Art. X. A Letter to the Right Hon. J. C. Villiers, on the Education of the Natives of India: to which are added, an Account of Hindoo Widows, recently burnt alive in Bengal; and also some Extracts from the Reports of the Native Schools, published by the Serampore Missionaries. By William Ward, of Serampore, Bengal. 8vo. pp. 35. London, 1820. IT cannot be affirmed,' says Mr. Ward,' that schools are few in India: schools are in fact numerous; but to expand the ' minds of the young, or to give them the elements of know'ledge, is no part of the plan of these schools,'Not a single 'book on morals, on the duties of creatures towards each other, or to their Creator, is to be found in any of the common schools 'throughout India.' And even from these schools, such as they are, females are altogether excluded. The Hindoo female is forbidden all education, and has no means of sufficient employment. The total extinction of the moral sense, is the necessary consequence of this rayless ignorance. Mr. Ward affirms that falsehood is so common,' that he never knew a Hindoo who felt the least scruple on this head;' that perjury may be purchased at whatever price is offered, the false swearer being familiarly termed a four anas (eightpenny) man;' and that no man in India confides in the promises of another. Mendicity in its most loathsome form, superstition the most abject, universal licentiousness, infanticide, and suicide, compose the picture which, from personal observation, Mr. Ward exhibits, of the present state of Hindoo society. And yet, he says, 'I doubt not but the Hindoos, if the appetite for knowledge were supplied with food in due proportions, 'would become in mental stature almost equal to Britons them'selves.' The wretched females, too, he pronounces to be quite 'capable of the highest cultivation.' Notwithstanding the immense disadvantages to which the female sex is subject, there exist two or three modern instances of mendicants or pilgrims of this sex, acquiring the Shanscrit, and instructing the men in the most abstruse parts of the Hindoo philosophy. Nor can I doubt but that if English females could be persuaded to live in India, and devote their lives to the improvement of their own sex there, schools for girls might easily be obtained, till at length the prejudices of the natives against female education would be removed, and the many millions of females in India, thus raised from the most abject state by the exertions of British females, would assist in raising, and improving, and solacing the other sex, and fixing in their hearts the love of the British government and of the English nation, so as to attach them to us for ever.' The object to which Mr. Ward wishes to direct the benevolent exertions of the British public, is, the instruction of the Vol. XIII. N.S. 2 A 'Hindoos in such branches of knowledge, civil, natural, and moral, as may be grafted upon their existing institutions.' He thinks it very practicable to excite among them the love of knowledge, so as to induce the natives themselves to establish schools, in which the books of science and general knowledge which shall have been introduced among them, will be multiplied and diffused all over the country. The whole country,' he affirms, would go into an improved system of education.' 6 Schools set up by the English, are very popular; and nothing can be more easy than to give them all the elements of modern science, and all the transforming ideas of that morality which has been communicated to us through the Sacred Scriptures. People are seldom so thankful for any thing as for knowledge. A Hindoo is taught to reverence his teacher more than his parents.' Any attempt, however, to instruct the whole population through the English language, Mr. Ward contends, would be highly pernicious. If it be ideas which we want to communicate to the people of India, then, this object can never be obtained but by transfusing European knowledge into the languages with which they are familiar.' Give but a taste of the value of knowledge to India, and then she herself will carry on the work begun.' We are rejoiced to gather from this interesting Letter' of the estimable Missionary, that it is in contemplation to form, in this metropolis, a Society for the Improvement of India. The claims of sixty millions of our fellow-subjects, loudly call upon the British public for the most active concurrence in giving to such a plan an efficiency commensurate to its grand and important design. Some interesting extracts from the reports of the native schools instituted by the Serampore Missionaries, are given in an appendix. The Reports themselves, it is stated, may be bad gratuitously, on application to Messrs. Black, Kingsbury, and Co. of Leadenball Street. Art. XI. Sacred Lyrics. By James Edmeston, foolscap 8vo. pp. 59. Price 4s. London, 1820. DR. R. Johnson's remark, that all devotional poetry is 'unsatis'factory,' inasmuch as the paucity of the topics enforces 'perpetual repetition, and the sanctity of the matter rejects the ornaments of figurative diction,'-has, like most of the general remarks of that great doginatist, a foundation in truth; there is no species of poetry in which excellence is so rarely obtained. Few persons, however, who are conversant with the additions made to our devotional poetry since the days of Watts, will be disposed to subscribe to the sweeping position as it stands, which would seem to intimate that the spirit of poetry is almost incapable of combining with devotion. We would not adduce the languishing sentimental devotion of Mr. Thomas Moore's sacred melodies, nor my Lord Byron's Hebrew melodies, as invalidating the Doctor's remark; other and worthier names will occur to our readers: not to speak of Herbert, and we should not be ashamed to add the name of Quarles, it were sufficient to mention Cowper, Charles Wesley, and Montgomery, as authors whose devotional poetry is the very reverse of unsatisfactory. Our present business lies, however, with these sacred lyrics, of which it would not perhaps be saying too much, were we to venture the opinion, that they might be held sufficient proof, that the topics of devotion do not reject the diction of poetry. Our readers shall judge for themselves. V. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day.-REV. i. 10. More lovelily than all beside; It is, of all the times below, A sabbath eve in summer tide. And then the peace that Jesus beams, A God all love-no grief nor fear- If heaven be ever felt below, A scene so heavenly sure as this, Night will not veil his ceaseless ray! The heavenly sabbath never dies!' pp. 7, 8, ART. XII. SELECT LITERARY INFORMATION. Gentlemen and Publishers who have works in the press, will oblige the Conductors of the ECLECTIC REVIEW, by sending information (post paid) of the subject, extent, and probable price of such works; which they may depend upon being communicated to the public, if consistent with its plan. Mr. Foster, author of Essays on Decision of Charácter, &c. has in the press, and will publish in a few weeks, an Essay on the Evils of Popular Ignorance, in an octavo volume. Mr. Philip, of Liverpool, is preparing a new life of Whitefield, the materials of which have been collected from various British and American sources. Mr. Wm. Turner has in the press, in three octavo volumes, a Journal of a Tour in Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land; with excursions to the river Jordan, and along the banks of the Red Sea to Mount Sinai. Dr. Baron will soon publish in quarto, with engravings, Illustrations of some parts of his Inquiry respecting the Origin of Tubercles and Tumours. Mr. G. E. Shuttleworth has in the press, Remarks on the Church and the Clergy, exhibiting the obligations of society, literature, and the arts, to the ecclesiastical orders. Mr. Leigh Hunt will soon publish a translation of Tasso's Amyntas, with an Essay on the Pastoral Poetry of Italy. A new Edition of Dr. Bissett's History of the Reign of George the Third, continued to his death, is in considerable forwardness. The Second Edition of Dr. Aikin's Annals of the Reign of George the Third, brought down to the time of his death, is expected in the course of a month. Mr. Nichols is preparing for publication, a Fourth Volume of Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century. Mr. James Kenney will soon publish, in octavo, Valdi, or the Libertine's Son, a poem, in five parts. The Monastery, a romance, in three volumes, by the author of Waverley, &c. is in the press. James Tyson, esq. has in the press, Elements of the History of Civil Governments, with an account of the pre sent state and distinguishing features of the governments now in existence. James Adamson, esq. has in the press, Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Louis de Camoens, in two octavo volumes, with nine engravings. Mr. Robert Walpole is printing in a quarto volume, with plates, Travels in various Countries of the East, being a continuation of Memoirs relating to Eu ropean and Asiatic Turkey. To be published by subscription, The Christian Family Assistant, in four Parts; Containing, Ist. A Discourse on Prayer, in ten chapters, with Anecdotes and Observations from various Authors. 2nd. Suitable Forms of Prayer for Domestic Worship, original, and selected from the works of the most eminent Divines. 3d. A Hundred Hymns, peculiarly adapted to Family Devotion. 4th. An arranged List of suitable Portions of Scripture for Morning and Evening Worship, of every day in the year, with an Appendix, containing a Series of Essays on Domestic Duties, &c. By H. L. Poppewell. To which will be prefixed, an Historical Essay on Prayer, By Ingram Cobbiu, A. M. The Third and Fourth Volumes of Scripture Portraits, by the Bev. Robert Stevenson, of Castle Hedingham, are nearly ready for the Press, and wil probably appear in the course of the ensuing Spring. A New Edition of, Mr. Jolliffe's interesting Letters from Palestine, descriptive of a tour through Galilee and Judea, with some account of the Dead Sea and the present state of Jerusalem, with additions, is in the press, and will be ready in the course of the nonth. In the press, Memoirs of His late Majesty, Geo. Ill. By John Brown, esq. Author of The Northern Courts. The final volume of Mr. Morell's Studies in History, being the 2d of England, is now in the press, and will be published next month; it will commence with the reign of James the First, and will be continued to the death of George 141. The Rev. J. Gilbart, of Dublin, has in the press, and will shortly publish, A Series of Connected Lectures on the Holy Bible, illustrative and confirmatory of its character, as an economy of Religion instituted and revealed by God, for man. The Rev. Mr. Clarke, author of the Wandering Jew, has in the press, The History of the Zodians, a fictitious narrative, designed to illustrate the natural origin of public institutions. R. Ackermann proposes to publish, in six monthly parts, (part I. to appear on the 1st of May, 1820,) Picturesque illustrations of Buenos Ayres, and Monte Video, consisting of 24 Views, and faithful Representations of the Costumes, Manners, &c. of the Inhabitants of those Cities and their Environs, taken on the spot, by E. E. Vidal, Esq. and accompanied with de scriptive letter-press. Nearly ready for publication, a Picturesque Tour from Geneva, over Mount Simplon, to Milan, in one Volume, imperial 8vo. This work, which cannot fail to claim the particular attention of the continental traveller, will contain 36 coloured engravings, of the most interesting scenery in that romantic tract, and especially the most striking points of view in the new road over the Simplon. The engravings will be accompanied with copious historical and descriptive particulars respecting every remarkable object along the route. Likewise, in great forwardness, at the Lithographic press, A Series of characteristic Portraits of the Cossacks attached to the Russian Army, which Occupied Paris in 1815, and 16; with ample details of the history, manners, and customs of the different tribes to which they belonged. This will also form an imperial 8vo. Volume. ART. XIII. LIST OF WORKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED. AGRICULTURE. An Essay on the Management of Hedges and Hedge-row Timber. By Francis Blaikie, Steward and Agent to W. T. Coke, Esq. 2s. On the Economy of Farm-yard Manure, and other Rural Subjects. With an Appendix and Plate of the Inverted Horse Hoe invented by Mr. Blaikie, 2s. BIOGRAPHY. Memoires pour servir à l'Histoire de la Vie Privée, da Retour, et du Regne de Napoleon en 1815. Par M. Fleury de Chaboulon, Ex-sécrétaire de l'Empereur Napoleon et de son Cabinet, Maitre des Requestes au Conseil d'Etat, Baron, Officier de la Légion d'Honneur, et Chevalier de POrdre de la Réunion. 2 Tom. 8vo. 11. 4s. Memoirs of the Private Life, the Return, and the Reign of Napoleon, in' 1815. By M. Fleury de Chaboulon, Exsecretary of the Emperor Napoleon and of his Cabinet, Master of Requests to the Council of State, Baron, Officer of the Legion of Honour, and Knight of the Order of Reunion. 2 vols. 8vo. 11. 48. -Memoirs of Miss G-, late of Heathcote-street, Mecklenburgh-square; illustrative of the nature and effects of Christian principles, compiled chiefly from her own papers. 12mo. 3%. ENTOMOLOGY. Dialogues on Entomology, in which the forms and habits of insects are familiarly explained. With 25 plates, 12mo. 12s. plain; 18s. coloured. FINE ARTS. An extraordinary fine Likeness of our late venerable Sovereign; engraved by J. Agar, after a Picture painted by Count Munster, the constant Attendant on his Majesty, during the latter years of his public life. 7s. 6d.-Proofs on India paper, 15s. A Series of Views of the Abbeys and Castles in Yorkshire; drawn by W. Westall, A. R. A. and engraved by F. Mackenzie. With Historical and Descriptive Accounts by the Rev. T. D. Whitaker, L. L. D. F. R. S. &c. No. 1. imp. 4to. 10s. 6d. Proofs, 15s. Views in Paris and its Environs: comprising a Series of highly finished Engravings, by the most eminent Artists, from Drawings made by Mr. Frederick Nash; the Literary Depart ment by Mr. John Scott. No. 1, containing 6 Views. royal, 4to. 16s. impeperial 4to. 11, 10s. Indian paper proofs, 21. 2s. The whole to be completed in Ten Numbers. |