force being associated with his own. Lord Teignmouth presided over the society in a catholic and amiable spirit of good-will and benevolence towards all sects and communities of Christianity. He conducted it through many difficulties and controversies, some of which were unusually stormy and contentious.

We must not forget to observe, that Lord Teignmouth was earnestly bent on converting the natives of India to Christianity, and in 1811 he published a tract on that subject, entitled "Considerations on communicating to the inhabitants of India the knowledge of Christianity." His recorded opinions concerning the moral character of the Hindus approached the lowest possible estimate that has yet been framed of it. It is probable, therefore, that his earnestness in that important though difficult aim, was strengthened by the notions he had imbibed of the Hindu character. They are recorded in a paper he presented to the Governor-general in 1794, and printed in the minutes of evidence on the trial of Mr. Hastings. One of the data assumed, somewhat too undistinguishingly, is this: "Cunning and artifice is wisdom with them; to deceive and over-reach, is to acquire the character of a wise man." Mr. Mill relies on this testimony with the most implicit acquiescence; and in the debate on the missionary clause, in 1813, it was the basis of the reasonings of Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. Charles Grant. Lord Teignmouth's estimate, however, of the Hindu character, in which he emphatically declared that the utmost ethical excellence of their moral system consisted in the greatest dexterity of mutual fraud and circumvention, must be taken with considerable restrictions; for he himself most candidly admits that it was framed exclusively from considerations of the moral condition of the Bengal provinces. Yet how strikingly does it stand contrasted with the beautiful attestation of Mr. Hastings in the House of Commons, on the 14th July 1813,-and the still more emphatic declarations of Colonel Munro on the same occasion! There is no doubt, therefore, allowing the utmost possible weight to the opinions of so correct an observer as Lord Teignmouth, that his religious opinions, which were uniformly of the high evangelical class, must have had, unconsciously perhaps, no slight influence in convincing him of the depraved condition of the people to whom he was so benevolently solicitous to impart the blessings of Christianity.

Lord Teignmouth died at the advanced age of eighty-two, in February last: his widow did not long survive him. He lived surrounded by every thing that ministers comfort to life, the attachment of a large circle of friends, and the affections of an amiable family; and his death was rendered cheerful and easy by the consolations of religion; few men have been more eminently useful in their destined spheres of action; few have more amply merited the honours bestowed on them, or better vindicated their rightful claim to elevated rank by their talent and integrity, than Lord Teignmouth. We might enlarge upon his personal and private virtues, but we restrain ourselves, in the language of Tacitus: "Abstinentiam et integritatem hujusce viri referre, injuria fuerit virtulum."

BURNES TRAVELS IN BOKHARA.*

The narrative of the travels of Lieutenant Burnes over countries in the East to which the earnest attention of Europe is, from a variety of causes, now particularly directed, and which have been the least explored of almost any in that quarter, is divested of a great portion of its intrinsic interest, owing to the liberality which the author, prior to the compilation of it, parted with his materials, in order to indulge the vivid curiosity of the public. The work before us connects and illustrates the various details which had been already published in the literary and scientific journals of India and England; but it affords little additional information. We mention this fact as highly creditable to Mr. Burnes: it evinces a disinterestedness, on his part, which is not very common.

In the year 1830, Mr. Burnes was appointed to proceed on a mission to Lahore, the capital of the Sikh ruler, with a present of horses (large drayhorses) from the King of Great Britain to Runjeet Sing, by way of the Indus. This opportunity was taken advantage of, to survey this great river from the sea to Lahore. Mr. Burnes seems to have had Arrian and his commentators in his hand as he ascended this celebrated stream, and his narrative of the journey is full of very sensible remarks upon the geographical details given by the Greek historians, and upon the operations of the Macedonian invader.

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He visited the court of Sinde, of whose meanness, in aspect and character, he speaks in terms which reduce our estimate of this state, formed from the perusal of his brother's narrative.t Mr. James Burnes describes the ameers and their durbar as models of splendor, decency, and cleanliness. "I have never witnessed," he says, "any spectacle which was more gratifying, or approaching nearer to the fancies we indulge in childhood, of eastern grandeur. The group formed a semicircle of elegantly attired figures, at the end of a lofty hall, spread with Persian carpeting. It was particularly gratifying to observe the taste displayed in dress, and the attention to cleanliness, in the scene before me. general style of the Sinde court could not fail to excite my admiration. There was no crowding for place; there was a degree of stillness and solemnity throughout the whole, which, together with the brilliant display, impressed me with awe and respect." Lieut. Burnes depicts the Sinde durbar, two years after his brother, thus: "Though the Ameer and his family certainly wore some superb jewels, there was not much to attract our notice in their palace or durbar. They met in a room which was filled with a rabble of greasy soldiery, and the noise and dust were hardly to be endured. The orders of the Ameer to procure silence, though repeated several times, were ineffectual. There was more order and regularity in our second interview."

* Travels into Bokhara, being the Account of a Journey from India to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia; also, Narrative of a voyage on the Indus, from the sea to Lahore, with presents from the King of Great Britain; performed under the orders of the Supreme Government of India in the years 1831, 1832, and 1833. By Lieut. ALEX. BURNES, F.R.S. E.I.C.S. Assist. Pol. Resident in Cutch. 3 vols. London, 1834. Murray.

† Narrative of a Visit to the Court of Sinde, &c. By JAMES BURNES. 1831. Asiat. Journ, N.S. VOL. 14. No. 56. 2 G

At Mittun, which Lieut. Burnes supposes to be the site of one of the Grecian cities, he quitted the Indus and entered the Chenab or Acesines. He visited, amongst other places in his way, Multan, one of the ancient scats of Mogul dominion, now in possession of the Sikhs. On entering the territories of Runjeet, the mission was well received by a deputation from that chief, and found the arrangements made for their progress very complete.

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On reaching the spot where the Acesines is joined by the "fabulous Hydaspes," the travellers amused their Sikh conductors by running to the "where the fleet of Alexander encountered its disasters in the rapids, and the hordes of Timour were terrified by the noise of the waters." present, the junction takes place with a "murmuring noise only;" there are no eddies or rocks, nor is the channel confined.

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They now ascended the Ravee or Hydraotes, and reached Lahore in somewhat less than five months from their first entrance into the Indus.

Lieut. Burnes was presented to the king of the Punjab. On being conducted to the palace, whilst stooping down to remove his shoes at the threshold, he suddenly found himself in the arms and tight embrace of a diminutive-looking old man, the great Maharaja, Runjeet Sing, who led him into the interior, seated him in a silver chair, and so forth. The sight of the horses of "the gigantic breed peculiar to England," as the letter stated, excited in Runjeet wonder and delight: he called them "little elephants." The description given by Mr. Burnes of the Sikh court and ruler coincides with those which have often appeared in our journal. The "Lion of Lahore" is not remarkable for personal gifts, "He has lost one eye, is pitted with the small-pox, and his stature does not certainly exceed five feet three inches." His conversation was free and animated, with a spice of libertinism in it; but his questions were pertinent, and mark the strength of his character. Mr. Burnes was on the most friendly footing with the French officers at the Court, of whose qualities he speaks in high terms: M. Court he represents as an acute and well-informed person.

The ancient capital of Lahore extended over a space of five miles by three. The modern city occupies only the western angle of the ancient, The houses are very lofty; and the streets, which are narrow, offensively filthy, from a gutter which passes through the centre. The bazars do not exhibit the appearance of much wealth: Umritsur, the modern capital, being the commercial emporium of the Punjab. The Shah Dura, or tomb of Jehangeer, is a monument of great beauty, built, chiefly of marble and red stone, laid alternately: the sepulchre is of the chastest workman ship, enriched with mosaics. This beautiful, monument is likely soon to be washed into the Ravee. The Shalimar, or House, of Joy,' half a mile in length, with its three successive terraces, each above the other, and its 450 fountains, is a magnificent remnant of Mogul splendour.

On leaving Lahore, the mission visited Umritsur, a larger city than Lahore, and inspected the great national temple of the Sikhs, standing in the

midst of a lake; the Akali boonga, or House of the Immortals, a set of fanatics, whom the iron hand of Runjeet has some difficulty in compressing into submission; and the Rambagh, the Maharaja's favourite residence.

The career of this chief, ás prognosticated by Lieut. Burnes, seems nearly at an end: “it is not likely," he observes, " that he can long bear up against a nightly dose of spirits more ardent than the strongest brandy."

Mr. Burnes now proceeded towards Delhi, and on his way, at Lodiana, he had an interview with Shah Shuja ul Moolk, ex-king of Cabool, a pensioner of the British Government, but who is now exerting himself to recover his lost territories. Mr. Burnes gives an unfavourable picture of this prince, He says: "from what I learn, I do not believe the Shah possesses sufficient energy to seat himself on the throne of Cabool; and if he did regain it, he has not the tact to discharge the duties of so difficult a situation." From Lodiana our traveller turned off to Simla, at the foot of the Himalaya, where the Governor-general then was, and soon after he received Lord Wm. Bentinck's sanction to proceed on his great journey into Central Asia, his lordship being of opinion that a knowledge of the general condition of the countries through h which he was to travel would be useful to the British Government, independent of other advantages which might be expected from such a journey." He was directed to appear as a private individual, and was furnished with passports as a British captain returning to Europe, the terms of which, without accrediting the bearer as an agent of govern ment, shewed that it was interested in his good treatment. Dr. Gerard, of the Bengal medical service, agreed to accompany Mr. Burnes in his rather perilous adventure, and they were accompanied by two natives, Mahomed Ali, a surveyor, who had been educated in the Engineer Institution of Bombay, and Mohun Lal, a Hindu lad, of Cashmerian family (now with Dr. Gerard), who had been educated at the English College at Delhi. Of both these persons Mr. Burnes speaks in the highest terms of eulogium. He determined to retain the character of a European in his travels, accom'modating himself, in dress, habits, and customs, to the people he visited.

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Mr. Burnes and Dr. Gerard passed the British frontier, at Lodiana, on the 3d Jan. 1832, and plunged into the Indian desert, taking their route by the left bank of the Sutlej, and crossing the Beas or Hyphasis, to Lahore, which they reached on the 17th. The numerous villages on the Sutlej are built of sun-dried bricks on a wooden frame-work; the houses had a clean and comfortable look, and the peasantry, Juts (Hindu, Moslem, and Sikh), appeared well-clad and happy. Beyond the Beas, the people are predatory and in constant hostility with each other. The cultivated parts of the country have the appearance of an extensive meadow, being free from underwood, and there were no trees except in the vicinity of the villages. There were clear indications of changes in the channel of the rivers in this part; and Mr. Burnes justly asks, " in a country subject to such changes, how are we to look for an identity between the topography of ancient and modern days?” They consequently sought in vain for the "altars of Alexander," raised in the vicinity. It is a melancholy but wholesome lesson to human ambition,

to consider that, of these twelve altars, each seventy-five feet high, and erected purposely to transmit the hero's "immortal" triumphs to posterity, not a relic can be found.

At Huree ka Puttun, the city of Krishna,' they crossed the Hyphasis and entered the Punjab; they were received by a Sikh sirdar. In their journey across the Doab (the tract between the Beas and Ravee), they saw some examples of the wanton freaks of the Acalis, who had set a village on fire.

They were kindly received by Runjeet, whose sports, reviews, and social meetings they partook of, and were sumptuously lodged in splendid tents of Cashmere shawls. The conversation of the old chief was full of animation, and when he spoke of his battles and victories, his one eye gleamed with satisfaction. The festival of Bussunt, or spring, was celebrated whilst the visitors were there, with great splendour. We subjoin a description of a festive party in the Maharaja's bed-room.

We sat round his highness on silver chairs. In one end of the room stood a camp bedstead, which merits a description. Its frame-work, posts, and legs, were covered with gold, and the canopy was one massy sheet of the same precious metal. It stood on footstools, raised about ten inches from the ground, and which were also of gold. The curtains were of Cashmere shawls. Near it stood a round chair of gold; and in one of the upper rooms of the palace we saw the counterpart of these costly ornaments. The candles that lighted up the apartment were held in branch-sticks of gold. The little room in which we sat was superbly gilded; and the side which was next the court was closed by a screen of yellow silk. Here we enjoyed the society of our royal entertainer, who freely circulated the wine, filled our glasses himself, and gave every encouragement by his own example. Runjeet drinks by the weight, and his usual dose does not exceed that of eight pice ;* but on this occasion he had quaffed the measure of eighteen. His favourite beverage is a .spirit distilled from the grapes of Cabool, which is very fiery, and stronger than brandy. In his cups he became very amusing, and mentioned many incidents of his private life. He had quelled two mutinies among his troops; three of his chiefs had, at different times, fallen by his side; and he had once challenged his adversary to settle the dispute by single combat. The battles of his highness infected the dancing ladies, whom he had introduced, in a later period of the evening, according to his custom. He gave them spirits; and they tore and fought with each other, much to his amusement, and to the 'pain of the poor creatures, who lost some ponderous ornaments from their ears and noses in the scuffle. Supper was introduced, and consisted of different kinds of meats, richly cooked, and which, in contrast to the surrounding magnificence, were handed up in leaves sewed into the shape of cups.

Mr. Burnes was informed that the converts to the Sikh creed increase at the rate of 5,000 a-year. They are, he says, doubtless, the most rising people in modern India. Their general resemblance to each other he mentions as a remarkable fact, occurring in so short a space of time. With extreme regularity of features, they have an elongation of countenance, which distinguishes them strongly from other tribes.

A small copper coin.