take security for appearance before the magistrate, when the offence is bailable. In other cases he is required to send the prisoners to the magistrate within a limited time, unless for petty -assaults and the like, in which cases the magistrate himself may decide, and wherein the parties themselves agree to drop proceedings. Under such circumstances, the Darogah is allowed to receive a written testimonial of reconciliation, termed razenamah, and to discharge the prisoner."

Besides their usual wretched pittance, the Darogahs, "as an encouragement to vigilance, are allowed ten rupees from the government, on the conviction of every Decoit, or gang robber, apprehended by them, and ten per cent on the value of stolen property recovered, provided the thief be apprehended." What the effect of this regulation upon the general conduct of the Darogahs has been, shall be shown, when we come to discuss the influence of the whole settlement, on the morals and prosperity of the country. With respect to the law administered in British India, it is no very easy task to determine what it is. The ancient laws of the country have, we are told, been preserved; that is to say, the laws of the Shaster are in all civil cases binding upon the Hindoos, whilst those of the Koran prevail among the Mahomedans; and in cases where the parties profess different religions, the law of the defendant guides the judge. Now, the truth is, that neither the Koran nor the Shaster comprised, as far as we can learn, the civil laws or common usages of Hindostan. "The inhabitants at large at Madnapore," says Sir Henry Strachey, "are, I imagine, nearly as well acquainted with the laws as the inhabitants of other parts of the country, that is to say, their knowledge is extremely limited. Of the Shaster and Koran, all are equally ignorant, except the Mahomedans of education, whose learning extends to the quotation of a few scraps of the Koran, of little or no practical use. All Hindoos, but Pundits, are entirely ignorant of the Shaster." The consequence is, that even when we profess to adhere most closely to ancient usages, we are continually offering violence to the prejudices and feelings of our native population. We have, indeed, taken the trouble to collect Compends of

Hindoo laws, from every accessible source. "The Hindoo laws known to us," adds Sir Henry, "are contained in the two books which are deposited in the Dewanny Adawlut, or civil court, of every district in Bengal ; the Digest, compiled by some Brahmins, and translated by Mr Colebrooke, and the Hindoo Institutes or Ordinances of Menu, translated by Sir William Jones." But what then?"There they lie, as ornaments upon the table, but of little or no use."

In criminal cases, again, we have assumed that the Mahomedan law, because it was the law of the former rulers of the country, has long been, and still ought to be, the only law in operation. Here, again, we have fallen into a most egregious error. As I have shown in my former letters, the Mahomedan law was never enforced under the Mogul dynasty, except among the followers of Islamlism; whereas we have extended it, or rather profess to extend it, over all classes. I say profess, because in sober truth our version of the law of Mahomed bears very little resemblance to the code compiled by the prophet. "The criminal law administered here," says Mr Dowdswell in his answers to Court's Queries, "is supposed to be the Mahomedan; but either the laxity of interpretation to which that code is liable, or other causes, operate, in most cases, to prevent anything peculiar to the Koran, either in the sentence or in the mode of conducting the trial. In effect, our Mahomedan law, as far as I can learn, bears no resemblance to that of Turkey, Arabia, or Persia, or other Mahomedan countries, and very little to that which was administered here by the native government." As an instance of the truth of this, it is only necessary to remind you, that we have entirely changed the nature of punishments, and left numerous vices safe from the reach of law, which were fully cognizable under the former governments. Yet Mr Dowdswell assures us, that "the most material change effected by us, is not in the punishments fixed for particular crimes; it is less, I think, in the laws themselves, than in the mode of executing them." "It is a common saying with the natives, that the gentlemen require so much evidence, that it is scarcely possible to convict a Decoit.

The old way was very different. The accused party almost always confessed, whereas now none confess, but the most simple and uninformed."

I have already shown, that under the native dynasties, the people of Hindostan were never accustomed to one unvarying written code of laws. Each little community had its own customs, to which its members were firmly attached, and which its own magistracy enforced. Even in cases of appeal from the decision of a village Punchayet, or of complaint against a Potail, the Zemindar or Talookdar would summon witnesses from the village of the appellant, in order to ascertain whether or not the award given was in accordance with use. Of this we entirely lost sight; and hence we place our native Commissioners, at least very frequently, in situations, where it is utterly impossible for them to give sentence according to law. Two Mahomedans, for example, may be involved in a dispute respecting property, such as is cognizable by a native Commissioner. The Commissioner may be, indeed he generally is, a Hindoo. How can he, if he really act according to his instructions, decide between them? "It is hardly necessary," says Mr Dowdswell, "to mention, that the native Commissioners, at least those of them who are Hindoos, have no knowledge whatever of the Mahomedan law," whilst the absolute indifference of the people themselves, to customs which we blindly regarded as dear to them, is shown by the conclusion of the sentence. "Nor, I imagine, would the parties in a suit, though they might happen to be Mahomedans, object to the competence of the judge, on the ground of his ignorance of the Mahomedan law." All this goes far to prove, that the framers of our system, with the very best intentions, have acted in direct opposition to prejudices which they fancied that they were favouring; that they have established usages, hitherto unknown, under the delusive idea of keeping up old things, and have overthrown all that the natives really loved, and all that might have proved beneficial, both to the rulers and the ruled.

From what has been said above, the -reader will probably suppose, that all authority in India, all right of deciding in courts of justice, where life or

limb, or property of large amount, is at stake, is monopolized by Europeans. That it is thus ostensibly monopolized, no one will deny. An European must sit upon the bench. He is the object of respect, and the apparent fountain of law. By his mouth the award must be given, and he it is who is held out as having considered the pleadings, and come to a determination upon them. But what is the fact ? That everything of the kind is performed by natives. As attendants upon our Judges in all the courts, appear certain native law officers, both Hindoo and Mahomedan. If the case be a civil one, and its merits turn upon the law of the Shaster, the Hindoo lawofficer delivers a written futwa, or sentence of award, to the European Judge. If the case be one in which Mahomedans are concerned, a similar proceeding is followed by the Mussul

man.

In all criminal trials, indeed, the Cauzee, and not the European Judge, determines whether or not the prisoner shall be pronounced guilty; and farther states the nature of the punishment awarded by the Koran. Yet these most important functionaries are all so wretchedly remunerated, that were they greatly more in the habit than they are, of accepting bribes, and perverting justice, the matter could not by any means support us. It is true, that our countrymen in the East are continually suspicious of the native officers; and it is equally true, that the native officers, perceiving that suspicion, are not thereby encouraged to act with greater honesty; but that we cannot do without them, the following statement of Mr Ernst may prove. It shows, also, that with all our boasted acquaintance with human nature, we know very little about that modification of it, which appears in the natives of India.

"It appears to me, that we are extremely apt, owing perhaps to our being aware of the prevalence of deceit and perjury, to form unfavourable opinions of the veracity of the natives, while taking their evidence. We perhaps judge too much by rule; we imagine things to be incredible, because they have not before fallen under our experience; we constantly mistake extreme simplicity for cunning; and we are to the last degree

suspicious of our Omlah, (i. e. our nasive law-officers.) We make not sufficient allowance for the loose, vague, inaccurate mode in which the natives tell a story; for their not comprehending us, and our not comprehending them, we hurry, terrify, and confound them, by our cagerness and impatience. The Judge of Circuit, and even his Omlah, are strangers, and quite unacquainted with the characters of the persons examined, and the credit due to them; and always, on that account, less competent to discover truth among volumes of contradictory evidence.'

Besides the books of the Koran, and those compends of the Hindoo law, of which I have spoken above, each of our courts in India is supplied with a copy of the Company's regulations, containing general directions for the conduct of all functionaries, native as well as European. With these all lawofficers, commissioners, and vakeels, are supposed to make themselves familiar. Nor is the task thereby imposed upon them an easy one, inasmuch as these regulations have swelled to so great an amount, that they now fill eight closely-printed folio volumes of nearly a thousand pages each. Perhaps it is needless to add, that whatever may be the learning of European Judges in this particular, the natives neither know, nor desire to know, anything of the contents of these tomes, except just as much as may be requisite to hinder themselves from falling into error in the prosecution of their own particular callings. It is, moreover, curious enough, that we have made Persian the official language of our provinces. The proceedings in our courts, for instance, such at least as are deemed worthy of being preserved, are registered in Persian and English, whilst all proclamations, summonses, &c. are uniformly published in the same language.

In the sketch which I have given of the internal government of British India, no notice, you will perceive, has been taken of the mode by which justice is administered to European residents. That, indeed, is a matter foreign to the subject in hand. I may, however, remark in passing, that the utmost shyness is exhibited on the part of government to hear, or enter into, complaints made by the natives against British functionaries. Over

British subjects the Zillah magistrate has little or no control. In case they disturb the public peace, or make themselves obnoxious in any other way, he may, indeed, arrest them; but he cannot decide in any dispute between them and a native, unless the question at issue involve property under a certain amount, or the subject of dispute have reference to the collection of the revenue, or other public duties. When a native has cause of complaint against a European, he must bring it before the Supreme Court at Calcutta, and put himself thereby to such expense as few natives will venture to incur. Nay, more: Even when a native has succeeded in proving his case against a European functionary, it depends entirely upon circumstances whether or not he shall be reimbursed for the expenses to which the prosecution may have subjected him. "The complainant, if he prove his case," says Mr Harrington in his Analysis, “shall be at liberty to submit an application to the Sudder Dewanny Adawlut, the Board of Revenue, or Board of Trade, as the case may be, praying a reimbursement of the expense which may have been incurred by him in the prosecution of his prayer, and his prayer may be granted. But it is clearly to be understood, that government does not pledge itself to indemnify any person for the expense which may be incurred, in occasions of the above nature, whatever may be the result of the investigation." Under these circumstances, you will not be surprised to hear, that the most glaring acts of oppression would scarcely provoke a native to appeal against his European superior.

I have not said half what I might say on this subject, neither is it possible for me to enter more into detail. The description given above, of our system of internal government, the reader will therefore receive as necessarily imperfect and incomplete; but it would take whole volumes fully to describe it. What its effects have been on the country, and how the evils arising from it have from time to time been met, shall be detailed in my next, that is, in my concluding letter.

In the meanwhile, you will observe, that it is the design of our regulations to exclude the natives from all power, and from all offices of trust.

We assign the care of a million of people to one magistrate, and him a European, ignorant of the language, the manners, and the habits of the people. "The natives," says Sir Henry Strachey, "hold no judicial offices but the lowest, and are paid very ill. It is only since the Europeans were well paid, that they themselves became trust-worthy."-" Our establishments are utterly inadequate in most districts of Bengal; and where the business is apparently kept up, it must be recollected that great numbers of poor Ryots are deterred from prosecuting, by the expense and the delays, and sometimes by the distance of the courts from their residence. Instead of having a magistrate in every village, authorized to decide their petty disputes, these must all be referred to the Zillah judge, or his Commissioners, whilst "to transact one quarter of the judicial business by European agency is impossible. If all the Company's servants were employed in judicial offices, still the drudgery would fall upon the natives," who receive no adequate recompense for their labour. The consequences of such a system are thus briefly stated by Sir Henry Strachey :

"The dread of Decoits, the expense of prosecution, and the spirit of prosecuting, the slowness of our legal proceedings, and the doubtfulness of

the event of law-suits, on account of perjury and other causes,-all these are evils of the present day. It is true, that every man who is injured may prosecute; that he is considered as possessing a right to redress, and that justice is intended to be impartially administered; whereas, in other states of Hindostan, for instance the neighbouring Mahratta country, there is no pretence of this. But, perhaps, in few of the Mahratta states, which are best taken care of, where no poor man conceives that he possesses any rights whatever, and where all are aware, that without the help of a patron they have no power to obtain redress for injury;-perhaps, I say, in these countries less injustice is on the whole committed, and less misery felt, than in states of the same size under our government. In the Mahratta states there may, probably, occur one or two glaring instances of oppression, outrage, and cruelty, which are silently put up with, because there no inferior attempts to contend with his superior. In the Midnapore states, a number of poor men may be seen to set up for themselves, and are ruined by ineffectual contests, often about trifles, with rich and powerful neighbours."

This is bad enough, but it is perfect harmony, compared to the scenes and transactions which shall be laid before you in my next.

C. M.

ABOUT five years ago, or thereabout, an article appeared in the North American Review, advising the writers of America, or such of them as had pluck enough, and soul enough, to undertake a few straight-forward stories, partly true, partly untrue, after the Scotch fashion, about the early history and exploits of the New England fathers, or pilgrims, the brave, devout, absurd, positive, original creatures, who are now looked upon, everywhere, as the "settlers" of a country, which they wasted, literally, with fire and sword; with uninterrupted cruel warfare, till nothing was left, not a single tribe, hardly a vestige, in truth, of a great people,of countless hordes, who covered all that part of our earth; being the natural, and, perhaps, the original proprietors thereof.

The paper was well timed, pretty clever, and has done much good, we hope, to the hot-bed of North American literature and scholarship, from the very middle of which the said Review itself sprung up, some twelve years ago, like a thing of the soil; quite covered with fruit and flower, blossom and bud, nevertheless.

We did hope, when we saw this article, that some native, bold writer of the woods; a powerful, huge barbarian, without fear, and without reproach, would rise up to the call; come forth in his might; and, with a great regard for historical truth, give out a volume or two, worthy, in some degree, of the stout, strange, noble characters; the resolute, stern, thoughtful characters, who contrived, in a little time after they were cast away upon the rocks of another world, far beyond the reach of pity or succour, apparently without hope, sick and weary as they were, to build up a great empire along the coast, from the wreck and rubbish, the fiery material and brave ornament, which, after the convulsions of Europe, drifted ashore in America; a story or two, worth reading, of the prodigious old Puritans-the political martyrs-the plain-hearted, religious, quiet men, so unlike all other men that we now read of, either in history or fable; the cou

rageous fanaticks; the sober, unforgiving, bad zealots, who, on account of their moral stature, which was, indeed, of most unearthly proportions, appear in the mist or twilight, which covers the early history of New England, very much like a troop of giants walking about over the hills, in a great fog; a story or two, worth repeating, of the witches and wizards, the wars and fights of the country; the men thereof; such as Winthrop and Bradford, Sir Harry Vane, Whaley, Goff, Roger Williams, Elliot, Standish, Cotton, with a host of others; mighty men of war, some (for that portion of our earth,) some, tried in the battles of Europe, and well known to the soldiers there; others, powerful in debate, or learned, or wise to a proverb, and all, every one, of a decided character, brim-full of heroick individuality;-the women thereof, such as the celebrated Mrs Hutchinson, or the female Quakers, who were scourged to death; or the witches, who were hung up for their beauty; the language, peculiarities, and habits of both:-We did hope for all this; and will continue to hope for it, though we see little to encourage us; for we have some idea of what might be made of such material, and have had, ever since the great Scotch novel writer himself, or a great Scotch novel writer, we should say, went a little out of his path, some three or four years ago, to take possession of the subject, as if it were a piece of uninhabited earthand for what purpose, forsooth? Why, only to keep others away, it would seem; for, having set up the standard of dominion there; said over a form of exclusive appropriation, very peculiar to himself a few words of power

and looked about him, for a breath or two, he went away for ever. We allude now to the case, where he lugs in a warlike stranger, we forget how, Whaley or Goff, we forget whichfrom the woods of Connecticut-a grayheaded man-a regicide, if our memory serves, for the rescue of a people, who were attacked on the Sabbath, while at prayer-" at meeting," we should say,-by a party of savages.