adds another to the many proofs which go to shew, that, in the hands of a master, the most intractable and unpromising materials may be divested of their roughness and grossness, and made to exhibit symmetry of form and beauty of expression.

The whole work is got up in a style of superior taste and elegance. The binding, the paper, the printing-all are excellent. The illustrations, numerous and well executed, embracing as they do most of the principal objects and views along the route, constitute one of the most charming features of the work. It contains all needful directions to travellers, conveyed in language, at once sprightly, chaste, and classical. Fuller delineations of remarkable persons, objects, and scenes, it very judiciously throws into a well stored Appendix, original and selected, And, what forms a new characteristic of such a work, the scenery of the ocean finds its due share of pencilling therein. This part of his task, from its novelty, the author deems it necessary to introduce with something like an apology. But we fain hope that no such apology is really needed; as it certainly cannot be by any reader of ordinary taste or intellectual accomplishment. The "ocean sketches" constitute, in our judgment, a very precious accession to an already well replenished repository of valuable information. Facts, in their proper place, are of indispensable utility. But man is endowed with other faculties than those that meet with their full gratification in bare naked facts, which are but the dry bones of knowledge, with little or nothing of the glow and warmth that ever effloresce in the gorgeous forms of life and beauty. There are in the human mind susceptibilities of a nobler, more generous and etherial kind—susceptibilities of sentiment and emotion which, properly cultivated and directed, tend to honour and adorn humanity, while they cannot fail to elevate their happy possessor into regions of purest and serenest joy. Of this no one is more conscious than our author. When afloat on the main ocean, with nought around him but sky and water, he did not, like the idealess emotionless throng, fold his arms, and close his eyes, and sink down into a state of morbid, listless, unreflecting apathy. No; with eyes open, and mind awake, and sensibilities quickened, and imagination winged for flight, he "experienced an inexpressible delight in watching the ever-varying aspects of the wide round ocean and the shadowy dome of air-the vast and glorious canopy of that solitary world of which their little vessel seemed the centre." Hence the origin of the ocean sketches." And what gave such exquisite pleasure to his own mind he has wisely judged may give pleasure to others. Hence, again, the publication, of these "studies of sea and sky"—these "records of air and water."

66

No overland traveller should leave Calcutta, in any of our magnificent steamers, without first procuring a copy of this delightful volume; and no one, who has once got it, will ever have reason to regret or begrudge the very moderate price he has paid for it.

Observations on the Nosological arrangement of the Bengal Medical Returns, with a few cursory remarks on Medical

Topography and Military Hygiene, by Fred. J. Mouat, M. D., &c. &c. Calcutta, 1845.

IF, as has been remarked, "there is no subject in the whole range of Medical Science and Literature, that is beset with so many difficulties, as the classification of diseases," there can be, at the same time, but few subjects of deeper interest or more vital importance to the medical practitioner. Dr. Mouat, therefore, has done well thus pointedly to direct general attention towards it. The pamphlet itself bears all the marks of that spirit of reflection and research and indefatigable industry for which the author is so distinguished. We can only afford space for one brief extract from his own explanatory preface :

"The first part of this brochure was written at the suggestion and request of the late Dr. Murray, Inspector-general of H. M. Hospitals in India.

"My present object in publishing detached remarks, which cannot lay claim to any originality or profoundness, is again to direct attention to subjects which have long occupied the very limited leisure at my disposal for professional or extra official pursuits.

"It is well known that orders have been received from England to report upon the existing system of returns adopted in the medical departments of the three presidencies, with a view to assimilate them, as nearly as practicable, to those adopted in the royal service.

"Every medical officer who has the slightest regard for the interests of his profession and service, must hail this onward movement as the harbinger of much future benefit to both, if fully and fairly carried out; and is, therefore, bound to afford all the information in his possession however small it may be, to those who are engaged in the laborious and responsible task of remodelling the reports and returns from an army and country which present unrivalled opportunities for professional research, and of which the medical department now labours under the disgrace, of having during the greater part of a century, furnished no data sufficiently accurate for the compilation of the statistical records required by the War Office. "That this is the fault of the system in use, and not of the men appointed to carry it out, it would be easy to prove.

"It is my apology for the present publication."

The pamphlet, though of a strictly professional character, contains much that is fitted to interest and edify the non-professional reader. The concluding remarks, relative to the immense importance as well as the means of collecting topographical information, are especially valuable. Something in this respect has already been done by members of the Medical Service; and we hope that their meritorious example may suffice to stimulate others to tread still more successfully in their footsteps.

SANDERS AND CONES, TYPS., NO. 4, TANK-SQUARE, CALCUTTA.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

Miscellaneous Writings in Prose and Verse, comprising Dramatic Charades, Poems, Songs, Tales, Translations, Travels, &c. &c. by A. H. E. Boileau, Captain, Bengal Engineers. Calcutta, Published by W. Thacker and Co. and Ostell and Lepage, 1845. NOTWITHSTANDING the amount of talent which abounds in this country, especially in the Civil and Military Services of the East India Company, it is matter of surprize that so little has been done by the members of these bodies towards the promotion and establishment of a healthy local literature. Under a different state of things, and where there absolutely existed a dearth of intelligence, the imputation under which we have long labored, of having little or nothing in the shape of an indigenous literature would, at least, be justifiable, and cease to be an object of attention. But as the case has always stood, the intellectual stagnation has been so remarkable that the most careless observer cannot contemplate it without concern. It is true, that within the last twenty years, efforts have, from time to time, been made by a few enterprizing individuals* to counteract this apathy and to rouse into activity, by the force of example, the slumbering energies of the educated portion of the community. With this view, also, reviews, magazines, annuals, and other periodicals, have, as circumstances presented themselves, been started into existence; and though their management was entrusted to men, who, from their attainments and energy, were well qualified to inspire a love for literature, these vehicles for the transmission of thought, though at first to all appearance vigorous, ere long exhibited symptoms of speedy dissolution and decay. In most instances during the brief career of our periodicals every delicacy that could be supposed to gratify the taste, and invite to participation was, in its turn, served up. The reason as well as the fancy were addressed; the floating good sense and peculiarities of the times were eagerly caught up and embodied; rational principles of reform, opposed to any thing like extensive and sudden innovation, were advocated; impartial, and as often virulent, strictures on public men and measures were made; class interests were defended and reprobated; the occupations of the field and water, which afford so much amusement to the thorough-going sportsman, were liberally canvassed: in short, every stimulant that could excite was resorted to but in vain. Readers admired, but did nothing more. There was no such thing as emulation, and a desire to co-operate and excel. The energy of the leaders of public taste, under the action of so much indifference and so little sympathy, gradually waxed fainter and feebler. It lapsed into listless inactivity. It died away; and thus the few shoots

* Dr. John Grant, H. M. Parker, R. Rattray, H. Torrens, Captains Macnaghten and Richardson were the most strenuous supporters in the service of periodical litera

ture.

that were the harbingers of an abundant literary harvest by degrees shrunk up and withered.

It would, doubtless, be an agreeable and profitable task, to such as have the ability and leisure, to trace the cause of this indifference to literary pursuits in India, the successful cultivation of which, more perhaps than aught else, has, both by its original destination, as well as by the power which it has ever exercised, contributed to the worth and glory of all civilized nations. Some speculators have attributed this indifference to the despotic character of the government, which, independently of conducting its affairs with secrecy, discourages, to a certain extent, among its servants the free interchange of opinion on questions of public importance; others, to the oligarchical and exclusive constitution of the services, which, from the liberal manner in which the members are remunerated and the certain prospect they have, without dread or fear of competition, of attaining a comfortable eminence, unless they commit some flagrant offence, has the effect of removing from them all incentive to mental exertion, beyond that required for the exercise of their official functions; others, to the little encouragement that is held out by the dispensers of patronage to those whose inclinations lead them to be aspirants for literary fame;-and not a few attribute the indifference to the base motive of fear, which compels many to oppose their natural propensities, in case their exercises in the higher domains of pure reason and intellect, should act as a bar to their advancement in life, on the often urged plea, we apprehend, that a man of erudition and fancy lives so much in the region of his own thoughts as to be quite unsuited for those employments which more properly belong to the every day working world. Whether one, or all of these causes combine to fetter the exercise of the mental powers, and keep our men of education the drudges, as it were, of a heavy and complicated routine, we will not stop to enquire. The fact nevertheless stands out in all the nakedness of metaphysical abstraction, that the dignity of literature, if not contemned, is viewed with indifference in India, and that literary pretensions are seldom or ever a passport to preferment.

In spite of these chilling influences which are sufficient to nip the blossoms of genius, and check the free unbosoming of the soul, a few "choice spirits" have nevertheless ventured, with commendable boldness to present their "imaginings " to the public in a form more durable and compact than they could possibly have received from our transient periodical press. The first of these, for be it remembered our retrospect goes no further back than twenty years, was the author of the "Draught of Immortality and other poems," Henry Meredith Parker, whose versatile genius, it is said, woke the admiration of that great utilitarian, Lord William Bentinck, and induced him to admit, what he had hitherto considered impossible, that literary attainments and excellence in dry official routine, were qualifications which admitted of a happy combination. Parker's writings must be familiar to most of our readers. They would have shown to advantage, and commanded attention, had they appeared in any of our English periodicals. The immediate impression on perusing them, is that they are the outpourings

of a man of quick sensibility, vivid imagination, and exquisite refinement,-one who to vigour and felicity of language added an exuberance of wit and elasticity of spirits, the ready and agreeable accompaniments of natural genius,

After Parker came Captain D. L. Richardson, author of " Literary Leaves in Prose and Verse," and almost, we regret to say, the only one that is left to us of the small band who, in days gone by, struggled manfully to impress the public mind in Calcutta with the importance of having a periodical literature. Perhaps of all our Indian literati, Richardson can alone claim the proud distinction of having, through good report and evil report, clung to literary avocations with the greatest tenacity. His productions, possessing as they do great elegance of diction, condensation of thought, and a succession of delicate images "sicklied o'er" perhaps too much with the feeling of despondency, have, as it is well known, elicited the applause, in England, of men who are fully alive to the genuine breathings of genius, and who are not liable to be deceived and dazzled by insipidity and fictitious glitter.

The next literary competitor was Dr. Hutchinson, Secretary to the Medical Board, and author of the "Sunyasse," a poem, which, independently of its possessing a few happy touches of feeling and fancy, was, on its appearance, assailed by the daily press, with all the virulence of offended criticism. Its merits were not, in our opinion, fairly tested. A lurking animosity towards the author had, in some measure, sharpened the edge of the critical knife; and with the existence of such feelings nothing was to be expected but an unsparing attack, which, while it would expose the poet to the derision of multitudes, would at the same time have the effect of wounding his feelings. Had the "Sunyasse" been less disfigured by pedantry and conceit, it might have attained a transient, though not permanent, celebrity; but with such blemishes the vast majority were too much disposed to join in the merriment which the raillery of the literary censors had raised. The work soon sank into contempt; and before many weeks had elapsed became the sole property of the pastry cook, and the itinerant vendors of old books.

With the exception of the three whom we have incidentally mentioned, and whose productions, may be reckoned the property of the past, no one save Mr. Robinson and Captain Boileau have, since the commencement of our career, afforded us an opportunity of testing their " epical pretensions to the laurel." Whatever may be the difficulties against which we have to contend, we cannot, though the field for poetry in the East is extensive, conscientiously complain, like our brethren of modern Athens, that poets "swarm here like the spawn of the cod fish, with a vicious fecundity that invites and requires destruction." We have, it is true, had a few of the description of authors here complained of, but their destruction was rendered unnecessery, as their publications in every instance, fell" still born" from the press. But to proceed with Captain Boileau.

Most of the miscellaneous pieces which compose the volume before us have before been wedded to immortal type, so that the attentive reader