iris is soft and dull; their eye-brows are in general well formed, the mouth and nose of rather a European cast, though the former has a little the character of that of the Jews. The hair is black and long, but rather soft, and has no natural tendency to curl. The females of the inferior castes, from the harsh treatment they meet with, and the severe labour they must undergo, are of diminutive stature, never handsome, and very early in life have a haggard appearance; but even then they are capable of enduring a great deal of fatigue, and in some of the mountain districts, the whole labour of the field devolves upon them, the men being trained to arms. The women of the high castes are very different; their forms are delicate and graceful, their limbs finely tapered and rounded, their features mild, their eyes dark and languishing, their hair fine and long, their complexions glowing, as if they were radiant, and their skins remarkably polished and soft. The only feature about them that does not quite harmonize with European notions of female symmetry, is the size and projection of their ears; but, with this exception, nothing can be more lithe and sylph-like than a genuine Hindû beauty.'-vol. ii. pp. 307, 308.

The dress and decorations of the females, are curious.

The dress of the females is very elegant, and upon a fine form it is far more classical than the fashionable bundles of knots, tatters, and ends of ribbon, with two-bushel sleeves, and head-dresses as broad as the umbrella over a palanquin, which, in the present year, 1830, give the belles of England an outline, which, if it should please nature to fill up with flesh and blood, would certainly render them of all created beings the most shapeless, or, at any rate, the most unmeaning in shape, either for use or for ornament. The close part of the Hindu female dress is a jacket with half sleeves, which fits tight to the shape, and covers, but does not conceal the bust, and this, in females of rank, is made of rich silk. The remainder of the dress is the shalice, a large piece of silk or cotton, which is wrapped round the middle, and contrived to fall in graceful folds, till it be below the ancle on one leg, while it shows a part of the other. It is gathered into a bunch in front, and the upper end crosses the breast, and is thrown forward again over the shoulder, or over the head like a veil. The belles prolong their dark eye-lashes by lines of black drawn from the corners of the eyes; and the palms of their hands, their nails, the soles of their feet, and sometimes also the roots of their hair, are tinted red. The women of the lower castes seldom wear any thing but the shalice of pure white cotton, but even then, upon a graceful figure, the method of arranging it looks very handsome. The hands and feet are always adorned with rings and other ornaments, and sometimes a jewel is worn from the nose. Even the working-girls have their anklets and armlets of glass, tin, brass, or tutenag, and sometimes of silver. The higher classes wear a kind of slippers, or sandals, which are long, turned up, and sometimes ornamented at the points; but the poorer classes go barefooted. The ornaments that are worn upon the person are the only costly articles in the establishment of a Hindu, but they are of a nature not soon to wear out, and they never become unfashionable. Whether it be that the cotton-wool suffers from the long sea carriage, or that the manipulation by the delicate fingers of the women, or the art of spinning, works the thread into a finer consistency, the cotton cloth of India is certainly much more durable than that which is made in Europe, so that the clothing costs very little. It seems,

indeed, that the cotton goods of England are not at all adapted for the natives of India. Their habits are permanent, and both that and their capacity for buying require that their clothing should be permanent too. The cottons of England are better suited to a people among whom fashion is continually shifting. A considerable quantity of cotton twist and yarn has, however, of late years, been sent from Britain to India, because the spinning by machinery is cheaper than even by the fingers of the Hindus; but it is doubtful whether much of the cloth that is wove from that yarn, be worn by the natives of India, as, being a mercantile speculation, the greater part of it is probably dispersed in the country trade among the isles.'-vol. ii. pp. 310-312.

The Hindoos are remarkable for the great simplicity of their habitations, and the frugality of their internal arrangements. The same character applies to their food. The high and pure castes eat no animal flesh; they live chiefly on vegetable oils, on ghee, or clarified butter, notwithstanding that it is the produce of the sacred cow. They also eat fish.

The kind of grain that forms the staple article of Hindu food varies with the climate, just as is the case in Europe. In the mountainous part of the south, the principal grain is raggy-the thick spiked dog's-tail-grass (cynosurus corocanus); in the Deccan and the southern part of Hindustan Proper, it is rice or barley, or some of the vetches or pulses, according to the nature of the country; and in the north there is some wheat. The rice is, however, seldom the chief article of food in the inland districts. It does not grow very abundantly there, and it is the principal grain sold for the maintenance of the Hindû population of the towns, as the wheat is for the Europeans. In the populous parts of the country, there are sometimes mills, where the grain is prepared for being made into cakes; and where this is not the case, it is ground between stones by the hand, or beaten in a mortar. Where Indian corn is used, it is generally roasted. The cakes are sometimes made with water alone, and then they soon become as hard as a brick, and so heavy that they sink in water; but in the better preparation, milk and salt are added. The quantity of salt, and also of spices, which the Hindus use in the preparation of their food, is considerable; and becomes necessary on account of the insipidity of the grain which they are obliged to use, while at the same time it prevents the tendency which the vegetable oils have to become rancid, and to injure the stomach. The food of the wealthier Hindus is, if possible, more simple than that of the lower castes; and their drink is invariably water, which is cooled in porous jars, in the same manner as in Egypt. Those of low and impure caste are fond of intoxicating liquors-the toddy of the palm, and the bang made from the hemp. The Hindûs are very particular about the cleanness of their vessels, whether of metal or of earth, and as the latter are broken after they have been applied to certain uses, the potter of a village has constant employment. It must not be supposed, however, that his occupation is always similar to that of an European potter. The earthen vessels are chiefly for cooking or cooling the victuals, the plate of the Hindi, being, in many instances, a leaf, or two or three leaves sewed together, the doing of which is part of the occupation of the potter.'-vol. ii. pp. 315, 316.

Every act of a Hindoo's life almost, is preceded, or terminated, by some ceremony or another. But as that life draws to a close, the ceremonies thicken around him.

'If a dying man cannot be removed to the Ganges, or any other sacred stream or place, he is taken into the open air, and laid upon the sacred cusa grass (a species of poa;) if near the Ganges, he is taken to that stream, has the mud and water thrown upon him, and the salgram stone laid close by; and there he remains, amid the performance of mummaries, till he expires. Then the women howl; the relations lament; the body is washed; the sign of the caste made on the face; and the mouth filled with betel. Towards night, the pariahs carry the body to the place of funeral. That is a pile, if the deceased has been a worshipper of Vishnu, but a grave, if a follower of Siva. When that place is arrived at, the relations proceed to examine whether the body be wholly dead, a fact which they were not previously very anxious to ascertain. For this purpose the body is pinched, water is dashed upon it, and noises are made with drums and trumpets. If a death take place in a house, that and the neighbouring ones are polluted, and all the people fast till the pariahs have carried away the body, which they do not by the door, but through a breach in the wall made on purpose. After the funeral, the nearest relation goes to the house of the deceased with a staff to drive off the evil spirits; and they must fast, or nearly so, till the Brahmins are fed and fee'd, and all the rites performed. The funeral obsequies are performed ninety-six times in the course of a year; but the formal mourning, which includes the abstinence from betel, is very brief.'—vol. ii. pp. 328, 329.

One would imagine that the whole time of a Hindoo is given up to the performance of religious duties, and that whatever time he may be able to devote to worldly business, he certainly could have none for amusement. This, however, is by no means the case, and the number of those who are trained up in India, to make pastime for the public, is astonishingly large. The poet who recites his metrical tale, and calls up the energetic passions by the tenderness and force of his appeals, is a great favourite amongst the Hindoos. Our author speaks very highly too, of the professional wrestlers of India. Their jugglers seem to be altogether unparalleled in their dexterity, an excellence for which they are indebted to the exquisite delicacy of their hands, and the extreme sensibility of their sense of touch. But to a stranger the apparently daring and perilous, but, still, in their hands, perfectly safe, and innocent pastime, of the Swing, appears the most remarkable of all their recreations.

.

The swing consists of two pieces of strong bambû,-one fastened securely in the ground, and steadied either by struts or gy-ropes, the other lies across the top, and is placed upon the first as a pivot. A rope is fastened to each end of the cross-piece; the shorter having a strong hook at the end, and the larger reaching down to the ground. The person to be swung has a strong bandage passed round his body, below which on the back the hook is passed, with the point outwards. By this arrangement the hook is in no danger of slipping, neither does it hurt the swinger. When the swinger is attached by his rope and hook to the one end of the

cross-piece, the people below take hold of the rope at the other end, and run rapidly round till the centrifugal force of the swinger stretches the rope, and projects him right out in the air, in which he seems floating; while the machine continues in motion, drums and other instruments of noise are beaten by the applauding crowd, while the attitude of the floating figure and the trappings with which it is ornamented, have a most imposing effect. The same centrifugal force which stretches the rope, not only keeps the body of the swinger in a horizontal position, but prevents him from receiving any injury, if the apparatus be strong enough to retain him. His head being nearest the centre of motion, the tendency of the blood is all the other way, and thus though the motion is very rapid, he does not feel the least inconvenience.'-vol. ii., pp. 332, 333.

The reader must be content with these extracts. The state of arts and industry amongst the Hindoos is described in the remainder of the volume, with the same liveliness, and, we believe, the same accuracy, as the traits of character and manners, which we have cited. Much as the author has laboured to be impartial in his account, and we have no doubt that he has fully, and very creditably accomplished his purpose, yet we have risen from the perusal of these volumes, with a far less sanguine hope than we before entertained, of seeing India the theatre of any great moral improvement, and with quite as little expectation of speedily beholding her numbered amongst the sources of our commercial advancement.

It impossible for us to leave the consideration of India with reference to its natural productions, without particularly calling the public attention to the munificent manner in which the Company has, for a long period, endeavoured to benefit the horticulture of Europe, and especially of England, by judicious contributions from the vegetable wealth of India. Under the direct patronage of this body, the Flora of our Eastern Empire has been explored with a degree of expedition and success, such as, under ordinary circumstances, we could only expect to see attained after the course of centuries. Had the Company received the whole of Hindostan in trust, for the use of the Horticulturists of Europe, they could not have done greater service to science, or conferred more honour on themselves, than they have, out of a mere principle of noble generosity.

We believe that, at this moment, a countless multitude of dried specimens of India plants are in preparation under judicious care, to be distributed gratuitously amongst the various botanical museums, private as well as public, throughout Europe. At a moment when prejudices against the Company are so rife, it is only justice that their good deeds should be known before men.

ART. IV. The Correspondence and Diary of Philip Doddridge, D.D. illustrative of various particulars in his life, hitherto unknown; with notices of many of his contemporaries; and a Sketch of the Ecclesiastical History of the times in which he lived. Edited from the original MSS. by his great grandson, John Doddridge Humphreys, Esq. Vol. III. 8vo. London: Colburn and Bentley. 1830.

AT the conclusion of our review of the two first volumes of this work, we took the liberty to observe that much of the correspondence which they contained, might have been permitted to remain under the seal of privacy, without detriment either to the character of Dr. Doddridge, or to the interests of the world at large. The same remark would apply, with perhaps even greater force, to the third volume which now lies before us. It is scarcely comprehensible to our minds, how men of education and experience can be so destitute of judgment, as to think that letters ought to be printed and will be read, simply because they have been written by or to an individual, who happened to acquire a certain degree of eminence amongst a limited number of his cotemporaries. It would seem that on such occasions the surviving relations of persons who have left literary remains behind them, never know where to stop. Witness Ralph Thoresby's Diary, the publication of which is a disgrace to the literary taste of the day. Witness this present volume of correspondence, containing upwards of two hundred letters, connected chiefly with the interests of the Dissenters, yet throwing not a ray of light that we did not possess before, upon either their personal or ecclesiastical history. How many more tomes of diary and epistles are yet to follow, Mr. Humphreys has not condescended to say. Considering the literary activity of Doddridge, as well as that of his numerous correspondents, and the manifest contempt for discrimination which characterizes his editor, we should not be at all surprised if they are ultimately to be swelled to the number of the Muses,-if not to the round dozen.

Whatever the reason may be, it is certain that the sects which have sprung up in this country since the Reformation, as it is called, have supplied more heroes for biography, and more matter of a personal nature for the press, than all the other churches of Christendom put together. John Bull is by nature a fanatic. Phlegmatic, cautious, diffident, impartial in forming an opinion upon all other subjects,-upon that of religion he easily becomes an enthusiast. Suddenly, without the slightest reflection, he believes doctrines which are propounded from the pulpit in powerful language. He is at this moment literally tossed about in an ocean, in which the doctrines of salvation are as numerous as the waves that compose it. We should be ashamed to enumerate half the sects which contend with the church of England for dominion over

* M. R. vol. xiii. p. 73.