and the Greeks, whom furvived to reach the goal they aimed at, living but to breathe the air of disappointment, and then drop into the fea of oblivion. Such is the hif tory of the few, whose guilty passions, and atrocious deeds have raised them to renown, and to whom the stupid multitude, the willing instruments of their ambition, the prey of their avarice, and the sport of their pride,

they load with every opprobrium, were in fact nations of heroes. Spurning the chain of flavery, they wisely thought that human nature was too imperfect to be entrusted with unlimited authority; while they performed Poojah to the goddess of liberty, their hearts were enlarged by the pos session of every virtue. She taught them the art of victory; strengthened

Worship to Serafwatee, the Goddess of Letters. + Seripture of the Hindoos. ↑ See Richardson's Introduction to the Persian Dictionary. Worship.

F

tian Shafter. The precepts it contains, are fimple, pure, and powerful, all addressed to the heart; and calculated for restoring the universal peace and happiness which has been banished from the earth, fince the days of the Sottee Jogue *.

The love of liberty in a people who are taught by the fundamental precepts of their Shafter, to do to others as they would have others do to them, rises above the narrow spirit of selfishness, and extendeth to embrace the human race! Benevolent people of England! it is their defire, that all should be partakers of the fame blessings of liberty, which they themselves enjoy. It was doubtless with this glorious view, that they fent forth colonies to en'ighten and instruct the vast regions of America. To disseminate the love of virtue and freedom, they cultivated the transatlantic ifles: and to rescue our nation from the hands of the oppressor, did this brave, and generous people visit the shores of Hindoostan!

their nerves in the day of battle; and, dulgence of my English friend I was when they returned from the field of favoured with the perusal of the Chrifconquest, she gave sweetness to the banquets of fimplicity, and rendered poverty honourable by her smiles. At length, wealth and luxury, the enemies of the goddess, entered their dominions, and enticed the people from the worship of liberty; who, offended by their infidelity, entirely forsook their country, making happiness and virtue the companions of her flight. On a re-examination of the conduct of these illustrious heroes, (who, while their nation performed poojah to liberty, had gained the fummit of fame) Percy pointed out to my view many imperfections, which, while my breast was inflamed by the first ardour of admiration, had escaped my notice. The love of liberty itself, that glorious plant as he called it, which, if properly cultivated, never fails to pro. duce the fruits of virtue, sprung not, he said, in the Grecian, or the Roman breaft, from the pure foil of univerfal benevolence, but from the rank roots of pride and selfishness. It never, therefore, extended to embrace the human race. This perfection of virtue was unknown in the world, till taught by the religion of Chrift. This last assertion of Percy's, appeared to me as a prejudice unfounded in truth. But fuch are ever the hasty conclusions of ignorance. I had been taught to believe that the pure doctrine of benevolence and mercy was unknown to all but the favoured race of Brahma, that the Chriftian faith, like that of the mussulmans, was a narrow system of fuperftitious adherence to the wildest prejudices, engendering hatred, and encouraging merciless perfecution against all who differed from them. Nothing can be more erroneous than this idea of Chriftianity. By the in- the minister, and a base and venal

• You may imagine how defirous I was to become acquainted with fome particulars concerning the form of government, laws, and manners, of this highly-favoured nation. Provided the above particulars are true, it is of course to expect, that they must all be formed after the model of perfection; and such, according to my conception of the accounts of Percy, they undoubtedly are.

It having pleased Brahma to create them all of one caft, among them are no diftinctions, but such as are the reward of virtue. It is not there as in the profligate court of Delhi, where great riches, a supple adherence to

The age of purity. The Hindoos reckon the duration of the world by four Jogues, or diftinct ages. The Sottee Jogue, or age of purity, is faid to have lasted 3,200,000 years, when the life of man is faid to have extended to 100,000 years. The Tirtah Jogue, or age in which one third of mankind were reprobate, which confifted of 2,400,000 years. The Dwaper Jogue, in which one half of the human race became depraved, endured 1,600,000 years. And the Collee Jogue, in which all mankind are corrupted, is the present era. See Halhed's Gentoo Laws.

approbation of the measures of the power of acting in the name of the court can lead to titles and distinction. whole.

No. In England, the honours of nobility are invariably bestowed according to intrinfic merit. The titles and privileges of these heroes of the first class descend to their children. We may well suppose what care is bestowed on the education of these young nobles, whose minds are moulded into wifdom, at universities instituted for the purpose; where vice and folly are alike unknown; and where the faculties of a young man might have as great a chance of getting leave to ruft in ignorance, as to be lost in diffipation! From these seminaries of virtue, they are called to the fenate of the nation; where they debate with all the gravity, and the interest, that might be expected from their early habits of ferious thought, and deep investigation. The fons of the king, at an early age, take their seats in that tribunal, from whose decision there lies no appeal. As their example is supposed to animate the young nobility, it may well be imagined how wife, learned, grave, and pious, these princely youths must be: their actions are doubtless the mirrors of decorum, and their lips the gates of wisdom!

The equality of human beings in the fight of God, being taught by their religion, it is a fundamental maxim of their policy, that no laws are binding, which do not obtain the consent of the people. All laws are therefore issued by the fanction of their representatives; every separate district, town, and community, choofing from among themselves, the persons most diftinguished for piety, wisdom; learning, integrity, impart to them the

About four hundred of these eminent men, each of whom to all the requisites of a Hindoo magistrate *, unites the knowledge of a Chriftian philosopher form what is termed the third eftate.

• Uninfluenced by the favour of party, uncontaminated by the base motives of avarice or ambition, they pursue with steady steps the path of equity, and have nothing fo much at heart as the public welfare. No war can be engaged in, and no taxes imposed, but by the consent of these patriot chiefs. Judge then, my friend, how light the burden must be, that is laid on by these representatives, these brothers of the people. Never can fuch men as these be inftrumental in sending war, with all its attendant miseries, into the nations of the earth: all of whom they are taught by their Shaster to confider as brethren. In Afia we behold the gory monster, ever ready to ftalk forth with destructive stride at the voice of ruthless tyranny, but in Europe, princes are the friends of peace and the fathers of their people.

• Many of our Pundits + have con templated, with aftonishment, the animosities that have arifen among the followers of the Arabian prophet, on account of the different interpretations given by their ‡ Imaums to certain passages of the Koran; forgetting that the Supreme Being delighteth in variety, and that he who hath not formed any two objects in his vast creation exactly similar, took doubtless no less care upon the formation of the human mind, perceiveth with delight the * It is ordained that the magiftrate shall keep in subjection to himself his luft, anger, avarice, folly, drunkenness, and : he who cannot keep these passions under his own fubjection, how shall he be able to nourish and inftruct the people? Neither shall he be seduced by the pleasures of the chace, nor be addicted to play, nor always employed in dancing, finging, and playing on musical instruments. Nor thall he go to any place without a cause, nor difpraife any person without knowing his faults, nor shall he envy another person's fuperior merit, nor shall fay that fuch persons as are men of capacity are men of no capacity, &c. See Code of Gentoo Laws, page 52.

+ Learned bramins.

pride:

‡ See Preliminary Discourse of the bramins, employed by Mr. Hastings in the Pootee, or compilation of the ordinations of the Pundits.-Gentoo Laws.

contrarieties of opinion among men. They have carried their presumption to far, that one fect hath dared to conceive hatred and ill will against another, for not viewing every dark pafsage in the writings of their prophet, exactly in the fame light! How different is the cafe with the Christian! The great founder of their religion having left every man at liberty, to choose the form of worship which he finds best calculated to excite, and to express sentiments of devotion, they each attach themselves to the form most agreeable to their own minds, allowing the fame liberty to others, and convinced that all are equally acceptable to the Deity, who acquiefce in his laws, and obey his commandments. In the dominions of the muffulmans, though all sects are permitted to live, it is one fect alone (the orthodox *) that is invested with power, or entrusted with authority. But among Chriftians what sect exists that would accept of the most beneficial diftinctions, on terms so contrary to the spirit of their gospel? No. All sects, equal in the eye of heaven, must needs, by the wife and virtuous legislators of this happy country, be admitted into an equal enjoyment of every right, and every privilege. The priests of their religion are, as their characters are fully set forth in their Shafter, men who despise the adventitious advantages of rank and fortune, who regard no diftinctions in their flock, but the diftinctions arising from internal worth, and intrinfic goodness; not thirsting after worldly honours; not given to luxury; strangers to avarice and pride. Having no bitterness against those who differ from them in opinion, animosity, ftrife, or wrath, is never heard of among these holy men, who, in the language of their Shaster, " pass through things temporal, only mindful of those which are eternal." Although my unwearied application to the study of the English language, enables me to read a few state of felicity. Uncertain tenure

passages in that tongue, it is to the Arabic copy of those books of the Shafier, called gospels, to which I am indebted for the accuracy of my information.

• Not presuming to lift the veil of mystery, with which some passages are enveloped (a presumption, which in a stranger would be equally unpardonable and unbecoming) I pass over whatever appears to be mysterious, with the most profound respect. But that power, which taught me to sweep from my heart the duft of prejudice, taught me also to pay homage to excellence, wherever it might be found. In the precepts of the Chriftian Shafter, I behold the grandeur of fublimity, and the fimplicity of truth. There is one particular so novel; fo peculiar, so repugnant to the univerfally received opinions of mankind; that it confiderably excited my aftonishment. In the revelation beftowed upon the Christians, women are confidered in the light of rational beings! free agents! In short, as a moiety of the human specics; whose fouls are no less precious in the eye of the Omniscient than that of the proud lords of the creation! What can be more extraordinary?

The inferiority of women appears so established by the laws of nature, and has been so invariably inculcated, by all the legislators sent by Brahma to enlighten the eight corners of the world, that it seems altogether incontestible. It is true, that our divine laws (incomparable in wisdom!) do not, like the laws of the mussulmans, absolutely exclude women from the participation of happiness in a future state, it being written in the Shaster, "that a woman, who burns herself with her husband, shall live with him in Paradise three crore and fifty lacks of years." But even in this cafe, it is contested by the Pundits, that her admifion into Paradise depends on her husband's title to an entrance into that

See the Hedaya or Commentary on the Mussulman Laws.