"Bad as appearances may be, I have such a reliance on the prudence as well as courage of sir John Moore, that I am certain he would not risk the tarnishing his fame, and the honour of his troops, by bringing them into a situation where either were likely to be injured. I am persuaded that the steps we are preparing to take were not determined on by him without his having conceived an idea of their necessity; that it would do still more than rescue the name of his army from the obloquy which the 'great vulgar as well as the small,' from ignorance of the peculiar situations of the objects they arraign, are ever ready to throw upon what does not exactly meet their expectations. Not that I believe he would need lessly sacrifice a hair of any man's head who is under his command, to gain the proudest admiration which depends on the prejudging judgments of those whose voice may give popularity, but never can bestow fame. He, with every other veteran, must be aware that it is sometimes the duty of a general to risk the odium of being called too severely cautious; nay, of being stigmatized with the appellation of lukewarmness, and a hundred epithets of the same complexion, rather than purchase acclamations at the expense of humanity; and, by a brilliant rashness, hurry his brave followers into an extremity where death is inevitable. The mob may deify such a valiant fool; but true heroism is to have the courage to refuse as well as to give battle."

We now present a trait of a different kind, in compliment to the good sense of our countryman whom it brings forwards:

"Being now in the venerable cloisters of St. Dominique [Salamanca] I cannot leave them without recounting an adventure which, under their hallowed roof, befel our mutual friend captainHearing that a grand Te Deum was to be performed there, to invoke a blessing on the united arms of Spain and England, curiosity led him to be one of the audience. He found the holy place filled with the laity of Salamanca, besides the white brotherhood and flocks of religieuses of every rank from the neighbouring monasteries. The consecrated part of the congregation were arranged on either side of the main body of the church, clothed in all their sacerdotal attributes, and holding the sacred implements of their function. A very large standard, fringed and tasseled, and on which was painted or worked

the figure of the saint, was held in the hands of a priest of the highest order. This hallowed production is never brought forth but upon the most extraordinary occasions.

"Our friend, unconscious of being him. self an object of any attention, was standing very composedly listening to the loud swell of the organ, and the still louder voices of the tonsured choir, when a monk approached him respectfully, and saying something relative to a standard, took his hat from him, and at the same time taking his hand. Captainwho did not clearly understand what was said, supposed he was going to conduct him to a spot more convenient for seeing the religious ceremonies. Judge, then, his sur prise on finding himself not only led up to the consecrated banner of St. Dominique, but at having it placed in his grasp! At that moment the monks left him to be the supporter of their holy ensign; and a cloud of incense issuing from the surrounding censers, covered the flag and its holder. Imagine the feelings of our friend! to be thus made a partaker in papistical rites, and placed in a situation so conspicuous, and so hazardous of offending those we came to befriend, should he attempt to resist this enforced honour. However, the sudden roar of the organ, and the pealing voices of the fraternity, with the rapid advance of the marshalled corps des religieuses, interrupted his amazed cogitations, and hurried him forward, like a stream, still bearing in proud array the sainted standard. Though reluctant to make one in such an exhibition, yet as he had been seized upon, and presented with the flag as a testimony of the Spanish church's amity with that of England; he would not, in common charity and prudence, but behave with all requisite decorum and respect.

"I believe it was the first time that so revered an appendage of the Roman ca tholick faith was intrusted to the hand of a heretick. With a grave countenance he obeyed his fate; and the procession moved on, amidst a renewed burst of sacred minstrelsy. They passed through the great entrance; made rather a long circuit of the city, entering several clois ters and consecrated places, and halting at certain spots, where the holy singing again burst forth; and our friend was occasionally enveloped from the eyes of the attendant multitude by the vast volumes of smoking frankincense which rolled around him.

"After his patience and his arms were heartily fatigued by his ponderous load,

In the beginning of this article, we hinted generally at the occasional inelegance and incorrectness of sir R. Porter's language, and we shall now specify a few instances. P. 3. "I hope in heaven this may be the case. P. 46. "No day escapes but what you witness," &c. P. 103 "They never are fatigued with any employment more active than idleness. [What countryman is sir Robert? P. 110. "They both eat and drank." P. 122. et. al. he speaks of an institution called an infans trouvée; p. 112. et al. we have mervielle for merveille; and 125, &c. chanion for chanoin. False concords of noun and verb are also frequent. Six views in acquatinta, and a plan of the battle at Corunna, illustrate the volume.

IT was justly said by sir William Jones, that "every thing related to India partook of a kind of infinity." The mere directions for the voyage and the necessary preparations for performing it with safety and comfort would, in detail, make no diminutive volume. The minor proprie ties to be observed when arrived; the proper precautions on the subjects of health, connexions, personal conduct, and sundry other items, while, they add greatly to the interest, increase the bulk, of such instructive communications. The reflections of an attentive observer, with the speculations of a native of the commercial island, Britain, contribute still farther to enlarge a work intended to convey some notions of what India is. These are very useful, if not absolutely indispensable points of information to those who

adventure life and enjoyment in search of fortune in that burning clime. The imagination of youth, hurried away by the ardour of spirit attendant on their period of life, sees no evils, no difficulties, no dangers, where the experienced look around with apprehension, and proceed with caution. That caution we must commend; and if our verdict has any influence on the spirit of our youthful readers, we advise a sedate attention to the premonitions of those who have acquired, at much risk, and often at the cost of many vexations, a right to declare their opinions with frankness. This may be said, of almost every individual who has resided for any length of time in India; and certainly, it may be truly said, of those who have visited the provinces of that vast empire, generally, and have directed

their acquaintance with them to useful purposes. Military men have many opportunities for this. Deep meditation may not be the most obvious feature in the character of a soldier; yet when his mind takes this direction, the interest of his remarks is sure to be increased by the variety of service he has seen, and the events in which he has participated. He may observe if he will; when it can be added, he will observe if he may; nothing is wanting to entitle his opinions to deference. Captain Williamson resided many years in India. He beheld that country, its natives, its visiters, and its governours, with an observant eye. He saw and felt the inconvenience as well as the enjoyments of that remote empire, and he has laudably employed his abilities in contributing to the better acquaintance of the publick at home, with that distant region of the British dominions. It is true, that the absence of proper divisions, with an apparent negligence of distribution, gives his work an air of irregularity and confusion; but this is only apparent. It preserves more appropriate order than some others, in which the parade of book and chapter is scrupulously adhered to. We would not, however, be understood, as favouring the absence of those necessary breaks in a volume, which answer the purposes of distinctions, and not only direct the reader to a subject; but, by confining his attention, in some degree strengthen it. On the contrary, we think the maintenance of them is a point of propriety; and that this is not the only work which suffers by their absence.

An analysis of these volumes would describe the cadet about to proceed from England to India; the previous arrangements, with that intent; the course of the voyage; the arrival at Madras; the farther progress to Calcutta; the habits of the natives; the manners of the Europeans; the characters and number

of the servants, of the confidential agents, with the tricks of their sta tions; the modes of travelling, by cattle, by palanquin, by camel, by elephant, and the conveyances by water; the manners of female domesticks, with the amusements of their mistresses, their dress, accomplishments, and situation; the state of orphans in Bengal, with the publick institutions in their favour; the buildings and labourers of India; the seasons of that country; the accommodations of various kinds, amusements, markets, tanks, &c. the mode of collecting the revenue; the great advances lately made in most professions; houses of agency, of trade, of commission and remittance, &c. &c.

On most, or all, of these subjects we meet with information, very desirable as matter of previous acquaintance, by the young mind, especially; and calculated to modify that vehemence of anticipation which, in Britain, depicts India as a region "all gold and bounty."

The observations of capt. W. on sundry particulars of natural history, as well relating to inhabitants of the waters as to those which roam on land, especially his descriptions of the insect tormentors, and the serpent race, with which India abounds, are entitled to distinguished notice. Those which narrate atmospherick phenomena; the periodical risings of the rivers, with their consequences, though not new, are evidently the result of observation, and therefore valuable, as they confirm or correct, former accounts of the like subjects. We are also interested by the captain's speculations on additional articles of commerce, some of which look plausible enough; and by his proposals for the benefit of his Indian acquaintance. We do not, indeed, sanction all his projects; nor do we even give judgment on them; but we think many things that have fallen from his pen are deserving of commercial

attention. From this general commendation of his performance, we proceed to select some of its more striking particulars.

In the course of the voyage, nothing is so common as to bait a hook for sharks. Capt. W. thus describes this sport:

"Even at the depth of 50 feet, the shark may be distinguished as he approaches the bait, by a luminous appearance, extending in an oval form, in that direction in which he swims. He generally seizes with avidity, turning on his side at the moment; without which he could not get it into his mouth owing to the excessive length of his upper jaw. So soon as the bait is in his mouth, the fish, on feeling the resistance of the rope, makes a sudden plunge downward, at the same moment, recovering his former position. The hook, being extremely sharp, rarely fails to pierce the jaw, when, in an instant, the whole length of line will be run out. As no human force could be properly relied on to check the fish's course, the end of the rope is either fastened to some timber head, or to a tackle fall. The latter is preferable, because it adds to the length of the line, and does not check the fish so suddenly. Without the latter precaution, the rope may be snapped, or the hook torn away from the shark's jaw. The quantity of heavy line, added to the weight of the hooks and chains, soon bring the fish under command, when he is towed up to the gang way, and there, by means of a slipnot passed over his fins, hoisted into the waist.

"Few persons will taste of a blue shark, it being considered unwholesome; but of the brown shark, which rarely exceeds five feet in length (while the former has been known to measure near thirty) most of the seamen will solicit a steak. The average sizes of sharks may be from six to twelve feet in length: it is very common to collect a pailful of young ones, each about a foot long, that take refuge in the parent's maw. Behind the fins are usually several sucking-fishes, adhering to the shark's sides. These are supposed to live upon its blood; but some doubts may be entertained, at least whether that is its sole subsistence, when I state, that in Madras Roads I caught, by means of a hook and line put out for ground fishes, a sucking

fish that measured rather more than two feet.

We would add other minutiæ to this account. 1. The inexperienced

should cautiously refrain from fix, ing their eyes intently on those of a shark, while swimming near the ship. Females especially, have been known to swoon in consequence of long continued attention, and to become the prey of this ferocious depredator. 2. The power of this fish being in his tail, the axe should cut off that member instantly as he reaches the deck, lest he should knock somebo

dy overboard with a stroke of it, in struggling. 3. We have known the head of a shark taken in the morning, and separated from his body, to bite off the wrist of a man who incautiously ventured to put his hand into the mouth in the evening of the same day. It is probable that many cold blooded creatures retain life while the sun is above the horizon.

Much more dangerous are those moral sharks which strangers, youth especially, are surrounded with on their arrival in India. If we knew in what stronger language to convey our conviction of the dangers arising from them, we certainly would adopt it. We transcribe our author's description of them.

"Here I deem it an indispensable duty,” says capt. W. "to warn the young adventu rer not to dissipate his money, ruin his health, and injure his reputation, by frequenting taverns. In England, where persons who do not keep house must occasionally sit down to a meal in publick, custom has not only connived at, but sanctioned, the resort to coffee-houses, &c. With us, these afford convenience to thousands, who could never provide so comfortably at home, at the same expense. The coffeehouses in Europe may likewise be considered as the rendezvous of persons in the same line of business, and offering the opportunity for adjusting a thousand matters, which, either owing to remote residence, or to the pressure of other concerns, could not else be brought to immediate conclusion.

"The taverns in India are upon a very different plan. They are either of the first rate, at which publick dinners are occasionally given; or they are of that mean description which receive all who have a rupee to spend, under the determination of extracting that rupee, in some shape or other.