Had the author confined his assertions to the north-west parts of Norfolk, whence he dates his pamphlet, and where his only knowlege of the subject evidently lies, they might have had some weight with the land proprietors. of that part of the kingdom, who have doubtless carried the aggregation of farm lands to an extreme :-but, applied to the north and the west of England, they are perfectly irrelevant: even taking the kingdom at large, they have, as yet, little foundation ;—and we hope that what has lately been said on this subject will stop the farther enlargement of such farms as are at present of a

sufficient size.

We have already delivered our opinion with respect to the proper sizes of farms; and it is probable that, if Mr. M. had read what has, within these few years, been published in the Monthly Review on this subject, he would have spared himself the pains of composing his present pamphlet: at least so much of it as relates to the vast principle of landed accumulation' and landed monopoly,' of which he speaks without having well considered the subject. Even in his own neighbourhood, (and in that most particularly,) farming on a large scale has produced the most happy effect. It has not only rendered the country of threefold its former rental value, but, we believe, if our young author will consult the elders of his parish, he will be told that it has, for some time past, sent twice the quantity of produce to market, that it yielded half a century ago. We speak of the higher lands of the north-west quarter of Norfolk, which have been improved by men of capital and exertion, through the help of marl, and what may be termed modern husbandry.--Political economy is a dangerous subject for Inexperience to discuss: Goldsmith's Deserted Village (under the impression of which our author seems to have composed his pamphlet) is admirable as a poem, but forms too airy a basis for a treatise on a practical and diflicult subject.

Mr. Marsters's observations on the state of the poor are, like the former part, little more than general assertion.

As a favourable specimen of his performance, we give the following passage; which certainly contains some truth:

Amidst all our pretensions to refinement and benevolence, yet, in many instances, reason shudders, and humanity revolts, at the calamities to which the poorer classes are exposed. These much injured people, bred up in misery, and without moral instruction, are liable to fall into the extreme of vice and depravity, which frequently brings them to an untimely end; and hence we find in our courts of justice, that nearly all those who are the objects of legal condemnation, are of the poorer classes. Society, too often, by rendering men wretched, first gives the stimulus to guilt, and then enforces rigid laws for the punishment

punishment of that guilt which its own injustice has occasioned.-Whilst, therefore, the poor are kept in ignorance, and exposed to every species of oppression and misery, it is no wonder that they should lose all regard for their country's welfare; it is no wonder that, when they break loose into wild disorder, they should perpetrate enormous excesses.. Society may chiefly blame itself for those convulsions which frequently shake it to its centre.

Another great stain upon the character of this country, is its inhuman treatment of the aged poor. The venerable labourer, after being quite exhausted by the united pressure of years and infirmity, ought, in remembrance of his past services, to be preserved and cherished by the hand of tenderness. But, instead of this, he is relentlessly dragged to a workhouse, and immured in the dreary receptacle of woe. There he is left to languish in mournful despondency, the victim of disease, want, and every wretchedness; breathing his plaintive sighs to the solitary walls of his disgraceful prison, unheard, unpitied, and unknown. In vain he wishes for the friendly hand, to administer some cordial relief to his affliction-the friendly hand cannot be found. No heart vibrates with sympathy for his sufferings;" no hope is left to mitigate his sorrows; and, to render his situation still more insupportable, he must be a slave to the arbitrary caprice, or churlish disposition, of the petty despot, who, with all the disgusting authority of narrow-minded self-importance, superintends the gloomy mansion of his wretched degradation. Thus he mourns dejected and forlorn-without freedom, without help, without comfort, and without a friend. Under these circumstances, life becomes disgusting, and the prospect of death is his only consolation. This this is the ungrateful the inhospitable reward, which polished society gives to its benefactors!!!'

The subject of the poor-laws few men are completely qua. lified to treat. It cannot be taken up in a cursory way, or by piecemeal, with good effect. Fully to comprehend it, and still more to write profitably concerning it, would require a general knowlege of the kingdom at large, and the most minute information with respect to parts of it; together with an extensive acquaintance with human nature, and a maturity of judgment which few men possess.

On the topic of universal education, which closes the pamphlet before us, we agree in many things with the author; and in none more than in the following position:

As to the opinion, that were all men enlightened, none would labour, it is an hypothesis founded in the grossest error, For, to suppose that a well-informed society would neglect the means of support, would be to suppose, that, in proportion as men increased in wisdom, their conduct became more irrational and absurd.'

Our own island furnishes a striking proof of the converse of that arbitrary, not to say inhuman doctrine, which has of late been propagated, that universal education will render the

G 3

lower

lower class unfit for labour and servitude; for it may, we believe, with truth be said that the lower orders of society in Scotland are the best educated, and at the same time the most diligent, servants in the world.

ART. XI. The History of the Reign of Shah Aulum, the present Emperor of Hindostaun; containing the Transactions of the Court of Deini, and the neighbouring States, during a Period of thirty-fix Years; interspersed with geographical and topograpnical Observations on several of the principal Citics of Hindostaun. With an Appendix, containing the following Tracts, viz. 1ft, An Account of Modern Delhi. 2d, A Narrative of the late Revolution at Rampore, in Rohilcund, in 1794. 3d, Translation of a Letter, written in the Persian Language, from the Prince Mirza Juwaun Bukht Jehaundar Shah, eldest Son of the King of Delhi, to His Majefty George III., King of Great Britain, in the Year 1785; with a Copy of the Original. 4th, Translation, in Verfe, of an Elegy, written by the King of Delhi after the Lofs of his Sight. By W. Francklin, Captain in the Hon. East-India Company's Scrvice, Bengal Establishment; Member of the Asiatic Society, and Author of a Tour to Persia. 4to. pp. 254. 1l. 18. in Boards, Faulder. Cadell jun. and Davies, &c. 1798.

N the Year 1759, Ali Gawher, the present titular sovereign. of Hindustan, was engaged in hostility with the English East-India Company and their newly-elected Subadar. Supplied by the Vizier Shujaeddawla with scanty resources, and inheriting by birth an incontestible title to the dominion of the fair provinces recently occupied by the English, he had advanced to Sasseram, when the tragical fate of his father, the second Alumghir, was announced from the capital. His acknowleged succession, by the name of Shah Alum, did not put a period to the hostile operations already commenced, which occasionally threatened the northern frontier of Behar, though with little success. Subsequently to the expulsion of Casim Ali, when his forces, united with those of the Vizier, menaced the destruction of the English authority in Hindûstan, the presence of the titular sovereign in the camp of the confederates vainly sanctioned an enterprise which was opposed by military science and disciplined valor. The generosity of the conquerors proved a more efficient support than the interested loyalty.of the Mogul nobles, and the provinces of Alahabad and Cora, together with an annual tribute of 26 lacs of rupees, conferred on the Emperor in 1765 by the English, promised to reviv the fading splendor of the Impeperial throne.

From this period to the end of 1771, the court of Shah Alum was stationary at the city of Alahabad; from which, the

imprudent

imprudent solicitations of a credulous minister, and the insidious promises of the Mahrattas, fatally prevailed on him to withdraw it. On the 24th December, the Sultan entered Delhi with much pomp, amid the acclamations of his subjects. In 1772, a successful expedition against Zabita Khan, a refractory Jaghirdar, evinced in strong colours the rapacity which too frequently disgraces the Mahratta arms: but these mercenary allies retired before the formidable confederacy which the Vizier and the Rohillas had formed, to resist their destructive progress; and in 1773 the Subas of Delhi and Agra were again emancipated from their controul. Mirza Nujif Khan now directed the Imperial councils, and displayed, in his double capacity of minister and commander in chief, a degree of loyalty and valour which his unworthy successors praised, without attempting to imitate it. The predatory incursions of the Jauts were repressed, and several of their fortresses captured: but the intrigues of the court diminished the influence of the minister; and in 1776, when a second rebellion of Zabita Khan called for the exertion of his abilities, the Imperial forces were entrusted to a less skilful or a less fortunate commander, and a signal defeat too late evinced the error. The year 1779 was distinguished by an inglorious, though not unprofitable invasion of the country of the Rajpûts. In 1780, an incursion of the Sikhs having called the Imperial forces to the northern frontier, the command was entrusted to Mujdedawla; and a second defeat betraying his incapacity, Nujif Khan was restored to the undivided confidence of his master, which he enjoyed till his death in 1782. The expul sion of the Sikhs had justly acquired for Mirza Shuffi the reputation of a skilful commander; and the unpopular conduct of his rival, Afrasiab Khan, paved the way for Mirza's elevation to the office of prime minister. The unparalleled treachery which distinguished and disgraced the period of their administration, and to which each in his turn fell a victim, invited the Mahrattas to reassume the authority which they had been forced for a time to relinquish. In January 1785, Mad-hagi Sindia was invested, as representative of the Peshwa, with the office of director-general: he reduced the places which still held out for Afrasiab Khan; and, had a sordid parsimony admitted of his conciliating the affections of the Mogul troops and their leaders, his power might have been uninterrupted. Far otherwise was the event: dissatisfied with the resumption of their military tenures, those troops deserted on the field of battle to the Rajah of Jypâr; and, after a bloody but unsuccessful contest, Sindia was again compelled in 1787 to recross the Chumbul.

We now approach the unhappy catastrophe of this eventful history. Golam Cader, who had lately succeeded his father Zabita Khan in the Jaghir of Seharunpur, availing himself of the absence of Sindia, advanced to the capital with a considerable force, and with the secret connivance of a treacherous though confidential minister of the unfortunate Sultan. He had laid siege to Delhi, when the approach of an army led by the Prince Mirza Juanbukht obliged the Rohilla to withdraw his troops and retire precipitately to his own territories. After an unsuccessful attempt to restore some portion of energy to the royal councils, the prince finally returned to the protection of the English government; and soon afterward ended his days at Benares. In 1788, the Mahrattas, having recovered from their former defeat, began again to appear in considerable force to the north of the Chumbul. Shah Alum took the field, in order to reduce some refractory chiefs : but his disorderly troops being suddenly attacked by the garrison of Gocul-ghor, while besieging that fortress, he owed his safety and ultimate victory to the heroic valor and military skill of a female, who commanded a division of the royal army. After the Sultan's return to Delhi, the arms of Sindia gained an important advantage over Ismael Beg, who had been deserted by his unprincipled associate, Golam Cader, in the hour of danger: but, the Mahrattas unaccountably neglecting to secure the capital, the barbarous Rohilla unexpectedly attacked and carried it. After having ransacked the palace, and loaded the unhappy monarch with every indignity, he deprived him of sight. The approach of the Mahrattas put a period to these horrors; Golam Cader retired to Mirat, sustained a siege, and, attended by 500 horse, cut his way through the besieging army: but, gradually deserted by his followers, he was seized and carried to the Mahratta camp. The severity of his punishment exhibited, and his previous atrocities justified, a remarkable deviation from the characteristic mildness of Hindu manners.

From this period, the authority of Sindia suffered no diminution. The Rajput chiefs were reduced to submission. Three brigades of infantry disciplined by European officers, and 130 pieces of artillery, gave stability to his acquisitions, and hope already beheld his future triumphs over the Sikhs, in the plains of Lahor, when death put a period to his career in 1793, at the age of 67. He was succeeded in his paternal dominions by his own nephew, Dawler Raw, who has not yet attained any pre-eminence among the princes in the Mahratta

states.

Such