and rashly stepping forward into public observation; thus it is my cheek flushes, my fingers tremble; and, if eyes might visit me, in my interesting and awful predicament of inditing, so should I seem the poor and lowly symbol of

"Fit timor, et pavidâ trepidat formidine pectus !"

And after all it is no such trifling or exhilirating task, to throw one's-self irrevocably on the judgment, for mercy is out of the question, of a host of critics;-to know, that one fell sneer of condemnation may nip not only the budding hopes of all my anticipations, and crush my future most amusing lucubrations, but even doom their poor Author to the penalty of disowning his own handy work ;-aye, and bid him cry out louder than any one else against his bantling, in the hope of preserving his then, too necessary, too desirable incognito. But I will not dwell upon so melancholy and unlooked-for a result. Let me rather hasten forward to kind greetings and approvals; smiles from fair readers, and gracious perusal from my more

grave and steady ones;-and at length, ere the BENGALEE shall have reached a green old age, may I burn to disclose who is the Author, and be restrained from the pleasing avowal, only by my own innate and most indomitable modesty.

This modesty, which I thus early allude to, and announce, has been my bane through life: its only blessing, that it has made me a retired observer of others, even while it inculcated its lessons through the sad medium of many a mishap; and it may not prove uninstructive or undiverting, if, in this first chapter, I offer a short account of my Indian life, or rather of the leading and controlling events of it. It will serve, at all events, to bring the BENGALEE and his readers to be better acquainted with each other.

I came out to India a few years after the close of the last Century; so I shall at once be recognized as no unworthy usurper, as to standing, of my style and title. But in what capacity I arrived, whether "in the service;" whether as a tall Scotch Cadet, eager for pay, staff

facings and promotion; whether as an assistant to some great house of Agency, where time and usefulness to the "Dear Sirs," may have advertised me into a two-anna share of their balancesheet; or, whether as a ruddy-faced maker of Tirhoot and Kissenagur Indigo; all this must remain untold! Ere the BENGALEE shall have unwoven the tissue of his tale, the truth may possibly be gathered from his pages; but still by inference only; for our annual East India and Calcutta Directories are so good at indexing names, rank, standing, and avocations, that he might as well blazon forth his cognomen and titles at length, in capitals, as give the clue to a secret, which every red book would then unravel.

On my first arrival it occurred, that I was for some time detained in Calcutta, where I saw every body; was, I am sure, known to every body; and yet recognized by nobody. My letters of recommendation and other circumstances, procured me, at first, not a few dinners, where I sat silent, and little attended

me.

to by those around me. My modesty never ventured to bow to my hosts and patrons elsewhere; and they, in their short-sightedness and reserve, seemed as little disposed to notice Thus it very naturally followed, that in a few months I had the full and undisturbed benefit of my own most particular society and reflections: and thrown on my own resources, I read much; wooed the Muses a little; and studied the Gamut, and Wragg's Flute Preceptor. Nay, I even bought a valuable Cremona at an auction, which I sedulously and noisily struggled with, till it brought me an impertinent chit from my next-door neighbour; and I was nearly paraded under the great tree of fatal celebrity, for my retort to this gentleman of too sensitive organs. In fine, I caught at all methods of domestic amusement, which a bachelor can resort to, and at length saw the vanity of them all; when it occurred to me, that, as a Benedict only, could a modest, grave, and unobtrusive young man like myself, hope to secure a home, or happiness, in

India. I pictured to myself a fond partner of my solitude; a blushing sharer of my evening buggy-an affectionate and prattling companion at my daily board-an enlivening angel at my home, her sigh and every thought and wish the echo of mine; and to crown the blissful pencilling, there shone a pair of deep blue eyes, which ever came to mingle with the scene, and brighten over my sketch; till their blue beaming grew into a necessary, component part of the design:-nay, seemed the light, the soul, the centre of my picture.

To expound all this in due candour, it is necessary to detail, that I was a regular attendant at St. John's Church, which at that time had not risen to the prouder and more episcopal eminence of a Cathedral. In a pew not far removed from my seat, gleamed the most captivating glances that ever shone from the bright orbs of youth, gentleness, and beauty. They were immediately before me;-no wonder that they seemed at times to fall on me. Once or twice, methought, (and yet my