rative plans for the conduct of a war be thwarted by reluctant execution or actual difobedience, nor the most alluring hopes of decifive enterprife be ftifled by the fparing hand that fhould fupport them. Neither can it be conceived, that from this amendment any difadvantage would refult to the military. At present they have the mortification to behold their leader without power, influence, or refpect: in the other cafe, he would poffefs them all. Were the fame perfon Governor and Commander in chief, the officer next in feniority would naturally be entrusted with the general conduct of the army, and enjoy confideration due to the fecond in command of a giet military esta blishment. Thus the ungovernable feuds of party would be checked, and there would be fome profpect that the public welfare might engage the undistracted attention of thofe to whom it was entrusted." Having thus with great ability difpitched the military department, CoJonel Fullarton takes a profpect of the prefent flate of the civil adminiftration of India, in which mifrule and mifmanagement appear very forcibly to predominate. From the grievous mifconduct of the Nabob, it became abfolutely neceffary to transfer the collection of the revenues to the Company; and the only mode, which, from the fituation of the Country, they could adopt, was by Renters, who contract for extenfive diftricts, and whofe fole object but too ficquently is to take advantage of the prefent moment, and, doubtful of futurity in a country at all times liable to fluctuation, to ranfack, embezzle, and at laft go off enriched with the fpoils of their provinces. conditions, he has ftill a long lift of cruel impofitions to endure :-he muft labour weeks after weeks at the repair of watercourfes, tanks, and embankments of rivers; -his cattle, thep, and every other portion of his property is at the difpofl of the renter, and his life might pay the forfeit of refufal. Should he prefume to reap his harvest when ripe, without a mandate from the renter, whofe Peons, Conicoplys, and Retainers attend on the occafion, nothing short of bodily torture and a confifcation of the little that is left him could expiate the offence. Would he fell any part of his fcanty portion, he cannot be permitted while the Circar has any to difpofe of.-Would he convey any thing to a diftant market, he is stopped at every village by the Collectors of Sunkum or Gabelles, who exact a duty for every article exported, imported, or disposed of. So unfupportable is this evil, that between Negapatam and Palagatcherry, not more than 300 miles, there are about thirty places of collection; or, in other words, a tax is levied every ten miles upon the produce of the country. Thus manufacture and commerce are expofed to difafters hardly lefs fevere than thofe which have occafioned the decline of cultivation. "But thefe form only a fmall part of the powers with which the renter is invefted. He may fink or raife the exchange of fpecie at his own difcretion; he may prevent the fale of grain, or fell it at the most exorbitant rates: thus at any time he may, and frequently does, occafion general famine. Befides maintaining a useless rabble, whom he employs under the appellation of Peous at the public expence; he may require any military force he finds neceffary for the business of oppreision, and few inferior officers would have weight enough to justify their refufal of fach aid. Should any one however difpute thofe powers; should the military officers refufe to poftitute military fervice to the diftrefs of wre ched individuals, or fhould the civil Supermtendant remonftrate against fuch abufe, nothing could be more pleafing to the renter, who derives from thence innumerable arguments for non-performance of engagements, and for a long lift of defalcations. But there are ftill fome other not lefs extraordinary conftituents in the complex endowments of a renter; he unites in las own perfon all the branches of judicial or civil authority, and if he happen to be a Bramin, he may alfo be termed the reprefentative of ecclefiaftical jurifdiction. It would be impertinent to enfortunate Ryot be forced to fubmit on fuch large on the confequences of thus huddling In "The established practice throughout this part of the penintula has for ages been, to allow the farmer one half of the produce of his crep, for the maintenance of his family and the recultivation of the land, while the ether is appropriated to the Circar. the richest foils under the Cowle of Hyder, producing three annual crops, it is hardly known that lefs than forty per cent. of the crop produced has been allotted to the hufbane man; yet renters on the coaft have not fcrupled to imprifon reputable farmers, and to inflict on them extreme feverity of pu-, nifhment, for refufing to accept of fixteen in the hundred as the portion out of which they were to maintain a family, to furnish flock and implements of husbandry, cattle, feed, and all expences incident to the cultivation of their lands. But fhould the un into the perfon of one wretched mercenary, all thofe powers that ought to constitute the dignity and lustre of fupreme executive authority.” So much for the collection of the revenues-revenues which, as being drawn from commercial articles, are hourly diminithing, for the ftaple commodities of Indian commerce are the produce of the lands and the labours of the manufacturer; but the decay and approaching extirpation of that ufcful cla's of fubjects appears abundantly from the extracts we have given. Add to this a debt of fifty lacks of pigodas, or 2,000,000l. fterling; and the condition of the British intereft in India is lamentable indeed. Having thus ftated the evils, it remains to apply the remedy. Colonel Fullarton proceeds to addrefs the Prefident and S.lect Committee at Madras, (to whom his book is addrefled) as follows: "The mode of reftoring profperity to your territories is, in my opinion, extremely fimple. Thefe countries experienced the refinements of civil polity and regulation fuited to their condition, ages before they even heard the name of European. You have only to restore the general form and tenor of the Indian jurifprudence; and where that fyftem, over-rating the pretenfions of fupe. rior cafts, tends to the violation of natural law and public welfare, there the rigour of Gentoo enactments fhould be mitigated, without deltroying the established order and gradations of the country. Protect the poor from the oppreflion of the great, reftrain the defpotic violence of the native leaders, and let every one within the limits of the English influence feel that he is fafe in his property, his perfon, and his life. If this were: Aually the cafe, the husbandman, the labourer, the manufacturer, and the merchant would very foon fly from every corner of Indoftan, to take fhelter ander a government that refpected the facred rights and eftablished inftitutions of their ancettors, while it afforded perfonal fecurity and independence, the offspring of an English polity. "The country (till abounds fo much with sheep and cattle, that the full complement for all the purposes of labour and fubfiftence would foon be procured; the towns and villages would be repeopled, and the fields recultivated with a rapidity unknown in other climates. Such is the natural fertility of thofe countries, and fo ftrong their propenfity to reproduction, that the quick renewal of abundance, induftry, and commerce, is the neceffary confequence of fecurity; which implies the protection of every one in the poffeffion of his own, by reftraining all from the forcible or fraudulent appropriation of that which belongs not to themfelves. "While the Company holds the territorial management of the country, it is to be dreaded that this happy renovation cannot be accomplished; because your civil fervants, by the conftitution of your establishment, are under no restraint, excepting thote of their own fentiments. Every one knows that orders are nugatory where there is no punishment for difobedience, and the fevereft denunciation of your difpleafure against a civil fervant, only difmilles him from a service, which the very act that incurs your cenfure probably enables and inclines him to relinquith. The expedient of military interference in the bufinefs of interior managemeat, is itill a more egregious violation of all good policy and public truft. For though military men are far more proper to ba charged with specific orders than civilians, being anfwerable for difobedience with their lives; yet the exertion of the military arm in the detail of civil regulation implies a total abrogation of all civil rights, and declares aloud that no power prevails but that of force. "You have already found, that ruinous as both thefe modes undoubtedly are, they feem mild and reputable, in comparison with the only other means of management that it has hitherto been found practicable to adopt with fuccefs in any part of India-the delegation of territorial authority to native Agents, and black Renters, who have no tie whatever of character, permanency, or fituation to reftrain them from the commiffion of outrages too atrocious for any European imagination to fuggeft. What then iemans but to perform an act of equal policy and juftice? to redeem the English name from the general imputation under which it labours, of violating the rights and honour of our best adherents, of coveting the potfellions of friend and foe †, and of a total incapacity, "The hardships and humiliation which have heen endured by the Nabob of Arcot, by the Rajah of Tanjore, by the Nabob of Bengal, and by the Mogul himself, while under the protection of the English, afford the ftrongeft grounds for other Princes of India to dread an ictimate connexion with us. At the fame time it must be confeffed, that many powerful arguments may be adduced for retaining the interior management of the countries within our influence. from fituation and conftant change of fyftem, to manage what we fo unjustifiably ac. quire? Ditprove the allegation, refiore the country and the fovereignty to its rightful owner the Nabob ;-emancipate the Rajah of Tanjore, and all other Rajabs, Princes, and Zemindars, belonging to your Coast, from the vexatious interference of the civit, and from the rough affumptions of the military power;-employ the former in the proper duties of their flation, in the bufinels of office and inveftment; and in purtuance of your favourite fyltem of retrenchment, reduce their numbers to the proportional diminution of demand for their fervices. Would they acquire fortune, let them afpire to it, not in the fpoils of diftri&s, but in the profecution of commercial operation. As for the latter, confine them to their garrifons, ftations and cantonments: fuffer them not to be fcattered through the country, and remind them that their bufinefs is not ufury and exaction, bat difcipline and war. In order that this falutary alteration may be attended with popularity and effect, their profeffional emoluments ought to be fufficient, without any aid from indirect acquirement. "Should the Nabob, the Rajahs, or the Zemindars, take advantage of your indulgencies, and endeavour to withhold their ftipulated payments; fhew them that lenity and justice are neither the offspring of indolence nor weakness: but, on the first fymptoms of their perfiftence in fuch delays, march a body of troops to enforce your orders, make them pay the expences of the expedition, and teach them that you will not fuffer intentional mifconduct to pass unpunished. You have likewife to reftrain every class of Europeans, the merchant only excepted, from mingling with the natives; for when they are familiar:fed with our practices, they ceafe to refpect our virtues in the just abhorrence of our crimes. Above all, let it never be forgotten, that in the present state of national depravity, wherever a latitude of power is lodged, whether in civil or milita. ry hands, the eye of Juftice must be more piercing, and her fword more feverely pointed against delinquency, before you can hope to reftrain the repetition of abufe. "Another circumftance is particularly deferving of confideration. It is a truth palpable to every mind at all acquainted with political economy, that no country whatever is more favourably fituated for the fupport of public credit, and extenfive circulation, than India. The mafs of treasure has been fo widely diffufed, the avowed poffeffion of private property is fo infecure, and the mode of pecuniary tranfactions fo difadvantageous, that any Government on whofe integrity and ftability the natives durft rely, might form the greatest bank of depofit on the globe. To the influence derivable from fuch an inftitution, would be added the benefits of circulating bank or public fecurities in lieu of fpecie. Thofe bencfits are proportioned to the extent of country in which fuch notes or fecurities can have currency, to the quantity that may be fafely iffued, and to the length of time that they may remain in circulation, as well as to the gain derivable from the intermediate application of money, when not needed in the bank. The profit on bills of exchange, difcounting bills, granting cash accounts, and other operations of banking companies, are alfo confiderable. In all thefe particulars, India poffeffes peculiar advantages: the range of circulation is more extenfive, the probable period of the notes returning into bank more diftant, the rate of money higher, the tranfactions more nume. rous, and the profits on each tranfaction greater than in any other country. Had fuch an establishment of public fecurity ex. ifted fix years ago, your Prefidency could not have fallen into the ftate of degradation which it has experienced; nor would it have been oppreffed with a mafs of paltry debts, whofe amount on their prefent footing may poflibly overthrow the Government; but which, with the aid of fuch a bank, could not for a moment have obftructed the career of public fervice. In that event, Hyder, fo far from ravaging your country, and menacing you within the walls of Madras, would have been quickly driven from the Carnatic, and from his own dominions. "Such an establishment would attach all claffes by the ties of private benefit; it would fubject to your influence every prince in India, by enabling you to fupply his wants, or to fupport his adverfaries, according as his conduct merited your friendfhip or excited your refentment. If fimilar proceedings have exalted the Seets and other private Soucars throughout Indoftan, to a weight and influence little (hort of princely power, what might we not expect from the operation of fuch a machine, in the hands of a Government whose wisdom, juftice and stability, thould entitle it to public confidence +? Such are the propofals of Colonel Ful "This cannot be fuppofed to take place until the period for which the Nabob's revenues were affigned to the Company be elapfed, and until the object of that alignment be fulfilled." "No degree of energy and rectitude in any individual Governor can poffibly produce the hent fit in question; it is the energy and rectitude of long established fyftem alone, from whence they can be derived, larton lerton-propofals which in our opinion appear to be the genuine refult of great information, found judgement, genuine candour, and unbianed integrity. The importance of the fubject has induced us to give this article pretty much at length. It may not, perhaps, be impertinent to obferve, that one material propofal of Colonel Fullarton's has been anticipated by the appointment of Earl Cornwallis to the confolidated offices of Governor General and Commander in Chief; an appointment, which, from its coincidence with his opinion in one inftance, gives weight to it in the reft.If thefe measures be adopted, the Colonel draws a very flattering picture of the confequences, with which we fhall conclude this article. "It is indifputable, that if Government hope to preferve a fhred of their Indian empire, not a moment must be loft in correcting the alarming outrages under which it labours ;-in removing thofe caufes of diffention that threaten its existence ;-in reforming thofe abuses, civil and military, by which its ftrength has been wafted, and its power decayed; and in bringing every man, menfure, and refource, of thofe diftracted fettlements, into one decided point of obedi ence, co-operation, and effect. "Could we Aatter ourfelves, that there is yet vigour, union, and integrity enough in known to us. the nation to atchieve fuch a re-establishment, it would not be chimerical to indulge the most exalted expectations.-The intrinfic value of thofe poffeffions would then be fully We should then recognise the ineftimable benefits, of which an equitable and united Government could render them productive beyond all aggregate refources in the British empire. The countries fubject to our influence under any Administration that did not openly cherish difcord, and exult in malverfation, would yield an annual revenue of 10,000,000l. fterling, and would increase in value with every fubfequent improvement. The manufactures of thofe countries, if at all encouraged, would afford employment for the whole commercial ftock of England. The fhipping engaged in that trade would fwell into a formidable armament for the national defence. The refources or finance of thofe eltablishments, where 100cl. can hardly be raifed at this moment, might be fixed on fo fecure a bafis as to fupport a pile of public credit, more wonderful than that of London or of Amfterdam, and enriched by a circulation more extenfive than the whole exchange of Europe " The Conqueft of Candan: A Poem, in Eleven Books. By Timothy Dwight. Hartford: Printed by Elifha Babcock, 1785. 12mo. [Continued from Page 84. ] HAVING in our laft given an abridg. ment of the arguments of the various books of our American Epic, we now proceed to lay before our readers fome copious extracts, from which they may judge for themselves of Mr. Dwight's verification, and other poctical powers.' The chief whofe arm to Ifrael's chofen band Gave the fair empire of the promis'd land, Ordain'd by Heaven to hold the facred fway, Demands my voice and animates the lay. O Thou, whofe love Ingh-thron`d above all height, Illumes th' immenfe, and fanns the world of light; Whofe diftant beam the human mind infpires, With wildom brightens, and with virtue fires; When now from western hills the fun was And night expanding fill'd the bounds of heaven, O'er Ifrael's camp ten thoufa.. fires appear'd, And folemn cries from diftant guards were heard; Her tribes, efcap'd from Ai's unhappy plain, With fhame and anguith mourn'd their heroes flain. *At prefent the India fhips are mere trading veels, without force, difcipline, or defence; and in time of war are in danger of failing a prey to every well-armed privateer. But the fighteft obfervation must fuggeft, that they ought to be all conftructed on the principle of two-deckers, as the Dutch India fhips are; and improving on that model, that they fhould be well armed, completely manned, and fubject to naval officers under the articles of war. In that event, whenever they had their war complements and inftructions on board, they would form a fleet fuperior to any probable attack. If it should ever be judged expedient to build fhips of force in India, a whole navy might be conftructed at Bombay, and at other places on the Malabar coaft, where Teek timber abounds.”' Pierc'a Pierc'd with deep wounds the groaning war riors flood: Befides our author's confeffion of having America often in his eye, the preced Their bofoms heav'd, their tears inceffant ing couplet gives an inftance of his wort flow'd; Their fons unburied on the hoftile plain, The tender father clafp'd his lovely child, Gaz'd on his tears, and wonder'd why he Her woes with his the trembling mother join'd, Edg'd all his fears, and funk his drooping mind; Array'd in tenfold gloom th' approaching And gather'd foes unnumber'd to the fight. morn. manner. The lines immediately before it are, The Heathen few, fierce Zimri clave his breaft, But Aram's eyes were clos'd in endless rest. Here few ought to have been fled; but the couplet which follows we cannot conftrue. The verb found feems to want its nominative. We would ask Mr. Dwights Is it fond Virtue, or are Hale, bright and generous, perfonifications that found" a haplefs grave?" To fay that the natural conftruction applies to Aram, is to break Priftian's head with a vengeance. Nor would we have been fo particular on this fault, which might pafs for inattention, did not fimilar inftances abound in our author; and however he may dread that America fhould imbibe the vices and cor. ruptions of Great Britain, we would advife him and his brother-poets, either to ftudy the English language with more care, or to write their poems in the tongue of their great and good allies, thofe zealous and difinterefted defenders of the liberties of mankind, the French. Our American bard's mention of Ma The lines 9th and 10th of the above are exactly in the cant of the American eftimate of themselves and of Great Britain—a cant afterwards ftrongly afferted by our author, as fhall be cited in its proper place. The diftrefs of the Ifraelites on their repulfe before Ai, tho' common-place enough, has merit, is in our author's best manner, and marks jor Andre will be acceptable to the fituation of America during the commencement of the late war. Many of our author's fictitious characters of generous heroes flain," allude, he tells us in a note, to particular Americans, but we do not pretend to appropriate them. In lines 75 and 76, Book I. having just mentioned Aram, an Ifraelite, who was flain, our author adds, Thus while fond Virtue wish'd in vain to fave, Hale, bright and generous, found a hapless grave. On which he gives the following note: The comparifons of this kind were all written in the early stages of the late war, and annexed to the Poem, to indulge the author's own emotions of regard to the perfons named in them. As it was impoffible to pay this little tribute of respect to all the deferving characters who have fallen in defence of American liberty, the author determined to defift after the first attempt. The lines on Major Andre are an exception to the above remark, as are thofe on General Mercer. * We have heard King William readers : our With foul too noble for fo bafe a caufe, In Its warm'd, beauty fmil'd, its growing fragrance charm'd; Fierce roar'd th' untimely blast around its head; The beauty vanifh'd and the fragrance fled; 66 Here again is great want of perspicuity and fimplicity of diction. The metaphor of the opening flom" is ftrangely abrupt, and the transition from "its beauty, its growing fragrance, and "its head," to "foon funk his graces"is harth, and far from good English expreffions. Having in our laft given the argument of the Firft Book at large, and obferved, that the reafonings of the American loyalifts and patriots are there afcribed to Hanniel and Jofua, under the allegory of advifing to return Egypt, in the one, and to eftain this manner called Old Glorious. to blish |