knowing that, in doing so, he was best consulting the dignity of his own character.

It is an extraordinary circumstance, that those very concessions, which were so firmly withheld from Lord Hastings, were spontaneously granted to Lord Amherst, only three or four years afterwards. It is possible that the aversion which the emperor so strongly felt to grant these concessions to Lord Hastings arose, not so much from the concessions being in themselves a degradation of the royal dignity, as from granting them in compliance with a demand, in which latter circumstance the real degradation lay. Let the cause, however, be what it may, the concessions were granted, and the following is but a faint and brief description of the meeting which took place between the emperor and Governor-general; both sides vying with each other in their endeavours to give éclat to the event.

Lord Amherst arrived at Delhi on the 15th February 1827, and was received at the outposts of the city by the heir-apparent and Capt. Grant, commandant of the palace guards, the prince Selim, his majesty's third son, having gone on to meet him previously, with a complimentary message and invitation from the emperor. On the 17th, his lordship paid his visit of ceremony, and was received on terms closely approaching to equality, such as Lord Hastings had stipulated for when in the Upper Provinces, but which the old king would not then hear of. On the visit of Lord Amherst, his majesty received the Governor-general standing, and with an embrace; after which he mounted his throne, and beckoned to his lordship to be seated in a chair placed for him near the throne. This was conceived to be so novel and extraordinary an innovation of established etiquette, that the natives declared, in their expressive language, that the sun of the house of Timoor had then set, never to rise again. His majesty was in great agitation during the first part of the interview, and seemed to be playing a game which his own judgment condemned; but on finding himself fairly seated on his throne, and Lord Amherst below him, he became more assured, and went through the rest of the ceremony with his usual composure and dignity. He told Lord Amherst that he adopted him as his son, and appointed him vizier of the empire, and hoped the Company might retain possession of the country so long as they continued to act with moderation and lenity towards the natives. He asked his lordship his age, and if he had ever served his king in any other capacity than the present; and then, taking off his richest string of pearls, he threw it round Lord Amherst's neck, observing, that he gave him the only thing of value he had left. The scene altogether was an affecting one, and called forth the sympathy of every generous heart present. It would have been magnanimous in Lord Amherst to have rested contented here; he presented no nuzzur, and was seated, which were concessions that had never been known before at the court, and quite sufficient to mark a distinction between the Governor-general and common people; but his lordship thought otherwise, and required the aged monarch to return the visit at the residency, on the 24th of the month.

The emperor was accordingly conducted by Sir Charles Metcalfe and the

commanding officer of the palace guards, and Lord Amherst and suite met him half way; they then proceeded towards the residency, under the customary salutes from the artillery and all the troops in cantonment. The scene altogether was grand and imposing, and greatly superior to any thing ever before witnessed. The royal party had exerted every means to do credit to their aged and beloved monarch, but the Governor-general and his suite equalled, if not exceeded, the pomp and splendour of the royal cortége. The compact order and soldier-like appearance of the body-guard surpassed any thing the natives could produce, while his richly-dressed aids-decamp, as well as secretaries, vied in oriental splendour and glittered in the morning sun with great effect.

At the residency his majesty was received with every demonstration of honour and respect; he sat on his throne, which had been sent at his parti cular request, and Lord Amherst in a chair, as on the former occasion of his visit at the palace. Presents, in shawls and jewels, to the amount of a hundred thousand rupees, were presented to him, besides two elephants and six horses, splendidly caparisoned. On that occasion, the streets were literally crammed with elephants, horses, &c., and the gorgeous Eastern costume of the riders exceeded any thing that had been seen before.

His majesty appeared highly pleased with his reception and treatment. He surveyed the rooms at the residency, and remarked that it was the first English house he had ever been in; he then called Lord Amherst up to him, and taking his lordship's hand between both his, shook it, and laughed heartily, as much as to say, "I am half an Englishman now myself;" and well he might, for the contrast which he might, and undoubtedly did, draw between the uniformly kind and generous conduct of the British Government towards himself, and that which his unfortunate father, the late Shah Aulum, experienced at the hands of the barbarous Mahrattas, must have impressed him with feelings of gratitude for his magnanimous friends and protectors.

With the exception of the commotion occasioned by Jehangeer's misconduct, and the little etiquette breeze above described, the reign of Akber II. may be said to have been confined to the management of the court and his family, which appears to have given him full occupation. His majesty had three sons, by his lawful wives; Mirza Aboo Suffur, the eldest son, the present Emperor of Delhi, is a scholar and poet; he was always, from policy and inclination, attached to the British interests, or he would have long ago been set aside from the succession, never having been a favourite with his father, and being detested by the favourite queen, his mother. Mirza Baber, the second surviving son, was one of the most depraved wretches in existence, and given up to debaucheries of every description; the third son, Mirza Selim, was the handsomest man of the court, and the father's petted son, and, from all accounts, deservedly so. Besides these, the late emperor left a numerous offspring, who, with their connexions, were wholly maintained out of the allowance assigned to the emperor by the British Government, and in consequence, there were hundreds of the blood

royal obliged to subsist on the paltry allowance of twenty or thirty rupees a month.

Until a very recent period, all the princes, as well as princesses, agreeably to Asiatic policy, were immured within the walls of the palace, and never permitted to go beyond the gates; but the late Major Macpherson exerted his influence with the emperor, and at last obtained a free permission for the princes to go out, for which they were so grateful to the major, that they presented him with a handsome sword, as a memento of the sense they entertained of the valuable boon he had procured for them.

His majesty's harem is said to have consisted of three hundred ladies, of all ages and ranks; and so wretched are these miserable victims of a vitiated state of society, that they have been known frequently to commit suicide.

The favourite queen was said to be a woman of ability, and appeared to have exercised the most unbounded influence over the mind of her husband, which is singular, as she long since ceased to have any personal attractions. Several English ladies, who have had the privilege of seeing her, declared her to be both black and monstrously stout. She directed every thing in the palace, and was an exception to the rule which Mohamedans generally observe, of treating their women as an inferior order of beings; for this they have the sanction of their Prophet and the founder of their religion, who, being asked if the advice of a woman was to be taken under any circumstances, answered-"Certainly; ask their advice, and having got it, act in direct opposition to it."

The late Akber Shah passed the greater part of his time in the society (if it could be so called) of his women; and the following brief detail of the mode in which that monarch occupied the day, may serve as a specimen of the manner of the people in general of the Musulman faith.

He rose about an hour before day-break, when a gun was fired to notify to all good Mohamedans and subjects that the king of the world was going to say his prayers. This important duty over, the rest of the morning was occupied in walking through the gardens, or in the kingly sport of flying pigeons and paper kites, in which he was assisted by his courtiers; on returning from this exercise, he generally partook of a slight refreshment, and transacted the little business left for him to do, till about noon, when he went to sleep for a short time.

At sun-set, the second prayers are said, when the dinner is announced, which, though the principal meal among Mohamedans, is soon despatched; and the remainder of the evening is passed in the tranquil enjoyment of the hookah, and hearing the females of his seraglio relate the long, traditionary tales regarding the adventures of ancient heroes and demi-gods. At eleven. o'clock, prayers are again said, and a gun fired, to announce to the world that the great king is going to rest, and all other persons may do the same. The late emperor had a fine, strikingly-benevolent expression of countenance, and his character strictly corresponded with his physiognomy; he was truly a good man, but a weak prince; and, therefore, admirably suited to the times in which he lived, for he never could have controuled the tur

bulent spirit of the nobles of former days. His temper was so easy and confiding, that it could be moulded by any body who strove to take the trouble; consequently, he was a mere creature in the hands of his servants, who imposed upon him in all imaginable ways.

CRITICISM ON WORKS ON INDIA.

TO THE EDITOR.

SIR: In looking over, a few days ago, the Journal des Savans for the last six years, I was surprised to find, in the No. for May 1834, in an article by the Baron de Sacy, the following remarks: "Le critique, en répliquant à la défense de M. Tod, a cru pouvoir récuser sans restriction, non seulement mon jugement particulier, mais celui de toute la Société Asiatique de Paris, dans une question ou il s'agit, dit-il, du mérite d'un ouvrage tel que l'Histoire de Rajast'han, considéré sous le point de vue de la mythologie, des antiquités, et surtout sous celui d'un tableau des mœurs, des coutumes, et de l'état actuel de cette contrée. Si l'on admette la base sur laquelle repose une semblable récusation, aucun de nous ne pourrait ni porter son jugement, ni même avoir une opinion plausible sur tous les faits de l'histoire ancienne, desquels nous apprécions la certitude ou la vraisemblance sur des témoignages écrits dont nous ne saurions vérifier l'exactitude nous-mêmes."

How this passage escaped my notice when that number of the Journal was received at Bombay by the Literary Society, of which I am an unworthy member, I know not; but as these remarks relate to a general subject of some importance, I may be permitted, although so much time has elapsed since they were published, to observe, that they apply to the following postscript of a letter which was inserted in vol. viii. of the Asiatic Journal (new series), p. 118: "P.S. Invidious as it may appear, I cannot avoid adding that, had the praises conferred on his work, which Lieut.-Col. Tod so complacently quotes, been bestowed by the Director of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, they would have conferred upon it such a value as would probably have prevented any person from venturing to criticize it; but, on subjects so multifarious as those discussed in that work, and such as have any claim to originality being restricted entirely to India, I may be allowed to express my opinion, that neither the Baron de Sacy nor the Asiatic Society were competent judges to decide on the merits or demerits of the Annals of Rajasthan, either as a mythological, antiquarian, or historical work, and particularly as one which professed to exhibit the manners, customs, and actual state of Rajpootana."

The question, therefore, is simply, whether or not there exists in Europe such published information respecting the mythology, antiquities, and history of India, and the manners, customs, and actual state of its inhabitants, as would enable any person to form a correct opinion on these subjects from books alone. For, if not, the observation contained in that postscript must be considered to be well-founded, and particularly with respect to such a work as the Annals of Rajasthan; because the difficulty of properly criticizing it consists in the being able to distinguish between the circumstances which Colonel Tod has correctly stated, and the character which he has given to them-between facts and mere suppositions, which have not even plausibility to invest them

with the appearance of reality. As an instance, I may remark, that the reviewer of Gleig's India in the Asiatic Journal observed: "We have already noticed Mr. Gleig's propensity to assume the speculations of fanciful writers as unquestionable facts, and upon those frail and sandy foundations to build up the most important inferences of the early part of his compilation. The philosopher of Laputa busied himself in the experiment of extracting sunbeams from cucumbers; by a process as felicitous, Mr. Gleig extracts them from the wildest theories of Oriental scholars. The dreams of Colonel Tod and Major Wilford seem to him to be strong as proofs of Holy Writ.' -Amongst the fallacies, however, which are thus made to perform the part of facts, we were not a little surprised to remark the supposed resemblance between the institutions of ancient India and the feudal system of Europe. The analogy is altogether visionary and absurd." To this critique Colonel Tod replied at considerable length, and in particular remarked: "Having substantiated my position by authorities for which your soi-disant philanthropist's may hardly be deemed an equivalent, I would briefly advert to its reception by those who, without any personal knowledge of the subject, could only view it as a theory. In what a different tone, and to what different purpose, does the venerable De Sacy perform the censor's office! La seconde division de l'ouvrage que nous analysons, composée, ainsi qu'il a été dit, de cinq chapîtres, offre une esquisse du système féodale des Rajpoutes, comparée avec celui de l'Europe. Les details très curieux dans lesquels l'auteur est entré sur ce système, et dont il justifie l'exactitude, soit par le récit de divers évènemens qui en ont été les consequences, soit par un assez grand nombre de documens originaux, qu'il a réunis dans un appendix, forment un tableau d'un grand intérêt, mais peu susceptible d'extrait.'"+ That a critic, who has no personal knowledge of a subject, is nevertheless the best judge of it, is a position which Colonel Tod would have found it impossible to maintain; although with respect to India he has merely repeated the opinion which Mr. Mill expressed in the preface to his History of British India. It may, however, be more justly supposed that, had the Baron de Sacy been personally acquainted with India, he would have been at once aware that the very circumstances which Colonel Tod himself relates, prove that the feudal system never did exist in India, and that the civil and religious institutions of the Hindus rendered it impossible that such a system could have ever existed among them.

I also observed, in the letter now referred to, "In what manner, indeed, it could ever have occurred to Lieut. Col. Tod to attempt identifying the Jauts of India with the Getæ, seems inexplicable; but it is in support of this hypothesis that he has indulged in what one of your correspondents has very justly characterized as dreams: for these reveries are in direct opposition to philology, geography, chronology, and history. The whole, also, of the first six chapters, and various other passages of the work, are written precisely in that spirit of speculation, resting merely on bare assumption, without the least attempt at proof, by which the papers of Wilford were so remarkably distinguished. But the slightest examination of ancient history would have at once shown how hopeless an endeavour it must be to bring the Massagetæ into India, and thus to connect the usages and religion of Rajpootana with those of Germany and Scandinavia, by means of supposed migrations of Massageta into the latter countries. For, even after reading all that Lieut.-Col. Tod has written, it is impossible, though all his perversions of mythology and history were admitted, to discover any trace of resemblance either in the characters

• Asiatic Journal, new series, vol. iv. p. 282.

† Ibid., vol. v. p. 45.