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    lation of these works will stimulate the...

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    INDIAN HISTORY. The History of the Briti...

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    EVA DESMOND. Eva Desmond; or. Mutation. ...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    Writings Of William Pateusot?. ^Si^S^S^R...

    incredible that an editor with some ^ literary skill and reputation should view with a kind of . superstitious veneration such writing as this , Or imagine that he is furthering the interests of sound knowledge by reprinting two volumes of similar matter .

    Lation Of These Works Will Stimulate The...

    lation of these works will stimulate the Q T H-B- LEAD E K . [ JSTo . 443 , September 18 , 1858 . . ¦ - ¦ ' — ' i'i' - ' . . . —^——^^—^™^—i—**^ " —^—^^> M ^^^^^^^^^^ T ^ " * , * . /» _ i | ¦ ¦ ' •»¦¦ . y 1 '¦ / ¦¦ . , ' , ¦ - .

    Indian History. The History Of The Briti...

    INDIAN HISTORY . The History of the British Empire in India . By Edward Thornton , Esq ., Author of the " Gazetteer of India . Second Edition . . W . H . Allan and Co . As the discovery of gold in California has made that country familiar to us , so the troubles in India have made that region familiar , which , long as we had been connected with it , had excited little popular interest . Much of this interest is due to the fearful anxiety felt when our kindred were being butchered and our Indian empire in danger of extinction , much was due to the wonderful and moving tale of romance and adventure , of peril and Of victory , of escapes , vicissitudes , sufferings , and successes , the examples of which are little known to us , because we do not so minutely study the history of the past , as we do that which m all its details the journalist from day to day , or from mail to mail , presents to us . If , in consequence of such resources ,, we learn modern history in greater

    extension , we miss tlie opportunity of bringing to bear the experience of the past , while our judgment loses in calmness and solidity what our feelings gain in passion and intensity . As the romance of of Indian adventure dies off ; because victory after ¦ v ictory overcomes peril and leaves little room for anxiety , so will our interest in India be lessened , but it will never pass away , for when war is succeeded by peace , so will the hazards of the campaign be replaced by the results of enterprise , aiid a vast field of exertion being opened we shall have the greater part in the welfare of India , because we shall have a greater English army there , a greater number of our citizens established there as traders and as settlers , and because in the expansion of its resources we shall find the means of extending our

    own . Next to the history of our own race , and before that even of the United States , the history of India will take a position of importance in the course of historical studies . The history of the United States is less studied in books than in newspapers , because it is a contemporary history of a community whose development is daily , and whose institutions , having an intimate relation with our own , are brought home to us not b y dry narrations , but by the incidents ; , the discussions , the leading articles of " the hour , by the oral information of our own citizens ,

    and by the communications of those American citizens who come among us . It is a contemporary history like our own , passing from mouth to mouth , and in which we who are actors have the less need to consult a compiler or a recorder . The history of India from this year is likewise one of new incidents and of a new development ; but these , arisingfrom the events of the past , animated and influenced by them , require the illustration of their experience to enable us to judge accurately of the present , and safely to legislate tor the future . The interest too , in India , is not that of mere curiosity ,

    nor prompted by the inquisitiveness of merchants or adventurers , but we have now imposed on us a moral responsibility , the more grave because it bears on the welfare of so large a portion of the human race . Solohg aswe entrusted the government ofIndia nominally to the "East India Company , but in reality to the Ef *» t India Civil Service , we had little concern in the , details of Indian administration or the events of the past on which the local institutions were moulded j but the time has arrived when , as a few fear and most entertain no doubt , the Parliament and people of England will take a much more active share in all questions affecting India . Thus ,

    as this responsibility is acquired , it becomes mourn * bent on us to make ourselves better acquainted with ! Indian history , that so we may the better understand those records which the correspondents of ^ the ^ re 88 ^ rovidei ^ or <^ is ^ nd * tliat ^ e » may » notTbo » led away by . local impressions and prejudices , by the claptrap of cliques and factions to approve and support measures which may inflict grievous injury on our Indian subjects and on our own citizens who have settled abroad . Many who are impressed by such convictions will betake themselves to the study of Indian history , nn 4 in our colleges and schools it is to be hopqcl a doe :, provision will bo made for auoh teaohing . It u a very great question , indeed , whether much of

    ancient history should not be displaced from our course of instruction or made subsidiary to this essential study , for while India deeply and immediately affects us , which Greece and R ome do not , so its history affords the wide teachings on which historical expe rience is based , and all those characteristics-which are required in an educational apparatus . As a means of training the mind , Indian historv does not yield to that of Greece , when it comes to be taught with the illustrations of Indian geography , Indian ethnology , Indian institutions and Indian literature . The history , of

    Herodotus , the invasion of Xerxes , the retreat of the Ten Thousand , the campaigns of Alexander , and the Eastern wars of the Romans may still be taught , but subsidiarily ; for the time has come when the whole curriculum of historical study must be altered * if our colleges are to remain the focal schools for political training and for preparation for . the public service . The histories of Greece and Rome must become subsidiary and subordinate , the history of England must take a real and prominent place , and the history of India be provided for . It is now of the smallest moment to us how the

    Areopagus was constituted , how the Roman tribes voted , how doubtful is the application of a Roman law or of a prretorian decision , in what manner the patricians or the Csesars were restrained , what was the mythology of Greece , and what were the minute distinctions of the sects of the Academy and the Porch . So long as such discussions were useful elements in the apparatus of instruction , it was desirable to maintain them , but teaching must take a more practical shape : and while we avoid the conflict of English

    party opinions , we shall have to consider how lar this or that English law or institution is applicable or not to nations having other experience , oilier prejudices , other modes of . thought , how for , in fact , a . ' principle ' may be . maintained , or perverted by its inculcation , in one form or another , sjuted or unsuited to another condition of society ; and liable to be counteracted in its beneficial working by the mere prejudices of the population among whom it is to be tried .

    The history of India presents all that is required for effective teaching . It extends over a very wide period , afFects many populations , and abounds in incidents of various character . In order to give an adequate impression to the student , its several portions must be discussed in detail , and thoroughly illustrated , as well by all the aids of local circumstances as by the light of comparative history . There we find successive invasions by foreign hordes , as in China , and the country successively subjected to the domination of foreign dynasties ; and yet , in such large districts as Bengal , Bchar , and Orissa , for instance , we find the local population , even in the present davof Indian origin , pr eserving their

    , language and many of their ancient institutions . It is astonishing to us to see with how small a force we have subjected populations so large , and we are anxious to inquire how far the influence of other dominant races has been permanent , and how far ours can * be made so ; We there seek to ascertain the extent of Mahometan influence , to what mutations it has been subjected , how far it has been merely temporary and superficial , and where and how it has taken root . We may study the disposition of the Bengalee , ascertain how far lie has yielded to the political power of the Moguls or of

    ourselves , and how far to the moral impression of either . The mere class of revolts and insurrections is one to be , studied with the zeal of a statesman and the discrimination of a philosopher . The mind of India is to be surveyed with reforenee to the persistence of some doctrines , and . to the revolutions which in some distriot . a it has undergone by the suppression of Buddhism , and its replacement by Brahmanism or Mahomctanism , Then there all the problems of race , which embrace the proliflo populations of the plains , the

    wild aboriginal tribes of the hills and the jungles , the Indo-Europeana of the . mountains , the many classes of immigrants , the ciFect of climate and of mixture of blood on Paraeos , Jows , Greeks , ArmenianB ^ and ^ nglish ^ ndJiluL ^^ these observations to the question of the establishment of our own pooplo in India . The history of India in its bntiroty , or in portions , has already employed many men of great ability , but it still requires a wider development and more liberal encouragement . The effect of recent events has been to eause the ropubllcation > n cheaper and more popular forma of the histories of Mill and of Edward Thornton , and the production of now works , original or compiled . The extensive

    circucomposition of others , wherein we shall see displayed the philosophy of Indian history , The application of comparative history to its annals , and the recital of political history , , accompanied , as in later works on our own history , by the successive epochs of Indian literature , institutions , arts , and manufactures , so that we may at each stage see the people in their entirety , and not the simple reflex of Mahmoud , of Ghizni , Akbar , or Aurungzcbe . To some extent the annals of each viceregal reign as recorded by Mill or Thornton , prepare the way for this more extended treatment of the subject , for the reigns of those great men are marked as much by the moral victories achieved over ignorance and superstition as by the triumphs of arms , which prostrated corrupt satraps and extended the frontier *

    of our empire . In the panegyrics of Mussulman emperors and heroes , in the Argeen Akberry and in . other institutes , or in the enactments of the Indian Legislature , we have to investigate how much of all this achievement belongs to the simple record of the past or is to be recognised as vitally existent . Many of us have to learn for the first time how far the village systems affords the basis of municipal organisation , how far the punchayat may authorise a modification of the jury system , how far the prevalence of a systematic foreign legislation , under Persian interpretation , has prepared the people for a foreign judicature of more liberal tendency . We shall have presented to us land tenures of partial application mid of modern institution which we shall be

    told do not admit of amendment or modification , and we shall have to examine the working of tenures of more ancient dale which have been subjected to the identical ' mutations with successful results . In the records of India we have the opportunity of : checking theory ¦ by practice , and of finding how far legislation or administration alleged to be productive of advantage to one class has enriched or impoverished the mass of thcrcomniuiuty , has . complied ' iii fact with the only real test of good government , the improvement of the condition of the greater number . ¦ t t

    The history of India , it will be seen , is inimaely connected with direct political teaching-, and it must hereafter be constantly referred to and frequently discussed , so that no man of ordinary intelligence can safely be ignorant of its leading facts any more than he can of the framework and main details of our own history . It will , therefore , be found very useful to . possess a work like that of Mr . Thornton , which , in its present condition , affords in a comp act and cheap form , and in so much detail , the history of English India . It is one advantage and one disadvantage of this work that a single chapter is alone dedicated to the prce-English history of India , while it is a more serious disadvantage that it closes with the governorship of Lord Ellenborough in 1 S 44 . To have added so much new matter would , of course , have altered the scope of terms

    the work , and prevented its production on more accessible to the mass of readers . Some will be better satisfied that Mr . Thornton has abstained from this recent portion , for his position as unoliveml of the Company , liU 3 as much tendency to expose him to the suspicion of bius , as it gives him a cluim to the possession of accurate and authentic information . One consequence of a cheap edition is , time the notes and references arc suppressed , but one feature of the old work is preserved , and that js « copious index . The glossary of Indian terms 1 ms been extended , though , Mr . Thornton . avoid * , tho use of Indian terms where English terms will correctly cxpross the idea , and hero is likewise a ohrouplogical index , and altogether the work has most of the materials required for reference or lor self-study .

    Eva Desmond. Eva Desmond; Or. Mutation. ...

    EVA DESMOND . Eva Desmond ; or . Mutation . 8 vols . Smith , Elder , and Co . It is not praise too high to say Unit this uoyo 1 is far beyond the average run of similar works ol lictlon . There is power , pathos , and—wnut . < hV 6 r 6 ~ i * ar ( TiiTri ; lrc ' ffo ^ exnctiw 8 ' -trimes—owgwauXyJW conception and oatasf-ropho . The purpose ol tlie writer apparently is to show that first lovo , however deep-seated , may ultimately givo way to time , merit , and the happiness consequent on the equal flow of harmonious wadded life . There may P « b » bly bo a dcoper purpose to bo served , but it so »• has escaped our notice , and will not very niucn matter to tho million who read but for amusement . The prominent okaraotors in tho work arc J ^ vu

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 18, 1858, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18091858/page/20/