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    January 5, 1856J THE LEADEB. 17

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    A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF INDIA. r A Bird's E...

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    Mton Locke, Tailor and Poet. An Autobiog...

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    The Shaving Of Shagpat. Tlc Shachy Of Sh...

    The King then left him with a guard of twenty-five of his body-guard ; and they stood around him with bent bows , so that Khipil dared not move from his sitting posture . And the masons and the people crowded to see KMpil sitting on his master ' s chair , for it became rumoured about . When they beheld him Bitting upon nothing , and he trembling to . stir for fear of the loosening of the arrows , they laughed so that they rolled upon the floor of the hall , and the echoes of laughter were a thousandfold . Surely the arrows of the guard swayed with the laughter that shook them . N " ow when the time had expired for his sitting in the chair , Shahpesh returned to him , and he was cramped , pitiable to see ; and Shahpesh said , " Thou hast been exalted above men , O Khipil ! for that thou didst execute for thy master . has "been found fitting for thee . " Then he bade Khipil lead the way to the noble gardens of dalliance and pleasure that h © had placated and contrived . And Khipil went in that state described by the poet , when we go draggingly , with remonstrating members ,

    " Knowing a dreadful strength behind And a dark fate before . " They came to the gardens , and behold , they were full of weeds and nettles , the fountains dry , no tree to be seen—a desert . And Shahpesh cried , " This is indeed of admirable design , O Khipil ! Feelest thou not the coolness of the fountains ?—their refreshingness ? Truly I am grateful to thee ! And these flowers , pluck me now a handful , and tell me of their perfume . " Khipil plucked a handful of the nettles that were there in the place of flowers , and put his nose to them before Shahpesh till his nose was reddened ; and desire to rub it waxed in him , and possessed him , and became a passion , so that he could scarce refrain from rubbing it even in the King ' s presence . And the King encouraged him to sniff and enj oy their fragrance , repeating the poet ' s words : —

    " Methinks I am a lover and a child , A little child and happy lover , both ! When by the breath of flowers I am beguiled From sense of pain , and lull'd in odorous sloth . So I adore them , that no mistress sweet Seems worthier of the love that they awake : In innocence and beauty more complete . Was never maiden cheek in morning lake . Oh , while I live , surround me -with fresh flowers 1 Oh , when I die , then bury me in their bowers V And the King said , " What sayest thou , O my builder ? that is a fair quota . " tion , applicable to thy feelings , one that expresseth them ?" Khipil answered , " 'Tis eloquent , O great King ! comprehensiveness would be its portion , but that it alludeth not to the delight of chafing . "

    Then Shahpesh laughed , and cried , " Chafe not ! it is an ill thing and a hideous This nosegay , O Khipi ] , is for thee to present to thy mistress . Truly she will receive thee well after its presentation ! I will have it now sent in thy name , ¦ with , word that thou followest quickly . And for thy nettled nose , surely if the whim seize thee that thou desirest its chafing , to thy neighbour is permitted what to thy hand is refused . " So the King set a guard upon Khipil to see that his orders were executed , and appointed a time for him . to return to the gardens . At the hour indicated Khipii stood before Shahpesh again . He was pale , saddened , his tongue drooped like the tongue of a heavy bell , that when it soundeth givetli forth mournful sounds only : he had also the look of one battered with many beatings . So the King said , " How of thy presentation of the flowers of thy culture , O Khipil ?" He answered " Surely , O King , she received me with wrath , and I am shamed by her . "

    And the King said , " How of my clemency in the matter of tke chafing ?" Khipil answered , "O King of splendours ! I made petition to my neighbours whom I met , accosting them civilly and with imploring , for I ached to chafe , and it was the very raging thirst of desire to chafe that was mine , devouring intensity of eagerness for solace of chafing . And they chafed me , O King ; yet not in those parts which throbbed for the chafing , but in those which abhorred it . ' Then Shahpesh smiled and said , " 'Tis certain that the magnanimity of monarchs is as the rain that falleth , the sun that shineth : and in this spot it fex % tilizeth richness ; in that encourageth raukness . So art thou but a weed , O Khipil ! and my grace is thy chastisement . " We hope we have said , if not enough to do justice to " The Shaving o ^ Shagpat , ' enough to make our readers desire to see it . They will find it , compared with the other fictions which the season has provided , to use its own Oriental style , " as the apple tree among the trees of the wood . "

    January 5, 1856j The Leadeb. 17

    January 5 , 1856 J THE LEADEB . 17

    A Bird's Eye View Of India. R A Bird's E...

    A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF INDIA . r A Bird ' s Eye View of India . By Sir Erskine Perry , M . P ., late Chief-Justice o Bombay . John Murray . This unpretending little volume is favourably distinguished from the major ity of works on India , by its brevity . It is , nevertheless , a very slovenly specimen of book-making . The First Pn . it consists of two lectures , which the learned knight had intended to inflict upon his constituents at Devonport . The greater portion , however , of the book is taken up with extracts from a Journal kept during a tour through Upper India and Nepal ; while a concluding chapter—tliirty-scvcn pages of smaller typereproduces an essay on " The Geographical Distribution of the Princiual

    la nguages of India , ' which appeared three years ago in the transactions of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society . Lecture No . 1 is nothing more than a very indifferent outline of the superficial phenomena of India , its aspect , climate , and productions . It is an illchosen commencement ; mnny persons will be dissuaded by the barrenness of its manner imd details from venturing any further . This is the more to be regretted , because the second lecture contains much that is generally interesting to the move English reader , in the way of familiar pictures of Hindhie and There

    oo society . is nothing , indeed , either original or profound in the remarks of the lute Chief-Justice ; and it is much to be deplored that so many <> t the accessible works on the subject of India Imve been compiled by incompetent persons , either romantic ladies or travellers ignorant of a single native language . It is possible that such writers , being most susceptible ok novel impressions , may give the most graphic descriptions of scenery and the ordinary incidents of foreign travel . But , clenrlv , they can obtain no deep insight into character , nor throw nuy new light upon ancient institutions , whether religious , political , or social . The few vho are capable ,

    from long residence in the East , to impart sound and practical knowledge are for the most part too much occupied with official business to undertake a serious literary task in that enervating climate . And on their return to Europe they are glad to enjoy their merited repose with their family or at the Club , and wisely avoid the capricious rebuffs of publishers and the comments of newspaper critics .- Sir Erskine Perry is no exception to the average class of Indian writers . Although Chief-Justice of Bombay , his acquaint ance with the native languages barely sufficed for his daily and persona wants . This deficiency he himself honestly acknowledges and deplores ; and yet he undertakes to write and lecture upon the social and moral characteristics of the natives i believe of those ian dreamers who

    , and s , we , one Utop babble about " India for the Indians , " and insist upon a perfect equality between the rulers and the ruled . In former times the returned Anglo-Indian was always represented as a peevish , crotehetty , liverless , yellow-faced mummy , loosely wrapped in nankin , whose wealth and bad temper were a positive nuisance to his family and friends , until pallida mors beat the welltimed tattoo at his door . Nowadays all generic , and nearly all specific distinctions have disappeared ; but there still subsists a notable variety , chiefly recognisable by a half-shy , half-crabbed desire to get into Parliament , by some pet scheme for a railway or canal several thousand miles in length , and by a sudden affection for the " gentle Hindoo" whom they have kicked and cuffed during the twenty-odd years of their oligarchical despotism .

    It was in 1850 that Sir Erskine Perry made his tour through the most civilised districts of Hindostan . He was not then so much enamoured with the native character as he has since professed himself ; nor was he at all disposed to think well of their notions of government . It is with the utmost contempt that he speaks of the Gaikwar ' s Court at Baroda . In Raj poo tan a , the effects of native rule , according to his own confession , are most disastrous and lamentable , though for thirty years peace had prevailed without interruption , and , notwithstanding the exceeding fertility of the soil , nine-tenths of the country were uncultivated . And both " on this trip and in a former one , through " a native state j a murder , was committed almost under my nose , and was apparently regarded as a common event . " Again , he bears ample evidence to the wretched condition of Oude . He tells -us

    that all disputes are settled by the sword ; that " the commonest Zemindar ( or landowner ) keeps a hundred' matchlocks in pay , and some of the Talackdars ( landowners on a larger scale ) five and six hundred ; " that the husband man guides his plough ., " girt with sword and shield ; " that murders ajre prevalent ; and that the Farmers-general go forth with horse and foot and artillery to gather in the revenue . Let us turn from this sickening picture to the pleasant contrast afforded by Gorackpur , one of the provinces ceded from Oude . In 1829 the " jungle came up to the very doors ( gates ?) of the town , wild elephants constantly roamed through the cantonment at night , agriculture was quite stationary , population thin , and the revenue of the colleetorate was only five laks { M 50 , 000 ) . " In less than twenty years after

    this district came into British possession roads had been made ; large boats built on the river ; capital advanced by Calcutta merchants j opium , sugar , indigo , and grain , exported to a considerable amount ; and the revenue , under a light assessment , raised to twenty-two laks , or ^ £ 220 , 000 . On a smaller scale the intense selfishness and sensuality of the native character may be seen displayed in Bengal , where Lord Corawallis ' s Taobby , the " perpetual settlement , " has poured fabulous -wealth into the hands of a few individuals , who leave their miserable dependants in hopeless poverty while they pass their own lives in the midst of barbaric pomp and bestial pleasures . Take for instance

    —The Bettiah . Rajah , who pays three or five laks ( I forget which ) and pockets about twelve lake besides , and yet , on diligent inquiry , I cannot learn that such a millionaire is of the least benefit to the country ; and it is certain that if Government had the land instead of the Rajah , by additional cultivation and imp )* oved cultivation , the revenue might go up to thirty laks instead of fifteen . Of the misconduct of the native police various anecdotes are related . In the very heart of the Company ' s dominions , at Saharunpore , the traveller encountered " a number of men , many of them very well dressed , tied together " by a rope , under charge of a Naik and ten men , " witnesses going ; up

    before a native magistrate . Other men are described as being imprisoned or transported for murder—capital punishment being withheld when the corpse has not been found—but after a time proved innocent , though previously confessing themselves guilty , under the influence of terror and torture . On one occasion three prisoners gave a circumstantial account of the murder with which they were charged , and pointed out the spot where the bones would be found . Fortunately , an intelligent medical gentleman discovered that they belonged to three or four different bodies , and at that moment the murdered man walked into court and examined his own bones with much

    curiosity . He easily accounted for his long absence , and it was evident that false confessions had been extorted by the subordinate native police . Sir Erskine gives some curious details respecting Jung Bahadoor , the famous Nepalese Ambassador , who astonished the London world some four or five years ago . His account , however , does not strictly harmonise with Mr . Oliphant ' s narrative , which , we believe , has never been contradicted or impugned .

    Mton Locke, Tailor And Poet. An Autobiog...

    Mton Locke , Tailor and Poet . An Autobiography . By the Rev . Charles Kingsloy . < Jheap Edition . Chapman and Hall . Wb notice this cheap edition of Mr . Kingsley ' s very successful story , for the sake of the preface , which is new . It is addressed to working men , and is full of wise and earnest reflections . Mr . Kingsley ' a theory of social and political progress , apart from a little mysticism , which is not so prevalent as to confuse the general view , is sound , clear , anil practical . He tells the working incw of Great Britain tliat , during the live years which have elapsed since he wrote " Alton Locke , " he has scow some things to encourage , some to disappoint him , none to alter his opinions : — " Much has given mo hope ; especially in fuo North of Englaud . 1 believe-that there , at least , exiata a mans of prudence , self-control , genial and sturdy manhood , which will bo England '*) r « aervo-for « o for gonerationa yet to come . The lant five yearn , moreover , havo certainly boon yeava of progress for tho good

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 5, 1856, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05011856/page/17/