ber, of whom we do not know at this moment how we could give a better description, than by merely reading backwards all we have ventured to set down as characteristic of his right reverend brethren. Learned, polished, and dignified, he was undoubtedly; yet far more conspicuously kind, humble, tolerant, and laborious-zealous for his church too, and not forgetful of his station; but remembering it more for the duties than for the honours that were attached to it, and infinitely more zealous for the religious improvement, and for the happiness, and spiritual and worldly good of his fellow creatures of every tongue, faith, and complexion: indulgent to all errors and infirmitiesliberal, in the best and truest sense of the word-humble and conscientiously diffident of his own excellent judgment and never-failing charity-looking on all men as the children of one God, on all Christians as the redeemed of one Saviour, and on all Christian teachers as fellow labourers, bound to help and encourage each other in their arduous and anxious task. His portion of the work, accordingly, he wrought faithfully, zealously, and well; and, devoting himself to his duty with a truly apostolical fervour, made no scruple to forego for its sake, not merely his personal ease and comfort, but those domestic affections which were ever so much more valuable in his eyes, and in the end, we fear, consummating the sacrifice with his life! If such a character be common among the dignitaries of the English Church, we sincerely congratulate them on the fact, and bow our heads in homage and veneration before them. If it be rare, as we fear it must be, in any church, we trust we do no unworthy service in pointing it out for honour and imitation to all; in praying that the example, in all its parts, may promote the growth of similar virtues among all denominations of Christians, in every region of the world.

But though the great charm of the book be derived from the character of its lamented author, we are not sure that this is by any means what will give it its great or most permanent value. Independently of its moral attraction, we are inclined to think it, on the whole, the most instructive and important publication that has ever been given to the world, on the actual state and condition of our Indian Empire: Not only exhibiting a more clear, graphic, and intelligible account of the country, and the various races by which it is peopled, but presenting us with more candid, judicious, and reasonable views of all the great questions relating to its destiny, and our interests and duties with regard to it, than are anywhere else to be met with. It is the result, no doubt, of a hasty and somewhat superficial survey. But it embraces a very wide and various range, and thus affords the means of correcting errors, which are almost inseparable from a

narrower observation; and has, above all, the inestimable advantage of being given, while the freshness of the first impression was undiminished, and the fairness of the first judgment unperverted by the gradual accumulation of interests, prejudices, and deference to partial authorities; and given by a man not only free from all previous bias, but of such singular candour, calmness, and deliberation of judgment, that we would, in almost any case, take his testimony, even on a superficial view, against that of a much cleverer person, who, with ampler opportunities, had surveyed or reported with the feelings, consciously or unconsciously cherished, of an advocate, a theorist, a bigot, or a partisan.

Unhappily, almost all those who have hitherto had the means of knowing much about India, have been, in a greater or less degree, subject to these influences; and the consequence has been, that though that great country is truly a portion of our ownand though we may find, in every large town, whole clubs of intelligent men, returned after twenty or thirty years' residence in it in high situations, it is nearly impossible to get any distinct notion of its general condition, or to obtain such information as to its institutions and capacities as may be furnished by an ordinary book of travels, as to countries infinitely less important or easy of access. Various causes, besides the repulsions of a hostile and jealous religion, have conspired to produce this effect. In the first place, the greater part of our revenans have been too long in the other world, to be able to describe it in such a way as to be either interesting or intelligible to the inhabitants of this. They have been too long familiar with its aspects to know how they would strike a stranger; and have confounded, in their passive and incurious impressions, the most trivial and insignificant usages, with practices and principles that are in the highest degree curious, and of the deepest moral concernment. In the next place, by far the greater part of these experienced and authoritative residents have seen but a very small portion of the mighty regions with which they are too hastily presumed to be generally acquainted; and have for the most part seen even those, only in the course of some limited professional or official occupation, and only with the eyes of their peculiar craft or profession. They have been traders, or soldiers, or tax-gathererswith here and there a diplomatic agent, an engineer, or a naturalist-all too busy, and too much engrossed with the special object of their several missions, to have time to look to the general condition of the country-and almost all moving through it, with a retinue and accompaniment of authority, which excluded all

VOL. XLVIII. NO. 96.

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actual contact with the people, and even, in a great degree, the possibility of seeing them in their natural state. We have historical memoirs accordingly, and accounts of military expeditions, of great value and accuracy; and are beginning to have reports of the culture of indigo, of the general profits of trade, and of the heights and structure of mountains, that may be depended on. But, with the exception of Mr Elphinstone's Caubul and Sir John Malcolm's Central India-both relating to very limited and peculiar districts-we have no good account of the country or the people. But by far the worst obstruction to the attainment of correct information is to be found in the hostility which has prevailed for the last fifteen or twenty years, between the adversaries and the advocates of the East India Company and its monopoly ; and which has divided almost all who are now able and willing to enlighten us on its concerns, into the champions of opposite factions, characterized, we fear we must add, with a full share of the partiality, exaggeration, and inaccuracy, which has at all times been chargeable upon such champions. In so large and complicated a subject, there is room of course for plausible representations on both sides; but what we chiefly complain of is, that both parties have been so anxious to make a case for themselves, that neither of them have thought of stating the whole fucts, so as to enable the public to judge between them. They have invariably brought forward only what they thought peculiarly favourable for themselves, or peculiarly unfavourable for the adversary, and have fought to the utterance upon those high grounds of quarrel; but have left out all that is not prominent and remarkable--that is, all that is truly characteristic of the general state of the country, and the ordinary conduct of its government; by reference to which alone, the real magnitude of the alleged benefits or abuses is to be estimated.

It is chiefly for these reasons that we have hitherto been shy, perhaps to a blameable excess, in engaging with the great questions of Indian policy, which have of late years engrossed so much attention. Feeling the extreme difficulty of getting safe materials for our judgment, we have been conscientiously unwilling to take a decided or leading part in discussions which did not seem to us to be conducted, on either part, in a spirit of perfect fairness, on a sufficient view of well-established facts, or on a large and comprehensive perception of the principles to which they referred. With a strong general leaning against all monopoly and arbitrary restrictions, we could not but feel that the case of India was peculiar in many respects; and that more than usual deliberation was due, not only to its vast practical importance, but to the weight of experience and authority that

seemed arrayed against our predilections; and we longed, above all things, for a calm and dispassionate statement of facts from a recent and intelligent observer, unconnected, if possible, either by interest or any other tie, with either of the parties, and untainted even by any preparatory study of their controversies; but applying his mind with perfect freedom and fairness to what fell under his own immediate observation, and recording his impressions with that tranquil sincerity which can scarcely ever be relied on but where the record is meant to be absolutely private, and is consequently made up without any feeling of responsibility, ambition, or deference. Such a statement, and much more than such a statement, we have in the work before us; and both now, and on all future occasions, we feel that it has relieved us from the chief difficulty we have hitherto experienced in forming our opinions, and supplied the most valuable elements for the discussions to which we have alluded. The author, it must be admitted, was more in connexion with the Government than with any party or individual opposed to it, and was more exposed, therefore, to a bias in that direction. But he was, at the same time, so entirely independent of its favours, and so much more removed from its influence than any one with nearly the same means of observation, and was withal of a nature so perfectly candid, upright, and conscientious, that he may be regarded, we think, as altogether impartial; and we verily believe has set down nothing in this private journal, intended only for his own eye or that of his wife, not only that he did not honestly think, but that he would not have openly stated, to the Governor in Council, or to the Court of Directors themselves.

The Bishop sailed for India with his family, in 1823, and in June 1824, set out on the visitation of his Imperial Diocese, having been obliged, much against his will, to leave his wife and children, on account of their health, behind him. He ascended the Ganges to Dacca and Benares, and proceeded by Oude and Lucknow to Delhi and Agra, and to Almorah at the base of the Himalaya mountains, and so onward through the newly-acquired provinces of Malwah, to Guzerat and Bombay, where he had the happiness of rejoining Mrs Heber. They afterwards sailed together to Ceylon; and after some stay in that island, returned, in October 1825, to Calcutta. In January 1826, the indefatigable prelate sailed again for Madras, and proceeded in March to the visitation of the southern provinces; but had only reached Tanjore, when his arduous and exemplary career was cut short, and all his labours of love and duty brought to an end, by a sudden and most unexpected death-having been seized with a fit in step

ping into the bath, after having spent the morning in the offices of religion, on the 3d of April.

The work before us consists of a very copious journal, written for and transmitted to his wife, during his long peregrinations; and of several most valuable and interesting letters, addressed to her, and to his friends in England, in the course of the same journey, all written in a very pleasing, and even elegant, though familiar style, and indicating in every line not only the clear judgment and various accomplishments of the writer, but the singular kindness of heart and sweetness of temper, by which he seems to have been still more distinguished. He surveys every thing with the vigilance and delight of a cultivated and most active intellect-with the eye of an artist, an antiquary, and a naturalist—the feelings and judgment of an English gentleman and scholar-the sympathies of a most humane and generous man—and the piety, charity, and humility of a Christian. The work is somewhat diffuse, and exhibits some repetitions, and perhaps some inconsistencies. It is not such a work, in short, as the author would himself have offered to the public. But we do not know whether it is not more interesting than any that he could have prepared for publication. It carries us more completely into the very heart of the scenes he describes than any such work could have done, and it admits us more into his intimacy. We pity those, we confess, who find it tedious to accompany such a man on such a journey.

It is difficult to select extracts from a work like this; or, rather, it is not worth while to stand on selection. We cannot pretend to give any abstract of the whole, or to transfer to our pages any reasonable proportion of the beauty or instruction it contains. We can only justify our account of it by a few specimens, taken very much at random. The following may serve to show the unaffected and considerate kindness with which he treated his attendants, and all the inferior persons who came in contact with him; and the effects of that kindness on its objects.

Two of my sepoys had been ill for several days, in much the same way with myself; I had treated them in a similar manner; and they were now doing well, but being Brahmins of high caste, I had much difficulty in conquering their scruples and doubts about the physic which I gave them. They both said that they would rather die than taste wine. They scrupled at my using a spoon to measure their castor-oil, and insisted that the water in which their medicines were mixed, should be poured by themselves only. They were very grateful, however, particularly for the care I took of them when I was myself ill, and said repeatedly that the sight of me in good health would be better to them than all medicines. They seemed now free from disease, but recovered their strength more slowly than I did, and I was glad to find that the