fumed as fire-wood. The maufoleum, palace, and bungalo, at firft fcarcely difcerned in the high furrounding fhade, were now laid open to view. These the Sultan might regain; but, to speak in the eastern style, the remaining years of his ill-fated life, would be unequal to renew the beauties of his terrestrial paradife. • This devaftation, unavoidable on the part of Tippoo's enemies, must have been a fubject of the more poignant regret to himself, from feeing that the fame precaution which led him to facrifice his fuburb to the improvement of his defence, and to cut down every tree and bush in the adjoining country that might afford materials for the fiege, ought alfo to have dictated the neceffity of destroying this extenfive garden. Senfible of his error, and misjudged obftinacy, his people were now cutting down the Rajah's or Dowlat Baug, with as much diligence as we were employed in felling his own garden; fo that the island, which, fhaded by large groves, was green and beautiful on our arrival, now prefented a moft wretched and barren appearance. The Sultan's fort and city, only remained in repair, amidst all the wrecks of his former grandeur. P. 211. . The defcription of the delivery of the two fons of the Sultan to Lord Cornwallis, in the first chapter of part iii. is very interesting; but as we have extracted fo much, we shall refrain, and content ourselves with giving that which ought to live in the memory of every Englifhman, the character of Lord Cornwallis. It is impoffible to recollect the bufy scene, which has paffed in India, without wishing to give fome farther idea of the conduct of the perfonage who directed that great confederacy: not in the operations of the field alone, part of which have been detailed, but in the more laborious duties of office which required the most affiduous and indefatigable attention. Lord Cornwallis, on marching days, was in his tent from the time the army came to the ground of encampment; and on halting days, after vifiting the out-pofts in the morning, was there conftantly employed till the evening, attending to the affairs depending on his ftation. The bufinefs which preffed npon him from the feveral armies, and from every part of India, may easily be imagined to have been fo complicated and various, as to have required every exertion of diligence and arrangement for its difpatch. He gave his inftructions, in perfon, to all officers who went on detachments of importance, and faw them on their return. Officers at the heads of departments applied to himself on all material business; and there was no branch of the fervice with which he was not intimately acquainted. In the detail of bufinefs, he was ably affifted by his fecretary, Lieutenant-Colonel Rofs, and other gentlemen of his fuite; and his Lordship's tents, and the line of head quarters, appeared more like the various departments of a great office of ftate, than the fplendid equipage that might be fuppofed to attend the leader of the greatest armies that, under a British general, were ever affembled in the east.' • Τα To this unremitting attention to bufinefs, is not only to be afcribed the general fuccefs of the administration of Lord Cornwallis in India, and in particular that of the operations of the late war, but also the unexampled economy with which it was conducted, and the readiness with which all accounts will be closed, and the expence afcertained for the information of the public. Before his Lordship quitted Madras to return to Bengal, in July last 1792, all arrears to the troops, and to the public departments, were paid up; and there is great reafon to believe that, after deducting the Company's share of the fine paid by Tippoo Sultan, the extraordintry expence of this glorious war (that is, beyond the ufual allowances to the troops on the peace establishment), will not amount to even two millions fterling!' P. 258. With this just tribute, to a man who has deferved fo well, we fhall conclude our account of this very excellent narrative; of which we cannot make a higher or more juft encomium, than by saying, that it is worthy of the tranfactions it relates. ART. III. Travels in India during the Years 1780, 81, 82, and 83. By William Hodges, R.A. 4to. 156 pages. Edwards. Il. IS. IT T is no lefs remarkable than true, that, till within these few years, very little authentic information has been communicated to Europe concerning the literature, antiquities, and cuftoms of India. The veil of obfcurity, however, which has fo long been spread over that immense and interesting portion of the globe, feems now in a fair way of being effectually removed. Mr. Haftings led the way, by his patronage of Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Halhed. Sir William Jones, with that unremitting zeal which characterizes real genius, has fince brought to light what has for ages been concealed. The fuccefsful labours of Mr. Maurice, already noticed by us, have produced a systematic arrangement of much curious and important matter. And laftly, the publication before us must not be fuffered to pass without its due fhare of well-deferved praife, for that branch of information to which it is confined, the local illuftration of thofe parts through which the author travelled. The work of Dr. Robertfon, on India, is of a different kind from all the rest. The learned had long been in doubt how far into ancient India the victorious and indefatigable Alexander had made his way: it was certain, that the knowledge which the ancients had of this portion of the globle was vague and inconclufive; and the helps on this fubject, which the moderns might expect to receive from Ptolemy, Strabo, and the ancient geographers, rather provoked 14 Fravels in India during the Year 1780, 81, &c. provoked than fatisfied curiofity. The hiftorical difquifition concerning India, by Dr. Robertfon, has removed many of thefe difficulties; has fyftematized the knowledge of the ancients, has often illuminated what was obfcure, and made clear what was doubtful. We wanted however, and we ftill require, the efforts of individuals, who, penetrating into the interior parts of a beautiful and picturefque region, will give us a faithful reprefentation of ancient monuments and modern manners. Thus the progrefs of art, the changes of manners, and the variation of national character, may be more perfpicuously underftood, and the stock of universal knowledge extended and im-' proved. Mr. Hodges has long, and defervedly, enjoyed great reputation as an artist; his credit, as a writer, refts, we believe, folely on the prefent publication. We fhall content ourselves with giving a concife analysis of his work :-His firft entrance into India was at Madras, which place, with the circumjacent country, he defcribes. He fpeaks in high terms of a beautiful Hindoo temple, or pagoda, at Triplecane, within two miles of Madras. His drawing of this temple was loft on board the General Barker Eaft Indiaman; but the fubfcribers receive an ample compenfation by a view of the great pagoda at Tanjore. Whe From Madras Mr. Hodges proceeded to Bengal, defcribing Calcutta, the plains of Plaffey, Bauglepoor, and Mongheir. A charming view of Calcutta is here introduced, with a moft delightful reprefentation of the pass of Sicri Gully: a lovelier scene can hardly be imagined. Returning to the capital of Bengal, Mr. Hodges obtained permiflion to accompany the governorgeneral in that memorable expedition up the country, when his fafety, and that of all the Europeans in his train, was fo greatly endangered by the infurrection at Benares. In the fourth chapter the reader will find an entertaining differtation on the Hindoo, Moorish, and Gothic architecture. ther the idea here fuggefted, of the origin of the diffe rent modes of architecture, will meet with univerfal affent, is more than we will venture to determine. Mr. Hodges was prefent at the prepofterous and cruel ceremony of facrificing a widow on the pile of her husband. It is much to be regretted, that the interference of our countrymen has not hitherto been able to prevent a crime, which, from every principle of reason and humanity, they must difavow and deteft. A drawing, of this facrifice is fubjoined. Our author also visited Lucknow, and had a view of the once fplendid and imperial city of Agra. He points out, with the ardour of enthufiafm of an artist, many. other tours which might be fuccefsfully undertaken in this interefting country, and laments that he himself was unable to accomplish more. We We have no fcruple in faying, that our traveller has done a great deal. His defcriptions are lively and fenfible; his plates, of which there are a confiderable number, are very beautiful; and his book altogether is a very honourable specimen of the ftate of the arts in this country. One obfervation we will venture to make, and with no fentiments of difrefpect towards: Mr. Hodges:We fhould have been better pleafed if he had directed his attention, and confined his remarks to the Hindoos, and their peculiarities of religion and manners. that relates to Mahometanifm is not only more generally known, but is more fatisfactorily to be obtained from those countries where the doctrine of Mahomet is pre-eminently the national religion. It should be remembered, that in Hindoftan, Mahometanifm is only incidental, and probably imperfect. The true object of curiofity to a traveller in any country, is that which cannot be observed elsewhere, or not with equal advantage. All It becomes us in juftice to add, that this Tour is enriched by a valuable map of part of Bengal and Bahar, with the provinces. of Benares, Allahabad, Qude, and Agra. Mr. Hodges, doubt-lefs, will foon receive the proper reward of his talents and industry, in a call from the public, for a fecond edition of his work. ART. IV. The Literary Life of the late Thomas Pennant, Efq. By Himfelf. 4to. 144 pages. 7s. 6d White and Faulder, WE TE have here a fingular curiofity: the work of a ghost! but, as the fpirit is undoubtedly harmless and benevolent, we neither feel our blood to curdle, nor f Each particular hair to ftand on end, Like quills upon the fretful porcupine.' Other quills it will infallibly put in motion, but furely not with the defign of the porcupine, to inflict a wound. We gain here an extraordinary piece of knowledge, which is, the manner in which ghofts fign their names: it is not, it seems, by continued ftrokes of the pen, but by a number of feparatepecks. This information, which was unaccountably omitted in Mrs. Rowe's Letters from the Dead to the Living, is conveyed! by actual example in the fignature of the advertisement. Some things, on the other hand, are communicated which there needed no ghost to come and tell us, fuch as, that the deceased' author fhaves every morning regular at seven, p. 35. that he writes a moft illegible hand, and keeps an amanuenfis in order to to deliver his labours intelligible to pofterity. P. 39. But at these trifling defects it would be captious to take offence, especially as we do not fully know the effect that death may naturally have upon the human mind, by magnifying the particulars which have reference to its former ftate: we should, indeed, have sufpected the contrary effect to be more natural, but there is no arguing against fact. This however we can fafely vouch for, that the ghoft is no impoftor, the pofthumous work being evidently dictated by the fame spirit, as the genuine productions of the voluminous author. Some degree of alarm was really felt by us on the first perufal of Mr. Pennant's title-page, left, what was certainly very improbable, the celebrated zoologift, antiquarian, and traveller, fhould actually have departed from this country to that, whence no traveller returns, without the proper tributes of praise and lamentation from the voice of Fame. It was foon discovered, to our great joy, that the death was no more than a metaphorical decease, and alluded only to the ceffation of Mr. Pennant's publications; which is fixed, though by fome means the reason is not made fufficiently clear, to the 1st of March 1791. The information in this Life confifts chiefly of the progrefs of the author's ftudies, the dates of his various publications, the periods of his admiffion into several philofophical focieties, and fuch other matters as are naturally connected with his literary character. We find that a cafual prefent of Willughby's Ornithology, at the early age of twelve, is confidered by Mr. P. as the leading circumftance which gave the bias of his mind to natural hiftory: and that, from the above period to the prefent, when he is, by his own account, in his 68th year, he has perfifted in the active pursuit of various knowledge, and in endeavours to make that knowledge useful and amusing to the public. That he has fucceeded in these points, the extenfive fale of his productions will teftify fufficiently. We are told alfo of a great work projected about five years fince, and, as it seems, already executed throughout, but inended to be actually pofthumous, which is to confift of no lels than fourteen volumes in folio, of imaginary travels, illuftrated by prints, maps and charts, to comprife hiftory, natural hiftory, accounts of the coafts, climates, and every thing that he thinks could inftruct or amufe," Concerning this extraordinary design it is fair to infert the author's own apology"The reader may fmile at the greatnefs of the plan, and my boldness in attempting it at fo late a period of life. I am vain enough to think that the fuccefs is my vindication. Happy is. the age that could thus beguile its fleeting hours, without |
