ambitious, as to leave but the choice between abject submission to their rule, or a decided opposition to its continuance. The Governor-general was too well aware of the strength which unopposed ambition gathers, to expect that peace would be secured by a temporizing concession to an insatiate thirst for rule. Lord Wellesley, although vexed and harassed by a series of ocurrences that acquired weight from the circumstances under which they arose, and the manner in which they were pressed, happily pursued those political views which his foresight had prescribed. He repudiated that unhealthy course of political pusillanimity founded upon the erroneous application of the parliamentary declaration against Indian conquests; a declaration made under circumstances the exact opposite to what now existed, and which put forth a truism practically inapplicable and inconsistent with the safety of our Indian empire.

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By the measures of Lord Wellesley, that empire was placed upon a basis which short-sighted policy or positive imbecility could alone weaken

or remove.

"As the measures of Lord Cornwallis in 1792 had not been free from censure in Parliament, it was not to be expected that the government of Marquis Wellesley would escape condemnation. We accordingly find that the Earl of Moira, who, as Lord Rawdon, had animadverted upon the war of 1792, again stood forward to arraign the acts of Lord Wellesley's administration, which had, as he conceived, led to the excessive increase and extension of the territorial possessions in opposition to the parliamentary declaration, which denounced as unjustifiable, measures of making war for conquest.' Lord Moira gave the best refutation of his own views, and of the arguments by which he supported them, in his subsequent conduct as governor-general; in which position he had an opportunity of learning, how far more valuable experience is than theory, in leading to a right judgment on measures, which it is easy to denounce when positive ignorance prevails regarding the circumstances that gave rise to them."

It is interesting to look back to 1805, and to some of the circumstances connected with the attacks that were made against the administration of the marquis while in India. One of his fiercest assailants was Mr. James Paull, who thus returned ingratitude and abuse for signal favours experienced at the hands of his lordship. The affairs of Oude, that fertile source of embarrassment and accusation, were the ground upon which Mr. Paull founded his principal charges. But soon after he had placed upon record in the capacity of a member of the House of Commons his design of "prosecuting to conviction, if possible, the Marquis Wellesley, to whom he imputed all the dangers that threatened our existence in India," Parliament was dissolved. Anxious again to obtain a seat, he came forward as a candidate for Westminster, which led to a hostile encounter between him and Sir Francis Burdett, when both were wounded. These are matters which, of course, are fresh in the memory of many of our readers; but we have introduced them for the sake of having an opportunity to state, along with our author,

that Sir Francis has not, throughout an extraordinary stormy political course, ever shown himself prone to demand what is called personal satisfaction. It does not seem to have been wonderful, that such a man as sought the baronet's life, should in an infatuated mood put an end to his own, which was Mr. Paull's fate.

The charge against the marquis was taken up by another individual.

"At length, Sir John Anstruther moved a Resolution, "That the Marquis Wellesley, in his arrangements regarding Oude, had been actuated by an ardent zeal for the service of his country, and an ardent desire to promote the safety, interests, and prosperity of the British empire in India.' It was carried by 189 to 29, and closed a proceeding which had been kept pending for a period of three years, during which time the character of that nobleman was held up to the public as stained with acts of the greatest atrocity, which, in a degree, gained belief, from the ignorance that pervaded the country on all subjects connected with the affairs of India, and from opinions expressed by members of the Direction who had seats in the House of Commons, which opinions were opposed to the general principles of policy adopted by Lord Wellesley in administering the affairs of the Company abroad.

"Such was the return which Marquis Wellesley met with on revisiting his native land, after rendering services which had called forth the repeated thanks of Parliament, and had added to the dominion of the British Crown vast and valuable territorial possessions, increasing its political influence, and opening extended fields of commercial enterprises to its supjects."

It is therefore with warm approbation that Mr. Auber and many others regard a late resolution of the Court of Directors granting to him the sum of twenty thousand pounds, on account of his eminent services while in India. In his lordship's reply to an address of the British inhabitants of Calcutta, in which were these words—“ we are impressed with the firm persuasion that you have governed with a direct view to the glory of your country, and to the prosperity of its possessions, and with no other personal feeling than the honourable ambition of obtaining its applause as your reward,"-a passage occurs worthy of his exalted and deeply-cultured mind, and is as follows-"The welfare of these extensive dominions constitutes not only a principal object of the general policy of our country, but a solemn obligation of moral duty inseparably connected with the honour and reputation of the British name. It will be my duty to assert, in every situation, the principles by which I have regulated my conduct in the government of this empire, and to inculcate the necessity of maintaining the foundations of our ascendant power in Asia, upon the firm basis of justice, fortitude, and clemency.

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The administration of a late governor, we mean that of Lord William Bentinck, if not distinguished by such dazzling deeds as those that belong to the career of the Marquis Wellesley, deserves everlasting commemoration for its calm perseverance amid great dif

ficulties and misunderstandings, and for its benign influences and precedents. Long protracted wars had increased the debt of India to a great amount, which the acquisition of new territories, on account of the augmentations of the civil establishments, had not been able to neutralize. Lord William in the face of much opposition had to perform the ungracious task of discharging an important duty towards the Company and his country in the shape of enforcing great economy. He found, to use his own ideas, that the conviction that he had faithfully and strictly employed his high powers, was to be the consolation that would defy all contingencies, as "dreadfully dear-bought experience" informed him. It is his exertion, however, in behalf of the best interests of the native population on which the philanthropic eye particularly delights to repose; those, for example, that carried out the abolition of Suttee, which has not been attended by those superstitious discontents, or other injurious effects, that were by some contemplated. Was it not terrible to think, that within a British empire not less than 310 instances of women having burned themselves on the funeral piles of their deceased husbands occurred in 1815? Such is the fact as recorded by our author who quotes parliamentary papers for his authority. Though to some of our readers the following affecting narrative may not be new, we quote it as given by Sir John Malcolm, and as it is introduced by Mr. Auber:

"An affecting instance of the repugnance of a female of high rank to the observance of the rite, is to be found in the conduct of Ahalya Baee, who has been already noticed as an extraordinary character, in ruling the Holkar possessions at Malwa.

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"She had lost her only son. Her remaining child, a daughter, was married, and had one son, who died at Mhysir. His father died twelve months afterwards. His widow immediately declared her resolution to burn with the corpse of her husband. Her mother and her sovereign left no effort untried, short of coercion, to induce her to abandon her fatal resolution. She humbled herself to the dust before her, and entreated her, as she revered her God, not to leave her desolate and alone upon earth. Her daughter, although affectionate, was calm and decided. You are old, mother," she said, "and a few years will end your pious life. My only child and husband are gone, and when you follow, life I feel will be insupportable; but the opportunity of terminating it with honour will then have passed by!" The mother, when she found all dissuasion unavailing, determined to witness the last dreadful scene. She walked in the procession, and stood near the pile, where she was supported by two Brahmins, who held her arms. Although obviously suffering great agony of mind, she remained tolerably firm till the first blaze of the flame made her lose all self-command; and while her shrieks increased the noise made by the exulting shouts of the immense multitude that stood around, she was seen to gnaw in anguish those hands she could not liberate from the persons by whom she was held. After some convulsive efforts, she so

far recovered as to join in the ceremony of bathing in the Nerbuddah when the bodies were consumed. She then retired to her palace, where for three days, having taken hardly any sustenance, she remained so absorbed in grief that she never uttered a word. When recovered from this state, she seemed to find consolation in building a beautiful monument to the memory of those she lamented.

We conclude with a few sentences from the last chapter in the volume.

"A perusal of the first volume of this work must have gone far to satisfy the reader, that nothing could be more unjust than the charge brought against the Company, of

Prosecuting extravagant projects and expensive wars, for the purpose of extending their dominions.

"The contents of the present volume will as clearly demonstrate that the parliamentary declaration, which was passed in order to effect ends which were supposed to have been defeated by want of power in the Company, proved utterly impotent and ineffectual, and it was not until more than seventy years had elapsed from our first contention for political supremacy, that the Home authorities were constrained to acknowledge themselves satisfied of the

"Irrepressible tendency of our Indian power to enlarge its bounds, and to augument its preponderance, in spite of the most peremptory injunctions of forbearance, and the most scrupulous obedience to them in the governments abroad.

"The fact is, that the British empire in India has been acquired in direct opposition to the views both of Parliament and of the Company; the conquest having been made by those eminent statesmen and warriors who were compelled to such a course of policy in order to maintain our position in that country.

"If the Company, in the discharge of what they honestly felt to be their duty, desired to check the advance of our armies, their management of the financial resources, and their conduct of the trade, contributed to supply the means which their extended operations demanded, as well as to defray the cost of the vast establishment, both in England and in India, without any direct charge on this country.

"It was the constitutional objection raised in 1784, which led to the Company being maintained as a political instrument in the India system. The same objection, strengthened by the extension both of territory and commerce, has been used as an argument on each subsequent renewal of the charter : whilst an attentive observer of passing events must have seen that the influence, which was guarded against with so much jealousy, has, in fact, been imperceptibly introduced in all the great and leading points, and that the last change has largely contributed to produce this result.

"There is no grounds for imputing to the Minister, at either of the periods when arrangements took place with the Company, any intention to bring about such a result: and, certainly, least of all can the Ministry of 1833 be charged with such intentions: although they had many supporters for otherwise appropriating the initiatory patronage, such supporters being found amongst those who differed politically with his Majesty's Government."

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ART. IX.-Tales about Wales, with a Catechism of Welsh History. By A Lady of the Principality. Second Edition. Edited by Captain BASIL HALL. London: Whittaker. 1837.

Now here is a small volume which is intended for young readers, but from which persons of much more advanced years, if we are not greatly mistaken, will receive instruction and delight. It is quite worthy of Captain Basil Hall's revision and editorship; and it will not be for want of recommendations on our part, if the whole of our readers do not either purchase a copy of it, or earnestly advise those who welcome excellent efforts, especially when put forward in such an unpretending manner as in the present case, to make themselves acquainted with it.

It is not an easy thing for a person who is no longer a child or young to strike a happy medium when addressing instruction to such pupils. To render the mental food digestible, to confer upon it savoury and healthy qualities, so as to draw forth in the most rapid and abiding manner the best and highest energies and capacities of the understanding and moral sentiments, is a grand achievement. When performed, this causes the mind to keep pace in its growth with the body towards that full stature which both ought to attain by the time youth is spent, constituting a being whose existence contemplation loves to consider immortal. For one such being to be engaged in preparing the young to become similarly wise and good is a noble and beautiful occupation, the image of which has been forcibly suggested to us by the perusal of the present volume, in which there has appeared to us nothing that is trashy, nothing that is unsuitable, nay, nothing but what is calculated to produce that which has been intended by the work.

In a prefatory Letter to the Publisher, Captain Hall introduces some interesting notices concerning the work and its authoress, to which we must call attention. The writer, he informs us, is the widow of Captain Robert Campbell, of the navy, who was first cousin of the poet of that name. He was senior lieutenant of Sir Samuel Hood's flag-ship, while the editor was fifth lieutenant-a man of scientific and literary as well as professional attainments. As to the last-mentioned respect, he appears to have been a sailor in the highest and best meaning of the word; to have been humorous, conscientious, valiant, and daring-to have been one of those who did not welcome the period when the navy was "plunged in peace," a phrase of his own. Captain Hall relates an anecdote illustrative of the man, which is too good to be passed over. He says

"When Napoleon was sent to St. Helena, it was thought prudent by the Government to occupy the island of Ascension, which lies also in the