the Encyclopedists, who, instead of | l'Encyclopédie s'ensevelir sous la même attributing the merit of the experi-poussière." mental philosophy and the reasoning When to this are added the comby induction to a Frenchman, have mendations that have been bestowed shown themselves so lost to all sense of on Newton, the magnitude and the the duty which they owed their country, originality of the discoveries which that they have attributed it to an have been attributed to him, the adEnglishman, of the name of Bacon, miration which the works of Locke and this for no better reason, than that have excited, and the homage that has he really was the author of it. The been paid to Milton and Shakspeare, whole of this passage is written so the treason which lurks at the bottom entirely in the genius of Mr. Fievée, of it all will not escape the penetrating and so completely exemplifies that glance of Mr. Fievée; and he will very caricature species of Frenchmen discern that same cause, from which from which our gross and popular every good Frenchman knows the denotions of the whole people are taken, feat of Aboukir and of the first of June that we shall give the passage at full to have proceeded the monster Pitt, length, cautiously abstaining from the and his English guineas. sin of translating it. "Quand je reproche aux philosophes d'avoir vanté l'Angleterre, par haine pour les institutions qui soutenoient la France, je ne hasarde rien, et je fournirai une nouvelle preuve de cette assertion, en citant les encyclopédistes, chefs avoués de la philosophie moderne. ISLAND OF CEYLON. An Account of the Island of Ceylon. By IT is now little more than half a cen- "Comment nous ont-ils présenté l'Encyclopédie? Comme un monument immortel, comme le dépôt précieux de toutes les connoissances humaines. Sous quel patronage l'ont-ils élevé ce monument immortel? Est-ce sous l'égide des écrivains dont la France s'honoroit? Non, ils ont choisi pour maître et pour idole, un Anglais, Bacon; ils lui on fait dire tout ce qu'ils ont voulu, parce que cet auteur, extraordinairement volumineux, n'étoit pas connu en France, et ne l'est guère en Angleterre que de quelques hommes studieux; mais les philosophes sentoient que leur succès, pour introduire des nouveautés, tenoit à faire croire qu'elles n'étoient pas neuves pour les grands esprits; et comme les grands esprits français, trop connus, ne se prétoient pas à un pareil dessein, les philosophes ont eu recours à l'Angleterre. Ainsi, un ouvrage fait en France, et offert à l'ad-gle was long and obstinate; and, at miration de l'Europe comme l'ouvrage par excellence, fut mis par des Français sous la protection du génie anglais. O honte! Et les philosophes se sont dit patriotes, et la France, pour prix de sa dégradation, leur a élevé des statues! Le siècle qui commence, plus juste, parce qu'il a le sentiment de la veritable grandeur, laissera ces statues et "Gaul was conquered by a person of the name of Julius Cæsar," is the first phrase in one of Mr. Newberry's little books. the conclusion, the French remained masters of a dismantled town, and the English of the grandest and most extensive colony that the world has ever seen. To attribute this success to the superior genius of Clive, is not to diminish the reputation it confers on his country, which reputation must of course be elevated by the number of great men to which it gives birth. But the French were by no means deficient in casualties of genius at that period, unless Bussy is to be considered as a government, and rendered it as diffi man of common stature of mind, or Dupleix to be classed with the vulgar herd of politicians. Neither was Clive (though he clearly stands forward as the most prominent figure in the group) without the aid of some military men of very considerable talents. Clive extended our Indian empire; but General Lawrence preserved it to be extended; and the former caught, perhaps, from the latter, that military spirit by which he soon became a greater soldier than him, without whom he never would have been a soldier at all. cult to enter the kingdom of Candia, as if it were Paradise or China; and yet, once there, always there; for the difficulty of departing is just as great as the difficulty of arriving; and his Candian Excellency, who has used every device in his power to keep them out, is seized with such an affection for those who baffle his defensive artifices, that he can on no account suffer them to depart. He has been known to detain a string of four or five Dutch embassies, till various members of the legation died of old age at Gratifying as these reflections upon his court, while they were expecting our prowess in India are to national an answer to their questions, and a repride, they bring with them the painful turn to their presents: and his Majesty reflection, that so considerable a portion once exasperated a little French amof our strength and wealth is vested bassador to such a degree, by the upon such precarious foundations, and various pretences under which he kept at such an immense distance from the him at his court, that this lively parent country. The glittering frag- member of the Corps Diplomatique, ments of the Portuguese empire, scat- one day, in a furious passion, attacked tered up and down the East, should six or seven of his Majesty's largest teach us the instability of such do- elephants sword in hand, and would, minion. We are (it is true) better in all probability, have reduced them capable of preserving what we have to mince-meat, if the poor beasts had obtained, than any other nation which not been saved from the unequal has ever colonised in Southern Asia; combat. but the object of ambition is so tempt. The best and most ample account ing, and the perils to which it is ex-of Ceylon is contained in the narrative posed so numerous, that no calculating of Robert Knox, who in the middle of mind can found any durable conclusions upon this branch of our commerce, and this source of our strength. In the acquisition of Ceylon, we have obtained the greatest of all our wants a good harbour. For it is a very singular fact, that, in the whole peninsula of India, Bombay is alone capable of affording a safe retreat to ships during the period of the mon soons. The geographical figure of our possessions in Ceylon is whimsical enough; we possess the whole of the sea-coast, and enclose in a periphery the unfortunate King of Candia, whose rugged and mountainous dominions may be compared to a coarse mass of iron, set in a circle of silver. The Popilian ring, in which this votary of Buddha has been so long held by the Portuguese and Dutch, has infused the most vigilant jealousy into the the 17th century, was taken prisoner there (while refitting his ship) at the age of nineteen, and remained nineteen years on the island, in slavery to the King of Candia. During this period, he learnt the language, and acquired a thorough knowledge of the people. The account he has given of them is extremely entertaining, and written in a very simple and unaffected style; so much so, indeed, that he presents his reader with a very grave account of the noise the devil makes in the woods of Candia, and of the frequent opportunities he has had of hearing him. Mr. Percival does not pretend to deal with the devil; but appears to have used the fair and natural resources of observation and good sense, to put together an interesting description of Ceylon. There is nothing in the book very animated, or very pro• Knox's Ceylon. found, but it is without pretensions; coarse, grotesque species of animal, and if it does not excite attention by whose native apathy and phlegm is any unusual powers of description, it animated only by the insolence of a never disgusts by credulity, wearies by colonial tyrant: his principal amuseprolixity, or offends by affectation. It ment appears to consist in smoking; is such an account as a plain military but his pipe, according to Mr. Percival's man of diligence and common sense account, is so seldom out of his mouth, might be expected to compose; and that his smoking appears to be almost narratives like these we must not as much a necessary function of animal despise. To military men we have life as his breathing. His day is eked been, and must be, indebted for our out with gin, ceremonious visits, and first acquaintance with the interior of prodigious quantities of gross food, many countries. Conquest has ex-dripping with oil and butter; his mind, plored more than ever curiosity has done; and the path for science has been commonly opened by the sword. We shall proceed to give a very summary abstract of the principal contents of Mr. Percival's book. The immense accessions of territory which the English have acquired in the East Indies since the American War, rendered it absolutely necessary that some effort should be made to obtain possession of a station where ships might remain in safety during the violent storms incidental to that climate. As the whole of that large tract which we possess along the Coromandel coast presents nothing but open roads, ail vessels are obliged, on the approach of the monsoons, to stand out in the open seas; and there are many parts of the coast that can be approached only during a few months of the year. As the harbour of Trincomalee, which is equally secure at all seasons, afforded the means of obviating these disadvantages, it is evident that, on the first rupture with the Dutch, our countrymen would attempt to gain possession of it. A body of troops was, in consequence, detached in the year 1795, for the conquest of Ceylon, which (in consequence of the indiscipline which political dissension had introduced among the Dutch troops) was effected almost without opposition. Ceylon is now inhabited by the English; the remains of the Dutch and Portuguese, the Cinglese or natives, subject to the dominion of the Europeans; the Candians, subject to the king of their own name; and the Vaddahs, or wild men, subject to no power. A Ceylonese Dutchman is a just able to reach from one meal to another, is incapable of further exertion; and after the panting and deglutition of a long protracted dinner, reposes on the sweet expectation, that, in a few hours, the carnivorous toil will be renewed. He lives only to digest, and, while the organs of gluttony perform their office, he has not a wish beyond; and is the happy man which Horace describes : in seipso totus, teres, atque rotundus. The descendants of the Portuguese differ materially from the Moors, Malabars, and other Mahometans. Their great object is, to show the world they are Europeans and Christians. Unfortunately, their ideas of Christianity are so imperfect, that the only mode they can hit upon of displaying their faith is by wearing hats and breeches, and by these habiliments they consider themselves as showing a proper degree of contempt, on various parts of the body, towards Mahomet and Buddha. They are lazy, treacherous, effeminate, and passionate to excess; and are, in fact, a locomotive and animated farrago of the bad qualities of all tongues, people, and Lations on the face of the earth. The Malays, whom we forgot before to enumerate, form a very considerable portion of the inhabitants of Ceylon. Their original empire lies in the peninsula of Malacca, from whence they have extended themselves over Java, Sumatra, the Moluccas, and a vast number of other islands in the peninsula of India. It has been many years customary for the Dutch to bring them to Ceylon, for the purpose of carrying on various branches of trade and ma nufacture, and in order also to employ them as soldiers and servants. The Malays are the most vindictive and ferocious of living beings. They set little or no value on their own existence, in the prosecution of their odious passions; and having thus broken the great tie which renders man a being capable of being governed, and fit for society, they are a constant source of terror to all those who have any kind of connection or relation with them. A Malay servant, from the apprehension excited by his vindictive dis position, often becomes the master of his master. It is as dangerous to dismiss him as to punish him; and the rightful despot, in order to avoid assassination, is almost compelled to exchange characters with his slave. It is singular, however, that the Malay, incapable of submission on any other occasion, and ever ready to avenge insult with death, submits to the severest military discipline with the utmost resignation and meekness. The truth is, obedience to his officers forms part of his religious creed; and the same man who would repay the most insignificant insult with death, will submit to be lacerated at the halbert with the patience of a martyr. This is truly a tremendous people! When assassins and blood-hounds will fall into rank and file, and the most furious savages submit (with no diminution of their ferocity) to the science and discipline of war, they only want a Malay Bonaparte to lead them to the conquest of the world. Our curiosity has always been very highly excited by the accounts of this singular people; and we cannot help thinking, that, one day or another, when they are more full of opium than usual, they will run a-muck from Cape Comorin to the Caspian. Mr. Percival does not consider the Ceylonese as descended from the continentals of the peninsula, but rather from the inhabitants of the Maldive Islands, whom they very much resemble in complexion, features, language, and manners. "The Ceylonese (says Mr. Percival) are courteous and polite in their demeanour, even to a degree far exceeding their civilisation. In several qualities they are greatly superior to all other Indians who have fallen within the sphere of my observation. I have already exempted them from the censure of stealing and lying, which seem to be almost inherent in the nature of an Indian. They are mild, and by no means captious or passionate in their intercourse with each other; though, when once their anger is roused, it is proportionably furious and lasting. Their hatred is indeed mortal, and they will frequently destroy themselves to obtain the destruction of the detested object. One instance will serve to show the extent to which this passion is carried. If a Ceylonese cannot obtain money due to him by another, he goes to his debtor, and threatens to kill himself if he is not instantly paid. This threat, which is sometimes put in execution, reduces the debtor, if it be in his power, to immediate compliance with the demand: as, by their law, if any man causes the loss of another man's life, his own is the forfeit. 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," is a proverbial expression continually in their mouths. This is, on other occasions, a very common mode of revenge among them; and a Ceylonese has often been known to contrive to kill himself in the company of his enemy that the latter might suffer for it. "This dreadful spirit of revenge, so inconsistent with the usually mild and humane sentiments of the Ceylonese, and much more congenial to the bloody temper of a Malay, still continues to be fostered by the sacred customs of the Candians. Among the Cinglese, however, it has been greatly mitigated by their intercourse with Europeans. The desperate mode of obtaining revenge which I have just described has been given up, from having been disappointed of its object; as, in all those parts under our dominion, the European modes of investigating and punishing crimes are enforced. A case of this nature occurred at Caltura in 1799. A Cinglese peasant happening to have a suit or controversy with another, watched an opportunity of going to bathe in company with him, and drowned himself, with the view of having his adversary put to death. The latter was upon this taken up, and sent to Columbo to take his trial for making away with the deceased, upon the principle of having been the last seen in his company. There was, however, nothing more than presumptive proof against the culprit, and he was of course acquitted. This deci sion, however, did not by any means tally | χωρισθεν νομου και δικης χειριστον παντων. with the sentiments of the Cinglese, who Polit. are as much inclined to continue their ancient barbarous practice as their breth The only exportable articles of any Mr. "There is perhaps no spectacle which the island of Ceylon affords more striking to an European, than the bay of Condatchy, during the season of the pearl fishery. converted into a scene which exceeds, in This desert and barren spot is at that time novelty and variety, almost anything I ever witnessed. Several thousands of people of different colours, countries, castes, and occupations, continually passing and repassing in a busy crowd; the vast numbers of small tents and huts erected on the shore, with the bazaar or market-place turning in the afternoon from the pearl before each; the multitude of boats rebanks, some of them laden with riches; the anxious expecting countenances of the boat-owners, while the boats are approaching the shore, and the eagerness and avidity with which they run to them when arrived, in hopes of a rich cargo; the vast numbers of jewellers, brokers, merchants, natives and foreigners, who are occupied in of all colours and all descriptions, both some way or other with the pearls, some separating and assorting them, others weighing and ascertaining their number and value, while others are hawking them about, or drilling and boring them for future use; all these circumstances' tend importance of that object which can of to impress the mind with the value and itself create this scene. ren the Candians, although they are de- importance which Ceylon produces are prived of the power."-(pp. 70-72.) pearls, cinnamon, and elephants. The warlike habits of the Candians tremely interesting account of the pearl Percival has presented us with an exmake them look with contempt on fishery, held in Condatchy Bite, near the Cinglese, who are almost entirely the island of Manaar, in the straits unacquainted with the management which separate Ceylon from the main of arms. They have the habit and land. character of mountaineers-warlike, hardy, enterprising, and obstinate. They have, at various times, proved themselves very formidable enemies to the Dutch; and, in that kind of desultory warfare, which is the only one their rugged country will admit of, have cut off large parties of the troops of both these nations. The King of Candia, as we have before mentioned, possesses only the middle of the island, which nature, and his Candian Majesty, have rendered as inaccessible as possible. It is traversable only by narrow wood-paths, known to nobody but the natives, strictly watched in peace and war, and where the best troops in the world might be shot in any quantities, by the Candian marksmen, without the smallest possibility of resisting their enemies, because there would not be the smallest possibility of finding them. The King of Candia is, of course, despotic; and the history of his life and reign presents the same monotonous ostentation and baby-like caprice which characterise Oriental governments. In public audiences he appears like a great fool, squatting on his hams; far surpassing gingerbread in splendour; and, after asking some "The bay of Condatchy is the most censach idiotical question as, whether tral rendezvous for the boats employed in Europe is in Asia or Africa, retires the fishery. The banks where it is carried with a flourish of trumpets very much on extend several miles along the coast out of tune. For his private amuse- from Manaar southward off Arippo, Conment, he rides on the nose of an datchy, and Pomparipo. The principal elephant, plays with his jewels, sprinkles at sea about twenty miles. The first step, bank is opposite to Condatchy, and lies out his courtiers with rose-water, and feeds previous to the commencement of the his gold and silver fish. If his tea is fishery, is to have the different oyster banks not sweet enough, he impales his foot- surveyed, the state of the oysters ascer man; and smites off the heads of half-tained, and a report made on the subject a-dozen of his noblemen if he has a to government. If it has been found that pain in his own. -wσnep yap (says Aristotle) reλdewbev Beλτιστών των ζώων ανθρωπος εστι, ούτω και the quantity is sufficient, and that they are arrived at a proper degree of maturity, the particular banks to be fished that year are put up for sale to the highest bidder, and |